Alcor update - 16 Lifequest - 21 · 1st Qtr. 2000 • Cryonics 1 Alcor update - 16 Lifequest - 21 SOURCE FEATURES PAGE Staff A4M Conference 1999 10 Mike Perry New Alcor Patient Maintenance

1st Qtr. 2000 • Cryonics 1

Alcor update - 16 Lifequest - 21

PAGESOURCE FEATURES

A4M Conference 1999Staff 10

New Alcor Patient Maintenance SystemMike Perry 40

CryoTransport Case Report, Part IFred Chamberlain 48

Film Review - Bicentennial Man ..................................39

Nanomedicine on Sale at Discount.............................14

Alcor Director Joins Nanotech Firm . . . . . . . . . . 16

Alcor U.K. News Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Alcor Membership Status . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 17

CONCERT by Thomas K. Meyer................... 21CONSTRUCTION SITE by Linda Chamberlain................. 25A PLACE BY THE SEA by Fred Chamberlain.................... 30

The Donaldson Perspective.......................................36

Nanotech at National Interest LevelNY Times 3

Asilomar Conference in June 2000Alcor 4

Letters to the Editor .....................................................3

Book Review; The Computer and the Mind...........................37

Editorial - “Growth”..................................................2

So. Cal. ACT Team “Dry Run”Linda Chamberlain 18

2 Cryonics • 1st Qtr. 2000

Full Details on Pages4 through 9, Including

Details onConference Location,

Speaker Topics, Abstracts,and Registration Forms.

For Latest Updates,See Alcor’s Website athttp://www.alcor.org

with large “Conference”Link on Entry Page,

Maps of Area,Offsite Lodging Info, and

Links to Asilomar-Related Sites

Mark Your Calendars Today! June 17-18, 2000

The Fourth Alcor Conferenceon Life ExtensionTechnologies

AsilomarConference Center

Northern California

Growthis on Alcor’s Horizon

For decades, amazementhas been expressed by newMembers who learned how fewothers have elected cryostasisas an option and “safety net.”

The concept seems so self-evident, so reasonable, thatthey cannot understand why sofew have made this choice.

At the same time, we haveheard from these same people,over and over, “We didn’t thinkit was actually being done yet!”

Up to the time they visitedAlcor, did they base their ideasabout cryotransport on poormedia exposure? Did they justrely on comments from others?At some point, then, did the“once is enough” idea give wayto a more positive vision, thatthe future offers an endlessadventure?

By early 2001, Alcor’snew contractor, BioTransport,Inc., plans to engage in system-atic marketing, offeringcryostasis services openly andpositively. From this, weexpect a geometric rise in“short notice” operations, aswell as strong acceleration ofAlcor Membership growth.

BioTransport will integrateits operations with those of themedical community as quicklyas possible, using new capitalfor this as well as marketingand technology development.Still, the underlying messagewill be that cryostasis is areasonable option, which ahundred years hence will be asconventional as CPR is now.

Survival and growth havealways gone together. Our goalis survival! Let’s Grow!

Fred & Linda Chamberlainabout the cover CGI art by Tim Hubley

cryonics is a quarterly publication of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation

ISSN 1054-4305

1st Qtr. 2000

Volume 21:1

Co-EditorsFred & Linda Chamberlain

Contents copyright © 2000 by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, exceptwhere otherwise noted. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed hereinare not necessarily those of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, its Boardof Directors, or its management. Our thanks to Lisa Lock, an Alcor Mem-ber, for detailed proof-reading and other editorial assistance with this issue.

Submissions may be sent via e-mail ([email protected] or [email protected]) inASCII, Word, or PageMaker format. Mailed submissions should include aPC diskette with the file in any previously mentioned format (although printedtext alone will be considered). All submitted media become property of theAlcor Life Extension Foundation unless accompanied by a self-addressedstamped envelope. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation assumes no re-sponsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or art. Send all corre-spondence and submissions to:

Cryonics MagazineAlcor Life Extension Foundation

7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Register before March 1,2000 and then make yourroom reservations with

Asilomar immediately, tobe sure of on-site lodging.


Letters to the EditorsDear CRYONICS,

I want to see Alcor and cryon-ics in general grow; but I understandthat, as of this moment, about athousand or so people are membersof Alcor. Hardly a trend. Maybethere is some way we could push alittle. I call up all the local talk radioshows and try to discuss cryonicswith the hosts. No real responsecomes from this, but I’m stubborn.

Perhaps word of mouth is thebest way to inform people of theexistence of cryonics; it is apparentthat most are only very vaguelyaware of it- cryonics is like thespacestation - “someone may beworking on it.” There seems to bea consensus that Walt Disney is insuspension, though he is not.

I think we should swallow ourfear of being rebuffed and telleveryone we meet about cryonics,yes, EVERYONE. It’s the ‘law’ of

(Continued on page 14)

averages; tell 100 people aboutsomething and though 99 mayignore it, there’s a good chanceone individual won’t. I take myown advice - I carry a copy ofCRYONICS all the time, it makesa great conversation piece: “Imag-ine that! A magazine aboutFREEZING people!”

Sincerely,

Never T. Late910 Portland PlaceBoulder, Colorado 80304

(Never T. Late is an actual name, legallychanged, according to the writer. This isan increasingly common practice.)

Editor’s comment:

Alcor’s membership is a bitshort of 1,000, more like 500 (seeelsewhere in the issue for figures.)

Before I signed up in 1970, I feltthe same as the writer of this letterto CRYONICS, talking about theidea with many people. Some ofthem were relatives with terminalillness. None of them got in touchwith the existing groups of the dayand none were suspended.

Only when my mother diedand was not suspended for lack ofprearrangements, did I see thenecessity to plan ahead; after that,I became energetically involved.

Presently, those with activearrangements are perhaps one ortwo in each million people (in theU.S.). By the time one person ineach hundred chooses it, we willhave grown by a factor of aboutten thousand. Over the next 30 to40 years, such a transition mighttake place. Keep carrying thoseissues of CRYONICS with you,and we’ll keep trying to makethem better “door openers!” (F)

NANOTECHNOLOGY AT THE NATIONAL LEVELIn the last issue of Cryonics

we noted that on June 22, 1999,Ralph Merkle and others appearedbefore the 106th Congress Sub-committee on Basic Science totestify concerning the potential ofnanotechnology. A follow-up ofwhere that seems to be leadingappeared in the New York Timesrecently. It’s fascinating that thelong-range goals of basic molecu-lar manufacturing are now beingpresented by a U.S. President as achallenge, in a similar spirit to thatwhich launched the space industry.

A Clinton Initiativein a Science of Smallness

This was the title of an article byJohn Markoff for the New YorkTimes, published January 21, 2000on its website (URL at the lower left.)

Markoff noted that the Clintonadministration would soon announcean ambitious program to acceleratebasic research in nanotechnology andcommented as follows:

“Nanotechnology is widelyconsidered an extremely promisingarea of science and engineering, but ithas realized only limited commercialsuccess to date.”

Markoff’s report said PresidentClinton would make a speech at Cal

Tech stressing the importance ofexpanding basic research in both thephysical and biological sciences. Aspart of the speech, Clinton was toannounce a plan to ask Congress tofinance a National NanotechnologyInitiative, which would encouragebasic research in a wide range ofnanotechnology-related areas.

Specifically, Markoff said, “ThePresident will set out these ‘grandchallenges’: Shrinking the entirecontents of the Library of Congressinto a device the size of a sugar cube;assembling new materials from the‘bottom up’ — from atoms andmolecules; developing ultralightmaterials that are 10 times as strong assteel; creating a new class of computer(See: http://www.nytimes.com/library/

tech/00/01/biztech/articles/21chip.html)


The world is changingrapidly. Only a few yearsago, most people consideredthe cloning of mammals to beno more than science fiction.Repeated successes in thisarea, however, have made it areality today.

More important, medicaltechnologies like cloning andthe use of embryonic stemcells to regenerate tissues,promise to make it possibleto reverse all the majordegenerative diseases withinour own lifetimes.

June 17-18, 2000: Register Today!

Corporate Sponsors:

Principal Sponsor:Future Electronics

Event Sponsors:James Halperin FoundationVoxtran, Inc.

General Sponsor:BioTransport, Inc.

Supporting Sponsor:NanoTechnology MagazineHoffman Cryonics Insurance

Basic Sponsor:Life Extension Vitamin Supplies

Even aging itself is under very heavy attack by today’s

biological and medicaltechnologies.

The Fourth Alcor Conferenceon Life Extension Technologies

is a meeting of scientists,technologists, and individuals

who are working in fieldsleading toward the expansion

of human health and longevity.

This conference will covertopics relevant to

these pursuits.

Primary Sponsor: Alcor Life Extension Foundation Co-Sponsor: Foresight Institute

Academic Sponsors:American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine

Medicina Interna Geronto Geriatria y Medicina Anti-Envejecimiento, A.C.

Patrons of the Conference:Steve Bridge

Fred ChamberlainLinda Chamberlain

David Greenstein, ODRavin Jain, MD

Eric KingPhilip Longpre

Gary Meade, Esq.Irene Olberz

Charles ReddeckMichael Riskin, CPA, PhD

Corrine SerraMichael TeccaAustin Tupler

Fourth Alcor Conference onLife Extension Technologies

www.alcor.org


Why Register Early? Asilomar is a special, secluded environment that is highly sought after for confer-ences. They tend to sell out all rooms far in advance. Alcor was on a waiting list for one year before we re-ceived a confirmed date for this conference. Part of our contract with Asilomar is that we need to estimate thenumber of lodging rooms and meals 180 days in advance in order to make them available to attendees, and wehave to guarantee the number of rooms 30 days in advance (or incur charges). Those who make reservationsafter March 1, 2000, may not be able to obtain on-site lodging.

Staying on-site at Asilomar is a memorable experience. Once you are there, meals are included and veryconvenient. There is no driving and no hurry. Everything is close and convenient. Attendees who want to bringtheir families find it to be a wonderful vacation for non-attendees. Attendees and their families can come earlyor stay late to enjoy the general Monterey Peninsula and take advantage of Asilomar's economical food andlodging package. But reservations must be made well in advance.

Don't be disappointed by trying to make reservations at the last minute only to learn that they no longer haveaccommodations that will fit your needs - or worse, that they are sold out completely. Save money, as well, byregistering for the Conference in advance. Registration forms available on-line. Do it today.

On-site Lodging and Meals Package:Includes three excellent cafeteria-style meals

each day, maid service, and use of swimming pool. Prices dictated

by accommodations selected.Non-conference guest reservations accepted.

To Register for Conference:Includes Social on Friday evening, June 16, 2000,

after-dinner Panel on Saturday evening, andpresentations on Saturday and Sunday. TheConference will conclude with two tracks on

Sunday afternoon, June 18.

Asilomar Conference CenterMonterey Peninsula, Northern California, USA

Large, vaulted ceiling, natural wood dining room

Modern, stone/wood condos- walking distance to beach Conversation areas throughout condos


Speakers

Gregory M. Fahy, PhD21st Century Medicine

Cryobiological Research at21st Century Medicine

A broad range of problems in cryobiology is being probed.A central aspect is our attempt to demonstrate successfulcryopreservation of mammalian organs, particularly thekidney. Construction of perfusion equipment, new surgicalapproaches, our new surgical staff, and initial results ofperfusion with novel, low-toxicity vitrification solutionswill be described.

Glenna Burmer, MD, PhDLifeSpan BioSciences

Identifying Aging Genesby Using DNA Microarrays

DNA Microarrays, or “gene chips,” are one of the mostpowerful methods in biotechnology for simultaneouslyanalyzing the expression of thousands of human genes inhuman diseases. Data will be presented on genes that are up-regulated or down-regulated in aging, those that are drugtargets or potential diagnostic markers, and those that areclearly aging associated. This technology is changing theway discoveries are being made in both anti-aging andmedicine in general.

Fred Chamberlain, BEEAlcor Life Extension Foundation

Bioimpedance

Bioimpedance is an electrical characteristic of biologicalstructures where tissues with intact cell membranes behavevery differently from tissues that have undergone cellmembrane breakdown. Means of comparatively evaluatingcryostasis protocols, as well as monitoring and comparingspecific cryotransport operations, will be discussed.

Emerging nanotechnologies will lead to cellular-scalerobotic surgical devices able to sense and repair tissueswith molecular precision. Those of us who stay intactuntil this technology arrives could achieve and keep goodhealth indefinitely.

K. Eric Drexler, PhDForesight InstituteThe Conservative Treatmentof Transient Inviability; or,Your Computer Crashed —Shall I Throw It Out?

James J. Hughes, PhDUniv.Chicago, Dept. Medicine

Our Evolving Definitionsof Death: Looking Ahead

The definition of “death” has changed radically in theWest in the last thirty years. Cryostasis will be a part of agroup of therapeutic modalities that will force a newpersonal identity-based concept of rights. One possibleoutcome might be that the resuscitated cryonaut would belegally and phenomenologically different from the personwho was placed into cryostasis.

Ralph Merkle, PhDZyvex Corporation

Nanomedicine and Cryostasis

Human beings are made from molecules, and how thosemolecules are arranged makes the difference between goodhealth and bad, between youth and old age, and between lifeand death. With nanomedicine, we should be able to rearrangemolecular structures in most of the ways permitted by physicallaw, including the ablity to reverse freezing injury, saving thelives of most of those put into cryostasis today.

Richard Morales, MDPrivate Practice

Setting Your Internal Clock

Circadian rhythms are well-known scientific phenomena.Recently, we have learned how to reset our internal clockswith diet, exercise, sleep, and hormonal manipulation.Some of the breakthroughs in this area and their applicationto anti-aging medicine will be discussed.


Robert Newport, MDBioTransport, Inc.

The Fear of Death andIts Impact on theRational Process

The fear of death interferes with an individual’s rational process,especially in relation to acting to preserve and extend life, and possi-bly via cryotransport, be resuscitated. The work of Stanislow Groff,MD, my own personal working with depressed and anxious patients ina private practice of psychiatry, and a review of current research on theeffects of stress on early brain development will be discussed.

Tomas A. Prolla, PhDUniversity of Wisconsin

Gene Expression Profileof the Aging Process

The gene expression profile of the aging process was analyzed in mice,revealing that aging resulted in a differential gene expression patternindicative of a marked stress response and lower expression of meta-bolic and biosynthetic genes. Most alterations were either completelyor partially prevented by caloric restriction, the only interventionknown to retard aging in mammals. Gene expression profiling of theaging process provides a new tool to test aging interventions.

Gregory Stock, PhDUCLA, School ofMedicine

Who’s Afraidof Freezer Burn?

Long before biological reconstruction of a frozen body (or brain) isfeasible, technology would have to advance sufficiently for uploading tooccur. Moreover, such developments will be sufficiently powerful todramatically transform the world in a way that would make biology a farless interesting substrate for life than silicon and its progeny. Theincentives for a biological rather than a technological awakening fromcryostasis are unlikely ever to exist, so cryonauts — if they are somedayresuscitated — are almost certainly bidding adieu to corporeal existence.

Natasha Vita-MoreAuthor, Artist

A Talent for Living:Cracking theMyths of Mortality

An after-dinner presentation by Natasha Vita-More on her currentbook project followed by a panel discussion. Many have written aboutthe technologies of extending life but not why we would want to livelonger. There is an art to living - how we maintain our well being andhow we bring aesthetics into our lives. We can approach life merelyas a series of events or as a creative and challenging exploration. Thepanel will examine the cultural myths preventing mainstream accep-tance of extreme life extension and discuss how to crack them.

Michael West, PhDAdvanced Cell Technology

Human Therapeutic Cloning

Technologies such as the identification and isolation of pluripotentstem cells, genetic and cell engineering techniques, and advanced in-somatic cell nuclear transfer, will lead to means for developingtissue therapies that will overcome the present difficulties related toimmune compatibility and graft rejection, and thus the requirementsfor use of immunosuppressive drugs and/or immunomodulatoryprotocols. These technologies set the stage for human therapeuticcloning as a potentially limitless source of cells for tissue engineer-ing and transplantation medicine.

Brian Wowk, PhD21st CenturyMedicine

Molecular Controlof Ice Formation

Antifreeze proteins and ice nucleating proteins found in nature areable to respectively prevent or catalyze the formation of ice whilepresent in very small quantities. It has recently been demonstratedthat synthetic molecules are able to perform similar functions. Theavailability of inexpensive synthetic molecules for blocking iceformation opens new frontiers for control of ice in industry andagriculture and for eliminating ice in cryopreservation.

Fourth Alcor Conference on Life Extension Technologies


Conference Registration

The Fourth Alcor Conferenceon Life Extension Technologies

Print or Type - Fax or Mail to:Alcor Life Extension Foundation,

7895 E. Acoma Dr. Suite 110, Scottsdale, AZ 85260FAX: 480-922-9027 VOICE: 877-GO ALCOR (toll-free)

www.alcor.org (Register On-line)

Name: ___________________________________________________ Day Phone (__________) ____________________________Last First MI

Address: __________________________________________________ Eve. Phone: (__________) ____________________________

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How did you hear about this conference? [ ] Alcor publications [ ] Alcor Web Site [ ] NanoTechnology Magazine [ ] Mailing [ ] A4M magazine [ ] NanoTechnology Magazine

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This Conference Registration fee is inaddition to the cost of the lodgingpackage, which must be reserved

directly through Asilomar (see nextpage or see the Alcor website).

Make checks payable to Alcor.Checks and bank drafts must be inU.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank.

Because our own staff needs to travelto Asilomar, we cannot make on-lineor fax registrations after Friday, June9, 2000. After that time, registrations

must be made at the door.

For your convenience, it is notrecommended that registrations be

mailed after June 1, 2000. Anyregistrations not received prior toJune 9 will not be processed (and

attendees will have to re-register atthe door, at that price.

Refunds of registration fees aresubject to a $50 administrative fee,

which must be requested in writing,postmarked before May 15, 2000.

Register Early and Save!30% Discount off any fee below for Alcor Life Members

10% Discount off any fee below for Regular Alcor Members

Per Person If Registered:

Early Bird Special $250 before March 1, 2000General Registration $300 before June 1, 2000At Door $400 after June 10, 2000


Asilomar Use OnlyASILOMAR CONFERENCE CENTERHOUSING REGISTRATION FORMPlease type or print clearly. One form per person please.

Name of conference: ALCOR FOUNDATION #232390

Arrive: June 16, 2000 Depart: June 19, 2000

HOUSING RATES & INFORMATIONFull Time Participation ONLY

Rates are for Three (3) night(s) and include all meals beginning with dinner on the first day and ending with lunch on the last day.Check in: 3PM Check out: 12 noon

Housing Type : Please indicate first and second choice. Rooms are assigned on a first come, first served basis.If your room choice is not available, you will be reassigned and the appropriate room charge will apply.

To secure your room reservation for above dates, mail this form with check for full payment byApril 14, 2000, or fax with Credit Card #

If you need additional information about Asilomar call (831) 372-8016Asilomar Conference Center

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In the case of cancellation on the day of arrival or early departure, all fees are forfeited.

