Current Date: 28 Oct, 2025
{{entry.title}}

Preserving Bodies in a Deep Freeze Await Revival

There are currently hundreds of deceased people in the U.S., including baseball legend Ted Williams, whose bodies are frozen in liquid nitrogen in hopes that future technology will be able to revive them.

At this facility, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation has cryopreserved the heads and bodies of 224 people in the hopes of being revived at a later time. On their website, the non-profit organization Alcor states that their mission is to “restore good health with medical technology in the future” through the preservation of bodies at temperatures below freezing. Liliana Salgado of Reuters writes that the heads and bodies of approximately 100 preserved pets as well as the so-called “patients” of humanity are crammed into cylindrical tanks filled with liquid nitrogen by the foundation.

Some of the patients had terminal illnesses like cancer or ALS, for which there is currently no treatment. According to Reuters, Max More, a former CEO of Alcor and current ambassador and president emeritus of the foundation, advances in medical science and technology cannot prolong the lives of individuals who are close to death.

“We’re saying give them to us instead of just disposing of the patient,” More says to Reuters. “We’re going to keep them stable, prevent them from getting worse, and keep them in place for however long it takes for technology to catch up so they can recover and live on.”

Peter Wilson reported for the New York Times last year that a number of medical and legal professionals have long been dubious about—or even hostile toward—human cryopreservation. Neuroscientist Clive Coen of King’s College London, England, describes cryonics as “a hopeless aspiration that reveals an appalling ignorance of biology” to Laurie Clarke of the MIT Technology Review.

However, according to Alcor’s website, for those who take part, the cryopreservation procedure starts as soon as a person is pronounced legally dead. Their organs are still viable as of right now. Reacting swiftly, the patient is transferred to an ice bath and their blood is replaced with an organ-preserving solution by a cryonics team that has typically been on standby, waiting for their death for up to a week.

Preserving Bodies in a Deep Freeze Await Revival 1
Alcor’s facility. Photo credit: Alcor

However, according to Alcor’s website, for those who take part, the cryopreservation procedure starts as soon as a person is pronounced legally dead. Their organs are still viable as of right now. Reacting swiftly, the patient is transferred to an ice bath and their blood is replaced with an organ-preserving solution by a cryonics team that has typically been on standby, waiting for their death for up to a week. The team injects cryoprotectants—chemicals that stop ice crystals from forming and damaging organs—into the patient’s circulation as soon as they get to Alcor’s Arizona facility. Alcor uses liquid nitrogen to store the body’s heat after it has been cooled to minus 320.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

The catch is that no cryonics organization is aware of how to restore life to its patients who have been preserved. On its website, Alcor states that a non-profit “confidence revival may be possible.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wBK7cvSJdps%3Fsi%3DivvN2mxiPHSe3ELm

Alcor was established in 1972, and in 1976 it successfully cryopreserved a human being. However, nearly ten years earlier, in 1967, psychologist James H. Bedford, then 73 years old, passed away from kidney cancer, making him the first person to ever be frozen in this manner. According to a 1997 article in The New York Times Magazine, Bedford’s body was placed on ice and processed by “experts from the Cryonics Society of California.” Since then, Bedford’s body has been frozen, and it is currently resting in one of Alcor’s tanks.

According to Reuters, two-year-old Matheryn Naovaratpong, a Thai girl with brain cancer, is the youngest patient at Alcor. She was cryopreserved in 2015.

More tells the publication, “She had multiple brain surgeries, and both of her parents were doctors.” Unfortunately, nothing was successful. They thus got in touch with us.

Among the other patients at the facility are baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams, who passed away in 2002 from complications related to heart disease, and software developer and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney, who passed away in 2014 from ALS. According to Reuters, the cost of cryopreservation at Alcor for a full body is at least $200,000, and the cost to preserve a single brain is $80,000.

Related Topic You Might Find Interesting:

Cryonics proponents are optimistic despite the lack of evidence supporting the efficacy of human cryopreservation, pointing to scientific advancements that allow for the successful cryopreservation and thawing of sperm, embryo, and stem cells, according to the MIT Technology Review. In 2016, researchers at 21st Century Medicine cryopreserved and thawed a rabbit brain without causing structural damage, Aaron Frank wrote for Vice at the time.

