What happens when we die?

What happens when we finally bite the dust, so to speak? Currently, a largely science-based view of life and death holds sway over many of us, but many of us still seem to believe in an afterlife. In 2014, The Telegraph surveyed the British public, and nearly 60% of those surveyed said they believed some part of us continues to live.

In the United States, still a Christian country, Pew Research asked people in 2015 what happens after death. The poll found that 72 percent of Americans believe that heaven is "a place where people who have lived good lives are eternally rewarded." Furthermore, 54 percent of American adults said they believe in hell, described as a place "where people who have lived bad lives and died unrepentant are eternally punished."

It seems that many actually believe that after death, we are settled in a paradise-like place full of clouds. On the other hand, if we do not follow the ethical principles of our religion or faith community, we may face eternal hellfire and fumbling in front of bearded red-haired men with pitchforks. But let's start with empirical realism and what actually happens to our bodies when we die.

Doctors determine that you are dead when your heart stops beating and your brain has no electrical activity. Brain death means death, but machines can keep you alive for a little longer. You may also experience a condition known as cardiac death, which means your heart stops beating and blood stops flowing through your body.

It's strange and wonderful, but people who have come back from near death of a heart attack say they knew what was going on around them. Some say they walked into the light during their near-death experience. It is possible to come back from what is called clinical death, but there is only a 4-6 minute grace period.

But if you reach the light and walk through it; this is called biological death. Game over, the final whistle. Once we are completely gone, our muscles relax, including our sphincters, and waste products are expelled. Gases trapped inside the body may escape, causing noises and odors. Men may experience ejaculation, and pregnant women may experience a rare phenomenon called "coffining" due to abdominal gas.

As trapped gases leave the body, sounds may be heard from the mouth as the air escapes. Nurses and people who work near corpses regularly report hearing very graphic moans and groans from the corpses. You may have spasms, but that does not mean there is life inside you. These are just muscle contractions.

Blood pools in certain areas of the body (a phenomenon known as "death sickness"), causing a dark purple discoloration. The body also begins to cool (this is called "freezing" or "chills of death"). Within 2-6 hours, calcium enters muscle cells, causing the body to stiffen (this process is known as "rigor mortis").

Without blood flow, cells begin to break down, allowing bacteria to grow and decompose. Even though hair and nails may appear to grow, the skin is actually continuing to retract. As decomposition progresses, the skin loosens and blisters form. During this stage, called putrefaction, bacteria and microorganisms feed on the body and cause it to smell bad.

Soft tissues liquefy, but bones, cartilage, and hair remain intact longer. Above ground, this process can take about a month, but buried bodies decompose more slowly. An embalmed and buried body can take 8 to 12 years to fully decompose into a skeleton, and even bones eventually decay back into the earth over decades.

Some people describe near-death experiences as vivid or spiritual, while others describe them as a pitch black void devoid of thought or consciousness. French philosopher René Descartes believed that the soul is separate from the body, as many religions suggest. Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence, like the Buddhist belief in reincarnation or the "wheel of reincarnation", postulates that the whole of existence repeats itself infinitely. Buddhists believe that by attaining enlightenment, one can break this cycle and reach nirvana.

Will we go to heaven where St. Peter will greet us, or will we just become part of the earth? This is a question we cannot answer definitively. What do you think? Tell us your thoughts on what happens after death.