X-Message-Number: 21941 From: "Ben Best" <> Subject: Alternative Preservation Methods Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 02:35:53 -0700 When I first became active in cryonics over a decade-and-a-half ago I was doubtful of the ability of cryonics organizations to survive. Cryonics cases so often involve hostile relatives that it seemed almost inevitable to me that lawsuits for outrageous sums and hostile judges would destroy the organizations. My other concern was the high cost of cryoncs -- which made cryonics seem like a priviledge of the rich. I was concerned about the number of people who would be unable to afford it both from the point of view of their deprivation and from the point of view of their resulting destructive bitterness. I am amazed that cryonics has not been plagued by lawsuits. I was also somewhat surprised by the rarity of bitterness over the costs, but given that so few people take any serious interest in cryonics I should not have been surprised. I have become almost complacent about my previous worries -- but who knows what the future will hold? My original solution to my worries was the idea of chemical preservation combined with dehydration and permafrost burial. So I did extensive research into these subjects and wrote about them. My interest diminished partly because my first worries seemed unfounded, partly because I became so busy with "cryonics proper" and partly because I saw no prospect of chemical preservation methods being applied in a timely manner comparable to what a cryonics Transport Team or local response group can deliver. Although I have paid little attention to alternate preservation methods in the last decade, I retain my writings on these subjects on the web: The Permafrost Papers http://www.cryocdn.org/perma.html Egyptology, Rosicrucianism and the Quest for Immortality http://www.benbest.com/history/egypt.html St. Bee's Man http://www.benbest.com/misc/stbees.html This coming Sunday (June 15, 2003) The Learning Channel (TLC) will be featuring a number of subjects of my earlier interests in a program entitled "The Ultimate 10 Mummies", including Bog Mummies, The Iceman of the Alps, Lenin, Ramses II, The Franklin Expedition and St. Bee's Man, among others: http://tlc.discovery.com/tuneins/mummies.html My discussion of the Franklin Expedition is contained in The Permafrost Papers: http://www.cryocdn.org/perma.html#mammal I have not really lost interest in these subjects. The cost of cryonics still concerns me. I have thought that I might eventually return to the subject of chemical preservation when time and resources seem favorable -- and that may yet happen. -- Ben Best Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21941