X-Message-Number: 790 From: Charles Platt Subject: Alcor New York News: May, 1992 [ Charles Platt kindly provided an electronic copy of the May 1992 Alcor New York News for distribution to this mailing list. (The spiffy graphics of his hardcopy version are, of course, missing below.) Although he does not have an email address, the article does list other contact information. Note: The Alcor New York News is not the same as the Alcor New York Minutes which, to date, exist only in hardcopy form. - KQB ] NEWS FROM ALCOR NEW YORK (Online version of hardcopy newsletter) May 1992 APRIL MEETING DRAWS AN ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD Dr. Ralph Merkle of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center spent a total of five hours with us on Sunday April 26th. He participated in our business meeting, he gave a fascinating, lively talk illustrated with slides and animated computer graphics, and he answered questions, one-on-one, during the informal socializing that followed. Dr. Merkle is one of the world's leading experts on nanotechnology--the new science of molecular engineering which promises to revolutionize our lives within the next few decades. He has worked with Eric Drexler (who invented nanotechnology) and now spends a lot of his time creating simulations that show how atoms could be assembled to form components in submicroscopic machines. Such "nanomachines" could be programmed to build everything from furniture to rocketships; not to mention new drugs, foods, and human organs. Nanomachines could also replicate themselves, and they could be injected into the human bloodstream to remove fatty deposits, defend against infection, and repair damaged cells. Dr. Merkle emphasized the applications for cryonics. If tissue damage is caused by being frozen, nanotechnology offers the only real hope for making repairs one cell at a time. Using color slides showing ice formation in various samples of frozen tissue, Dr. Merkle emphasized that cell repair is not just a possibility, but will be feasible with a high degree of certainty. His own personal guess is that there will be a 90 percent chance of resuscitation. His presentation was not only informative, but fun. We can't think of any other event that would have been more worthwhile and more exciting, in the whole of New York City, on that Sunday afternoon. Where else could you get the chance to meet an expert in a field of technology that promises to make us all immortal? If you missed this meeting, you missed something really special. Saul Kent, of the Life Extension Foundation, was also with us. He talked briefly about Alcor's plans to enlarge the scope of its research, and he brought us up to date on other news from California. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this one of the most interesting meetings we have ever had. HISTORIC VIDEO WILL BE SHOWN AT OUR NEXT MEETING The May meeting of the New York chapter of Alcor will be at 2 P.M. on Sunday May 17th at the usual location: 72nd Street Studios, 131 West 72nd Street, in Manhattan. Take the 1, 2, 3, or 9 train to 72nd Street and Broadway; or take the C train to 72nd Street at Central Park West. We won't have any special speakers this time around--but we will have a rare tape on loan from Curtis Henderson, showing him using an actual cryopreservation capsule two decades ago. Step by step, you'll see the methods that were used at that time for installing the patient in the capsule, raising it, and filling it with liquid nitrogen. If you haven't ever come to one of our meetings, this one is ideal. It will be smaller and more personal than our April event, giving you ample opportunity to get to know us and ask all your questions about cryonics. If you're a suspension member, your life may be in our hands one day--and we'd like to get acquainted with you before that ever happens. If you're not a suspension member, we can help you deal with any problems you may have about signing up. There's no admission charge. So, don't keep putting it off! Come and join us! [ For additional information, send email to Brenda Peters at - KQB ] NO MORE POSTCARDS! In the past, we've announced upcoming monthly meetings on postcards mailed to all Alcor members in the New York area. We won't be doing this anymore; instead, the meetings will be listed here in the newsletter. So--check your newsletter, and keep your newsletter, to find out what's happening. It will be the only notification that you will receive. CRYONIC RESEARCH: THE WORMS THAT TURNED Gerry Arthus, our New York Coordinator, has announced preliminary results of an experiment which was designed to investigate whether memories will survive cryonic suspension. For his experiment, Gerry used Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode (tiny worm) that's one of the simplest living creatures. It has a complete nervous system, however, and can be "trained" in a rudimentary way. Worms that are raised in a warm environment will "remember" it and will prefer it if they are given the choice. Conversely, worms that were raised in a cooler area will tend to prefer that environment. Gerry placed a small number of worms in a cryoprotective solution and froze them to -80 degrees Celsius for two hours. After he revived the worms, the ones that survived the experience still "remembered" their former environmental preferences. So far as we know, this is the world's first experiment designed to verify that memory is chemically encoded and will survive the freezing process. The sample that Gerry used is too small to prove anything conclusively. Soon, however, Gerry hopes to repeat the experiment with a larger sample. He also intends to devise tests to eliminate the possibility that the worms changed physiologically to adapt themselves to warmer or cooler environments. We're excited by Gerry's work, which was done on a tiny budget but was rigorous and professional in its execution. Gerry believes that there are many other simple experiments which could be done, with a minimal investment, to verify the feasibility of cryonics and help us to refine our methods of cryopreservation. Will some of these experiments be conducted at Riverside, if the staff there has time between fighting lawsuits and debating whether to move to Arizona? We hope so! NEW YORK NEWSLETTER GOES ONLINE Thanks to our treasurer, Kevin Brown, the complete text of this newsletter is now available via Internet and other networks (such as Compuserve) that can link with Internet. If you want to access the text using a computer modem, contact Kevin at his email address: Specify your own email address, and Kevin will send the newsletter to you. Anyone who wants to make this text available on other networks is welcome to do so. If necessary, we can supply it as a plain ASCII file on MS-DOS or on Macintosh disks. Call Charles Platt at (212) 535 3643 for more information. MEDIA NEWS (OR LACK OF IT) Will the Omni contest (discussed in previous newsletters) become a reality? A signed contract has been issued for text to be written by Charles Platt, giving a general introduction to cryonics and the rules of the contest. Omni has not yet made a formal agreement with Alcor, however. We will let you know as soon as there is definite news. THE ARIZONA DEBATE As many of you already know, Alcor has outgrown its current facility in Riverside and has been debating whether to move to a new location. Dave Pizer, one of the directors of Alcor, is a native of Phoenix, Arizona, and owns a business located there. He feels that Phoenix would be an ideal location for Alcor because real estate is cheaper, the risk of earthquakes is substantially less than at Riverside, local government agencies may be more tolerant of cryonics, and there is more room to grow. Dave found a building in Phoenix which he felt was ideal. The move was discussed at the April Alcor board meeting, with Dave and Alcor's president, Carlos Mondragon, strongly in favor. Others, however, were not convinced that it was a good idea. The greatest concentration of Alcor members is in Southern California; they might not feel very happy about being abandoned by their local facility. There are unresolved questions about the legality and the logistics of transporting patients in cryonic suspension across state lines. Local government officials in Phoenix have not actually been asked about their outlook on cryonics. Moving to a different state will inevitably cost money. And more money would have to be raised by a group of investors who would buy the new building and then rent it to Alcor. The debate was heated at times, and became abusive in email, afterward. Meanwhile, unexpectedly, the building that Dave Pizer had selected as "ideal" was purchased by other people and is no longer available. Dave Pizer has now come up with a new building (also in Phoenix), which he feels is even more ideal. However, many questions about the move are still unresolved. All we can say right now is that the debate about relocating probably won't be settled in the very near future. ----- Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=790