8 Weird Ways Humans Are Trying Prolong Their Lives
7. Cryogenic Freezing
The old chestnut of having your body frozen upon death in the hope that at some point in the future humanity will have worked out how to resurrect you seems like it belongs in the realm of science fiction, but we've been at it for a while now (the freezing, not the resurrecting). Even if it doesn't work, you're dead anyway, so nothing to lose in giving it a crack, right? Cryopreservation works by keeping the blood pumping around your body after you die, then injecting you with chemicals that will prevent your brain, blood and other important internals from becoming damaged as your body gets put in a freezer at -130C. Your icy coffin from which you may one day rise again is then lowered into a tank of liquid nitrogen and sealed. As far as I'm aware, the only people to have been cryogenically frozen then revived are Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man and Mel Gibson in Forever Young. Outside of Hollywood, no attempt has been made to revive people kept in cryopreservation, but - like that pack of half-used pack of minced beef sitting in your freezer - time is on their side.
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
