Hibernation on Demand

Suspended animation is poised to move from science fiction to reality: scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle have successfully used hydrogen sulphide gas to induce a state of reversible hibernation in mammals for the first time, using methods that could eventually be applied to human beings. The breakthrough promises to allow doctors to slow human metabolism almost to a standstill, protecting critically ill patients from damage to the brain and other organs that would normally be inflicted by oxygen deprivation