It’s hoping against all hopes, but then miracles in science have happened in the past.

When Alexei Voronenkov’s mother passed away, he paid to have her brain frozen and stored in the hope that one day science will develop to the level where her mother will be brought back to life, and her brain integrated into her head.

It is one of the 71 brains and human cadavers which Russian company KrioRus calls its ‘patients’ floating in liquid nitrogen in one of the several metres tall vats in a corrugated metal shed outside Moscow. The brains are stored at minus 196 degrees Celsius with an aim of protecting them against deterioration.

The company offers to store the whole body for $36,000 and $15,000 for brain alone. Prices are higher for non-Russians.