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RATES ARE PER PERSON & INCLUDE HOUSING, TAX, AND MEALS FOR COMPLETE CONFERENCESingle Room Double Room ¾ to a room Youth Rate (per person) (per person) (per adult) (Ages 3 – 17)


A4M December 1999Annual Conference of the American Academy of Anti Aging Medicine

Overview

At the A4M Conference in LasVegas, December 11-13, 1999, theworld’s largest association of anti-aging physicians heard new ideason how molecular nanotechnologywill contribute to the practice ofmedicine over the next half century.This annual conference (at theTropicana Hotel in 1999) wasattended by more than two thou-sand physicians and scientists aswell as interested lay people andwas the seventh of its kind so far.

A4M Conferences started inthe wake of FDA acceptance of theuse of Human Growth Hormome(HGH) as a treatment for “aging.”While this seemed like a perfectlyreasonable step, given the benefitsthat could be demonstrated for it,the outcome has been a shift inthinking to characterize aging as adisease, rather than a “natural orderof events” to be accepted and evenwelcomed by those who grew old.

Part scientific congress andpart trade show, A4M conferencesserve both medical professionals

and those who see the emergenceof fundamental medical treatmentsfor aging and expect to benefitpersonally from this. While sup-posed “cures for aging” are as oldas Methuselah, A4M ushers in anew dimension, where the promiseof future science and practicalmedicine of today are harder todistinguish from each other.

Nanotechnology had beenpresented at A4M before, so therefinement of this for the purposeof medical applications was quitenatural to the attendees.

Nanomedicine

A recently published book byRobert A. Freitas Jr., the firstvolume of three, received a lot ofattention. Two speakers presentedtalks in which this book becamethe focus. The idea ofnanomedicine was presented as aplausible pathway to extendedlifespans as well as a radical wayto survive accidents. Although thetwo talks approached the topic ofnanomedicine from differenttechnological points of view, bothof them strongly endorsed the idea

of preserving biological structurein the event of irreversible cardiac

arrest, through cryotransport.

Robert Bradbury“Genomes, Biobots, and

Nanobots: Implications for 21stCentury Medicine”

Robert Bradbury spoke on thissubject early Sunday morning, andthe presentation was well attended.Bradbury’s topics moved smoothlyfrom gene chip assessments ofhealth to “biobots” (modifiedmicroorganisms with useful healthroles), to “nanobots” (manufac-tured devices fully under softwarecontrol).

Bradbury described RobertFreitas’s conceptual device, the“respirocyte,” in some detail.

[The repirocyte is conceived as atiny automated module, smallerthan a red cell (design diameteris one micron), holding reservesof oxygen at extremely highpressures (1000 atm). Thefunctional requirement will befor it to release oxygen into thelocal area of the blood stream

TropicanaHotel

Robert A.Freitas Jr.

Robert Bradbury


and scavenge carbon dioxide inthe event of cardiac arrest. Noblood will need to circulate inorder to sustain life, for manyhours. This advance is expectedto vastly reduce deaths fromaccidents, as well as from SCD;“sudden coronary death”. Thesummary from the website citedabove is as follows:

“This paper presents a prelimi-nary design for a simplenanomedical device that func-tions as an artificial erythrocyte,duplicating the oxygen andcarbon dioxide transportfunctions of red cells whilelargely eliminating the need tomanage carbonic acidity becauseCO2 is carried mechanically,rather than chemically, in theblood. The baseline respirocytecan deliver 236 times moreoxygen to the tissues per unitvolume than natural red cells,and enjoys a similar advantagein carbon dioxide transport.

“The respirocyte is constructedof tough diamondoid material,employs a variety of chemical,thermal and pressure sensors,has an onboard nanocomputerwhich enables the device todisplay many complex responsesand behaviors, can be remotelyreprogrammed via externalacoustic signals to modifyexisting or to install new proto-cols, and draws power fromabundant natural serum glucosesupplies, thus is capable ofoperating intelligently and

virtually indefinitely, unlike redcells which have a naturallifespan of 4 months. This devicecannot be built today. However,when future advances in theengineering of molecularmachine systems permitits construction, the artificialrespirocyte may find dozens ofapplications in therapeutic andcritical care medicine, andelsewhere.”]

Robert Bradbury presented aflow chart indicating that sourcesof mortality will start to “dry up”over the next few decades, to apoint where probabilities of deathwill shrink, leading to (as stated

above) a projection that by the year2060, average lifespans willexceed a millennium.

There was a point to all ofthis, and it turned out to be cryon-ics. Bradbury, in wrapping up,strongly advocated cryonicsarrangements for older persons(and pointed out that even youngerindividuals might need it). Hediscussed Robert Freitas’s book(Nanomedicine) in detail.

At the Alcor booth, our stockof Nanomedicine, Volume I wasexhausted in what amounted to a“feeding frenzy” of purchasing inthe minutes following the first ofthese presentations. By the time thedust had cleared, we had paidorders for 42+ more copies.

Ralph Merkle“Nanomedicine”

The following day, RalphMerkle (Alcor Director as well asthe key coordinator of Alcor’sScientific and Medical AdvisoryBoard) spoke on the impact ofnanotechnology on health carethrough nanomedicine.

In addition to a detailedtreatment of nanotechnology interms of its fundamentals, Ralphpresented his interpretation of ourcurrent-day cryotransport programas a “clinical trial,” in which theonly choices are to be part of theexperimental group (arrangementsfor cryotransport) or to remain aspart of the “control” group (this isthe easy choice—just do nothing).

For the physician group, thiswas exactly the right message. Onthe heels of Bradbury’s talk theprevious day, the attendees seemedeven more receptive to the idea of

Respirocytes

(See: http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html)

Ralph Merkle


cryonics as an “unproven, yet stillrational approach to conditionsthat cannot be treated by presentday medicine.”

As with Robert Bradbury’searlier talk, Merkle emphasizedthe importance of Robert Freitas’sNanomedicine and presented anoverview of its contents. As aresult, many additional attendeeslater visited the Alcor booth,asking, like others the previousday, about buying copies.

Distribution of the4th Qtr. 1999

Issue of Cryonics

Alcor staff members andvolunteers at the booth handed outcopies of the current issue ofCryonics to a receptive flow ofphysicians and other seekers of

extended lifespans. Several of theBioTransport directors were onhand also. Those present most ofthe time included Fred & LindaChamberlain, Russ Cheney, BruceCohen, Kat Cotter, D.O., RobertNewport, M.D., and Karla Steen.

Ralph Merkle, a director ofAlcor and one of the speakers onNanomedicine, was at the Alcorbooth frequently. The author ofNanomedicine, Robert A. FreitasJr., was also present to sign booksafter both of the talks on this topic.Robert Bradbury, whose firstpresentation stirred up the initialsurge of traffic to the Alcor booth,also spent much of his free timewith us.

The support of the speakerson Nanomedicine and its author nodoubt helped to convey a pictureof high intensity and intelligenceto those who stopped by. Also, thesheer numbers of other Alcor andBioTransport people must havecontributed to the rate at whichcopies of Cryonics were handedout and discussed with those whopassed by.

The cover of that issue (youmay recall) was captioned:

Nanomedicine, Themefor a New Millennium

This too probably contributedto the number of copies distributed.

Alcor/BioTransportBooth at A4M

Although the booth space waspaid for by Alcor, BioTransportcontributed to the booth effort andthus was allowed “equal time andspace.”

Bruce Cohen, as a Director ofBioTransport, Inc., acted as theprimary coordinator of boothpreparations. He provided a large,high-luminance readerboard,which could be easily seen fromthe far side of the exhibit area,with scrolling messages about bothAlcor and BioTransport.

BioTransport’s PowerPointprojector cycled high-intensityslides at the booth, inviting thosewho passed to participate in anetwork of physicians (see nextpage.) Graphics from withinNanomedicine were also projected,arousing interest in the book.

A new ATP (Air TransportablePerfusion) System constructed byBioTransport, Inc., was exhibitedas a working display, circulating a(blue colored) liquid to and from a“patient simulator.” Questions onthis opened the door to discussionsKat Cotter, D.C. & visitors

Bruce Cohen & visitor

Rob Freitas and Linda Chamberlain

Karla Steen & visitor


of Alcor’s standby, transport andcryoprotection protocols. Sincemany of those who stopped bywere physicians familiar withextracorporeal bypass, this displayhelped generate additional interestand confidence that our procedureswere not simply “straight freezing”or primitive operations performedby morticians.

Physician Network

Several dozen M.D.’s regis-tered for a physician referral

network, which allows terminalpatients to be referred for furtherevaluation if appropriate. The goalis to help more of those consider-ing cryostasis to remain alive. Inreciprocal fashion, we expect thatthose who accept such referrals aremore likely to suggest that theirtruly terminal patients consider thecryotransportoption.

The physician’s network ideaarose in BioTransport, and RobertNewport, M.D. (a Director ofBioTransport) conducted most ofthe discussions of this conceptwith the attendees. A physician’snetwork also serves Alcor’s needs(most Alcor Members who fall illwill need to explore other optionsbefore entering hospice status).

In view of this dual purpose, itmade sense to promote thephysicians’s network as a jointeffort of Alcor and BioTransport,using Alcor’s greater credibility(length of existence, numbers ofmembers, Medical and ScientificAdvisory Boards, etc.). And, from

Alcor Booth (L-R) Linda Chamberlain, Ralph Merkle, Kat Cotter (facing away),Carol Shaw, and Robert Newport, M.D.

Robert Newport, M.D. & visitor

a practical standpoint, Alcor willbe the only likely source of refer-

rals to such a network in the nearfuture.

Once services are offered tothe public by BioTransport, start-ing in 2001, it is likely that most ofthe traffic in the physician referralnetwork will shift to BioTransport.

Papers Given

A wide variety of talks werepresented, some theoretical butmany on a practical level, for otherpractitioners or those who mightbe seeking treatment for difficultillnesses. We wish we could coverthis comprehensively for you here,but in the absence of that we can atleast point you toward the A4Mwebsite for more details and apreview of what’s coming nextDecember (A4M’s Conference forYear-2000 will be at the newVenetian Hotel in Las Vegas,featuring canals inside with gondo-las, etc.).

Russ Cheney

www.antiagingexpo.comand

www.worldhealth.net


chip millions of times as fast astoday’s Pentium 3; doubling theefficiency of solar cells; using geneand drug-delivery technologies todetect and target cancerous cells; anddeveloping new technologies toremove the smallest contaminantsfrom water and air.”

According to Markoff, this willdouble federal spending in the fieldover the next five years. Clinton’splan was expected to call for in-creased spending in nanotechnologyresearch to $497 million in the comingfiscal year, about 70 percent of itgoing to university scientists for basicresearch.

Thomas A. Kalil, special assistantto the president for economic policy,was reported to say:

“Nanotechnology is a perfectexample of the kind of investmentsthat President Clinton and VicePresident Gore believe are necessaryfor America’s future. It’s long term,high risk and high payoff.”

Markoff’s use of the termnanotechnology included a widerange of advances rather than funda-mental breakthroughs in molecularmanufacturing. He characterizednanotechnology as “the ability tomanipulate and move matter,” and

followed this with an observation thatit is, “rapidly developing as a promis-ing approach to a wide range ofsciences and technologies. Forexample, researchers at both corpora-tions and universities have madesignificant strides in the last yeartoward building computers that wouldbe several orders of magnitudesmaller and more powerful thantoday’s silicon-based machines.”

The report did emphasize thatnanotechnology was perceived ashaving “great potential in biomedicinein applications ranging from improveddrug delivery to disease detection.”Robert A. Freitas Jr.’s Nanomedicinewas not specifically mentioned, butthe comment helps pave the way formore interest in Freitas’ book.

Markoff generalized concerningnanotechnology, saying at one point,“nanotechnology has already createdbillion-dollar markets for devices likeink-jet printer heads and accelerom-eters for automobiles”. Then hereturned to more long range goals,saying, “researchers are optimisticabout even bigger payoffs. Forexample, researchers believe they areon the track of new materials that areas much as 10 times as strong assteel, yet weigh only a fraction of it.”

Current advances of a practicalnature and the ultimate promise ofnanotechnology are thus continuing

to merge in the public mind. Perhapsthis could hasten investments in thefundamental technologies we need forthe recovery of cryostasis patients.

Markoff’s report mentioned thatthe National Science Foundation, thePentagon, the Energy Department,NASA, the Commerce Department,and the National Institutes of Healthare all financing nanotechnologyresearch. He pointed out that the newNational Nanotechnology Initiativecalls for increasing spending by theseagencies — as much as 400 percent inthe case of NASA — in next year’sbudget. Markoff was thus able toconclude as follows:

“There has been an explosion ofnanotechnology-oriented researchproposals coming from universitycampuses in the last year, a govern-ment official said, and it has only beenpossible to finance a fraction of themunder the current spending limits.

“Spending under the new pro-gram will be broken down intofinancing long-term fundamentalresearch; support for grand challengeefforts; the creation of new researchcenters; the establishment of a re-search infrastructure, and the study ofethical, legal and societal implicationsof nanotechnology.”

This is an extraordinary book in many ways, but particularly from the point of view of the open statement of possible application tothe recovery of persons cryotransported to the future. With the publisher's permission,we are reprinting the following final paragraphs of the "Afterword" section. Some ofthe ideas will be familiar to you, but they are stated with a depth of background (3,728references) unlike anything we have seen before (the extraordinary detail of thepreceding chapters, in which the scope of application to medical repair becomesstrikingly apparent).

Now, you may enjoy the conclusion, even before you probe the depths of whatNanomedicine has to offer. We think anyone with even a slightly positive outlook onthe future of cryotransport will want a copy of this book. And, anyone who wants tosee what medicine will look like as the next few decades roll by, will want to have acopy too!

Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilitiesby Robert A. Freitas Jr.

(The first of a three-volume technology series)

(The text to the right isreprinted from Volume20, No. 4 of Cryonics)

NANOMEDICINE“ON THE WEB” AT

www.foresight.org/Nanomedicineand

www.nanomedicine.com

Nanotechnology Initiative(continued from page 3)


Name as it appears on credit card: _____________________________

VISA or MasterCard Number: ________________________________

Expiration Date (Month/Year): _______________________________

Signature: ________________________________________________

Alcor offers a 10% discount to all on this important new book.Alcor members receive a 20% discount! (Indicate Alcor No.)

Don't miss out -- order yours today!Full retail price $89.00 (10% discount = $80.00) (20% discount = $71.00)

Name: _________________________________________________

Mailing Address: ________________________________________

City: _________________________ State: _______ Zip: ________

email: _________________________________________________

phone: (________) _______________________ Alcor # _________

[Rob will be signing copies ofNanomedicine at Alcor’sConference next June as wellas discussing his ideas on aninformal basis.]

(FROM THE "AFTERWORD,"WITH PERMISSION)

"A New Medical Technology and aNew Era of Medicine"

"We are left, then, with a fairly clearset of conclusions. Living systems exist.Living systems can usually heal and curetheir own injuries, unless those injuriesare severe enough to prevent the livingsystem from functioning. Too often, wesuffer injuries that are indeed this severe.Molecular nanotechnology is feasible. Aswe master the ability to design molecularmachines that can continue to functionwhen the living system around them hasfailed, those molecular machines canrestore the function of the living system.They can support and sustain the pro-cesses of the living system until thatliving system can once again function onits own. Whether this is done by atemporary assist from respirocytes or byany of the myriad other techniquesdiscussed in Nanomedicine, the underly-ing message is clear: life and health canbe restored and sustained in the face ofgreater injury, greater damage, greatertrauma, and greater dysfunction than hasever before been realized. This will usherin a new era in medicine--an era in which

health and long life will be the usual stateof affairs while sickness, debility anddeath will be mercifully rare exceptions.

“The future capabilities ofnanomedicine give hope and inspirationto those of us who still have decades oflife to look forward to, but some are notso fortunate. Many others who rightfullyshould live several decades more mightfind that chance cuts short their expectedtime. Heart attacks and cancer can strike

us down even in the prime of our lives.They do not always wait their turn andpolitely arrive only when expected. Howcan today's dying patient take advantageof a future medical technology that is asyet only described in a handful oftheoretical publications? How can wepreserve the physical structure of ourbodies well enough to permit that futuremedical technology to restore our health?

(Continued on Page 54)

Robert A. Freitas Jr.

Use your VISA or MasterCard to purchase:Call 877-GO-ALCOR (877-462-5267),

fax this order sheet to 480-922-9027, or mail to:Alcor, 7895 E. Acoma Dr. #110, Scottsdale, AZ 84260.

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Plus $4.00/book handling and shipping (US only) =

Add 20% for shipping overseas =

Total =

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ORDER YOUR COPY TODAYNANOMEDICINE, VOLUME I


Alcor’s Mission:The Preservation

of Individual Lives

Medical Director:Thomas Munson, MD

MedicalAdvisory Board:G. Mario Isidron, MD

Ravin Jain, MDAnthony Pizarro, MD

Robert R. Newport, MD

ScientificAdvisory Board:

K. Eric Drexler, PhDBart Kosko, PhD

James B. Lewis, PhDRalph Merkle, PhD

Marvin Minsky, PhD

Patient Care Trustees:

David Brandt-EricksonGary S. Mead, EsqCarlos Mondragon

Warren Robertson, CPARobert A. Schwarz

Alcor Board ofDirectors:

Stephen BridgeLinda Chamberlain

Hugh HixonRalph Merkle, PhD

Gary Meade, EsqMichael Riskin, CPA, PhD

Advisors to theAlcor Board:

Kathleen Cotter, DCDavid Greenstein, OD

Joe HoveyCarlos Mondragon

Judy MuhlesteinMark Muhlestein

Robert R. Newport, MDStephen Van Sickle

Alcor Officers:President:

Fred ChamberlainVice President:Stephen Bridge

Treasurer:Michael Riskin, CPA, PhD

Secretary:Linda Chamberlain

Alcor Update

Alcor DirectorJoins Nanotech Firm

Noted NanotechnologistDr. Ralph Merkle joins Zyvex

Zyvex LLC announced in a press releasedated October 8, 1999, that Dr. RalphMerkle has joined the company in thenewly created position of Principal Fellow.

Dr. Merkle is a leading proponent of thedeveloping field of nanotechnology. Heis also known for co-inventing public keycryptography, winning the KanellakisAward from the ACM in 1997. He haspublished a number of important papers onnanotechnology, last year winning theprestigious Feynman Prize.

Jim Von Ehr, President & CEO of Zyvex,in Richardson, Texas, said "We’ve knownRalph for several years, and are absolutelythrilled to have a person of his stature joinus. His research has pointed to a number ofpromising mechanisms by whichnanotechnology might be achieved, and inconjunction with our excellent researchscientists and laboratory, I’m quite con-fident we’ll achieve our nanotechnologygoals."

Dr. Merkle, commenting on the move, said"Nanotechnology is developing morerapidly than expected. I’ve been looking fora place where I can get more directlyinvolved in making it happen, and Zyvexhas demonstrated their total commitment tothat goal. The decision to leave Xerox

PARC after ten years was difficult, but thechance to get involved in a serious startupin such a major role was irresistible."

Merkle has spoken about nanotechnologyto numerous groups, including the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,and the U.S. Congress. He presented hismost recent paper, "Molecular buildingblocks and development strategies formolecular nanotechnology" at the SeventhForesight Conference on MolecularNanotechnology, held in1999 at the WestinHotel in Santa Clara, California.

