X-Message-Number: 4767 Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 23:25:59 -0400 From: "Keith F. Lynch" <> Subject: Re: nature's cryonics (IV) Eugen Leitl <> writes: > Three decades ago, Becquerel was able to revive certain nematodes, > rotifers, and tardigrades after they had been exposed to temperatures > as low as 0.05 K. He estimated that at this low temperature metabolic > processes, if they occur at all in the anhydrobiotic state, must > proceed at only about 10^{-7} the rate of normally metabolizing > specimens. This seems to conflict with Hugh Hixon's _How Cold is Cold Enough_ (http://www.c2.org/~kqb/archive/0015) which says that metabolism and all other chemistry is slowed by a *vastly* greater factor than that, even at liquid nitrogen temperatures, around 180 K. Does anyone know which is correct? > Finally, although anhydrobiosis may be viewed as an adaptational > solution primarily to drought conditions, another important corollary > of this state is a _tremendously increased tolerance to numerous other > harsh environmental factors_. Anhydrobiotic organisms aree famous for > their tolerance to extremely low, or extremely high, temperatures and > pressures; they are tolerant also to organic chemicals, toxins, and > anoxia. Sounds like a good thing to add to the human genome. I've long envied roaches their sheer animal vitality. Can roaches survive dessication and/or extreme cold? I know they can survive lots of remarkable things, such as being pinned firmly to the wall through their middle for a week. -- Keith Lynch, http://www.access.digex.net/~kfl/ Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4767