Coming to an end… February 27th, 2011

From the title you might be thinking that cryogenics is coming to an end, or that they have stopped providing money for cryogenics. Eh! (that was supposed to be a buzzer sound) Wrong! No, the title is just saying my blogging is coming to an end.  I am coming close to the end of the 3^rd quarter now and I have completed my community service and blogging for that portion of the class so this is my farewell blog post.  This has been a very, very interesting experience from writing a 1,000 word paper all the way to touring a cryogenics facility. 

            This is the last blog post I will be doing.  Thank you very much for following my blog and reading it.  I hope if you have any interest in cryogenics I helped you in some way whether you decided you wanted to do it or completely hate the idea, I hope that I helped.  This has been an interesting experience.

Thanks for reading,

    Kirsten46

Corpsicles v. Frogsicles February 11th, 2011

           Humans and Frogs, have you ever thought about how they are realted?  Wheter you believe in Darwin’s theory or not, frogs and humans have very similar body structures.  Now you are probably wondering something like, “Why do I care if frogs and humans are realted? It’s not like I have a frog for a child.”  Yes I know you do not yet understand why anyone would even care about frogs and humans being related, hint: it has something to do with cryogenics.  Watch this video by clicking here to find out more! 

This is a frozen wood frog as seen on the forest floor.

            Now that you have seen the video you probably understand why I am writing this blog post, and you probably got from the narration at the end of the video that it has to do with cryogenics when he said, “immortality might be ours if we could manage to do the same.” If we can freeze frogs to the point where they are as close to death as you can be without being “dead” why cant we for humans? Humans do have very similar body structure to a frog, and they both have the same kinds of organs and systems and organs.  The anatomy of a frog is much simpler.  The frog's internal organs- the heart, lungs, and digest organs and held in a hollow space.  While our organs have protection and are much more complex.

            When frogs freeze they are commonly referred to as “frogsicles.”  According to Ken Storey, scientist in biochemistry lab, says that the body, “Basically, the body turns into a syrup mass.”  Then in the spring the Wood Frogs make a compete turn-aroound and come back to life.  But Ken and Janet Storey say, “But our focus is not how to apply these techniques to humans down the line. We want to figure out how the biological systems work. Other people can take it from there.”  The Wood Frogs know when they are about to freeze so their body knows to increase their blood sugar levels which acts as an anti-freeze for when they become frozen.  Many scientists say humans need something like that because the way we are cryogenically freezing people now is causing brain damage.  Cryogenics facilities freeze humans at colder than -300⁰ Fahrenheit (-184.4⁰ Celsius) which is much lower than what Wood Frogs freeze at on the forest floor. At the moment these extremely low temperatures dry out cells which cause harm to the human body.  “Still, while the Wood Frogs example is alluring, it's not cryonic preservation in the true sense. These frogs don't actually die. And in replicating this process, scientists have only been able to freeze and revive individual animal organs for a short period of time -- a far cry from reviving an entire organism.”

            Isn’t this amazing? Tell me what you think about the Wood Frogs freezing on the forest floor and then recovering with no problem in the comment box, I’d love to hear your opinions! Thanks for reading!

Cryogenics: The Opinions... February 7th, 2011

          I think it is pretty obvious that there are many, many opinions on cryogenics.  All the way from if it is a religious issue, to the expense,to if it should be legal before death for people with a terminal illness.  If you do not already know this I am doing this blog for a Research and Media Study class where I was assigned to select a topic of choice, write a paper, create a survey, create a video, and select to do a: community service project and blog about it, write a public service announcement, or create a feature video.  We also had to come up with a topic question to ask and answer, my topic question was: Should people with a terminal illness be allowed to be cryogenically frozen before they are medically considered brain dead?  I obviously selected to do community service and blog about it, although I ran out of community service things to blog about pretty quickly so I decided to just talk about some of the key points of cryogenics. 