About Zyvex

Zyvex was started in mid-1997 with thegoal of building the key tool for creatingmolecular nanotechnology, the assembler.That device is expected to revolutionizemanufacturing by building atomicallyprecise materials and machines for littlemore than the cost of the raw materialsand energy that goes into them. Suchmachines could manufacture extremelystrong nanocomposite materials, inexpen-sive solar cells, or even medicalnanorobots that might someday cure mostdiseases and control or reverse aging. Theprivately held company is engaged inresearch and development of molecularnanotechnology, developing what itbelieves to be the three key technologiesfor the field: mechano-chemistry,nanopositioning, and system design.


Alcor has 488 Suspension Members (including 105Life Members), and 37 patients in suspension. Thesenumbers are broken down by country below.

AlcorMembership Status

Applicants

MembersApplicants

Subscribers

MembersSubscribers

CountryArgentina 0 0 1Australia 13 1 6Austria 1 0 1Brazil 1 0 1Canada 12 5 14Finland 0 0 1France 0 0 1Germany 4 0 3Holland 010 4 1Ireland 0 1 1Italy 2 2 1Japan 1 1 1Lithuania 0 0 1

CountryNew Zealand 0 0 1Russia 0 0 4South Africa 0 0 1Spain 6 0 0Sri Lanka 0 0 1Switzerland 0 0 2Taiwan 0 0 1U.K. 24 10 10U.S.A. 423 73 284Ukraine 0 0 1

TOTALS 488 97 338

No. of Countries: 23

Alcor U.K. News Update

Alcor U.K. Membersare being asked to provide a photo of themselves for thewebsite, which is now being set up. Please email to DavidFlude <[email protected]>.

Members who have their own web pages are asked to helpAlcor and themselves by putting a link to www.alcor.orgon their sites. Most of our new members come frompeople who visit the sites on the internet.

Alcor Europe Internet Newsgroup:Dalibor den Otter of the Netherlands Group has set up aNewsGroup for European Members. To learn more, pleaseemail Dalibor at <[email protected]>.

Computer for Facility: Thanks to GarretSmyth for providing a computer for the Alcor U.K. facility.The first use will be to run Henri’s new MedicationsCalculation Program.

Alcor U.K. Website:

TV2k-Transhumanist ConferencePlanned for Summer 2000

For more information contact David Flude:[email protected]

New Alcor U.K.Newsletter Being Developedby David Flude, EditorAlcor U.K. Bulletin

In discussing his plans for thefuture evolution of the newsletterof the Alcor U.K. group, Mr.Flude stated: “I’m doing a com-plete re-think on the role of ourpublication. I want to producesomething that will reach a wideraudience so I am changing thename of it after 4 years. Also Iwill try to give it an independent

approach so I have deleted the nameAlcor UK.”

In discussing the new format,David pointed out that “I think thiswould be a good idea for CryonicsMagazine - the name is offputtingto non-members. We need amagazine we can sell to ourneighbours, and your approach tothe contents (the new format forCryonics magazine) is absolutelyright - more human interest, lesstechnical articles.

“I am expanding it (the U.K.newsletter) from 2 to 4 pages andtrying to make it more profes-sional. Although we have about80 people on our present mailinglist I would like to draw in some ofthe European Transhumanists whoare not yet Alcor Members.

“With this in mind Nick Bostromand David Pearce with the Euro-pean Transhumanists will beworking with me and GarretSmyth to jointly plan the TV2k-Transhumanist Conference forSummer 2000. Nick, Dave, Garret,and I met in London on 6 January2000 to start planning for theconference.”

Turn to Page 20, forFront Cover of New

U.K. Newsletter.


Southern California ACT Team

Carries Out Dry Run CryoTransport

by Linda Chamberlain,

Assistant CryoTransport Manager

On Sunday, October 24, 1999, mem-bers of the Southern California ACTTeam carried out a training exercisecoordinated by Robert Newport, MD.This was a mock cryotransport begin-ning with a “call” from Alcor Central(part of the exercise) and including allaspects of cryotransport up to washout.

This training exercise will be part ofall future certification training andcontinuing education for ACT-B(Basic) and ACT-A (Advanced)classes, as “Module 6” (there werepreviously five Modules: Coordina-tion and Communication, InfectionControl, External Cooling and Car-diopulmonary Support, CryotransportMedications, and Checklists andOperations Management).

Module 6 will allow trainees to bringtogether the separate elements into a

Diana Marks, Russell Cheney, and Dr.Cotter discuss medications.

Dr. Kathleen Cotter checks the Thumper while Regina Pancake sets up theportable ice bath (PIB) and spray cooling device (SCD).

whole picture before actually havingto perform their skills in the field.

Dr. Newport developed a scenarioprior to the exercise that would not

Team moves patient into portable ice bath.


Regina Pancake, Peter Voss, Louise Murray, and Russell Cheney work on preparing themedications (left) while Dr. Cotter examines the patient (Dr. Newport), and Russ Cheneyand Michael Riskin bring the portable ice bath into the imaginary emergency room.

only challenge the team members’ability to carry out their skills but alsorequire them to be resourceful inunexpected and stressful situations.

The team knew that they were goingto participate in the development ofthis new module. They had been toldto study their manuals and be pre-pared to carry out a dry run involvingthe entire transport process, but theywere given no details in advance.They gathered at the home of RussellCheney, the Southern California ACTCoordinator, ready for action.

Dr. Newport’s scenario definitelyproduced heightened stress among theteam members when the call came infrom Alcor Central that (1) Dr.Newport himself had had a heartattack (they would not have him tolead the team); and worse (2) AlcorCentral was already involved in acryotransport on the East Coast andhad deployed all of their personnel tothat location (they were really ontheir own, with only their ownknowledge and skills to rely on).

Despite initial shock and hesitation,the team organized and moved out torescue their patient: Dr. Newport

(clad in a wet suit and prepared to be placedinto the icy water of the portable ice bathwhen the time came) was laid out in theimaginary emergency room on RussellCheney’s patio.

Michael Riskin, PhD, a team member whois a professional psychologist with exten-sive counseling experience, was called uponto communicate with the attending physi-cian (also played by Dr. Newport, when hewas not being the patient) by telephonewhile the Alcor team drove to the hospital.

Concluding the exercise, participants spentan hour discussing the operation, what wentwell, what did not go well, and how to dothings even better the next time, real situa-tion or mock exercise. In the future allcertified ACTs will have at least one Module6 dry run each year.

Fred and Linda Chamberlain from AlcorCentral participated in the exercise bytaking photos, evaluating the team mem-bers, and participating in the final review.

MODULE SIX:REALISM IN

CRYOTRANSPORTT

Clockwise from left: Michael Riskin, Dr. Cotter, Russell Cheney, Diana Marks,Regina Pancake, Louise Murray, and Peter Voss participate in post exercise dis-cussion and review (not shown are Dr. Newport, Linda and Fred Chamberlain).


New Newsletter of Alcor U.K. Group (See Discussion on Page 17)


Most of the stories which follow appeared in LifeQuest, a semi-annual collection of life extension fiction,from May 1987 to November 1990. They ranged from practical cryotransport dilemmas to far-reachingpossibilities of uploading, nanotechnology, and the deep-time aspects of living in space colonies. Thecontributors comprised a rapidly broadening group of authors at the time publication ceased in 1990.

Now, in a special section of each issue of Cryonics, we bring you reprints from past issues of LifeQuest,along with new stories contributed by authors from our wide readership and other sources. If you are aprofessional science fiction writer, or even if you are not, we invite you to submit your stories for possibleinclusion. In this issue, LifeQuest welcomes its first new author, Thomas K. Meyer, with a story(CONCERT) to help us better appreciate ourselves and the “fix” we’re in at this point in human history!

Visions of the Present, Visions of the Future,

Visions of Unbounded Life

LifeQuestFiction, including stories reprinted from the late 1980’s

Table ofContents

CONCERTby Thomas K. Meyer(Original Publication) ......... 21

CONSTRUCTION SITEBy Linda ChamberlainFrom Issue #1, May 1987 ......... 25

A PLACE BY THE SEAby Fred ChamberlainFrom Issue #2, Nov. 1987 ........... 30

BACK ISSUES OF LIFEQUESTIssues #1 & #2 are already“On the Web” ........................... 35

CONCERTby Thomas K. Meyer

Pi-Ling 23 adjusted her swivelchair and watched as the fossil,officially an ‘ancient,’ arose. She consulted deep memory and realizedthat she had interviewed him as a student some 235 years earlier. Hisreal name was the antique “John,” a bizarre-sounding word of biblicalorigins, though he had changed it early in the 24th century.


The crowd hushed as he madehis way to the stage. His appear-ance was startling, for he was anearly caucanegroid melange, utterlylacking in oriental features. Hisskin had been toned in the latestfashion and his hair had beengenetically altered and straightenedcenturies earlier. But his broadnose and rounded eyes were decid-edly original. He was a recluse, Pi-Ling knew, like virtually all re-maining fossils and she wonderedwhat might have brought him outof seclusion.

He was a good man. A goodsense of proportion and humor.Slow, like all fossils, but decent andmodest. They were all modest.They had reason to be. Despitecranial nanoimplants they couldnever attain the capabilities of the28th-century’s human production.Their early brains had been hard-wired in a different world, almost adifferent universe. This John hadbeen born before the beginning ofthe third millennium. One of ahandful left through the grace ofcryonic preservation. How couldanyone expect this being to adapt?

The crowd murmured. Severalpeople transmitted mildly deroga-tory thoughts to friends across thehall. Pi-Ling grew uneasy. Shewas tough, but she alone in theaudience knew this man and hencewas appalled at the embarrassmenthe was sure to suffer.

The concert had been a tre-mendous success to this point.Instruments of all eras were strewnabout the stage and illuminated bya marvelous limelight effect recre-ated from the mid-nineteenthcentury. The decade’s most bril-liant experience-designer, Ramju

IV, had engineered the first massthoughtlink, intertwining thethoughts and feelings of the musi-cian with those of the audiencemembers. Ten of the century’smost creative artists had wovenmagical tales of sound and thought- sleekpipe, guitar, intensiharp anddooldrums playfully intertwinedwith the memories of the musicians- schoolyard slights, lovely sun-rises, annoyances of the bureau-cracy, rapid-motion flower open-ings, wretched teleport delays. Theexcitement had left Pi-Ling a bitflushed, a bit dizzy.

And now this! It was custom-ary to offer anyone in the audiencea turn, but it was also customarynot to accept. She had never seen ithappen. Several people had alreadystarted to exit and were forced byprotocol to return to their seats.They were particularly unhappy atthis breach of etiquette.

What could he possibly thinkhe was doing? He could practiceany instrument every day for fivehundred years and his fossilizedbrain could not possibly permithim to match the skills of today’shumans! A disaster. A horribledisaster. Ramju IV rose from hisdirector’s lounger and movedcarefully toward John. He too wasunsure how to deal with thissituation, but he knew that regard-less of what happened next hisgreat triumph would go unnoticednext to this strange development.Ramju acted as if he were trying tohelp the fossil, as if he were sick,although no one was sick, ever,anymore. The fossil smiled,tapped the palm of his hand on thetop of Ramju’s back several times(what did that mean?) and climbed

the steps to the stage. Peoplestared, people flinched. Pi-Ling’sunease grew exponentially. Thiswasn’t right.

John picked up Ramju’scerebral transmitter and fitted thedelicate ring around his neck. Itsluminescence exaggerated hiscurious facial features and severalaudience members chuckled. Thenhe made his way to the back of thestage, into the shadows. For anagonizingly long minute he wasinvisible. Then - there he was,pulling a massive black objecttoward center stage. Pi-Lingsquirmed. A—a—a—damn, sheknew the name for it. She quicklydownloaded her music library. Apiano! Very old. Very, veryheavy. Forerunner of theelectroclavier. Ancient composers- Beethoven, Mozart, Bach -astonishing output for the cere-brally-unenhanced. Could Johnhave known them? A rapid date-check said no. But he hadn’tmissed them by much!

Ramju IV slumped back intohis lounger, defeated, sulking.Who could have expected thepresence of a deranged fossil at theconcert? John seemed eternallyyoung, like all the others, soRamju hadn’t noticed him enteringwith the crowd. But now his trueage was apparent. He walkedslowly, though he didn’t need to.He hesitated, without reason. Hisshoulders were stooped, though hisbody was as fresh as everyone’s.That was the most curious thing.He seemed to carry a tremendousand invisible weight. Pi-Lingremembered that now, the mostunsettling thing from the oldinterview. The weight of thought


he carried. Heavy, just like thepiano. For the first time she feltafraid. Something bad was goingto happen. As a historian, sheunderstood what he had beenthrough in eight centuries. But shehadn’t felt it. In a moment shewould.

He sat upon the hoverbenchand adjusted his gleaming frock.His hands brushed lightly upon thekeys and for a moment she thoughthe had changed his mind. Thenhis stubby dark fingers movedacross the keyboard, stumbling atfirst. The tempo picked up. Pi-Ling consulted her archival im-plant. End of second millennium.Germanic. Strauss. Auf derschonen blauen Donau. A finework. Not the greatest of thegreat, but very fine. Quite short,much shorter than the ‘competi-tion.’ Embarrassingly short.

John’s abilities were notinnate. His playing was adequate,but flawed under his inexpertguidance. And yet - and yet - whatwas this thing - this immense pridewhich Pi-Ling felt? Pride? Theplayer’s pride. His excitement andhis amazing contentment to beable to play this piece so well,despite the fact that it was awk-ward compared to all who hadgone before. He had been raisedwithout a music implant. He hadnever learned to play an instru-ment as a child and had no inher-ent musical abilities. And now,with his implant, he had this greatsense of joy from playing, whichwas transmitted in full force to Pi-Ling and the audience.

The others before him hadplayed so much better, yet they feltnothing of this. They had been

born with this ability due to theirprenatal music download, so forthem it was routine. To John, itwas a great wonder to be able toplay as a concert musician, despitethe fact that his skill level did notmeet 28th century standards. Hisjoy for the pure joy of playing wasmore intense than anything else Pi-Ling had felt that day. In fact, itwould have made the concertnoteworthy in and of itself. Butthen the piece began in earnest.

A river, the blue Danube,flowing with life, a life, his life.From the murky Schwarzwaldsource his consciousness waxedforth. Pi-Ling saw his childhood.She felt raw brutality and uncer-tainty, crushing poverty beyondanything 28th century humankindhad experienced. A youngerbrother, who looked much likeJohn, was pummeled with fierceblows from a snarling band ofdesperate youths. Crimson stainssurrounded his supine body. Pi-Ling reeled, felt hot blood flowingfrom her forehead, which hadsmashed against the seat in frontof her. Hunger, intense burninghunger of a child in the days whenfood came by the sweat of one’sbrow. Dry mouth. Her jawsclenched involuntarily and apurple welt rose from her lowerlip. Then a massive feast. A largebird, an actual living and sentientcreature, which had been slaugh-tered, plucked of feathers, eviscer-ated and heated for hours untiledible. Her stomach churnedsourly.

Then—relaxation. Her archedbody melted back into the lounger.Somehow John had risen fromthese dregs to become a man. She

felt his first trembling grade schoolkiss and flowed with the passionof his late youth. A divine, intensewarmth cloaked her, held hercaptive with its strength.

Suddenly she was spinninghigh above an elaborately-garbedcouple, John resplendent in long,black tails of a monochromephotograph and an ebony-skinnedwoman whose bright eyes wouldnot move from his face. Her whiteveil swayed with her movements.Upon her nose sat ancient thickcorrective lenses, giving her aludicrous appearance. But Johnwasn’t laughing. The feeling thatenveloped Pi-Ling was indescrib-able - it was excitement; it wasfear; it was joy; it was amazement- all rolled into one. She twistedand turned in the air, airy fairy, asthe ritual was performed in ahouse of worship. The woman’sbright eyes stared back at John,moistening, excited and happy.This archaic bonding ceremonywas something no longer experi-enced, yet the twirling of Pi-Ling’smind suggested to her that she andher contemporaries were missingsomething of great importance.

The river flowed into fear, theexhausted fear of this man eachday as he tried to support what hadbecome a family in the face of araw, primitive world. Work.Hard, tedious toil. Back-breakingmanual labor which had beenbanished by machines for centu-ries. Pi-Ling’s limbs ached; herback felt as if it would snap. Sheyearned for rest.

Then, the worst of the worst.The shining little face of a child.The youngest of five and extraor-dinarily beloved of John. Smallish


auburn curls and laughing eyes.Tears streamed down Pi-Ling’scheeks. John running toward thegirl, gasping. A motorized vehiclesmashing into her, flinging herhigh into the air. Now it was Pi-Ling turning somersaults in an icyriver, gasping drowning. She wasconvulsing in the most ghastlypain she had ever experienced.The child was dead - permanentdeath. Never to return. No nano-repairers. Not even pseudo-organimplants. John could do nothingbut scream an agonizing 800-yearscream.

The concert went on to a longlife filled with much love for hisother children, a mostly-happyrelationship with his mate-for-life.An arduous climb to businesssuccess. Many, many otherpermanent deaths. Then, finally,the cryonic preservation whichserved as his bridge to the world oftoday. Pi-Ling felt none of it. Herbody lay limp, slumped half-in,half-out of the lounger.

The screaming of a thousand

Personal Health Alarms rousedher. Aching, she pulled herselfupright and looked around. Bod-ies lay everywhere, contorted intogrotesque shapes, many in fetalposition. Blood trickled fromunder the seats. The stench ofvomit and urine had the airsanitizers roaring at full blast. Pi-Ling stared helplessly as rarely-activated EmPersonnel burst intothe auditorium, stoppeddumbstruck and began calling formore assistance. She caught aglimpse of the fossil standing onstage, his mouth open in astonish-ment, before sliding back intounconsciousness.

The Ramju Debacle, as itcame to be known, caused the lastgreat accidental mass-death of theThird Millennium. Some 384persons suffered permanent deathand many more required extensivememory re-engineering to reversethe debilitating psychologicaleffects. Once again it becameclear that the fossil population hadlittle to offer in today’s world and

held much unknown danger. Butunlike all other surviving concert-goers, Pi-Ling did not have thememory erased. She becamesullen, pensive, restless. Disinter-est in the petty doings of hercontemporaries dogged her.

It was just a matter of time.Early in the Fourth Millennium theSupreme Council voted 1145 yea,855 nay in favor of forced resettle-ment of all ancients to the newly-discovered, primitive world of Beta6. A positive outcome for every-one, the Council insisted. For once,it may have been right. Whendeparture time came, Pi-Ling wasthe only non-fossil to tag along, forreasons the rest of humanity failedutterly to comprehend.

How to Submit Stories to LifeQuestPlease send submissions toCryonics magazine, Alcor LifeExtension Foundation, 7895 E.Acoma Drive #110, Scottsdale,AZ 85260, or email them [email protected].

If in hard copy format, pleasealso include a diskette (textfilesor one of these: Microsoft Word97 & 6.0/95, or Pagemaker 6.5.Graphics (jpg/gif preferred)

should be in color if available, asthese are compatible with Alcor’swebsite. LifeQuest stories maybe published on Alcor’s websitebarring agreed restrictions to thecontrary.

Alcor’s anticipated rights in-clude one-time publication inCryonics magazine and websiteinclusion, nothing more, unlessprovided for in writing. Addi-

tional information on submis-sions may be found inside thefront cover of Cryonics.

