Reading through the reactions to this (Not necessarily just this article), I see a lot of negativity. Why is the go-to reaction for so many people one of horror? Is it just because this is unprecedented?
I think that, for a bunch of people, their way of coping with death is to "accept" it as part of the natural order of things. Every time you watched parent, friend, relative, spouse, loved one, etc. die, you tell yourself that it had to happen. That's just the way things are.
Then something like this comes along. And it's an ugly reminder of the true scope of the tragedy of death: all those friends and loved ones, they didn't "just have to" die, and instead of just being a natural thing that just happens to people, their death could have...
http://www.businessinsider.com/valery-spiridonov-head-transplant-2015-4
Don't really have much to add beyond this. It's pretty awesome stuff though. The fact that this is even within the realm of possibility makes the argument for cryonics that much stronger.