            I created my survey and published it to 25 family and friends from November 31, 2010 thru December 7, 2011.  I received 19 responses to my survey; which was 10 questions multiple choice that asked about the survey taker’s opinion on cryogenics, if they have had/ or known someone who has had cryogenics etcetera.  Questions 9 and 10 of the survey were long answers which both got a generous 18 responses each.  The last two questions asked were, “What are your opinions about people cryogenically freezing themselves before they are medically considered brain dead?”  And also, “What do you think cryogenics could do for the world if it worked effectively?”  In this blog post I am only going to talk about question 9.

            I am going to share some of the survey responses with you so that you can see how many diverse and intense opinions were given.  For question 9, “What are your opinions about people cryogenically freezing themselves before they are medically considered brain dead?”  Out of the 18 responses that were received 3 out of those 18 (16%) think that it should be okay for another person to be cryogenically frozen before they are medically brain dead if they have a terminal illness.  5 out of the 18 people (28%) said something that meant they basically were not in favor of it at all.  And doubling the number of people completely opposed to it, 10 of the 18 people (56%) said something along the lines of “it is a person’s choice to do what they wish”.     

           

       People that were okay with cryogenics for a person that is not yet medically brain dead but with some conditions said things like: “I think it should be allowed once the technology exists to safely bring them back,” or, “It is up to them, but not their relatives.”  Now the people that are completely against cryogenics answered this question with things like, “First of all, we are all terminal. We all die. If we freeze ourselves, we only prolong the end. Hardly seems worth it. If there is only so much time left, let's have fun and not freeze ourselves,” and another reply was, “This would be self-serving. We are here to serve GOD and others until he decides to take us home. Sure we live longer due to science but the time comes when we let go. Besides, say in twenty years a cure is found, the rest of the world will have changed drastically from what it was so you probably would wish you had gone the first time.”  Some comments from the 10 people that said it would be okay if another person could be cryogenically frozen before they are legally declared brain dead said things like, “I believe that an individual should have the right to cryogenically freeze themselves if they want to. It should be an individual right to do so,” and one woman said, “They have a right to do with themselves and their money as they wish as long as it does not infringe on the rights of someone else.”  These are some of the many opinions on cryogenics tell me yours in the comment box below.  Thanks for reading!

Cryogenics: The Moral, Religious and Ethical Issues February 2nd, 2011



The picture used to represent cryogenics

 on a religious website.



           As I have said before in many blogs there are many moral, religious and ethical issues about cryogenics.  Some people are against cryogenics for many reasons; a few of them are that you are getting cryopreserved while there are thousands of malnourished children across the world.  So basically what this is saying is that you are spending tens of thousands of dollars to be frozen so that you can live longer while the children that are starving, have no money and will live shorter lives.  See the problem?  What about the overpopulation?  The world is overpopulating every minute and that is with the 1-2 million abortions that are carried out throughout the US alone every year.  If we are overpopulating as we know it is there really room for more people?  More the less, frozen, lifeless people?

            One example of a religious question you might hear about cryogenics could be, “Where does the soul go when you are cryopreserved?”  Or, “Why would you want to live longer than god intended you to?”  These are a few of the many unanswered questions about cryogenics.  People that claim to believe in god this strongly are somewhat hypocritical, in my opinion, for asking such questions.  In chapter 5 of the biblical book Genesis, it names six biblical figures who lived over 900 years, far longer than anyone should expect to live by being cryopreserved.  A few of the biblical figures mentioned were: Adam (950 years), and Methuselah (969 years).

            Now that you know, and slightly understand the moral, religious, and ethical problems people have with cryogenics, do you agree or disagree?  What are your personal problems with cryogenics?  Tell me in the comment box i'd love to know!  

Ted Williams+ Cryogenics= Batting Practice January 11th, 2011



Ted Williams via Google Images



Ted Williams.  First person in Major League baseball to hit 400 in a single season, and has the highest career batting average for anyone with 500 or more home runs, you know, no big deal.    So Hall of Fame, Baseball star, Ted Williams was cryogenically frozen in 2002.  The plan with this Cryogenics patient was the same as any other; be frozen, wake up later, continue living their life.  That’s not exactly how Ted’s experience with cryogenics went. 



