Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [mortality]

Questions about the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature, or existence.

Mortality

  1. the quality or state of being mortal
  2. the death of large numbers (as of people or animals)
  3. archaic: death

  4. the human race

    • the number of deaths in a given time or place
    • the proportion of deaths to population
    • the number lost or the rate of loss or failure: death rate — called also mortality rate; compare fertility, morbidity
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Did toddlers with guns claim more American lives than terrorism in 2015?

The Economist isn't a fan of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. In an analysis of his ascendence to the Republican nomination they try to discern some of the factors. As part of their list of factors driving Trump support they argue that…
matt_black
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Are female surgeons less likely to kill you?

A 2017 article in The Times has the following headline: Female surgeons less likely to kill you, study finds The article reports: Patients operated on by a woman are less likely to die within a month than those who have the procedure under a male…
matt_black
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Was an elderly woman forcibly euthanized in the Netherlands?

A disturbing story appeared on my news feed this week, Elderly Woman Forcibly Euthanized The article says that in the Netherlands an elderly woman with dementia was euthanized against her will. But this article has come from the DailyWire, a…
Coomie
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Is it possible to "die instantly"?

Lots of times, when some great tragedy occurs, one often hears journalists and bystanders alike softening the blow of having some person die by saying something like "at least they died instantly" or "they died instantly, so they didn't suffer."…
Uticensis
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Did COVID-19 take the lives of 3,100 Americans in a single day, making it the third deadliest day in American history?

This image is doing the rounds on Facebook: The image reads: Yes, people die everyday. Yes we know it's not you because you are reading this. Cancer takes approx. 1,600 Americans a day. Heart events take approx. 1,800 Americans a day. Suicides…
dsollen
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Is the infant mortality rate among African-American babies in Youngstown, Ohio greater than that of babies in Iran?

In a town hall meeting on June 2, 2019 with Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH), the candidate stated the following (emphasis mine) Now, a lot of people don't know, but Youngstown, Ohio is 50 percent African American. I've been working on these issues a…
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Are 42% of human deaths worldwide from abortion?

Lately, social media has been flooded with all sorts of "facts" about abortion. This one in particular caught my attention: 42% of yearly deaths in the world are from abortion A worldwide crisis I don't want this to degrade into an argument about…
Coomie
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Do nails and hair continue to grow after death?

I've heard that nails and hair continue to grow even after death. Is this true or just a myth?
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A century ago, was giving birth a major cause of death?

When reading this article on BBC News I was surprised by the following claim: Just compare now to what happened 100 years ago or so. Then, many women died in their 40s because of having to give birth many times. Lots of people died young. This…
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Do about 100 Germans die every year due to risky masturbation?

EveningStandard claims in Masturbation 'kills up to 100 Germans a year', new study shows that up to 100 Germans a year die to masturbation for using risky methods like auto-erotic asphyxiation or electric shock. Similar claims can be found in these…
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Are cadavers normally embalmed with "butt plugs" before burial?

According to this graphic, from the DarkestHumor page That one time I went to a mortuary and some cute mortician girls gave me a butt plug. Seriously. This is to prevent post mortem [anal] leakage. Is it a widely held practice for morticians to…
Evan Carroll
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As of August 2020, was the weekly mortality rate in the US the lowest in a decade and the second lowest in the 21st century so far?

There is an article, that has been circulating the past two days, entitled: Is There a Pandemic? In the abstract the author gives her method: However, only 32 weeks have elapsed in 2020. For each previous year, 52 weeks have already elapsed. How…
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Do atheists commit far fewer crimes?

According to a post by latimes.com, "How secular family values stack up": Atheists were almost absent from our prison population as of the late 1990s, comprising less than half of 1% of those behind bars, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons…
Brian M. Hunt
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Do children accidentally suffocate themselves with plastic bags?

My one year old daughter picked up a typical plastic supermarket grocery bag and I watched her with it briefly before taking it away, as it's common knowledge that kids aren't supposed to have plastic bags due to a risk of suffocation. After…
Hendy
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Is the number of childhood vaccines correlated with infant mortality?

Related Just how inaccurate are vaccine myths? Is it dangerous to have several vaccines at the same time? I was passed along an article reporting that a new study found that despite having the highest number of vaccines in its recommended…
Hendy
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