You can help others see whywhat Alcor does makes sense,by sharing your feelings, yourdeepest insights with them, inthe form of LifeQuest fiction(short stories) or poems. If youhave a vision, put it in writing,and submit it for consideration.


n the dark, red glow of thedying fireplace, Bill’s lean, highcheekbones appeared to have beenchiseled from stone. His dark eyeswere moist as he looked at thebarely visible picture of his daugh-ter, Bo, riding her rocking horse.

Soft, sobbing sounds camefrom Carolanne, who lay besidehim, her head resting on his shoul-der. Bill stroked Carolanne’s hair,dark brown curls that were almostinvisible in the shadowy darknessof the room.

“She’s only two years old,”Carolanne whispered hoarsely.

“She’s so playful. So beauti-ful.” Her voice choked and sheburied her face in Bill’s shoulderagain.

Bill turned and kissed hiswife’s tear streaked face as hepulled her even closer. His owneyes began to flood. “How couldBo have cancer?” said Bill as hegrabbed several tissues from thebox on the table beside their bed.He cleared his nose and tookanother large gulp from his wine-glass.

“Bill?” Carolanne grabbed atthe tissues and cleared her own

nose. “Bill, I want to talk somemore about having Bo frozen.”

“Carolanne.” Bill’s voiceasked her to stop.

“Bill, please!”“It doesn’t do any good to

keep going over this.”“I know it’s still experimental,

but what do we have to lose, Bill?”Carolanne sat up on the bed andlooked into Bill’s face as sheplaced her soft fingertips againsthis cheek.

“What do we have to gain?”Bill brushed away her hand and satup on the edge of the bed with hisback to Carolanne.

“Hope?”Bill let out a long sigh as he

smoothed his hair back from hisface.

“It’s Bo’s only chance.”“Carolanne, most hospitals

still won’t get involved in freezingpeople. That must mean some-thing.”

“Some do. Jane and Terrencehad her father frozen last year. Wecould take Bo to that hospital.”

Bill stood and turned to lookdown at his wife, her tear-stainedface almost lost in the shadows of

the room. “We’ve gone over this ahundred times. Even a piece ofsteak doesn’t last more than amonth or so in the freezer. It’s badenough having to face the death ofour only daughter without youtorturing yourself, and me too,with these unrealistic dreams.”

Bill turned, left the bedroom,and walked heavily toward thestairway. The sound of Bill fallingdown the stairs was like the soundof a boulder tumbling down ahillside. Terrified, Carolannebolted straight up in the bed.Stumbling in the darkness of theroom, she made it to the doorwayand switched on the lights.

“Bill!” she screamed as sheflew down the stairs and crouchedover her husband. “Bill, are you allright?”

Bill opened his eyes and a wrysmile formed at the corners of hismouth. Seeing the terrified lookin her eyes, he reached up andpulled her down onto his chest.“Looks like I had too much wine.”

“Are you all right?”Carolanne pulled back to look athim. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“My leg.”“Don’t move.” She kissed him

lightly on the nose and ran for thephone. “I’ll get an ambulance.”

***

Bill looked down at his brokenleg in disgust. Carolanne, standingbeside his hospital bed, picked uphis hand and smiled softly down athim. “After climbing on all thoseroofs, it’s kind of silly to havebroken your leg falling down yourown stairs.” The grin on her facewas full of love.

I

CONSTRUCTION SITEBy Linda Chamberlain

(Reprinted from LifeQuest Issue #1, May 1987)


“It was stupid,” said Bill,disgust still on his face.

The door opened and a tall,large-boned nurse walked into theroom, carrying a chart in herhands. “Good morning,” she saidwith a cheery brightness on herbroad, boxy face. “I’m Mrs.Collins. How’s the leg this morn-ing?”

“How long will I be laid up?”Bill asked. “I have an importantjob to finish. I can’t stay in thehospital.”

“Broken legs don’t take aslong to heal as they used to, Mr.Cross. Since about the ‘30s we’vebeen using molecular repairmachines to assist healing. Areyou familiar with the medical usesof nanotechnology?”

“Vaguely,” Bill answered.“Not too much.”

“You’re in construction work,aren’t you?” asked the nurse.

“I build houses.”“Great,” said Mrs. Collins

with a smile breaking from her fulllips. “You’ll enjoy this.” Thenurse handed her charts toCarolanne and pulled a wheelchairout of the closet.

“Enjoy what?” asked Bill,looking at Carolanne, who re-sponded with a question on herface and a shrug of her shoulders.

“We have a viewing room justdown the hall, Mr. Cross, whereyou can watch some constructionthat’s going on here at the hospital.Dr. Van Deusen, who set your leglast night and started your treat-ment, would like your opinion.Being in construction yourself, Ithink you’ll enjoy seeing this.”

“But what about my leg?How long before I can leave?”

The nurse had pulled the chairover to Bill’s bed. “Let’s go seethe construction, first, okay? Trustme,” she said with a wry smile anda little jerk of her head. He did notnotice the nurse reach down to hisremovable cast and switch on asmall device. The other nurses hadbeen switching it on and off somuch he’d ceased being aware of it.

Bill looked at Carolanne againonly to get that questioning look asshe threw her hands in the air.

*****

Bill’s hands, gripping thearms of the wheelchair as heleaned toward the viewing screen,were large and callused from hiswork. His dark, full beard did nothide the high cheekbones or theexcitement in his chocolate eyes.Carolanne watched Bill as much asshe watched the viewing screen.

Unlike mining and con-struction on the surface of theearth, there was no gravity here toretard and complicate this work.All this activity was in free fall.These machines didn’t lumberabout like hulking giants on rough,crude roads freshly excavated forthe job. They looked more likeweightless Olympic gymnastswhose special training and skillshad been borrowed and redirectedfor this special task. They floated.

The irregularly shaped workarea was about the size of a smallbedroom. A similar work area,which had been on the screenearlier, was filled with hundreds ofmachines, each relatively no largerthan the size of Bill’s fist, eachlaboring at its individual task. Inaddition to the machinery, the

interiors of the work areas werealso full of floating objects ofvarying sizes and shapes, some ofwhich were much larger than themachines that were working there.Inside this particular work area,though, there were no machines.Not yet.

The walls were made up ofhundreds of tiny bead-like, inter-locking spheres. Bill’s attentionwas drawn to a small, expandingopening on the side wall. Itappeared to be under disassemblyfrom the outside. One by one, thebeads were being removed. Billwatched as two, then three, andfinally six to eight arm-like projec-tions began poking through thehole.

Dragging its power andcommunications cable behind it, aspherical automaton floated slowlyinto the work area through theporthole in the wall-beads it hadjust created. Once inside, itrepaired the hole in the wall andthen pitched and rolled whilesearching for the correct orienta-tion to assume in this free-fallwork situation.

Numerous anchor arms beganemerging from the sphere on theside next to the wall, searching andexamining the wall’s surface.After the sphere had securelyattached itself to the wall, a com-puter inside the sphere begandirecting the sphere in the task ofbuilding and deploying the roboticappendages that would do thework under its pre-programmedcontrol.

Small arm-like projectionstelescoped from the surface of thecomputer-sphere into the center ofthe work area. These robot arms


began disassembling componentsfrom the objects around it, gather-ing these disassembled parts intoclusters of like kind.

Bill sensed that the projec-tions and arms kept precise geo-metrical maps of their movementsabout the workspace. It was likethe highly automated modularhousing factories Bill had visitedon tours, but much more complex.The nurse said this constructionwas going on here at the hospital,but what were those things any-way? It would take hundreds ofacres to contain all this activity,wouldn’t it? Bill didn’t have aclue!

Several openings began toappear in different areas of thespherical automaton’s surface.Out of these openings grew slen-der, rigid, cylindrical pigtailsspreading in different directions,following the paths of the disas-sembly robots. Alongside thepigtails grew broader, flatterappendages that would functionlike conveyor belts. At a distancefrom the computer-sphere of aboutten times its own diameter, pods atthe ends of the pigtails opened likehands with eight opposing fingers,in four sets of two.

Back at the main computer-sphere, the parts it had beendisassembling and stockpilingwere being passed along by theconveyer belt fingers to the roboticassemblers at their ends. Here,these pieces were being assembledback into the same types of objectsfrom which the parts had just beendisassembled. The difference,obvious from the dynamic behav-ior being viewed on the screen,was that the original objects were

defective and couldn’t function,while the reassembled objectsfunctioned perfectly.

As the assembly progressed,the remote assemblers began to putout their own tethers and conveyerbelts, at the ends of which otherassemblers and disassemblersbegan to develop. A network ofrobot appendages, rather like aliving, working scaffolding, thusgrew within the work area, allcontrolled by the original com-puter-sphere that first entered thecell.

The display shifted from workarea to work area. Other computerspheres continued to enter newwork areas. Bill could envisionthousands—or could it be tens ofthousands?—of computer-spheres,disassemblers and assemblers, allworking in concert in an uncount-able number of work areas, torepair those work areas and all thefloating, functional parts withinthem.

“Are they excavating beneaththe hospital?” Carolanne askedBill.

“I don’t know what it is,” Billreplied. “It’s ridiculous, but whatelse can it be?”

“What are those things,anyway?”

“Nothing I’ve ever seen on thesurface of the Earth,” replied Bill.Bill and Carolanne exchangedlooks of astonishment.

*****

Carolanne drew back from thescreen and noticed her sur-roundings. From the time the nursehad left Bill and Carolanne here inthe observation room to wait for

Dr. Van Deusen, their intrigue withthe drama on the screen had elimi-nated all sense of waiting.

The observation room wascheerful. It had been decoratedwith yellow and beige chairs andnicely matching tables of rich darkmahogany. Lamps with glassbases full of dried flowers sat onthe tables, more for decorationthan use, as the bright overheadlights provided all the illuminationnecessary. At the moment, theceiling lights were dimmed so theycould see the construction activityon the screen better.

The door opened and a tall,white-haired physician entered.His face was round and florid andhis deep, blue eyes sparkled morefrom merriment than from illumi-nation. The corners of his mouthbroke open in a broad smile as helooked at his patient, so occupiedby the ballet on the screen that hehad not even noticed the doctor’sentrance. He nodded a greeting toCarolanne.

“My apology, Mr. and Mrs.Cross, for keeping you waiting,”said Dr. Van Deusen in a hearty,rich voice that filled the room.

“Ahhh, Dr. Van Deusen.”Bill whirled his wheelchair togreet the doctor. “It may not looklike it at first glance, but that is,without a doubt, a hard-hat area!”Bill’s face glowed with apprecia-tion for what he had been observ-ing on the screen in front of him.

“It’s not exactly the kind ofconstruction work I understandyou do. You build houses, don’tyou?” Bill nodded. “But Ithought you would appreciate it.”The smile on the physician’s facewas like that of a father watching a


small child fascinated with somenew wonder he had discovered.

“What in the world is it?”asked Bill, staring back at theconstruction work on the screen.“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“That’s the healing processgoing on inside your leg, Mr.Cross. You’ve probably noticedthe nurses switching the device onyour cast on and off. We’remonitoring progress in your leg bytelemetry through a sterile micro-lead that penetrates to the vicinityof the break.”

“That?” Bill turned hiswheelchair back to face the screen.“That’s going on inside my leg?”

“It’s just one small applicationof what we call nanotechnology.”Dr. Van Deusen walked up tostand beside Cross’s wheelchair.

“What kind of technology?”Carolanne asked.

“Nanotechnology. Nanomeans very small. A billionth.Nanotechnology refers to thosetypes of technologies that work onthe molecular level. In this case,we’re watching molecular repairmachines inside your cells.”

“That’s actually going oninside Bill’s leg, right now?”Carolanne asked the doctor in-credulously. “Do you have nano-TVcameras in there? How couldyou do that?”

“What you’re watching is acomputer simulation. The exactpositions of repair machines andtheir working surfaces are avail-able from millions of repair sites,and a small computer in your castis constantly switching from onesite to another, keeping track ofthe process. This information isusually piped to a lab where

technicians study the repair pro-cesses, but we can view it in thisroom, too, so patients can betterunderstand what’s going on.

“In this viewing room, wehave the computer switch back toone particular repair site frequentlyand we display it in extremelyhigh detail, with color graphics, soyou can watch the repair as ithappens at that location.”

“Are those... ah... repairmachines... robots?” Bill askedwithout looking at Dr. VanDeusen; his dark, fascinated eyesremained glued to the scene.

“Well, yes and no,” answeredthe doctor. “A robot is a machinethat does routine tasks. It dependson how you look at what thesemachines are doing. In some waysit’s mechanical and routine, but inother ways, that description isinappropriate because the wholeoperation requires a lot of artificialintelligence from the tiny, localcomputer inside that main sphereat the repair sites.”

“Those pigtails,” Bill pointedat one of the repair machines onthe screen, “must be kind of likeextension cords connecting themain computer to its robots?”

“Yes,” said Van Deusen.“Those main spheres are the smartones. They have tiny nano-computers inside, which arereceiving directions from thecomputer on your cast through themicro-lead in your leg.”

Carolanne smiled with de-light. “How does the computer onBill’s cast know what each one ofthose little computer spheresinside the cells is coming upagainst?”

“It switches from site to site

constantly, like an orchestra leaderkeeping track of dozens of musi-cians, except here we’re talkingabout millions of repair devices.The cast computer directs only theoverall objectives for each of thecomputer-spheres inside andoutside the cells. The nano-computers inside the main spheresdetermine the specific actions theytake to accomplish their localobjectives,” answered Dr. VanDeusen.

Bill was getting the picture.“The computer on the cast is likesomeone who hires a contractor tofix a busted brick wall after somedrunk smashed into it. The con-tractor, like the computer-sphere inthe cell, figures out what needs tobe done, then puts a crew together,like these disassemblers andassemblers, to do the actual work.”

“Right,” said Van Deusen witha broad smile. “From the informa-tion obtained when thedisassemblers first encounter amolecular structure, the computerfigures out which parts are okayand which parts are malfunctioning.Then the computer gives directionsto the disassembler about whichcellular parts to leave alone andwhich ones to take apart.”

Bill continued from whereVan Deusen had paused, “So, thecontractor has the brick wall torndown. Then he looks over thebricks, picks out the ones stillgood enough to use, and has thebad ones ground up into sand andmade into new bricks again?”

“That’s right,” said VanDeusen. “The disassembledmolecular components...”

“The busted bricks that wereturned back into sand?” asked


Carolanne.“Yes,” answered Van Deusen.

Bill smiled at Carolanneand continued, “Then the sand issent down the conveyor belt to theassembler with instructions abouthow to first rebuild the bricks, andthen rebuild the wall so it lookslike new.”

“That’s more or less the wayit works, yes.” Van Deusen waspleased they were catching on soeasily. “Molecule by molecule,the parts of the cell are repaired.Cell by cell, the bone, the muscles,blood vessels, and all the damagedparts are repaired, or‘remanufactured’, if you’ll goalong with the notion. The mostfascinating thing, which many ofus can’t stop marveling about, ishow these little things make copiesof themselves, almost like highlysophisticated viruses, yet wecontrol their coming and going,their degree of proliferation, all bythat computer on your cast.”

“Dr. Van Deusen, are therelimits on the kinds of repairs thatcan be done this way?” the look inBill’s eyes revealed that his mindwas racing with the possibilities.

Carolanne stopped breathingas she realized what was goingthrough Bill’s mind.

“Fundamentally, no,” an-swered Dr. Van Deusen. “It’sreally a matter of engineering andthe applications are mushroomingeveryday.”

“What about things likecancer and heart disease?” askedCarolanne.

“That’s exactly why I had youbrought down here today, Mr. andMrs. Cross.” Van Deusen pulled achair over next to Bill and sat

down, facing them. “The com-puter-spheres inside your brokenleg have been encountering a lot ofplaque in your arteries, Mr. Cross.We feel you should considerhaving this removed before itprogresses any further.”

“I have ather—ah—heartdisease?”

“Atherosclerosis. Yes. Theaccumulation of plaque in yourarteries.”

“How,” Bill swallowed.“How bad is it?”

“Your condition is not seri-ous, yet, Mr. Cross,” Dr. VanDeusen smiled reassuringly. “Werecommend preventive measuresearly so that it won’t becomeserious.”

“Does that mean surgery?”asked Carolanne.

“No.” Van Deusen turned hishead and looked up at the screen.“Molecular repair machines can dothat job, too, Mrs. Cross.”

“You mean,” Bill said, “liketurning bricks into sand, theserepair machines just gobble up theplaques and I’m okay again?”

“Basically, yes. Repairmachines can seek out any biologi-cal structure that is not normal, orthat is malfunctioning, and caneither eliminate that structure, suchas plaque, or, like a brick wall,rebuild it to make it work correctlyagain. Molecular repair machineshave almost replaced surgery anddrugs in medicine. This is 2053.The day is not too far off, Mr.Cross, when surgery and drugswill be as distant as witch doctors’beads and rattles.”

Carolanne’s delicate hand wasresting on Bill’s shoulder; he couldfeel her tremble. Bill placed one

of his rough, large hands over hersand looked up at her before heturned his questioning eyes to Dr.Van Deusen. Carolanne felt a boltof anticipation, like a jolt from ahot 220 volt line run through her.

“Dr. Van Deusen,” Bill startedin a very deliberate and serioustone of voice, “our two-year-olddaughter, Bo, is dying of cancer.Why weren’t we told about theserepair machines for curing hercancer?”

Dr. Van Deusen took a deepbreath. “Repair machines are notperfect yet, Mr. Cross. When yousigned the treatment release toauthorize their use for the repair ofthe tissues in your leg, you weregiving us permission to do some-thing very well proven out. Thereare very few dangers with thisprocedure, but there are stilllimitations. If the repair machinesdon’t do the whole job, your bodyis strong otherwise and can finishthe job. The artery job is a littlemore complicated. That’s why wewanted you to see the simulation.Cancer is even more difficult.Perhaps your daughter’s doctorswant to try some more conven-tional approaches first. Is yourdaughter in this hospital?”

“No,” said Bill, “but it lookslike she should be. Can you referus to someone here?”

“I’ll be glad to have someonefrom that section of the hospitalcome by your room and see you,”said Van Deusen.

Carolanne cleared her throat.“What’s the difference between abroken leg and cancer, I mean, asfar as these repair machines areconcerned?”

“The repair machines may be


able to eliminate the tumor, but westill don’t know exactly whatcauses every kind of cancer. Wecan’t guarantee that her cancer willnot recur. Although our repairmachines are getting better everyday, they’re still quite slow.Sometimes the disease processworks faster at tearing downtissues than the repair machinescan keep up with.”

“So,” Bill continued, “some-times a person with something likecancer dies anyway?”

“Yes,” said Dr. Van Deusen.“But, if such a person were to

be frozen,” Bill’s voice wavered,“these repair machines could beused after they were unfrozen torepair the freezing damage?”

Tears were forming inCarolanne’s eyes and her lips

quivered as she held her breath andwaited for Dr. Van Deusen’sanswer.

“Yes,” said Van Deusen.“However, I’m an internist, not aspecialist in cancer orcryopreservation of patients. Butif you’d like more details I couldhave one of the doctors from thosesections come by your room also.”

“You do that here too?” Bill’sface was on fire.

