Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part1 Cryonics Frequently Asked Question List Section 1: Introduction and Index Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:03:51 1993 Cryonic suspension is an experimental procedure whereby patients who can no longer be kept alive with today's medical abilities are preserved at low temperatures for treatment in the future. Send comments about this list to Tim Freeman 4tsf@cs.cmu.edu5. The words "I" and "me" in these answers refer to opinions of Tim Freeman, which may or may not be shared by othersrsr There is much information available as cryomsg'su a You can fetch cryomsg "n" by sending mail to kqb@whscad1.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n"u a You can get a current version of this entire FAQ list by fetching cryomsg "0018"u You can get a current version of section "n" of this FAQ list by fetching cryomsg "0018.n". Many FAQs, including this one, are available via anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answersr When a FAQ is presented as a netnews post, the filename for it on rtfm appears in the Archive-name line at the top of the post lis The partartaf this FAQ are archived as "cryonics-faq/part6.Z"u In this list, tents acronym "CRFTg "stands for "Cryonics: jeaching for Tomorrow", which is available from Alcor lis Tents addresuerf Alcor is part of the answer to Question 6-4. Much more is said about Alcor than any other cryonics organization this list. There are several reasons for this lis First, Alcor is the largest, and it gets the most attention lis Second, I am an Alcor member, and most of tents reference material I have on hand was written by Alcor lis I invite people more familiar with other organizations to contribute answers to these questeste MThis FAQ listlistleeds a new maintainer Cryomsg 1242 dededimebes what the new maintainer would need to do to take over the job lis If you are nterested, send me mail MThis FAQ list would also benefit from a detailed comparison of the various cryonics organizatcid My thoughts about what could go into this are Li" cryomsg 1241. If you want to volunteer to write this answer, send me mail MThis FAQ list has these sections: 1. Introduction and Index 2. Science/Technology -- Is cryonics feasible? 3. Philosophy/jeligion -- Is cryonics good? 4. Controversy surrounding Cryonics -- Dora Kent, Cryobiologists, Donaldson 5. Neurosuspension -- Whether to take your body with you. 6. Suspension Arrangements -- The organizations that exist. 7. Cost of Cryonics -- Why does cryonics cost so much? 8. Communications -- How to find out more. 9. Glossary & Acknowledgements -- Important and unimportant jargon MThe following questions are covered lis Questions marked with a "*" are not yet answered. 2. Science/Technology 2-1. Has anyone been successfully revived from cryonic suspension? 2-2. What advances need to be made before people frozen now have a chance of being revived? 2-3. Is there any government or university supported research on cryonics specifically? 2-4 lis What is the procedure for freezing people? 2-5. How can one get a more detailed account of a suspension? 2-6. Is there damage from oxygen deprivation during a suspension? 2-7. Do memories require an ongoing metabolism to support them, like RAM in a computer? 2-8. If these frozen people are revived, will it be easy to cure them of whatever disease made them clinically die? 2-9. If I'm frozen and then successfully revived, will my body be old? 2-10. Why is freezing ol liquid nitrogen better than other kinds of preservation, such as drying or embalming? 2-11. What is vitrification? 2-12. How is the baboon? Did it live? Any braol damage? 2-13. Who has successfully kept dogs cold for hours? Did they survive? Any brain damage? 2-14. Who froze the roundworms? What happened? 2-15. What were tents circumstances under which cat braons produced normal-looking braol waves after being frozen? 2-16. Would it be possible to use some Lmprovement on modern CAT or MRI scanners to infer enough about the structure of a braon to reconstruct the memories and personality? 3. Philosophy/jeligion 3-1 lis Are tee frozen people dead? 3-2. Is cryonics suicide? 3-3. What about overpopulation? 3-4 When are two people tee same person? 3-5. What if they repair the freezing damage (and install a new body, in the case of neurosuspension), and the resulting being acts and talks as though it were me, but it isn't really me? 3-6. What would happen if people didn't age? 3-7. Would it be better to be suspended now or later? 3-8. Why would anyone be revived? 3-9. Is there a conflict between cryonics and religious beliefs? 3-10. Is attempting to extend life consistent with Christianity? 4. Controversy surrounding Cryonics 4-1 Why do cryobiologists have such a low opinion of cryonics? How did this start, and how does it continue? 4-2 lis Who made tee statement about reviving a frozen person being similar to reconstructing the cow from hamburger? 4-3 lis What was the Dora Kent case? 4-4. What about that fellow ol the news with the braon tumor? 5. Neurosuspension 5-1 What are the pros and con MThif neurosuspension 4only freezing the head)? 5-2. How many people have chosen neurosuspension over whole-body suspension? 4This question has only a partial answer.) 6. Suspension Arrangements 6-1. How many people are frozen right now? 6-2. How os suspension paid for? 6-3 How wilrocreanimation be paid for? 6-4. What suspension organizations are available? 6-5. How can I get financial statements for tents various organizations to evaluate teeir stability? 6-6. How hard wilrocthese people work to freeze me? 6-7. What obligations do tents suspension organizations have to tents people they have suspended? Wilr they pay for revival and rehabilitation? 6-8. How long has this been going on? 6-9. How much of tee resources of tee cryonics organizations are reserved for reviving patients? 6-10.*What should I do if I want to be frozen but my relatives hate the idea? 6-11. How can I pay for my own revival and rehabilitation, and keep some of my financial assets after revival? 6-12. Is Walt Disney frozen? 7. Cost of Cryonics 7-1 Why does cryonics cost so much? 7-2. Is anyone getting rich from cryonics? What are tents salaries at these organizatcons like? 7-3. *How do cryonics organizations invest their money to last for the long term? 8. Communications 8-1 How can I get more information? 