The Technograph

What do one of the most creative men in history, one of the best hitters in the history of baseball, and a second-rate secret agent have in common? Although the relationships are myth, truth, and fiction respectively, Walt Disney, Ted Williams, and Austin Powers are all in some way connected to cryogenic freezing, or cryonics.

The growing fascination with cryonics comes from the idea that it might be possible to freeze someone who can no longer be saved by modern medicine in order to bring them back to life once medicine is advanced enough to cure them. This fascination stems from the exploitation of science throughout culture, such as the myth of Walt Disney or the Austin Powers movies. However intriguing this may be, modern science has still not figured out a way to bring someone out of their cryonic state alive.

While many people believe that cryonics is just speculative, optimistic technology that will most likely never work, there is some hope and evidence that it may be possible. The freezing and revival of three species of bacteria, many plants, and several different species of reptiles have been reported. While this doesn’t leave a whole lot of optimism in the minds of scientists because it is insufficient evidence to be considered a success, it is possible that it may show the main problems in freezing the human body.

The first is very similar to the reason why plants die in freezing temperatures. The sharp ice crystals that form on the plant are what lead to its death, and it’s no different in the human body. It is thought that the main reason a human being cannot be revived after the freezing process is because of the sharp ice crystals that form in the human brain when the body is kept in extremely cold temperatures. Secondly, because a person must first be declared legally dead before they can be frozen, insufficient blood circulation, or ischemia, causes deprivation of oxygen and nutrients in body tissue.

So, the next time you see a sci-fi movie that shows people being frozen, don’t be afraid. While it can’t be said that it won’t happen, there is a lot to overcome before it is feasible and it is therefore extremely unlikely that this is a scientific practice that will become possible.

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