Cryonics

Cryonics (from Greek: κρύος kryos, meaning "cold") is the low-temperature freezing (usually at −196 °C or −320.8 °F or 77.1 K) and storage of human remains in the hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism by the mainstream scientific community. It is generally viewed as a pseudoscience, and its practice has been characterized as quackery. Cryonics procedures can begin only after the "patients" are clinically and legally dead. Procedures may begin within minutes of death, and use cryoprotectants to try to prevent ice formation during cryopreservation. It is not possible to reanimate a corpse that has undergone vitrification (ultra-rapid cooling), as this damages the brain, including its neural circuits. The first corpse to be frozen was that of James Bedford, in 1967. As of 2024, approximately 600 corpses had been subjected to cryonics worldwide. Additionally, economic considerations make it unlikely that cryonics corporations could remain in business long enough to deliver on their promises if the resurrection promised by cryonics ever becomes technologically possible. The "patients", being dead, cannot continue to pay for their own preservation.