Reanimation is one of humanity's oldest obsessions. Resurrection is widely present in spiritual traditions beyond Christianity, and Star Wars is not the only sci-fi narrative with freeze preservation. Sometimes it is a mark of divinity. Others, one of perversion.

Today, an entire field claims to provide this highly existentialist service. Cryonics–the process of deep-freezing a body in hopes of preserving the organism for later return. One of the leading outfits charges clients a shockingly low 28,000.

The technology behind cryonics has evolved since its first attempts.

First-gen Cryonics was basically just freezing people. Robert Ettinger, the ‘father’ of cryonics, was its foremost practitioner. He began his practice by freezing his mother in 1977. This ‘straight-freeze’ approach seems unlikely to work because it causes ice crystals to form in the body, damaging organs.

These days a few more steps have been added in attempts to mitigate the impact of long-term freezing on a body.

Blood thinners and antacids are crucial first steps. This helps prevent blood clotting and stomach acid related complications, both of which would hypothetically be very problematic upon an awakening.

Then the multi-step freezing process commences. The body is placed in an ice bath for initial cool-down while an automated cpr system keeps the blood circulating, an additional measure taken to avoid clotting.

What comes next is more complicated. In this ‘vitrification’ step, a proprietary antifreeze solution is pumped into the body. The liquid’s engineering was inspired by hibernating animals who become largely dormant for extended periods of time in intense cold. This solution’s injection’s goal is to prevent the formation of the damaging ice crystals.

Then comes the extreme cold. This must be introduced slowly to prevent shock damage. Over the course of several hours in a sealed compartment, the body’s temperature drops to reach that of liquid nitrogen at -320 degrees fahrenheit (-196 C).

Finally storage, which is done upside down in a large cylindrical container filled with liquid nitrogen.

Crucially, the current cryo-preservation proposition is entirely reliant on further scientific improvement. There is no currently viable way to ‘wake’ the bodies in the tanks. There isn’t convincing evidence that doing so is possible at all.

Just as it is now obvious that Ettigner’s technique for freezing his mother basically foreclosed the possibility of her reanimation, it is entirely possible that improved understanding will reveal some fatal flaw in the current cryonics process, making the storage facilities at Alcor and The Cryonics Institute more morgue than purgatory.

There is also a more practical problem. The financial health of the private corporations offering this service is the foundational requirement for the bodies even still being there is the future. If they can’t make rent, it’s unlikely the bank is going to take stewardship of thousands of tanks of liquid nitrogen. Imagine the utility bill.

Luckily, The Cryonics Institute says that the company has an investment portfolio to safeguard its financial health. So they should be just fine for exactly as long as the stock market is.

Full body freezing isn’t the only way to attempt preservation. Brain-only freezing is becoming increasingly popular. There is also the possibility of ‘uploading’ consciousness, an as-yet unspecified process that is generating buzz.

People will keep wanting to be immortal. Other people will keep trying to sell them immortality. Whether it works, and whether we should want it in the first place, are two questions we don’t have answers to yet.

Image curation by Erild Kondi (@kondierild)