Gourt > Science > Biology > Cryobiology > Cryonics (3)
Cryonics (often mistakenly called "cryogenics") is the practice of cryopreserving humans or animals that can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine until resuscitation may be possible in the future. The process is not currently reversible, and by law can only be performed on humans after legal death in anticipation that the early stages of clinical death may be reversible in the future (see information theoretical death). Cryonics is viewed with skepticism by most scientists and doctors today. However, there is a high representation of scientists among cryonics supporters. Scientific support for cryonics is based on projections of future technology, especially molecular nanotechnology and nanomedicine. Some scientists believe that future medicine will enable molecular-level repair and regeneration of damaged tissues and organs decades or centuries in the future. Disease and aging are also assumed to be reversible.
The central premise of cryonics is that memory, personality, and identity are stored in the structure and chemistry of the brain. While this view is widely accepted in medicine, and brain activity is known to stop and later resume under certain conditions, it is not generally accepted that current methods preserve the brain well enough to permit revival in the future. Cryonics advocates point to studies showing that high concentrations of cryoprotectant circulated through the brain before cooling can mostly prevent freezing injury, preserving the fine cell structures of the brain in which memory and identity presumably reside.
To its detractors, the justification for the actual practice of cryonics is unclear, given present limitations of preservation technology. Currently cells, tissues, blood vessels, and some small animal organs can be reversibly cryopreserved. Some frogs can survive for a few months in a partially frozen state a few degrees below freezing, but this is not true cryopreservation. Cryonics advocates counter that demonstrably reversible preservation is not necessary to achieve the present-day goal of cryonics, which is preservation of basic brain information that encodes memory and personal identity. Preservation of this information is said to be sufficient to prevent information theoretic death until future repairs are possible.
More on [ Cryonics ]
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Nanotechnology :: Technology
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Alcor Life Extension Foundation (Cryonics) - Site for major cryonics organization in Scottsdale AZ. Contains a lot of information, including an on-line photo-tour of the building and of the cryonics process.
Alcor United Forum - A community discussion site for members of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation and anyone interested in cryonics. Created and run by a long time Alcor member.
Meta Description: [ The community discussion site for members' of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation and anyone interested in cryonics., go to http://www.alcorunited.org/ . ]
American Cryonics Society - The oldest Cryonics membership organization; founded in 1969 as the Bay Area Cryonics Society. In Mountain View CA. Offers background information, articles and theories.
An Exploratory Survey Examining the Familiarity With and Attitudes Toward Cryonic Preservation - A paper examining the results of a consumer survey on cryonics. By W. Scott Badger, from The Journal of Evolution and Technology, December, 1998.
Meta Description: [ A Survey of Familiarity With And Attitudes Toward Cryonics ]
Anders Sandberg's cryonics page - An extensive list of links to cryonics articles and to European sites related to cryonics.
Ben Best's Cryonics Articles - Primarily dealing with technical issues in cryonics.
Meta Description: [ Index of cryonics webpages written by Ben Best, mostly on scientific/technical issues. ]
BioPreservation, Inc. - Cryopreservation Services - A series of technical papers on cryopreservation research.
Brain Death and Technological Change: Personal Identity, Neural Prostheses and Uploading - A far-seeing but technical paper by James J. Hughes, prepared for the Second International Symposium on Brain Death. Date unclear, but 1996 or later. Includes discussion of cryonics and nanotechnology.
Meta Description: [ As we learn to repair brain injuries,
we will no longer be able to use
the traditional brain death definitions. ]
Can Cryopreservation Solve the Abortion Problem? - An thoughtful article by Thomas Gramstad which examines the social implications of preserving aborted embryos. From Longevity Report.
Cold Filter Cryonics Chat - Lively discussions of cryonics, cryogenics, cryobiology, life extension, transhumanism, death, and related issues.
Meta Description: [ Discussions of cryonics, cryogenics, cryobiology, life extension, transhumanism, death, and related issues. ]
CryoCare Foundation - Cryonics Services - CryoCare Foundation offers cryonics services. The site includes a good explanation of cryonics, with a large library of articles.
CryoNet - Cryonics Mailing List - A free discussion mailing list on cryonics-related issues. May also be read on-line; posts accepted from subscribers only. Searchable archives are available from the list's beginning in 1988.
Cryonics - Ralph Merkle's cryonics introduction. Short but requires some knowledge of cryonics already.
Cryonics - A slim, but interesting perspective piece on cryonics by Mark Prado, an American living in Thailand.
Cryonics -- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Up-to-date answers to basic cryonics questions. A good starting point. By Ben Best.
Meta Description: [ Answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about cryonics ]
Cryonics and Cryptography - Cryonics, Cryptography, and Maximum Likelihood Estimation, a paper by Ralph Merkle, Ph.D.
Cryonics Association of Australia - Australia cryonics resources and discussions site.
Cryonics Europe - Support and discussion group based in Sussex, UK, for people in Britain and the rest of Europe who are signed up for cryopreservation.
Meta Description: [ Cryonic suspension services & information. Patients are frozen in
cryostasis till medical advances can revive them. Site has 1000's of links, free
books, latest news & info, answers all readers' questions. ]
Cryonics Institute: Cryonics Suspension Services - Cryonic suspension services information. Much of the text is also available in Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese by clicking on the appropriate button. This organization was founded by Robert Ettinger, the father of cryonics.
