Eilíft líf

The possession of brain activity, or ability to resume brain activity, is a necessary condition to legal personhood in the United States. – Úr Wikipedia færslunni um dauða. Mætti beita til alls kyns hótfyndni, til dæmis um forseta.

Ég vil annars vekja athygli dauðlegra lesenda á að nú þegar eru til fyrirtæki sem varðveita lík þeirra sem gera ráð fyrir verulega framsækinni vöruþróun á sviði endurlífgunar. While few cryonicists (varðveitendur) doubt that a revived neuro patient (varðveittur heili, í stað heils líkama) would be the same person, there are wider questions about how a regenerated body might feel different from the original. Partly for these reasons (as well as for better public relations), the Cryonics Institute preserves only whole bodies. Some proponents of neuropreservation agree with these concerns, but still feel that lower costs and better brain preservation justify preserving only the brain. About three-quarters of the patients stored at Alcor are "neuros".

Hylkið hér við hliðina geymir fjóra líkama og sex heila, í fljótandi vetni við -196°C – og þarfnast ekki rafmagns.

Þetta verður semsagt allt í lagi.

Although there was at least one earlier aborted case, it is generally accepted that the first person frozen with intent of future resuscitation was Dr. James Bedford, a 73-year-old psychology professor frozen under crude conditions by CSC on January 12, 1967. The case made the cover of a limited print run of Life Magazine before the presses were stopped to report the death of three astronauts in the Apollo 1 fire instead.

Þeir sem hrífast af tækninni og vilja vandaða meðhöndlun eftir andlát en kæra sig ekki um endurlífgun í Star Trek þætti, geta haft samband við sænska fyrirtækið Promessa, sem beitir fljótandi vetni til frostþurrkunar á líkum, og nema úr þeim bæði vatn og málma, svo þau megi grafa með umhverfisvænni hætti en annars tíðkast:

The now dry powder then passes through a metal separator where any surgical spare parts and mercury are removed. In a similar way, the powder can be disinfected if required. The remains are now ready to be laid in a coffin made of corn starch. There is no hurry with the burial itself. The organic powder, which is hygienic and odorless, does not decompose when kept dry. The burial takes place in a shallow grave in living soil that turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about 6-12 months time. In conjunction with the burial and in accordance with the wishes of the deceased or next of kin, a bush or tree can be planted above the coffin. The compost formed can then be taken up by the plant, which can instill greater insight in and respect for the ecological cycle, of which every living thing is a part. The plant stands as a symbol of the person, and we understand where the body went.