            It went something like this: his head was separated from his body, and then he was specially treated and cooled to temperatures that are proper for Cryogenics.  After that his head was store in a steel can filled with liquid nitrogen.  According to Sports Illustrated Ted’s head was, “shaved, drilled with holes, accidently cracked 10 times, and used as batting practice” according to some Alcor Life Extension Foundation.  Williams’’ Head was also supposedly hit with a monkey wrench repeatedly.  Sports Illustrated said that according to a taped conversation between former Alcor chief operating officer Larry Johnson and a board adviser, eight DNA samples among 182 taken from Williams are missing without explanation.

            Williams’ Head is now being contained in a “neurocan” according to Sports Illustrated.  Also acording to many online resources the Williams’ family still owes the Alcor Life Extension Foundation $111,000, because they have only paid $25,000 of the $136,000 owed.  The remaining $136,000 has not yet been paid but Alcor is trying to get the money from Williams’ youngest son who is refusing to pay.  Thanks for reading!  What do you think about this Ted Williams mishap?  Voice your opinion in the comment box, I’d love to hear!

Cryogenics: The Funnies January 6th, 2011

     Cryogenics is a very serious topic.  But there is some fun to it thanks to Cartoon Stock who created many funny ways of looking at cryogenics.  The following cartoons are credited towards Cartoon Stock who created them.  I hope you enjoy the fun part of cryogenics!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing that cryogenics can be fun! Tell me in the comments what your favorite comic was and why.  Thanks for reading!

Cryogenics: The Pros and Cons January 3rd, 2011

Cryogenics as I have said before, is the process of preserving people to give them hope for the future.  Cryogenics has many concerns: moral, ethical, physical, and many more.  The government has not yet decided if they will provide funding for this department of scientific research or not.  These are just a few of the pros and cons of cryogenics that you will need to take into consideration if you want to be cryopreserved. 

Pros of Cryogenics:

            There are many positive things about cryogenics but these are only a few.  First I would say that one of the major pros is that you would be expanding your lifespan, duh!  Next up there is the fact about your money, have you thought about that?  Say you have some money stored away while you are “asleep” you are making money off of your stored money for doing absolutely nothing, cool right?  Oh and did I mention you can wake up like a superhero?  No, I’m just kidding about that but you can wake up with some changes (for better or worse) like in your physical appearance, knowledge etcetera.  The pros about just freezing your head are that it costs less, easier to store, and easier to preserve.

Cons of Cryogenics:

            It seems that for every good thing about cryogenics there are two bad.  The most obvious is you can spend up to $90,000 up to $250,000 on a chance that it will work.  Then when you wake up your family will probably be long gone, all you will have will be great grandchildren, maybe.  Are you just going to walk up and say, “Hi I’m your Uncle John I was cryopreserved,”?  No, I didn’t think so, it would be like you are starting your life over, but if that is what you wanted than imagine this as a pro to cryogenics.  Do you cry at funerals?  Well guess what no one will at yours!  I’m not being mean, I’m just saying if you get cryopreserved you cannot have a funeral, just a party in the freezer box.  Only a chance, you don’t know if it will even work!  Even if they will have a cure to your terminal illness, death of age etcetera. 

I hope this article has helped you understand the pros and cons about cryogenics so that if you were considering it you will think through it again.  Check out the more advanced pros and cons of cryogenics that are throughout the internet to make sure you know what you are doing and you are prepared.  Thanks for reading!

Cryogenics: Related Websites December 17th, 2010

Some related websites about Cryogenics are:
1.      Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has an article that speaks about legal death and the real definition of death.  This article talks about organ transplants, brain death, and the moral and ethical issues with death.  Under the moral and ethical issues section in the article Wikipedia wrote that, “There have been cases of people believed dead who (with or without assistance) later recovered, or whose body was capable of continued function. “  More about this article can be accessed here.

