X-Message-Number: 19560
From:  (William L. Dye)
Subject: Letter to the editor about a Ted Williams article
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 17:53:20 CDT

I wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, in response to
an article about the Ted Williams case.  The letter was accepted, and 
came out in print this morning.  For those interested, here's a copy:

   ==================================================================
   
   Cryonic Support Exists
   
   On July 9, the Journal Star printed a Washington Post article
   about the alleged cryonic suspension of baseball legend Ted
   Williams.  The reporter, Shankar Vedantam, wrote: "There is
   nothing in current science to suggest this [revival] will ever
   be possible."  Nothing?  The author probably meant well, but
   it's disappointing that such an obviously erroneous statement
   slipped past the fact-checkers.
   
   Cryonics remains a topic of cold temperatures and hot debate,
   with highly esteemed researchers and highly visible loonies on
   both sides.  As far as I know, however, there's still only one
   formal paper on the subject that has managed to survive the
   crucible of peer review for publication by a major scientific
   journal.  "The Technical Feasibility of Cryonics" was written by
   Dr. Ralph C.  Merkle and published in volume 39 of the journal
   "Medical Hypotheses."  The paper strongly supported cryonics.
   
   A published hypothesis is hardly a proof, and perhaps someday
   the critics will publish their own ideas in peer-reviewed
   journals, but clearly it is indefensible to state that there
   is "nothing" in science to support cryonics.  There's plenty
   of good evidence -- both pro and con.  The problem is that
   sometimes you have to commit to a decision before, not after,
   100 percent undeniable proof has already crossed the plate.
   
   William L. Dye, Lincoln
   
   ==================================================================

The Journal Star is published in Lincoln, Nebraska, and has a daily
circulation of about 77,000.  The article apparently originated from
The Washington Post, so I sent them a similar letter, but it was
rejected.  If you wish to read the original article, here's a link:

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41716-2002Jul8.html

If you wish to read Dr. Merkle's paper, it appeared as "The Technical
Feasibility of Cryonics", in the journal "Medical Hypothesis", Volume
39, 1992; pages 6-16.  A longer version was later printed under the
title "The Molecular Repair of the Brain", in Alcor's "Cryonics"
magazine, Volume 15, Numbers 1 and 2, in January and April of 1994.
The latest update of the full paper should be available online, at:

   http://www.merkle.com/cryo/techFeas.html


--Will

William L. Dye
Software Enginerd


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