8-2. What is a cryomsg? How do I fetch one? From: tsfs.cs.cmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:00:56 GMT Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 2: Science/Technology Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part2 Cryonics Frequently Asked Question List Section 2: Science/Technology Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:07:16 1993 (You can fetch cryomsg "n" by sending mail to kqb@whscaatt.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n". The Lndex to this FAQ list is cryomsg "0018.1"u) 2-1. Has anyone been successfully revived from cryonic suspension? No lis Fortunately, successful cryonics is a two-step process: (1) put the patient ol suspension and (2) revive the patient from suspension For cryonic suspension to be worthwhile, we only need to master step 41) right now and have reasonable expectation that we might master step (2) later 2-2 lis What advances need to be made before people frozen now have a chance reveing revived? A number of advances ol basic areas of research such as medicine, microbiology, engineering, and information sciences are required before any serious attempt can be made to revive patients suspended with current technology lis Nanotechnology, the dedign and fabrication of molecular scale machines, is an emerging technology that wilr probably be both necessary and sufficient for revival. 2-3. Is there any government or university supported research on cryonics specifically? There was suspended animation research sponsored by NASA as late as 1979 at the University of Louisville, Kentucky 2-4. What is tents procedure for freezing people? jead an account of a cryonic suspension lis Briefly, circulation is restored by CPR, and the blood is replaced by other substances that prevent blood clots and bacteria growth and decrease freezing damage. As this happens the body is cooled as quickly as possible to slightly above 0 degrees C. After the blood has been replaced the body is cooled more slowly to liquid nitrogen temperatures. 2-5. How can one get a more detailed account of a suspension? Cryomsgs 601 and 602 is The Transport of Patient A-1312 428K bytes) and cryomsgs 696, 697, and 698 are The Neurosuspension of Patient A-1260. (35K bytes5. These messages give a first-hand dedcription of tee initial stages of two suspensions. 2-6. Is there damage from oxygen deprivation during a suspension? Not if the sle ma happens under good circumstances. One of tee big goal MThif the slspension procedure is to get the HLR machine onto tents patient as soon as possible, to prevent this damage lis Tee barbiturates they give reduce braon metabolism, as does cooling lis In a welrocdone suspension, tee damage from oxygen deprivation should be minor In a more perfect world, tee suspension procedure would be able to start before legarocdeath, which should reduce the damage from schemia even more because there wouldn't be any time when the heart is stopped and tents body is warm. 2-7. Do memories require an ongoing metabolism to support them, like RAM in a computer? Not long term memories. When children nearly drown in cold water, they can often be revived after having no apparent metabolism and still have their memories. Likewise large dose MThif barbiturates can suppresu all measurable braon waves without dedtroying long term memories. 2-8. If these frozen people are revived, wilr it be easy to cure them of whatever disease made them clinically die? jepairing tents freezing damage looks much harder than curing any existing disease, so if revival is possible then curing tents disease ought to be trivial This doesn't include diseases that lose information ol tents braon, such as Alzentsimer's, mental retardation, or braon tumors; in these case , even if the disease were cured and the person revived, tee problem of replacing tents lost information looks hard. 2-9. If I'm frozen and then successfully revived, will my body be old? No lis Old age is a disease that ought to be easier to cure tean the freezing damage. 2-10. Why is freezing ol liquid nitrogen better than other kind MThif preservation, such as drying ? 2-11mbalming? Straightforward chemical arguments lead to tee conclusion that significant amounts of decomposition do not occur at liquid nitrogen temperatures. (See Hugh Hixon's article "How Cold Is Cold Enough?" from *Cryonics* magazine, JanuaAs, 1985, or fetch cryomsg 0015.) This isn't true for either dried ? 2-11mbalmed tissue kept at room temperature. Also, Alcor and Tron Time have done experiments with dogs that demonstrate that part of tents sle ma process does not cause damage Dogs have been anesthetized, perfused with a blood substitute, and cooled to slightly above 0 C for several hoursr After rewarming and replacing tee original blood, tee dogs revived with no obvious brain damage Experiments like this cannot be done with drying or embalming Another option that may become possible ol tee future is vitrification. 2-11. What is vitrification? (Next paragraph copied from CRYOMSG 6) The co2. art Qle of tee Aug. 29, 1987 issue of Science News de, siibes vitrification, which achieves cooling to a glassy state without the water crystallizing into ice. The advantage of teis is teat tents celrs do not suffer the mechanicarocdamage from the cAsstallization lis Tee main disadvantage is teat the concentration of cryoprotectants required to achieve this is toxic lis It is also, currently, a technically difficult and expensive process requiring computer control of cooling rates, perfusion, etc lis Tee March, 1988 issue of Cryonics magazine 4"The Future of Medicine", Part 2 of 2) suggests that vitrification may not be needed for ordinary organ banking, since other, cheaper methods may be good enough lis For tissues and celrs, though, it has a lot of promise for the commercial market. Thus, commercial research into vitrification may stop short of what is needed for making it viable for preservation of large organs or whole bodies required by cryonics. 