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation Staff

2.     The Alcor Life Extension Foundation was founded in 1972 and is located in Scottsdale, Arizona.  The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is one of the largest cryogenics facility in the United States of America.  The Alcor Life Extension Foundation and the members have created pages of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) which you can see here.  They have answers to Basic Questions, Technical Questions, Moral and Ethical Questions, Spiritual Questions, and Financial, Membership, and commonly misunderstood Questions.  And that’s not all!  This is just the average page, if you are a scientist or interested in the real technicalities of cryonics you need to go to the Scientists' Cryogenics FAQs .  The help doesn’t end here, there is a page called the library which has things like PDFs on scientifically written papers, essays, monographs, and even case reports on Cryogenics.  You think that’s all?  Oh no it doesn’t stop with the hundreds of FAQs or online library, it ends with the Cryonics magazine.  You don’t even have to pay for it, there is an easily accessable online version here.  Last, but certainly not least, The Alcor Life Extension Foundation wants to be your friend, your Facebook friend.


3.      The fun doesn’t end after you are dead, you can by Promession-ize Yourself, which is the process of freeze drying your body and shaking it until it breaks.  Eco-Friendly?  Be biodegraded in a biodegradable casket.  Or are you a jewelry queen?  Simple!  Become a necklace or a diamond, you can be that bueatiful diamond!  You can even be launched into space!  Have you ever been to the bodies exhibit?  You could be part of it be being Plastinated and many more can be found at Alternatives to Traditional Burials .


And some realated Articles and Blogs are:
4.      ABC has an article about a New York murder trial, was it murder or assisted suicide that killed Motivational Speaker Jeffery Locker?  Read to find out at this ABC Article.                                                           


5.      Are you hoping that assisted suicide will become legal?  Well you can read about the possibilities, advancements, and concerns.  This is a series of articles the first can be found here, and the second here.

Promoting Cryogenics December 15th, 2010

Today I went to The Medical College of Georgia and listened to Maria Phelps, an expert in cryogenics speak about cryogenics benefits, the advancements it’s made, and the cost of it.  Maria spoke to approximately 600 people, men and women of all ages about cryogenics.  Some benefits she mentioned about cryogenics were that when you are brought back to life you could have greater strength and toughness, better reflexes, greater dimensional stability, and many more positive side effects.  Alcor the founder of his own Cryogenics facility once said, “The purpose of cryonics is to save the lives of living people, not inter the bodies of dead people. Death is a neurological process that begins after the heart stops. A stopped heart only causes death if nothing is done when the heart stops. Cryonics proposes to do something.”

Much advancement has been made in cryogenics over the past years.  Cryogenics can even be used successfully on plants, animals, just not humans.  Not yet anyway.  An odd but extremely interesting thing is that Forest Frogs freeze during the winter and “thaw out” during the spring.  Maria included a video with the frogs actually frozen and fully recovering within 3 hours, imagine if we could do that with people.  Many cryogenics experts, including Maria, have said that cryogenics will improve within 20 years and we will be successfully “thawing people out.”  Maria also said that, “In 20 or so years we could just have a shot that will put you to sleep, inject all the necessary chemicals into you and all the cryogenics staff would have to do is put you in the cryopreservatory.”

H+Magazine Better Off Dead?

            Maria was asked about the cost of cryogenics and responded, “A very touchy topic in the 21^st century seems to be money.”  Have you thought about being cryopreserved before?  Didn’t think you have enough money?  Well even if you are having to scrimp and save to get by these days, don’t rule cryogenics out yet.  Do you have an extra $0.65 a day? That’s right just $0.65 a day, every day up until the day you “die” and then you can resume paying after you are brought back to life until it is paid off.  The price can vary though, depending on what kind of cryopreservation you want to have done.  You can get your full body cryopreserved, which is basically what it sounds like, your whole body would be frozen then brought back to life the same way it was for about $130,000-160,000.  Or you could get just your brain cryopreserved which costs around $90,000. 

            After reading about all of the benefits, advancements, and costs of cryogenics do you think you would consider it for yourself?  Whether you have a terminal illness, want more time to live, or are just interested in it.  I would enjoy reading your opinions about cryogenics before and after death in the comment box below.  Thanks for reading!

What is Cryogenics? December 4th, 2010

Background

Above is Helium that is constantly pumped into

the containers that store the cryopreserved humans.