However, Coen tells MIT Technology Review that it is “disingenuous” to suggest that these findings could be applied to human cryonics because the structures of the human brain are too complicated for this to be feasible.

According to Reuters, Arthur Caplan, the director of the medical ethics department at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, has not seen any mainstream medical experts support cryonics.

Caplan tells Reuters, “This idea of freezing ourselves into the future is pretty science-fiction, and it’s naive.” “Those who specialize in studying the distant future or those with a vested interest in having you pay the money to do it are the only groups… getting excited about the possibility.”

Similar Stories
Mystery SOLVED: blood Rain in India

Mystery SOLVED: blood Rain in India

The dissemination of spores of microalgae has been identified as the origin of the 'Blood Rain' phenomena, according to a new study by Indian and Austrian experts. Since 1896, reports of intermittent red-colored rain in portions of Kerala and Sri Lanka have been coming in. The most recent one occurred in 2013 over Kerala.

Woman's memory reset every two hours after traumatic accident

Woman's memory reset every two hours after traumatic accident

Riley Horner, an Illinois teenager was accidentally kicked in the head. As a result of the injury, her memory resets every two hours, and she wakes up thinking every day is June 11. Riley keeps detailed notes of events happening throughout the day, and sets an alarm on her phone every two hours to remind her to review them. Riley also keeps a calendar in her room to remind her what day it is? As she wakes up every morning confused, thinking it's still June 11.

The Real-Life Sleeping Beauty: A Girl with Hypersomnia Syndrome

The Real-Life Sleeping Beauty: A Girl with Hypersomnia Syndrome

An Indonesian 17-year old teenager Siti Raisa Miranda or Echa, has a rare medical condition formally called Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) where she can sleep for days and weeks without being woken up. Echa was only 13 when she first slept for a week. She’s now 17, and her parents still need to feed her and change her clothes when she experiences the deep levels of grogginess.

In Pakistan, this banyan tree has been arrested since 1898

In Pakistan, this banyan tree has been arrested since 1898

In Pakistan, a tree has been arrested and chained since 1898. When a British officer who was drunk assumed it was leaving its place, it was arrested. The tree, which is presently located on the grounds of the Pakistan Army's Landi Kotal cantonment, continues to attract visitors and locals everywhere.

Brazilian Man with Rare ‘Upside Down’ Condition Becomes Successful Accountant and Speaker

Brazilian Man with Rare ‘Upside Down’ Condition Becomes Successful Accountant and Speaker

Born in Brazil with the rare and debilitating condition congenital arthrogryposis, which caused his head to be positioned upside down, this man was once written off by doctors who urged his mother to let him starve. Defying grim predictions, he overcame immense challenges to become a successful accountant and a powerful international motivational speaker, inspiring millions worldwide.

Domestic Flight Delay Caused by Live Snake on Board Leaves Passengers in Shock

Domestic Flight Delay Caused by Live Snake on Board Leaves Passengers in Shock

A domestic flight was unexpectedly delayed for nearly two hours after a snake was discovered slithering inside the plane’s cargo hold. Thanks to the swift efforts of a professional snake catcher and airline staff, the reptile was safely removed without any harm to passengers, turning a potentially alarming situation into a story of caution and calm.

How a Man Fooled Florida with Fake Penguin Tracks for 10 Years

How a Man Fooled Florida with Fake Penguin Tracks for 10 Years

In 1948, Florida’s Clearwater Beach was the stage for one of the longest-running and most peculiar hoaxes in American folklore. Giant three-toed footprints appeared mysteriously in the sand, sparking rumor and fascination about a 15-foot-tall penguin roaming the shores. For a decade, locals and visitors alike speculated and scanned for the elusive creature, never realizing the truth: these tracks were made by a man wearing 30-pound lead shoes designed to imitate an enormous penguin's footprint. This article uncovers the details of this elaborate prank and its lasting legacy in Florida’s cryptic history.