X-Message-Number: 27640
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: Brief piece for FDGD Program Book
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 01:31:20 -0800

I was asked to write a 250-word piece on "The
Science of Cryonics Today" for the Frozen Dead
Guy Days program book.  I only had a couple of
days to put it together, so I didn't get to
send it out for vetting.  Here's what I ended
up with.  I'm not happy with it, but I hope it
works out.

Live long and prosper,
Kennita

-- article follows --

The Science of Cryonics Today
Kennita Watson. Cryonics Advocacy Group
http://www.cryonicsadvocacy.org
February 2006

"Grandpa" Bredo Moerstel is stored on dry ice in the hills around  
Nederland.  While most consider his chances of survival slim, this is  
by no means the state of the art in cryopreservation.

Today, people have been revived after one or two hours or even more  
completely without breathing, heartbeat, and brain activity.  That  
is, people have been brought back to life from a state that today's  
medicine considers clinically dead.

In cryonics, patients are stabilized in this state as quickly as  
possible, and preserved at a temperature low enough (below -150  
degrees Centigrade) to essentially halt decay for thousands of years,  
in the hope and expectation that future medical technology can repair  
whatever damage (be it by trauma, disease, or aging) halted their  
life signs to begin with.  Once a patient's body has been healed and  
rejuvenated, brain function, heartbeat, and breathing can be  
restarted; then he or she can be awakened to youthful good health in  
a world where medicine can maintain that state indefinitely.

Vitrification uses rapid cooling to approximately -150 degrees  
Centigrade without the formation of ice crystals, greatly reducing  
damage to the cells and making repair much easier.

Two organizations that are preserving patients today using the latest  
vitrification techniques are Alcor Live Extension Foundation (http:// 
www.alcor.org) in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Cryonics Institute  
(http://www.cryonics.org) in Clinton Township, Michigan.

To find out more, visit the Cryonics Advocacy Group booth in the Expo  
Center.

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