Cryogenics has five main parts: Cryobiology, Cryonics, Cryoelectronics, Cryotronics, and Cryogenics.  I know what you are thinking, but no, they are not all the same thing.  Cryobiology is the study of the effects of low temperatures on organisms; Cryoelectronics is the field of research having to do with superconductivity at low temperatures.   Next up we have Cryotonics which is simply the application of Cryoelectronics, so it is the act of research regarding superconductivity at low temperatures.  Finally the base of them all, Cryogenics; the branch of physical science that involves the study of very low temperatures, and how certain materials preform in these subnormal temperatures. 

The Process

You might have heard of people being Cryogenically frozen after they are dead, so that they have a slight hope of coming back to life later on when they can “thaw them out”.  Well do you know how they are really frozen?  First off the entire process takes 3 to 4 days, and some of the things used to prep them for being frozen are liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen, and wait for it helium.  Yes I know the stuff you put in the balloons for your child’s birthday is also going into Cryogenics patients the day they die.  

All the chemicals work together to cause a chemical reaction which is then held constant when placed below 0⁰ Celsius.  That causes the chemical reaction to stay active until heated to above 0⁰ degrees Celsius so that it can warm up, and cause the chemical reaction to wear off.  The entire prep to freeze process takes 3-4 days.   

Chances of it Working

            The chances of Cryogenics working are slim to nothing, and even if it does you won’t be getting nearly what you gave up in return.  The chances of being brought back to life after being cryogenically frozen are a small .23%.  If it does work you will only be able to expand your lifespan by about 3%.  An average person lives until they are 75 years old, that’s only 2.25 more years.  Sure a little over two years is great but would you really pay around $100,000 for that?  You can read more about cryogenics and the hope of surviving it by clicking here.

Dying to be Dead? December 2nd, 2010

Today I toured the well known Cryogenics facility in Canton, Georgia with a woman named Maria Phelps who is a partial owner and operator of the Cryogenics facility.  When I was touring the facility, Maria told me that there are eight hundred and ninety-five members that are frozen at the cryogenics facility in Canton, Georgia today.  There is an additional four hundred and five people with memberships waiting for their life to “end” so they can be frozen.  She also told me a membership can be easy to obtain, and can cost as little as $0.68 a month.  A person would pay every month up  until they die, and then you can finish paying at the same rate if you are ever defrosted.   So technically, if you never get to be defrosted you are saving yourself quite a large sum.  A full person corpsicle (human popsicle) has cost up to $188,000!

Yes that’s correct you could basically be paying for a new house.  Instead, you are banking it all on the theory that you will be able to be defrosted, or thawed out one day.  Think that’s a little crazy?  Well let’s not forget the eight hundred and ninety-five people already frozen at the facility in Canton, Georgia!  There is a Cryogenics facility in almost every state in the United States, that’s around 45,000 corpsicles already in the United States.  According to a study done in the book The Future of Death written by James J. Hughes Ph. D., 85% of Americans support Cryogenics before death and that number has been continually rising for over forty years.  Please see the graph below. 

Below represents the percent of Americans that would say “yes” to “When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his family request it?”



The Future of Death, Benson 1999



The Cryogenics institute is a 7,000 square feet recently built, modern building that is in relatively good condition but has had improvement for safety, security, convenience, and appearance.  Up until 8 years ago, in 2003, the institute did all of the procedures in the Procedures Room.  Now they must be done outside of the facility grounds with a funeral director present.  Once the patient has been prepped and prepared to be cryogenically frozen they are taken to the cryogenics facility to be placed in liquid nitrogen to be frozen.  After the little field trip through the “nitrogen car wash”, we are headed to the large freezer!  Exciting isn’t it?  The “large freezer” is made of concrete and minerals that will help make the concrete box remain stronger and to be a better insulator for the nitrogen to keep the members frozen.  The members will be kept here until medical researchers find a way to thaw out all corpsicles in the world.  So now that you have learned a little bit more about cryogenics, are you dying to be dead so that you can be cryogenically frozen?