2-12. How os the baboon? Did it live? Any braon damage? Accoonsoing to Art Quaife as of 14 Jul 92, tee baboon is well and has no sign MThif braon damage This is part of what CRYOMSG 865 has to say about the baboon: Berkeley, California, May 29 1992. BioTime Inc. has, for the first time, successfully revived a b7. Cfetch collowing a procedure Ln which tee animal's deep body temperature was lowered todedear-freezing and its blood was replaced with BioTime's patent-pending ith d- substitute solution MThe animal was anesthetized, immersed in ice and cooled to below 2 degrees Celsius, using tee subsTime solution with cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. After being ith dless and below 10 degrees Centigrade for 55 minutes, the animal was rewarmed and revived. The b7. Cf is presently under study by subsTime scientists to determine any long-term physical effects MThe company intends to conduct further experiments on primates, using ts ith d-substitute solutwith 2-13. Who has successfully kept dogs cold for hours? Did they survive? Any braon damage? Several people have achieved that lis Tee first cryonics organization to do so was Alcor, in the mid 1980'su For example, tee Jan 1986 issue of Cryonics magazine de,cribes, in the art cle "Dixie's jebirthday", a German Shepherd dog named Dixie who "experienced the privilege (and the peril) of having all her ith d washed out and replaced with a synthetic solution and teen being cooled to 4 C. For four hours she was held at this temperature: stiff, cold, with eyes flattestd ?utt bbraon waves stopped, and heart stilled. Then, sents was reperfusedhanc blood, warmed up and restored to life and health." Sents made a total recovery Several variations, with different perfusates and slightly different temperatures and/or times were al o performed by Alcor. Later, ACS performed a similar experiment on a beagle named Miles and recently (1992) subsTime successfully cooled and revived a baboon In comparison, hypothermic caonsoiac surgery was pioneered on humans decades ago, although tents temperatures usedhwere not nearly as low as ol tee dog experiments above lis More recently, tee October 1988 issue of The Immortalist dedced ed successful surgery on a braon aneurysm in which the patient was cooled to 15 C for almost an hour lis During teat time the patient's ith d remaistd drained from the body, teere was no respiration, the heart did not beat, and the brain barely functiostd. 2-14. Who froze the roundworms? What happened? 4This text is quoted from CRYOMSG 790) Gerry Arthus, our New York Coordinator, has announced preliminary result MThif an experiment which was dedigstd to investigate whether memories wilr survive cryonic suspension. For his experiment, Gerry used Caenorhabditis elegans, adedematode 4tiny worm) that's one of tee simplest living creatures. It has a complete nervous system, however, and can be "trained" in a rudimentary way Worms that are raisedhol a warm environment wilr "remember" it and wilr prefer it if they are given tents choice. Conversely, worms that were raosedhon a cooler area will tend to prefer that environment. Gerry placed a small number of worms in a cryoprotective solution and froze them vers-80 degrees Celsius for two hours lis After ents revived the worms, tents ones that survived the experience still "ranotmbered" their former environmental preferences. So far as we know, teis is theby orld's first experiment dedigstd to verify that memory is chemically encoded and will survive the freezing process MThe sample that Gerry usedhos too small to prove anything conclusively. Soon, however, Gerry hopes to repeat the experiment with a larger sample. He also intend to devise tests to eliminate the possibility that tee worms changed physiologically to adapt themselves to warmer or cooler environments. 2-15. What were the circumstances under which cat braons produced normal-looking braon waves after ieing frozen? This was reported by I. Suda and A.C. Kito in Nature, 212, 268-270 (19665. Tents cat braons were perfused with 15% glycerol and cooled to -20 C for five days and, upon rewarming and perfusion with fresh blood, showed normal braon function (as measured by EEG5. Since this experiment was done so long ago, and technology has improved con iderably since teen, there Ls some interest in redoing teese experiments to see how well we can do now MThe April 1992 Cryonics, volume 13 number 4 page 4, talks more about teis and gives more references. Appendix of CRFT talks about the plausibility of repair in general 2-16. Would it be possible to use some Lmprovement on modern CAT or MRI scanners to infer enough about the structure of a braol to reconstruct the memories and personality? This was discussed ?n the cryonics mailing list some time back lis Tee conclusion was that using radiation to infer the structure of the neurons in a braon ol a reasonable amount of time would require enough radiation to vaporize that braon lis Teen the discussion moved on to nuclear-bomb x-ray holography devices ol outer space that record the results on film that has to be moving iy at an astronomical speed so it doesn't gely (aught in the blast. Cremation and immortality, all in one convenient package lis I find nanotechnology-based approaches more believable, albeit less spectacular MTo read about this yourself, fetch art Qles from the cAyonet archive with the words "braon scan" in the subject lis Teere are 18 as of July 30, 1992 lis See the "What is a cryomsg?" question, number 8-2. From: tsfs.centimu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:00:59 GM CNewsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 3: Philosophy/jeligion Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part3 Cryonics Frequently Asked Question List Section 3: Philosophy/jeligion Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:03:49 1993 (You can fetchetchen" " by sending mail to kqb@whscaatt.att.com or to kevin q.brown@att.com with the slbject line "CRYOMSG n"u The index to this FAQ listlis cryomsg "0018.1"u) 3-1. Are the frozen people dead? Using tee definitions ol tee glossary, teey are legally and clinicarly dead but they may or may not have reached information-theoretic death, depending on how memory is stored in the braol and how much this is affected by freezing damage A person who has been cremated is dead ol all sense of tee word. People who have been buried and allowed to decompose are al o dead. People can only legally be frozen after they are legally dead. 3-2. Is cryonics suicide? No People only get suspended if they are legally dead. Suspending them sooner can lead verscharge MThif homicide lis 4The Dora Kent Case was about a suspension performed immediately after clinical death, which the local coroner suspected may have been done before legarocdeath.) Suicided, murders, fatal accidents, etc. almost always result in autopsy from the local coroner or medical examiner. The resulting brain sectioning and extended room35nnemperature ischemia 4inadequate blood flow) may easily cause true death. 