Cryonics, or wake me up when I can live forever

Some people choose cryopreservation after death, hoping future technology will revive them for eternal life

Countless individuals have yearned for more time on Earth, only to have their hopes cut short by the limitations of medical science. But what if we could wait until technology and medicine catch up with the dreams of living forever?

This is the underlying concept behind cryonics - the practice of cryogenically preserving human bodies or brains with the hope that future advancements in technology and medicine will enable their revival, cure the ailments that caused their demise, and perhaps even grant them immortality.

The idea of cryonics originated from Robert Ettinger, who drew inspiration from a science fiction story. In 1931, Neil R. Jones published a tale called "The Jameson Satellite," in which Professor Jameson sends his frozen body into space to indefinitely preserve it after death. In this story, Jameson's body is discovered by aliens 40 million years later, who then transfer his brain into a robotic body, granting him immortality.

Inspired by this story, Ettinger published "The Prospect of Immortality" in 1962, outlining the concept of freezing humans so that science and technology may eventually catch up and give them immortality. The idea has been vetted as scientifically plausible by none other than Isaac Asimov which added credibility to Ettinger’s proposal. This is the point where the cryonics began.