CryonicsIf you've ever seen the Austin Powers movie, I'm sure you remember the part where they cryogenically freeze Austin, then thirty years later thaw him to save the world. Even though we all know Austin Powers isn't real, I'm sure you're wondering if this freeze could be made in real life. Today we'll look at what exactly cryonics is, what companies claim to provide it, the procedure and its risks. Cryonics involves freezing humans in order to preserve them for a later period. Yes, that's a possibility. In fact, several companies offer these services. Two of these companies are “The Cryonics Institute” and “The Alcor Life Extension Foundation”. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation calls this process Cryotransport. The cryotransport process begins, according to their website, as soon as possible after legal death. The patient is prepared and cooled to a temperature where decomposition stops, then kept in this cooling state called cryostasis until medical science has advanced enough to bring the person back to life when life extension and the fight against aging will have become a reality. A lot of damage is done to the body during this freezing, explains Dr. Ralph Merkle, a professional in the field of cryonics. First there are the fractures that form in frozen tissue, caused by thermal stress. If you were reheated, you would fall into pieces as if cut by thousands of sharp knives. And secondly, cryotransport is used as a last resort because legally, cryotransport cannot even begin until the patient is legally dead. So, when the patient is discharged, they are already sick and may have difficulty recovering from freezing injuries. Even after knowing all this, Dr. Merkle says cryotransport will almost certainly work. For what? He says that basically people are made of molecules and if they are arranged correctly the person is healthy, otherwise they are sick or dead. He believes that with technological advances we will be able to create and rearrange the molecular structure of frozen tissues. In the future, we will be able to stack and unstack these molecules like Lego blocks. Once the molecules are correctly arranged, the person is healthy. Death, once we have this technology, really won't be the same. You couldn't be truly dead unless you were cremated; torn or otherwise destroyed that there would be no way of knowing where these molecules are supposed to go.