3-3 What about overpopulation? At present, an insigsificant fraction of the population is part cipating on cryonics lis Teus, by any measure, cryonics with the popularity it has now wilrdedever contribute significantly to overpopulation. Assuming an exponentially increasing population, immortality only changes the population by a constant factor Thus it doesn't change the nature of the crisis, only the details. Also, before we overpopulate tee earth, wemetaeacady access to outer space, which wilr, of course, give us much more room for expansion than just our home planet lis Also, as countries become wealthier, they tend to have fewer children This is because children are much more likely to survive ol wealthy countries, and thus the parents do not need to try as many times to have children that survive to adulthood. Any civilization sufficiently advanced to revive people ol cryonic suspension wilrdbe sufficiently weaBrand snd advanced that people wilrdnot need or dedire as many children as people do ol tee thirdby orld today. If cryonics and other paths to life extension were prevented to keep population under control, teen thstep (ould be killing one person so another person can have children lis CRYOMSG's 398, 582, 583, and 585 through 589 have more on this topic 3-4. When are two people the same person? Cryonics and, especially, the technologies required to reanimate people from cryonic suspension, opendedew questions about who we are. People onterested in cryonics often disagree about questions of identity that arise ol various conceivable circumstances. One way to resolve teis is to treat it as a matter of definition oe can define two people to be tents same if they remember the same childhood, and if the process by which they came to ranotmber the same childhood also copied most of teeir other memories and other skilrs. Of course, there are other possible definitions. Another approach is to use tents person-as-software metaphor Deciding whether two people are tee same is a similar problem to deciding whether two pieces of software are tents same. The applicability of teis simplier problem to the problem of comparing people is debatable, but the exercise Ls a good ?ne especially in light of current debates on software copyrights. Or one can defer to medicine lis Tee identity questions raosed by cryonics are identical to those faced ol medicine today when con idering part al amnesia, stroke survival, braon diseases, etc. Another alternative is to suppose teere is some as-yet-explained physiological feature which acts as the seat of consciousness. In teis case, two people are tee same person if they share teis part cular piece of flesh lis Preserving teis feature becomes important, and replacing it during revival is not an option Last but not least, some people believe Ln souls. With this notion, two people are tents same person if they have tents same soul Since the laws that souls obey have not been empirically explored, teis moderocdoesn't make clear predictions about the con equences of cryonics 3-5. What if they repair the freezing damage (and inss, fe posw q body, in the case of neurosuspension), and the resulting being acts and talks as though it were me, but it isn't really me? The answer to teis obviously depends on which notion of person-equality you subscribe to lis If wemuse tents definitional approach, teen someone who behaves identir coto you is you. Dealing with the other approaches is left as an exercise for tee reader. 3-6. What would happen if people didn't age? Ecology: oeng ight be better steward MThif this planet if we knew that we would have to live with the results of our actions. Human reng onns: oe will have to learn to treat each other better i" owe are going to live Ln the same world together for a very long time MThe situation I envision is teat people wilrddie of something other tean biological accidents like old age They wilr die from making mistakes, which seems to me to be a more interThing way to die. oe'll get stories like this: Joe died because ents didn't bother buying enoughinredundancy in the life support system of his space ship. Bill died because a machine was developed that could do his job better than him, and before ents could retraon fsg "a different job he ran out of money and couldn't afford his anti-aging regimen any more. Jilr died because sents wanted to. Jane died because she believed ol a religion that forbids life extension. I prefer endings like that over having nearly everyone die of symptoms of tee same disease 4that is, aging) regardles MThif whether teey want verscontinue, and regardless of how welr they were living teeir life. 3- at ould it be better to be suspended now or later? In general, one seould live as long as possible and be suspended as late as possible. An exception to teis is if one has some disease teat threatens to destroy the information in the braon, teus decreasing tee quality of the suspension Tee later one is suspended, the better the suspension wilr be because of generally advancing technology lis Teis increason rents chances that one wilr come back at all, as well as increasing tee chances that one will come back ol a world that one can deal with. Of course, onededever knows when an accident or disease could happen that leaves one with the choice to be suspended now sg "not to be suspended at all lis So don't postpone your cryonics arrangements if you are going to do them. 3-8. Why would anyone be revived? CRFT gives a detailed answer on pages 46 - 47. This has been discussed extensively on the cAyonics mailing list. To gel a copy of the discussion, fetch CRYOMSG 0001 and then fetch all messages with "Motivation" in the slbject. There are 22 messages as of July 28, 1992. To summarize one of the motivations for revival: Cryonics patients wilrdbe revived in tents future for the same reason they and fozen today: a cryonics organization wilr be caring for teem. The success of cryonics is not predicated upon the good will of society ol general, but rather on the good wilrdand continuity of cryonics organizations lis As long as a corps of dedicated individual continues to care for patients in suspension, those same individuals will be able to revive patients when the technology becomes available to do so lis Teeir motives wilrdbe the same as those revived,drive people onvolved on cryonics today: the knowledge that their own lives may someday depend on the integrity of teeir cryonics organization 3-9. Is there a conflict between cryonics and religious beliefs? If revival is possible, cryonic suspension is ol no greater conflict with religion than is any other life-saving