Meta Description: [ Cryonics Institute Summary and Introduction for Home Page ]
Cryonics Over Dead Geeks' Bodies - Wired News article by Michelle Delio, based on an interview with Heather Pringle, author of the new book: The Mummy Congress: Science, Obsession and the Everlasting Dead
Meta Description: [ Get in-depth tech news coverage from Wired and read about how it is shaping culture, education, entertainment, communications and technology. ]
Cryonics UK - Site for information and discussion of cryonics in the United Kingdom. The group appears to be associated with Cryonics Institute.
Meta Description: [ cryonics suspension The Third Choice cryonic Patients are frozen in cryostasis until medical advances can revive them. Suspended animation, answers all readers' questions cryonics. ]
Cryonics.info - A new discussion forum on cryonics, attempting to focus on science issues. Also some links to basic information.
Danish Cryonics Support Group - The DCSG consists primarily of Danish members of the Cryonics Institute (CI) and those interested in becoming members of a suspension organization. The site is in both English and Danish.
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Dying to Know - A lengthy cryonics article about Alcor by Audun Taraldsen from Arizona State University's The Electronic Bulldog - April 26, 1996. Dated in some respects but highly detailed.
European Cryonics Page - Information for Europeans interested in cryonics. Includes an extensive list of links to other European cryonics sites and a mailing list/forum for Europeans interested in cryonics, plus a large list of articles and discussions. The site and mailing list are in English. Part of the larger Transtopia site.
Frozen Dead Guy Days - Nederland Area Chamber of Commerce - The official site of a winter festival held annually in the mountain town of Nederland, Colorado. A bit weird, since the Nederlands city government actively worked to oust Bredo Morstoel (the frozen dead guy) from their town several years ago. But there he still sits, now the frozen centerpiece of a festival in March.
Meta Description: [ Frozen Dead Guy Days, annual winter festival in Nederland, Colorado celebrates Grandpa Bredo, the frozen dead guy Grandpa in the Tuff Shed. ]
Heaven Can Wait - Article by Michael Park of the Sunday Herald (U.K.), primarily focused on Alcor.
Meta Description: [ Scotland's leading independent Sunday newspaper ]
Life Extension Society - A cryonics public education organization in the Maryland/D.C. area. Not a service provider.
Long Life -- The Cryonics Institute E-Newsletter - Free news, updates, and links about the latest scientific, medical, health, anti-aging, and social developments relevant to CI's goal of saving, preserving, and extending human lives.
Meta Description: [ long_life: Long Life is the electronic science, health, and news e-newsletter of the Cryonics Institute. ]
Longevity Report - John DeRivaz's British site for cryonics, life extension, and the future.
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New Zealand Cryonics Society - A new organization in New Zealand.
Synthetic pleasures - Home page for documentary film about life extension, cryonics, body decoration, and other aspects of modern technological life.
The Cryonics Society - A non-profit organization that aims to educate and inform the general public about cryonics. Does not provide cryonics services and is not affilated with any service organization.
Meta Description: [ The Cryonics Society is an independent non-profit organization and online information resource which works to support the emerging science of cryonics by better educating the public, by advocating for greater research, and by providing independent unbiased information about cryonics and its poten... ]
The Cryonics Society of Canada - For education and to organize cryonics in Canada. Does not provide cryonics services.
The Society for Venturism - A non-profit organization with the purpose of promoting the worldwide conquest of death and the continuation and enhancement of life through technological means, including cryonic suspension. Does not offer cryonics services. In Scottsdale, AZ.
Timeship Cryonics - Visionary design and project plans by architect Stephen Valentine for a building to house research into life extension, nanotechnology, and cryopreservation of tissue and humans through vitrification.
Meta Description: [ Timeship is devoted to cryonics and life extension. Stephen Valentine is the architect for the Timeship Cryonics Building. Timeship will do life extension research on bio-vitrification (cryonics and cryopreservation), reanimation, nanotechnology, DNA / tissue banking, etc. ]
Trans Time, Inc. -- Cryonics Services - A cryonics service provider in San Leandro, California.
Meta Description: [ TRANS TIME is a pioneering service
provider in the exciting field of cryonics, based in San Leandro,
California. Cryonics is the science of placing humans and animals into a
low-temperature, biologically unchanging state, immediately after clinical
death, with the expectation that advances in m... ]
Was Walt Disney Frozen? - The truth (no, he wasn't) with the legends behind the myth.
Meta Description: [ Was Walt Disney's body put in cryonic storage? ]
Why Cryosuspension Makes Sense - A long article by Terry Grossman, reprinted from The Babyboomers Guide to Living Forever (2000).
Would Freezing Ted Williams Work? - From ABCNEWS.com, an article on the cryonic suspension of Ted Williams by the Alcor Foundation and asking if the technology might work.
Meta Description: [ Would Freezing Ted Williams Really Work? ]
Yahoo! Groups : ConsideringCryonics - An on-line discussion group for those who are considering joining a cryonics organization but are worried about what their friends and family might think.
Meta Description: [ ConsideringCryonics: Considering Cryonics ]
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