Genealogists spend lots of time in cemeteries, so perhaps we are all a bit more familiar with the dead than the average citizen. However, I don't know how to handle cryogenically frozen bodies in my genealogy database. How do I record a death event of "temporarily dead?" That's what the proponents of cryogenics would have you consider.
Well, it didn't work out for cryogenics pioneer Doctor Raymond Martinot.
Dr. Martinot froze his wife Monique following her death in 1984. Doctor Martinot himself was added to the freezer in 2002. For years, the couple was France's best-preserved corpses. Martinot had predicted that scientists would be able to bring him back to life by 2050. However, a recent refrigeration malfunction brought their plans for eternity to an end.
The couple's son, Remy Martinot, explained, "I realized in February that after a technical incident their temperature had risen to -20C probably for several days. The alert system [on the freezer] had not worked, and I decided at that point that it was not reasonable to continue." Cryogenics requires a constant level of -65C.
The two bodies were removed and cremated.
Details may be found at http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=%22Raymond+Martinot%22&btnG=Search+News
