You are either dead or alive.

The eye reflex is mediated by the brain stem, and that's the area that keeps us alive; if that doesn't work, then that means that the brain itself isn't working. At that point, I'll call a nurse into the room so I can certify that this patient is dead.

I know this sounds silly, but why the nurse? Because we are so prone to error, just like me with writing.

Nowadays, we have improved technology so we can bring people back to life. In fact, there are drugs being developed right now - who knows if they will ever make it to the market - that may actually slow down the process of brain-cell injury and death.

If you look back at the end of the 19th century, physicists at that time worked with Newtonian laws of motion, and felt they had all the answers to everything that was out there. Today, Newton's laws no longer apply. A new physics was needed, hence, quantum physics.

Because we are pushing through the boundaries of science, working against fixed assumptions and perceptions; medicine progresses will end up with lots and lots of ethical and moral questions.

The CERN particle accelerator may take us back to our roots. It may take us back to the first moments after the Big Bang, back to the very very beginning of Creation?

Now, that is clinically dead.

Awareness during resuscitation