Starting this thread off keep in mind that all theories are welcomed although will be debated.
Proceeding from a previous thread my topic here will be an elaboration on the science behind cryogenic freezing and whether the concept of it in Alien leans toward fact or fiction. The question is whether hypersleep can actually happen as depicted in the films or is it just a stretch of imagination impossible in reality.
Starting off I like to welcome that the theory of hibernation is actually quite plausible (@openmaw). The North American Wood Frog prepares for winter not by migrating or burrowing but by freezing itself in accordance to the temperature. The frog has a special protein in its body called "
nucleating proteins." This causes the water in the frog to freeze to ice and in turn the liver releases glucose in the cells.
However this may not be the same case for a human being seeing as they are engineered differently.
I have yet to find if the frog still ages in the process...
Cryogenic practice happens today with freezing a legally pronounced corpse in hopes that it can be resurrected in the future.
Cryonics works only when a subject is pronounced legally dead. The reason is that being totally dead means that the body (cells to organs) is no longer intact and can be brought back where as legally dead means that your heart has stopped beating. If the heart has stopped only then can they perform their procedure not due to the inability but the legality, humans by law can't be frozen alive.
The freezing temperatures kills a human! No matter how far you try to push this to fact it remains fictitious that a human is alive while being frozen unless alterations to the anatomy are present. The reason for this is that if a human body freezes the inside of their cells expand and pushes through their walls which is a lot worst than what cancer would do to you...
However, when oxygen consumption is reduced there is a potential that a human can survive in frozen suspended animation and there have been cases where this has happened. Whether this might be possible in hypersleep I wouldn't know...
Please feel free to bring some ideas
Thank you to
Local Trouble for asking the question that brought this up. And
Openmaw for his suggestion on hibernation.
Sources:
Cryonics
http://zidbits.com/2011/02/can-a-human-be-frozen-and-brought-back-to-life/http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/physics-terms/cryogenics-info.htmNorth American Tree Frog
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070220-frog-antifreeze.htmlNo oxygen and freezing temperatures
http://m.livescience.com/6594-mystery-explained-frozen-humans-brought.html
