X-Message-Number: 25845 From: "John de Rivaz" <> References: <> Subject: National Geographic on cryonics Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:15:31 -0000 with regards to > there is no scientific evidence that a cryopreserved human will ever be revived. it is also true to say that no one now living, whether at the top of the scientific, medical, legal, law enforcement or political professions can say with absolute certainty (or even enough certainty to make correct life or death decisions) that cryopreservation will not result in reanimation to good youthful health. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy, Nomad .. and more ----- Original Message ----- From: Giu1i0 Pri5c0 To: ; ; ; ExI chat list ; Sent: 21 March 2005 10:02 Subject: [Cryonics Europe] National Geographic on cryonics The National Geographic magazine has a good article on cryonics. The prospect of cheating death raises a host of philosophical, moral, and religious questions. But let's consider only the scientific aspects. Even proponents of cryonics, the practice of storing entire organisms (or at least their brains) for future revival, admit there is no scientific evidence that a cryopreserved human will ever be revived. No one even knows what technology would have to be developed to reverse the preservation. Many questions surround the cryopreservation process itself. In cryopreservation, cells and tissues are stored at frigid, cryogenic temperatures - where metabolism and decay are almost stopped - for future revival at normal temperatures. But scientists have long known that the freezing process creates ice crystals, which destroy cells and cellular structures. A few years ago, cryobiologists discovered a new preservation process, called vitrification, which virtually eliminates ice-crystal formation. Rather than freezing the tissue, vitrification suspends it in a highly viscous glassy state. In this mode, molecules remain in a disordered state, as in a fluid, rather than forming a crystalline structure. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0318_050318_cryonics.html Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CryonicsEurope/ b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25845