, Columnist
Want to Avoid Death? Maybe Cryonics Isn't Crazy
Despite the mockery from scientists, it’s hard to ignore the sliver of possibility that cryogenic freezing could extend life.
It’s cold.
Photographer: MAURICIO LIMA/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Emil Kendziorra has his death all planned out.
In the event that his life is cut short, a team of medical professionals will supply the man’s recently-deceased body with oxygen until it can be transported to a suspension facility. There, the blood and water in his body will be replaced by a chemical mixture, a kind of human antifreeze, to prevent ice crystals from forming when his body is placed in arctic cold liquid nitrogen. Known as vitrification, this will put his cells into a state of suspended animation.