IN THIS ISSUE: .. I and

By Ralph Merkle, Ph.D.

The Past, the and Everything Robert Ettinger's YrJJC!JJJrftrmnt'lt Venturist Festival

ISSN 1054-4305 $4.50 1

u·c.traTif'\11'11§! Meetings Alcor business meetings are held on the first Alcor Midwest is in full swing. It produces a The Southam California chapter of Alcor meets Sunday of every other month: January, March, monthly newsletter and holds monthly meetings. every month in an informal setting in one of our May, July, September, and November. {The July It has a state-of-the-art stabilization kit and re­ member's homes. The May meeting (on the fourth and September meetings are on the second Sun­ sponds to six states: Ml, ll, OH, MO, IN, and WI. day.) Guests are welcome. Meetings start at 1 Sunday of the month} Is now scheduled. For more For meeting information or to receive the Alcor information, call Michael Riskin at (714) 879-3994. PM. For more information, call Alcor at {602) 922- Midwest Newsletter, contact Brian Shock at (317) 9013. The April 24 meeting will be at the home of Nance 769·4252, or 670 South State Road 421 North; Clark at 4201 Via Marina in Marina Del Rey. For Sunday, September 4, 1994: Zionsville, IN 46077. directions, call Alcor or call Nance at 31 0-306-31 29. ALCOR 7895 East Acoma Dr., #110 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 There is a cryonics discussion group in the Directions: Take the 10 to the 17 Northbound, Boston area meeting on the second Sunday each exit Thunderbird Road heading East. Thunderbird month. Further information may be obtained by There is an Alcor chapter in England, with a full will tum into Cactus St, stay on Cactus until you contacting Tony Reno at (508} 433-5574 (home), suspension and laboratory facility south of London. reach Scottsdale Road, tum left on Scottsdale (617) 345-2625 (work), 90 Harbor St., Pepperell, Its members are working aggressively to build a Road, then right on Thunderbird {which will quickly MA 01463, or [email protected] (email). Information solid emergency response, transport, and suspen­ become Redfield), then (after about a quarter can also be obtained from David Greenstein at sion capability. Meetings are held on the first mile)left on 76th Place. 76th Place turns into (508) 879-3234 or (617) 323-3338 or Sunday of the month at the Alcor UK facility, and Acoma Drive; Atcor is on the right at 7895 Acoma 71774.741 @compuserve.com (email}. may include classes and tours. The meeting com­ Dr., Suite 110. mences at 11:00 A.M., and ends late afternoon. Bay Life Extension Society, Inc. is a new cryonics and The address of the facility is: Alcor Northern Callfomia meetings: Potluck sup­ lite extension group with members from Washing­ AlcorUK pers to meet and socialize are held the second ton, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. Meetings are 18 Potts Marsh Estate Sunday of the month beginning at 6:00 PM. All held monthly. 1994 meetngs are scheduled for Westham members and guests are welcome to attend. May 15, June 12, July 17, September 11, October East Sussex 16, November 13, and December 11. Call Mark There is a business meeting before the potluck at Tel: 0323 460257 4:00. The June meeting information is as follows: Mugler at (703) 534-7277 (hqme), or write him at 990 N. Powhatan St.; Arlington, VA 22205. Directions: From Victoria Station, catch a train for Sunday, September 11, 1994: Pevensey West Ham railway station. When you arrive Ralph Merkle and Carol Shaw at Pevensey West Ham tum left as you leave the 1134 Pimento Ave. Cryonics Laughlin meets the third Sunday of the stationandtheroadcrossestherailwaytrack. carryon Sunnyvale, CA month at 1:00 PM at the Riverside Casino in down the road far a couple ofhundred yards and A/cor Tel: 408-730·5224 Laughlin, Nevada. FREE rooms at the Riverside UK is on the trading estate an your right After the business meeting and potluck there will Casino on Sunday night are available to people Victoria Station has a regular train shuttle con­ be an Introduction to Cryonics talk and Q&A. who call at least one week in advance. The time nection with Gatwick airport and can be reached Directions: Take US 85 through Sunnyvale, exit and place of these meetings sometimes changes, from Heathrow airport via the London Underground going East on Fremont to Mary. Go Iefton Mary so before you come, please call Eric Klien at (702) tube or subway system. to Ticonderoga, right on Ticonderoga to Pimento. 897-4176. Tum left on Pimento to 1134 Pimento Ave. Directions: Take 95 south from Las Vegas, People coming for AUK meetings must phone through Henderson, where It forks between 95 and ahead--or else you're on your own, the meeting 93. Bear right at the fork and stay on 95 past A cryonics group wlll be forming In Colorado. Searchlight .until you Intersect with 163, a little may have been cancelled, moved, etc., etc. Forth is Further Information may be obtained by con­ before the border with California. Go left on 163 information, call Alan Sinclair at0323488150. Near tacting Walter Vannini at 111 East Drake Rd, and stay on It until you see signs for Laughlin. You metropolitan london, contact Garret Smyth at 081- Suite 7046, Fort Collins, CO 80525, or can't miss the Riverside Casino In Laughlin, Ne­ 789-1045 [email protected], or Mike 71043,[email protected] (email). vada. Price at 081-845·0203 or price @price.demon.co.uk. r Feature Articles "'

Subscriptions: PHONE: (602) 922-9013 FAX: (602) 922-9021 EMAIL: [email protected] $15/year U.S., Canada, and Mexico $2 0/year all other countries Letters intended for publication should be clearly marked as such. Back issues are $3.50 each. Contents copyright 1994 by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Inc., except Most of the first 160 issues-lSeptember, 1971) through where otherwise noted. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed herein are not (December, 199 3)-were published on a monthly basis. necessarily those of the Ale or Foundation or its Board of Directors or management. 3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 1 CryoCare as beneficiary, CryoCare would receive the insurance payout and passitbacktoAlcor, which ~ould perform the suspen­ siOn. The Transfer Agree­ ment was drafted by GryoCare and revised to satisfy some objections from Steve. Since the agreement imposed ex­ actlythe same obligations on CryoCare as onAlcor, I didn'texpectanyonetoob­ ject to it; but after Steve had signed seven of the agreements,Alcor'sDirec­ tors warned us that for various reasons they dis- Dear Editor: liked the wording of the I want to register a mild complaint about from AT&T inviting me to use their long­ agreement and were not prepared to honor a couple of statements by Steve Bridge in distance phone service. I don't enjoy being Steve's signature. They stated that ifAlcor the most recent issue of Cryonics maga­ disturbed by their salesperson, but I'm al­ received an insurance payout on behalfof a zine. I consider Steve a good friend, so my ways willing to listen, because they may member who had just switched to complaint, here, is on a friendly basis. I have an attractive deal to offer. This, to me, CryoCare, Alcor would return the money realize that he has tried to be fair in his is how business works in a capitalist system. to the insurance company and would not description of the current situation, in CryoCare has done nothing more than pass it on to CryoCare. We were very wor­ which a splinter group of ex-Alcor mem­ this. In fact, we have done less. We haven't ried by this development, so naturally we bers has created a new organization indulged in random" cold calling," and we circularized all the people who had received (CryoCare) which now competes withAl­ haven't done bulk mailings. the Transfer Agreement, to warn them that cor. In three areas, however, I think Steve's Elsewhere in his article, Steve suggests Alcorwas planning not to honor it and urge statements are a little misleading. that CryoCare has somehow "stolen" Al­ them to complete their arrangements with 1. Steve suggests that CryoCare litera­ cor members. It seems to me, this underes­ us as soon as possible, to minimize the" dan­ ture has included, or will include, "hints of timates the ex-members involved. Cryoni­ ger period" during which they might lack incompetence, falsehood, and naivete" cists are smart, independent people. They any coverage. I think our actions were aimed at our competitors. This bothers don't sit around waiting to be "stolen" or quite understandable, and I'm not sure why me, because I'm the person who writes "raided." Ifthey switch to a different orga­ Steve objects. almost all the CryoCare literature, and I nization, they probably have feisty reasons On a more positive note, let me close by have scrupulously avoided mentioning any­ for doing so, especially since their future quoting a statement from one of Alcor's thing about our competitors at all. Can lives are at stake. Rather than blaming us past presidents: Steve please tell me where I have implied for somehow abducting twenty percent of "This is official Alcor policy: Bickering anything negative about Alcor? I believe its membership, Alcor might examine and petty criticisms do not do any of our our literature has been much more critical people's motives for leaving. This, surely, organizations any good. Alcor will engage of ourselves than any other cryonics group. is the crux of the matter. in public criticism ofother cryonics organi­ Our first newsletter, for instance, is frank 3. Steve complains about a letter which zations only in terms ofreportingthatwhich about the problem of earthquake risk and was circulated by CryoCare regarding a they have chosen to disclose as news or our slowness in setting up a Patient Care "Transfer Agreement" betweenAlcor and publish as claims. Wewill avoidad hominem Trust. CryoCare. This is a complicated matter, jabs and inflammatory subjective language. 2. Steve states bluntly that CryoCare has and some explanation is necessary. We hope other organizations will adopt "raided" Alcor's membership. The word The Transfer Agreement was devised to similar policies. Reasoned arguments and "raid" connotes forcible entry, seizure, and deal with the common situation where a objective evidence is how people get close abduction. The reader may wonder what person who wants to switch to CryoCare is to what is true." exactly CryoCare has done to deserve such unable to revise his or her financial ar­ I found this statement from Carlos Mon­ an accusation. Well, so far, CryoCare has rangements at the exact same time that the dragon in a posting that was placed on placed a couple of announcements on membership documents are completed. CryoNet. It happens to be precisely the CryoNet (the computer network serving The Transfer Agreement stated that ifsome­ model which CryoCare is endeavoring to people who are interested in cryonics), has one suffered a fatal accident AFTER be­ follow. I hope that Steve, too, will be able made presentations to some local groups of coming a member of CryoCare, but the to abide by this excellent policy laid down cryonicists, has sent out literature in re­ person's insurance still named Alcor as by his predecessor. sponse to information requests, and has beneficiary, Alcor would receive the insur­ contacted people whom we know person­ ance payout and pass it on to CryoCare, Charles Platt, allyorwhose names have been made public which would perform the cryopreservation. Vice-President, CryoCare Foundation (e.g. in postings that have appeared on Conversely, if someone suffered a fatal ac­ CryoNet). cident BEFORE completing membership I suggest a comparison may be helpful, arrangements with CryoCare, but the life here. Once in a while, I get a phone call insurance had already been revised to name

2 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 Steve Bridge responds: Charles and I are human and sometimes see things from different perspectives. I have no desire to get into an argument with him over this situation, especially since my origi­ nal article ("Life in the Time of the Schism" on page 12-13 of the April, 1994 issue of Cryonics) and Charles's letter were written over two months ago. I do think he read much more into my article than was intended or was actually visible. In fact, a couple of his statements are the product of total ometimes, editing Cryonics can be so inspiring that you can misreadings, which are perhaps understand­ much work it is. Occasionally the content comes together able in this current era of competition. S Two brief clarifications: most or all of the features share not just a common backdrop · 1. I absolutely did not suggest that "Cryo­ a common wisdom as well, and no matter what the ostensive thrust of Care literature has included or will include piece, you finish it feeling just a little bit dearer on how to ·· . "hints ofincompetence," etc. To quote from how to achieve; my article, what I said was, "As you consider your options as anAl cor member, or forthose This kind of tone can be truly elusive in a magazine such as Cryonics, for of you who are considering which organiza­ in it we attempt to juxtapose our multifaceted, razor-edged viewpoints on. tion to join, you'll be reading and hearing precisely how to do what for the life of us needs doing. We feel angered and many claims of greatness, competence, and dismayed when our "comrades" fail to see things as we do. And we feel scrupulous integrity pitted against hints of incompetence, falsehood, and naivete. At­ alienated from the vast majority of humanity, who look on perplexed be­ tempts to makeone'sownsidelookgood and yond words by what we all agree on. Shouldn't we expect continual strife the other side look incompetent are normal and animosity in such a situation, and just be glad that we so infrequently as humans compete; but we ask that you take come to blows? the time to talk to people on both sides before No, we shouldn't! That it "seems natural" does not make it sensible or making up your mind." I think it is pretty clear here that I expect desirable-witness our view of death. That it seems tolerable doesn't mean individuals on both sides to exaggerate in it can't topple our dreams-cryonics is anything but a sure bet. When you conversations, letters and possibly in publi­ are fighting for your very existence, you don't just fight to win, you fight to cations, since that is what humans do. I do stop fighting. not expect intelligent cryonicists to believe any individual cryonicist, including Al~or Several people touch on this motif in this issue, and all of them treat it members, without comparing answers. well and differently. Most notable, though, is Ralph Merkle's "Cryonics 2. Charles states that CryoCare is not "raid­ and Multiple Personality Orders," which is the centerpiece of this issue. ing" Alcor or trying to "steal" its members. Much more so than his "Molecular Repair of the Brain" this article holds a Maybe this wasn't the best way to phrase it and perhaps Charles himself is doing noth­ powerful message for cryonidsts. ing like this. However, several times even in As this issue of Cryonics coalesced, so did a new and more productive the past month (as well as before my article "Personality Order" at Ale or. David Pizer-a Director and Treasurer of was published) we have received calls from Alcor for many years-has joined the Alcor staff on a full-time volunteer Alcor members complaining that they have received unsolicited sign-up packages from basis, replacing me as Vice President. Dave's long-term focus in his new CryoCare, that they have heard they were position is the facilitation of Alcor's new research program, as designed by switching to another organization when in Alcor's Director of Research, Dr. Mark Voelker. (More on that next issue.) fact they weren't, or that they felt they were Though I'm no longer Vice President, I'm still a Director and Secretary, and under extreme pressure from friends in CryoCare to switch. We have told them they now full-time Director of Publications for Alcor. Look forward to a con­ were complaining to the wrong group and if tinuing upward trend toward a sharper, more professional (as well~smore they had a problem with CryoCare they timely!) family of Alcor publications, starting with this one .. To help Dave should contact a CryoCare official (just as we manage his new position, Director Michael Riskin, Ph.D., C.P.A. has taken want you to contact us if you have a problem over Dave's position as Alcor Treasurer, and therefore Director and Presi'­ withAlcor). Alcor' s policy is to work hardest on bring­ dent Emeritus Carlos Mondragon has replaced Dr. Riskin on Alcor'sPa- . ing in NEW cryonicists through interviews, tient Care Fund Investment Advisory Committee. speeches, publications and other public rela­ Same team. More productive line-up. tions activities. I'm sure that is also the basic We hope you enjoy this issue! policy of CryoCare. We at Alcor certainly plan to continue that approach. There have got to be more than enough lovers-of-life out there that all six current membership organi­ About the Cover zations/ service providers can prosper, if we can continue to find new ways to reach the The cover of this issue was designed by Ralph Whelan, using Aldus Freehand, Aldus public. Pagemaker, and some inspiration from M.G. Escher.

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 3 by R. Michael Perry, Ph.D.

30 Years of-

t was 30 years ago this year, on Jun. 5, fessor Ettinger (who taught college physics 1964, that Doubleday published Rob­ until retirement some years ago) spoke at I ert Ettinger's The Prospect of Immor­ the annual festival of the Society for Ven­ tality, perhaps the mostimportant one-day turism, held at Don Laughlin's ranch near event in the history of cryonics. And this Kingman, Arizona. This talk (reproduced book was no flash in the pan; the author elsewhere in this issue) covers the genesis had been thinking about the main idea­ of Prospect and ranges over many other freezing the newly deceased to possibly topics of interest in cryonics. In this col­ allow eventual reanimation-for many umn, intended as a complementary piece, I years already, andhadalreadymadeafledg­ will consider the book itself, and some re­ ling presentation of the idea in published actions it has provoked over the years. Let's form. (This was in his science-fiction story, begin with its publication. "ThePenultimateTrump,"whichappeared A fledgling cryonics movement already in Startling Stories, Mar. 19481.) And Et­ existed, though no one would be frozen for tinger, unlike most of those who were ac­ several years. (The term "cryonics" itself tive in the early days, has continued in an was coined in 1965; earlier descriptive active role to the phrases included "the freezer program," present, notable "freeze and wait," and the imaginative, The thought of eLiminating death later achieve­ "freeze-wait-reanimate.") The early move­ ments including ment centered in Ev Cooper's Life Exten­ through .J'cientific meanJ i.J arguabLy the publishing a sec­ sion Society (LES), based in Washington, ond immortal­ D.C. Though quite small-perhaps a few mo.f't profound idea in human hutory. ist book, Man dozen in number-there was at least an Into Superman, audience able to appreciate the greatness When thu idea u coupLed with a proce­ in 1972, start­ oftheworknow being offered to the world. ing a cryonics Cooper and Ettinger in fact had corre­ dure--cryonic .J'a.J'peMion--that can be organization, sponded, and a decision had been made to Cryonics Insti- create LES several months prior to the ap­ performed toda~ immortaLity become.s a tute, in 1976, and pearance of the book, after it was realized directing the de- that publication would be delayed. When po.J'.J'ibiLity for the indiriJuaL oftoday. velopment of a the book did appear, there was excitement unique series of fi­ and jubilation, which Cooper echoed in berglass-resin storage vessels for cryonics the third (August 1964) issue of the LES patients. Many who were unborn when newsletter (see Figure I). Prospect was published have read his re­ What then, made this such a great book? cent CryoNet postings on subjects ranging In large part, of course, it is just the great­ from philosophical issues in cryonics to his ness of the basic idea it offers, of conquer­ ongoing research with mammalian brain ing death scientifically, something that, 30 perfusionandcryoprotection. InJunePro- years later, is still so radical it is hardly

4 Cryonics • 3rcl Quarter, 1994 mentioned in polite society, and is publicly if damaged. Partial disparaged.3 (Consequently, the world at successes, in the Figure 1: The following appeared in the August large has yet to acknowledge the greatness form of revival of 1964 issue o/ the LES newsletter of the book and you won't find it on any partially frozen best-seller list.) The book, on the other mammals and or- hand, well deserves praise for its "lucidity gans-and smaller and forceful writing." This is seen, right organisms entirely BIG NEWS OF THE SUMMER: from the opening sentence in the Fore­ frozen-are numer­ Bob Ettinger's book The Prospects oflmmortality [sic] was word, which cuts to the heart of the matter: ous. Reasons for op­ released by Doubleday June 5th, coinciding with a short "Most of us now breathing have a good timism surface too, chance of physical life after death-a so­ when the nature of serialization in Cosmopolitan, and a thoughtful article by ber, scientific probability of revival and the freezing damage Fred Pohl in Playboy. Quite a number of radio and TV rejuvenation of our frozen bodies." As ex­ is studied closely. stations carried and are continuing to carry interviews of plained in chapter 1, this rather startling Even when a sizable Ettinger and discussions of the freeze-wait -resuscitate idea. conclusion rests on a fact, that bodies fro­ tissue mass does not zen and stored at cryogenic temperatures recover function Bob's book has been translated into French, and LES mem­ do not deteriorate significantly with time, upon rewarming, bers report seeing it in paperback on the Paris newsstands. and an assumption, that advancing tech­ many cells are dam­ The book itself is a marvel of lucidity and forceful writ- nology should eventually allow resuscita­ aged little or not at mg .... all. tion-and improvement-of an organism Response ... has ... varied from enthusiasm to irritation freshly frozen and stored at low tempera­ This brings up an ture. important point: with anything so revolutionary .... Much of the book's effectiveness lies in that techniques lean Rostand wrote a preface stating that the idea is its clear identification of the various issues ought to become solid. Gerald Gruman with his extensive background knowl­ involved, and its organization around these available for repair edge of the history of the concept of immortality wrote a issues. The "three great questions" consid­ of damaged cells ered are ( 1) whether the basic idea, freez­ from the outside. second preface noting how great ideas such as this have ing for eventual reanimation, is technically (Presently cells often taken considerable time in taking hold. Penicillin, for sound, (2)whether freezing and indefinite must heal them­ example, is said to have taken 16 years between its dis­ storage of individuals after death would be selves, or die and covery and its use. practical, and (3) whether eventual reani­ disintegrate; but Congratulations are more than in order. It is a great mation, assuming it possible, would be good some limited work for the individual and society. of operating di­ event toward the defeat of death. 2 It should be emphasized that the book, rectlyupon cells, ex­ and cryonics generally, proposes to freeze changing nuclei, dying individuals at the time o/ death, and etc. had been done, to beginrightnow by the best methods avail­ and is noted in the book.) Many cells too and worth the gamble. This position has, of able, and not to wait for breakthroughs or could simply be replaced. In particular the course, been central to the cryonics move­ "until the process is perfected" before any­ brain, a critical organ, might be satisfacto­ ment since its inception. one is frozen. (All the wonders of tomor­ rily repaired due to the redundancy of the With the technical problem considered, row will not rescue those dying today, un­ information it stores: " ... it maywell be that the book turns to practical matters. It is less action is taken immediately to preserve only a small percentage of the brain cells worth noting that essentially no cryonics them.) Thus it is crucially important to as­ need escape with little damage; this may be facilities existed at the time, thus a certain sess-as well as possible-the likelihood enough for reasonably faithful reconstruc­ speculation is necessary to support the po­ of eventual resuscitation of presently fro­ tion of the brain with freshly generated sition that such facilities could be set up; zen organisms. The first several chapters of tissue. "4 An interesting, worst-case scenario this was expected to happen shortly. (And the book are largely devoted to this ques­ is imagined for brain repair: " ... it is not it did, though only on a minuscule scale.) tion, and to making the case that in fact inconceivablethathugesurgeon-machines, For the interim, persons interested were reanimation is scientifically plausible and working twenty-four hours a day for de­ urged to make out a will specifYing the worth trying for. cades or even centuries, will tenderly re­ desire to be frozen at death, and to obtain Some formidable obstacles must be store the frozen brains, cell by cell, or even assurances of cooperation from family, faced. No large organism has been solidly molecule by molecule in critical areas."5 friends, physician, executor of the estate, frozen and successfully revived. It is well­ This, it should be remembered, was writ­ etc. Enough funds must be provided. Fi­ known that freezing extensively damages ten long before notions ofnanotechnology nally, it was hoped and expected that oth­ tissues. Something is known about this dam­ became widespread. Today, informed by ers interested in freezing would band to­ age; some progress has been made in pre­ this newer outlook, we might replace the gether to form a "safety net" to see that the venting it, but there is a lethal residual that "huge surgeon-machines" with "vast, coor­ person in question remained properly fro­ no existing methods can halt or reverse. dinated armies of tiny surgeon-machines"; zen after death. In practice, as many will (The present tense here is appropriate; the otherwise the main points stand. know, it has proved very difficult to estab­ situation today is not fundamentally differ­ The book emphasizes that no claim is lish facilities with the dedication and conti­ ent from that in the '60s, despite some being made ofhavingprorifthat resuscita­ nuity to carry out long-term storage of fro­ progress.) On the other hand there are tion in the manner indicated, or any suc­ zen patients. As a consequence, many early reasons for optimism about the eventual cessful revival from a presently-frozen state, suspensions terminated after only a few feasibility of resuscitation for those frozen will be possible. With that in mind, though, years. Much better success has been had with present-day(and some previous) meth­ and the evidence supporting the possible with efforts since the mid-I 970s, and some ods. Freezing certainly preserves structure success, the option of freezing after death organizations and patients have now en­ down to the cellular level and beyond, even seems definitely better than its alternatives, duredfor20yearsormore, with good pros-