“Yes. This hospital is one ofthe leading facilities in the countryon the use of molecular repairdevices. Our successes in that areahave made some of us very posi-tive about the prospects for pa-tients who have themselvescryopreserved. However, I shouldadd that not all our colleaguesshare that belief.”

“Doctor,” Bill hesitated,“would Bo really have a chance ifwe had her frozen?”

“Like I said, Mr. Cross, manyof us are very positive about that.But, I’m not an expert in that field.I’ll ask Dr. Killian from thatsection to drop over and see you.”

Bill looked up at Carolanneand smiled. “Yes, Dr. VanDeusen,” he said, “we’d like that.We’d like that very much!”

Swinging the wide windowsopen, Sheila let the cool spring airflow past her into the living room.Rich smells of cut grass gave her adelicious picture of the freshlymowed lawn, cuttings still lying instreaks waiting to be raked.

Not more than fifty feet away,she imagined, her husband wasalmost finished. The clatter of

blades came and went as he workedhis way into the narrow corner bythe roses, brief whirrings revealingthe tight pattern required to trim thelittle space. Later this afternoon,Sheila thought, she’d prune theroses, feeling the softness of eachbud, each flower in the process.The thorns would still be small thistime of year, needle sharp, so she’dbe extra careful. If only she couldactually see them once more!

“All done, Sheila,” said Lloydas he came in, hot and soaked withperspiration. He passed her on hisway to take a shower, the patternof his footsteps tracing a map inher mind, telling her wordlesslywhere he was headed. A roboticsinventor, Lloyd spent much of histime in a workshop off the garage.Sheila left the intercom open,whenever she was near it, and

could almost see by the sounds asLloyd assembled some of the new,automatic home appliances he waslicensing for manufacture in SouthKorea. The closing of drawers andshutting off of motors told her,about eleven each night, whenLloyd was at a stopping place, andshe’d reach over and switch on theelectric blanket so his side of thebed would be warm.

For Sheila, sounds and smellswere the essence of life. She couldstill remember the pleasures ofvision, but all the doctors told herthe blindness was permanent.Permanent? Nothing was perma-nent, she thought. Sooner or laterthey’re going to learn how to makeme see again, and when they do,I’ll be ready and waiting!

Lloyd was understanding buthad resigned himself to the idea

by Fred Chamberlain

(Reprintedfrom LifeQuestIssue #2, Nov.

1987)


that Sheila would never regain hersight. That’s why he found itincomprehensible, at first, that shewould want a place by the sea.

“But the waves would be soexquisite to hear,” she’d say eachtime it came up. “And the soundsof the seagulls, the smell of freshsalt air? It would be heaven!”

Lloyd had promised he’d startlooking soon. He marveled atSheila’s capacity for enthusiasmand activity, despite her handicap.The one thing he did not share washer conviction that life would beextended so her blindness wouldsomeday be curable.

“Once in a while we get aspontaneous remission,” thesurgeon had said. “Light seems tostart filtering in, and then visioncomes back. Maybe three cases inten thousand. Otherwise, it’stotally inoperable. It could be fiftyyears before we’re able to reachthat part of the optic nerve safely.I’d advise against any expectationof her ever seeing again.”

“They’re here, Sheila!” calledLloyd, as he saw the light bluestation wagon pull up out front.Once more, he’d made an excusenot to attend the meeting.

“But they’re such nicepeople,” Sheila had said repeat-edly. “I’m sure you’d like them!”

“Until the medical communityendorses it, I wouldn’t touch itwith a ten-foot pole!” Lloyd wouldsay. The very idea of being frozenat death was bizarre and grotesqueto him. He would go along withSheila’s wishes, since it gave herhope, but that was the extent of it!He would only go so far!

Sheila came out, dressed forthe meeting, and Lloyd couldn’t

help thinking she looked abso-lutely gorgeous. At thirty-five, herfigure was like that of a twentyyear old, and she kept her hair inperfect condition. The thing Lloydcouldn’t understand was how shemanaged makeup so expertly.“It’s just a matter of feel,” she’dsaid. “I start out by washing verycompletely and then only use somuch. The people at the clinichelped me understand what thelimitations were, and that wasabsolutely essential!”

“Amazing,” he’d said, andLloyd continued to be amazed athow Sheila took care of herself.His friends would ask if it were aburden of any kind for him, andhe’d say, “You’ve got to be kid-ding! Sheila looks like a moviestar, she’s brilliant, and staysinformed on things. I can’t keep upwith her in most of it. There’s justthis one thing she’s convinced of...”

As she left the house, Sheilastopped at the rose bushes and tooka perfect bud for her dress. Sheknew exactly how each thing shewore looked, and what matched,and could do things with herimagination most women couldn’tdo standing in front of a mirror.She walked carefully down thestairs to the street, gratefullytaking the hand that helped herinto the car. “My favorite day ofthe month,” she murmured as thecar moved off.

*****

“Folks, we’re all familiar withthe problem!” Jay said, as themeeting started. “No one has theslightest idea of what we’re up to,and we can’t seem to get through.

We’ve grown to almost threehundred members, and it’s still thesame as when there were only ahandful of us. Organ banking ison the verge of becoming a reality.Why can’t people see what we do,and what it would mean to them?”

“Jay, you’ve been president ofthis group for a long time,” saidSheila. “I don’t see why it’s amystery to you! It’s just a matterof credibility! People follow theirleaders, watching what they do.They’re like sheep; it doesn’t haveto make any sense. If enoughrespected political leaders sud-denly decided to have their righthands amputated, all of us who’dstill have two hands would beregarded as freaks!”

There were chuckles fromaround the room. “But Sheila, thatdoesn’t help us figure out how tochange it!” said Barry, a burly firefighter. “Everyday I see peopleslipping away, dying, because ofthis ‘follow the leader’ thing. Ican’t even get my folks to come tothese meetings. They think we’reall crazy!”

“I’m afraid we have to bepatient, Barry,” Sheila replied, hervoice serious. “We think becausewe’ve seen this it should be easy,but I think it’s just the opposite. Ifwe knew exactly what it took to seecryotransport in a positive light, Ifeel very sure this alone wouldn’tsolve our problem. It might makeit seem even more hopeless!

“Suppose you put me on thedeck of the sinking Titanic. Iwouldn’t be able to see the shippointing nose down in the water,but I’d be able to tell everyone isupset. Now suddenly suppose Ican see! Does that change the


condition of the ship? Not at all!”Sheila took a deep breath andcontinued. “Most people out thereare doomed, like dinosaurs goinginto an ice age. Some of us aremore like mammals, and we mightsurvive! We all look pretty muchthe same on the surface, butunderneath, in our minds, there’ssomething that’s very differentfrom person to person. If we couldsee that ‘something,’ we’d havethe impression that some of us aredinosaurs, some are mammals, andsome...” she smiled, “are insects!”

After the laughter dieddown, one of the younger womenasked, “What about Lloyd, Sheila?You can’t seem to get him inter-ested! Does this make him somekind of dinosaur? What do youthink Lloyd’s hang-ups are?”

Sheila was silent for amoment. Then a tear rolled downher cheek. She dabbed at it care-fully, trying not to smear hermakeup. Her voice was unsteadyas she said, “Susan, Lloyd and Iare very close in some ways, and Idon’t really understand it! It’s sopainful, I have problems dealingwith it. No, I don’t think Lloyd isa ‘dinosaur,’ but I’m afraid some-day I’ll lose him! I wish I couldtell you how that fits in with thedinosaur example!”

*****

The meeting took up onebusiness item after another, andbefore long it was over. Susanasked Sheila if she’d like to go outto dinner, and the two of them lefttogether.

Later, waiting for theirmeals to arrive, Susan said, “I

really didn’t mean to put you on thespot, but I’ve got the same problemwith Larry! I can’t just walk away,but I don’t know what to do! I’mafraid that if something were tohappen to me, I wouldn’t even befrozen! He’s so antagonistic aboutit I can’t bring the subject up, yet inevery other way we’re very happytogether! He’s probably upset I’mnot home now, even though I toldhim I’d have dinner out and wouldbe okay. You seemed to under-stand this so well I thought maybeyou could help!”

Sheila touched her chin fora moment. Her forehead wrinkledslightly in a puzzled way, and herface reflected a mixture of curios-ity and humor that was uncommonamong even those who had theirsight. Then she said, hesitantly,“If you wanted to see through avery long, narrow tube, you’d haveto have your head in just the rightposition, wouldn’t you?”

“Sure,” said Susan, “but...” “So if your eyes weren’t

lined up just right, you’d miss it!”continued Sheila. “In my case,after I lost my sight, I becamedesperate to see again... tranquiliz-ers for almost a year. Finally, itwas the hope of living longenough to see again that got meinterested in cryotransport. Whatabout you, Susan? Is there somekind of special ‘lining up’ thattook place in your life about thetime you got involved?”

Susan looked at her handsfor a moment, then glanced up atSheila. There was something atthe edge of her mind she couldalmost put her fingers on, but itseemed to keep slipping away.Then she had it.

“My father died six monthsbefore I joined,” Susan exclaimedsuddenly. “He was only fifty six! Iwent to the cemetery each day formonths! He’d slipped away fromme and I was very angry about it.Then, without really connecting thetwo things, I saw a TV interview oncryotransport, and that was it! Doyou suppose each of us has asimilar sort of history?”

“That’s hard to say!” saidSheila. “Jay just read Ettinger’sbook and was off and running.Did he have some other experiencetoo? We don’t know! Butwhether it’s a special viewpoint orwhether it’s something that hap-pens to us, it’s very rare. How dowe get any good out of it? Howcan we help others see it?”

“Maybe we have to reachout for those special viewpoints insome other way?” said Susan in awondering tone. “Maybe we haveto create situations in people’simaginations that help themunderstand it without a personaldisaster? Suppose we got peopleto imagine a loss of some kind,very personal, and then brought upcryotransport?”

“I don’t think so!” saidSheila, shaking her head, smiling.“People protect their feelings toowell! They’d smell that and closeup like clams. Maybe it’s not toodifferent from ‘dinosaur’ and‘mammal’ after all?”

“I don’t want to leaveLarry,” said Susan, “but I can’t giveup my chance to be around to seethe future either! You have thesame problem! What are you goingto do?”

“I don’t know,” said Sheila,“but you’re right. Eventually,


something has to change!” Sheconsidered her own situation andwas dismayed. Unlike Susan, shewas very dependent on her hus-band. “I’m thirty-five, in goodhealth,” Sheila said. “For now, Iguess I’ll have to keep my fingerscrossed. I’m sure Lloyd would dowhat he could to cooperate. Heknows it would mean more to methan anything else, if somethingshould happen. I’ll just have tolive very carefully!”

*****

The months passed, themeetings came and went, and itseemed as if the same discussionstook place over and over. Sheila’sroses bloomed, then withered in theautumn, and bloomed again thenext spring. By then, though, theywere about to move. Lloyd hadfound a home on a hill overlookingthe ocean, and royalties from thepatents made it no trouble at all.After the move, Sheila plantedroses and relished the roar of wavesbelow, the delicious smell of seaair, and the cries of birds whirlingand diving above the water.

Two things troubled Sheila.The meetings were difficult toattend, and Lloyd seemed to betiring more easily. He had head-aches frequently; his appetite waswaning. One evening in bed, inthe darkness, Sheila ran her handsover Lloyd’s forehead and wasshocked to feel a cool moistness.“Are you all right, Lloyd?” shewhispered. Lloyd replied he wasOK, but Sheila began to worry.Lloyd was not a complainer, andshe felt he might be getting illwithout realizing it.

“I’m really concerned abouthim, Susan,” she said, after thenext meeting. Susan had beenmaking fifty-mile round trips totake Sheila to the meetings, andnow was even more worried aboutSheila being so far away, withsomeone who might be in danger.

“Isn’t there anything wecan do to get him interested?”Susan asked. “Do you ever talkabout long range things at all?”

“Very seldom,” said Sheila.“How I’d love it if we could! Buthe’s always been interested only inhis inventions, and they’re thekind of things that take just a fewmonths. Sometimes I think he’snever looked very much furtherahead than that!”

One night, Lloyd wasparticularly silent. In bed, Sheilacould hear that his breathing wasirregular and labored. “Are yousure you’re all right, Lloyd?” sheasked softly.

“Lloyd? Lloyd?” A chok-ing sound came from Lloyd as hetried to speak, but couldn’t. Hegasped; Sheila pictured he wastrying to sit up but was unable todo so.

Sheila reached out. Lloydwas chilled, trembling, soakedwith sweat. “Lloyd!” she cried.“I’ve got to get help!”

Sheila reached for thephone, but suddenly wasn’t surehow to call for help. She dialedSusan’s number without thinking,and was startled to hear her voiceat the other end.

“Susan! I dialed yournumber by mistake,” Sheila said.“I should have tried to call the firedepartment, I guess. Something’swrong with Lloyd! He can’t even

talk and doesn’t seem to be breath-ing well! I’m terrified! Can youhelp call an ambulance?”

Susan panicked. “I’ll callJay,” she cried. “He’ll know whatto do!” She hung up and rangJay’s number. “Sheila’s husbandis having some kind of medicalcrisis,” she blurted. “I know he’snot signed up, but we have to dosomething!”

“Barry’s an EMT in the firedepartment near there,” Jay said.“They’d handle this anyway!Let’s call him, and then I’m goingout there, too! Sheila’s blind andunder stress! We don’t wantsomething happening to her in themidst of this! Hang on, I’m goingto do this with a conference call.You’ll hear me dial!”

“I’m going too!” saidSusan. She noticed, trying todress, crawling out of bed towardthe closet hanging onto the phone,that Larry was stupefied, dumb-founded.

*****

Larry went along, saying hedidn’t want Susan running off alonein the middle of the night. Whenthey drove up to Lloyd’s andSheila’s place on the bluff over-looking the sea, there were so manycars Larry supposed a party wasgoing on. They parked, hundredsof feet back down the driveway,and walked to the house.

Barry had called in asecond rescue unit, and Jay hadarrived just after the first unitpulled up. A number of othermembers had found out what washappening from Jay’s wife andweren’t going to let Sheila see this


through by herself. The house waspractically crawling with paramed-ics and cryonicists when Larry andSusan walked in. There, in theliving room, in the middle of it all,looking much better, was a veryastonished Lloyd.

“We’d better take you tothe hospital for an exam,” saidBarry, after things settled down abit. “It’s pretty clear you’ve had aheart attack, and we want to besure you’re fully over it!”

“Okay,” said Lloyd, stillpale and weak. “Is somebodygoing to stay with Sheila?” Helooked around the room. “I neverknew you had so many friends,Sheila!”

“They’re more like family,”Sheila said, tears running downher face, “but I’m not staying here!I can go along, can’t I, Barry?”

“Of course you can!” saidBarry, smiling. “You can ridewith Lloyd. I’ll bet you’re notgoing to be alone at the hospitalwhile you’re waiting either!”

Lloyd wasn’t the only onewho was astonished. Sitting in thewaiting room at the hospital, Larrywas bewildered by all these peoplewho had miraculously appeared inthe middle of the night whentrouble arose. “If something hadhappened to me?” he asked Susanlater, on the way home.

“It probably wouldn’t havebeen quite the same,” Susan said.“We could imagine what it wouldbe like for Sheila, and that’s why somany of us rushed out there! ButSheila’s right; in many ways, it’slike a big family! There’s only afew of us, and the rest of the worldhasn’t the slightest idea of whatwe’re all about! If we don’t take

care of one another, who will?” Larry was silent the rest of

the way home. The next day wasSaturday, and Susan noticed hewas still very distant. Suddenly,Larry got to his feet. “I’m goingto see Lloyd,” he said. “No, youjust stay here, Susan... please! Iwant to go see him by myself!”

No one knew just whatLarry and Lloyd said to each otherthat afternoon, but they bothstarted coming to meetings afterthat. Lloyd became a fanatic abouthealth food, and Larry signed upfor a paramedic course. It seemed,a year later, as if they’d beenmembers as long as anyone couldremember.

*****

Sheila and Susan began tospend more and more time to-gether. One afternoon, waiting forSusan to arrive, Sheila foundherself sitting on the patio over-looking the sea, listening to thewaves rolling on the beach below,holding a rose in her hand andstroking its soft petals. Thehappiness in her seemed so intenseshe felt she would burst. Then shenoticed a peculiar sensation, as sheraised her head to the sound of theseagulls. It was as if there weremore light.

Sheila blinked her eyesfuriously, and the intensity of thesensation increased. There wasmovement in the sensation, andshe closed her eyes again andrubbed them, then blinked themopen once more. As if by magic,the movement before her eyesresolved into blurry seagulls, theninto sharp, white birds sailing

lazily against a background ofdeep blue sky with puffy clouds sobright she could barely stand it.She glanced downward and wasgiddy with the sensation of endlessgreenish-blue waves stretching tothe horizon. She almost screamed,then clasped her hands to hermouth. It would startle Lloyd, shethought... I’ve got to just take eachsecond as it comes!

Turning, Sheila saw thedoor to the patio open. A stylishbrunette stepped out of it. Thenshe realized, it was Susan! Fasci-nated, Sheila watched as Susanwalked daintily down the bricksteps, her broad-brimmed hatshading her delicate features.She’s here to spend another after-noon with me, thought Sheila.

Susan had a strange feelingas she approached Sheila. It wasthe perceptiveness of Sheila’seyes! “Oh my God!” she cried, asshe realized that Sheila was look-ing at her. Tears began to rundown her face. The two of themheld each other for minutes, beforestepping back to look once more.

“Let’s get Lloyd and godown the stairs to the beach!”Sheila finally laughed. “I’ve neverseen it before! I want to go run-ning in the sand! See sand swirl-ing in the water! Come on, Susan,I’ve never even seen Lloyd’s shopsince before he started doingrobotics, years ago. I can’t wait!”

Lloyd heard excited voicesoutside the workshop door andsuddenly Sheila burst in, closelyfollowed by Susan. “What are youso delighted about, Sheila?” heasked. “And why do you haveyour eyes all squinched shut likethat?”


Sheila shook her head, eyestightly closed, smiling so happilyLloyd found himself smiling also,without even understanding why.Susan was having trouble control-ling her laughter, but managed tosay, “Lloyd, just for a moment,close your eyes. Sheila wants toshow you something!”

Lloyd closed his eyesobediently, still smiling. ThenSheila tiptoed over to him, openedher eyes as widely as she could,and flung her arms around hisneck. “Okay, Lloyd, you can looknow,” she giggled.

Lloyd opened his eyes.There was Sheila, grinning andstaring into his eyes nose to nose,in a focused way. As he finallyrealized what had happened, Lloyd

felt his knees give way underneathhim and the two of them collapsedon the floor, hysterically laughingand hugging each other. After amoment they sat up, gasping forbreath. Susan sat down on thefloor with them, and for whatseemed like hours, both Lloyd andSusan looked at Sheila, as sheglanced back and forth wordlesslyfrom one to the other, beamingimpishly and wiping her eyes.

Gradually, Lloyd’s expres-sion became more serious. Hestood, took Sheila’s hand, andhelped her up. Susan rose too, andthe three of them walked out ontoa deck overlooking the ocean.

Sheila leaned back inLloyd’s arms, the brisk sea windon her face, and felt her mind

asking ‘what now’? She sighed,and after a long moment saiddecidedly, “I’ve often wonderedwhat I’d do when I could seeagain. Now I know. There’sblindness about death out therethat afflicts the whole world. I’mgoing to end it, once and for all.Don’t ask me how, right thisminute. I just know this job ismine. Watch out, World! Here Icome!”

