Suspended animation now in clinical trials

Back when I was a kid, cryogenics was debunked for me by a helpful employee at the local Museum of Science, who showed me exactly why suspended animation through freezing couldn’t work. Dipping a water balloon in liquid nitrogen and freezing it solid, he then allowed the balloon to thaw… at which point, it spontaneously exploded. “Even if cryogenics worked in keeping people alive,” he said, “this is what would happen to every cell in your body when you thawed out.”

So much for Walt Disney’s head in a bucket somewhere… or is it? Over at Mass General Hospital, human trials for a futuristic suspended animation surgical treatment are now beginning.

Very cool, literally ...