Category Archives: Cryonics

Eagle-eyed city communters will have the chance to read a Cheltenham author's book about preserving human life on Monday.

Copies of The Husband Who Refused to Die are being hidden in and around London tube stations as part of the groundbreaking Books On the Underground initiative.

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The debut novel, with its original, and topical, cryonics premise, has had a great response from readers since its launch in December, with one reviewer describing it as 'truly a one-of-a-kind read'.

Andrea Darby, a former journalist who lives near Cheltenham, said: "I'm thrilled to be part of this fantastic initiative and hope that the commuters who find my book will enjoy reading it and pass it on."

Cordelia Oxley, Director of Books on the Underground, said the aim was to get more people reading and sharing books. "Titles are left on seats, benches, station signs and around ticket areas, with finders often keen to share their free discoveries on social media.

"The Book Fairies are excited to be working with Andrea and are looking forward to hiding copies of her amazing book on the London Underground. It's sure to get a big reaction!"

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The Husband Who Refused to Die, which Andrea describes as 'a story of love, loss, family and friendship' is about 40-year-old mum Carrie, whose husband Dan dies unexpectedly, just a few years after he revealed his wish to be frozen.

The narrative focuses on the difficult repercussions of this wish for Carrie and her teenage daughter, not least an intrusive media, an interfering sister-in-law and a mystery person with a serious grudge.

The book is available from Waterstones in Cheltenham and Gloucester, the Suffolk Anthology bookshop, as well as from Amazon, WHSmith and other online retailers.

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Going Underground: Cheltenham author's book about cryonics to be used in groundbreaking scheme - Gloucestershire Live

On January 12, 1967, psychology professor James Bedford died due to cancer-related natural causes. Within hours, a team of scientists filled his veins with antifreeze. They packed his body in a container full of dry ice, and in so doing made Bedford the first man ever frozen alive in the name ofwell, if not science, something that aspired to be science one day: cryonics.

On December 23rd, 2009, at 4 a.m., I listened to my neighbors play Forever Young for the fortieth time in a row. Either the partygoers had either left or the DJ had died, and any attendees were either passed out or too blitzed to notice. The song played on repeat:

Forever young, I want to be Forever young.

I aged 10 years that night, while Bedfordtucked away in a fresh liquid nitrogen bath that came complementary with his 1991 inspectionremained immortal.

What is Cryonics, for Crying out Loud? Fifty years have passed since Bedford volunteered to become the first cryogenically frozen man. And while cultural depictions sporadically crop upthink Austin Powers, Futurama and yes, Mel Gibsonin Forever Youngcryonics is often thought to belong more to the realm of science fiction than science, and to put an even finer point on it, an escapist fiction that eludes actionable reality.

Yet cryonics offers grounds just as fertile for ethics as they do the imagination. Just think: people wage fierce wars about when life begins. Cryonics twists, turns and flips that argument around to become a deeper meditation on the moment that life ends.

So when does it?

When a Body Becomes a Patient The Alcor Life Extension Foundation which preserved Bedford describes cryonics as an effort to save lives by using temperatures so cold that a person beyond help by todays medicine can be preserved for decades or centuries until a future medical technology can restore that person to full health. The Foundation tellingly describes its members as patientsnot bodies. The dewars are not coffins, they are the temporary resting place for people who will one day wake up.

Michael Hendrix, neuroscientist and assistant professor of biology at McGill University, describes how the future of cryonics rests upon the promise of new technologies in neuroscience, particularly recent work in connectomicsa field that maps the connections between neurons a detailed map of neural connections could be enough to restore a persons mind, memories and personality by uploading it into a computer simulation.

In other words, cryonics claims that a cryogenically frozen person is not dead. He or she is merely on pause, similar to the way a video game character wont age while the player fiddles through the menu screen. The cycle of life rests upon the ability of scientistsand technologyto catch up to an idea born centuries before its time.

And as far as the science of resuscitation, cryonics does not actually rely upon the preservation of the entire body (as the choice of some people to have just their heads frozen, notably MLB player Ted Williams, testifies to), but upon the ability to map out the neurological connections between the brain, lift that map and recreate it in another bodypossibly a robot, possibly something scientists and dreamers havent yet conceived.

The Grounds for Debate Arguments against cryonics often hinge upon two main points. The first is that at best, the ethical implications of the procedure show a Labradors level of devotion to the promise of science. At worst, they play upon the emotions (and pocketbooks) of the bereaved survivors, who hold out false hope for the resuscitation of their loved one, possibly derailing and even deranging the cycles of the grieving process. The second rawand undeniablefact is that the technology for making a frozen person reenter society as a whole, living human being simply does not exist.

As for arguments for it? The most simple, powerful argument of all: immortality.

In 2014, the total count of cyropreserved bodies reached 250. An estimated 1,500 people total had made arrangements for cryopreservation after their legal death. The New York Times cites nonreligious white males as the main partakers, outdoing females by a ratio of three to one. As the worlds first volunteer, Bedford received a freebie, but most cyropreservation costs at least $80,000. A Russian company, KioRus, boasts the steal at $12,000 a headliterally speaking. But costs all but disappear in the face of a successful experiment. Say someone pays $80,000 now to rejoin the living 200 years later? Forget about calculating inflation differences.