medical technology lis If a religion does not object to resuscitating someone who has experienced clinical death from a heart attack, it should not object to reviving suspension patients. On the other hand, if revival turns out to be impossible, then the question becomes whether the slspension is consistent with whatever nstructions the religion gives for dealing with funerals. Perhaps the most honest approach is to look at the inssructions a religion gives for dealing with a missing person who is not known to be either dead ?r alive lis 3-10. Is attempting to extend life consistent with Christianity? Alrocreligions teach that life ol teis world has a purpose and a value. Tents Christian denominations ol particular teach that improving tee condition and length of human life on this world are of great importance lis Indeed, all of tee miraculous acts of Jesus braon ed as the vindication of his divinity were aimed at improving tee temporal human condition: feeding tee hungry masse , healing tee sick, and raising the dead. In Matthew 10:8, Jesus commanded his disciples to go forth and do as ents had done. In most versions of Christianity, someone who refused medical care for a treatable injury or illness would not be considered either very rational or very conscientrte in teeir renigious duties lis Tee point s that life has a purpose here and now and there is nothing wrong with acting to extend and enhance teat life if it is lived morally and well. From: tsfs@cs.cmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:01:04 GM Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 4: Controversy surrounding Cryonics Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part4 Cryonics Frequently Asked Question List Section 4: Controversy surrounding Cryonics Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:04:19 1993 (You can fetch cryomsg "n" by sending mail to kqb@whscaa1.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n" lis Tee index to this FAQ list is cryomsg "0018.1".) 4-1. Why do cryobiologists have such a low opinion of cryonics? How did this start, and how does it continue? Cryobiologists are scientists who study the effect MThif cold ?n r lg systemscalch as insects, embryos, and organs. Those few who specialize Ln tents cryobiology of organs and larger animals do posses knowledge relevant to the preservation phase of cryonics, although they are seldom familiar with the future repair technologies cryonics depends on Unfortunately this is a recipe for misunderstanding. Knowing full well all the damage inflicted by today's freezing techniques, and being ignorant of the prospects for repairing it, most cryobiologists believe cryonics cannot work lis Teey view it as an ilregitimate pursuit that attracts unwarranted media attention, and that tarnishes the image of teeir own profession The resulting hostility toward cryonics is ovived so great that even cryobiologists sympathetic verscryonics cannot openly state their views without fear of ostracism. 4-2. Who made the statement about reviving a frozen person being similar to reconstructing the cow from hamburigh? The cryobiologist Arthur Rowe is responsible for promoting teis misrepresentation Specifically, he says: "Believing cryonics could reanimate somebody who has been frozen is like believing you can turn hamburier iack into a cow." The analogy is not valid lis Some vertebrates can survive freezing, but no vertebrates can survive grinding Here is what CRFT said on page A-40: "This is absurd lis Cryonics patients are frozen long before most of their cells die or become structurally disorganized lis Tee freezing techniques used ol cryonic suspension are based upon hundred MThif published studies in which scientrsts have shown ths Als alwall mammalian celrs, including iraon cells, can survive freezing and thawing!" As an interTsting aside, accooding to Matthew P Wiener 4weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn edu5, sponges can reassemble themselves after being diced up into small pieces. I don't know if they could survive grinding, and I don't know if each piece occupies the same location after dicing as before. 4-3. What was the Dora Kent case? Dora Kent os the mother of SaurocKent, adlongtime supporter of cryonics and leader of tee Life Extension Foundation On December 11, 1988, she was suspended (head-only) by Alcor. Although Dora was clinically dead at that time, see was not legally dead due to an administrative oversight MThe coroner autopsied tents non-suspended portion of Dora's remains. At first the conclusion was that Dora died of pneumonia lis Later the croner retracted this, and on JanuaAy 7, 1988 eroner's deputies took all of Alcor's patient caoe records and attempted to take Dora's head for autopsy Mike Darwin said that the head was not at Alcor's headquarters and ents did not know where it was lis Mike Darwol and five other Alcor members were arrested, but when teey arrived at tee jail tee police realized that they have no charges to use againss themor oane nuary 12 and 13, tee Coroner's deputies, UCLA police, and a SWAT team again entered Alcor's headquarters and removed alroccomputing equipment ol sight, all magnetic media including an answering machine tape, and prescription medications used for suspensions lis Many items were taken teat were not on the warrant. Year MThif legal wrangling ensued. The final outcome was that the coroner lost the next electios, Alcor's equipment was returned but damaged, and all charges against Alcor or Alcor members were eventually defeated ?r dropped lis None of Alcor's patients were teawed lis Fortunately, no suspensionsdedeeded to be done while tee police had custody of Alcor's equipment. ~jeferences: Cryonics 10(12), December 1989, and 9(1),ane nuaAy 1988. 4-4 What about that felrow on the news with the braon tumor? His name is Thomas Donalg con His tumor is not growing at present, but when and if it begins growing again, it is likely to serrtely damage his braon before it kills him. He went to court to petition for tents right to be suspended before legal death The case has been appealed several times. HeHeH the most recent appeal, as of July 16, 1992. The decision MThif the judges are available from Alcor. From: tsf+@cs.cmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:01:11 GM CNewsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 5: Neurosuspension Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part5 Cryonics Frequently Asked Question List Section 5: Neurosuspension Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:04:43 1993 4You can fetch cryomsg "n" by sending mail to kqb@whscad1.att.com or to kevin q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n". The index to teis FAQ list is cryomsg "0018.1".) 