Reliving It Up

“Time of death,” says a doctor on TV, after frantic efforts to get someone’s heart pumping again fail, “5:11 am.” If it were only that simple! Research is increasingly suggesting that death is a complex process, sometimes reversible—sometimes not. Explore the differences between resuscitation and resurrection, then, without getting too dark, discuss with your team: how much of a person’s mind needs to be intact for it to be a good idea to keep them alive—and who should decide? You may also want to explore some historical ideas about what happens after death, including those below:
- Valhalla | Tartarus | Diyu | Jigoku
- Nirvana | samsara | happy hunting ground
It’s not as convenient as a wardrobe, but tensei stories offer an alternative portal to fantastical worlds: death and reincarnation. Explore this genre and discuss with your team: what are some common themes in these works, and why might they be so popular today? Could ours be the world that someone from another world be reincarnated in and perceive as fantastical?
People have searched for ways to live forever—well, basically forever. Today, many fields of scientific research, many spurred on by billionaires, promise that we are on the cusp of finding the answer—or at least a way to extend our lives in unprecedented ways. Explore the following technologies and discuss with your team: would you choose to undergo these treatments if they were available to you? Would it be good for society if people lived for centuries?
- cryonics | biomechatronics | regenerative medicine | genetic enhancement
- senolytics | stem cell therapy | reproductive cloning | digital cloning
The manga series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End portrays a 1000-year old elf with one regret: not getting to know her human companions better before they passed away. This is just one story in a long line of literary works exploring immortality and its consequences. Read the examples below, then discuss with your team: why is immortality such an attractive subject for storytellers? What are some common implications of immortality that they explore?
- William Wordsworth | “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (1815)
- Alfred Lord Tennyson | “Tithonus” (1833)
- Mary Shelley | “The Mortal Immortal” (1833)
- Ray Bradbury | “Hail and Farewell” (1948)
- Ursula K. Le Guin | “The Island of the Immortals” (1998)
In 2002, researchers in the United States were able to reconstruct the polio virus from scratch—from materials they ordered in the mail. Explore the emerging field of synthetic biology, then discuss with your team: how might advances in this field help you and your loved ones in the future? What does it mean to synthesize a thing, versus simply to make it? And what future applications of synthetic biology can you imagine existing outside the human body?
For scientists interested in studying living organisms, they can turn to the UK’s National Collection of Type Cultures, a repository of century-old bacteria samples. Meanwhile, the thawing permafrost in the arctic is exposing pre-historical pathogens—a boon for adventurous virologists but one that raises the concerning possibility of transmission to modern-day humans. Explore with your team: why are so many of these efforts taking place in the arctic?
Noah might not have needed an ark if he’d had the Arctic. Stashed away above the Arctic circle, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is dedicated to preserving seeds from around the world to guard against extinction. Research it and similar efforts, then discuss with your team: how important is the preservation of living samples of today’s species for future generations?

“Time of death, 5:11 am,” says a doctor on TV after failing to restart a patient’s heart. But is death really that simple? New research shows death can be a long process—and sometimes it can even be reversed. Talk with your team: what’s the difference between bringing someone back to life (resuscitation) and true resurrection? How much of a person’s brain must work for it to be right to keep them alive? Who should decide?
- Many cultures have ideas about life after death. You might explore:
- Valhalla | Tartarus | Diyu | Jigoku | Nirvana | samsara | happy hunting ground
In some fantasy stories, people die and are reborn in new worlds. These are called “tensei” or reincarnation stories. Why do you think these stories are so popular now? What are some common ideas in them? Could someone from another world be reborn here and find our world magical?
Humans have always looked for ways to live longer. Today, science may be close to helping people live for hundreds of years. Talk with your team about the new technologies below. Would you try any of them? Would it be good or bad for the world if people lived so long?
- cryonics | biomechatronics | regenerative medicine | genetic enhancement
  senolytics | stem cell therapy | reproductive cloning | digital cloning
In the manga Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, a 1000-year-old elf regrets not knowing her friends better before they died. Many stories explore immortality. Why do writers like this topic? What problems or ideas do they show in stories about living forever?
- William Wordsworth | “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (1815)
  Alfred Lord Tennyson | “Tithonus” (1833)
  Mary Shelley | “The Mortal Immortal” (1833)
  Ray Bradbury | “Hail and Farewell” (1948)
  Ursula K. Le Guin | “The Island of the Immortals” (1998)
In 2002, U.S. scientists made the polio virus from materials ordered by mail. This is part of a new area called synthetic biology. How might this help us in the future? What does it mean to "synthesize" something instead of just make it? What uses might it have outside the body?
In the UK, scientists can study very old bacteria in a national collection. In the Arctic, melting permafrost is releasing ancient viruses. This is exciting for science—but also a risk for humans. Why do so many of these discoveries happen in the Arctic?
In the far Arctic, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault protects seeds from around the world. This is to help protect plants from extinction. How important is it to save living samples like this for the future?

