No one lives forever — nor do they last forever. At least not without a lot of tuneups.

As much as it may seem like the bodies of famous world leaders such as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Mao Zedong have been preserved for all eternity, their enduring physical presence is simply an illusion aided by science.

Only the Venezuelan officials who have promised to preserve Hugo Chavez and display his body "for eternity" inside a glass tomb know exactly how they're going to do it.