Faith in -196C: pioneers of resurrection – a photo essay

With death many people’s greatest fear, cosmists and transhumanists can offer a seductive myth of immortality.

One of Kriorus’ technicians about to enter the cooling chamber before the immersion into liquid nitrogen. In the cooling chamber the bodies are covered with dry ice to homogeneously drop body temperature to -78C. The use of the mask is mandatory, because the carbon dioxide vapours produced by sublimation can cause asphyxia.
  • Alexey Samykin and Igor Trapeznikov – activists of the Russian transhumanist movement – inside Kriorus headquarter during the making of the company documentary by the German channel Galileo.
  • In Moscow at the end of the 19th century a librarian of poor origins started reflecting on how future human beings, raising themselves from a condition of conflict and divisiveness, would eventually be able to defeat evil and death through a technological and cultural revolution. His name was Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. In the long run, the philosopher’s beliefs permeated Russian culture, inspiring scientists, mystics and artists who shared a peculiar, spiritual-philosophic doctrine later known as cosmism.

Moscow, Russian Federation, December 2017. In the musem-library named after Fedorov, some cosmists prepare celebrations on the occasion of the anniversary of Svetlana Semenova’s death. During the years, this place has represented the very heart of the Russian cosmist movement, and is to these days engaged in promoting and developing Fedorov’s ideas and thought.

Filippo Polistena, founder of the Polistena Human Cryopreservation, and his collaborators prepare the body of a cryopatient to be sent to Russia in a cemetery in Bologna, Italy, November 2017. Kriorus is making numerous deals outside of Russia to promote the practice of hybernation and carries out directly the training of collaborators.

Transhumanism is a cultural movement that encourages scientific and technological discoveries to enhance human physical and cognitive capacities. It believes that a future most people dismiss as science fiction is just around the corner. Transhumanists say that by 2045, humanity will experience “singularity”, a theory predicting human and artificial intelligence can be fused.

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