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryomcs 5 pects for continuing. clearly lead to radical The closing chapters of the book are · changes in society as we devoted to more philosophical issues, based knowit(itwouldbecome on the important premise that, in addition "as we don't know it" in to mere revival, future technology should majorways!).Averycom­ allow curing of diseases and even rejuvena­ monreaction to the pros­ tion or reversal of aging. In short, persons pect of sweeping of today-even the sick, old and dying­ changes, ofwhatever na­ could look forward to the possibility of a ture, is a strong mix of virtually endless state of youthful health. fear, loathing, objec­ (This in turn could serve as a starting point tions, and rejection. No for improvements leading to more-than­ small effort then, is de­ human existence, and life-styles scarcely voted to meeting objec­ imaginable.) Such hopeful prospects would tions and reassuring the reader that the proposed changes would definitely be for the better. Every­ Advertisements body, then, should want immortality, and should and work diligently to bring it about, starting at the Personals basic level of individual survival, which impor­ Cryonics magazine reserves the right to accept or tantly includes cryonics. reject ads at our own discretion, and assumes no This has convinced cry­ responsibilityfor their content or the consequences onicists-but unfortu­ qf answering these advertisements. The rate is nately, the vast majority $8. 00 per line per month (our lines are considered ofhumanityremains un­ to be 66 columns wide). Tip-in rates per sheet are convinced. Though it has grown some, the cryon­ $140 (printed one side) or $180 (printed both The Prospect ifImmortality is still in print and is available sides),fiom camera-reac!r copy. ics movement is still very small. Very many more through Alcor for $11. 00. See the Order Form on page 40. are perishing than being EXTROPY frozen, and much-needed research must be ing the problem of death through mystical The Journal of Transhumanist Thought # 13 Boundless Constellations: The Emergence ofCeles- funded from limited, private reserves. De­ means, and also the attitude of resignation tial Civilization; If Uploads Come First: The Crack spite the favorable start, then, there ismuch prevalent among those who doubt the real­ of a Future Dawn; Utility Fog (nanotech); Two more ground to cover. ity of supernatural assistance. For most Questions for Extropians (Platt), response by More; After a great event occurs, eventually people it is a very big mouthful to swal­ Interview: Souls, Cyberspace, Sins, & Singularity; people start noting that a round number of low-and it was all introduced through Sequential Neural Networks; reviews of Good Mood, years has passed. In the case of Prospect this book of30 years ago. As Ettinger notes The Origins if Order. $4.95; $18 for one year sub. ($22 Canada; $32/$24 overseas air/surface) from this is first noticeable in 1984, the 20th in his talk, we must now convince people Extropy Institute, 13428 Maxella Ave. #273, Ma- anniversary. (I find nothing about it in the that they ought to want and do want the rina Del Rey, CA 90292. E-mail: [email protected] 197 4 literature, though by an interesting immortal, post-human existence that sci­ coincidence, in June of that lOth anniver­ ence and technology appear to promise. sary year the Avon paperback of Man Into Convincing them may be the hardest part MARY NAPLES, CLU and BOB GILMORE Superman was published.) For the 20th of attaining it. CRYONICS INSURANCE SPECIALISTS. anniversary there is a fine, short piece in 4600 Bohannon Drive, Suite 100 Cryonics by Mike Darwin, 6 thanking Et­ REFERENCES Menlo Park, CA 94025. tinger for having the courage and genius to 1. Cryonics 12(5) 4 (May 1991). (800) 645-3338. create his book, and noting that "Even pow­ 2. Life .&tension Society Newsletter 3 1 erful ideas take a long, long time to change (Aug. 1964). theinertiaofmankind'swholewayoflook­ 3. Will, G. "The last word," Newsweeh 7 Venturist Monch!J News promotes immortalist phi- ing at the world. "6 Another observation, Mar. 1994 74. losophy. For free sample write: The Venturists; "It has been a hard twenty years ... but WE 4. Ettinger, R. The Prospect rif Immortality 1547 W. Dunlap; Phoenix, AZ 85021. ARE STILL HERE" can be extended. Doubleday 1964 (repr. Immortalist Soci­ Though certainly not as tough as the first ety 1987) 29. Do you want to keep up with science and technology twenty, the last ten years have sometimes 5. Ettinger, op. cit. 30. bearing on cryonics? Periascronis a science newsletter been pretty rocky, but WEARE NOT ONLY 6. "Twenty years ofcryonics," Cryonics43 written by and for cryonicists, only $2.50 per issue. STILL HERE, WE'RE GROWING. 1 (Feb. 1984). Perioscron, PO 2365, Sunnyvale CA 94087. The thought of eliminating death through scientific means is arguably the mostprofoundideainhumanhistory. When Are you still healthy? Want to delay suspension? A this idea is coupled with a procedure-­ book forusersofAntiaging Drugs tells the good and bad cryonic suspension-that can be performed of each one. Send for free brochure. Pcriascron, PO today, immortality becomes a possibility 2365, Sunnyvale CA 94087. for the individual of today. This prospect then supersedes earlier approaches to solv-

6 Cryonics • 3rcl Quarter, 1994 by Stephen W Bridge

The Job's Not Over Until the Paperworl<'s one

very couple of weeks we get an in­ was forced to remove a patient from sus­ quiry about cryonic suspension from pension (see Carlos Mondragon's article someone whose relative is dying or "Paperwork Counts" elsewhere in this is­ choice was unclear. And there is the moral has just been pronounced dead. Many of sue). This had been a last-minute suspen­ issue: should we be in a position where we these people have only a vague understand­ sion arranged by the patient's husband in place people into suspension if they really ing of the purposes and limitations of 1990. Alcor's Board of Directors had ap­ don't want it? Even if we do think it is cryonics. Most are constrained by finances proved the suspension arrangements be­ "good for them?" Always remember, just or by legal considerations, such as other cause the couple had received the sign-up like a doctor cannot save everyone and so relatives who want more traditional dispo­ paperwork some months before and the must concentrate his energies on those who sitions. Almost everyone has a severe prob­ husband had been attending cryonics meet­ can be saved, we must do likewise. All lem with the issue ofinformed consent. It is ings for years. The presumption of in­ people who want or deserve cryonic sus­ importantforustoaskthequestions: "How formed consent was strong for him and­ pension will not be suspended. do we know the individual wanted this? absent other direction from his wife-he So don't wait!!!! How can we show we have not defrauded had the legal authority to direct the dispo­ Does everyone understand this? It is the person by promising things that are sition of her remains. Unfortunately, a bad enough when people who just found not possible or true?" court later ruled that his wife had left coun­ out about cryonics call us after a relative The legal issue of who decides about termanding instructions and had not been has died. In many ways it is worse when cryonic suspension is still muddied by the in a position to provide the informed con­ longtime readers of this magazine do the lack of specific legislation and regulations. sent which could have cancelled other in­ same thing-or have a relative call us later Alcor's normal and preferred procedure structions. on them. You have the time and ability and for informed consent is for the individual It is just such situations that make Alcor knowledge to avoid this kind of crisis. member to read and sign a group of docu­ extremely reluctant to accept last-minute Cryonics is not very advanced. Hospi­ ments which provide very specific infor­ cases where the individual being suspended tals do not perform transports or perfu­ mation about Alcor and cryonics, and has not signed our legal forms. In fact, we sions for us. State laws do not recognize about the limits of each. require an additional $.25,000 over our the existence of most of the choices in­ While this paperwork can be a chore to usual minimums before we will consider volved in cryonics. We do not have helicop- work through, it is ters poised to absolutely neces- swoop in and res­ sary in order to cue dying people avoid misconcep­ ~state laws do not recognize the existence of most of the choices involved or even attorneys tions and conflicts. posed to swoop in For example, many in cryonics. We do not have helicopters poised to swoop in and rescue and handle all of people think there the legal prob­ must be guarantees dying people or even attorneys posed to swoop in and handle all of the lems. Forthefore­ that cryonics will seeable future, work or that Alcor legal problems. For the foreseeable future, cryonics will be an endeavor cryonics will bean will revive them on endeavor for a specific predeter­ which you must be mined date. Some for which you must be prepared and in which you must participate." prepared and in think that cryonic which you must suspension itself participate. will cure their diseases or perhaps that Al­ such a case. And even then, almost every Sign up now. Don't wait until the last cor will act as Trustee for their estates so time we will say "No." minute, when we may have to say "No." they can "Take it with them." Alcor's pa­ It may seem odd that a cryonics organi­ perwork clearly points out that none of zation would turn down "business." But Paperwork Revision this is true. our first obligation is to the patients we If a family member is trying to arrange a already have in suspension. We have fought Each suspension teaches us new ways last-minute suspension, the complications many court battles over the past decade to to avoid problems-and new problems intensify. It is exceedingly rare for Alcor to protect an individual's rights to choose to avoid. Policies change over the years, approve a suspension arranged by a rela­ cryonicsuspension. Butitmakeslitdesense new solutions are discovered, even the tive (especially postmortem) because the for us to risk the future of Alcor and the language changes. So once in a while we legal complications are so much increased. protection of the already suspended pa­ Recently Alcor-for the first time ever- tients to take on a case where the patient's Text concludes on page 3 9

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 7 I' I

~

DU~~ ~(i~~~~~(i~ J~~m~m~~m~~~ c by Thomas Donaldson, Ph.D. "'X ~ ~ ~

The Effects of lmmort2!1ity

reached 40%. (This statistic held true across memory of his work when new ideas have shall discuss here some of the effects, 200years oftechnological advances, nor did begun to change it? Anyone who has ever both current and future, that cryonics it matter just how the war ended). So what been an academic will also know how profes­ I and immortality may have on us and determines our threshold for death and in­ sors try to found their own school ofthought: human beings generally. I don't mean here jury? I believe it comes from our hopes for rewarding those who go along with them, any specific modifications or improvements future lifespan; and so, if we expect to live trying to cast out (not always successfully, or to ourselves by new kinds of technology, thousands of years, that threshold will go we could not advance at all) those with dis­ nanotechnology or other, that we may some­ way down. For many people now, they see cordant ideas. Both ideas and inventions day create. Nor do I here take any position themselves as risking nothingveryvaluable: will be seen asnecessarit}ttransient. We have about the merits of such modifications. I they choose the excitement and danger of no good word to describe this attitude yet. mean the effects that lifting the simple bur­ war against a slightly longer life, but only It's not that we won't want such ideas, or den of mortality would have on us and our one oflabor and misery. Yet ifyou expect to take a frivolous attitude to them, but that we behavior, even if we remain with the physi­ live far longer, you will quite reasonably won't think ofourselves as bound to them in cal bodies and mind we have now. For if, on believe that even apresent life of miserywill the same way many now do. They are tools good grounds, we come to believe that we someday grow less miserable, even pleasant. that we pick up and use, and will drop some­ will continue for thousands of years, our You will learn a great patience. day for better ones, as we have almost aban­ outlook on many different issues would Yet that's not the only change. If we ex­ doned typewriters for computers. (Though change greatly. pect to live for thousands ofyears, then many everything has its place: we still use the equa­ On present human scales these changes things we now think of as long-lasting and tions from Ptolemaic theory to work out may take a thousand years to complete. Or substantial we will see as transient compared where a star might be in our sky.) then again, when substantial numbers of to ourselves. Political parties, ideologies of This notion of transient creations com­ people have lived to over 100 they may have all kinds, governments, nations, buildings, pared to lasting human beings extends to become history. styles, fashions, fame, even scientific theo­ literature also. Every book or poem will be The very first change will come in our ries, all of these become transient. You are approached not for what it may say to the attitude to killing and war. I very much don't what is lasting. Ages but for what it says to the person read­ mean that we will cease to fight with one This change gives an almost complete in­ ing it. I am the one who is important: what another, living in harmony ever after. I ex­ version of many values most people now does this poem say to me. Authors will write pect many struggles, and even massive wars, have. How often have we heard, either in the for specific audiences, with no pretense of all of them resulting in very few or no actual eulogy of one of our fallen heroes, or the universality. This implies, for instance, that deaths at all. Yet wars and deaths have been declared aim of a politician, scientist, or thelanguageusedwillbecomespecifictothe part of human history and prehistory for as inventor, that he or she wanted to make audience, and even the theme may become far back as archaeologists have gone. How something substantial to leave behind them? very special. Others outside may find the could such a change come over us? To do or create anything and expect it to drama, novel, or poetry impenetrable; art First, if most people are over 100, there outlast you would be absurd. Any group or would become very fragmented. (Yes, we will be no more young men that old men can nation that we joined we would expect to will also see hypertext and other innova­ send off to war. And whether it takes 100 disappearwhilewe continued on. They could tions, but the point still holds). I suspect that years or 1000, wewillallbecomeresistantto not attract the patriotism and loyalty they visual art will go through the same change. the cries that lead to war: the old have seen a now attract. Its worth depends not just on what our eyes great deal, and their heads will not be easily I don't believe this will cause us to cease see but how we react to what we see, and turned by any such cries. producing science or art, butitwould change those reactions can change. Second, our threshold for deaths will go our attitude to what we had produced. Not Most especially, it's not that such art would way down. Before WWII, Lewis Richardson, all science or art comes solely from a wish to glorify individuals. If you expect to live for a British meteorologist and also a Quaker, make something lasting, even now (think of thousands of years, you do not need glorifi­ did a study ofwars. He felt, quite rightly, that a firework display). Consider the Newtonian cation. But it would try to speak to your we must first understand wars and killing theory... or General Relativity today. To say specific feelings and background: essentially before we moralize about it. He found two that a physical theory or a piece of math­ to you and those similar enough to you. Both kinds, one a war of extermination (in which ematics is "true" implies that it is long last­ literature and visual arts would become a the sides were very unequal, and the "ad­ ing, yet Newtonian physics lasted only 250 little like the letters (or drawings) we make vanced" one treated the war as if it were the years before being superseded. All such for our friends, with no intention that they extermination of rats or mice) and the other achievements will be welcomed, but seen as spread further; but at the same time very kind, in which the parties were more or less provisional and transient. high skill and much thought might go into equal. And for this second kind, his studies This attitude may even favor scientific such works. Is this the end of all art? You produced a fascinating statistic: they would discovery: how often does it happen now decide. always stop after death and injury rates had that some major scientist fights to retain the Who tries to keep a fireworks display?

8 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 Sus pen tn " t ne " by Tanya Jones, Suspension Services Manager

A less detailed version ofthis report titled "The Suspension ifA-1206" appeared in The Alcor Phoenix, June 1994. -Ed.

The majority of cryonic suspensions oc­ Bridge that the patient was in a coma and, appeared unlikely that we'd use it. (We curwith at least one day's notice ofanAl cor given her age (91) and recent medical his­ expected that no blood replacement would member's deanimation, which generally tory, was not expected to survive the night. be possible due to the excessive clotting allows time for reflection, planning, modi­ Mrs. Stone's application for cryonic sus­ which occurs to people when their circula­ fication, and application ofrather sophisti­ pension provided relevant information tory system shuts down, a decision based cated stabilization procedures to tremen­ about her past medical history, including on the fact that Hugh and I were hours douslyvariable transport operations. Cases that she'd had a bout with breast cancer, an distant, and the local TransportTeammem­ which fall in the minority, those with little allergic reaction to gentamycin (one of the bers had not yet arrived at the hospital.) or no warning, have less flexibility in execu­ standard medications in Alcor's transport We could attempt the washout with the tion but provide a betterplatformforevalu­ protocol), and, most important to the im­ local equipment, but were expecting blood ating the efficacy of Alcor's emergency re­ pending suspension procedures, she'd had clots to prevent any significant circulation sponse system as it has been developed. a bypass operation about a decade earlier. of the washout solution. With further con­ The transport and suspension of member Within two hours of Steve's speaking sideration, we changed our minds-send­ A-1206 was executed with but five hours with the physician, Hugh Hixon and I were ing the transport kit was probably a good betweenAlcor's notification that the mem­ being rushed to the airport by Keith Hen­ idea, as there were many items in it that ber was seriously ill and the pronounce­ son (who was also attending the confer­ were not in the local kit, and depending on ment of legal death. We responded, we ence) to catch the next flight to New York. how the circumstances developed, some of suspended, and we learned. Steve Bridge had arranged for Scott Her­ these items might be useful. Twenty min­ One of the first lessons was that vaca­ man to take Alcor's transport kit, custom utes passed between these decisions, and tions should be avoided. At least six mem­ shipping container, andsupplyofViaspan™ they were poorly timed. The only flight bersoftheSuspensionTeamwereinSunny­ (a blood replacement solution used com­ which would getthekittoNew York before vale, California attending.Extro 1, the first mercially in stabilizing transplant organs) late Sunday morning (this was Saturday) conference on transhumanist thought of to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, where had been the plane from which the kit had the Extropy Institute. Everyone was studi­ they were awaiting shipment toNew York. been off-loaded, and it had just left. ously enjoying the very first presentation Additionally, the New York Transport Meanwhile, the New York Transport (MATIIEMATICALlMMORTALISM: A PROGRESS RE­ Team Members had been notified of the Team volunteers had been sent to the hos­ PORT by Dr. Michael Perry, Suspension impending suspension and dispatched to pital with their transport equipment. Stan Team Member and Alcor's Patient Care­ the hospital to await deanimation. Gerber went straight to the hospital from taker) when the call came in that an elderly Once the stabilization equipment ship­ his apartment inNew York City, while Gerry New York member had been found by her ment and local emergency response had Arthus and Curtis Henderson were travel­ son ( anAlcor member) in an unresponsive been coordinated, Steve's next step was to ing from Long Island. Gerry and Curtis state and was in the hospital after a late­ contacttheNewYorkCitymorticianwho'd were given permission by Steve to locate a night heart attack. been contacted to assist with the transport. back-up van for their equipment, as Curtis' Over half the staffwas inNorthern Cali­ At about 1:30pm, the mortician and Steve van was old and possibly unreliable for fornia (Hugh Hixon, Tanya Jones, Ralph had completed the negotiations regarding longtrips, but Steve also said that this wasn't Whelan,MikePerry,andDerekRyan)when the use of the mortician's facility and ser­ critical, and that any search for a van should the initial call came at about 8:30am (PST) vices. They were discussing logistical de­ not delay the deployment ofthe equipment on Saturday, April30, 1994. By 10:30am, tails, when the mortician took another call. to the hospital. Gerry called one rental "Mrs. Stone's" physician relayed to Steve It was Mrs. Stone's son, calling to say that company who claimed to have a van imme- his mother had <:: deanimated and ;::: ·~ was awaiting re­ .5~ -ll! ~ moval from the .0 "E j hospital. .cC\l ~ Hugh and I u &: were somewhere ~ '5 over Nevada 5 when this call came. Mter dis­ cussing several probable trans­ port scenarios with Hugh, I asked Steve to stop the trans­ Jay Sheer (lift) and Ralph Whelan prepare the portkitshipment Hugh Hixon generates the arterial and venuous perfusion circuit prior to the suspension toNewYork,asit glycerol concentration figures