BACK ISSUES OFLifeQuest

If you’re enjoying these stories,you’ll be happy to know thatissues #1 and #2 of LifeQuestare already available on Alcor’swebsite, under “links.” For easeof finding them, the URLs are:

http://www.alcor.org/lifeqst1.htm

andhttp://www.alcor.org/

lifeqst2.htm

Issues #3 through #7 will, withtime, be reprinted in CryonicsMagazine, but an influx of newfiction could make this a drawn-out process. If you would liketo see the back issues posted toAlcor’s website more quickly,let us know. We try to give firstpriority to projects we know willmake the most Alcor Memberssafest and happiest.


Just How Good Has Been Our PUBLICITY?

by Thomas Donaldson, Ph.D.

The Donaldson Perspective

This column centers not on astatement but on a question. I, justlike many cryonicists who havebeen involved in cryonics for along time, have had the repeatedexperience of talking to reportersor even ordinary people andfinding them all asking questionsthat you yourself and others toohave answered repeatedly... andwith almost the very same word-ing. When I last lived in Australia,I found myself in just such asituation, as if the standard re-porter or newsperson was fine atasking questions but forgot only 5minutes later just what youranswers had been.

We'd all like to know howmany people have an interest incryonics. After all, those peoplemay actually join a cryonicssociety... and so help us in ourown efforts.

But it's not enough just to askhow many people have an interestin cryonics.

If someone has never evenheard of cryonics, we come tothem as if from some quite differ-ent world. They will naturally startas quite skeptical about anythingwe say; since standard scientificperiodicals such as Science orNature, and even those journals,such as Thanatology, looking atcommon ideas about death, barelymention cryonics, their skepticismwould actually be well-founded

(within their own knowledge).When they learn how (relatively)expensive suspension may be, ifanything their skepticism willincrease.

Moreover, those who havesome quite false beliefs aboutcryonics will hardly be favorable.The belief that Walt Disney wasfrozen, for instance, implies thatcryonics is only for the famousand important, not a belief likelyto gain many recruits; the beliefthat cryonics societies are busi-nesses will make many peoplecome to us with lots of suspicion.Yet these are only the relativelyminor misconceptions. I will notdiscuss any much more negativebeliefs. Even if you're honest,someone who believes you're apracticed con man will hardlylisten favorably to anything yousay. Anyone who believes you tobe deluded will hardly listen either... though a few may decide to tryto get you out of your delusion andconvince you of the Truth.

To really gain an idea of justhow far along we are, we need notjust the number of interestedpeople but also some idea of whatcommon beliefs are about cryon-ics. How have public attitudeschanged in the nearly 40 years inwhich the basic idea of cryonicswas first put into action?

We could hardly find that out

with only a few questions. As a setof possible questions, we have:

• Do you see the future asbetter, worse, or the same as today?

• Have you heard of cryonics?• Can you define cryonics?• Who has been suspended?• How many have been

suspended?• What is a cryonics society?• Who joins cryonics societ-

ies?• Can you name a cryonics

society?• Do you personally know

any cryonicists?• What do cryonicists think

about aging? Alzheimer's or otherbrain destruction?

• What does cryonics cost?• How do cryonicists pay

their cost?• Should we allow cryonics?

If not, why not? If so, why?Certainly anyone already

interested in cryonics can answerthese questions.

Yet some unknown number ofpeople might BECOME interestedif they came to understand justwhat we're doing. That under-standing takes a big step towardsactually considering whether ornot to actually join. To simply askhow many are already interestedignores such people entirely.

Yes, in the short term we canhardly expect to convert the worldto cryonics; yet it remains impor-


n the 2nd Quarter 1999 issueof CRYONICS I reviewed twobooks by Steven Pinker, both ofwhich attempt to describe cogni-tive science and both of whichsuffer from several major faults.The book I review here, by PhillipJohnson-Laird, also describescognitive science for readersunfamiliar with it, and does farbetter at that task, too.

Though it remains true thatsome researchers believe that suchstudies will remain premature untilwe understand much more abouthow our brains actually work,Johnson-Laird (JL for short) showsmuch more modesty than Pinker inhis exposition of what such studiesmight achieve. Most important, hedeals far better than Pinker withone central issue in such studies: atwhat point do computers becomevalid models of how our brainswork in the first place?

Most cognitive scientists nowuse the model of a COMPUTER asa means to understand how ourbrains work. Some limit use of thismodel to particular issues, whileothers use it universally. With sucha model, the questions of just howour brains work turns into one offinding the algorithms (and fromthem the programs) describing abrain working. A fundamentalissue in such a method comes fromone simple truth: programs runningin computers will inevitably in-volve activity with SYMBOLS,while it's far from obvious that ourbrain ALWAYS works only withsymbols. Even the simplest actionin the world cannot be done purelysymbolically: to get up after sittingdown isn't just a matter of thought,but of action too.

A bit of thought tells us thateven with language and thinkingwe cannot rely solely on symbols.To understand "tiger" it helpstremendously to meet a real, living

tiger. The brain processes whichmake such connections by theirnature CANNOT be symbolic. InChapter 10 of his book, JL de-scribes how he and other cognitivescientists use neural nets to carryout that part of our thinking whichis NOT symbolic (he gives twonames for this general idea:connectionism and parallel distrib-uted processing, using the term"neural nets" almost never.)

But he also tells of the evi-dence that neural nets may not besufficient, and that on top of themthere must also be systems whichwork on symbols. He's also quitehonest about these ideas: right now,the main kind of neural net used bycognitive scientists uses a methodof backward error propagation(BEP). BEP has no obvious con-nection to how our brain works.

We may still need neuralmethods to deal with symbols, butat just what points use of symbol-ism replaces some kind of neural

tant to find out just what peoplebelieve about cryonics in the firstplace. Just what has all the public-ity about cryonics done to com-mon beliefs? Some of thesepeople, once freed of their igno-rance, may well come to join.

Not only that, but answers tosuch questions will also tell us justhow many people see us withsuspicion, and the smaller numberwho not only see us with suspicionbut may actually try to get politi-cians to implement lawsAGAINST us. The proportion ofpeople who feel HOSTILE tocryonics has been important evenearly on. It was just that hostility

which made the Society for Cryo-biology try to prevent cryonicistsfrom joining, something which hashardly helped us attain our goals.

In this context any suchgeneral poll should not only giveus people's opinions but also tellus something about their positionin society. We know thatcryonicists tend to concentratearound a few major centers in theUS. Do those centers also containthose who know more aboutcryonics generally? How manypeople hostile to cryonics do theycontain?

Simply supporting the sciencethat will (I believe, with support,

SOON) allow us to successfullysuspend brains will not be enough.The ability to reversibly suspendbrains (or even whole bodies) willnot bring us to cryonics. In cryon-ics, we advocate suspending brainswhenever there is a brain to sus-pend, so that if someday a cure forsuch a patient can be found, he orshe can use it. We'll never know justhow far future research might go.

And hence no amount ofscience, alone, can support cryon-ics itself.

And since we inevitably livein a society, it will help us to knowjust what others know or thinkthey know about cryonics.

THE COMPUTER AND THE MIND: AN INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2nd ed., 1991, by P. Johnson-Laird

Review: book

Reviewed by Thomas Donaldson, Ph.D.

I


net remains unknown.Although he does not mention

it, neural nets using other methodsmay be also capable of widerprocessing inaccessible by BEP.(McClelland and Seidenberg, bothadvocates of neural nets, review-ing a later book by Pinker, pointout the existence of neural netscapable of learning at higher levelsthan BEP, including the applica-tion of “rules.”)

To understand how our brainworks IN OUR BODY involvesmuch more than just thinking. Weneed to know how it controls ourbodily motions, how we interpretwhat we see (or smell, or taste, ortouch), how we understand lan-guage, and how our emotionswork. Each of these issues funda-mentally involves an understand-ing of just how much of our brainconsists of modules working inparallel. We're not aware of theirworking because our awarenessremains sequential, and for thatreason can only know some veryabstract results of all that parallelprocessing. Two kinds of actionhave received a lot of study bycognitive science: just how wemove our limbs, and how we see.Parallelism is common to both,even though we almost totally failto experience it. As a generalmodel of how we work, Johnson-Laird suggests the existence of onesequential process controlling verymany parallel ones, at the highestlevel (a common idea among manycognitive scientists).

The chapters in JL's book gosuccessively through all the differ-ent questions about how we thinkand act, beginning with vision,moving on to learning andmemory, then to action, cogitation,communication (by now no onebelieves that we learn languagetotally without presuppositionsabout its structure, though hestates frankly that the exact struc-tures controlling language remain

unknown [1]). And finally, hediscusses issues such as free willand intentions, our needs and ouremotions. In each case he not onlydiscusses what cognitive sciencehas found out, but also the ques-tions which no one has yet an-swered. I cannot summarize hisbook in this review.

However I WILL discussJohnson-Laird's ideas about thatone sequential process that guidesall the parallel activity in ourbrains, the one sequential processwhich gives us our awareness,including awareness of our emo-tions. (He refers to our consciousmind in computer terms, as the"operating system" of our brain).In human beings it allows anarbitrary number of levels: con-scious of the world and yourself,conscious of your consciousnes ofthe world and yourself, consciousof your consciousness of yourconsciousness... (This can con-tinue until the thinker chooses tostop).

He also points out that somecognitive scientists believe thatwith the right methods a Turingmachine might be conscious of itsown methods, but disagrees on theground that indefinite regress doesnot work with such methods. Theprocess is INDEFINITE ratherthan infinite because we ourselvesare finite.

However this ability to thinkabout our own thoughts means thatwe can consider consequences ofour actions, choosing those whichseem best to us, and in this sensehave free will (contrary to thesuggestions of some). Emotions,in Johnson-Laird's terms, play amajor role in both our awarenessand our behavior even though theyaren't beliefs. Nor are they sym-bolic. However they DO linkclosely with our memories, color-ing not only our beliefs but alsoour choice of beliefs. He sees thiseffect of emotions as basic to

ANY behavior in the world;without them, we cease to careabout either our own or others'behavior. It is that caring thatgives us our awareness.

I personally think that levelsof consciousness become impor-tant here. It's not enough just towork out consciousness in humanbeings alone. If we truly wish tounderstand it, experiments onanimals may prove critical.

Even in humans, some levelof consciousness can occur withno symbolic thoughts at all; evenin animals (such as chimps), thepossibility of some symbolicconsciousness may also exist.Unfortunately JL describes onlyhis ideas of HUMAN conscious-ness. And as with any book deal-ing mainly with cognitive science,whether or not it truly tells howour minds work may depend onjust what neuroscientists finallydiscover. In fact, one major pointJL makes about different KINDSof awareness comes directly fromrecent neuroscience. Yet JL'smodesty saves him from anyaccusations of shortsightedness."The idea that we work likecomputers is right now our bestway towards understanding," Ihear him saying. "Someday thatmay no longer hold true, but fornow I use it".

Finally, Johnson-Laird notonly provides references but alsodiscusses briefly, at the end ofeach Chapter, just how his refer-ences relate to its subject. Thesediscussions help us to indepen-dently explore the subjects hediscusses and form our ownopinions about his suggestions.

[1] JL's opinion here differsstrongly from Chomsky's.


Bicentennial Manstarring Robin Williams

Review: FILM

In this film, themes of aging,romantic love, death, identity, andsentient non-humans are united ina startling and touching way. As arobot, Robin Williams, graduallyacquires more and more humancharacteristics, taking us throughtwo hundred years of life experi-ence as part of that.

For many decades, Robin (asthe robot) bears the frustrations ofseeking a “significant other,” firstamong his own kind. Then, failingsuccess in this quest, he crossesthe line in bionic transition, reach-ing out to a human. Later, he hasdilemmas like those created byRobert Heinlein in “Time Enoughfor Love,” where Lazarus Longsays goodbye to his beloved butaged wife Dora, and then nameshis intelligent starship computer“Dora” (always to have the per-sonality of a little girl).

Linda Chamberlain and I hadbeen told that this film ended in anegative way, and that we wouldnot like it. The ending was sad,but that does not alter the value Ithink the film offers those of uswho want to live on indefinitely.Tragic endings often drive home apoint better than happy endings,and people who feel their world

view is safe (they are not in dangerof being outclassed by immortalrobots) may be more open to theidea that aging is a terrible thingand should be vanquished.

The terrible and rapid impactof time on humans is a key aspectof the film. The robot encountersa tiny girl, in its first contact with ahuman family. One wonders ifthis might be a human female withwhom a close bond will form.

As things work out, beforethat point is approached, the tinygirl progresses through the variousstages of her life, into her 50s and60s, while the robot (taking hisfirst steps toward “us”) sees agingbegin to ravage a human for whomhe is just beginning to deeply care.

The final parts of the film gofurther, portraying that at least inthis special case, being condemnedto always watch those he lovedgrow old and die would be sopainful that life for the robot as a“survivor” would be of no value.In the context of the story, andfrom the viewpoints of many whosee the film, the ending of thestory and the choices made seemquite plausible to me.

“Bicentennial Man” gives us adramatic picture of how aging can

destroy us. There is a beautifulportrayal of the best we mighthope for, of the advances inrobotics. The film also shows inmany ways how people can losethe chance to love and be loved;this alone would make it a master-piece of drama.

This is an “all digital” filmfrom Disney, the first at this level,with great special effects. Youcould enjoy it solely for the techni-cal aspects. Many viewers maymiss the full depth of the messagethat life is fragile and very precious.

If you really care about someperson you want to be with in thefuture, I suggest you take them tothis film. (You might wish toreassure them that interventionsfor aging are likely soon, and thatdeath as the “natural order” is notnecessarily your viewpoint!)

With this one caveat, the filmBicentennial Man will take youinto the future, far eclipsing theusual “Space Opera” of shipstraveling faster than light, withcrews who age and die at the sameold, reliable rates. This is, in myopinion, an excellent appetizer forthe anti-aging interventions we areall anticipating. I hope you willlike and enjoy it as much as I did.

From: http://web4.movielink.com

Reviewed by Fred Chamberlain


by R. Michael Perry, Ph.D.

For The Record

critical problem that a cryon-ics organization must face is thatof maintaining its patients for theindefinite future. Today this ishandled by storing them in insu-lated containers filled with liquidnitrogen. The cold liquid must bereplenished regularly, and thisbecomes the major part of themaintenance cost. The cost isusually met by interest incomederived from assets of the main-taining organization, based onfunding provided by the patients ator before their suspension. Thelower the maintenance cost, thebetter the chances of long-termsurvival—both for the organiza-tion as a whole and for the patientindividually. A lower cost willhave other benefits too, such ashelping to keep the cost of cryonicsuspension lower over the longhaul, which could result in morepeople signing up and benefiting.

At the same time, there is theusual potential trade-off we wantto avoid, of a compromise inquality, something that might beexpected to occur with any cost-cutting measure. But cost-cuttingneed not involve such a compro-mise, and indeed, there are specialcircumstances where the reverseoccurs and an increase in quality isobtained, as can happen withautomation. Happily, that appearsto be true also with the new system

NEW SYSTEM FORPATIENT MAINTENANCE AT ALCOR

AND PREPARATIONS FOR Y2K

of patient maintenance that hasbeen put into operation at Alcor.

Under the new system, liquidnitrogen is received and stored inbulk in a reservoir on the premises,and patient dewars are replenishedfrom it on demand. The reservoiritself, a pressure vessel of about1,600 liters capacity, is refilled bydeliveries from a supplier. Thesedeliveries, however, will be muchless frequent than before—perhapsevery two or three weeks ratherthan weekly. When the system isfully operational the liquid nitro-gen will be loaded directly into thepressure vessel from the supplier’s

delivery truck. Meanwhile, nitro-gen will continue to be deliveredin 180-liter supply cylinders,which will now be emptied intothe pressure vessel. When neededto refill the patient dewars, theliquid nitrogen is released from thepressure vessel and travels througha system of pipes rather than beingemptied from the much smaller180-liter cylinders. Multiple fillscan be done at once, and thisshould save both work time andpossibly liquid itself—though thatremains to be determined. Thechangeover to full bulk delivery isexpected to take place about themiddle of February.

The preparations for the newsystem have had a second objec-tive—to “dig in” in case there wasany serious problem over thearrival of the year 2000 (the fabledand oft-dreaded Y2K). Suppos-edly, many computer-based sys-tems, particularly those using olderchips, were unable to cope with ayear ending in “00” and mightexperience catastrophic failure. Ontop of this there could be substan-tial social unrest or terrorism overthe arrival of a new millennium andall that that seemed to imply incertain people’s minds. Unfortu-nately, the extent or gravity of thiswhole issue could not be predictedin advance, even though to many ofus it didn’t seem likely that dooms-

Mathew Sullivan, originator of Alcor’snew patient maintenance system.

A


day was approaching, and so soon.So like everybody else, we justtried to be as well prepared as wecould. Fortunately, no bad prob-lems developed, and we can nowget back to tasks, both old and new,that do not involve the changeoverof digits in the calendar year!

This report will briefly surveythe decision-making and construc-tion that went into the new system,and basic details of the systemitself. More information shouldbecome available as the remainingdetails are completed and bugs areironed out.

CREDITSIt is important in any undertak-

ing to give credit where it is due.In the case of Alcor’s new patientmaintenance system, the principalcredit goes to Mathew Sullivan,who thought of the idea in 1997,planned the basic design, andworked steadily and persistently toget it implemented. Mathewreports that initially there was littleenthusiasm for his proposed sys-tem, so that bringing it into beinginvolved perhaps more in the way

of promotion and persuasion thanraw engineering skills. It alsoinvolved some “segmenting” orbreaking down the project intosmaller subunits that could becompleted piecemeal, such aseliminating the small and ineffi-cient LR40 dewars as storagecontainers and installing liquidlevel sensors on the remainingcontainers. At the engineeringlevel, however, we’ve been veryfortunate to have the assistance ofHugh Hixon. Hugh had misgivingsat first, like almost everybody else,but then became convinced of theworkability of the system, and hisexpertise has been indispensable inconstructing, assembling, andtrouble-shooting the various com-ponents. Mark Connaughtonassisted Hugh from time to timewith advice and knowledge, drewup blueprints for the pressurevessel, and did engineering model-ing. Fred Chamberlain’s input wasalso useful, particularly because hemade a good critic and devil’sadvocate for evaluating new designconcepts.

Jim Amato, whose California-based company built the pressurevessel as well as many of thebigfoot dewars, must be credited.Also deserving of mention is NilsTellier, consultant and CEO ofNTCI, a local firm with expertisein cryogenic systems. Tellierconfirmed the basic workability ofthe design that was adopted anddrew up a detailed diagram thataided planning and construction.Bruce Cohen and Rusty Holderwere instrumental in getting thearmor plate in place. Alcor volun-teer Jerry Searcy deserves sincerethanks for his useful assistance toMathew and Hugh in their longlabors to get the system up andrunning, particularly on Dec. 10when so many tasks needed doing.(I too was busy that day and other

times, documenting and takingpictures.)

