中國(guó)網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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Nine lives: Summum mummifies pet dogs and cats and puts them into steel or bronze caskets(dailymail.co.uk) |
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These are the modern day mummies. Already, more than 1500 people across the world have contacted Summum, the world’s only mummification company, to be mummified after they die. The company based in Salt Lake City, Utah have revealed that their clientele includes celebrities, from all over the world, including Britain, and added that they also cater to requests from pet owners. Dozens of pets, including everything from dogs and cats, to peacocks, finches and even rats have undergone the traditional Egyptian burial routine. The process takes 90 days. The organs are taken out and cleansed, then the body is hydrated for more than 70 days, submerged in a tank. Then it is covered with lanolin and wax, followed by layers of cotton gauze and a fibre glass finish. The body is then encased in a steel or bronze casket. Ron Temu, who works at Summum’s appropriately pyramid-shaped building as a counsellor for clients, said: ‘The chemicals we use are so permeable that if a drop was put on the hand, just seconds later it can be tasted in the mouth. ‘The olden day mummies look very dry and that’s because it was believed the best way to preserve them for the afterlife was to completely dehydrate them. We do the opposite and believe that hydrating the body fully is the best way to preserve it. ‘That's why the bodies will still look like the day they died - even thousands of years later.’ But the process isn’t cheap. Cats cost ￡3,600 and dogs at ￡15,000. Human mummification costs approximately ￡40,000. Summum have already mummified human beings but their progress has been checked after 18 months and then state law says that as they have been opened, they must be incinerated. But many are signed up to be mummified in the future - and the company says it has tremendous implications for cloning. It is feasible that DNA could be removed at a later date by drilling into the casket. Mr Temu said: ‘Being able to take out DNA at a later date has real appeal for people. People like the idea of being able to clone themselves. ‘We have a lot of people signed up to be mummified. They signed up in their 30’s and 40’s, and are now in their 50’s and 60’s, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.’ (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
美國(guó)薩門(mén)公司推出全新安葬方式：把尸體制成“現(xiàn)代木乃伊”。全球已經(jīng)有1500多人聯(lián)系這家獨(dú)一無(wú)二的木乃伊安葬公司，預(yù)訂死后的木乃伊安葬服務(wù)。 該公司位于美國(guó)猶他州鹽湖城。該公司介紹稱(chēng)客戶(hù)中有來(lái)自全球的名人，其中也包括英國(guó)。同時(shí)公司也為寵物主人提供寵物木乃伊服務(wù)。 已有數(shù)十只寵物，不僅包括貓狗，還有孔雀、雀鳥(niǎo)，甚至老鼠，都已經(jīng)按照傳統(tǒng)的埃及木乃伊殉葬流程予以安葬。 木乃伊制作過(guò)程需要90天。工作人員先把內(nèi)臟掏出并清洗干凈，然后把尸體放在水槽里，用水合物藥液浸泡70天。 然后，工作人員在尸體表面涂上羊毛脂和蠟，隨后用層層紗布裹好，并用玻璃纖維封好，最后放進(jìn)鋼或銅制的棺材里。 薩門(mén)公司的客戶(hù)咨詢(xún)朗?特穆說(shuō)：“我們選用的藥液滲透性極強(qiáng)。如果滴一滴在手心，幾秒鐘后，嘴巴里就能?chē)L到味道?！彼_門(mén)公司的辦公樓外形酷似一座金字塔。 “古代木乃伊看起來(lái)很干燥，那是因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)人們認(rèn)為，徹底脫水是保存尸體的最好辦法。而我們采用相反的方式。我們認(rèn)為，讓尸體充分保濕才最好?！?/p> “因此我們制作的現(xiàn)代木乃伊和剛?cè)ナ罆r(shí)一模一樣，即使幾千年后也是?！?/p> 但制作木乃伊價(jià)格不菲。制作一只貓木乃伊要花費(fèi)3600英鎊，狗則要1.5萬(wàn)英鎊。人類(lèi)木乃伊大約需要4萬(wàn)英鎊。 薩門(mén)公司已經(jīng)成功制作了一些人類(lèi)木乃伊。但這些木乃伊在做完18個(gè)月后被打開(kāi)檢查。而根據(jù)猶他州法律規(guī)定，這些木乃伊在被打開(kāi)后必須焚化。 已經(jīng)有很多人與薩門(mén)公司簽約，要求在死后被制成木乃伊。該公司表示，這對(duì)克隆技術(shù)也有重大意義。將來(lái)可以在棺材上鉆孔從木乃伊里提取DNA。 特穆說(shuō)：“能在將來(lái)提取DNA對(duì)很多人來(lái)說(shuō)非常有吸引力。人們希望將來(lái)自己也能被克隆?！?/p> “很多客戶(hù)已經(jīng)簽約，有些人簽約時(shí)才三四十歲，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)五六十歲。所以我們還有很多工作要做?！?/p> 相關(guān)閱讀 英科學(xué)家稱(chēng)“靈魂出竅”實(shí)為生理反應(yīng) （中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯：陳丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: cater to: 迎合，為……服務(wù) hydrate: （使）水合，與水化合 lanolin: 羊毛脂 |
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