What do you think the future will be like?
Do you picture a sky filled with flying cars instead of busy roads?
Or do you imagine traveling from Earth to outer space as a kind of simple vacation?
Or do you see a world where every disease has a cure?
If that would really be the case, I am sure that every human would love to experience
that kind of world, and they would wait patiently for that future.
However, regardless of whether we like it or not, the majority of us cannot live that
long enough to see such a future.
But thanks to scientists!
Because they have already discovered a means to cheat time.
And this is through a process called Cryopreservation.
So what exactly is this?
Cryopreservation, in theory, is a method of preserving the human body by freezing it,
and then bringing it back to life at such time.
With this, do you have any idea about what will happen to the body if we’re going to
freeze it for a long time?
Well, in this episode, I’ll go through this topic in detail.
So, stay put and listen carefully.
To begin, let us examine how people came up with the idea of freezing the bodies.
As you may already know, there are animals that hibernate, like rats, hedgehogs, and
bears.
And I believe it is because of these animals that people have realized they can freeze
their bodies as well.
The concept behind hibernation is simple.
During the cold weather, there was less food available in the environment, the animals
then conserved their energy by going into a state of suspended animation.
In that way, their metabolism and life processes slow down, and their body temperature drops
significantly.
Take for instance the case of the Arctic ground squirrel.
These squirrels may hibernate at a temperature of negative 4 degrees Celsius or approximately
25 degrees Fahrenheit in its abdominal cavity.
These small rodents, on the other hand, maintain their heads and necks warm.
When the weather is no longer cold and hibernation is over, these squirrels are completely strong
and healthy.
The wood frog is another fascinating example to consider.
Do you know that these frogs freeze every year throughout the winter and then thaw out
in the spring?
I'm not joking; this is really true!
These frogs are usually found in North America and are accustomed to living in cold temperatures.
The wood frog’s way of life is interesting.
As I mentioned, it turns its body into a frozen state during winter.
Its body temperature stays at 6 degrees Celsius, or around 21 degrees Fahrenheit, for two to
three months.
The frog's bodily functions stop throughout this time.
Yes, this frog stops breathing and its heart stops beating.
During hibernation, it does not just get cold like other animals; instead, its body actually
freezes.
In fact, almost 60 percent of the water within its cells freezes.
When spring arrives, it’s time for this frog to defrost.
Its heart will activate again.
Its body will start to heat up and eventually start a new life.
Now, you might be wondering what makes this process possible for the wood frog?
According to scientists, the liver of frogs expands by one and a half times before hibernation.
Additionally, the amount of glycogen in its body increases three times.
And since the freezing process takes a long time, the liver uses this time to convert
glycogen to glucose.
This is the reason why its cell can maintain its form even after freezing and thawing,
making it possible to survive.
But that is the case with animals.
When it comes to humans, how can a person withstand such severe freezing?
The human body is far more complex than that of other creatures.
You can't just put someone in a refrigerator and trust that they'll be fine when you take
them out after a while.
Also, keep in mind that blood has its properties that should be taken into consideration.
For instance, when the temperature becomes extremely low, the blood, like all other fluids,
thickens and freezes.
When the blood freezes, it will turn into bloody ice.
The term may make you think you're watching a thriller film, but don't get too excited.
Let me explain to you something.
The state of blood freezing and turning into ice crystals is already dangerous for the
human body.
More than that, defrosting the person is where the problems begin.
These bloody ice or crystals will cause micro wounds in the human circulatory system as
they defrost.
Regardless of how long you have frozen the body for, whether it is a year, ten years,
or a hundred years, the result will be the same - all of the arteries, capillaries, veins,
as well as the organs, will be affected.
There's also a high possibility of brain death, internal bleeding, and, even, death will result
from such damage.
In general, scientists would need something more sophisticated than a regular freezer
before they can freeze a human.
Yes, they absolutely need something that will allow them to easily maneuver the laws of
nature.
And so, Cryonics was invented.