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryomcs 9 tacted would only accomodate one or no A-1206 Transport Temperatures passengers, which would have left suspen­ 20 sion-critical personnel inNew York. Steve 18 ~ also began searching for an answer to this rn in Scottsdale, by contacting all of the air­ :I 16 'iii lines that operate at the Phoenix airport in iii 14 hopes that an exception to the shipping () 12 schedule could be made. Given that this i 10 was late Saturday evening, the prospects :I ... \_ ~ for a timely resolution seemed slim. I! 8 --~ (!) - """""" Meanwhile, Hugh and I still had an is­ 0.. 6 E chemic patient to prepare for transport to (!) 4 1- Scottsdale, wheneverthatwastooccur. Our 2 options were limited. Shortly after arriv­ 0 ing at the mortuary, I'd tried to administer 5 6 7 8 9 10 the transport medications and also had little Time, hours success. With the Viaspan™ on its way, we atleasthad the option ofattempting a blood diately available, so he and Curtis went to About the time Hugh and I landed at washout. We consulted with a cryobiolo­ pick it up. Unfortunately, they didn't take JFK Airport, Gerry and Curtis arrived at gist about the probable extent of the is­ the equipment with them, and subse­ the mortuary. Once the equipment was chemic damage (now nearing six hours) quently, had to return to Curtis' home to unloaded, they began to implement the with and without the blood washout, and pick it up when they found that the rental transport protocol. The mechanical CPR the effects that further delays (including company was mistaken and no van was on device was placed and started. An IV was in shipping) would have on the patient's the lot. This, in conjunction with the stan­ place, but no fluid could be pushed through chances for a successful cryoprotective per­ dard snarls ofNew York City traffic culmi­ the clotted line. Of all the transport medi­ fusion. We concluded that attempting the nated in several hours delay. cations, only Maalox could be administered blood replacement would do no harm, as it Stan Gerber arrived at the hospital at this time. would not delay the shipment (still sched­ shortly after the patient was pronounced. Shortly after Hugh and I arrived at the uled for Monday) and might provide her The patient's physician had allowed the mortuary, weweretalkingwithSteveBridge brain with some protection ifclotting didn't patient's son to pack her head in ice, and and found that a problem which had arisen actually prevent washout. informed Stan that he could perform car­ from our inability to ship the transport kit At this point, it was suggested that we use diopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (which in a timely manner had been solved, while vessels in the neck as our access points, as he did, manually) and administer the trans­ yet another transportation problem had using these vessels might circumvent some port medications, but that the hospital been discovered. When I asked Steve to of the major clots in her circulatory system. would not provide him with medications stop shipment of the transport kit to New The mortician had agreed to perform this from their inventory. Much to Stan's frus­ York, I'd overlooked a reminder to keep cutdown and had both the skill and confi­ tration, he had no medications with him, the Vi asp an™ and the patient shipping con­ dence to do so quickly. As he proceeded since the transport medications kit was still tainer on the flight. As a result, these items with a cutdown on the right carotid, Hugh en-route with Gerry and Curtis. were also removed by airport personnel. and I realized that using the carotids for The mortician arrived about an hour Ten liters ofvery fresh Vias pan™ existed in this part ofthe suspension procedurewould later and submitted the paperwork for the the Florida facility, though, and was close probably be a mistake. If we opened the removal of the patient, which was then ac­ enough to be available for our use in New vessels in the neck, they would have to be complished in short order. Upon arriving York. It had already been shipped quickly delicately repaired by the surgeon in Ari­ at the mortuary, Stan once again began by a local volunteer and was scheduled to zona-if theyweren 't repaired, we'd lose a manual chest compressions, and performed arrive in New York about two hours after major portion ofthe circulatory system feed­ CPR (without ventilation, as our protocol myself and Hugh. That's the problem which ing the brain, which would undeniably re­ requires) until shortly before the arrival of had been solved. The problem Stevefound sult in a lesser-quality cryoprotective perfu­ Gerry and Curtis at 8:15pm (EST). Stan was that the Phoenix airport cargo depart­ sion for the patient. Fortunately, the mor­ had to stop CPR in order to head for the mentwas not open on Sunday, and it seemed tician hadn't opened any of the vessels for airport as Hugh and I were arriving. He that no airline would schedule the shipping cannulation, so that problem was avoided. was accompanied by the patient's son. of human remains until Monday morning. We then asked the mortician to proceed This unforeseen compli- cation resulted in the ~ patient's son beginning to ·;; search the phone directories for an air ambulance service :8E 1!! which would transport his ~ mother to Phoenix. These E u.. proved to be quite expen- '5 sive, and no service had a E u plane large enough to trans- port the patient without re­ fueling stops (which ulti­ mately would prove a more time-consuming trip than taking a commercial airline). Keith Henson (left) and Dr. McEachern An additional difficulty was After cooling to dry ice temperature, the patient cannulate the aorta and right atrium that the air ambulances con- is preparedfor the final cooling phase 10 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 with femoral cutdowns, which he did. Just as we had few alternatives at this time. Ever before 1:OOam, we were able to begin the aware of the encroaching deadline, we blood washout. Almost immediately, we packed the patient, with the ice in the origi­ were able to see that the flush was having an nal bags into the container; surrounded it effect. Dark venous blood was exiting the with insulating material, and secured all of femoral vein. The draining blood also con­ this within an outer casing. Then we ran to tained modest clots which had retracted the airport. with the cooling and the passage of time, Almost exactly two hours prior to our and which were then flushed from the cir­ scheduled departure, Hugh and I were culatory system with the introduction of perched uncomfortably in wire-frame the Viaspan™. As the flush continued, we benches at the airport when Steve paged to saw Mrs. Stone's abdomen distending. It let us know that the ice bags in the shipping was filling with fluid, probably leaking from container had leaked, and that the patient the circulatory system through a ruptured wouldn't be allowed on the flight until the gastric lining. Given the circumstantial leakage was stopped and the container re­ problems already experienced by this pa­ paired. The mortician had picked up Mrs. tient, we were determined to continue the Stone and was returning to his facilities flush for as long as we could. By the time where he, armed with more detailed infor­ Hugh shut down the pump, about six liters mation and new experience in shipping had been flushed (generally, we use about cryonics patients, was preparing to repack­ ten), the draining venous blood had light­ age the patient for later shipment. (The Hugh Hixon (lift), Scott Herman (at ened markedly to a pale mauve, and some mortician ultimately used a body bag, gar­ computer), and Mike Perry (ob­ of the bruising we'd seen on the patient's bage bags, and twist-ties for the ice.) With scured by Scott) enact the new bodyhadcleared(indicatingthatsomeper­ our assistance being unnecessary (and in­ automated cooldown system fusion was being achieved). deed, more difficult to obtain with us at the It was during the washout that Steve airport and the patient returned to the mor­ for surgery before the patient was brought Bridge called us with some very good news. tuary), Hugh and I took the scheduled flight to the facility. America West Airlines had agreed to open to Phoenix, so that we could arrive before Flight delays ultimately resulted in the their cargo department on Sunday to re­ the patient and help with preparations in patient arriving at the Alcor facility at ceive the patient, at the convenience of our Scottsdale. 5:00pm; her rectal temperature had schedule (i.e. the patient's arrival). Many We arrived at the Alcor facility to find dropped to 3.2°C during the airline trans­ of the airline's decision-makers had been that preparations for the impending port. out socializing on this Saturday night, but a cryoprotective perfusion were well under­ Alcor perfuses its patients with sympathetic and determined airline repre­ way. Mike Perry was flying in from North­ cryoprotectants to reduce the damage in­ sentative arranged the authorizations we ern California about an hour later. Ralph curred by the freezing process. The spe­ needed to get the New York airport to put Whelan, Keith Henson, and Jay Skeer had cific circumstances of this case led us to our patient on the next available flight, and already flown down from Northern Cali­ consider modifYing our whole-body perfu­ even reduced the time requirement for fornia early that morning, and they (with sion methods in order to optimize the cryo­ when we had to have cargo at the airport Scott Herman, Steve Bridge, Joe Hovey, protection this patient's brain would re­ (usually four hours in advance of depar­ Dave Droit, and Paul Garfield) had located ceive. Any 9 1-year-old patient would have ture). my checklists and were using these and our a delicate vasculature, where any misstep With myself, Hugh, and the patient now manuals to prepare the facility for a cryonic during surgery could result in irreparable booked on a 7:30am flight, we had little suspension. Many ofthe tasks on those lists damage. Further, thepoolingofthewash­ time to lose in getting to the airport, even had already been done or were nearing out solution in her abdomen during trans­ with the reduction in advance delivery re­ completion when Hugh and I walked in the port preparations indicated at least one quirements. The washout nearly complete, door. major leak in the abdominal vasculature. we were preparing to pack the patient for With the patient's arrival scheduled for Without repair, we would experience seri­ shipment, when we discovered some of the 3:30pm (PST), and the remaining critical ous leakage ifwe perfused her entire body, New York equipment missing. (The single suspension personnel (includingDr. Nancy and quite possibly we would be unable to missing container was later found to have McEachern and Dr. Thomas Munson) ar­ achieve simple capillary opening pressures, been misplaced by a mortuary assistant.) riving before then, we were able to com­ which in turn would significantly reduce We had no sealable bags in which to pack plete most of the remaining preparations the quality of the cryoprotectant distribu- the ice for shipment. Sealable bags had become important with the removal of Alcor's shipping container from the flight toNew York. Ice was essential, in this case, A-1206 Cryoprotectant Concentrations 9 as the patient's temperature was still a high s:: 8 - ~arterial 9.1 °C (all temperatures are rectal) a full 0 .. .. . m .. nine hours after her pronouncement. (The +:0 7 "venous / .. -- 111 tl -- ... -- slight increase in temperature shown by .... 6 - -burr hole v s:: tl the accompanying graph indicates the he­ Q) 5 / (.) tl ginning of the blood washout, and occurred s:: 4 .. 0 ...... - because insufficient time was available to (.) ...... 3 completely cool the Viaspan™.) 111 2 Unfortunately, no convenience stores 0 were found to be open in Brooklyn at :lE 1 2:00am on Sunday. The mortician, how­ 0 ever, insisted that his container was water­ 31.4 31.6 31.8 32 32.2 32.4 32.6 32.8 33 tight, and we relied on his expertise in this, lime, hours 3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 11 tion throughout the entire body, and espe­ of the brain for signs of edema (swelling). worth ofworkin hours, finishing the project cially the brain. Based on these consider­ This showed us that the hemispheres may shortly after the conclusion of the perfu­ ations, we decided that a neuro-perfusion swell to different extents (right -l.Omm, sion. [See "Cooling Down"by Hugh Hixon, circuit (which would prevent the abdomi­ left-3.0mm), and is a technique which will elsewhere in this issue. -Ed.] While they nalleakage)would provide the best chance be used on future ischemic patients. were finishing the last modifications, the for adequate cryoprotection of the brain. Dr. Thomas Munson was prepared to patient was being prepared for the The surgery and cryoprotective perfu­ manage the surgical trays and instruments cooldown phaseofthesuspension. She was sion pro.mised to be difficul,t, giveq the is­ for the surgeon, Dr. McEachern, who would transferred into the silicone oil bath shortly chemic damage and the patient's medical be assisted by Keith Henson. The surgery • after having been-placed in protective bags. history, which included a previous heart­ began at 6:01pm with the sternum being The cooldown system worked nearly bypass operation. This case also promised exposed using an electrocautery (follow­ flawlessly from the start, despite its hasty to be educational, for similar reasons. At ing the preparation of the burr holes). implementation. Because the program­ the suggestion of one of our consultants Here, the previous bypass operation may ming hadn't been tested prior to being during this case, two burr holes were pre­ have made the surgery a little easier: stain­ required for a patient cooldown, Scott, Mike pared in order to observe both hemispheres less steel sutures were clipped, and Keith Perry, and Paul Garfield got little sleep was able to cut the sternum using a pair of over the next day or two, as they alternated paramedic shears. shifts to monitor the cooldown system in Thank You! Upon opening the pericardium, Dr. case of any program failure. McEachern found a number of adhesions Cooling proceeded uneventfully, as did Pd lihe to thanh once again onbothsidesoftheheartandalargeamount the transfer of the patient into the long­ everyone who participated in offat on the pericardia! sac. The scar tissue term storage dewar. Different phases of this suspension. Alcor continues proved to be a real hindrance, as it has in the cooling transfers (from dry ice cooling to attract good-natured volun­ previous cases where patients have under­ to liquid nitrogen vapors to long-term stor­ teers who are willing to tachle gone bypass operations prior to cryonic age) were photographed and videotaped even the most daunting if tashs suspension. When the surgery got particu­ by professional photographers Robert Bell, larly difficult, and Dr. McEachern was un­ Carla McFee, and their assistant, Ana. We in order to improve the quality of willing to attempt freeing the aorta from found that professionals are capable ofpre­ a suspension. This was a compli­ the surrounding scar tissue, Keith Henson paring some of the most stunning cryonics cated and draining suspension, proposed an innovative way to clamp off photos AI cor has ever had. and the calm, good sense, and the descending aorta ( itis standard in neuro One other interesting aspect of this sus­ humor of these people helped to cases to remove the lower extremities from pension was that, at the request of Mrs. mahe it bearable. the perfusion circuit). Keith proposed Stone's son, aJewishorthodoxservicewas Participating in this suspen­ cannulating the aortic arch and using the later conducted for Mrs. Stone in Alcor's sion were: cannula as an indicator for placing the Patient Care area. Steve Bridge had given clamp. With the clamp positioned, the a talk on cryonics to a group of senior citi­ In New York: cannula could be withdrawn, and the clamp zens at a local Jewish Community Center. secured. Keith's proposal was imple­ He used his new contacts there to secure Gerry Arthus mented, and successful. the services of a rabbi who seemed very Stan Gerber The remaining connections for perfu­ interested in visiting AI cor. Curtis Henderson sion were completed shortly thereafter, and As in every suspension, we learned some the patient's son bypasswasstartedat8:44pm. Atthestartof new things. Alcor's emergency response the mortician the perfusion, the brain swelled to the ex­ policies will now be modified with these tent mentioned above. As soon as the swell­ improvements. To name just a few: the In Scottsdale: ing was observed, the rate at which cryo­ transport kit will always be shipped from protectant was introduced to the patient Alcor, regardless of the circumstances of Steve Bridge was increased, in the hopes that higher death (except for autopsy victims) if there Fred Chamberlain osmotic pressures could reduce or elimi­ has been any advance notice ofthe patient's Linda Chamberlain nate the advancing edema. The swelling decline; in the future, we will have compact Dave Droit did not appear to get worse after this point, medication kits available for Transport Paul Garfield but we continued to watch the burr holes Team Members who are remote from the Keith Henson very closely to immediately catch any fur­ stabilization equipment or who live in ar­ Scott Herman therexpansionofedema(whichwouldhave eas where local travel is congested and slow; Hugh Hixon (also in NY) resulted in the perfusion being ceased). and better coordination of the Suspension Joe Hovey Perfusion was stopped at 10: 17 after a Team Members would reduce the delays slow and steady decline in perfusion pres­ between the patient's arrival at the Alcor Tanya Jones (also in NY) sure of unknown origin and increased per­ facility and the start ofsurgery( it should be Bobbi Kraver fusate loss through the patient. Samples nearly immediate). Ted Kraver taken then registered molar concentrations Though there is an inevitable sadness Dr. Nancy McEachern of cryoprotectant of 8.8M (arterial), 7.6M and frustration experienced by everyone Judy Muehlstein (venous), and 4.7M (burr hole). (The involved in high-ischemia cases such as this Dr. Thomas Munson burrhole concentration figure is the best one, it's worth pointing out that the ulti­ Mike Perry indication ofthe level ofbrain protection.) matecryoprotectant concentration for Mrs. Dave Pizer The surgery and cryoprotective perfu­ Stone is encouragingly high. This com­ sion lasted over four hours, and in that pares favorablywith atleasttwo other high­ Trudy Pizer time, Scott Herman and Monty Walter (a ischemia cases inAlcor's past: A-1058 and JaySkeer local volunteer)worked furiously to modify A-1108. Eachofthesesuspensionsoccurred Monty Walter the neurosuspension cool-down system to with no warning, and had emergency re­ Ralph Whelan provide for automated cooling of a whole­ sponse and cryoprotective perfusion times body patient. They completed a week's ofcomparablelengths. (SeeCryonicsmaga- 12 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 zineofSeptember, 1991 and June, 1988.) the result of ischemia. Ultimately, the his perfusion, yet a final venous concentra­ Jerry Leaf, A-1058, suffered cardiac ar­ cryoprotective perfusion in this case was tion of glycerol of 3.6M was achieved. (At rest local to our Riverside facility, and a not as good as that received by Mrs. Stone, that point in time, Alcor's goal for a transport team arrived at the hospital less in that the final venous concentration of cryoprotective perfusion was 4.0M final than two hours after pronouncement (three glycerol was 2.4M, with a speculative con­ concentration.) hours after his arrest and subsequent, un­ centration of the brain being 1.5M. Alcor's response in Mrs. Stone's case successful resuscitation efforts), at which Bob, A-ll 08, also suffered an unexpected compares favorably on many levels to time Jerry was packed in ice. This suspen­ cardiac arrest, but was living in Florida at these two in that all were whole-body sion was nearly compromised by autopsy, the time. In this case, no blood washout patients with censiderable ischemia and but some significantworkby Alcor's attor­ was done in Florida, and the patient was the achievement oflocal blood washout, ney reduced the requirement for a full au­ simply packed in ice and shipped to south­ and Mrs. Stone's final cryoprotectant topsy to a simple external examination and ern California for cryoprotective perfusion. concentrations were higher. We've cardiac sample for toxicology studies. Car­ Bob's perfusion was less than ideal, as in learned from these (and indeed all) cry­ diopulmonary support was initiated a full addition to the ischemic damage, the cause onic suspensions, and Alcor's capability five hours after arrest, and Jerry was also of death was arteriosclerotic cardiovascu­ has been improved for future patients. found to have a ruptured gastric lining as lar disease. These conditions compromised per ork unts! A/cor is Forced to Surrender a Body for Burial By Carlos Mondragon

n April the California Supreme Court cremated"! The sister brought suitto force for the best. efused to hear an appeal oflower court execution of that will. No original of the Ultimately, when Dr. Graham was forced I ulings which bad mooted the anatomi­ willwaseverfound,anditwasDr.Graham's tocarryoutthecourtorder,ouronlychoice cal donation of the body of "Sylvia Gra­ contention that Sylvia had resolved her re­ was to demur. (An attorney assured us, ham" to Alcor for cryonic suspension (see ligious reservations regarding cryonic sus­ meanwhile, that our move to another state the report of the whole body suspension of pension and had, in fact, decided to sign up did not change our legal status in this mat­ A-1242, Oct. 1990 Cryonics). The effect with Alcor several months prior to her ter.) The court had ruled that Sylvia's will was to let stand a court order directing that death. The sign-up process had been de­ and lack of informed consent had suffi­ Mrs. Graham'snext-of-kinarrangea "Chris­ layed due to difficulties in arranging fund­ ciently revoked her husband's authority to tian burial." ing. Evidence supporting the fact that the have made an anatomical donation of her This disposition of this case underscores other, primarily monetary provisions ofthe body. But as next-of-kin he was still obli­ the immense importance of executing for will had been rendered invalid by changes gated and empowered to arrange a final oneself the "onerous" paperwork which is to her estate which Sylvia had made in the disposition within the guidelines set by the required for Suspension Membership. Al­ last two years of her life. Mike Darwin and will: no freezing and no cremation. Dr. though we have from time to time reported Igavetestimony(hydepositionandattrial) Graham andAlcor complied with the letter on the progress of this case in Cryonics, that Sylvia had apparently already changed of the law. At the end ofMay, Sylvia's body here is a brief review. her mind on cryonics when she and Dr. was transported back to California for Mrs. Graham had not executed any Al­ GrahamvisitedAlcor a few months prior to burial, the first time such an incident has corpaperworkbythetimeshehecamecriti­ her suspension. happened in the history of Alcor. cally ill and unable to do so. The suspen­ The trial court ruled that notwithstand­ If there is any good news here, it is that sion was arranged by her husband, Dr. ing any evidence ofSylvia Graham's accep­ you can expect the judiciary of the State of "Marvin Graham." Thiswasnotthefirstor tance of cryonic suspension, she could not California to uphold your direction regard­ last of Alcor's "last minute cases" (those have given informed consent to the proce­ ing disposition of your human remains af­ suspensions arranged by persons other than dure. And since the judge accepted the ter legal death. The caveat is that we had the patient). Under California law and the legal status ofcryonics as scientific research better be damned swift about making those U niformAnatomiC!al Gift Act, a decedent's (that status having been established by an directives. Even if full suspension mem­ next-of-kin has the legal authority to ar­ appellate court in Alcor's litigation with bership has not been completed (for what­ range for disposition ofremains, including the California Department of Health) he ever reason), I believe that a signature on anatomical donations, in the absence o/ went further: the standard of informed any two ofthe three core documents which other written instructions by the decedent. consent applied was equal to what would comprise Alcor's core paperwork package The litigation which ensued did not dis­ be required for medical experimentation would be sufficient to produce a different pute the legality of cryonics or the right of on legally living patients. outcome in circumstances similar to those the patient to have chosen cryonics. Rather, Alcor never did intervene or participate described above. the issue was the patient's intent. About in this litigation. We had fought in the Membership Administrator Derek Ryan two months after the suspension, the courts long, hard, and succes.ifully to de­ is at 1-602-922-9013, waiting for your call. patient's sister produced a photocopy ofan fend and firmly establish the legal right to old will signed by Sylvia Graham which choose disposition ofone's remains. Since explicitly stated that she wanted a Christian this case presumed the right to choose, our burial, and did not want to be "frozen or rolewastoprovidemoralsupportandhope

3rd Quarter, 1994 e Cryomcs 13 J E 5 ECTI By Derek Ryan

Everything changes. no exception. This has made writing these anyofthe past years is nearly futile. But just Sounds simplistic and obvious doesn't membership updates a more daunting task as stock market analysts look beyond past it? About a year or so ago, (around the time everyyear. (Actually, we've only published return rates, factoring their knowledge of I wrote my previous-and first-member­ five of them as recurring features in Cryon­ specific trends and unusual circumstances ship update for Cryonics) I used to think so, ics: the first by Thomas Donaldson and into their predictions for future market per­ too. But then I worked atAlcor for another Hugh Hixon in 1989, the second and third formance, we can separate out some of the year. And now I can not only say it, but also by Ralph Whelan in 1991 and 1992, the importantthings that influence our growth, understand it. fourth by yours truly in 1993. You're read­ and thereby formulate a much better guess Everything changes. ing the fifth.) The point has generally been as to what we should expect in the coming For the benefit of those of you who are to analyze how things are going for Alcor in months and years. new to Alcor and the cryonics community, terms of membership growth, throw some I offer the following brief review: history and raw numbers into the mix, and Our New Competition First, I came to Alcor in August, 1992, then make an attempt to extrapolate past The first, most obvious thing which has when our total membership stood at just and current trends into the future. affected our growth recently, and which over 300. Then, I signed up a lot of new And of course, such an endeavor will will almost certainly influence our growth suspension members (nearly 50 in five always be an inexact science. Our annual­ in the future, is the simple fact that some of months,) got cocky, gloated a lot, and wrote izedgrowthrateovertheentiretyofAlcor's our former members recently went off and a membership update in April, 1993 pre­ existence (22 years) stands at just over 20%. formed their own cryonics organization. dicting huge membership increases for Al­ (Which is astounding. Such a growth rate For quite awhile, we had no ideahowmuch cor bymid-1994. Then, although I did sign over that long a time period is almost un­ this would affect our membership. Even up nearly 25 more by the end of 1993, heard of in conventional business.) But though there was plenty of murmuring Reality decided it was time to slap about it all through 1992 and me silly. I didn't sign up many 1993, it wasn't until the annual people for quite a few months, Total Members Growth Alcor Board elections in Sep­ we actually lost a few members, Year (Beginning) (End) Rote tember, 1993thatwefirstknew (hitting a low of 331 members definitively that there would in­ earlier this year,) and I discov­ 1984 33 44 33% deed be a new company. (As it ered the true meaning ofthe word 1985 44 11 61% turned out, there would eventu­ "humble." Most recently, I've ally be a coalition of three sepa­ started signing up people again 1986 11 85 20% rate companies: CryoCare, a (we'rebackupto343andsteadily 1981 85 100 18% membership organization; climbing), and I now claim to 1988 100 114 14% CryoSpan, a long term storage have a much more reasonable 1989 114 150 32% organization; andBioPreserva­ view ofwhat to expect in the Real tion, a suspension services or­ World Of Cryonics. 1990 150 192 28% ganization.) There. I've made it simple for 1991 192 302 51% Predictably, the estimates as those of you who are only skim­ 1992 302 353 11% to how many Alcor members ming your way through this ar­ might follow those first few in ticle to ferrett out The Bottom 1993 353 314 6% joining CryoCare varied ac­ Line. You are now free to glance cording to whom you put the at the accompanying illustrations, draw our actual growth rates in each of those 22 question to. Some thought there'd only be your own conclusions, and move on to an­ years have often varied wildly from the few (a dozen members or so), and some other article. overall average. (To see what I mean, just thought that there'd be a mass exodus ( 100 But for those of you who want more, glance at the table below.) members or more.) As we probably should there is certainly more to say. As with attempting to analyze the stock have expected, the real number nearly a The last few years have been a veritable market based purely on past indexes, guess­ year later (based on my most recent infor­ roller coaster ride for Alcor in many ways, ing how many members we'll sign up next mation) lies somewhere in between: 39 and our membership growth rate has been year based on how many we signed up in members.