PRINCIPAL FEATURESThe main purpose of the new

system is, as usual, the indefinitepreservation of human and petpatients and tissue specimens atliquid nitrogen temperature. Sup-porting this are security featuresthat increase the level of prepared-ness for emergencies and improvethe chances of the long-termsuccess of the whole operation. Inaddition there are safety featuresthat decrease the risk to personnelinvolved. New features in somecases created the need for furtherfeatures to maintain the same levelof security and safety, but I thinkoverall that improvements in bothhave occurred.

PATIENT MAINTENANCE,THEN AND NOW

Figure 1 shows the patient carebay before and after the changeoverto the new system. The largeconcrete vaults that used to housethe neuro vault dewars are nowgone, which frees up space formore dewars. Two more bigfootdewars have been added, numbers7 and 8. More significant asFigure 1b shows, Bigfoot 1, whichwas formerly unused, is now inservice in a special way, as ahousing for the pressure vessel thatwill henceforth be used to deliverliquid nitrogen to the other con-tainers. A system of pipes andvalves connects these other con-tainers with the pressure vessel, asindicated schematically in Figure1b, with additional details inFigure 2. It is now possible to fillall the patient containers at once.

PATIENT SECURITY Protection against earthquakes

was a principal motive for housing

Hugh Hixon adjusts fittings on top of thepressure vessel of the new system.


a b

Fig. 1. Patient Care Bay, top-down view, (a) before and (b) after the recent transition to the new patient maintenance system. Dewarscontaining neuros or head-only cases were stored in concrete “neuro vaults” (NV #1, 2, with #1 currently unused). “Bigfoots” (BF #2-5, with #1 and 6 unused) additionally stored whole-body patients. In (b), which shows the present setup, the concrete enclosing vaultsare gone with only the neuro vault dewars remaining. (NV #1 is still unused.) Two more bigfoots have been added, with #1-6 now in regularuse. (Bigfoot 1 is used to contain the pressure vessel while Bigfoots 2-5 store patients and specimens as before.)

pressure vessel

LN2 level sensor line

LN2 delivery line

LN2 fill linepressure vent line

pressure reference line

LN2 fill line

LN2 level sensor line

Fig. 2. Side view of bigfoots 1 and 2 in Fig. 1b, showing additional details of pressure vessel and connecting lines. (These are somewhatschematic; actual, scaled dimensions will differ and include other details not shown.) Details of BF #2 are repeated in other storagecontainers, which are serially connected.

(patients,specimens)

(bulkstorage)

to other storage containers

BF #1 BF #2

foam lidfoam lid

supplycabinet

LN2 LN2

supplycabinet

LN2 delivery line

pressure vessel

LN2 fill line


neuro dewars in vaults, back whenAlcor was in California. Earth-quakes are not considered a prob-lem in Arizona, but the vaults alsoprovided protection against fire,vandalism, and other physicaldestruction. The fire danger shouldbe small in view of the large,mainly concrete structure thepatient dewars are now housed in,which also has a heat-activatedsprinkler system. The other dangersremain, however, and armor platinghas been installed along one wall toreplace and enhance the shieldingformerly provided by the concretevaults.

But probably the greatestchallenge to patient security is notphysical disasters but simply thedifficulty of keeping the caretakingorganization (or its successors,should it fail) going long enough. Itmust deliver its patients to thefuture that will be able to repairthem—assuming such repairproves possible. Cost reductionthus is important, and here the newsystem offers a clear advantage.Mathew estimates that bulk deliv-ery will cut the cost of liquidnitrogen nearly in half, which willhave the long-term effect of helpingensure that Alcor (or actually itsPatient Care Trust) remains finan-cially viable.

In an effort to further reducecost, an extra-tall bigfoot dewar (#8)was obtained. (This idea waspioneered a few years ago byCryoSpan in California.) It is 12inches taller than the other bigfootsand has a lid with 24 inches ofplastic foam instead of the usual 14inches. The thicker lid, it wasreasoned, ought to insulate betterand thus reduce the boil-off of liquidnitrogen. Preliminary tests indicate areduction in boil-off of about a litera day, which would be sufficient topay for the cost of adding the extraheight ($500) in about 3 years.

SAFETY FEATURES

The new system is an upgradeof the previous system, but thatcarries some downsides too.Among these is the problem thatliquid nitrogen is handled in greaterquantity than before, especiallywhen multiple dewar fills are beingdone. Liquid nitrogen is constantlyboiling to the atmosphere andconverting to nitrogen gas.

Nitrogen is non-toxic andindeed, it already makes up four-fifths of the atmosphere. It is notdangerous, unless it interferes withthe supply of oxygen, and thus it isclassed as a simple asphyxiant.(Any gas other than oxygen, whichis vital to life, will also at best be asimple asphyxiant.) Resting quietlyinside a well-insulated patientdewar, the boil-off of liquid nitro-gen is low, but more boiling andrelease of asphyxiant gas occurduring fills. To provide protection,a blower fan and an oxygen meterhave been installed. The fan shouldvent the extra nitrogen to the airoutside, but if this is inadequate andoxygen concentration falls below19.5% (atmospheric level is20.9%), an alarm will sound.

There is another, moremundane safety feature that hasactually been in use for some timenow, a transport cart for 180-literliquid nitrogen supply cylinders.These cylinders stand about 5 feettall and weigh more than 500 lbs.full, and around 200 lbs. empty.Normally they are handled instrong-arm fashion, by tippingthem slightly and rolling themacross the floor. (Needless to say,a smooth, hard, level surface is amust for this!) Accidents dohappen however, and the trans-port cart has helped to reduce thechance of serious injury or dam-age should one of the heavycylinders tip too far and come

crashing down. The cart, costingabout $400, was a generous giftfrom Jerry Searcy, and has beennoted in Alcor’s literature, butmention here is appropriate too.The cart will probably be usedless in the future with the newbulk delivery system but will stillbe handy during a suspension,when nitrogen cylinders areneeded for the cooldown.

PREPARATIONSFOR Y2K

In some ways the prepara-tions for Y2K distracted fromother tasks, but clearly this wasbeneficial to the system beingconstructed, inasmuch as a stateof readiness had to be achieved byan early deadline—and it was. Inaddition to this, a large supply ofliquid nitrogen, several thousandliters’ worth, was stockpiled, incase there was an extended inter-ruption in supply. The two newbigfoot dewars, each about 1,800-liter capacity, were filled withliquid nitrogen as a backup, andabout 1,500 additional liters wasstored in the pressure vessel. Itshould be noted that refilling thepatient dewars from a reservoirhas now become easier: the liquidis first transferred into the pres-sure vessel using a suction pumpspecially designed by HughHixon. So, even though theemergency that the stockpilingwas to guard against didn’tdevelop, there will be no diffi-culty disposing of the surplus, andit will diminish additional needsover the next few weeks.


ADDITIONALHIGHLIGHTS

(To conclude this report I’veassembled some pictures showinghighlights of the construction andother work that has been completedon Alcor’s new system.)

Y2K Preparations. 20 180-liter cylindersof liquid nitrogen arrive on Dec. 10, 1999(our normal amount was about 3 cylinders,delivered weekly) and are wheeled into thePatient Care Bay. Upper view shows the“sea of 180s” from atop one of the bigfootdewars, lower view, from the front entrance.

Nov. 24. Welding work inAlcor’s machine shop tocreate components for thedelivery system.

Dec. 2. Mathew doesassembly work on thenew system in thePatient Care Bay.

Overhead, the intake ofthe blower fan forventing nitrogen gas tothe outside can be seen.

Dec. 10. Three importantcomponents arrive from amanufacturer in California:(1) extra-tall bigfoot dewar,given the number 8; (2)“normal” sized bigfoot,numbered 7; (3) the pressurevessel that will hold anddeliver liquid nitrogen forthe new system.


Still Dec. 10, and now there’s lots to be done! Among the first things,bigfoot #7 is fork-lifted over to the open sliding door in Alcor’scooldown area and scooted on inside.

Dec. 10 is also the day of the big liquid nitrogen delivery forY2K. Here a delivery man threads his way around therented caterpillar tractor that is being used in hoisting thebigfoots and other heavy work.

The pressure vessel, in its liftingharness here, awaits placement inbigfoot 1, behind it.

That will be awhile however. Here isbigfoot 8 which, unlike 7, is too tall togo through the doorway upright.

At first there is a plan to tip it up andput it on rollers—but that does notlook promising and is abandoned.

Instead, the 10-foot tall cylinder is just tipped way forward ... and it goes through just fine! Only problem now is getting it upright again.


“Experts” Jerry Searcy, HughHixon, and Mathew Sullivan showhow it can’t be done.

But Alcor Accounts Manager JoeHovey says it’s easy—if you knowwhat you’re doing.

Okay, time to get real, adjust some cables, lift and lower (whatwe’ve been doing all along, actually.)

Swing it on down, and ...(notewe’ve put the wheels back on, too!)

Finally, there it is: inside, upright,standing tall, a silvery beautyshedding the last of its wrappings!

Meanwhile, we still have todeal with that pressure vessel.

Wooden slats are fastened aroundit to protect against contact withthe container it’s going into.

It’s in (and it’s dark) but now wehave to get the whole thing inside,with the pipes sticking up at the top.

Then it’s lowered very gingerly into its container (bigfoot 1), JerrySearcy giving needed directions, Hugh Hixon handling the “Cat”as he has all through this long working day (good job, Hugh!).


Turns out it’s just a hair too tall to slide on through the doorwaywithout that awkward tipping. Removing the caps on the pipesmight shorten the height just enough ...

Only 3/10 of an inch clearance—but it’s enough! Soon we’vegot everything inside.

After that things get more routine—but there’s still a lot of work to do. These pictures were made Dec. 15. The suction pump is beingused to transfer liquid nitrogen from the bigfoot 8 dewar into the pressure vessel , watched by Alcor CEO Fred Chamberlain. Afterward,bigfoot 8 is refilled with liquid nitrogen, its thick foam lid resting on top.

[Added Comment by Fred Chamberlain:]

Hugh Hixon and MathewSullivan evaluated a number of“breadboard” configurations lastsummer, until time limitations ofY2K forced the choice of one ofthe designs.

The Patient Care Trust was intouch with this project from startto finish, authorizing increases incosts as needed. Work by Mathew

and Hugh rose to a fever-pitch inmid-December of 1999, with Y2Kdrawing near. At the same time, itwas apparent that a working systemhad been developed.

The cost was far less than ifthe project had been contracted out.Mike Perry contributed in manyways. The documentation in hisreport (published here) representsthe beginnings of a “DetailedDesign and Operations Manual”, to

be drafted and refined as operationof the system is optimized over thenext six months or so.

Many others on the Alcor Staffand volunteers, as noted in Mike’sarticle, played important roles.

(Fantastic job, guys!Alcor’s 37 patients arelucky to have you totake care of them!)


Third Party Anatomical DonorYear of Birth: 1920Date initiated cryotransport:August 28, 1999

Report by: Fred ChamberlainCryoTransport ManagerAlcor Life Extension FoundationScottsdale, AZNovember 30, 1999

Part I - Standby and Transportto Scottsdale, Arizona

(Condensed for publication in Cryonics)

Background Historyand Synopsis

Cryotransport can be brokendown into four areas: (1) patientacquisition and initial biologicalstabilization, with transport toAlcor Central, (2) cryoperfusion,(3) cooldown and (4) long termcare. This report, Part I of II,covers the first of these. Part II, inthe next issue of Cryonics, willcover (2) and (3). Long term care(4) is just beginning.

The Patient was not a memberof Alcor. The Next of Kin (of thePatient) was in the sign-up processfor Alcor Membership and madearrangements to have the Patientplaced into cryostasis as a “thirdparty anatomical donation”.

This is acceptable to Alcor ifthere are no indications that thePatient has rejected cryostasis.Alcor also was confident that therewere no other problems (such asserious conflicts among familymembers) which might prevent thethird party anatomical donationfrom taking place.

In August 1999, the Patientwas hospitalized with apparentpneumonia. (To obtain hospitalcooperation, Alcor agreed toconfidentiality, not to name thehospital or the town in which itwas located.)

By 8/26/99 the Patient’soxygen saturation level had fallenas low as 46. At the time Alcorwas contacted, O2 saturation levelhad been restored to nearly 80, byoxygen administration. This wasstill a very low value. Lymphomawas suspected, but not confirmed.The attending physician predictedmortality within 24 hours.

Administrative andLogistics Factors

Less than two hours after theinitial contact, Alcor Directors hadbeen contacted and consented to athird party anatomical donation.Funding and paperwork were to beaccomplished incrementally.

Most of the administrative andlogistics arrangements had to becompleted in a period of about fivehours, prior to departure of the lastflight to Chicago for the day.

[Although there were specialfactors which gave the AlcorBoard’confidence that in this case,rapidity of response was appropri-ate, the Board has now formallyresolved that this cannot be aroutine response of Alcor torequests for acceptance of thirdparty anatomical donations.

As provided in Alcor’s missionstatement, its priorities are (1)safety of patients already incryostasis, followed by (2) thecapability to respond to memberswho already have arrangements.

Rapid response to a request forrescue of a non-member could bein conflict with these priorities.

In a future case of this kind, itis likely that at least an additionaltwelve hours delay would berequired prior to Alcor’s initiatinga standby. From our knowledge ofthis case, such a delay might haveprevented a team from being on-site, ready to initiate cryotransport,before the Patient’s cardiac arrest.

Those who have not competedtheir arrangements in advance are atfar higher risk that Alcor willdecline to become involved or thatits response will be delayed, in anon-member, third party anatomi-cal donation case.

Even with “direct public service”through BioTransport, Inc., therewill be no way to respond as quicklyas if the Patient were a fully signedup Alcor Member.]

Due to the failure of pagersand cell phones to work in allareas, Dr. Robert Newport couldnot be contacted to deploy with theremote rescue team. Linda Cham-berlain called many funeral homesin the Patient’s area withoutsuccess, trying to secure localsupport. Only minutes beforeleaving for the airport did she findone which turned out to be ex-tremely cooperative and helpful.

[The mortuary provided use oftheir surgical facility far inadvance, not knowing howlong the standby might take;they provided a mortician andvehicle standby at the hospital,assisted with surgery for bloodwashout, helped with packag-ing and shipment support, andsolved problems from hundredmiles away, when an air-cargooffice initially refused to loadthe Patient.]

Cryotransport Case Report, A-1755, Part I


ACTs Louise Murray andRuss Cheney were asked to deployas part of the standby team.

They reached the airport (LosAngeles International) in time,Russ missed the flight due to anairline foulup, but found an alter-nate flight and arrived in Chicagoan hour ahead of the rest of us.

Alcor Central Activities;Standby Team Travel/Logistics

At Alcor Central, Hugh Hixonand Bruce Cohen set up the operat-ing room and prepared for filteringof perfusate. Two local surgeons,Jose Kanshepolski M.D. andNancy McEachern D.V., were on-call. Other ACT team memberswere contacted to participate in thecryoprotective perfusion.

The standby team (total offour) regrouped at O’Hare Interna-tional Airport, at about 2:00 a.m.Central Daylight Time and de-parted. Equipment taken with usincluded the PIB/SCD (PortableIce Bath & Spray Cooling Device)Kit, Medications Kit, ATP (AirTransportable Perfusion) System,MHP (organ preservation fluid; 20liters), and a Thumper (automaticchest compression device depen-dent on hospital wall oxygen orlocal acquisition of high pressureoxygen cylinders).

Travel time by highway wasabout five hours (the distance wasslightly over 200 miles; light fogslowed us down; team memberswere sleepy). Our two cell phonesproved valuable in coordinating thedrive and later were indispensablein organizing the standby.

Near the Patient’s hospital, amotel was located as a base ofoperations; 24 hours had passedsince Alcor was first contacted.

Communicationsand Coordination

The Patient’s Next of Kin(PNK) was contacted by cellphone and found to still be enroute. Instead of arriving inChicago, the PNK’s plane wasdiverted and landed even fartherfrom the Patient than the Alcorteam. The PNK was expected toreach the Patient’s location aboutnoon. Team Members slept if theycould, 1-4 hours. Since we werenot yet in contact with the Patient’sphysician or relatives (except thePNK), we were at a standstillpending the PNK’s arrival.

The PNK informed the team(by cellular phone) of an arrange-ment for a staff physician in thePNK’s company to be present and(possibly) participate. In view ofthe difficulty we had experiencedin contacting Alcor’s primary teamM.D., this was welcome backup.

During this phone call, thepossibility was discussed that thewashout procedure take place onthe hospital’s premises. With thisidea in mind, the PNK called thehospital (again, from a cell phoneen route) to propose this approach.

The hospital was resistant tothe proposal. They made an urgentrequest for detailed informationconcerning our protocol, credentialsof team members, and the extent towhich hospital facilities and theirpersonnel would be needed.

In the end, communicationswith the hospital by the PNK’sstaff physician led to partial coop-eration. Without this, we couldhave been far more restricted in ourprocedures. Although the hospitalfinally allowed medications to begiven without delay after cardiacarrest, they refused to allow use of

the Thumper (chest compressiondevice), based on the fact that thiscould disturb other patients.

Preparations for Transport

By mid-afternoon (Friday,August 27, 1999, at about 4:00p.m.) the PNK told us that thePatient was slipping rapidly andthat we should prepare for acryotransport as quickly as pos-sible. Logistics work accelerated.Drawing medications began atabout 4:15 p.m. At the mortuary,setup and checkout of the ATP tookplace. Readiness for a suspensionwas complete by 7:00 p.m. By thistime, about 35 hours had passedsince the first call came in to Alcor.

By 10:30 p.m., following briefmeals in shifts, the team regroupedoutside the hospital. The principalconcern was the timeline. Basedon the afternoon’s outlook thatcardiac arrest was hours away, allmedications were drawn (exceptStreptokinase, because of itsexpense). Within 24 hours, ourprotocol would require discardingthe old medications and redrawingthem when a suspension appearedto be near at hand. At that point,we would already be arranging formore medications to be flown in,as a backup.

Nearing 40 hours with verylittle sleep, we began planning howto obtain as much sleep as wecould, while maintaining enoughon-site presence to start a transportif a sudden turn for the worseoccurred.

Outside the ICU, the teamreviewed the “”First Ten Minute”protocol, assigning actions to teammembers and rehearsing proceduresto make them go as smoothly andquickly as possible.


Changes in Support;Criteria for Decision-making

The PNK requested that anyoptional life-support measures forthe Patient be stopped, so long asthey did not cause discomfort, yetthe hospital staff would not cooper-ate with this request until certaincriteria were met. The criteria keptchanging, ranging from “pupilsfixed and dilated” to “pain unre-sponsiveness.”

At about midnight, a nursefrom ICU informed the team thatthe Patient was unresponsive andthey were about to remove physi-ological support, but they couldnot find the PNK. While a searchbegan for the PNK, the last of themedications were made ready.

CPR, Medication,and Initial, External Cooling

The Alcor Team was finallyallowed to move to a locationclose to the Patient at 2:10 a.m.,when pronouncement was immi-nent. At 2:35 a.m. the PNK toldthe Team that the Patient had beenpronounced, and we were permit-ted to begin our procedures. ThePNK provided the times of arrestand pronouncement. Major eventslogged are as shown in Figure 1.

Remote Whole Body Washout

The Patient was transportedfrom the hospital to the mortuary’sfield washout facility. There wasno delay in removing the patientfrom the hospital inasmuch as themortician was on standby through-out the critical waiting period fromabout 10:00 p.m. the previousevening until transport began at2:35 a.m.

