Sg2009wc:crynonics

From She's Geeky Wiki

Cryonics: Ultracold Ambulance to a Future Hospital

Session: 6-G Bay Area Jan 2009

Convener/transcriber: Kennita Watson

Note-Taker: Vicky Tuite

Notes:

Preservation of head or whole body

Head contains brain and memories

Snapshot of memories could be read out and read back in

Brain can't be twiddled one bit at a time

Freezing causes expansion and damage

Vitrification = cooling to liquid nitrogen temperature without freezing using high-tech antifreeze; different organs need different concentrations

Patients legally dead but not completely dead -- most cells still alive and structure still intact

Currently some work on animals being done by 21st Century Medicine

Rabbit: remove kidney and vitrify, remove other kidney; replace first (vitrified) kidney, rabbit is OK

2 main organizations perform cryopreservation and patient storage: Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale Arizona (http://www.alcor.org) and Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan (http://www.cryonics.org).

Paid for most often by life insurance policy, maximum $150K policy for whole-body cryopreservation at Alcor) -- pays for preservation (<= $50K), storage (liquid nitrogen pretty cheap), and revival

Dewars: storage vessels; essentially large thermos

Work is being done on a Cryonics Trust to allow putting away money that you can get back when you are revived

Kennita's cryonics site: http//www.gocryo.org

Venturist foundation

There are cryonics organizations in Russia, Italy, Canada, etc.

Cryoprotectant is circulated through the circulatory system

Revive into virtual reality first?

Can stipulate to be revived with rest of family (or other stipulations)

Interesting legal issues if revived within a few years (like before the seven-year "missing/lost at sea" time?)