14 Cryonics • 3rcl Quarter, 1994 As to whether we can expect to lose more achieve those goals. Worse, the disagree­ against societal norms, b) made up of indi­ members to CryoCare-and if so, how ments became more ubiquitous and all­ vidualists, and c) growing, then you will many-we can still only guess. The more encompassing as time wore on. Such a almost always end up with a situation like the cryonics community grows, the more situation could only produce one thing: that which we saw in AI cor in '92 and '93. cryonics organizations there will be to entropy. Lots and lots of entropy. The only thing that was really in ques­ choose from, the more often members will Since September, though, we have been tion was who would go, and who would switch from one group to another. (There able to devote our efforts to much more stay. I suspect that we are not done finding are now six with whom you can contract for useful endeavors, like myving Alcor the that out. cryonic suspension services: Alcor, The hell out ofEarthquake Central( not to men­ American Cryonics Society, CryoCare, The tion Fire Central, Flood Central, Mudslide Our Increasing Competitiveness Cryonics Institute, The International Cry­ Central, Riot Central, and now, OJ Cen­ In terms of how or whether we will grow onics Foundation, and Trans Time, Inc.) tral!) I don't think I'm exaggerating when then, the next obvious question is, "How Indeed, some of our most involved activists I say that we have done more to improve prepared is Alcor to compete?" Is this new today came to us from other organizations. Alcor as a cryonics services provider in the environment a harbinger of the beginning So we can expect to lose at least a few more rif the end of our growth, or merely the end to CryoCare eventually in any case. But rif the' beginning? Good question. (And naturally, we want to do everythingwe poetically phrased, if I do say so my­ can to minimize that phenomenon, self.) If you ask me, I'd wager that and even gain some members it's just the end ofthe beginning, from CryoCare and the other and that we will continue im­ organizations ourselves. proving and growing in both This makes for "interest­ the near term and the long ingtimes" in the cryonics term. community. We .are en­ AI cor is still byfar the tering The New Era of largest and best known Real Competition. cryonics organization. There are some who Though our numbers do say that cryonics is still not guarantee future too small to support more growth, they do give us a than one or two organiza­ considerable advantage. tions, that our lack of Any time new prospective economies of scale should cryonicists go looking for in­ be more than enough incen­ formation about cryonics, tive to remain banded together they will most likely find our in one or two closely knit organi­ 800 number and call us. Beyond zations. Iremembervocalizingthis that, it is clear that the main moti­ sentiment myself nearly a year ago, vating factor which usually leads your before the split. But there are at least two "average" intelligent lover of life to be­ important reasons that I no longer think come more interested in cryonics and even­ this is necessarily so. last 10 months than in the entire 24 months tually sign up is personal contact with other First, like many (most?) of you, I'm a before the split. Apparentlywe can get a lot cryonicists. As long as we are the largest laissez-jaire capitalist. In my opinion, the more done when we are free to work for organization, most of this sort of contact open market is the most efficient method of something, rather than always against. will involve Alcor members. deciding what is "best" and what methods And this should hold true for the mem­ Ofcourse, what our members say to these of offering goods and services (and cryon­ bers who left as well, thereby netting us newcomers is a separate issue. We can't just ics coverage )will give individuals what they some less direct but still very important rest on our laurels and claim the blue rib­ desire most. Because there is no authori­ side benefits from the split. Because the bon simply by virtue of our size advantage. tarian power dictating the "ideal" number principals of CryoCare now have control In an open market, we've got to keep earn­ or makeup of cryonics organizations, any over their own organization, they too have ing that support from our members every newcompanieswhichstartupfacethesame a much better environment in which to see day, so that they want to speak well of us Final Arbiter that the rest of us do already: their own ideas realized. This means, we when cultivating new members, and so that market forces. That enough people saw it hope, that more productive work can be they want to remain AI cor members them­ as in their interests to invest their time and done for the science of cryonics itself, and selves. money in another organization is all the for the cryonics community as a whole. Certainly, our move out of the depressed proof required to show that there is room. In fact, looking back over the last couple earthquake zone and into modern-day And as it should be, only the realities of the ofyears, and factoring in my knowledge of boomtown Scottsdale, Arizona qualifies as market itself can determine just how long the individuals involved, I'm now con­ one of our most significant answers to the this will remain the case. vinced that a parting of ways was the best omnipresent "What have you done for me The second thing that changed my mind thing that could have happened. The only lately?" question. Besides the impressive is the stark contrast between Alcor's track thing that could have happened. I'm just new facility, and the developing ties with record before the schism and after. For amazed that it didn't happen a lot sooner. the local medical community, one of the nearly two years, most ofwhat got done by Just look at the history of any of your major benefits of moving to the Phoenix AI cor's activists was bickering and politics. favorite revolutionary groups, whether they area is that our thoracic surgeon lives here. We were all AI cor members, and yet we be libertarians, Objectivists, space activ­ She is an AI cor member, and very commit­ often held completely contradictory views ists, orwhomever. If the group is a) de­ ted to a) seeing that our members get good as to what Alcor's institutional values and voted to complex ideas which by their very suspensions, b) insuring that our suspen­ goals should be, never mind how best to nature require that you be willing to rebel sion procedures and team skills continue to

3rcl Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 15 improve, and c) insuringthatwebringmore gest area of Alcor's Operations-Patient When it comes to competitiveness, the medically oriented personnel on board in Care-and redirecting it to one the areas bottom line will always be results. I think it the near future. with the greatest need for funding: Re­ is clear that Alcor currently holds an Things continue to look better for us search. advantaged position in the cryonics com­ financially. The Richard Clair 1ones Trust And the revving up of our research pro­ munity. How we use that advantage hence­ and One Million A.D. corporation (both of gram is one of the hottest news items I have forth will probably be the single most im­ which were left to us by Alcor Patient Dick to relate here. We recently appointed Al­ portant factor which influences our future Jones as part of his estate) continue to re­ cor Director Mark Voelker, Ph.D., our new prospects for growth. ceive residual income from Dick's various Director of Research. Though it is still a syndicated TV shows. On the negative side, bit premature to give much detail, I can tell The Ever Shifting Playing Field we recently found out that we will in fact you that our first plan for a comprehensive So we can reasonably assume that in­ only be getting 50% of the income from research program is being finalized as this creasing competition will drive up the over­ One Million A.D. (which receives royalties issue goes to press. By the end of this year, all quality of available cryonics service, from all reruns of Mama's Family). On you can expect to hear much more positive and that Alcor in particular must keep the the positive side, the resolution ofthis issue news about this, including some prelimi­ "use it or lose it" attitude if want to main­ means that, at long last, the income which nary results. In the meantime, we would tain our edge. The next question then, is, has built up has finally been distributed to still very much like to hear your ideas and "Where will the new members come us. This will allow us to continue operating thoughts about possible research angles from?" at our current level of revenues and expen­ and objectives. You can contactDr. Voelker One way to answer that might be to take ditures for at least another year, affording through Alcor. a look at our database and assess where our us more time to grow, and more time to I should also note that from my perspec­ current applicants in the sign-up process address our operating budget deficit in cre­ tive (and that of most of Alcor's staff and came from. Though we don't have this ative ways (i.e., other than cutting staff and board), the increased movement on the information on everyone, we do try to keep services). research front is an immense relief. Even track of what source motivates an indi­ Our Patient Care Fund has shown con­ though we have been doing research and vidual to first contact us. (I.e., we ask them sistent growth by every meaningful mea­ making improvements in our techniques where they heard of us, how they found surement (i.e., at the total assets as well as and equipment all along, we have been the our phone number, etc., so that we get a the per patient levels) in every year of its recipients of some criticism in the past few better idea over time as to which types of existence, 1993 being no exception. Fur­ years for not devoting more of our efforts publicity do us the most good.) thermore, we have done some important to this critical area. It was often hard to For those applicants about whoa:~ we work over the past year to insure that this reach real consensus as to how best to bal­ have this piece of data, we know that lead­ trend continues or accelerates in the fu­ ance the many pressing immediate prob­ ing source is (surprise!) Alcor members. ture. First, we formed a new Patient Care lems (such as getting out of earthquake ( 18 out of our 96 current applicants got in Fund Investment Advisory Committee danger) against the obvious continuing contact with us this way.) As I mentioned (PCFIAC). Their first order of business need to make improvements to our suspen­ above, personal contact with cryonicists was to revise our old Patient Care Fund sion protocol. Until we achieve completely has long (always, as far as I know) been the Investment Policy. The new policy is quite reversible suspension technology(i.e., true most prominent identifiable factor which a bit more intelligently designed. Since "suspended animation") there is no way eventually influences people to sign up, then, we have also adopted a more sensible that any of us can feel completely comfort­ and I think that we can expect that to re­ (and well defined and researched) Suspen­ able with the current state ofthe art. And as main so for a long time. No news here. sion Income Allocation Policy. {This was the largest and most resourceful cryonics The second greatest source of current printed in The Alcor Phoenix, June, 1994. organization in the world, it was absolutely applicants-Omni magazine-seems a bit -Ed.J imperative that we shift our focus to com­ more interesting. For those of you who One of the most significant changes prehensively addressing the remaining have kept your head buried in the sand, implemented with this new policy was the obstacles to achieving this. former Alcor member Charles Platt helped elimination of the old "1 0% Rule"-that Finally, I should mention that there have us quite a bit via his connections withOmni. 10% of all Operating income be paid to the been some recent personnel changes (im­ He wrote a brief article which was pub­ Patient Care Fund-and the introduction provements, we like to think) on our Staff lished in their February' 92 edition (which of a new 10% Rule, i.e., that 10% of all andboard. Towit: DavePizerhascomeon accounts for 3 current sign-ups), and he Operating income be directed to the Alcor as a full time volunteer staff member at the thought up and helped organize the Omni/ Research Fund. The reasoning for this was facility, replacing Ralph Whelan as Vice Alcor Immortality contest. The contest pretty straightforward. First, the old 10% President. Ralph remains the Secretary on itself was announced in the January, '93 Rule served mostly as a "fudge factor" mak­ the Alcor Board, and has become full time edition (netting us 4 current sign-ups), and ing up for the inaccuracies and ambigu­ Publications Director, which is allowing the contest winner was announced in the ities of the previous suspension income him to devote more time to improving the January, '94 edition (which brought us 3 allocation system. This is not to demean look, scope, and regularity of our various more.) Also, we have two other current those earlier efforts. Indeed, that so much publications. MichaelRiskin, Ph.D, C.P.A., applicants who entered the Immortality worthwhileworkhadbeen done previously has replaced Dave Pizer asAlcorTreasurer, Contest but who didn't actually contact us in this regard is one of the main reasons and Carlos Mondragon (former Alcor Presi­ first. JFe contacted them after getting a that we believe our most recent estimates dent) has replaced Dr. Riskin as the Board complete listing of everyone who entered to be much closer to the actual costs. representative on the Patient Care Fund the contest. All total, Omni accounts for 12 ("Standing on the shoulders of giants ... " InvestmentAdvisoryCommittee. To some, of our current applicants. as they say.) It's just that, as the years go by, all of this might look like nothing more As I mentioned in last year's member­ we keep accumulating more data and more than a round of Musical Board Members. ship update, our association withOmnirep­ experience. (Did I hear someone murmur To us, it means quite a few more man hours resents a major shift in Alcor's marketing "Recession?") So we now feel confident devoted to the tasks at hand, and better strategy, i.e., it is our first marketing in in directing that 10% away from the stron- utilization of our available skills. quite a few years, (since before the Dora

16 Cryomcs • 3rcl Quarter, 1994 Kent crisis) and by far the most extensive upward, despite that Alcor is no longer tide did itself. and far-reaching marketing we've ever such natural fodder for shows like Hard Talk about the snowball effect! done. ( Omni's circulation is around 3.5 Copy and Inside Edition. (I.e., because Even more interesting than the amount million copies.) we're not in the Legal Hot Seat any more, of publicity we've been getting, is the ever One reason we haven't been so con­ stories aboutAlcor and cryonics no longer increasing quality of that publicity. More cerned about direct marketing since Dora have that element ofsensationalism. Thank and more, we are portrayed as a cutting­ Kent is that we've received so much free you, Tonya, Nancy, and Lorena!) edge scientific organization that "takes all publicity in the meantime. From 1987 When we moved to Scottsdale, we were ofthis technological and scientific advance­ untill992 we saw a fairly constant stream simply overwhelmed with interview re­ ment we've all b~enhearing so much about of stories about Alcor in newsapers (which quests. In particular, one solitary article a bit further than the rest of us." In this accountfor7 ofourcurrentsign-ups),maga­ which appeared in USA Today on April vein, you might take a look at my review of zines (5 current sign-ups), on television (5 11th earlier this year generated nearly 25 the recent episode of Picket Fences else­ more), and on the radio (2 more.) Almost requests for radio and TV (mostly radio) where in this issue. (Nudge, nudge.) all of this press came to us as a direct or interviews in one day! W ewere stunned, to It seems that many of the individuals indirect result of the various legal battles in say the least. For the next month or so, we who comprise our "society" are slowlystart­ which Alcor was engaged during that five averaged more than one live interview per ingto realize that The World OfTomorrow year period. day, generating even more information re­ may not be much like TheWorld OfToday. But since 1992, the amount of free pub­ quests from the general public over that The rampant pace ofimprovements in com­ licity we receive has continued to spiral time than even the original USA Today ar- puter technology, not to mention the more The Playing Field of the Future Futurists, life-extensionists, libertarians, tute (Ext-pronounced ex-eye,), which is their way to Alcor--:-and became interested etc. (i.e., those who we generally thinK are based in Marina Del Rey, California. Extropy, in cryonics in the first place-via the Extro- most liKely to become cryonidsts) are anything meaning (roughly) the opposite of entropy, is pian Community. but mainstream. Almost no one who sub- the central concept of a burgeoning futurist In my opinion, it is here-among the Ex- scribes to substantially mainstream values philosophy Known as Extropianism. In the bro- tropians-that we will find many and prob- gets off the sofa to call Alcor for a sign-up chure, you'll find the following definitions: ably even most of the Alcor members ofthe package the first time they see a news story "Extropy: A measure of intelligence, in for: . ""ext decade. (Go ahead, quote me! I'd love about us on the tube. Even among thos,e who motion, e.nergy. life, expi~rienCe; Cl!ve_isit~,/ hothin$ more than to become as famous for are more radical philosophically, it's cl~arthat opportumty, and growth. Extroptamsfl}/rs yeasa_ymg as some of those turn-of-the-cen- repeated expos~re to cryonics and cfydnics- tne. philosophy tnatseeks to incregse ex- tury dunderheads who("Nay!l said that man related memes as usually necessary before tropy." Extrpptf is alsotqe ngme of the would never fly, or go to the Moon, or pro- they actually decide to sign up. this is\the stimulatingmagazine(whos..e full name is duce automooiles cheaply enough for the main reason that the "first conta.tt source" 9ctual!yExtr~p:y:·The Journal of Transhuman- common man to afford them.) data about our applicants is, at Vest, only\a 1st Thought). whach you ma!:J h.Max More, Exl Presiden~, So what does get them interested7 Mutant wal~f1re. Amon9 othe; ~hmgs, there 1s9 hag~ly. 1s .a lcmg tame Alcor member, as are all of Exl s genes?. Nobel prize win~ing parents? No dog actiVe electronac mmlmg list, where futunst ·.Darectqrs. (Included on. the Ext Board are as.a chald? Good questaon(s). When you hqve !d,eas a!e debated with s~i~ntific rigor .and, a 'R!=Jiph Wh5!1an, AI cor Director of ~ublicati?ns, definitive answers, call me, and you and I will refreshmg amount of optamasm. The pr!ntru~ andJan yo Iones, Alcor ?uspensJOn Serv1~es become millionaires together as the first su~- of Extropy has expanded from 50 cop1es f.or. Mgriager.) Alsp, accordmg to the latest fag- cessful Cryonicist Prospectors. Fortunately, !~sue # 1, which came out in 1988, to 400P \. ures I've heard, ~orne 25% of Extropy Institute's though, we don't need a complete!~ definitive (!) copies for issue # 13, which j. ust came out. .. memb'ers (whose numbers have ri.$en from 0 to more ans~er to improve our efforts at fmding po- \ The Institute itself, much liKe A cor, has beel1 ··than 300 injust tw~ years!J are A/cor members as tenttal cryomcasts. . ···... ceceiving a constantly increasing amqu'nt of : well. . ' ... Put simply, the best questions for assessing, me.dia attention. / ;• · · All of this bodes ~xtremely well for Alcor's whether given individuals are likely to be- .. EXt(opians are generally smart,.educated, :future. Their membership growth will prob- come cryonicists center,onvdues.andworld., motivat.ed.iQdependent, self-awa~e. self-cic- i ably far outstrip Alcor's in the coming years, view. Do they expect thi!future to be better .~ tualizing; ~n~ f;equentl.y eyeri good looking 1 given thatthe cost of Ex I membership is just a than the present and desire fb participate in (tfio!,!gh thiS ISn t 0 T~CJUiremynt for mel)iber-: few dozen dollars per year, and that the foCUS making it that way? Do they wantto grow, ship). they are avid technophiles, aoa they of the Institute is much broader and more get smarter, and continuously improve them~ lov:eto t~il'lk ()bo.u,tsolutions to pro,~lems th!dt philosophically oriented ..But though it's hard selves? Do they think that advancing fech- most people don t even know' exist yet/(A to pred1ct whether the rat1o of Alcor members nology can and should help us overcome bio- phrase they like to repeat wh1ch might ~erve who are also Exl members will change in the logical, genetic, and neurological limits to life, well as a credo: "We learn fr6m the mistakes future, there is no doubt that we stand to love, and happiness? If the answers to these of future generations!") In other wore! sf they benefit substantially from their growth. guestions are, "Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!" then they are are the most "natural" cryo.riicists il].the world. I won't belabor this any more than I ol- amon~ those most likely to be interested in Although A!cor's database do~esn't yet con- ready have, mainly because I think Extropy cryomcs. tain the kind of information .tnat would make Institute deserves a full article's worth of "be- And, not coincidentally, they are probably this easily discernible/a~ sizeable portion laboring" in a future issue of Cryonics. In the also Extropians. (something on the order of 20% and rapidly meantime, feel free to contact them directly if In fact, all of the above questions were rising) of the new members who have joined you would like more information. lifted Gn paraphrased form) off of the latest Alcor over the past couple of years are ad- And don't be surprised if you find out that informational brochure about Extropy lnsti- mitted Extropians, and many of them found you are an Extropian, too!

Spiral Logo printed by permission of Extropy Institute 3rcl Quarter, I 994 • CJyonics 17 '~ "radical" breakthroughs like the cloning have 4 25 total members by January 1, 1994. backlog phenomenon even more than we of the human embryo, have done a lot to We had ... 37 4. It was growth, but not by expected,) we have just recently been able help in this regard. What's more, even nearly as much as we'd hoped. Also, I said to turn our efforts back to helping these though the open ended possibilities of a that I expected us to have 535 members by people complete their arrangements. radically different future still scare a lot of July 1, 1994. As of this writing (July 15, Also, one of the main reasons Dave Pizer people, the number who find these possi­ 1994), we have ... 343. has come on as a full time staffmember is to bilitieifascinating(the exact word used by Not even close! help me help our applicants through the a local Phoenix news anchor in wrapping What happened, you ask? Well, can you sign-up process. (Something which usu­ up a story about Alcor shortly after we got say, "Schism?" ally only gets done when the other current­ here) is beginning to grow rapidly. Way back in April, '93, things were very, member-related tasks in Membership The problem we run into is that finding very different. (Hence, the opening line of Adminstration are caught up, which these people, guessing who they might be this article.) Sure, we weren't growing means,almostneverwhenlhaveto do it all before they actually contact us, is problem­ much at the time (we only gained 7 mem­ by myself.) Due to the complex and not atical. We have yet to identifY a single bers in the first six months of '93,) but I very well understood scientific phenom­ characteristic (or set of characteristics) still had reason at that time to believe that enon known as cryocrastination, we have which identifies a person as a sure bet all of the growth-inhibiting politicking come to understand that ongoing encour­ cryonicist. We can generalize, certainly. might soon cease, and that all of Alcor's agement to get signed up is critical when it But just name any category into which you activists would consequently jump back on comes to seeing that applicants complete think most cryonicists fall (e.g., staunch the bandwagon. Steve Bridge, who had their arrangements in a timely manner. individualists, college graduates, fairlystrongtieswith activists on both sides Dave's help should thus be tremendously technophiles, atheists, optimists, pessi­ of the fence, had just come on board as valuable. mists, realists) and I will show you a bunch Alcor's new CEO, and many of us were Having said all of that, (your laughter of cryonicists who are clear exceptions to trying very hard to see that we got past our here,) I will now relent, make my predic­ the rule, as well as a horde of non-cryoni­ differences and got back to the work of tions, and dismiss the class for recess. cists who seem to fit the bill perfectly. making Alcor stronger. Give me that drum roll again please ... Even our "first contact source" infor­ As you already know, this just didn't hap­ 380 members by the end of 1994. (Giv­ mation doesn't tell us that much, really. As pen. Instead, things got worse right up ing us at least some growth for the year, I implied above but did not state in so many until the split in September, '93, and this despite it having been "The Year Of The words, with most ofour current applicants, couldn't help but affect our growth. Schism." This will continue Alcor's amaz­ we simply have no "source" information. Immediately after that fateful Septem­ ing trend of growth in every year of its (The actual number one "source"-and ber board meeting, things got better in a existence, giving us all a timely morale this applies to 47 of our 96 current appli­ hurry. Those of us who were staying to boost.) cants-is "Unknown!") And even when work for Alcor (i.e., most of the board, all And ... 425 members by July 1, 1994, we do know which publication or person of the staff, and a number of key activists) around the time that the next Membership served as the actual cryonics meme-vector were finally, mercifully, freed from the in­ Update is published. Mark it on your cal­ for a new member, this still tells us little or fighting, and our growth rate reflected this. endars and prepare to experience some nothing about what got the person inter­ We gained three times as many members in more of this kind of fun again next year. ested in and receptive to radical ideas like the months of October, November and (And if it's Derek-bashing you're into, feel cryonics in the first place. December of '93 as we did in the previous free to look forward to it for that reason, It seems that the best we can do for now 9 months. too. Just promise not to be too disap­ is to single out those people and organiza­ But then our growth tapered off again pointed if I deny you the opportunity by tions who seem to hold sympathetic for two big reasons. First, we moved. (Any­ exceeding these goals.) worldviews on whole, and try to target one out there ever done that? Can you say, In any case, remember that cryonics is a them. We do have a direct mail marketing "Backlog?" I knew you could.) Then, we long term proposition, something I'm com­ project which promises to do just that, finally received the official membership ing to appreciate more each day. These which we started prior to the move, but resignations from those who were switch­ annual attempts at prognostication aside, which necessarily fell by the wayside as we ing to CryoCare. Fortunately, we can rea­ it is our prospects over the long term that prepared to make the trek across the desert sonably expect that both of these things really matter. I know that Alcor will con­ to our new home. (It has not yet been were one-time deals. tinue to grow, and I'll love nothing more restarted, but we hope to get it moving Since then, the membership total has than to tell you all about it over and over again before the end of the year.) In the started to inch upward again, and I feel again in these very pages, until those ofyou meantime, there are a few new organiza­ confident that we will return to our "nor­ who get tired of listening to me finally ex­ tions I know of which look quite promis­ mal" (whatever that means) growth rate in act your long anticipated revenge on me at ing. For more about one of them, see the the coming months. Besides having finally the Far Edge Party. (Just be careful. One box on page 17. worked my way out of most of the backlog of me is probably just annoying. But a few that had accumulated in Membership Ad­ million copies of me would be kind of an It's That Time Again! ministration during and after the move, unstoppable force.) Okay, now we've almost gotten to that there are a couple of other factors which See you there. portion ofthe membership update where I give me reason to feel more positive. For subject myself to needless pain and humili­ one thing, we received nearly 30 new appli­ ation, i.e., where I make some predictions cations for membership during January, about our growth. Before I do, though, I '94 (!) due partly to the resolution of the may as well go ahead and suffer the pain Omni contest and partly to the increase of due to me after last year's attempts. the neurosuspension minimum funding In April, 1993, when we had 356 mem­ amount which we implemented on Febru­ bers, I made two specific predictions for ary 1 of this year. Because this happened our membership growth. First, I said we'd right before we moved, (multiplying the

18 Cryonics • 3rci Quarter, 1994 Cryonics and Life Extension A Three-Day Conference presented by The Life Extension Foundation November 4th , 5th, and 6th, 1994 at the Marriott Hotel, Ontario Airport, California

This is a time of unprecedented The Legal Rights of Cryonics Steven B. Harris, M.D. choice and competition in cryonics. Patients. Will we ever be allowed to (Leading anti-aging researcher) How can you evaluate your options, choose cryonics before legal "death"? Hugh Hixon, M.S. learn about the latest technical Who should have legal custody of (Director, Alcor Foundation) advances, and get authoritative cryonics patients? Will the patients Saul Kent answers to all your questions? The themselves ever have human rights? (President, The Life Extension Foundation) Cryonics and Life Extension Bob Krueger, Ph.D. Improving the Image of Cryonics. Conference offers a unique (Management consultant, CryoCare) How can we present cryonics more opportunity, open to everyone who Ralph Merkle, Ph.D. effectively to the general public and has a serious interest in cryonics. (World expert in nanotechnology) the scientific establishemnt? Topics will include: Carlos Mondragon (Director, Alcor Foundation) Latest Advances in Human Events Brenda Peters Cryopreservation. State-of-the-art On Friday evening, November 4, (President, CryoCare) techniques for stabilizing cryonics there will be an informal mixer. Panel Charles Platt patients, minimizing injury, and discussions and presentations will (Vice-President, CryoCare) maximizing chances for resuscitation. take place all day on Saturday, Michael Riskin, Ph.D., CPA November 5, followed by a banquet. (Director, Alcor Foundation) Dewars vs. the Cold Room. Is A half-day of panels will follow on Courtney Smith liquid nitrogen the best method for Sunday, November 6. On Sunday (Financial adviser, CryoCare) long-term care? If not, how cold afternoon, there will be a guided tour Mark Voelker, Ph.D. should our patients be? How reliable of the operating room and laboratory (Director, Alcor Foundation) are other methods of refrigeration? shared by BioPreservation, CryoSpan, Paul Wakfer, Ph.D. What are the economies of scale? and 21st Century Medicine. Sponsors (President, CryoSpan) Investment Strategies for Patient of the conference include The Alcor Brian Wowk, M.S. Care Funds. How should we balance Foundation, the American Cryonics (Director, CryoCare) risk and revenue? Society, BioPreservation, CryoCare, Jim Yount CryoSpan, and the Venturist Society. (President, American Cryonics Society) New Models for Cryonics Representatives from these groups H. Jackson Zinn, J.D. Organizations. Is a "full-service" will be on hand to answer questions (President, International Cryonics Foundation) organization still the best model for and give out literature. stability, growth, and research? What are the advantages of the new system Registration of independent, competing service Participants Advance registration is $50, which providers? The following leading personalities includes the Saturday evening have stated that they intend to banquet. There will be a $25 Frontiers of Cryonics Research. participate: surcharge if you register at the door. What's being done, what needs to be To pay by credit card, call (BOO) done, and what are the implications Steve Bridge B41-5433. To pay by check, send $50 for cryonicists today? (President, Alcor Foundation) to The Life Extension Foundation, P.O. Estimating our Chances. How Fred Chamberlain Box 33022, Hollywood, FL 33022. much should we depend on (Director, Alcor Foundation) The Marriott Hotel at Ontario Airport nanotechnology to save us? How can linda Chamberlain is offering a special rate of $64 per we calculate the rational odds in favor (Co-founder, Alcor Foundation) room (single or double). To be of reanimation? Mike Darwin eligible, call the hotel at (BOO) 2B4 (President, BioPreservation, Inc.) BB11 before October 15, 1994. Rejuvenation Now. Does aging Thomas Donaldson, Ph.D. If you want to know more about research offer real hope in our current (Author, A Guide to Antiaging Drugs) cryonics and life extension, this lifetimes? What are the best current William Faloon conference is of vital interest. Space therapies, and what can we expect to (Executive Director, The Life Extension will be limited, so please book early. see in the next ten years? Foundation) We hope to see you there!