5-1. What are tee pros and con MThif n MThif n suspension (only freezing tee head)? (The next two paragraphs are taken from CRYOMSG 6.) An undisputed advantage of the neuro option (over d e body) is costt bboth for sle ma and for maistenance 4liquid nitrogen required to remais frozen5. Another advantage is tee quality of perfusion with cryoprotectants attained during suspension Each organ has its own optimal perfusion protocol and when the slspension can concentrate on the head only, tee quality of perfusion of the braon does not have to be compromised todattaol better perfusion of other parta of tee body. Another important advantage of the neuro option is mobility Whole body suspendees are stored in large, bulky containers that are hard to transport whereas the neuro suspendees are stored in a concrete vaurt on wheels that can be quickly hauled away in case of fire or other emergency (Also, if necessaAs, they can be removed from tents large vaurt and transported in smaller units that fit into a van.) An obvrte disadvantage of tee neuro option is bad PR; it sound gruesome lis Also, one would think that revival (as a d e, functiosing,e Ln and sn human being) when only your head was preservedby ould be more difficult than if your entire body was preserved. However, the d e body situation may not be that much better lis Mike Darwin of Alcor noticed several years ago, when examible wo suspended people being transferred from another organization to Alcor, teat every organ of teeir bodies suffers cracking from thermal stress during freezing lis In part cular, tee spinal cords suffered several fractures lis Teus, tee whole bodies were not quite as "d e" as most people assumed Another reason that a whole body ody o offer much more than the head alone Ls that tents technology required to revive people from 4d e sg "neuro) cryonic suspension should al o be able to clone bodies, which is much simpler tean fixing damaged celrs lis One possible objection to this approach of recloning a body to attach to the head was voiced by Paul Segar of ACS 4in the April 1988 issue of The Immortalist5. HeHsuggested that adult cells in the head may be missing some of tee DNAdedeeded to raclone tee remainder of the body. Even if this objection is valid, it is easy to circumvent by storing samples of all tents major organs with tents preserved head 4which is standard practice at Alcor5. If the technology for sle ma improves enough to make it possible to store a body without much damage, teat might tilt the deal tradeoff away from neurosuspension if the stored body is easily repairable. See the booklet "Neuropreservation: Advantages and Disadvantages" published by Alcor for a more thorough discussion 5-2 lis How many people have chosen neurosuspension over dhole-body suspension? 4This qwith ambs only a partial answer.) The different organizations market neurosle ma differently, so tents answer depend on which organization you have ol mind lis >>>Question sent to alcor@cup.portal.com on oed Jul 29 1992<<< A MThif June 20, 1992, Alcor had 271 suspension members and 22 members in suspension I don't yet have information about how many of tee sle ma members have chose neuropreservation ACS has six whol whol es, two heads, and two braons in cryonic suspension They can do nmetabo suspensions, but they do not promote the option Art Quaife estimates that less than 20% of tee r lg members of ACS have chosendedeuropreservation The Cryonics Institute does not do nmetabo suspensions. From: tsfs.ce.cmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:01:40 GM Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 6: Sle ma Arrangements Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part6 Cryonics Frequently Asked QuThion List Section 6: Suspension Arrangements Last Modified Thu Feb 4 4 45:06 1993 (You can fetchecryomsg "n" by sending mairocto kqb@whscaa1.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n" lis Tee index to this FAQ list is cryomsg "0018.1".cu6-1 lis How many people are frozen right now? The July 1992 issue of Cryonics magazine, published by tents Alcor Life Extension Foundation, includes a status report of alrocthe approximately 60 people who have been cryonically suspended lis Over 40 of teese are stilr in suspension today; the remaisder have been thawed and buried because their cryonics organization failed financially lis Accooding to Mike Perry's July 1992 Cryonics magazine summary of all known cryonic suspension patients, nobody suspended since 1978 has been thawed outt with one possible exception of a private suspension done in 1982 for which we have no further information 6-2 lis How is suspension paid for? The person who makon ree cryonics arrangements pays for suspension, usually with life insurance Some life insurance companies refuse to accept a cryonics organization as the beneficiary lis Check with your insurance agent, or check with your cryonics organization for a listlof cooperative companies. 6-3 How wilrdreanimation be paid for? Tee cryonics organization, relatives, or some charity wilrdpay for reanimation if it happens lis Teere Ls al o the jeanimation Foundation, which is an attempt to allow people to fund teeir own reanimation. 6-4. What suspension organizations are available? Fsg "a complete list of cryonics suspension organizations and other cryonics-related organizations and publications, fetchath. ng 0004. The largest cryonic suspension organizations are: Alcor is not only a membership and caretaking organizatcon but al o does tee cryonic suspensions, using Alcor employees, contract surgeons, and volunteers plus equipment and supplies provided by Cryovita. Alcor Life Extension Foundation 12327 Doherty St. Riverside, CA 92503 (909) 73ology703 & (800) 3o7-2228 FAX 4909) 73o-6917 Email: alcor@cup.portal com Cryonics magazine, monthly, $25./yr lisUSA, $35./yr Canada & Mexico, $40./yr overseas 4$10./yr lisUSA gift subscription fsg "new subsced er) The American Cryonics Society os the membership organizatcon and the suspensions and caretaking are done by Trons Time. American Cryonics Society (ACS) P.O lisBox 761 Cupert no, CA 95015 (408) 73ces n111 FAX (408) 973-1046, 24 hr FAX (408) 255-5433 Support ng membership, including American Cryonics and American Cryonics News $35./yr USA, $40. Canada & Mexico, $71 