No matter what side of cryonics one comes down uponand science offers arguments for botha central idea remains, both chilling and mesmerizing, depending upon the way its turned. A successful cyropreservation would entail rebirthbut into a world wholly different than the one left behind. If James Bedford came back tomorrow, could he handle the emotionalnot to mention mentaltribulations of adjusting to a world that moved on without him? Would the forever young experience drone on like the song on that December night, an individual sentenced to the eternal return of the same song, Existence?

After my own encounter with Forever YoungI certainly hope not.

Elisia Guerena is a Brooklyn based writer, who writes about tech, travel, feminism, and anything related to inner or outer space.

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50 Years Frozen: Cryonics Today - Paste Magazine

New Delhi: Of late, the science of cryonics seems to have captivated the hearts of scientists and the public alike with some people now opting for cryopreservation after their deaths.

Cryonics is the practice or technique of deep-freezing the bodies of those who have died of a disease, in the hope of a future cure.

In a latest, an author from Scotland has started paying a research institute to preserve his brain cryogenically after his death.

As per reports, DJ MacLennan has been paying 50 pounds ( appriximately Rs 4,000) a month for the past decade to Alcor Institute in Arizona, USA, to preserve his brain in the hope that he can one day be brought back to life.

MacLennan, who lives on the Isle of Skye, has told the institute that when he dies he wants the team of volunteers to fill his body with anti-freezing liquid before plunging it into ice water. His body will then be wrapped in a polyethylene, submerged in alcohol and lowered into ice before being shipped to Arizona. The head will then be removed and frozen in liquid nitrogen before being stored.

According to MacLennan, if organs can be donated and aren't wasted anymore, brains should definitely not be wasted, instead it's the important part to store.

While the full-body procedure costs 75,000 pounds, the author from Skye, has opted for the 40,000 pounds brain freeze.

In November last year, a 14-year old girl who died of cancer became the first child to be cryogenically frozen after death in the UK.

The procedure was carried out after winning a landmark court case shortly before her death. She had written a heartbreaking letter to a judge explaining that she wanted a chance to live longer after suffering from a rare form of deadly cancer.

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Cryonics This Scottish author pays 50 pounds a month to preserve his brain after death - Zee News

An author is paying 50 a month towards a plan to have his head cut off and his brain cryogenically frozen after his death.

DJ MacLennan is handing over the cash to the Alcor Institute in Arizona, USA - in the hope that he can one day be brought back to life.

The Daily Record reports that when he dies, the writer wants a team of volunteers to fill his body with anti-freezing liquid before plunging it into ice water.

DJ's body will then be wrapped in polyethylene, submerged in alcohol and lowered into ice before being shipped to Arizona.

It's at this point that his head will be removed and frozen in liquid nitrogen and put into storage.

The full-body procedure costs 75,000 but DJ, who is from Skye, has opted for the 40,000 brain freeze instead.

He said: We dont waste organs any more, so why do we waste brains?

"Why do we plant people in the ground to rot?

"Shouldnt we consider dealing with dead bodies in a different way? Cryonics is potentially exponential technology.

When people see the price come down therell come a point when they see a benefit.

"The cost will be finite and the benefits will potentially be infinite.

In a recent article, he wrote: You are your brain, so thats the important part to store.

A society capable of reviving a person from a cryo-preserved state is going to be capable of creating an appropriate body or uploading the brains unique connectome to a computational substrate.

Cryogenics hit the headlines in November when a 14-year-old girl who died of cancer had her remains put into a deep freeze.

The procedure was carried out after she won a landmark court case in her final days.

The girls parents had disagreed over whether her wish to be frozen should be followed so she asked a High Court judge to intervene.

In a heartbreaking letter to the court, she wrote: I dont want to die but I know I am going to

"I want to live longer I want to have this chance.

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Author pays 50 a month towards plan to have head cut off and brain cryogenically frozen after death - Mirror.co.uk

DJ Maclennan is hoping for a good death. When the time comes, the Isle of Skye writer wants to be surrounded not just by his family, but by the emergency volunteer stand-by team from Cyronics UK.

Since 2007, he has been paying 50 a month to the Alcor Institute in the town of Scottsdale, Arizona. For that they will 'cryopreserve' his head (it costs significantly more to keep the whole body) in a tank of liquid nitrogen, keeping it there, the company promises on their website, for decades or centuries until a future medical technology can restore that person to full health.

All going well, within ten minutes of MacLennan breathing his last, that team, made up of enthusiastic amateurs, none of whom have professional medical training, will take control of his body. Theyll start by giving the cadaver oxygen, and chest compressions before placing it in an ice bath.