3rcl Quarter, 1994 • Clyonics 19 by Ralph Merkle, Ph.D.

here has been some recent discus­ methods to the recovery of information sion about the relationship between about neuronal connectivity from frozen nanotechnology and cryonics. It brain tissue (see sidebar); a particular would seem more appropriate to discuss method used to determine the wiring in the relationship between future medical World War II rotor machines can be technology and cryonics. adapted to determine the neuronal wiring To illustrate this point, consider when partial or incomplete information is "Cryonics, Cryptanalysis, and Maximum available (i.e., as a result of damage caused Likelihood Estimation" (whichwill appear by a poor suspension in which there was significant ischemic time, poor perfusion of cryoprotectant, etc). The application of cryptanalytic meth­ ods to cryonics is largely unrelated to nanotechnology, yet it is relevant if we are to estimate the ability of future medi­ cal technology to revive a frozen patient. Likewise, other technologies will no doubt be relevant to future medical ca­ pabilities and yet not be closely related to nanotechnology. Before considering the kinds of damage that future medical technology might rea­ sonably be able to reverse, it is worth point­ ing out that the critical issues facing cryon­ ics today are not primarily technical in na­ ture but are instead more fundamentally bound up with human attitudes, emotions, and beliefs. Not too long ago some Southern Califor­ in the proceedings of Extro 1, the recent nia coroners deliberately subjected anAl cor Extropy Institute conference). This paper suspension patient to roughly 24 hours of considers the application of cryptanalytic warmischemia(he'dbeenshotinthehead).

20 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 In the various legal actions that have been some small percentage of the population C:ryptanaly pursued in California courts, I do not recall from their hypnotic indifference to their anyone arguing that cryonics was either imminent demise and focus their activities and C:ryoni..__ >:>· infeasible or improbable, nor do I have any on some simple strategies for staying alive. Cryptanalysis is the art and scienc reason to believe that the coroners in ques­ Cryonics is not the only such strategy: many ing secret messages sent by tion would have claimed that cryonics was researchers pursuing the goal ofextending tanalyst often has little mO{(! infeasible had they been asked about the human life span have noted that support strings of seemingly rg~J for such activities is curiously small, and subject. The action taken was directly con­ obly supplemented · trary to the wishes of the patient, and did that overt hostility is not an uncommon JWPUY FEW analyst not further the coroners supposedly legiti­ response. J? itethecon­ mate duty to conduct an informative au­ There are, of course, many ways to gain topsy. Indeed, rapid cooling would likely greater acceptance for cryonics. Legal ac­ ~~9~f9~in~tiolls to which have been helpful in preserving additional tion has been used and has resulted in a (lS been subjected. detail. The individuals responsible have beneficial improvement in the behavior of ·to pose utterly different not been punished, nor is there even any some officials, notably officials of the two. are closely related 9t a consideration that such a course of action California Department of Health Ser­ ··.····aeer>cirlafilnclan>Pntnllevel. In cryptanalysis, might be appropriate. vices, who view the increased record to deduce the plaintext despite the ob­ In short, not only is it possible that they keeping burden (someone who transformations introduced by encryp­ killed him, they wouldn't even argue that was frozen and then revived tion. cryonics, we.seek to deduce the healthy they hadn't. They'd say they were just do­ would cause confusion state of a person, despite the obscuring trans­ ing their job. And they'd do it in mortality formations introduced by the process of sus­ again. Clearly, the current pension. If the suspension went well and little social and legal context damage was done, this deduction should be easy. is not optimal for If the suspension went badly and significant dam::. those interested in age was done, more sophisticated methods long term sur­ might be needed to deduce exactly which syn­ vival. apse joined which neuron, orwhatpath an axon Or consider took that there are lntriguipgly, some of the mathematical m~th­ ods. used to cryptanalyze World War 11. rotor machines map quite directly onto the problem of determining neuronal wiring given partial infor­ over 5 bil­ mation about that wiring. ·lnthe rotor machine, lion people the exact connections within the rotor were of­ on the planet ten unknown•. and h.qdta be deduced. J.n a b.ad (most of cryonic suspension, the exact connections be­ whom profess tween neurons might be unknown and h9ve to be that saving lives deduced •. The similarity in the problems is more is good and end­ than a simple word play: techniquesdeveloped ing lives is bad) and for cryptanalysis should often be applicable to that only a few thou­ cryonics. sand take a serious inter­ statis­ In both cryptograph~ and cryonics there must est in cryonics: a method of tics) as a suffi­ be redundanc~ if we areto succeed.lncr~onics, quite literally saving the lives of bil­ cient reason to kill people. th.is reduodqnc:y ispr7sent both at a. low level Gn The court records with their lions of people. Perhaps some percent­ the many molecularparts that make up a single age of these people are perfectly rational arguments are matters of public erve or synapse) and at a high~rlevel Gn the individuals who would adopt cryonics if record and are both extremely amus­ they thought it would work and are ing and utterly horrifying: "There is da~t.storage of information in different f merely unpersuaded that it is feasible. also an overwhelming public purpose for the brain).. If. the structure doesn't Anyone with any experience in cryonics, ensuring that only recognized types of cally (given a full knowl~dge of however, is well aware that most people's disposition are being carried out, espe­ ns should look like) then the response to cryonics has little to do with cially in light of the facts of this case. corrected until it does. If rationality and logic. A common attitude Cryonic suspension, as practiced by Al­ right• globally (a was expressed by Southard (a cryobiolo­ cor, presents serious questions regard­ e in YOI!r field of gist) in a debate on national television: ing public health and mortality statis­ · flat when it people are supposed to die and saving tics. Should cryonically suspended be cor~ lives of people who are "too old" is a bad people be considered 'dead' or should a eth- idea. It is also common for people to separate category of 'suspended' people ods.can use both:lo argue against cryonics on the grounds be created? How should such people be deduce the original neurc, that it might result in overpopulation: registered in official records?" " ... what when it is obscured by t~e ph this casual suggestion that mass murder would happen to such estate and assets if tions thatmightoccur during a .· is a suitable method of dealing with con­ and when cryonic suspension is success­ Only when damage is so extensi cerns about population is completely at ful and the decedent is restored to life? more than one possible structure that variance with normal ethical standards. Whose identity is the person to assume right" locally and "functions tight~ ~l.o The fundamental issue in cryonics to­ or be assigned and what of the record of we begin to lose, a bit at a time. th.e uni day, therefore, is to understand and change the person's death?" characteristics that distinguish one human this rather odd attitude; to arouse at least Fortunately, the courts were not im- ing from another;

3rd 1994 • Cryonics 21 pressed. "These are, ofcourse, but a few of rationality, feeble forces though they may on only a few here-there are many oth­ the presently imaginable conundrums be in the human psyche, should be pursued ers). Not everyone either can or should which could arise should Alcor at some as well. There is evidence that at least some attempt to do all of them. As more people future time actually succeed in reviving the people can be persuaded by this approach. enter cryonics, each individual will decide currently dead. Nonetheless, we are confi­ Articles in scientific and technical journals, where and how much they can help. Some dent that those persons who will then head presentations at conferences, discussions will be content to pay their dues and hope our various branches of government will of the technical issues: these are all part of for the best. Others will want to take a befarwiserthanweandentirelycapableof the modern scientific approach. more active role and try to improve some resolving such dilemmatic issues without Asked to choose which course of action part for the betterment of all. There are our assistance." to pursue, different people pursue differ­ many ways of contributing, and I expect Stories that present cryonics as reason­ ent approaches. Some might support the that all of these contributions will help. able and life-saving are also useful. The Hemlock Society in their quest to legalize Each person will add to the whole, and recent episode ofPicket Fences(see "On the "death with dignity." Some might take almost none will leave it smaller by their Fence" by Derek Ryan, elsewhere in this direct legal action, or pursue a career in law efforts. issue .-Ed.], though intended primarily to to make sure appropriate and effective le­ Which brings us to that small minority of entertain and amuse,6till presented cryon­ gal actions are taken in a timely fashion. us that put our faith in logic and rationality. ics to a broad audience in a fashion that is Some might make money and use it to sup­ Here, the question is simple: will cryonics likely to elicit sympathy and interest in port cryonics directly. Some might pursue work? To persuade those who act on evi­ many. a successful career as a writer, adding cry­ dence and logic the path is clear. There are Direct one-on-one contact with onics to the plot whenever they can slip it two main issues: how much damage is friends, relatives, coworkers, in. (How much help have we received from doneduringsuspension, and what and others has proven effec­ the writers of Picket Fences and other kinds of damage will future tive. Television, newspa­ medical technology be able pers, and other news media to reverse? simply can't substitute for a Clearly, we would like to conversation with someone minimize damage while at the you know. Simple questions and same time maximizing the abili- simple answers ("Ohhh! You pay for ties offuture medical technology. We it with life insurance!") can clear up would like suspension technologies that concerns that would otherwise go un­ would let us simply warm the patient up, addressed. and repair technologies that can revive a Some are influenced by impressive patient after substantial delay, ischemia, facilities and reasonable finances. and freezing injury. For various rea­ There is a certain feeling of confidence sons, it is my opinion that to gain sub­ that comes from an impressive building stantial acceptance of cryonics in the that has the right "look." And there technical and medical communities must be adequate money to pay it will be necessary both to show for the liquid nitrogen, and that suspension damage financial safeguards to can and is being mini­ insure that the money mized, and also to show stays safe. that future medical Some are influenced technologies will be by organizational sta­ shows and stories?) Some might able to reverse substan­ bility and cohesiveness. talkwithfriendsandrelatives. Some tially greater injuries than An organization with a well might pursue a career in cryobiology, typically occur in a suspen­ known and well understood thus gaining acceptance from that commu­ swn. set of objectives-with offic- nity, providing evidence that cryonics will While many people have ers and staffwho understand and work and improving suspension methods. thought about both parts of this share those objectives and will continue All these and more need to be pursued problem, most have emphasized one as­ despite adversity-is an asset that can fa­ simultaneously. There are many things that pect or the other. This emphasis allows a vorably influence many. need to be accomplished to make cryonics more detailed and accurate analysis than Some are of the opinion that logic and a success (and I hasten to add I have touched would be possible if an attempt were made

22 Cryonics • 3rcl Quarter, 1994 by a single individual to simultaneously surprising that diverse courses of action can be difficult (much like debugging a pursue both. Differt!J1tindividuals.alsovary have been proposed. program, in some respects), the results can in their backgrounds, career chmces, and As we discuss and evaluate the alterna­ often be illuminating. Differing implicit interests and so it is natural for people to tive courses of action that are available, it is assumptions, different backgrounds, er­ emphasize that aspect ofthe problem which worthwhile to remember that people who rors, etc. can all play a role. fits most easily with other aspects of their disagree with us do not necessarily do so The creation of unpleasant sounding la­ life. Such diversity is healthy and should be because of either intellectual inferiority or bels and their application to those foolish encouraged. individuals who fail to agree with our own It is also the case that different people wise and percept;ive views is an old tradi­ are more influenced by conclusions from tion among humans, but it is a tradition one area or the other. Some are more that can breed factionalism and divi­ impressedwith(forexample)experi­ siveness. Callingpeoplenamesmight mental workwhich recovers mam­ feel good, but it both divides us and mals after several hours at low leaves us no wiser than before. A temperature, while others are better approach is to deal with more impressed by work the individual differences one showing that future medical at a time, gradually making technologies should be able explicit the implicit assump­ to reverse even severe inju­ tions, and gradually bring­ ries. Various efforts to de­ ing clarity to the subject. termine which is "really" There will likely remain more important miss the some disagreements, but it fundamental point that is my experience that they different people in the will not be over trivial is­ world today can be more sues that are easily re­ effectively persuaded by solved, but rather over dif­ different approaches: pur­ ficult issues where the pre­ suit of both areas is impor­ ponderance of evidence is tant. not yet entirely clear and Opinions about what where people ofgood will can course ofaction will most effec­ reasonably disagree. Explicitly tively increase the probability of identifying such areas is useful, success of cryonics are varied. for others can then focus on re­ These differences depend not only solving the issues (either by ex­ on differing interpretations of perimentation or theoretical available evidence and differing analysis or both). levels of expertise in differing as­ We are few and the world is pects of the problem, but also on large. Success is likely but not as­ differing objectives. The objec­ sured, and depends on coopera­ tives of ( 1) the terminally ill patient facing hideous personality defects. As an example, tion. We should encourage forms ofdiscus­ certain death within a few months differ some think that current suspension tech­ sion that are likely to clarify and enlighten, from (2) the objectives of the older person nologies have a relatively high probability and discourage attempts to label one or who expects to survive perhaps another of success. Some think the probability of another group in ways that encourage divi­ decade, which differ from (3) the objec­ success is moderate or low. There is room sion and factionalism but bring no gain in tives of the younger person who might or for disagreement, and discussion of this our understanding of the issues, of the might not need cryonic suspension at all, issue would seem likely to improve our col­ world, and of ourselves. which differ from ( 4) the objectives of the lective knowledge of this subject. To be healthy person with a loved one in suspen­ useful, however, such discussions must sion. This is only a small sampling of the make apparent to a broader audience facts, varying motives that people can bring to lines oflogic, and concepts that were previ­ this issue. Given the broad range ofcircum­ ously apparent to only a few. While deter­ stances and the widely differing back­ mining the reason or reasons which cause grounds and types of knowledge, it is un- another's opinion to differ from our own

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryomcs Derek Ryan Reviews the recent cket episode focused on cryonics

ryonics is still new to movie and TV producers, as we frequently most people. As complex do, you can probably guess that we are not and involved a topic as it always immensely eager to see the end prod­ is, there remains a lot of confusion and uct of their efforts. We are used to being misinformation which gets repeated and disappointed. regurgitated with every new discussion. On rare occasions, though, and for rea­ With fictional treatments ofcryonics, this sons that we usually aren't able to discern tendency to obfuscate the facts is particu­ even afterwards, we are not so disappointed. larly prevalent. Naturally, writers trying to The episode ofL.A. Lawafewyears back­ On May 6th of this year, sell their stories have a strong motivation in which a lady with a brain tumor was CBS aired an episode of to entertain and somehow "hook" their frozen pre-mortem-is one of the better audience. And unfortunately, when it examples of this. That show took a pro­ its first-season melodrama comes to modern day science, it seems that cryonics, pro-individual freedom and re­ Picket Fences devoted entirely truth is sometimes quite a hitless entertain­ sponsibilityviewpoint, and molded it into a ing than fabrication. This explains a lot fairly heroic story. And recently, we were to the issue of pre-mortem about many ofthe stories we have seen over "not so disappointed" to a new extreme by cryonic suspension, in this case the past few years which involved cryonics an episode ofthe CBS dramaticseriesPid:et and/ or suspended animation. (E.g., the Fences which aired on May 6th. for a boy suffering from leuke­ movies Late for Dinner, Forever Young, Okay. We were utterlyflabbergasted at mia. To date, the episode is the and most recently, Demolition Man. how good the show was. In fact, just to give Although these trulyfictional presenta­ you a little anecdotal evidence of this, wit­ most in-depth and favorable tions may heighten the overall awareness ness my attempts to write a review of the that suspended animation might be pos­ show. At first, I just thought I'd write a treatment of cryonics ever sible and/ or have beneficial effects, the short piece for The Alcor Phoenix. But as I to air on network TV. most immediately tangible effect is argu­ went back and viewed the show again to ablymoreconfusion for us to address when refresh my memory, I realized that I'd need people ~orne to us in search of cryonics more space. (I.e., I liked the show even information. So when we get those infor­ better after my second viewing, and de­ mation requests from fictional writers and cided it deserved more space.) Eventually,

24 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 I decided t~at it was good enough Executive Producer asPichet Fences: David to merit a full review in the pages of E. Kelly, who propelled both relevant epi­ Cryonics. And now that I'm actually sodes). Maybe it's still premature at this writing it (and now that I've seen the show point to expect perfect clarity in cryonics­ quite a few times), I see that this review is related plot lines. (Alas.) Since they did rapidly becoming a full blown feature ar­ choose this example, though, it is worth ticle. (Too bad I'm not getting paid by the pointing out that the audience is probably word! Oh well.) more likely to sympathize with the desire The show was simply that good. And in to prolong life via extraordinary measures fact, I would go so far as to say that it is the when the subject is one who is dying so best fictional treatment of cryonics I have young (i.e., before "his time.") ever seen on TV or in a movie. Fortunately, the muddiness of the case So enough with the background infor­ doesn't really interfere with the story. (It mation already! I'll actually move on to was probably only those most in the telling you about the show now. (Your ap­ know-i.e.,cryonicists-who had any clue plause here.) as to this bit of confusion anyway.) The Apparently, thePichet Fences writers did larger issues about cryonics itself( religious, something that almost no one ever does in social, political, legal, technological, etc.) writing about cryonics for a network show, are still discussed with an almost alarming i.e., they studiedAlcor's literature andpaid deftness. And it is these issues which get all attention to what we have to say. In fact, of the attention. many of the lines uttered during the course Take, for example, one of the early con­ of the show are nearly word for word from versations in the show. Jill tells the parents the "Frequently Asked Questions and An­ that she won't help with their cause, and is swers" chapter of Alcor's handbook, Cry­ visibly shaken by the whole idea of having onics: ReachingFor Tomorrow. To give you the boy frozen. Then, in the very next a better feel for how well they represented scene, we see her burst in and confront the various viewpoints about cryonics, I Carter in the hospital morgue about it, and think it's worthwhile to quote three differ­ here is the conversation that follows: ent conversations from the show. First, though, the premise: A mother and Jill: "What's wrong with you?" father (the "Huttons") have just been in­ Carter: "Excuse me?" formed by "Jill" (a main character on the Jill: "Pumping up grieving parents with show-played by Kathy Baker-known lo­ cryonics?" cally as an excellent and highly ethical doc­ Carter: "They came to me!" tor) that their nine year old son ("Bobby") Jill: "You're a doctor! You're subject to has leukemia, and that he is expected to live the Hippocratic Oath, the first rule being, six months at the longest. Naturally, they 'Do no harm,' and you counseled suicide!" are grief stricken, and it is in this context Carter: "They asked me about cryonics. I row-minded, bitch!" that they begin to consider having Bobby explained it. I did not recommend it. I did Jill: "Uh!" frozen. not counsel suicide. And your prejudices Carter: "That's right. I said it. Ifyou come Jill is taken aback when the Huttons re­ against science aside, don 'tyou ever charge up with a way to save Bobby Hutton, I'll turn to her office, shortly after receiving the into my office again attacking me as a doc­ back off. Until then, how dare you or any­ prognosis, accompanied by their lawyer and tor!" one else tell me not to try!" "Carter," (a lesser-though recurring­ Jill: "As a doctor you have a moral duty!" character who happens to be both the local Carter: "The Hippocratic Oath is about From that point on, the show is a non­ Medical Examiner(!) and a well respected survival, clinging to life. That principle is stop whirlwind of point/ counterpoint doctor), asking her to join them in petition­ completely served by cryonics!" about life, death, science, technology, reli­ ing the court for the right to have the boy Jill: "It's perverse! It's against nature!" gion, and morals. In fact, one of the most frozen pre-mortem. Carter: "Youwantnature,Jill?" [Pulling impressive aspects is the sheer volume of Brief digression: If there is any one thing cadaveroutintoview] "Here! That's Death! information they manage to include in one we might wish were different about the story, That's Perverse!" hourofTV, all within the context ofreason­ it would probably be the example chosen­ Jill: "Cryonics is medical experimenta­ able conversations among more or less rea­ a leukemia victim-as an arguing point for tion!" sonable people. the rationality of pre-mortem suspension. Carter: "The kid is dying." And in this vein, I should also mention Because leukemia does not necessarily de­ Jill: "Because he's meant to die, Carter. one of the things I liked most about the stroy a child's mind prior to death, we would We're not going to change that." show: thatthewriters conveyed most ofthe probably not recommend seeking the right Carter: "Maybe we can." anti-cryonicsideologyviaJill, who is amain to pre-mortem suspension in such a case. A Jill: ''I'm not going to sit back while you character, and a doctor to boot. At first this brain tumor such as Thomas Donaldson's and your ghouls turn a nine year old kid might seem counterintuitive. Mter all, ac­ would have been a much better example for into an experiment for the science fair, just ceptance of cryonics by mainstream doc­ arguing in favor of pre-mortem suspension, so you can sit around the pool bragging at tors is one of the things we desire the most. but, ofcourse, that was already done byL.A. your coroner's convention!" But, strangely, having a doctor voice most Law (which, incidentally, had the same Carter: "You self-righteous, arrogant, nar- of the deathist views seems to do more,

