Benjamin Franklin, founding father of the US, statesman, inventor, diplomat, had these prescient words to say on the subject of cryo-preservation:
I wish it were possible… to invent a method of embalming drowned persons, in such a manner that they might be recalled to life at any period, however distant; for having a very ardent desire to see and observe the state of America a hundred years hence, I should prefer to an ordinary death, being immersed with a few friends in a cask of Madeira, until that time, then to be recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country! But… in all probability, we live in a century too little advanced, and too near the infancy of science, to see such an art brought in our time to its perfection…
I couldn’t help but think of Franklin’s desire to be cryo-preserved in Madeira when I read this rather disturbing piece of news:
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.
[T]he body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.
Ah, who am I kidding? This story doesn’t belong in The Speculist. It isn’t about cryonics; it’s about a guy being pickled in booze.
VodkaPundit, call your office.