Times logged during thewashout are as shown in Figure 2.The mortician assisting withcannulation was unfamiliar withmedical cannula and the surgicalinstruments in Alcor’s kit. Forfear of friability of vessels, thecannula used were smaller thanoptimal. Thankfully, the washoutwent smoothly; brain cooling waseffective.

The flow rates noted reflectless actual arterial pressure thanmeasured, since pressures weremeasured upstream of the smallcannula. While the flow rateswere thus less than usually em-ployed, they nonetheless produceda rapid bilateral reduction in braintemperature.

Alcor had been advised by ascientist at 21st Century Medicine,Inc., that lower perfusion pressuresthan in the past be used, at least inthe cryoprotection phase, even atthe expense of lower flow rates. Inthat light, the lower pressures mayhave not detracted, and could havebeen beneficial. As medicationswere able to be given immediatelyafter pronouncement, coagulationwas minimal and posed no signifi-cant obstacle. Except for initialproblems with cannulation, thewashout was uneventful.

One important observation:During recirculation, which wasmaintained for more than one halfhour with rapid drop of tempera-tures in the brain, there was noevidence of tissue accumulation offluids or loss of them, based on astatic level in the venous returnreservoir. Thus, although thecannula were maintained in posi-tion manually, leakage as mighthave occurred was undetectable.

When brain temperature onboth probes dipped below 10°C andthe remaining reserve organ preser-

0235 Team notified in waiting room (down hall from ICU).0239 Tympanic temperature probes placed in patient’s ears.0241 Data logger turned on (to record temperatures).0242 Ice bags placed around patient’s head.0245 Manual CPS begun.0249 THAM I.V. (500 ml) started into Schwan catheter.0250 Mannitol IV started (500 ml).0254 Dextran 40 IV started (500 ml).0255 Diprivan (10.9 cc).0259 Potassium chloride (27.2 cc).0300 Sodium Heparin (2.3 cc).0301 Streptokinase (250,000 IU).0301 Metubine Iodide (1.9 cc).0303 Epinephrine (10.9 cc).0303 Nimodipine (0.5 cc).0304 Deferoxamine (2000 ml).0304 Chlorpromazine (6.5 cc).0304 Methylprednisolone (8 cc).0305 Gentamicin sulfate (2.7 cc).0306 Bactrim 10 cc) given (End of IV).0309 Maalox 60 cc given by gastric tube.0310 Prepared to leave hospital room.0318 Permission from hospital to remove patient.0325 Removal of patient from ICU.

Transport Timeline; Major Items - at Hospital

Figure 1.


vation fluid was permitted to flowopen circuit, it was apparent thatnone of it had been used to replacefluids lost by surgical leakage oredematous buildup of body fluids.This was a very positive aspect ofthe washout.

At your right in Figure 3 is theprimary temperature profile of thewashout. Other supporting plotsare included and discussed.

Temperature Descent Data;Tympanic Membrane Probes

In Figure 3, temperaturedescent data is timed in terms of

hours and minutes after start ofdata loging. “0:00” on the datalogger corresponds to 02:41 a.m.2:24 on the logger would be 5:05a.m. Comparing this with thetimeline log, 05:12 a.m. is com-mencement of recirculation, andthe first phase (open circuit wash-out) would have been started atalmost exactly 5:00 a.m. Thismatches the change in trend of thegraph exactly. T1 and T2 repre-sent the two channels of the datalogger (unfortunately, the relation-ships of left and right tympanicprobes to channel numbers werenot recorded).

Figure 4 on the next pageshows, at higher resolution, shiftsof tympanic temperature duringrecirculatory washout of the brain.Clock times vs. relative times tothe start of data logging are shown,to help relate data to the chronol-ogy of events.

As mentioned above, opencircuit perfusion started at about5:00 a.m., and continued for aboutthirty minutes after recirculationbegan (at 5:12 a.m.). In that time,typanic temperatures as recordedby the data logger (DuaLogR)

0335 Arrival at mortuary with patient.0349 Prep patient with Betadine scrub.0353 Patient’s left Femoral artery raised.0357 Patient’s left Femoral vein raised.0437 Vein cannulated with 18 french Sairns venous cannula.0439 Artery cannulated with 16 french Baird arterial cannula.0410 Primed cannulas; problems with insertion.0410 Observations of sclerotic vessels.0437 Cannulation complete.0445 Perfusion commenced.

(Paused to resolve cannulation difficulties.Washout .commenced.)

0510 Ten liters of perfusate expended.0512 Clamps switched on supply/venous return lines

(Recirculation commenced)0513 Second blood sample taken

Flow vs. Pressure Determination; 85 mm Hg ~ 0.70 l/min.Flow vs. Pressure Determination; 95 mm Hg ~ 0.80 l/min.Flow vs. Pressure Determination; 105 mm Hg ~ 0.90 l/min.Flow vs. Pressure Determination; 115 mm Hg ~ 1.00 l/min.

0523 Brain temperature 15.1°C, 15.1°C0544 Final blood sample taken0546 Recirculatory perfusion terminated.

(Venous outflow 8.6°C, 10.2°C)0605 Cannula secured for airshipment of Patient.

(Preparations for Shipment)

0515 Placed dropcloth in shipping tray0708 Surround Patient with ice bags0709 Close body pouch0710 Place lid on Ziegler case.0712 Wrap fiberglass insulation around Ziegler case0730 Place insulation on top of Ziegler case.0731 Place cardboard outer cover in place

Figure 2.

Transport Timeline - Major ItemsField Washout and Shipping Preparations

Time From Start Of Cooldown - Hours:Minutes

Figure 3.

Temperature Descentfrom initiation of datalogger operation.

0:00 = 02:41 a.m.2:24 = 05:05 a.m.

T1

T2

* (Times not noted.These were rapidlysequenced measure-ments of flow vs.perfusion pressure tocharacterize vascularresistance.)

(See * atright.)

(See text.)


showed a drop of 17°C for T2, and13°C for T1.

Figure 3 shows T2 risingsharply immediately after inser-tion, and then staying at a highertemperature until the crossovershown in Figure 4. Channel T1was the “cooler” channel initially,and then became warmer duringblood washout. Both channelsconverged during air shipment,and other comparisons lead us tobelieve that instrumentation erroror lack of calibration do notexplain the differences. Whatmight have happened?

The most logical explanation isthat the probe placement, in whichwax was used to secure the probes,resulted in a shallower placementfor T1 than T2, and that T1 cooledmore rapidly than T2 in the begin-ning due to closer proximity tosurface cooling. Based on thisscenario, T2 (cooling more slowly)would more accurately reflectblood temperature at the tympanicmembrane and would be the bestmeasure of initial brain cooling.

Once blood washout com-menced, the conditions wouldreverse. T1, coupled to the inertiaof surface temperatures, wouldhave been overtaken by T2, whichwould more closely be coupled tothe cold perfusate circulating inthe vascular system. While thisexplanation is hypothetical, it isconsistent with all of the data.

Until Figure 4 was generated,with the foregoing analysis, Figure3 had been used as the primaryinterpretation tool. Comments hadbeen obtained from team membersas to the possibilities for the data’sdivergence prior to washout, andthe apparent excellent convergenceonce perfusion began. Figure 4,however, clearly indicates that thewashout produced a systematic

crossover of temperatures, ratherthan a convergence, and helped tobetter explain what might havehappened.

[In an earlier article in Cryon-ics (see Appendix A), refer-ring only to Figure 3, theobservation was stated asfollows: “In particular, datashowed smooth, balancedcooldown of the brain during

initial blood washout andrecirculatory perfusion forcooling. This not onlyshowed that perfusate wasreaching the brain, but (as thediagram shows) it was bilater-ally effective (both sides of thebrain were equally protected).The two plots tracked closelyduring perfusion, as comparedwith the earlier stage oftransport. We are still sortingout reasons for this differencein the data.”]

Temperature Descent Data;Field Washout Perfusion Circuit

In addition to temperatures attympanic membranes (Figures 3and 4), temperatures in the arterialand venous lines were measured

Figure 4.

Temperature Data from tympanic membranesat higher time resolution during TBW (TotalBody Washout).

Local Time - A/V Loop Cooldown

Arterial (Infusion) Temperatures

Venus (Return) Temperatures

Figure 5. Extracorporeal circulation systemline temperatures during recirculatory cooling.

T1

T2

Time of Day


during recirculatory cooling. Thetemperature differential betweenarterial and venous lines is a clearmeasure of the degree to whicheach liter perfused removed heat,so this data could be correlatedwith reduction of brain tempera-ture, if desired.

In Figure 5, it is apparent thatthe chilled perfusate (once recircu-lation began at 5:12 a.m.) stayed atapproximately 3°C throughout therecirculation, while the relativelywarm venous return droppedsystematically with the exceptionof a few fluctuations between 5:02and 5:09 (a period during whichwe were struggling to obtainsecure cannula placement - finallyone of the surgical team memberswas instructed to “hold the cannulain place manually,” as discussedearlier.)

The temperature difference ofthe two lines varied from nearly15°C at the outset to about 5°Cnear the end, and flow was slightlyless than one liter per minute. A“straight line” analysis of thiswould thus project that (assumingone liter per minute, for conve-nience) that thirty minutes of suchperfusion at an average tempera-ture difference of 10°C wouldhave cooled a mass of 120 pounds(approximately 55 Kg or 55 liters)by 30x10/55 = (only) 5.45°C. Butthe brain was cooled between13°C and 15°C, according to thetympanic data!

The explanation is almostcertainly a combination of (1)better perfusion of the brain thanof the body core in general, and (2)circulation that did reach thebody’s surface area being furthercooled by externally cooled tis-sues, augmenting the cooling thatwould have been expected byreference to the temperature

change of the perfusate alone.Each patient’s physiology will

be different, as to degree of obe-sity, patency of circulatory system,etc. In the case of this Patient, wemay recall that there was noevidence of loss of fluids to tissuesor dehydration during the period ofrecirculation. This is consistentwith the idea that the circulatorysystem was in very good conditionin general and contributed to theoverall cooling effect of TBW(total body washout) with thirtyminutes of recirculation.

Packaging and Air Transportto Scottsdale, Arizona

By the time field washoutprocedures were complete, it wasnearly 6:00 a.m. The first avail-able flight to Scottsdale fromO’Hare International Airport inChicago was at about 2:00 p.m.With a driving time of (conserva-tively) at least three hours, anecessity to deliver the Patient tothe air cargo office two hoursbefore takeoff and the patient yetto be packed, there was littlemargin for unforeseen delays. InScottsdale, preparations for sur-gery and cryoperfusion were inprogress, based on our making thatparticular flight. The cardboardouter box (per the time line above)was placed at 7:31 a.m., and theteam’s two vehicles left for Chi-cago between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m.

During transit to Chicago, itwas possible to contact the driverof the mortuary vehicle that wastransporting the Patient by cellphone and to monitor his progress.It was nearly noon at the time theteams reached the airport, and adecision was made to check theequipment in and proceed to theboarding area rather than attempt-

ing to use the rental cars to super-vise loading at air cargo. A prob-lem was encountered when themortuary driver failed to communi-cate well with the personnel at aircargo, and there was a brief periodduring which it appeared thePatient would not be loaded. Asmentioned earlier, the mortuary,several hundred miles away, wascontacted by cell phone, andresolved the problem in short order.

In Phoenix, Joe Hovey pickedup the team at the airport, andBruce Cohen took Alcor’s ambu-lance to air cargo to transport thePatient. By late afternoon, allteam members and the Patientwere en route to Alcor. At thatpoint, about 5:00 p.m Scottsdaletime, it had been approximately 57hours since the first call had comein to Alcor.

End of Part I (Part II will bepublished in the next Cryonics).

Note: This report conveysa realistic picture of someof the the many challengesand uncertainties involvedwith cryotransport.

Alcor’s rescue teams arepresently its only means ofresponding, if your life isendangered. Someday,such rescue efforts might belaunched by calling “911”.

Until then, we ask that youencourage and support allof the Alcor CryoTransportTeam (ACT) Members youknow. Your life mightdepend on them, and theyhave pledged to be there foryou, if you need them.


Wear Alcor’s Symbols!

The Official Alcor Patch!This embroidered patch (left) is 3” in diameter, with a

white background, dark blue phoenix symbol, black letter-ing, and a dark blue border. Price: $4.00

The Official Alcor Pin!This cloisonné pin (right) is 1.25” x 1”, with a white

background, dark blue phoenix symbol, black lettering, anda gold border. Price $7.00

To order, call 1-480-905-1906 with your Visa/MC number, or send check / money-order to Alcor Foundation7895 E. Acoma Dr., Ste. 110, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

(ash and white)Sizes: small, medium,large, xlarge, xxlarge

Sweatshirts $15.00 each

4th Qtr. 97 1st Qtr. 98 2nd Qtr. 98

3rd Qtr. 98 4th Qtr. 98 1st Qtr. 99

Cover Art by Tim Hubley !Over the last several years, TimHubley has provided Cryonics withsome of the most beautiful andcreative CGI art we’ve ever seen.Now Tim is selling a limited run(only 20 copies each!) of matted8.5” x 11” color ink-jet prints ofthese images (without all the messytext added in layout) for only$15.00, plus shipping and handling.

To order your prints, contact TimHubley through email at:

[email protected].

T-Shirts $10.00 eachSizes (ash, white): small, medium, large, xlarge, xxlarge

The extraordinary medical prospectsahead of us have renewed interest in aproposal made long ago: that the dyingpatient could be frozen, then stored at thetemperature of liquid nitrogen for decadesor even centuries until the necessarymedical technology to restore health isdeveloped. Called cryonics, this service isnow available from several companies.Because final proof that this will workmust wait until after we have developed amedical technology based on the founda-tion of a mature nanotechnology, theprocedure is experimental. We cannotprove today that medical technology will(or will not) be able to reverse freezinginjury 100 years from now. But the patient

dying today must choose whether to jointhe experimental group or the controlgroup. The luxury of waiting for adefinitive answer before choosing issimply not available. So the decision mustbe made today, on the basis of incompleteinformation. We already know whathappens to the control group. The outcomefor the experimental group has not yetbeen confirmed. But given the wonderfuladvances that we see coming, it seemslikely that we should be able to reversefreezing injury--especially when thatinjury is minimized by the rapid introduc-tion through the vascular system ofcryoprotectants and other chemicals tocushion the tissues against further injury.

Conclusion

The development of nanomedicinedepends on us: what we do and how

rapidly we do it. Research is not done bya faceless "them," nor is it something thathappens spontaneously and without anyhuman intervention. It is done by andsupported by people. Unless we decide tosupport and pursue this research, it won'thappen. How long it takes to developdepends on us. We are not idle bystanderswatching the world go by. We are a partof it. If we sit and wait for someone elseto develop this technology, it will happenmuch more slowly. If we jump in andwork to make it happen, it will happensooner. And developing a life savingmedical technology within our lifetimesseems like a very good idea--certainlybetter than the alternative."

Immortality on Ice(the video).

By the Discovery Channel.About 60 minutes run time.Popular introductory tape.$25.00 plus S&H.

Let us knowabout it!

Call1-480-905-1906

and ask forJoe Hovey.

Don’t miss evenone issue ofCryonics!

MOVING?

Afterword, fromNanomedicine, by Robert A. Freitas, Jr.

( continued from page 15)


Do You Have Your Copy of The First Immortal Yet?

Alcor is selling a limited quantity of copies signed by the author, James Halperin.

Don’t miss out -- order yours today! Signed Hardback: $34.95Unsigned Hardback: $24.95 Paperback (unsigned): $6.99

Send check or money order to the Alcor Foundation, 7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110,Scottsdale, AZ 85260. With Visa or Mastercard, call 1-480-905-1906.

Cryonics magazine reserves the right to accept or reject ads at our own discretion and assumes noresponsibility for their content or the consequences of answering these advertisements. The rateis $8.00 per line per issue (our lines are considered to be 66 picas wide). Tip-in rates per sheet are$140 (printed one side) or $180 (printed both sides), from camera-ready copy.

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Investments, Financial Services, Mutual Funds,Insurance, Annuities, Living Trusts

NanoTechnology Magazine

NanoTechnology Magazine is your window intothe emerging technology whose awesome powermankind will acquire, for good or evil, very earlyin this new century. Everything will changeradically...the industrial revolution was just a pre-view. Find out about the millions already spentby government and private labs on the atomic ma-nipulation of matter. Follow monthly discoveriestoward the evolution of the technology sure todominate the 21st. century. Prepare yourself men-tally with NanoTechnology Magazine.

1-year subscription: $38.40 (check, M.O., or Credit Card).

NanoTechnology Magazine4451 Sierra Dr.

Honolulu, HI 96816(808) 737-0628 fax (808) 739-5145

http://planet-hawaii.com/nanozine

BioTransport, Inc.Is seeking emergency medical community professionals (EMT’s, Paramedics, ER Techni-

cians, Nurses and Physicians) for on-call contract response, to deliver cryotransportrescue services to member organizations and to the general public. For application forms

and other information, contact Fred Chamberlain at 480-905-1906, or email [email protected], or [email protected]

Email: [email protected]


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Cryobiology and the Feasibility of CryonicsThe Molecular Repair of the Brain, by Ralph Merkle, Ph.D. ............................................................................................ $ 3.00Will Cryonics Work? by Steve Harris, M.D, plus Why Cryonics Probably Will Work, by Michael Perry, Ph.D. ...... $ 3.50Freezing of Living Cells, Mechanisms and Implications, by Peter Mazur, Ph.D. ......................................................... $ 2.50“Cryobiology and the Feasibility of Cryonics” Package (all 4 of the above articles) ................................................ $ 7.50

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Memory, Identity, and the BrainThe Terminus of the Self, by Max More............................................................................................................................... $ 3.00A Commented Bibliography on Brain and Memory, by Thomas Donaldson, Ph.D. .................................................... $ 2.00Isn’t That You Behind Those Foster Grants? by David Krieger ....................................................................................... $ 1.50Neurosuspension: Head First Into the Future, by Steve Bridge ..................................................................................... $ 1.00

Cryotransport ReportsHer Blue Eyes Will Sparkle, by Linda Chamberlain ...........................................................................................................$ 2.00A Well-Loved Man, by Mary Margaret Glennie ..................................................................................................................$ 2.00

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GeneralElements of a Cryonics Patient Transport, by Tanya Jones ........................................................................................... $ 2.00Frozen Souls: Can a Religious Person Choose Cryonics? by Steve Bridge............................................................... $ 1.50Lovecraft, Scientific Horror, Alienation, and Cryonics, by Steve Harris, M.D. ............................................................ $ 1.50Cryonics in Popular Culture, by Steve Neal ....................................................................................................................... $ 2.00“Why We Are Cryonicists” and “Alcor: The Origin of Our Name” ................................................................................... FreeWhy Cryonics Can Work (brochure) ..................................................................................................................................... $ 0.75Cryonics and Christianity (brochure) .................................................................................................................................... $ 0.75

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Documents

Alcor update - 16 Lifequest - 21 · 1st Qtr. 2000 • Cryonics 1 Alcor update - 16 Lifequest - 21 SOURCE FEATURES PAGE Staff A4M Conference 1999 10 Mike Perry New Alcor Patient Maintenance