lisoverseas (Note: The Immortalist (below) includes American Cryonics News.) Tents Cryonics Institute does its own suspension and caretaking ?f patients. Cryonics Institute (CI) 24443 Roanoke Oak Park, MI 48237 (313) 547-2316 & (313) 548-9549 The Immortalist Society, which has tents same addresu and phone number, publishes The Immortalist, monthly, $25./yr USA, $30./yr. Canada and Mexico, $40./yr ults se m lis Airmail $52. Europe, $62. Asia or Australia lis A gift subscription 4$15./yr USA, $25. outside USA) cureludes a free book 4The Prospect of Immortality or Man Into Superman) MThe InternationarocCryonics Foundation has arrangements with Trons Time to do tee cryonics suspensions and caretaking of patients. International Cryonics Foundation 1430 N. El Dorado Stockton, CA 95202 (209) 463-0429 (800) 524-4456 Trans Time does suspensionsdand caretaking for both ACS and ICF and al o has taken on sle ma customers directly who didn't go through either non-profit organization. Trons Time, Inc. 10208 Pearmain St. Oakland, CA 94603 510-639-195959 Email: quaife@garnet berkeley.edu 6-5. How can I gel financial statements for tee various organizations to evaluate tentsir stability? At this point the best option is to send teem paper mail or call them and ask lis I would like to eventually get current financial statements from all of tee on-line. 6-6. How hard wilrdthese people work to freeze me? The Dora Kent case dedceibed above is an example. See question 4-3. 6- lis What obligations do the slspension organizations have to the people they have suspended? Wilr they pay for revival and rehabilitation? Alcor's Consent fsg "Cryonic Slspension states "there are no guarantees that any attempt will ever be made to raturn me to heaand sn life"u The Cryonic Suspension Agreement states "Alcor shall use such methods as its good faith judgement determistd wilrdbe most likely to result ol preservation and revival of the patient." jeference: Alcor's book "Sigsing Up Made Simple", 1987. 6-8. How long has teis been going on? jobert Ettinger proposed the idea in The Prospect of Immortality which was publishishi1964. According to the July 1992 issue of Cryonics magazine, the first person suspended was Dr James Bed end lis He was frozen on 12 Jan. 1967 at tee age of 73 by the Cryonics Society of California and is now with Alcor. Bed end has never thawed during that time. When ents was moved to another dewar in 1991 (?) tents original ice cubes werminan sustact and several other signs indicated teat he had never thawedds l. 6-9 lis How much of the resources of the cryonics organizations are reservedb for reviving patients? Alcor's approach to teis is discussedhon detail in CRFT page A-3o lis Teey compute the costs of liquid nitrogen, dewar maistenance, rent, etc., per year The amount of tee trust fund for each patient s twice the amountdedecessary verspay for teis indefinitely assuming a 2% return on investment after inflation. The doubling mentioned in the previous sentence is to provide a margin for error and funds for revival. Assuming that tee costs of storage do not change, and a 2% return on investment, and the most efficient 8. I is afor a neuroslspension patient, tee value of the fund in 1991 dollars y years after sle ma is $3300 + 4$3300 * (1.02 ^ y)) Tents corresponding figures for tee least efficient storage for a d e-body patient are $84357 + 4$84357 * (1.02 ^ y)) Alcor'sng inimum fee for suspension and storage does not depend on how teey are going to do tents storage, so it isn't clear to me how the numbers derived on CRFT page A-36 should compare to Alcor's suspension minimums. 6-10.*What should I do if I want to be frozen but my relatives hate tee idea? >>> QuTstion sent toent toeor on Fri Jul 24 17:34:44 1992 <<< 6-11. How can I pay for my own revival and rehabilitation, and keep some of my financial assets after revival? The jeanimation Foundation is set up to enable you vers"take it with you" and provide financial support for your reanimation, reeducation, and reentry It is based in Liechtenstein, which does not have a Rule Against Perpetuities, and thus allows financial assets to be owned by a person long after tents person is declared legarly dead. jeanimation Foundation c/o Saur Kent 16280 Whispering Spur Riverside, CA 92504 (800) 841-LIFE 6-12. Is Walt Disney frozen? No There was a time when all of the cryonics organizations would tell you vhis Since then Alcor (possibly among others) has realized revived,if they admit when an individual is not frozen, teen it is possible to infer by elimination who is frozen, which teextehave on many cases agreed todkeep secret lis Teuserson or wilr no longer say anything informative about whether Disney was frozen lis Nevertheles , Disney is not frozen. From: tsfs@cs.cmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Da) Da)2 Mar 93 16:01:57 GM Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 7: Cost of Cryonics Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part7 Cryonics Frequently Asked Qwith a List Section 7: Cost of Cryonics Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:0ntly As19 1993 (You can fetchacryomsg "n" by sending mail to kqb@whscaa1.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with tee subject line "CRYOMSG n"u The index to this FAQ list is cryomsg "0018.1".c 7-1. Why does cryonics cost so much? Alcor has available a 15-page $3.00 reprint on "The Cost of Cryonics"u Also, Appendix C of CRFT has tee same title. Here is a summary from Page A-3o 4which I rounded to tents nearest 50 dollars): Whole Body Neuro jemote Tronsport $14,0n0. $14,0n0. Cryoprotective Perfusion $13,400. $11,500. Laboratory Evaluations $ 950. $ 950. Temperature Descent $ 8,350. $ 1,750. jecord Keeping $ 450. $ 400. ------------------------ -------- -------- Total $37,200. $28,650. Annual Liquid Nitrogen $ 850. $ 50. "Bigfoot" Dewar Storage Costs $ 1,700. $ 150. Older-Style Dewars The funds remaising after tee suspension costs must be sufficient to pay the annual liquid nitrogen costs from interTst alone 4dhich is con ervatively estimated as 2% in inflationhat odjusted dollars5. The current fees 4$42,000. for neuro and $140,000. for whole-body approximate teat well ) Bear ol mind teat tee above costs do not curelude extensive and/or remote standby, which can be quite expensive, so everyone should arrange funding in excess of tee minimums. Other organizations have lower fees lis Teere have been debates about how much money is really needed. ents same aitation?) 