3rct Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 25 albeit indirectly, to highlight the extreme Jimmy: "What are you talking about?" away the ending, on the off chance that you irrationality ofdeathism than a direct fron­ Jill:[Pause] "Idon'tknow. Idon'tknow." may yet catch a rerun of it this summer. tal assault ever could. [Pause] "But Jimmy, there's got to be some (Theshowhaspreviouslybeenairinginthe Take the following conversation, for ex­ kind of afterlife, right? And, I think that Friday lO:OOp.m. slot on CBS. Watch your ample. At first, it is Jill talking to her son, this cryonics voodoo would preempt that. local listings.) (And by the way, here's a ("Zach," played by Adam Wylie), who goes You'd be suspended... in nowhere... humorous note that we got quite a kick out to school with Bobby Hutton, and who has forever. You wouldn't be in heaven. And of: the working title used by the crew on been wondering about both the idea of you wouldn't be on earth. You'd be no­ this episode was "Frosted Flakes.") cryonics and death itself since finding out where. That's gotta be worse than hell." What is most important about this show, that Bobby wants to be frozen. Jill's hus­ Jimmy: "You really believe in heaven and in my view, is simply that it is written en­ band ("Jimmy," the local sheriff, played hell?" tirelywithoutpretense, withouttheslanted by Tom Skerritt) is nearby, and after hear­ Jill: "Welldon'tyou?" moralizing we've come to expect from just ing what she says to Zach, he can't help but Jimmy: "IbelieveinGod. Ibelievethatall about everyone who writes a story focusing probe deeper to find out what she really ofus have a spiritual thing, inside. But dead directlyoncryonics. J udgingfrom the other thinks: is dead. Whenyou'regone... you'regone." episodes of Picket Fences I've seen, this Jill: "How can you think that?" approach seems to be par for the course. Zach: "Why won't you help him?" Jimmy: "How can you, a doctor, make a The writers like to focus on complex issues Jill: "I want to help him honey, but I just medical judgement based on your belief in thatdon'talwayshaveaclearrightorwrong don't think thatfreezing him is help." an afterlife?" resolution, so that they can highlight the Zach: "But if they invent a cure he could Jill: "I'm not doing that. I'm just saying thing that really entices them: the nobility live longer." that medical science has a boundary. I of human beings as they try to think their Jill: "It's not God's plan for us to live like don'tknowwhere the line is, but cryonics is way through life's tougher problems. that. To be stuck in liquid nitrogen, and on the other side of it!" Why do I think this awareness that so then defrosted umpteen years later. That :r Jimmy: "Uh-huh. Well I believe everyone many issues in life are gray (as opposed not God's plan." [Pause] "I know this is has a right to their religious convictions. to black and white) to be such an impor­ complicated. butwe'rehumanbeings, and, But if my son gets ill, if Zach contracts tant aspect of this show? Because as soon when it's time to go, there comes a point leukemia, and there is a cure ... " as most people in the world start to ac­ when, it's wrong to deny death, okay?" Jill: "You would freeze him?" cept that premise, we've won most of the [Zach leaves room, not particularly satis­ Jimmy: "I don't know! But I wouldn't say, battle. Just admit that there is no clear, fied.] 'Let him die, it's God's plan!' and I would overriding reason to prevent us from Jimmy: [Amomentlater] "God's plan?" like to think you wouldn't either!" trying this, and you've admitted enough Jill: "What?" to really start thinking about it. Jimmy: "You wouldn't want the boy fro­ And so goes the rest of the show. In the And this is why I view this show as pro­ zen because of God?" courtroom, we get the expected testimony cryonics. Despite thatthewriters took great Jill: "No, I wouldn't want the boy frozen and lawyerly arguments on both sides of pains to remain neutral, I can't help but because that's effectively assisting suicide, the issue. Even more interestingly, there expect that most peoplewhoviewthis show putting him in hypothermia is ... " areseveralscenessetinBobby'sandZach's will side with the Huttons. Cryonics makes Jimmy: "But you were willing to help classroom in which the children ask the sense. The cryonics advocates in this epi­ Howard Buss die, when he wanted to give teacher (who is also a local Pastor) about sode sound more rational most of the time away his heart. You supported that idea." death. Most poignantly, the kids demand because choosing any chance at life, how­ [A bit more background: Howard Buss, the to knowwhy it is that adults never give them ever slim, over certain death willseem most mayor of the town they live in, has straight answers about death. It is because rational to most people most if the time. Alzheimer's. In a previous episode, the of this that the following conversation oc­ And in an arena where there is no preor­ local judge-"HenryBone, "the same judge curs between said Pastor and the local (pre­ dained answer to the question, I think this presiding over this case-ruled that Jill sumably Catholic) Priest. The last line is a becomes obvious to anyone who really has could not help Howard donate his heart to real gem: the faculties to think. All we really need, someone else prior to legal death, since then, is to be given a fair chance to present that would constitute assisted suicide.] Priest: "Do you hear what's happening the facts, so that people can decide for them­ Jill: "No, that's different." about this Hutton boy?" selves. Jimmy: "Okay, why?" Pastor: "It's grotesque, isn't it? Gary, we This show certainly gave us that. Jill: "Well, because, that could work. Cry­ may have to speak up. If Judge Bone even onics can't." thinks about granting this motion ... " Jimmy: "If it could, would you say yes?" Priest: "Then we get involved." Jill: (Sighs.) "No. It's ... it's still per­ Pastor: "Ahbutwho'lllisten? You picked verted." a fine time to get caught with your Imelda Jimmy: "Why?" [Pause] "Why?" Marcos collection." Jill: "Because ... he's trapped nowhere... Priest: "Nowdon'tyoustart. The problem Imeanfrozen ... what's. .."(sighs) "Okay, is we don't have any real credibility on this if we had taken Howard's heart, he would afterlife issue. Oh we can preach all we have died, but he would have surrendered want, but they know! In the end, we're just to death. Keeping a person frozen, sus­ guessing ... like everybody else." pended so that you can bring him back, he's neither in life or death. How can his spirit, Since a lot of you probably haven't seen or his soul. .. ?" this show, I won't spoil it for you by giving

26 Cryomcs • 3rd Quarter, 1994 Transcribed by R. Michael Perry

et me, on behalf of Mae and myself be immortal. And then of course, I looked and the rest ofus here, express thanks around, and it was apparent that we l(~illions and L to Dave Pizer and Trudy-Trudy es­ wouldn't he immortal any time soon, pecially-and to Mike Perry and all the though I never did lose confidence that it other people of the Venturists and Alcor would happen one day. millions of people fortheirgeneroushospitality, and ofcourse Then in the early thirties there was a to Mr. Laughlin for his very kind hospital­ science fiction story published by Neil R. ity. Jones, The Jameson Satellite, about a Pro­ know a little bit Dave asked me to talk this evening about fessor Jameson, who had arranged to have the genesis of The Prospect o/Immortality, his body put into earth orbit after he died. about cryonics. so I'll talk a little about that. In addition I'll The author mistakenly believed that it consider the early cryonics movement, the would he near absolute zero out there. The Millions and present situation, the future, recruitment professor in the story wanted his body pre­ into cryonics, and research. served at that temperature indefinitely, so In 1926 Hugo GernsbackstartedAmaz­ in the story this was done. His body was put millions have it ingStories-essentiallythe first science fic­ into earth orbit, human civilizations rose tion magazine-in my neighborhood. I was and fell, and eventually humanity became in the back of about 8 or 9 at the time. My father bought extinct. However, millions ofyears later an the magazines and I read them too. I grew alien race came by-these were sort of cy­ up with the understanding that obviously borgs, organic brains with mechanical bod­ their minds that we would one day conquer aging, and would ies. They had advanced technology, and someday they~re going to do something about it. Always all this stuff is growing and fermenting

below the surface7 and someday it~.,. going to break

through. n Bob and Mae Ettinger {front) with Bob and Margaret Schwartz.

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Ciyonics 27 I _j they found Professor James on and revived under some circumstances they're not. But him-his brain, that is (all you neuros take under other conditions, and in fact, most hope!). They put it into one of their artifi­ modern circumstances, the survival instinct cial bodies and he went on living. is way, way down on the list of priorities. Well, it was immediately obvious to me On the day I was wounded, I was a sec­ that the author had missed the main point ond lieutenant, directing mortar fire. I had ofhis own idea. That is, if it made any sense to stand up to see. The rifleman next to me to expect that you might be rescued from was prone-as of course he should have frozen storage by aliens after millions of been-hut the same shell that got me years-why not 100 years from now by our through the legs got him through the head people, and why just for one eccentric, why and killed him. It was just dumb luck. not everybody? It was obviously the right I was in the hospital for four years, and of thing to do but clearly I was in no position course had time to think. One of the things to promote it. I just assumed that since it I thought is that I'd better do something wassoobviouspeoplein positions ofpower, about this freezing business because no­ prestige and influence would recognize it body else seemed to be doing it. I didn't sooner or later, and things would be taken know how to promote it because I had no care of. But of course that didn't happen. prestige, no standing anywhere, no impor­ Then the war came along and I was tant credentials of any kind, so I thought, wounded in Germany just before the Battle well, I'll write a science fiction story. And I of the Bulge. Among other things the war did. In 194 7 I wrote a story called "The taught me that the so-called survival in­ Penultimate Trump." [See the May, 1991 Evan Cooper stinctisn'twhatit's cracked up to be. I think issue of Cryonics for a reprint of this story. that lesson has been hammered deeper into -Ed.] It was about a millionaire that had length to publicize it and to get me invited my mind ever since. And it applies even to himself frozen, and so on. The point was to Nebel's program and various others. On me! I remember one time I was observing; that it set forth the primary thesis. It was one of Nebel's shows there was Fred and The Germans were retreating. They were published in 1948 in a magazine called myself and Nebel and Victor Borge, and over on the next hill or ridge. I walked out Startling Stories. And of course it didn't this went on all night. There were lots of into the open to get a better look, and a make a ripple. telephone calls, lots of inquiries. Anyhow sniper fired at me. The range was pretty far, So, time went by and I still had no cre­ Fred arranged a lot of talks with speakers and the first round was a few yards off, but dentials or any way of wielding influence. and presentations, and I got invited to a lot if I'd had an ounce of sense, if I'd had any Neverthelessasigotolderitbecameclearer of things. And then it came to light that Ev survival instinct, I would have dived for that I couldn't wait too long because no­ Cooper had also published a book privately, cover, orrunforit. But I didn't. I was more body else was doing it. All these smart in 1962, which he called Immortality: interested in showing that son of a bitch people were blind apparently. So in 1960 I Physically, Scientifically, Now. (Mike Perry that he couldn't scare me, and I just saun­ went to a little more effort. I wrote up a 2 or has had that republished.) [To order this tered off, just slowly walked away, until I 3 page flyer focused on the insurance as­ throughAlcor, see the Order Form on page was out of his sight. Stupid!-but, a lesson. pects ofcryonics, because I figured that this 36. -Ed.] Ev got in touch with me, and the A great many things are more important to would open an immense, new, life insur­ upshot was that Ev started an organization people than living, at least for all practical ance market. People would need all this in Washington called the Life Extension purposes. Theoretically, they're not, and extra insurance to fund their cryonic sus- Society. He finally got a few dozen people pension. I mailed it to several hun­ interested, and started a small newsletter. dred people chosen more or less A little later, Curtis Henderson, Saul Kent at random from Who "S Who in and others started the Cryonics Society of America, but there was an ex­ New York-including a young fellow tremely small response. It became named Karl Werner who coined the word clear that, even though this idea "cryonics;" that was the first time that was was so simple and so obvious to used. And so on-the movement grew but me, nevertheless it would require it grew very slowly; I won't go into a lot of at least a book length exposition further details. to make it credible to most people. The way my book got published com­ So I wrote a little book, the first mercially in 1964-this is the version of version of The Prospect ofImmor­ the book most people are familiar with­ tality. I published it myself-it was a little offbeat. I had tried to interest was about sixty pages or so, if I some publishers. One or two ofthemsaidit remember correctly. I had a was interesting but it wasn't book length couplehundredcopiesrunoffand material. In fact I think it was Macmillan sent them out to a variety of that said the book was unique (which I people, including Fred P ohl, who thought a remarkable encomium), but it was then editor of a science fic­ wasn't long enough. My brother Alan knew tion magazine, Worlds of Tomor­ a philosophy professor in the northeast row. Fred became interested, and somewhere. I wrote to him and he sug­ had a lot of connections,\includ­ gested I get in touch with one of his rela­ ing a radio program run b Long tives who was a junior editor at Doubleday, JohnNebel,whowasthepr · a man named Tom McCormack. (He's now Professor Jameson ofNeil R. ]ones' 1931 short · all-night talk show host in ew president of St. Martin's Press.) Anyway, story "The Jameson Satellite" awaits revival York. Fred went to considera le he got the book and read it. He thought it

28 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 was good too, but needed more length. So important.-Go figure. prominent Texans including politico Don I added some more to it-not padding­ My o~ theory is that most people-not Yarborough and banker Harlan Lane(who there was really a lot more that should have all of c¢mrse-but most who are in posi- eventually joined Cryonics Institute, after been said. The expanded version he sent in tions of power, eminence, influence, pres- many years); the psychotherapist of A&P for scientific evaluation. He wanted it to be tige or wealth, or are very successful in any heir Huntington Hartford (who failed to stamped kosher on the scientific side-so way, are poor candidates for recruitment persuade Hartford); brassiere salesman guess who he sent it to: the well-known into cryonics. There are several reasons for Steve Milgrim, who said his friend Leonard science and science fiction writer, Isaac this. One is, they're just too busy. They've Gold would put "a million dollars cash" Asimov. And Asimov said yes, it's okay, the got a million things to do, they've got no into cryonics (Mr. Gold didn't think our science is all right, there are no blunders in time to pay attention, and you just hardly advertising should include photos ofhard- there, and it might work. So I got a contract cangettheirattention. Besides that, they're ware or surgery: "Ifyou want to sell a laxa- with Doubleday. usually protected by ranks of flunkies. In tive, you don't advertise a picture of a toi- Of course the irony is that Asimov was other words, if some person of influence, let"); Jackie Gleason, who was turned off against it, purely onwhat I supposehewould thePresidentoftheUnitedStates,say,were by what he perceived as an antireligious call ethical grounds: If you had people liv­ to hear of this, he'd say to one of his flun- bias in cryonics; Bill Albaugh, one of Ev ing indefinitely, all the old men would be kies, "find out if there's anything in it." Cooper's friends, who ran for political of- frozen into positions of power. The young And the flunky in turn would give the job to ficeonacryonics platform, promising more men coming up wouldn't have a chance­ some other flunky, who would go off to the than any other politician in history-and and besides that, it would be too boring. head of the chemistry or biology depart- lost; Elvis Presley's father, according to Besides that what was important was not ment at some university and askifthere's Bob Brakeman, but too little too late; a any individual life or even the life of hu­ anything in it. Ifhe said no, then it would be Roman Catholic cardinal-and many oth- manity, but the growth and advancement passed back up the chain. Or if he said ers I don't recall at the moment. Some of of life and intelligence in the abstract. If maybe, well-all the flunkies ever think of them are still thinking about it, no doubt. you want to make that concrete, he was is protecting themselves. Theywouldmuch I was on most of the well-known talk saying in effect that the important thing is rather take a chance of failing to say yes to shows. I was on Johnny Carson several if, for example, on some planet of Aldeba­ a good idea, than ofsaying yes to a bad idea. times, and Mike Douglas, MervGriffin, and ran, a million years in the future, a race of So that's another aspect of it. Beyond that Steve Allen. With Steve Allen I made one of giant spiders finds a way to spin more beau­ there's the Adolph Zukor Syndrome. Ado- my main mistakes. Steve invited me to Cali- tiful webs-that is important! Whetheryou lph Zukor was a movie pioneer. He was fornia to be a guest on his television show, live or die, or humanity lives or dies, isn't immensely wealthy later in life, and one of and paid my way, and I naively, once I got our people, Bob Brake- there, accepted other invitations. I didn't man, had an opportu- realize that was a no-no. When someone nitytomeethimsocially invites you somewhere and pays your ex- over a period of several penses to appear on a television show, you weeks. He talked with don't go on competing shows, or other him extensively about shows, on the same trip. So he was peeved cryonics. Zukor agreed, about that, and who knows, possibly other- "Yes, it's a great idea, wise he might have had a personal interest. perfectly rational, it Hedidexpresssuchaninterest,publicly,in could work." Well, thathehadmorethingstodothanhecould would he sign up? accomplish in ten lifetimes, that he would "No." Why not? "Be- certainly like to live much longer, and so cause my friends and on, but I gave him this personal offense relatives would look at inadvertently out of ignorance and stupid- mefunny."That'sright. ity, and that wrote him off. A lot of other He'd rather die than people were written off, too, for various have his acquaintances reasons. think he was peculiar. Stanley Kubrick, the film director who I-Iewasmoreconcerned created the movie 2001, was one. He hap- withtheircontinuedap- pened to see my book, was impressed, probation than with his bought dozens of copies, gave them to his personal chances ofliv- friends, talked to me, and so on. But some- ing. So it's not the same how at the same time, a fellow named Ben for everybody, but all of Schloss got tangled up with him. Ben was a these things put offvari- biochemist turned would-be entrepreneur ous people. and businessman, and he was looking to Even so, there was a make a buck. He formed some kind of orga- lot of public interest in nization, and arranged for me, himself and cryonics back in the several cryobiologist.s to meet with Stanley '60s. Someofthepeople Kubrick and some of Kubrick's wealthy expressing early inter- friends in New York. We did, but that was est included: Senator pretty much a total disaster, partly because Daniel Patrick Moyni- the medical people took the position that This illustration is from Ettinger's 'The Penultimate Trump, han, who was in \a TV youshouldnotuseunknownmethods,even written in 1947. The short man on the lift has been revived studio coincidentrllY if the patient has no other chance. Besides after 320years o/Jrozen sleep; the tall man in the center is with me and sought'me that Ben Schloss ripped them off, basically. his 14th generation descendant. out afterward; so\ Hehadsetupsomekindof"researchorga- 3r\Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 29 J nization," and he got some money out of "death" and freezing damage, but also aged Stanley Kubrick; and there was nothing to patients without them facing reanimation show for it, so r guess Kubrick got turned still suffering from senescence. uThe biggeJ't diraster of off too. Put 1, 2, 3 together and we have a for­ But the biggest disaster of all, probably, mula for immortality. I didn't put them al4 probably, happened happened in 1967 after James Bedford was together persuasively enough to convince frozen. There was a big ground-swell of many people, but it was enough for a start at in 1967 afterJameJ' public interest, and seven pages of Life least. Bedford was frozen. magazine were devoted to the freezing. But Despite the slow start, the movement did just then there were two catastrophes that continue to grow, and in recent years, There was a big ground­ happened almost simultaneously: the largely because of the energy shown and Apollo astronauts were burned up, and publicity obtained by Alcor, it began to J'Well ofpublic intereJ'~ there was a huge snow storm in Chicago. grow faster. Another factor is that the scien­ What makes the latter relevant is that Life tific climate is gradually becoming better. and J'even page.f' ofLife had its main press runs in that city. At the Every year, almost every day, you hear of time it had a circulation of around six mil­ breakthroughs in science, or advances at magazine were devoted to lion. The bulk of those were run off in least in technology, that make our position Chicago and the rest elsewhere. The snow­ more credible. More and more marvelous the freezing. ButjUJ't storm held up the presses long enough that things are happening, more diseases are they were able to substitute the Apollo ca­ being cured, et cetera. I thought it was ob­ then there were two tastrophe for our story. Ours got into only vious; in fact I've written a booklet, based one or two million copies and went not to on probability theory, that our chances of catastropheJ' that major population centers but elsewhere. resuscitation by future technology are good There was only a small fraction of the im­ (though unfortunately this kind of argu­ happened almoJ't pact that otherwise would have been felt, ment doesn't cut much ice with most and it's very conceivable that those disas­ people). A few years ago, too, however, J'imultaneoUJ'ly: the ters cost many millions oflives. Al Rosenfeld starting around 1987, we got the scanning Apollo aJ"tronautJ' were was the science editor of Life at the time, tunneling microscope and a lot of parallel and he did a very nice feature article. If it technologies. We now can image on a mo­ burned up, and there WaJ' had gotten into all those copies ofthe maga­ lecular and atomic basis, and in some cases zine, that might have gotten us off the even manipulate individual atoms. All of a huge J'now J'torm in ground right there. It didn't happen, and this gradually builds up and people begin as a result things went very slowly. to think our aims and chances ofsuccess are Chicago. The J'nowJ'torm What did I accomplish that others had more reasonable. not? Did I contribute anything new? Very So at present what do we have? We have held up the preJ'J'eJ' long little-but that little was important. several organizations, or groups of organi­ Preserving the body for later revival was zations. There's Alcor, of course, the larg­ enough that they were not new; the Egyptians had a form of it­ est. There's Cryonics Institute, the second and maybe they weren't even too far off, largest. (Incidentally, a lot of people don't able to J'UbJ'titute the except that they discarded the brains. Sus­ seem to realize that, and in one way CI is pended animation by freezing was not a the largest-it now has more full body pa­ Apollo catastrophe for new idea. Reviving frozen bodies was not a tients.) Then there's American Cryonics 6- :n new idea. Revival of apparently dead people Society, which does not have its own facility ourJ',ory was not new-and in fact is being practiced but is a signup and overseeing organiza­ in hospitals all over the world. What was tion. You also have Trans Time. Then of new-or at least rarely appreciated-was course there's the new group of organiza­ the combination of concepts and their im­ tions that Saul Kent, Brenda Peters, Charles plications. Platt, Mike Darwin and others have formed. 1. The relativity of death. Even today, These are centered around CryoCare, even with CPR reviving thousands yearly, which subcontracts with other organiza­ very, very few people-\;ery few physicians tions, particularly the new ones they've even-truly understand that "death" is a formed,BioPreservationandPaulWakfer's prognosis, not a diagnosi . You are" dead" CryoSpan (the new CryoSpan, not the old, when a doctor decides y u will never be New York, 1960s organization). revived. Death is not neces arily fatal. There have been some fairly nasty mis­ 2. The relativity of the ' ·rreversible." takes in the past, of one kind or another, Again-almost the same thin in different but those appear to be mostly over now, at words-very fewtrulyundersta d that dam­ least the worst. And it's probably also true age "irreversible" today may be eversible that, for the most part, the organizations tomorrow. Wecannotonly accept"death" offer options sufficiently different that it but we can also accept freezing damage doesn't make sense to put great effort into without loss of hope. direct competition. (This is so even though 3. The curability of senescence (as well ACS and CryoCare are both subcontract­ Robert Nelson simulates injection into as all other diseases). Again, very few take ing and overseeing organizations.) If we James Beijord at hisfreezing, January seriously the prospect of curing the disease merely let the public know we are avail­ 1.2, 1967. This photo appeared in the of "old age," even though this prospect is able, the differences are sufficient that most Life magazine article. nearly certain. We can not only accept of the prospective members or customers

