Few things seem more certain than death.
However, precisely when death occurs is less certain than it used to be. People who would have been given up for dead 100 years ago get a second chance today. More disturbingly, bodies that still show vital signs may actually be dead. Such developments are generating impassioned debates about how we deal with death, the dead and the dying.
We can look to the usual suspects for an explanation: The heat generated by huge advances in technology rubbing against traditional beliefs and customs is only intensified by the fact that they are struggling over something as primordial as death.