Cryonics Magazine- Scientists Eavesdrop Inside the Mind
- Discovery May Provide Insight into Brain Cell Aging
- New Evidence Keeping Brain Sharp and Active Wards off Alzheimer’s
- New Discoveries in Cell Aging
- Eye Trials Give Hope for Stem Cells
- How Stem Cell Implants Help Heal Traumatic Brain Injury
- Victory For Crowdsourced Biomolecule Design
- New Approach to Preventing Fatal Septic Shock
- Alzheimer’s Damage Occurs Early
- Oxidative DNA Damage Repair
- Fight Aging!
- Chronosphere
- Cryonics “Castle”
- Doing the Time Warp
- Interventive Gerontology 1.0.02: First, Try to Make it to the Mean: Diet as a life extending tool, Part 3
- Interventive Gerontology 1.0.02: First, Try to Make it to the Mean: Diet as a life extending tool, Part 2
- Interventive Gerontology 1.0.02: First, Try to Make it to the Mean: Diet as a life extending tool, Part 1.
- Fortune and Men’s Eyes
- Interventive Gerontology 101.01: The Basics
- The Kurzwild Man in the Night
- Fucked.
- You Bet Your Life!
Category Archives: Cryonics
Annotated bibliography of cryoprotectant toxicity
Introduction Cryoprotectant toxicity should be distinguished from other mechanisms of cryopreservation injury such as chilling injury (injury produced by too low temperatures as such) and cold shock (injury produced by rapid cooling). Cryoprotectant toxicity itself can again be divided into … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Science
Tagged Brian Wowk, Cryobiology, Cryoprotectant Toxicity, DMSO, Ethylene Glycol, Glycerol, Gregory Fahy, Vitrification
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The 2011 Calorie Restriction Society Conference
On October 27-29 I attended CR VII, the 2011 Calorie Restriction Society Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Members of the Calorie Restriction Society restrict their calories while maintaining adequate nutrition as a means of extending their lifespan (or improving … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Health
Tagged Ben Best, Brenda Peters, Caloric Restriction, Calorie Restriction, Calorie Restriction Society, Cryonics, Luigi Fontana, Peter Voss, Shannon Vyff, Stephen Spindler
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Fifth SENS Conference
August 31 to September 4, 2011 I attended fifth biannual SENS Conference (SENS5, Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. People who attend SENS conferences are the demographic that is the most receptive to cryonics … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Rejuvenation
Tagged Aging Biomarkers, Alcor, Aubrey de Grey, Ben Best, Cryonics Institute, GADD45, Gunther Kletetschka, Maria Konovalenko, Max More, Nuclear DNA, Rodolfo Goya, SENS
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What you don’t eat can’t hurt you
Many people in the life extension community follow some kind of diet. Historically, caloric restriction (CR) has been the most popular and most discussed option. Other popular diets include the Mediterranean diet and the Paleolithic diet. In one sense, comparing … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Health, Personal Genomics
Tagged Alzheimer's Disease, ApoE4, Caloric Restriction, Cryonics, Evolution, Genotype, Mediterranean Diet, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Nutrigenetics, Paleolithic Diet, Saturated Fat, The 10000 Year Explosion
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Smartphone Apps for the Smart Cryonicist
As every modern consumer knows, smartphones are today’s go-to portable technology. Everything from GPS navigation to finding a good deal on your next meal or haircut right NOW to a wide variety of games and applications may be had at … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Health
Tagged apps, Cryonics, Health, mobile technology, smartphone
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Personalized Cryonics
Personalized Cryonics is an approach to cryonics that emphasizes the use of individual (health) information to optimize a person’s cryopreservation circumstances and outcomes. To exchange information and empower individuals, a moderated discussion list was created by the Institute for Evidence … Continue reading
Intermediate temperature storage in cryonics
The recent issue of Cryonics magazine features a comprehensive update on intermediate temperature storage (ITS). This article contains an important observation: Acoustic events consistent with fracturing were found to be universal during cooling through the cryogenic temperature range. They occurred … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics
Tagged Alcor, Fracturing, Freezing, Glass Transition Temperature, Intermediate Temperature Storage, Thermal Stress, Vitrification
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The 2011 Cryobiology Conference
July 24-27 I attended the 2011 annual Society for Cryobiology conference in Corvallis, Oregon. A number of the first presentations were concerned with means to *avoid* cryopreservation. Room temperature storage is much less expensive and troublesome, and improves ease of … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Science
Tagged Arthur Rowe, Chilling Injury, Cryobiology, John Crowe, Microtubules, Peter Mazur, Society for Cryobiology Conference
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The double standard about cryonics
One of the most predictable features of public debates about cryonics is that those arguing in favor of cryonics are held to more rigorous standards than those seeking conventional medical treatment. Advocates of cryonics do not just have to prove … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics
Tagged Cell Repair, Cryonics, Emergency Medicine, Neurogenomics, Technological Stasis, Vitrification
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Teens & Twenties 2011 Gathering