This is a deep-freezing method or technique for preserving cells, tissues, organs, and
other biological components, as well as the entire body.
Animals can be frozen as well using this technique.
The main goal of this procedure is to restore biological functions after thawing.
Cryopreservation is usually done at extremely low temperatures, such as negative 80 degrees
Celsius or negative 112 degrees Fahrenheit when using dry ice.
When using liquid nitrogen, however, the temperature must be negative 196 degrees Celsius, or around
negative 321 degrees Fahrenheit.
But what is the reason for these temperatures?
Well, cryopreservation stops any chemical reaction that could damage biological material.
In turn, this allows us to maintain the living objects alive for as long as we want.
Isn't that pretty amazing?
Scientists first tried cryopreservation on hamsters, next on the human body’s individual
cells, and lastly on other important fluids.
It was in the year 1967 when the individual's turn to try the process happened.
A man named James Bedford was the first person to undergo cryopreservation, hoping for future
rebirth.
He had kidney cancer and he agreed to have his body frozen after his death.
The Alcor Life Extension Foundation has Bedford's body cryopreserved.
And until humankind is able to cure all forms of cancer in the future, his body will stay
there.
But that was just the start of humans trying cryopreservation.
In the United States, more than 400 persons had undergone cryopreservation in 2019.
In addition, 1,500 people have signed the needed documents and are looking forward to
freezing their bodies after death.
It is important to note that a person will only be eligible for cryopreservation after
clinical death.
This basically means that when a person's heart isn't beating anymore, they can go through
the procedure.
Vitrification is the process used to freeze the brain cells before they die.
This is what prevents ice from forming.
However, every frozen person is legally declared dead.
Nobody knows if they can be thawed flawlessly and be cured.
Despite this, there is still an increasing number of living people who are beginning
to consider undergoing cryopreservation.
Even though experts are still unsure whether a frozen human can be revived, people continue
to believe in the process because resurrecting would be impossible if the person was buried
anyway.
To put it another way, they are betting on the possibility of them reviving.
If you’re now thinking of undergoing the process, keep in mind that it can be quite
costly.
In 2018, the cost of preparing and storing a person in a freezer ranges from 28,000 to
200,000 dollars.
This could be one of the reasons why persons who choose to go through this process are
usually those who have lots of money.
But what happens to someone who has been frozen for a long time?
Well, we can only base the answer on theories.
Scientists were able to unfreeze a rabbit's brain a few years ago.
And the most interesting part here is that the key connection between the neurons on
which brain activity depends remained intact even after several weeks of freezing.
Is it possible, though, that what occurred to the rabbit's brain could happen to a person?
Well, I don’t think so, especially since skeptics also claim that just freezing the
body in liquid nitrogen would result in the ice crystals destroying the cells of various
tissues.
In that instance, there is absolutely no chance of being resurrected.
Cryonics proponents, on the other hand, have a technique of defying nature and the rules
of physics.
For example, they discovered a means to convert the majority of the body's fluids into special
substance solutions.
These solutions would then not crystallize, which only means that the body would not be
damaged.
However, scientists also acknowledge that there is a need for extensive repairs of the
human brain after thawing.
It will still be necessary to fix the damaged areas because it will probably create more
problems.
Above all, it is still uncertain what will happen to a person's personality once they
have returned back to life after being in a frozen state.
Will they stay the same?
Will they be just fine?
What will happen if you freeze someone for 100 years and then defrost him?
Now that we've covered all of the medical-related issues, let's set those concerns aside for
a while and assume that the defrosting happens flawlessly.
Well, I think that that human will then wake up in a world that is completely different
from what he used to know.
In that case, it’s not like he will just open his eyes and will be settled right away.
He has to start over with his life and adjust to new technologies and norms.
He has to catch up to new trends.
In that situation, then maybe, even if he has resurrected, it isn’t going to be nice.
Whatever the case may be, all of this can only be discussed theoretically.
Until now, humanity has not been able to return the dead back to life, but give it some time
and maybe it will happen.
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