Q: How soon after death does the human body start to decompose?

A: The human body starts to decompose around four minutes after death.

Q: Did the ancient Egyptians keep written records of their mummification process?

A: No. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs make no mention of a formula for mummification. The techniques were likely handed down through the years by word of mouth.

Q: Why did the ancient Egyptians mummify the pharaohs?

A: Whenever a pharaoh died, it was considered a time of crisis for Egypt. Transforming a pharaoh into a mummy ensured that the divine royal soul would last forever, and so, then, would Egypt.

Q: What is the body farm?

The "body farm" is a facility in Knoxville, Tenn. to which humans donate their bodies for scientific research.

Q: Who agreed to donate his body for mummification in the Curiosity episode 21st Century Mummy?

A: British cab driver Alan Billis, facing terminal lung cancer, agreed to donate his body to the project upon his passing. He died in January 2011 at 61 years old.

Q: Why did the ancient Egyptians remove the internal organs during the mummification process?

A: The Egyptians knew how quickly a dead body begins to decay, so they removed the internal organs as soon after death as possible to slow that process.

Q: How were the internal organs removed during mummification?

A: A small, four-inch-long incision was made in the left side of the body. The organs were carefully removed through this small opening.

Q: Which internal organs were removed by the Egyptian embalmers?

The intestines, liver, stomach and lungs were all removed.

Q: Was the heart removed during mummification?

A: No. The ancient Egyptians regarded the heart much as we do the brain today. They saw the heart as the seat of wisdom, intelligence and intellect. So for them it was essential that the heart remain with the body.

Q: Which internal organs were the hardest to remove while filming the process for the 21st Century Mummy episode?

A: Retrieving the lungs was the hardest challenge. Not only are they surrounded by the ribcage, making access and removal tricky, but they also had to be removed without damaging the all-important heart.

Q: Did the ancient Egyptian embalmers discard the internal organs they removed?

A: No. They stored the internal organs in canopic jars.

Q: How many feet of intestines were removed during mummification?

A: Twenty-eight feet of intestines had to be removed during mummification, through the four-inch incision in the side of the body.

Q: Why is removal of the intestines important to mummification?

A: The major bacteria is in the digestive tract. Taking out the digestive system keeps the body from an increasing bacterial count. The body would not last long otherwise.

Q: What was used to fill the body cavity of the 21st-century mummy, after the internal organs were removed?

A: The body cavity was packed with small bags of linen. They helped bring the body back to its original outward appearance.

Q: Was the brain removed from the 21st-century mummy?

A: No. The brain was left intact. Brain scans of a 3,000-year-old mummy showed the organ could remain well preserved.

Q: How were the incisions sealed after the 21st-century mummy's internal organs were removed?

A: After the ancient Egyptian tradition, beeswax was used to seal the incisions.

Q: After the internal organs were removed, how did ancient Egyptian embalmers typically protect mummies from becoming decomposed by fluid in the tissue?

A: The ancient Egyptian embalmers packed the body cavity with a type of salt called natron, which draws moisture from the flesh and up through the skin and absorbs it.

Q: Where did embalmers get the natron salt used to pack a mummy's body?

A: The Egyptians gathered natron salt from dry lake beds.

Q: Who first documented the use of natron salt for mummification?

A: The ancient Greek historian Herodotus visited Egypt in 450 B.C. and described the process.

Q: Was natron salt used to pack the body cavity of the 21st-century mummy on the Curiosity program?

A: No. The body was instead immersed in a natron bath solution.

Q: How could immersing a body in a natron bath solution actually dry it out?

A: The idea behind the technique is that the salt solution will diffuse throughout the body and create an alkaline environment that will inhibit bacteria and prevent enzymes from destroying the body.

Q: Was the natron bath immersion technique for drying out the body used on actual mummies from ancient Egypt?

A: "21st Century Mummy" archaeological chemist, Dr. Stephen Buckley, is convinced that later mummies, particularly from the 18th Dynasty, displayed evidence of the immersion method having been used.

Q: What was used to protect the 21st-century mummy's skin from being bleached by the natron bath process?

A: The body was coated with a mixture of ancient Egyptian ingredients: sesame oil, resin and beeswax. After the sesame oil dries, the resin and beeswax form a protective barrier layer on the skin to keep it from bleaching.

Q: How long did the 21st-century mummy's body remain in the natron salt bath?

A: Thirty-five days.

Q: Before the Curiosity 21st Century Mummy program, did Dr. Buckley have any prior experience using a natron salt bath for preservation?

A: Before the program, Dr. Buckley had only tried the technique on piglets -- never a human body.

Q: How was the body dried after the natron salt bath?

A: The body was placed in a heated chamber and left to dry out over the course of two weeks.

Q: What happened to the 21st-century mummy after it was dried in the heated chamber?

A: After drying sufficiently in the heated chamber, human donor Alan Billis was wrapped from head to toe in linen.

Q: Was the 21st-century mummy fully mummified after being wrapped in linen?

A: No. After being wrapped from head to toe in linen, the modern mummy was left to dry for a final six weeks before it could be determined whether or not mummification had succeeded.

Q: What does mummified skin look like?

A: Mummified skin has a leathery appearance.

Q: Did the 21st-century mummy show any internal signs of decay after the process?

A: No. CT scans indicated that the body of British cab driver Alan Billis had been successfully mummified, its decomposition halted.

Q: What will happen to the 21st-century mummy, now that it has been successfully preserved.

A: The mummified body of Alan Billis will remain under scientific observation for the moment.