On the evening of Thursday, May 19 and on Friday, May 20, I attended the 2011 (2nd annual) Teens & Twenties young cryonicists gathering which preceded the Suspended Animation, Inc. conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Teens & Twenties gathering … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics
Tagged Ben Best, Bill Faloon, Cairn Idun, Life Extension Foundation, Saul Kent, Teens and Twenties, Young Cryonicists
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Gerald Feinberg on physics and life extension
Gerald Feinberg, a Columbia university physicist who, among other things, hypothesized the existence of the muon neutrino, had a strong interest in the future of science and life extension. In 1966 he published the article “Physics and Life Prolongation” in … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics
Tagged Brain Repair, Cryobiology, Cryonics, Foresight Institute, Gerald Feinberg, Molecular Nanotechnology
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Neural cryobiology and the legal recognition of cryonics
It has been said that if you want to persuade someone, you need to find common ground. But one of the defining characteristics of cryonics is that proponents and opponents cannot even seem to agree on the criteria that should … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death, Neuroscience
Tagged B2C, Brain Death, Brian Wowk, Cryobiology, Cryonics, EEG, Gregory Fahy, Information-theoretic Death, M22, Neural Cryobiology, Neuroscience, Robert J. White, Yuri Pichugin
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Comments on the book YOUNIVERSE by Robert Ettinger
Robert Ettinger‘s book Youniverse: Toward a Self-Centered Philosophy of Immortalism and Cryonics is a book containing many insights and deep thoughts, yet has such an informal writing style that many readers might not take it seriously. I know of no … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics
Tagged Atheism, Cryonics, Determinism, Free Will, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophy, Physician-Assisted Suicide, Religion, Robert Ettinger
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The case against cryonics
What is striking about cryonics is that those who have taken serious efforts to understand the arguments in favor of its technical feasibility generally endorse the idea. Those who have not made cryonics arrangements usually give non-technical arguments (anxiety about … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Neuroscience
Tagged Cryonics, Cryonics Criticism, Cryopreservation, Decision Making Under Uncertainty, Decision Theory, Memory, Mike Darwin, Personal Identity, Personal Survival, Vitrification
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Imagine there’s no sleep
Imagine that human culture has never experienced sleep, but suddenly must experience it to survive. Would they be apprehensive about experiencing it for the first time? Of course! Just picture… this total suspension of consciousness, experienced for the very first … Continue reading
Alcor update from CEO Max More
The Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence blog features a short interview with new Alcor CEO Max More: Q: Where do you see cryonics in the future? We’ll look back on this 50 to 100 years from now — we’ll shake our heads … Continue reading
Suspended Animation Conference 2011
The cryonics company Suspended Animation “will sponsor the conference, “Suspended Animation – The Company and The Goal,” which will be held in Fort Lauderdale in May, 2011. The conference will feature speakers on the latest strategies and advances toward perfecting … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Science
Tagged Cryonics, Greg Fahy, Life Extension Foundation, Suspended Animation
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Support real progress in life extension
As we start the new year, it is helpful to draw attention to the sobering fact that no credible human rejuvenation therapies are available today, and it is doubtful that such therapies will see the light of day in the … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Rejuvenation
Tagged Biogerontology, Brain Preservation, Cryonics, Nanomedicine, Rejuvenation, SENS
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Is a life worth starting? Some personal views
For life—the life of any sentient creature—to be worth living, there must, as Robert Ettinger has often said, be a preponderance of satisfaction over dissatisfaction. If this overall slant toward good rather than bad is maintained, it seems reasonable that … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Cryonics, Death, Science
Tagged Antinatalism, Cryonics, David Benatar, Forever for All, Immortalism, Mike Perry, Pessimism
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Review of ‘Better Never to Have Been’
Review of Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence by David Benatar. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 “Would that I had never been born” is a lament sometimes voiced in the depth of misfortune, a … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Cryonics, Death
Tagged Antinatalism, Arthur Schopenhauer, Better Never to Have Been, Cryonics, David Benatar, Human Enhancement, Immortalism, Mike Perry
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Non-existence is hard to do
A review of contemporary antinatalist writings Originally published in Cryonics, 2nd Quarter, 2010 (PDF) “Coming into existence is bad in part because it invariably leads to the harm of ceasing to exist.” David Benatar “If they could get a corpse … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Cryonics, Death, Neuroscience, Science, Society
Tagged Antinatalism, Consciousness, Cryonics, David Benatar, Empiricism, Free Will, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hans Reichenbach, Hard Determinism, Jim Crawford, Marquis de Sade, Max Stirner, Thomas Ligotti, Transhumanism
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At last, a sure-cold way to sell cryonics with guaranteed success!