30 CJyonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 ) can simply see what options are available, The psychologists quoted in this news­ not, is another story. and choose the ones that suit them best. I paper article found that for most people it If a few hundred million people sud­ think that's probably what's going to hap- was very, very slow. It consists of several denly want to make arrangements for sus­ stages; they gave them names (like Kubler- pension and the price of liquid nitrogen ) pen. Cryomcs· I nstitute· IS· gomg. to ta ke a R oss gave names to t h e stages o f d ymg. . 1 . goes to a thousand dollars a liter, we could higher profile pretty soon I think. A major They called them: pre-contemplative, con- have problems. But I don't anticipate that. reason few people know about us is that in templative, preparation, action, and main- But what I'm saying is I think you can be the past we've kept a fairly low profile, tenance. They said the first two stages took confident the tide is coming in. The fer­ mainly because our facility doesn't make a the longest, sometimes several years each, ment beneath tht! surface is there, and is good impressi~n. !t's a small buildi~g, and and furthermore, many people, perhaps going to break through one of these days. neither the bmldmg nor the locatiOn are most, had to go through the whole cycle What can we do to help it? I think we the kind to brag about. We haven't had any several times. So what I'm saying is that it's have to think ofat least two main problems. problemsthere;we'veneverhadabreak-in not unusual for it to take a long time for There are many of them, but let me point or attempted break-in, but nevertheless it's people to make this change, and in light of out two. One is that we have to look at the not impressive. the revolutionary character of the change people who are not involved at all, how to We have a verbal agreement, which we'll we're talking about, it's even less surpris- get them involved, and thesecondishowto be able to formalize this week, to buy a ing. work with the people who are involved, building in one of the exurbs. It'll be much We can look at this in a couple of ways. and escalate their degree of involvement. larger and nicer, and atthatpointweshould W ecan be negative and say, "In thirtyyears, In respect to the first, going back to this be able to raise our profile and get a little look how little we've accomplished: only phases of change business, I think we may publicity-which I think will help every- fiftypeoplefrozenworldwide-fewerthan have focused too much, too exclusively, on body. a thousand active members-how could the rational side of it. People don't make Now-what about the future? First of all we have done so poorly?" Or we could be decisions, for the most part, on the basis of let me emphasize that, in my opinion, we more positive and say, "We're looking at logic or rationality. People make decisions areirreversiblyonagrowthtrend.Wehave the most profound revolution in human on the basis of emotions, of feelings-they survived. We are gaining momentum, al- history. We're looking at the overturning believe what they want to believe. So our though not a tremendous amount so far, of thousands of years of evolution and ac- main problem, for most people, is not to butthetideiswithus. Thetideiscomingin, culturation and tradition, and nobody's persuade them that their chance of revival and as I suggested before, every day our been lynched. A miracle! We did better will be 97 percent instead of 83 percent­ position becomes more credible. The pub- than the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks!" they don't think in those terms-our prob­ lie and the media are becoming more Incidentally there was something on the lem is to persuade them that they should friendly, and I don't think it's possible for CryoNet the other day. Somebody said the want to be revived-that's all. After all, this trend to be reversed. The organiza- real enemy was "the People's Front of that's all the churches do. That's all that tions are going to be making it a thing to Judea." This was a reference to an old most ideologies, movements or parties do. consider. Whether some of us as individu- Monty Python movie where the Jews were They persuade people that they ought to als are going to make it, is another story. in revolt against the Romans, but there want, and do want, what the sellers ostensi­ That's where we have to refigure. were two separate revolutionary groups. bly have to offer. And you do that not by There are several aspects to this, and of OnewascalledthePeople'sFrontofJudea, logical arguments, you do it by offering course I can't in one short evening offer and the other the Judean People's Front. camaraderie, companionship, social con­ even any complete suggestions let alone TheybothhatedtheRomans,buttheyhated tacts, interesting people to talk to, support­ complete plans of action. But I do have a each other more. Draw a parallel if you ive people to be with, friends, laughter, few thoughts. One is that Hugh Hart re- wish.[laughter]Anyhow,Ithinkwe'repast jokes, music, dancing-all that kind of centlysent me a clipping about a number of the point of the J udean People's Front. thing. I mean, why do people go to political psychologistswhohavebeenlookingatthe What I'm getting at is, among other parties and help with mailings? Because waypeoplemakeimportantchanges in their things, don't make the mistake ofassuming theythinkone political policy is better than lives-the way, for example, they give up thatbecausethere'ssolittleshowingonthe another? Not very often!-or very much. smoking or something else that is bad for surface, nothing is happening. People who They do it because they have friends there, them, or do something that is good foL_ are in the pre-contemplative, contempla­ and they enjoy it. It makes them feel good. them. And they found that they rarely do it ~'ti e and preparation stages-there are lots They salute the flag, get prizes, get pats on on an instantaneous decision basis. Now it of em. We don't know about them, but the back and other bonuses. People believe does sometimes happen. Saul Kent, for ex- the 're there. We've had lots ofpublicity in what they want to believe, as I said, so our ample, tells me that he sacked out on a the ast. Millions and millions of people job is to make them want what we offer. beach and read my book in one afternoon, kno a little bit about cryonics. Millions That's one side of it. We've done some of and that was it. He was instantly converted, and illions have it in the back of their that but not enough. became an activist, and still is. It's hap- minds that someday they're going to do Most of the people already in cryonics pened to a few other people. On the other something about it. Always all this stuff is are motivated mostly by logic. And a lot of hand, for some of our best people, it took growingandfermentingbelowthesurface, our people are not really social animals. much longer. Walter Runkel, who was our and someday it's going to break through, I'm not a social animal. I don't have any Vice President for many years, one of our it's goingto show. There's going to be some charm, any small talk-I can't tell people I mainstays, now one of our patients, at- psychologicaltrigger at some point. We're encounter that I'm fun to be with-I'm tended several Immortalist Society meet- going to grow, at a moderate rate, hope- not-except with my wife maybe. [laugh­ ings over a period of a year or more before fully at an increased rate, and at some point ter] But there are people who are more joining. And so on. It's not a matter of there's going to be some trigger we can't sociable: Steve Bridge, Dave Pizer, and intelligence. You can't pin it down, you identify in advance and won't even be able among our own people, Rich Davis, one of don't know what the psychology is. But in to discer~ in retrospect, but nevertheless it our directors-there are lots of people like any event, some people are swift, some are will take effect. And there'll be an explo- that. So that's what we need more of, to get slow. sion of activity. Whether that'll be good or more outsiders involved.

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 31 J Now, how about the people who areal­ Biology at Kharkov Medical University, a inform the computer and headquarters ready involved, but haven't done much? I prestigious position. They have completed personnel would instantly know exactly guess for them you've got to use reason a the first phase of their work; by September where he or she was, generally what room, little, but mainly you've got to get their they expect to have either confirmed our what floor. They could get the police there attention. Because what they've got to un­ results or not, and to have extended them, within minutes or sometimes seconds. derstand is that even though they have a and studied the results in much more detail Some of you know that one of our own chancenow,itisn'tthebestpossiblechance. than we were able to do. So that's some­ people, J ackErfurt, our secretary for many To have the best chance we need more what hopeful. years, died a year or two ago, and we didn't numbers, better technology-a lot of There's also a Russian team that may do know it until several hours later. He died at things. If they can help improve that, ac­ the same thing. Alcor is going to try to home of a heart attack in bed, and wasn't cording to their means and abilities, they repeat those experiments also, hut they found for several hours, a very bad deal. should. Some people, of course, are fanat­ haven't done so yet because they had a I'm not saying he has no chance-he does ics and work 26 hours a day, and are self­ problem obtaining fresh sheep heads in have a chance-but several hours of warm starters-but most are not. Most tend to let the Phoenix area. I would like to see all ischemia isn't good. somebody else do the work who wants to, three groups, the two European ones and So, for our purposes we really need some­ and do not contribute any more than they Alcor, repeat our experiments, and of thing better than the simple panic button. feel obliged to. What they must be made to course ifthey all agree on the results, that'll It would be a good thing for people who understand somehow, is that their personal settle it one way or the other. If they dis­ are homebound or bedbound: If they had chances depend to some extent-the exact agree, there'll have to be more work done. the consciousness and strength to press the amount is unknown but is certainly non­ So there's a big field there. button then help could be sent wherever zero-on how rapidly we grow and our Regardless of what happens, even if it theywere.Butmostofus, who move around capabilities improve. turns out that our procedure is better than a lot, need something better than that, and For example, let's consider research the others and does avoid cracking, it still we also need something like a dead man's projects. What projects are we doing? In isn't perfect. We'll have to try to revive the switch that won't have to be pressed but terms of actually improving the biology of sheep brains after that, but my guess is that will activate itself. What we need is some­ suspension procedures, most of you know, theywould not be capable ofbeingrevived, thing that uses existing technology, and is for example, that the Cryonics Institute did even if the procedure did avoid all crack­ adapted to a wrist monitor, that will acti­ sheep head research a couple of years ago, ing. vate itself when the pulse stops, and will and we did it by methods that according to There'll be lots of further work to be locate us by map coordinates and by street Greg Fahy have not been done before. The done, and of course there's need for a lot number anywhere in the country. An off­ principal difference was that we used an more money to support it. I'm told that at hand guess is that it would cost a few mil­ immediate, high concentration ofglycerol the present time in Russia a scientist or lion dollars, considering both hardware rather than starting out with a low concen­ researcher gets about $300 a month and in and software. (And the hardware would be tration and going up. We sent our speci­ the Ukraine about $100 a month. We can almost trivial; all of it already exists in one mens through one pass of the circuit, then get the work done there a lot cheaper than form or another.) The software part of it, cooled them down very slowly, much more here. Another possible advantage, by the mapping the whole country so that from so than others have done. We typically take way, i~~ese Europeans start turning out the pulse you send out, the appropriate a week to cool down to dry ice temperature, reports that a ublished in scientific peri­ local agency will know exactly which ad­ and another week to cool to liquid nitrogen odicals. The Am rican cryohiologists who dress to go to, will cost money and take temperature. As a result we found that at have been so ne ative all along may be time. But it's very important. the naked eye level there was no cracking in given a littleEnde titz-a jab in the rear. These, then, are some thoughts on the the brains, and we got good reperfusion So the biologica research does need a cryonics movement: how it started, my own after rewarming from liquid nitrogen tem­ lot of initial support. here will need to be involvement, where we are now, where we perature, and no apparent leakage in the a lot more ofit. It has been going on atAlcor ought to be heading, what to expect in the vasculature. This contrasts with results that and it will be again. It's going on at future. In closing, I'll consider a line from others have reported, of cracking at all lev­ BioPreservation. We'llbedoingsomemore the Epic f!!Gilgamesh, of several thousand els, from the naked eye down to the elec­ of it ourselves, in our own new building. years ago. Gilgamesh wanted to be immor­ tron microscope. Many people think this (We've had to call it off temporarily be­ tal, andmakeeveryhodyimmortal. He flung cracking is the most serious problem we cause we didn't have the space for it any­ down his challenge and said: "I will break have. more.) And then the Europeans are going the door ofHell, and smash the bolts; I will What could account for our apparent to be doing it, and all ofthis is going to need bring up the dead to eat food with the liv­ results? There are three possibilities. One, money. ing, and the living shall be outnumbered by of course, is that there is cracking, but it's at The other very obvious and very impor­ the host of them." And I say, "Go for it, the microscopic level, not the level we've tant area that needs to be funded is the Gilgy." seen. Another possibility is that there is no panic button. Some of you probably know Thank you. cracking but there's some other kind of that for about $400 you can buy a naviga­ damage with our method that more than tion system that uses satellites and will in­ offsets the lack of cracking. And a third form any sportsman, explorer or whom­ possibility is that it really is a better method, ever exactly where he is at any particular we do avoid cracking, and it's easier than moment. It'll give the longitude and lati­ we thought-that would be a kicker, tudewithin a fewyards, anywhere on earth. wouldn't it? Anyhow, we're working on it; I read recently about a college in New En­ we have a team ofUkrainian scientists work­ gland that uses a system like this, but they ing now. There is Dr. Yuri Pichugin, a cryo­ also had it hooked up to a computer, and biologist-and Dr. Gennadi Zhegunov, an they hac:l the campus mapped out in coordi­ electron microscopist who was recently nates. Any student, for only $300, could appointed chairman of the Department of have a panic button. If pressed it would

32 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 veryone says cooling a patient from early days of cryonics. This gives the fastest soc to -196°C should be easy to au­ rate of heat transfer, and has the virtues of tomate. I know I said it back in the speed and simplicity, but is likely to result late 70's, when I was part of the Cryovita in mechanical cracking, as the outside of suspension team. Given a reasonable bud­ the patient contracts faster than the inside. get, I suppose it is; but cryonics organiza­ For sufficiently small specimens, such as tions don't have reasonable budgets. They bacteria or individual cells, it can work have survival budgets. And major projects quite well; but for large objects such as that aren't absolutely essential get put off human patients, problems of scale make it indefinitely. In any event, this is history. In totally unacceptable. April of this year, Alcor did a suspension, All other cooldown systems attempt to and the cooldown protocol was entirely regulate the heat flow between the object controlled by computer. As far as I am and the cold sink (refrigeration, dry ice, or aware, this is the first time that this has liquid nitrogen). The most basic of these been done in the history of cryonics. couple the object directly to the sink with The object of the suspension procedure an intermediate liquid or gas. Because of is to arrest deterioration ofthe patient after their high heat capacity, liquids can remove the pronouncement oflegal death. There heat at a high rate with a small temperature are two fundamental ways to achieve this: difference. For a gas to do so at the same chemical, and physical. In general, the rate requires a much larger temperature chemical methods are forms of embalm­ difference; which results in undesirable ing. There is only one physical method: surface contraction. The fundamental law extreme cold. There have been a number here is that the rate of heat transfer is pro­ of proposals to preserve people at ambient portional to the temperature difference. temperatures chemically; there are some The accompanying proportionality factor very impressive chemical preservation is somewhat more involved, depending on methods available, primarily for pathology such things as the boundary layer, circula­ work, and not having to maintain cryogenic tion, heat capacity, molecular weight, dif- temperatures for a longperiod would be a real advantage. These have uniformly been re- jected for this reason: Organ- isms have been demonstrated to survive cryogenic storage; no chemical method can claim this. Chemical preservation methods are not at this time reversible. Ultimately, it may turn out that cryogenic stor- age was not the right method By to use, but we do not now know enough to do any more than Hugh Hixon place our bet. There are a number ofways to cool a suspension patient, and they have all been used. Illustrated by First, of course, there is sim­ ply dropping them into LN2 , Ralph Whelan and this was done often in the

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Clyonics 33

J fusion constant, insulation, etc. In any pas­ vals small enough, and we will get a reason­ LN 2 cooldown that was partially automated. sive system, the upshot of this relationship ably smooth cooldown curve (the heat ca­ An industrial control relay injected LN 2 at is that the initial cooling rate is faster than pacity-or "thermal inertia"-of the pa­ regular intervals. The results were erratic. thefinalcoolingrate. Since we have 200°C tient and the rest of the system help to I twas necessary to hunt for a balance in the to traverse, the ratio of initial to final cool­ smooth the curve). Perform enough of system, or it ran away from us. And the ingrate exceeds 20-to-1. In practical terms, these cycles, and we get to the end. And balance was very narrow; small differences the initial rate is so great as to create unnec­ here is the problem: To do this properly accumulated very rapidly. There was a little essary and undesirable mechanical stresses, requires checking at an interval of 15 min­ control and a lot of illusion of control. and if the proportionality constant is re­ utes or less for over a week. Done manually, That was for-whole-body suspensions. duced (say, by insulation) to produce a the effect on the people in this feedback For neuropreservation cooldowns from reasonable initial cooling rate, the heat loop is not good. It takes two to four people dry ice to LN 2, I devised a different and less transfer rate near the final temperature is for the necessary continuous coverage, they temperamental system. In LN dewars, impractically slow. can't do much ofanything else, and turning with cold liquid in the bottom and ambient The next step in regulation is to perform them temporarily into control automatons temperature at the top, the natural ten­ the cooldown as a series of steps, This is is not easy and not pleasant. Some do well dency is for the system to stratify, so that usually done by adding refrigerant at inter­ at the job, some do poorly, but no one has there is a natural and stable temperature vals and waiting for the system to approach ever liked it. gradient in the gas. In practice, the tem­ equilibrium. Make the temperature inter- For several years, we had a system for perature goes from -197 oc at the liquid to about -l40°C under the dewar lid. The gradient changes most rapidly near the liq­ uid. By progressively lowering the patient Something Old ... in the dewar, we achieved a stepwise tem­ perature descent. The interval from -78 °C to-140°C I dealt with by creating a heated convection zone under the lid. Cold gas rising up the dewar was heated by a resistor bank powered by a variable autotrans­ Depicted here is the former. The result was a stable tempera­ previous system for ture zone in the top of the dewar. Before cooling neuropatients to adding the patient to the system, the power the temperature of liquid to the resistor bank was increased until the zone was at dry ice temperature. Then the nitrogen. A resistor patient was suspended in the zone, and the bank powered by a powerwas slowlyreduced (see illustration). variable autotransformer Results were good, but slow. When the created a "heated" power to the resistors was zero, we lowered convection zone near the the patient slowly stepwise down through the temperature gradient. Near the liquid, lid. By gradually reduc· the gradient got steeper, and control got ing power to the resistor tricky. bank, the temperature About 1990, Mike Darwin was Easter­ was caused to drop from egginganewCole-Parmer Instrument Com­ -79°C to ·140°C. pany catalog and came across a new instru­ ment; a microprocessor-controlled scan­ ning thermocouple. It had 12 thermo­ To further reduce the couple inputs, an internal elapsed-time clock, thermocouple compensation, alarms, temperature from -140°C limited external programmir g, and a serial to -197°C, the convection printer port. There was also a program apparatus described available for a computer to read the serial above was removed, port. Thepricewasunder$700. Jerry Leaf allowing the nitrogen bought the first one for Cryovita Labs, to monitor and print out temperatures dur­ vapor to stratify. Then ing a suspension. Alcor got one to monitor the patient was simply patient storage. Alcor now has three. lowered periodically. About 1992, Keith Henson took on the The ambient temperature cool down problem. He modified the com­ in the nitrogen vapor puter program that came with the scanning thermocouple to provide a simple control dropped as the patient loop, and he built a breadboard neared the liquid. neuropreservation cooldown system in a box for the descent to dry ice temperature. The box was the interesting part. Without getting into a lot of detail, it had some neat prototyping tricks, an ingenious refrigera­ tion system, and it worked. It did however, bear watching, because it was an extraordi-

34 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 The neuropatient cooldown apparatus, here next to its container...... and here inside rif it

nary bug trap. Just about everything in it include high flammability, forming solu­ acetone, neopentane, propyl alcohol, etc), did go wrong at some point. Later, I built tions with water condensed from the air and it is sufficiently nontoxic that we kept another neuro cooldown unit, and I am (which tends to make the liquid more vis­ mice in it for a week without observing any convinced that I avoided a lot of problems cous), ability to extract water from the ill-effects. Its commercial use is as a food by carefully evaluating Keith's box. Which patient's tissues, toxicity, etc. No inexpen­ and cosmetic additive. Its biggest disad­ is, ofcourse, exactlywhat a prototype is for! sive compound meets all these criteria. In vantage is its cost-about $50 per gallon­ Due to business commitments, Keith's the early 80s Mike Darwin examined anum­ which leads to our purifying it after each involvement in the cooldown project was ber of more exotic chemicals, and Alcor use. We lose several pints to various places subsequently reduced, but there was now adopted a silicone oil, a polydimethyl­ in each suspension. We currently have somethingtoworkwith, and Scott Herman siloxane, as the first-stage heat transfer fluid. about 80 gallons on hand. We refer to it as and Mike Perry undertook to complete the Its viscosity is relatively constant over the Silcool. Its commercial name is Dow-Corn­ programming part of the project. Scott required temperature range, condensed ing DC200, 5 centistoke. also built the relay box that interfaces be­ water simply freezes out as ice, it is about as In practice, the patient, protected by plas­ tween the computer and the physical part flammable as kerosene (that is, not very tic bags, is immersed in circulating Silcool. ofthe system. Since they have a lot ofthings flammable, on a scale that includes ether, From time to time Silcool at dry ice tern- to do at Alcor, their progress has been off­ again, on-again. Of particular note, Mike Perry wrote an adaptive subroutine using Something New fuzzy logic to determine the switch-on in­ terval. In the suspension of April of 1993, they made their first live run, as the computer controlled the descent to dry ice tempera­ Nitrogen~ ture. Furtherworkbeforeand after Alcor's With the new move to the Phoenix area positioned them for a mad sprint to a functional system at automated system, the suspension that Alcor performed in the descent from April of this year. Someone was always -78°C to -196°C is awake to watch it (first time, you better regulated through believe it!), but except for minor tweaks, continual convec- all they had to do was load dry ice and tion and occasional swap out LN2 supply dewars. Mike and Scott are now engaged in the final step, injections of nitro­ from functional to easy-to-use. gen vapor through a Our current cool down scheme is done in computer controlled two steps. Between 5 oc and about -50°C, valve system. The deteriorative chemical reactions can still take place. Thus there is a premium on computer continu­ rapid cooling. To avoid a large tempera­ ally monitors and ture difference while moving a lot of heat adjusts the internal quickly, a liquid heat-transfer medium is temperature. used. There are a number of compounds that are liquid in the room temperature to dryicetemperatureinterval. Afewofthese are not particularly volatile at room tem­ perature. Other properties to be avoided

3rct Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 35 Regrets There is one simple feedback control scheme. Two thermocouples con be wired back-to-bock (so that their potentials oppose each other). If one thermocouple is inside the patient, and the other outside, and refrigerant added as necessary to maintain a constant readout temperature (which means a constant temperature difference) the result will be a smooth and gradual descent. This scheme is used in old Linde cooldown refrigerators (would you believe vacuum tubes). For some reason, however, we never adapted the Linde u·nits we hod to our use, and the only time we attempted to implement the scheme with new equipment, it got sidetracked and dumped. Looking backward, I believe we just never mustered the will to corry the project through, until this lost time.

perature is added to the circulation. For gen temperature is done with cold gas. The LN injector solenoid valve, and gas vents the neurocooler, this is from a reservoir 2 patient is transferred to thepermanentLN2 is placed in the dewar mouth and the cool­ tank with dry ice in it, the liquid being storage container, appropriately insulated, ing sequence started. The fan is to circulate replaced in the reservoir by the cold gas around the pa­ overflow from the cooling tient container and prevent tank. For the whole-body stratification. The solenoid CJ cooling tank, Silcool is ~ is controlled by the pumped into a tray filled with :; cooldown computer, and dry ice, which drains into the 8 from time to time releases a tank that the patient is in. '5 shot of LN2 into the circu­ The circulating pump in the (j lating gas, cooling it as re- neurocooler is a swamp quired by the cooling pro­ cooler water pump. In the file. The circulating fan is whole-body tank, it is a long­ driven by a long-shaft mo­ shaft bilge pump. The pri­ tor mounted on the top of mary criteria for the selec­ the cool down lid. There are tion of these pumps were motors made that will work toughness and low cost. In at LN2 temperature, but both units, the computer con­ they are expensive. The trols a gear pump that circu­ problem that normal mo­ lates Silcool over the dry ice. tors have at low tempera­ Direct contact with the Sil­ tures is that the oil in the cool (instead of an interme­ bearings freezes and stalls diate circulating loop) was the motor. A long shaft picked because ofits simplic­ through the insulation ofthe ity and efficiency of heat lid gets away from the prob­ transfer. The gear pump, Preparing our latest patient for transfer to long-term storage. lem. driven by a 1/3 hp motor, I have been involved in was selected because I be­ the problem of regulating lieve that it is a great deal CJ cooldownsince 1978. There more robust than a solenoid ~ has never been any question valve and does not have to be :; that the system that we have primed with liquid to pump ~ nownearlycompletedisnec- (that is, it cansuckliquid up). :6 essary. Good control, data An open system such as this (5 collection, and a better use accumulates ice that can be forpeoplethan to bind them expected to jam a solenoid to a grueling, necessary job. valve. All the pumps can be We've finally done it! removed instantly for main­ To all the people who tenance. I have taken the have stayed up day and design philosophy here that night after the intense and the cooldown units are a hos­ grueling effort of a suspen­ tile, almost impossible to sion to do the cooldown. work in, environment, and Laurence Gale, Jerry Leaf, gone for simplicity, robust­ Steve Bridge, Mike Dar­ ness, and ease of mainte­ win, Arthur McCombs, nance. The best way to avoid Fred and Linda Chamber­ repair work below the sur­ lain, Carlos Mondragon, face of a very cold liquid is to Paul Garfield, Scott Her­ design the problem out of man, Dave Christiansen, the system. Max More, Tanya Jones, Unfortunately, Silcool is Transfer complete, temperature probe lines are established. ESPECIALLY Mike Perry, not a liquid much below and a lot of others whose about -100°C, so the second cooling step and the container placed in a cooldown names I've forgotten, THANKS! And .... from dry ice temperature to liquid nitro- dewar. A cooldown lid with a stirring fan, Never again.

