Cryonics

Cryonics is the practice of freezing whole organisms at cryogenic temperatures, where metabolism and decay completely stop, for preservation and possible revival. Advocates expect that scientific and medical procedures being developed now or in the future will be able to revive such organisms and restore them to good health. A patient held in such a state is said to be in cryonic suspension[?].

Unlike the common medical practice of preserving simple tissues (called cryobiology), cryonics is generally viewed with skepticism by most scientists and doctors today. It is believed by many that restoration of cryonically suspended patients will require speculative technologies far beyond what is available today, such as nanotechnology.

Probably the most famous cryonically frozen patient is Ted Williams; the popular urban legend that Walt Disney was cryonically frozen is false (he was cremated, and interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery).

Books of interest: The Prospect of Immortality[?] by Robert Ettinger[?].

See also: Interstellar travel, Biostasis