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Brain Freeze—Asterisk

asteriskmag.com · 6,021 words · saved by 2 readers

The idea of cryonics — freezing the bodies of the dead in the hopes that they can one day be revived — has existed since the 1960s. We’ve since learned that perfect preservation is much, much harder than any of its founders anticipated. The idea of cryopreservation is simple and beautiful: When a person is beyond saving by modern methods, we can give them another lifeline. First, perfuse their bloodstream with antifreeze. Once administered, it’s possible to safely cool the body to incredibly low temperatures without ice forming inside organs and crushing delicate cells. Cold slows chemical reactions, all of them: According to the Arrhenius equation, every 10 °C decrease in temperature halves chemical reaction rates. A coolant like liquid nitrogen halves the ordinary rate of chemical reactions 22 times over. That stretches a single second of life into 48 days. Cryopreservation can commute a death sentence. The hope is that although we may not know how to cure a terminal illness today, s

Brain Freeze—Asterisk The idea of cryonics — freezing the bodies of the dead in the hopes that they can one day be revived — has existed since the 1960s. We’ve since learned that perfect preservation is much, much harder than any of its founders anticipated. The idea of cryopreservation is simple and beautiful: When a person is beyond saving by modern methods, we can give them another lifeline. First, perfuse their bloodstream with antifreeze. Once administered, it’s possible to safely cool the body to incredibly low temperatures without ice forming inside organs and crushing delicate cells. C

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