For high-risk propositions yielding high returns, there is nothing to beat the handful companies marketing eternal life. {{U}}(31) {{/U}}the perceived rewards of being able to come hack to life{{U}} (32) {{/U}}some point, the risks are huge: Who would want to chance a repeat of disco or Victorian mores, let{{U}} (33) {{/U}}more meaningless millennium hype in 2999?
There are{{U}} (34) {{/U}}, more immediate risks involved in the new business of cryonics, {{U}}(35) {{/U}}is the deep freezing at death of human bodies for preservation and possible revival in future. The biggest problem is that, {{U}}(36) {{/U}}now, it is impossible to freeze people and bring them back to life.
On the other hand, if cryonics{{U}} (37) {{/U}}, you were already dead anyway.
{{U}} (38) {{/U}}it comes from the same root, kryos, the Greek word for cold, cryonics is not to be{{U}} (39) {{/U}}with the mainstream sciences of cryogenics or cryobiology. These involve freezing of metals or of simple organisms. Metals get stronger{{U}} (40) {{/U}}deep freezing, while the freezing and thawing of cancerous tissues can be a good way{{U}} (41) {{/U}}kill it.
{{U}} (42) {{/U}}cryonics seeks to do the opposite. The goal is to freeze a human head or an entire body{{U}} (43) {{/U}}the technology exists to do one of the following: graft a new body{{U}} (44) {{/U}}the head, clone a new person{{U}} (45) {{/U}}preserved DNA, or heal a sick body that has been preserved. If this sounds like science fiction, {{U}}(46) {{/U}}the moment it is.
Anyone who has{{U}} (47) {{/U}}put beer in the freezer and then forgotten about it can grasp the problems facing cryonics enthusiasts today. Ice is less dense than water. {{U}}(48) {{/U}}as beer left to freeze will eventually cause its container to burst, {{U}}(49) {{/U}}the ice that forms adds extra pressure, {{U}}(50) {{/U}}frozen cells can risk being punctured when the liquid in them freezes.