Then they administer drugs to stabilise biological systems and prevent clotting and brain damage through cell destruction. Once thats done they remove the corpse to their mortuary, cut open carotid arteries jugular veins and replace the blood with an an antifreeze solution. Within 24 hours of death, the body must have been cooled to at least -20C. Then, and only then is it ready to transport over to Americas west coast, where the head will be removed.

The problem for MacLennan is he needs the NHS and the Procurator Fiscal to let this happen, and right now that looks unlikely. Bodies in Scotland cant be released to family until theres a death certificate, and every death certificate needs a cause of death.

If that death is unexplained or sudden, then it gets reported to the Procurator Fiscal who takes over legal responsibility for the body until a cause can identified.

That often requires time or even a post-mortem, both of which make cryopreservation impossible, and the 40,000 or so MacLennan will have paid to Alcor over his lifetime would be for nothing.

Unfortunately, while we will always be sympathetic to requests by members of a family, this has to be balanced with the need for an independent and thorough investigation and a post mortem examination will sometimes still be required, the Procurator Fiscal tells the Sunday Herald.

None of Scotlands 14 health boards, or the NHS National Services Scotland, have any policy or guidelines on cryonics. Some of them are even openly hostile to the idea. NHS Western Isles said they would not facilitate volunteer medics, who may have no medical experience to operate on a dead person, regardless if this was the wish of the dead person.

The Scottish Government also has no policy, and say theyre waiting on the results of an information gathering exercise undertaken by the Human Tissue Authority, who were mobilised into action in the wake of last years high profile legal row between the parents of JS, the 14 year old dying of cancer who wanted her body to be cryopreserved.

Mr Justice Peter Jackson, who sat on that case, suggested there needed to be proper regulation of cryonic preservation in this country if it is to happen in future.

That was in part a response to fears expressed by JSs doctors over the Cryonics UK standby team. The medical staff said the volunteers were under-equipped and disorganised. The groups ambulance had broken down, and was replaced by a van.

The Human Tissue Authority will in the next few months produce two pieces of guidance, one for medical professionals and one for members of the public. Though they werent willing to tell the Sunday Herald what was in those guidelines.

Given this is a procedure thats been going on for 30 years it's surprising that there's no policy for it in the place in the UK, MacLennan says.

He is happy to talk about cryonics, and has written books on the process, as part of an attempt to normalise it a little bit and take the Frankenstein factor out if it.

Cryonics is potentially exponential technology, he argues. When people see the price coming down there'll come a point when they see a benefit. The cost will be finite and the benefit will potentially be infinite, because if it works the benefits are potentially infinite.

But this is currently a niche issue. No one is sure, but it seems there are around 100 people in the UK who have opted for cryopreservation.

In Scotland, the NHS and the Procurator Fiscal have yet to deal with any cases of Cryonics.

Professor Clive Coen from Kings College London believes there should be a ban on the marketing of cryonics, saying the idea of preserving a whole body was ridiculous and a whole brain only slightly less ridiculous.

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Head Case Scottish writer: 'Decapitate me after death, freeze my head, and I let me live again centuries from now' - Herald Scotland

Fred Valentine, The Little Glass Boy (2016), charcoal on disrupted paper, 22 x 32 inches

I often turn to drawing during tough times. It is less of a respite and more of a regroup. I have drawings that I work on over a number of years. This is one of them. My subjects need breath, blood, and DNA to be convincing. If they dont have it I put it them on a back burner. They lie in the flat file like a body on a slab at a cryonics lab. There will come a time. We will meet again.

I found that time on an early autumn morning during the final weeks of the campaign. The country was being hijacked by an evil and dangerous huckster. A sociopathic bully who wants to rob the country of its life and dreams was all anyone was talking about. Its the fragile, defenseless, and invisible ones who will take the hit and feel it first. They always do. That brings me to the backstory of this drawing.

Forty-five years ago I had attitude, a young mans swagger. I was a bit of a punk and usually ready for a fight. That made me a repeated target for the local police.

On one particular morning I arrived three hours late for Ed Colstons three hour class. Ed Colston had facial hair like Malcolm X; he wore kente cloth dashikis and very often sunglasses. He spoke in a gravelly voice just above a whisper. When I arrived the classroom was empty except for Mr. Colston. I was beginning to explain myself when he said, I know, I heard. I was arrested the night before but this time couldnt afford bail. I had to spend the night in jail and wait for an early morning court appearance. He appreciated the energy and pedal to the metal pace that I kept but was concerned about my recklessness, I suppose. He asked if he could show me something. We arrived at his studio and he pulled out a painting. It was the only painting that he showed me in a roomful of paintings. Its called Little Black Sambo with a Hard On for Life. he whispered in my ear. And then we left.

Over the years that painting has come to mean, among other things, strength and a sparkling yet bruised resilience. When Ed showed it to me that morning, it was one of the sweetest and most genuinely human gestures Ive ever been given.

Forty-five years ago was also a time of great divide and anger. I think about Ed and his Little Black Sambo often and I mean often. Because he understood. That is what caring people do. That is what he did and why he did it.

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The Little Glass Boy - Hyperallergic