Cryonics pioneer Robert Ettinger dies

Ettinger’s body is frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at the institute he founded, along with those of his mother and wives Robert Ettinger, a pioneer of the cryonics movement, has died and had his body stored at the facility he founded in the hope that medical technology will enable him to live again one day. Ettinger died at home on Saturday, aged 92, in a suburb of Detroit after weeks of declining health. His body became the 106th to be frozen and stored at the Cryonics Institute, which he founded in 1976. “My father devoted himself to doing what he could to enable his family, his friends and others to come back and live again,” said his son David. “Whether he will achieve that nobody knows at this point, but we think he has a good shot.” Ettinger, a university physics teacher, was seriously wounded during the second world war at the Battle of the Bulge and spent years in hospitals. The bone graft surgery that saved his legs inspired his optimism about the prospects of preserving life through technology, a statement from the institute said. . His son said Ettinger was also inspired by science fiction writings about deepfreezing the dead, and expected researchers to make serious progress toward developing the idea. But when nothing seemed to be happening, he wrote a 1964 book, The Prospect of Immortality, introducing the concept of cryonics. “If civilization endures, medical science should eventually be able to repair almost any damage to the human body, including freezing damage and senile debility or other cause of death,” he wrote. “No matter what kills us, whether old age or disease, and even if freezing techniques are still crude when we die, sooner or later our friends of the future should be equal to the task of reviving and curing us.” Ettinger promoted his theory in other writings and appearances on television. There are now similar facilities for preserving bodies in Arizona, California and in Russia. Ettinger also established the Immortalist Society, a research and education group devoted to cryonics and extending the human life span. The Cryonics Institute charges $28,000 (£17,000) to prepare a body and store it in a tank of liquid nitrogen. The first person frozen there was Ettinger’s mother, Rhea, who died in 1977. His two wives, Elaine and Mae, also are stored at the institute. Ettinger was never bothered by ridicule and was a “reluctant prophet”, his son said. “He did what he thought was necessary and appropriate and didn’t worry much about what people thought,” he said. “The people who are scoffers are like the people who said heavier-than-air flight won’t work.” Cryonics Medical research United States guardian.co.uk

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