Hundreds of People Are Frozen, Waiting for Science to Catch Up

Right now, as you read this, there are more than 700 people stored in giant tanks of liquid nitrogen at -196°C (-320°F). They're not dead—at least, not according to the cryonics industry. They're "deanimated," waiting for a future where science can repair whatever killed them and bring them back to life.

It sounds like science fiction, but cryonics is a real industry with real customers. The two largest facilities, Alcor in Arizona and the Cryonics Institute in Michigan, house the majority of these frozen hopefuls. Alcor has over 250 patients in storage, while the Cryonics Institute maintains 276. Smaller facilities in Russia, Europe, and Australia account for the rest.

The Deep Freeze Process

When someone signed up for cryonics dies, the clock starts ticking. A standby team rushes to preserve the body, pumping it full of medical-grade antifreeze to prevent ice crystals from shredding cells. The goal isn't to freeze the body, but to vitrify it—turning it into a glass-like state that preserves cellular structure.

Then comes the long wait in liquid nitrogen, where bodies can theoretically remain stable for centuries. Some patients choose whole-body preservation, while others opt for "neuro" preservation—just the head. Why? Because if future technology can revive you, it can probably build you a new body too. Plus, it's cheaper: around $80,000 for a head versus $200,000 for the full package.

Who Bets on Forever?

The typical cryonics patient isn't who you'd expect. While a few celebrities and billionaires have made arrangements, most are middle-class optimists who fund their preservation through life insurance. Many work in technology, science, or engineering—fields where betting on exponential progress feels rational rather than fantastical.

And they're not alone in their optimism. Over 4,000 people worldwide have signed up for cryopreservation when they die, a number that's been steadily growing since the first person—James Bedford—was frozen in 1967. Bedford is still in storage at Alcor, nearly 60 years later.

Will It Actually Work?

Here's where it gets complicated. No one has ever been revived from cryonic preservation. The technology to reverse the process doesn't exist yet, and may never exist. Scientists have successfully vitrified and thawed tiny organisms like nematode worms, and even some small mammal organs, but a whole human brain? That's orders of magnitude more complex.

Critics point out that current preservation methods likely cause irreversible damage at the cellular level. Even if future technology could repair tissue damage and restart biological processes, there's no guarantee that memories and personality—the things that make you you—would survive intact.

But cryonics patients aren't necessarily expecting a sure thing. They're making a calculated gamble: certain death now, or a small chance at life later. As one Alcor member put it, "It's the second-worst thing that can happen to you. Death is the worst." For true believers, being frozen isn't about certainty—it's about refusing to accept that this life is the only shot they'll ever get.