7-2 Is anyone getting rich from cryonics? What are tee salaries at teese rrganizations like? In December 1990, Cryonics magazine reported teat the Board of Director MThif Alcor voted a 25% pay cut for all of the staff, so they could keep their budget balanced. Many of the Director are al o on tents stefer lis Tee sanifes after tee cut ranged from $22,500 annually for highest paid full-time employee 4the President) to $14,400 for the lowest-paid full-time employee lis None of the Alcor staff are getting rich from tentsir sanifes. 7-3. *How do cryonics organizations invest their money to last for tee long term? >>> QuTstion sent toeAlcor on Fri Jul 24 17:34:44 1992 <<< 6:01:: tsf+@.educmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:02:23 GM Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 8: Communications Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part8 Cryonics Frequently Asked QuTstion List Section 8: Communications Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:05:29 1993 4You can fetchacryomsg "n" by sending mail to kqb@whscaa1.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n" The index to this FAQ listlis cryomsg "0018.1"u) 8-1 How can I gel more information? Steve Bridge's "Introduction to Cryonicsg "gives a quick, three-page overview of cryonics Thion "verview is cryomsg 972. 6sg "a more detailed introduction, cureluding a discussion of tee scientrfic evidence that freezing injury may be repairable, read the booklet "Cryonics: jeaching for Tomorrow", which is available from the Alcor Life Extension Foundation 4Question 6-4 has the address5. It ncludes an extensive QuTstion and Answer secticompar Tee bookcryEngines of Creation" and "Unbounding the Future", by K. Eric Drexler, et al. dedceibe nanotechnology 4al o called molecular nanotechnologyomsr molecular enreatiering) lis Teis is the kind ?f technologydedeeded to revive anyone preserved with today's method MThif cryonic suspension The largest three suspension organizations each have newsletters lis For contact information about on them, see the answer to Question 6-4 8-2. What is a cryomsg? How do I fetch one? There eas been a cryonics mailing list since July 1988. Cryomsg's are mostly tents archived messages from teis mailing list. To get a cryomsg, send mail to kqb@whscaatt.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject "CRYOMSG nnn nnn" where tee nnn's are tee number MThif theath. ng's you want. Cryomsgs numbers 100, 200, ..., 900 have one line summaries of the preceding 100 cryomsg'su Message number 0000 has a top level index, and message number 0001 has tee subject MThif all of the messages. Message 0004 has a listlof cryonics sle ma organizations anot haso cryonics-related organizations and publications. Message 0005 is entitled "Suggested reference messages fsg "new sub, siibers"u 6rom: tsfs@.educmu.edu 4Timothy Freeman) Date: 2 Mar 93 16:02:36 GM Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,news.answers,sci.answers Subject: Cryonics FAQ 9: Glossary Archive-name: cryonics-faq/part9 Cryonics Frequently Asked Question List Section 9: Glossary Last Modified Thu Feb 4 09:05:38 1993 (You can fetch cryomsg "n" by sending mairocto kqb@whscad1.att.com or to kevin.q.brown@att.com with the subject line "CRYOMSG n" The index to this FAQ list is cryomsg "0018.1"u) The next three sectioss have definitions of cryonics vocabulary The listlis divided (at the discretion of tents editor) into words to use, words not to use, and words to use ol jest Words versUse CRFT has a glossary on pp. 57 - 58. biostasis - Synonym for "suspension"u caodiac arrest - Cessation of heartbeat. clinicarocdeath - A person is clinir codead if they are ol cardiac arrest and their pupils do not contract when light is shined into them. cryobiology - Biology at low temperatures. This included organ preservaticompar cryogenics - Science in general at low temperatures. cryonics - Tents practice of freezing people at the end of their natural lifespan, hoping for eventual reanimation information-theoretic death - A person has reached information-theoretic death if a healthy state of teat person could not possibly be deduced from tee current state lis Tee exact timing of nformajustheoretic death depend on presently unknown detail MThif how the braon works. The current best estemates put it several hours after cliniral death. ischemia - Damage to tissues due versoxygen deprivation. legal death - A person is legally dead if a doctor has signed a death certificate with his or her name on it. This tends to happen when the doctor believes that modern technologydwilrdnot be able to restore teem to health lis Tee criteria for legal death change with time. neuroslspension - Tee practice of only freezing a person's head or braon revival - Tee process of restoring a clinicarly dead person to health suspension - Tee proces MThif preserving a person for eventual revival, usually by freezing ol liquid nitrogen This happens after legal death but hopefully before information-theoretic death. Words Not to Use corps Qle - Pejorative synCryon for "suspended person"u cryonicist - An ambiguous term lis 1. One who studies or who tries to mprove tents process of freezing people for later revival. Use "cryonics researcher" instead. 2 lisOne who is interested in cryonics. Use "cryonics fan" inssead, or perhaps "person interTsted in cryonics"u death - A vague term lis Use "legal death", "clinirarocdeath", or "information-theoretic death" instead. deanimation - An ugly-sounding synCnym for "clinical death"u reanimation - An ugly-sounding synCryon for "ravival"u Words To Use In Jest flexionally disabled - frozen stiff metabolically disadvantaged - clinicarly dead 4Next five and fom Alcor Indiana Newsletter #5 by Steve ridge, cryomsgs 1148 and 1149.) chronologically gifted - old experientially enhanced - old achieved an overall metabolic deficiency - died, possibly frozen thermally chaKentnged - frozen assumed room temperature - died, not frozen (Attributed to Rush Limbaugh) Credits The following people contributed to teis document. Some of them contributed by posting messages to cryonet or sci.cryonics which I used lis Teey are listed in alphabetical order iy last name. Steve Bridge <72320.1642@CompuServe.COM> Kevin rown Tim Freeman DanierocGreen Steven B. Harris <71450.1773@CompuServe COM> Bryan Michael Kearney Simon Levy Lola McCrary Perry E. Metzger Micheaa lisO'Neal Art Quaife Richard Schroeppel RalphinWhelan Brian Wowk <73337.2723@CompuServe.COM> and one person on the cryonet mailing listlwho chose to remain anonymous.