A humorous romp through a promising new technique in aesthetic medicine from one cryonicist’s (warped) point of view. Figure 1: Before cryopreservation (L) and after cryopreservation (R). As everyone involved in cryonics for more than a fortnight is sadly aware, … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Health, Science
Tagged Adipocytes, Chilling Injury, Cosmetic Surgery, Cryobiology, Cryolipolysis, Cryonics, Hypothermia, Mike Darwin, Organ Preservation, Zeltiq
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Historical Death Meme
There’s a pretty simple explanation as to where motivated skepticism for cryonics originates. If you currently are skeptical of cryonics, you should carefully consider whether this applies. Historically, there has been a powerfully optimized meme regarding the topic known as … Continue reading
The diminishing returns of reactive medicine
In an article for Slate, Jay Olshansky argues in favor of a position that one would expect to be common sense at this point: While we can extend life in aging bodies through behavioral improvements and medical treatments, the time … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Science
Tagged Aging, Anti-Aging, Cryonics, Reactive Medicine, Rejuvenation, Rejuvenation Research, S. Jay Olshansky
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Cryonics, trans-temporal communism and future squatters
Cryonics advocate Eugen Leitl puts forward some hard-hitting and thought-provoking observations about cryonics (reminiscent of Mike Darwin’s more recent thoughts on the subject): Cryonics, like Natural Selection, or the theories of General and Special Relativity, is core-smashing in character, and … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Society
Tagged Cryonics, Eugen Leitl, Futurism, Medicine, Mike Darwin, Transhumanism
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October 2010 Cryonics Symposium in Germany
On the first weekend of October, 2010 I was an invited speaker at “Applied Cryobiology – Scientific Symposium on Cryonics” held in Goslar, Germany: http://www.biostase.de/us/symposium2010.html. The meeting was the first effort by the German Society for Applied Biostasis (DGAB) to … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Science
Tagged Bioethics, Cryoprotectant Toxicity, David Styles, Eucrio, FM-2030, Peter Gouras, Robert Ettinger, Robert Ettinger Medal
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Mark Plus on cryonics and double standards
One of the mysterious things about cryonics is that some of the arguments that are invoked against it would be considered ridiculous, or even insensitive, if they would be raised in the context of other live-saving technologies. As Alcor member … Continue reading
Thought experiments as knowledge
One of the most remarkable aspects about the ongoing debates concerning the technical feasibility of mind uploading is the excessive confidence that some people have that these issues can be resolved without further experimental validation. The (implicit) assumption seems to … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Neuroscience, Science
Tagged Cryonics, Mind Uploading, Rationalism, Thought Experiments
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Mind uploading, falsifiability and cryonics
On the cryonics discussion list Cryonet cryobiologist Brian Wowk weighed in on the topic of mind uploading in a post that merits quoting in its entirety: I read with interest Bob Ettinger’s recent remarks about Mark Gubrud’s piece in The … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Neuroscience
Tagged Brian Wowk, Cryonics, David Pizer, Falsifiability, Mind Uploading, Transhumanism
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David J. Chalmers on the Singularity, mind uploading and cryonics
If I would make an argument in favor of mind uploading (or substrate independent minds) it would not be a logical deduction from what we know about neuroscience but from what we don’t know. As one of the leading philosophers … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Neuroscience, Science
Tagged David J. Chalmers, Mind Uploading, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Substrate Independent Minds
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Ken Hayworth on straight freezing in cryonics
Ken Hayworth’s idea of promoting a fixation-based alternative to brain cryopreservation is something I am highly sympathetic to overall, and I hope some progress in this direction results from the work he is doing and trying to induce others to … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics
Tagged Brain Preservation, Chemical Fixation, Chemopreservation, Cryonics, Ken Hayworth, Nanotechnology, Plastination
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Free will versus determinism as it relates to cryonics
Excerpt from “Ben Best – A Case for Free Will AND Determinism” Determinism implies materialism — implies that consciousness is material. Cryonics is based on the premise that the preservation of the fine structure of the brain at low temperature … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Neuroscience, Science
Tagged Ben Best, Compatibilism, Cryonics, Determinism, Free Will, Roger Penrose
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