Cryonics: Freezing famous faces for the future

Practicing cryonics involves deep-freezing the bodies and organs of recently deceased individuals in the hopes they can be revived in the future.

This slow cryogenic freezing process is said to suspend death and preserve a body for years to come.

So, if science ever advances to a point where the dead can be resurrected, then those celebrities who opted to be preserved will be revived and live a second life. DJ Steve Aoki, Seth MacFarlane, and Paris Hilton have all previously discussed their desire to be cryopreserved.

However, others such as American baseball legend Ted Williams, his son Jon Henry Williams, and computer scientist Peter Eckersley have taken it a step further and completed the cryopreservation process.

Alcor is one of the world’s largest cryonics companies, and its President Emeritus, Dr. Max More, has been a member since 1986.

In a documentary interview with the BBC in 2022, he claimed that the Arizona-based company is usually informed when one of its members is close to death.

The British-born practitioner said that upon learning a subscriber is ill, Alcor will dispatch a ‘standby team’.

These employees will be tasked with remaining by the bedside of the member who is suffering from ill-health until their death.

“It could be hours, days; we’ve gone as long as three weeks on standby,” he explained in a 2014 BBC interview. However, after the member's immediate death, Alcor staff will intervene and use a ‘heart-lung resuscitator’.

This device works to circulate the deceased’s blood through their body again and keep their organs functioning.

Then, they will administer various medications to protect cells from further deterioration.

“This point is very much like organ donation,” Dr. More explained. “We’re trying to keep the tissues viable for as long as possible until we can begin the next part of the procedure.”

Once medicated, the patient will be transported to the company's headquarters in Arizona and further treated to prevent freezing damage.

To achieve this, a surgeon will replace the patient’s blood with ‘medical-grade antifreeze’.

“As we decrease the temperature, instead of ice crystals forming, the fluid we use will just become thicker and thicker,” the president explained.

After the Alcor member is infused with antifreeze, the cryonic process can officially begin. The deceased will first be wrapped in a sleeping bag for protection before being placed upside down in a container.

Once secured inside the aluminum pod, the human remains will be gradually cooled down by approximately one degree Celsius per hour.

After two weeks of gradual cooling, the body’s temperature will reach a staggering -196°C.

From there, the body will await medical advancements that may potentially bring it back to life.

Dr. More claims that ‘no energy is needed’ to maintain the temperature of the aluminum pods and that liquid nitrogen is poured into the cylinders each week to maintain the chilly environment.

As of 2022, around 500 people had been cryopreserved worldwide, with the majority residing in the United States, China, and Russia.

As you might expect, this experimental science comes with a hefty price tag of $200,000 (£158,000) to preserve the whole body and $80,000 (£63,000) to preserve just the brain. However, if you’re not affluent, then Dr. More admitted that almost 90 percent of Alcor members are funding the procedure through life insurance.

While this procedure is quite audacious, there is no confirmation that resurrection will ever be possible in the future. But that’s a risk Dr. More and Alcor's patients are willing to take.

Speaking about potential medical advancements, the futurist said: “I think it's really a bet on advancing technology. We are actually funding some research into nanomedicine, which will certainly be very relevant to bringing people back.”

He added that the company is also beginning to ‘cultivate organs in the lab’ for people who ‘cannot find a suitable organ match’ and believes that eventually, humanity will conquer death.