n. To reduce a dead body to a powder by freeze-drying it with liquid nitrogen and then crushing the remains.
2017
But trends in the funeral industry are beginning to shift as new and reconceived rituals, designed to be more culturally and environmentally sustainable, come into public awareness.
"We're hearing these new words starting to emerge from the field; one is aquamation, a cremation done with water," explains Dr Interlandi.
"Or you've got cryomation, where the body is actually submerged in liquid nitrogen and crushed afterwards."
"We're hearing these new words starting to emerge from the field; one is aquamation, a cremation done with water," explains Dr Interlandi.
"Or you've got cryomation, where the body is actually submerged in liquid nitrogen and crushed afterwards."
2014
Cryomation or promession is a novel technique that involves immersing a body in liquid nitrogen down to a temperate of -196ºC at which point it becomes extremely brittle. Pressure then fragments the body into small particles allowing for the removal of any surgical implants and other foreign material.
2013
Other options, such as freezing a body with liquid nitrogen in “cryomation”, are also mooted as alternatives to cremation. Fans claim that it produces fewer carbon-dioxide and mercury emissions (from dental fillings) than firing up a crematorium.
2007 (earliest)
Another interpretation of Promession is a process called "Cryomation." Its techniques vary slightly but the effects appear to be the same, and new data is appearing all the time.
A similar freeze-drying process is called promession, which is derived, perplexingly, from the Italian word promessa, "promise." I should also point out that cryomation is a process originally patented by Cryomation Ltd, a company that was founded in 2006 (and now goes by the pleasingly non-euphemistic name Incinerator Replacement Technology Ltd).