36 Cryonics • 3rd Quarter, 1994 I ' TATA L : · · ~~~.~~~itii!R~i~~@ll lm~ai~Sa$ ~" ·~~~~i~i!!itl . "' "' "" "' ~ " ~ " "' "' by Thomas Donaldson, Ph.D.

ast year, Ralph Merkle, a cryonicist observes that even more computer power plod e. Suppose you are a travelling sales­ who has spent a great deal of time would be available if necessary. As an man in the Galaxy, and the Galaxy has Land effort advancing nanotechnol­ example, he also analyzes the computer been completely settled. You wish to find ogy, published an article in Medical Hy­ power needed for image recognition, the shortest route which lets you visit all potheses(39(1992)5-16)describing,inhis which does in fact fall well within limits the stars in the Galaxy without ever visit­ terms, the computer problems we must we can expect computers to someday at­ ing the same star twice. There are 1010 solve to revive suspended patients. (This tain. Finally, at that point, in one short stars in the Galaxy. It turns out that the paper was also published in an expanded paragraph, he discusses in very broad number of possible paths you can follow 10 10 form as «The Molecular Repair of the terms just what a computer might do to comes to 10 !, or the factorial of 10 • Brain" in issues 14(1) and 14(.2) of Cry­ determine the healthy state. This is a very large number, far larger onics. -Ed.j His plan, put briefly, would Unfortunately his argument was then than any easily expressible power. Even start by reading a patient's (damaged) brain and remains utterly fallacious on this cen­ 16! is a very large number. (Note: for into a computer, after which the computer tral point ofthe computer power required. those unfamiliar with this notion, 16! is would analyze it to discover just how to Furthermore, depending on the kind of defined as: "analysis" we ask of a data base, there is reassemble it correctly. 16x 15x 14x 13x 12x ..... 3x2 His article contains some calculations quite literally no limit at all on the amount showing that with nanotechnology it will ofcomputer time required to do the analy­ i.e .. , the product ofall numbers less than or indeed become possible to store the loca­ sis. It is only the fact that we customarily equal to 16. This is a very large number tion and orientation of every molecule of a deal only with problems presently acces­ already.) patient's brain in a relatively small space. sible to us that such a statement could pass To say blithely that "the computer power Basically his argument goes as follows: ifwe by without multitudes of computer scien­ required to analyze a data base with 1025 digitally encode the location of every mol­ tists pointing out its falsehood. bits is well within known computational ecule in the brain using 1000 atoms, we In this context, it's especially inauspi­ limits" depends very strongly on just what would need roughly 1000 times the volume cious that Ralph chose molecules as the the "analysis" may be. If the data base con­ of that brain. This would require slightly unit whose location would be stored. The sists of the stars in the Galaxy, and our over one cubic meter, a very small space essential problem any computer trying to "analysis" aims to find a shortest route for indeed. analyze a damaged brain must face is that of the travelling salesman, then the statement He does go on to discuss how this space working out how to correctly reassemble is simply false. (For those who might want could be compressed even further, by (for it. Correct reassembly involves putting the to take up the job of travelling salesman, I instance) storing the location and orienta­ molecules together in the correct relations will say that we do know heuristic methods tion of cell structures, or even larger struc­ to one another, or to restate the problem, it which in most cases get us close to the best tures. The main thrust ofhis computations, involves finding their correct ordering. As route, and for only 1010 operations, too.) though, aims at showing that even at the a computational problem, this one is very If our repair computer knows nothing smallest unit size (molecules), well known: it is a problem from combina­ whatever about the molecules in its data­ nanotechnological memory systems will torics. Furthermore, combinatorics is no­ base, then the number of ways it can put allow us to store a patient's damaged brain toriously rife with problems which require them together in only one dimension comes entirely in a computer. a small amount of data but vast amounts of to about 1022!, i.e. 1022 factorial. This is a After storing the structure of that dam­ computation. When we consider this data­ very large number. To see just how large, aged brain, the repair computer system base of molecules in a patient's brain, we we can do a little arithmetic. Ifwe consider would then work out how to reassemble have a problem with a vast amount of data only the numbers in the factorial which are it. He says that the computational power and should not be surprised if the compu­ greater than 5 x 1021 (the last half of the needed to analyze a data base of 1025 bits tations needed require a very large num­ product) we see that there are exactly 5 x (the amount of data he expects to be ber of computations. Image recognition 1021 such numbers. This means that: produced by storing locations and type simply does not provide a good example 1022! > (5 X 1021yx JO" of brain molecules) "is well within for the problem ofreassembling a patient's known theoretical limits." To justify this brain. This number is so large, in fact, that simply statement, he cites three papers on the Here is an example (quite standard) writing the number down with text of this physical limits of computation. He also of how combinatorial problems can ex- size (and without using exponential nota-

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonjcs 37 J tion and factorials) would leave us with a other molecules are interchangeable. With anervecell'ssynapses.Asynapseisaregion figure40, 000 lightyears long. Ifour repair a bit ofarithmetic we can then showthatthe at which the sending and receiving neuron computer processes each atom in its data­ value of the above fraction is greater than: approach one another very closely. In fact,

base at 1 picosecond per atom, then it will 10 the connection between the two cell mem­ 7x 10.12 x2 " require a number ofyears roughly equal to branes at that point is so close that it sur­ 10 followed by 1020 zeros. This is far more This is an advance, though it may not vives homogenization of the cells. To the than the period that the Universe has ex­ seem so. In terms of our earlier analogy, extent that freezing dissociates cells, it prob­ isted to date. What can we do? Surely the writing this number down without expo­ ably does not dissociate synapses. problem is easier than that?? nentiation or factorials would now pro­ The precise changes caused by memory For one thing, we happen to know a few duce a figure "only" 500 light years long. still need more investigation. They may things about the molecules in our brain. To The essential fact that keeps the above consist of the actual growth of new syn­ be precise, we know that there are a large fraction from being very small is the fact apses, or some change in existing synapses. but finite number of kinds. Since no one that even though the denominator is itself In either case, once we work out how to has actually bothered to count, I shall as­ very large, it remains a good deal smaller reconnect the synapses and the cells from sume that this number is 1 million. than the numerator: which they came, we will have restored that Suppose we try again. This time we ask, 1022! >>> n I! x n ! x n3! ... x n 10ooooo! part ofour brains which carries our memo­ not for the number of orderings of mol­ 2 ries. Since our DNA should survive freez­ ecules with each molecule considered dis­ even though ing intact, we would then have restored all tinct (notice that if the molecules are each 22 the features ofa patient's brain which carry storedinadatabase,eachonehasadistinct n I + nz + ·· · · + n999999 + n 10ooooo = 10 his or her individuality (and presumably, tag!) but instead supposing that identical Now we actually know a good deal more the self). molecules may always be interchanged. than the number and type of molecules in a How big a problem is this? Again, no Again, for simplicity, restricting ourselves human brain... even though many might one seems to have made the necessary quan­ to a 1-dimensional brain, our problem be­ question whether or not we yet know titative estimates. Some points do need mak­ comes that of calculating how many sen­ If ing, though. First, even if ice pierces all the 22 enough. we seriously try to limit the prob­ tences 10 characters long can be con­ lem still more, we may begin to make it neuron membranes, so long as the rest of 6 structed with an alphabet of 10 characters. actually achievable. The first point to un­ the cell remains connected to a synapse, This brings the problem down a good deal. derstand, of course, is that we should not even if only by a thin bridge of damaged We can go even farther: if we count the consider molecules at all; we must use our membrane, we know already that that syn­ number of water molecules in our brain, lcnowledge o/ the brain at a much higher apse belonged to that cell. The synapses we then the number of nitric oxides, then ... level if we want any hope o/ success. Sure, must reconnect consist only of those that and so on, we can place a limit on just how the position and type of every molecule in a ice has separated entirely from both their many letters ofeach kind can be in our long brain certainly provides a wonderful ex­ original cells. sentence. This brings things down even ~mple of just how much data we will some­ Since we lack quantitative estimates for more. The result for the number of pos­ pay be able to store in our nanotechnologi­ their number, we can only make a very sible sentences is: ;cal computers, but if we actually want to rough estimate. A mammalian synapse is about .5 microns across. With it comes other 1022! 'discussrepairwe'llhavetolookattheprob- lem at a much higher level. cell structures, such as the synaptic vesicles Instead of trying to move up from mol­ on the sending (axon) side, each contain­ ecules, let's look a bit at what we know to ing small amounts of neurotransmitter. If whereni, n2, n3, ... , n999998, n999999, etc. are the numbers of molecules of each of the 1 date about memory and the anatomy of we suppose (wildly unlikely) that 1 cubic million different kinds. Note that: brains. First, it seems very likely that on a centimeter of brain is packed tight with synapses, that comes to about 8 trillion 22 sufficiently large scale, but still well below n 1 + n2 + n3 + ··· + ~99998 + n999999 + n wooooo = 10 the size of a human brain, the differences synapses, i.e. about 10". Neurons can have (This formula gives the number of ways of between our brains disappear. After all, up to a thousand synapses. Ignoring the putting the atoms into a sentence when you neuroscientists have (very roughly) fact that neurons take up much more space regard each one as distinct, and divides it mapped out the function of many different than individual synapses, we may have as by the number of possible choices of each regions in our brains. Since I do not know many as 10" neurons in the same cubic em. atom you have.) of any quantitative discussion of this issue, Assuming (again highly unlikely) that all Clearly by introducing some further I shall assume (a bit arbitrarily) that our of these synapses had been separated from knowledgeintotheproblemwe'vebrought brains are identical up to a scale of 1 cubic their original 2 cells, reconnecting them it down by a good deal. At the same time, it em. Furthermore, it's unlikely that any would require that our repair computer still remains quite large. We can make a cracks or other motion caused by freezing examine no more than: rough estimate ofjust how large by making would move the pieces farther than about 1 (1013)(109)(109) some simplifying assumptions: suppose that em. 2 haifour brain consists of water (not out of The current neurological consensus the way at all; we contain a good deal of about true, long-term memory is that (at a possible connections. This comes to less 30 water). We can also suppose that all the minimum) it causes permanent changes in than 5x 10 possible connections. Although

*Note for the mathematically inclined. I got this formula as follows: let N be the total number of links (synapses) and P the total number of neurons to be linked. Then for every synapse we must choose two distinct neurons which it links. This gives, per synapse, P X (P -1) P X P < 2 2 Since there are N synapses, we can multiply this by N to get the number of possible connections between neurons: the formula used above. I am specifically ignoring some facts which would bring this figure down: synapses have 2 sides, and we can fairly easily distinguish these sides both on the neuron and the synapse (one is the axon side, the other is the dendrite side-sending and receiving, respectively). This will limit the number of possible choices. And as stated above, it's possible but unlikely that a single neuron will have more than about 1000 synapses. This will also bring down the number of possibilities.

38 Cryomcs • 3rcl Quarter, 1994 this is a large number, it's easy to see that it solution. The Travelling Salesman Prob­ of synapses. (Incidentally, this also pro­ is far less than the numbers we had to con­ lem provides a good example: there are vides a scientifically based way to measure sider before.* Since (as Ralph Merkle as­ methods to map out arouteusingonlyabout thegoodnessof suspension methods: count sumes) our brain occupies about 1000 cu­ 1010 operations. Your route can't be guar­ the number of separated synapses.) bic em, the total workload for analyzing an anteed to be the best, but it will be quite The lesson of these numbers is not that 33 entire brain becomes 5 x 10 • close. revival is hopeless. I have written this ar­ Furthermore, to make this estimate I On the negative side, it should be clear ticle because I have grown more and more made some very liberal (and actually con­ that we cannot expect to recover anything worried that too many cryonicists, on the tradictory!)assumptionsaboutthecontent close to the original connections if every basis of papers such as Ralph Merkle's, of 1 cubic em ofsuspended brain. The con­ synapse is identical. How do we measure have decided that the ultimate problem of tradiction comes from the supposition that "close" when we do not, by definition of revival is easy, and most especially that it nerve cells would take up no space, and that the problem, have the original wiring dia­ does not require us to know much more we could pack that cubic em entirely with gram at hand? Just as we need more knowl­ neurobiology than we already know. That separated synapses. Moreover, although edge to answer questions such as the num­ is false, notjustutterly false but overwhelm­ 10 they have no fixed upper limit on the num­ ber of separated synapses in frozen tissue, ingly so-by factors of 10 ". And more­ ber of synapses they may have, neurons we need more knowledge to work out, even over, right now many cryonicists seem in­ usually have no more than about 1000. Even if only approximately, just what synapses volved in a majorinternalbattle: they fight more, an unknown number ofsynapses re­ match which neuron. over trivia, while the lifeboat which serves main attached to their original nerve cells, And of course, if we can find a way to all of us is leaking. With vitrification, we even after freezing (which does not, after avoid any separation of synapses, we'll might even stop that leak ... but the battle all, homogenize our brains). And even more find ourselves with a total and complete continues. than that, we know that to recover our win, even if we still can't revive any pa­ memories we need not recover every single tients. For after all, if memory works as connection. We have some room for error. neuroscientists now suggest, This latter point becomes especially im­ than we could then preserve portant because of another fact: successful memory ... and the ultimate methods o/ dealing with these combinato­ success of cryonics will have rial problems are generall!J heuristic. In been proven. Vitrification Membership Status practical terms it means that it's much easier comes to mind first, but we to get a solution close to the correct one can say similar things of any Alcor has 340 Suspension Members, 600 than to try to actually find the single correct method to reduce separation Associate Members

3rd Quarter, 1994 • Cryonics 39 RDERF RM~~~~~~ All prices include postage and handling and are in US. dollars. Minimum order: $5.00. Overseas orders must be paid with U.S. dollars by Traveler's Cheques or International Money Order, and must include an additional20% (of total) for shipping. All orders are subject to availability and all prices are subject to change.

\ • > ~ CRY()NICS, 1 ~ear(4-issue) Subscription MEMBERSHIP 0 United States'·:;··:u.~.;;,.,;;,,;m ...... ~ ...... ;...... $ .15 o AlcorMemberApplication Package ...... $150 · 0 Ccinado/Mexico.~~·~·'·""'m•· ...... ~ .... $ 15 BOOKS [] ()l!tsideNorthAm€)rica .. ~·~·· .. ·•· .. ····· ...... ~ .... $, 20 0 Cryonics: ReachingForTomorrow.. " ...... $ .7.95 lJ 91)10nlcsbackissu'esondisklfiche (circle).~ ...... $120 0 EnginesofCreatlon ...... ;:!·· ...... $10.95 0 Catalog of back issues, 10+ years ...... $ 5 0 .The Prospect of lmmortality...... m ...... $1 1.00 0 The 12D-YearDiet...... $ 5.95 ~/.Jii~Aicorplioenix,1 Year (8-issue) Subscription . 0 ·Man Into Superman ...... ,...... "., ...... ;... $14.00 o.UnitedStates.;~~: .. ;;, ...... ;...... $ 20 o Immortality: Physically, Scientifically, Now; ...... $. 6.95 O;AIIOtherCountries: ...... ;...... $ 25 0 TheSiliconMan. .... ,...... $19.95 • r IC es an dR epnn t s ' CRYOBIOLOGY AND THE FEASIBILITY OF CRYONICS Ofhe'MolecularRepair of the Brain,by Ralph Merkle, Ph.b;; ..... :~ ...... ~ ...... ~ ...... $3.00 0 Will Qryonics Work? Examining the Probabilities, by Steve Harris, M.D ...... $2.50 QWhyCryonicsProbablyWiJIWork,byR.Mfcha.etPerry,Ph.D...... ,...... ,...... $1.00 0 Freezing ofLiving Cells, Mechanisms and Implications, by Peter Mazur, Ph.D...... ,... $2.50 0 "Cryobiology and the Feasibility of Cryonics Package" (A114 of the above articles) ...... $7 .50 ·., . NANOTECHNOLOGY D There's PlentY of Room atthe Bottom,by RichardP. Feynman, Ph.D ...... ~ ...... $1 .50 D MolecularTechnology and Cell Repair Machines, by K. Eric Drexler, Ph.D ...... ~ ...... ,.. ; ...... $2.00 0 Nanotechnology,byBrian Wowk: ...... , ..... :...... $2.50 o CeURepairTechnology,byBrian Wowk, ...... ,.,.,"', ...... $2.50 0 ·"Nanotechnology Package" (All4 ofthe above articles) ...... $7 .00 .·· .. • ' MEMORY, IDENTITY, AND THE BRAIN 0 Questions(and a Few Answers) AboutMemory,byThomas Donaldson, Ph.D ...... $2.00 o .lsn'tThatYou Behind Those Foster Grants? by David Krieger...... $1.50 0 .But WhatWiUtheNeighbors Think?! The History and Rationale of Neurosuspension,by Mike Darwin...... $2.00 SUSPENSION REPORTS 0 HerBiuesEyes wmsparkle,by Linda Chambertain ...... $2.00 0 A Well-Loved Man,byMaryMargaretG/ennie ...... $2.00 :' ALCOR LEGAL HISTORY 0 Our Finest Hours: Notes ontheDora Kent Crisis, by R. Michael Perry, Ph.D ...... $2.50 0. Motion for Award of Attorneys' Fees, by David Epstein...... :., ...... $2.50 0 ·Dick Jones Story,Edited by Stephen Bridge ...... $5.00 ·. GENERAL 0 Lovecraft, Scientific Horror, Alienation, and Cryonics,by Steve Harris, M.D ...... $2.00 0 Cryonics in Popular Culture, by Steve NeaL ...... $1.00 0 'Why We Are Cryonicists" and "Aicor: The Origin of Our Name" ...... Free O·WhyCryonicsCanWork{brochure) ...... ;...... $0.75 0 Cryonics and Christianity (brochure) ...... $0.75 ( 0 Discount Package (AIIoftheaboveArticlesandReprints) ...... $35.00) The literature above can be ordered by mailing in this form with a check or money order or credit card authorization SUBTOTAl: ____ (Visa/MO,orbytelephone(Visa/MC only) bycallingAicor: 1-602-922-9013 or by FAX: 1-602-922-9027. +20% if overseas NAME ______PHONE ______TOTAl:

ADDRESSc______C.ITY ______.STATE __ ZIP ___ Send your order to: Alcor Foundation VISAIMC#(Circleone) ______EXP ___ _ 7895 E. Acoma Dr., #1.10 Scottsdale, AZ 85260.6916 SIGNATURE (Credit card orders only). ______r The Alcor Foundation is a non-profit tax-exempt scientific and educational organization dedicated to advancing the science of cryonics and promoting it as a rational option. Alcor currently cares for 28 patients in cryonic suspension, and has hundreds of signed up Members. Being an Alcor Member means knowing that-should the worst happen-Aicor's Emergency Response Team is ready to respond for you, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Alcor's Emergency Response capability includes equipment and trained technicians in Arizona, New York, Indiana, Northern California, southern California, and England, and a cool-down and perfusion facility in Florida. Alcor's Arizona facility includes a full-time staff with employees present 24 hours a day. The facility also has a fully equipped research laboratory, an ambulance for local response, an operating room, and a patient care facility using state-of-the-art storage vessels.

The new edition of Cryonics: Reaching For Tomorrow is back from the presses! Reaching For Tomorrow is the"textbook" introduction to cryonics. Over 100 pages long, Reaching For Tomorrow is a fantastic and unique examination ofthe social, practical, and scientific arguments that support the continuing refinement oftoday's imperfect cryonic suspension techniques, in pursuit of perfected suspended animation. This edition features a new Appendix based on the "Suspension Pricing and the Cost of Patient Care" article by Ralph Whelan in the October, 1993 issue of CRYONICS, as well as a considerably lengthened and updated chapter on "Revival." Order your copy for $7.95, or receive it FREE when you subscribe to CRYONICS magazine for the first time. (See the offer on the inside front cover.) StiLL the only comprehen.Ji~e introouction to cryonic.J proceoure.J ano phifo.Jophy on the planet!

If you're intrigued enough with cryonics and Alcor that you're considering Membership, you might want to check out TheA/cor Phoenix, Alcor's Membership newsletter. The Phoenix is a Membership benefit, so it's free to Members and Applicants, but anyone can receive it for $20/year ($25/year if you're overseas). It's released 8 times each year, on the "off months" of the quarterly CRYONICS (February, March, May, June, August, September, November, and December). The Phoenix is shorter than CRYONICS, but appears twice as often and is mailed First Class. Being a Membership newsletter, The Phoenix focuses on Membership issues such as financing cryonics, staff and management matters, developments in Patient Care and Emergency Response, etc. These issues will impact you directly if you decide to become a Member, and may help you make a more informed decision in the meantime. @ II I Cryonics is the ultra-low-temperature preservation (biostasis) of terminal patients. The goal of biostasis and the technology of cryonics is the transport of today's terminal patients to a time in the future when cell and tissue repair technology will be available, and restoration to full function and health will be possible, a time when cures will exist for virtually all of today's diseases, including aging.

As human knowledge and medical technology continue to expand in scope, people considered beyond hope of restoration (by today's medical standards) will be restored to health. (This historical trend is very clear.) The coming control over living systems should allow fabrication of new organisms and sub-cell-sized devices for repair and revival of patients waiting in cryonic suspension. The challenge for cryonicists today is to devise techniques that will ensure the patients' survival. I I • CRYONICS magazine explores the practical, research, nanotechnology and molecular scientific, and social aspects of ultra- engineering, book reviews, the physical low temperature pre­ format of memory and personality, the servation of humans. nature of identity, cryonics history, and As the quarterly much more. publication of the CR_v-l.i.J\ If you're a first- Alcor Foundation-the .J. ffi!JNics time subscriber, you world's largest and most Cn, . 'NrH,s can get a full year )''0 ntcs tssu,. advanced cryonics or­ ond Multiple p, of CRYONICS for Orcft ersonatty1 $ $ ers e9 R,Iph 15 ( 2 0 if you're ganization-CRYONICS Merkle, Ph takes a realistic, real­ o. overseas), and we'll world approach to the throw in a free copy of challenge of maintaining (in Cryonics: Reaching For a biologically unchanging Tomorrow, Alcor's book­ state) patients who have length ( 1 00+ pages!) reached the limitations of one-of-a-kind introduc­ modern medicine. tion to the science of CRYONICS contains cryonics. (See the descrip­ thoughtful, provocative discussions of tion of Reaching For Tomorrow cryonic suspensions performed by Alcor, related on the back inside cover.) To place an order, call Alcor at 602-922-9013 with your VISNMC, or send your check or m.o. to: ALCOR FOUNDATION • 7895 E. ACOMA DR.. #110 • SCOTTSDALE. AZ 85260·6916 See the back inside cover for more information about the Alcor Foundation and Alcor Membership.