• Question: is it possible to freeze yourself for 1000 years then unfreeze yourself in the future alive

    Asked by jacob399 to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 18 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      people are trying, of course the most famous is Walt Disney. Lots of bugs can do this sort of thing, there is one that can dry out and then come back to life when its watered – they have special cell walls that deal with the dehydration. The biggest problem with freezing people is probably that ice has a bigger volume than water and wehn you freeze someone you must burst all their cells…?

    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      That would be awesome but I don’t think so – that’s still the stuff of science fiction!

    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      No, I don’t think so. You would need to wait 1000 years to find out. If it were possible for sure, it would be an interesting thing to do, may be as interesting as going to Mars or the Moon. I expect some people would want to take the risk. I would miss my wife and children too much, though.

    • Photo: Pete Edwards

      Pete Edwards answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Hi Jacob
      I don’t think this technology is available yet but a lot of space scientists think we will need to be able to do this if we are to travel out into the universe to explore.

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Not yet, much as some californians might wish it were so. It is possible to freeze fertilized embryos – this is done routinely in IVF treatments to overcome infertility problems. But freezing and then successfully thawing much larger samples is still a technical challenge.

      I don’t like the idea of people wanting to extend their lives in such a manner. It seems to me to be selfish with respect to future generations.

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