The Radiant Energy of the Deceased

Neil deGrasse Tyson recently posted a beautiful video about the differences between being buried and being cremated, from a physicist’s perspective.

In the video, he explains that during cremation, the energy content of the body's molecules gets transferred to heat, which radiates infrared energy out into space, moving at the speed of light. After a person dies, their energy continues on a never-ending journey through the cosmos.

I built a simple tool to help visualize that.* Using the app below, you can enter the name of a loved one and date they were cremated and see how far their energy has traveled.

(*Ok, technically Claude and I built it.)