eroto-thanatos:

bezsramote:

kqedscience:

Deadly lake turns animals into statues

Lake Natron “takes its name from natron, a naturally occurring compound made mainly of sodium carbonate, with a bit of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) thrown in. Here, this has come from volcanic ash, accumulated from the Great Rift valley. Animals that become immersed in the water die and are calcified.”

(Images: Nick Brandt)

Throw my body in this thing and leave it there for a few weeks when I die. Fuck all of that formaldehyde bullshit—this is how I want my mortal coil to be preserved!!

Fact: natron was an important ingredient in the Ancient Egyptian mummification process.

Also, this headline immediately made me think of one of the stories in The King In Yellow, in which an artist maintains a special chemical pool that instantly hardens and preserves any living matter immersed in it.