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?