A doctor on TV says, “Time of death, 5:11 am.” But dying is not always so simple. Scientists say people can sometimes come back to life. Talk with your group: What is the difference between waking someone up (resuscitation) and coming back from death (resurrection)? How much of a brain must work for someone to stay alive? Who decides this?

Many cultures have ideas about life after death. Some of them are:

Some stories are about people who die and come back in a new world. These are called reincarnation stories. Why are they popular? What do they have in common? Could someone come to our world and think it is magical?

People want to live longer. Science may help us live a very long time. Look at these ideas. Would you try them? What would happen if people lived for hundreds of years?

In a comic book, an elf lives for 1000 years. She feels sad she did not know her friends better before they died. Many stories are about living forever. Why do writers like this? What problems do they show?

Some examples of these stories:

William Wordsworth (1815)
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1833)
Mary Shelley (1833)
Ray Bradbury (1948)
Ursula K. Le Guin (1998)

In 2002, scientists in America made the polio virus from mail-order parts. This is called synthetic biology. What can it do to help us? What is the difference between making and “synthesizing” something? Can we use this science outside the human body?

In the UK, there is a place that keeps very old bacteria. In the Arctic, frozen ground is melting and old viruses are coming out. This is exciting but also dangerous. Why does this happen so much in the Arctic?

There is a seed vault in the Arctic. It saves plant seeds from all over the world. This helps protect life. Why is it important to keep seeds and plants safe for the future?

“死亡时间，”电视上的一位医生在努力抢救一名病人未果后说道，“凌晨5:11。”如果死亡真的那么简单就好了！越来越多的研究表明，死亡是一个复杂的过程，有时可以逆转，有时则无法挽回。请探讨复苏（resuscitation）与复活（resurrection）之间的区别，然后和你的小组讨论：一个人的大脑需要保持多完整，我们才应该让他活下去？谁应该来决定这个问题？你还可以了解一些历史上关于死后世界的想法，例如：
- Valhalla（英灵殿）| Tartarus（地狱深渊）| 地狱（Diyu）| 地狱（Jigoku）
  涅槃（Nirvana）| 轮回（samsara）| 快乐的狩猎天堂（happy hunting ground）
虽然没有衣柜那么方便，但“转生（tensei）”类型的故事提供了通往奇幻世界的另一种方式：死亡与转世。请探索这一类型并与小组讨论：这些作品中有哪些共同主题？为什么现在这么受欢迎？我们的世界有没有可能是别人转生到的奇幻世界？
人类一直在寻找永生的方法——或至少是非常长寿。如今，由亿万富翁推动的多个科研领域声称我们已经接近答案——或者至少可以以前所未有的方式延长生命。请探索以下技术并与小组讨论：如果可以，你会选择接受这些治疗吗？如果人类能活几百年，对社会是好事吗？
- 冷冻术（cryonics）| 仿生电子学（biomechatronics）| 再生医学（regenerative medicine）| 基因增强（genetic enhancement）
  清除老化细胞技术（senolytics）| 干细胞治疗（stem cell therapy）| 生殖克隆（reproductive cloning）| 数字克隆（digital cloning）
漫画《葬送的芙莉莲》中，一位活了1000年的精灵后悔没有更好地了解她的人类同伴。这只是文学作品中关于“不死”主题的众多例子之一。请阅读以下文献并与小组讨论：为什么“不死”是如此吸引人的写作主题？作者通常会探索哪些与永生相关的问题？
- 威廉·华兹华斯 |《不朽的暗示颂》（1815）
  阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生 |《提托诺斯》（1833）
  玛丽·雪莱 |《凡人不朽者》（1833）
  雷·布雷伯里 |《告别与欢呼》（1948）
  乌苏拉·勒古恩 |《不死者之岛》（1998）
2002年，美国研究人员从邮购材料中重建了小儿麻痹病毒。请探索合成生物学这一新兴领域，并与小组讨论：这一领域的进展将如何帮助你和你的亲人？合成一件事与“制造”它有什么不同？你能想象合成生物学在人体外的未来应用吗？
对于研究生物的科学家来说，他们可以前往英国“国家标准微生物菌种库”，那里保存着有上百年历史的细菌样本。与此同时，北极的永久冻土正在融化，释放出史前病毒——这对喜欢冒险的病毒学家来说是一种福音，但也可能对现代人类构成威胁。请与小组探讨：为什么这些研究大多集中在北极地区？
诺亚也许不需要方舟，只要有北极圈。斯瓦尔巴全球种子库坐落在北极圈之上，旨在保存世界各地的种子，以防物种灭绝。请研究这个种子库和类似的项目，然后讨论：为后代保存今天的物种样本有多重要？