ABSTRACT
This chapter contemplates mortality and immortality, the transient and the eternal. It discusses the nature of information, the purpose of extracting meaning from data, and speculate on the future of medical imaging. From the very first image of a human hand, radiographic images and techniques have been strongly associated with human frailty and mortality. The radiographic electric shock has also has made prolific appearances in other cartoons, TV shows and elsewhere. Computer-generated animation is also more deeply enmeshed within medical imaging than simply rehashing the radiographic electric shock. Images, whether created by great artists, medical examinations, or simply holiday snaps have the capacity to outlive both their creators and their subjects, and in doing so achieve a form of immortality.
