Cryonics photos delve into the frozen world of the immortality faithful
October 5, 2012
Bulk Tank, Cryonics Institute, Detroit 2007 (credit: Murray Ballard)
The Prospect of Immortality is a six-year study by UK photographer Murray Ballard, who has traveled the world pulling back the curtain on the amateurs, optimists, businesses, and apparatuses of cryonics, the preservation of deceased humans in liquid nitrogen, Wired reports.
“It’s not a large industry,” says Ballard, who visited the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona; the Cryonics Institute in Detroit, Michigan; KrioRus in Moscow, Russia; and Suspended Animation Inc in Boytan Beach, Florida; among others.
Last year, The Prospect of Immortality was exhibited at Impressions Gallery in Bradford, UK. During the exhibition the British Science Festival came to town.
Comments (10)
by deadalus
there was a time i considered this to be a possibility, but now that i see those stiffs wrapped in their sleeping bags and shoved inside the freezers like so… perhaps i had envisioned something a little more futuristic? I think im gonna hold out for the ability to upload my mind to the net..
by Gabriel
It’s that, or rot in the ground, or worse, cremation….Cryonics may not seem like it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, but right now in today’s day, it’s the best “when-all-else-fails” plan at ensuring your chance for a future revival.
by Giovanni
This book doesn’t seen to give a positive impression about cryonics.
by Gorden Russell
Dear Amara, this could be a good place to give us an update on young Kim Suozzi.
by Editor
Gordon: Max More asked me to hold off on posting an official statement for now (paperwork not completed).
by Ann
I understand it isn’t the “freezing” part that is the problem…but the problems associated w/ the “defrosting.” Is that still the case?
by Jorge
If I am not mistaken, it is the crystallization that occurs during the freezing process which is the result of cellular death. There are researchers in Japan that have discovered a way of freezing a single neuron and thawing it without any apparent damage. They accomplished it by freezing the cell is a specific aqueous osmolar vehicle.The trick is to apply this process to a full host without any damage.
by Gabriel
Awesome – I always wanted to learn more about this stuff….when all else fails, there at least is this to give yourself a chance for life again someday.
by Bri
Brings new meaning to a stiff.
by Gabor
Or a “headcase”, if you decide to freeze only the important part.