Cryonics Magazine- 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
- Messenger RNA Self-destruct Mechanism Revealed
- How the Brain Cell Works: A Dive Into Its Inner Network
- 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: Death
Steve Jobs’ morbid glorification of death
According to Steve Jobs, death is such a great benefit to mankind that it would have to be invented if it did not exist: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Death
Tagged Apple, Baby Boomers, Death, Herbert Marcuse, Steve Jobs
Comments Off
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
Comments Off
Paul Edwards on the fear of death
In his book God and the Philosophers, the Austrian American atheist philosopher Paul Edwards writes: When we die we do not return to the “bosom of Nature” or the bosom of anything. After death we will have no experiences at … Continue reading
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
Comments Off
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
Comments Off
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
Comments Off
Humanist death apologetics
Some contemporary atheists and secular humanists do not stop at debunking the idea of God but seem to think that making a persuasive case against religion requires them to refute all of its associated ideas as well; including the desire … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Society
Tagged Atheism, Boredom, Ethics, God, Herbert Marcuse, Humanism, Immortality, Longevity, Paula Kirby, Religion, Secular Humanism, Susan Ertz
Comments Off
Ben Best on the feasibility of cryonics at SENS3
Posted in Cryonics, Death, Science
Tagged Arrhenius Equation, Ben Best, Cerebral Ischemia, Cryobiology, Cryonics, Death, Peter Safar, Rejuvenation, SENS, Vitrification
Comments Off
The ethics of cryonics interference
Advocates of human cryopreservation argue that death is not an event but a process. Cryonics patients are stabilized at low temperatures in anticipation of a second medical opinion in the future. This raises an important ethical issue. What is the … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death, Society
Tagged Bioethics, Cryonics, Cryostasis, Do Not Resuscitate, Ethics, Hostile Relatives
Comments Off
The science of personal survival
There are various competing strategies how to achieve meaningful life extension or rejuvenation, including , but not limited to, genetic manipulation, periodical elimination of damage, caloric restriction, molecular nanotechnology and mind uploading. A useful review of these strategies has been … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death, Science
Tagged Anti-Aging, Biotechnology, Cryonics, Inductivism, Longevity Science, Mind Uploading, Molecular Nanotechnology, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Personal Survival, Rejuvenation, Research, Rudolf Carnap, Stroke
Comments Off
Brain preservation
Mind uploading advocate Kenneth Hayworth has launched an interesting website devoted to the science of brain preservation. Of particular interest is his Proposal for a Brain Preservation Technology Prize (PDF). This document includes one of the most comprehensive discussions of … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death, Neuroscience
Tagged Brain Preservation, Chemical Fixation, Chemopreservation, Cryonics, Kenneth Hayworth, Mind Uploading
Comments Off
Death is Gruesome…Cryonics Only Makes it Less So!
William Faloon is a Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer (Florida license number: F042784) Human beings are largely unaware about the gruesome nature of “death” Humans also shy away from the mutilation that occurs during hospital surgery. Hollywood films portray cryonics … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death
Tagged Alcor, Autopsy, Bill Faloon, Cremation, Cryonics, Death, Embalming, Larry Johnson, Life Extension Foundation, Ted Williams, William Faloon
Comments Off
Baby boomers confront the reaper
One question that is going to be of great interest is how aging baby boomers will confront aging and death. Where previous generations have found peace in religion and silent resignation, there are reasons to believe that this generation will … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death
Tagged Baby Boomers, Death, Epircurus, Herbert Marcuse, Immortality, Protest Generation, Robert Freitas, Secularism, Stephen Cave
Comments Off
Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator and the science of cryonics
This past weekend Motel X, the Lisbon (Portugal) International Horror festival, had its third anniversary. It is one of the smaller international horror festivals around, but this year they managed to have both Stuart Gordon, director of several Lovecraft adaptions, … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Cryonics, Death, Science
Tagged Ben Best, Cryonics, Gordon Stuart, Greg Fahy, Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest, Lisbon, Motel X, Portugal, Re-Animator, Yuri Pichugin
Comments Off
Cryonics and philosophy of science
The 2008-3 issue of Alcor’s Cryonics Magazine contains a number of articles about the pitfalls of (excessive) scientific optimism and its potential adverse effects on the organizational and practical aspects of cryonics. My own contribution contrasts cryonics as medical conservatism … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death
Tagged Cryonics, Death, Epistemology, Information-theoretic Death, Meliorism, Philosophy of Science, Singularity, Transhumanism
Comments Off
Jehovah’s witnesses and cryonics
When I was in New Zealand in 1999, CI Member Cam Christie told me that one of his co-workers was against cryonics because she was a Jehovah’s Witness and her church had a position against cryonics. I recently found an … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death
Tagged Ben Best, Cryonics, Immortality, Jehovah's Witnesses, Religion
Comments Off
5 dangerous ideas about cryonics
The cryonics organizations Alcor and the Cryonics Institute have taken great care to correct some of the persistent myths about cryonics. With so much widespread misinformation being circulated in the media it seems trivial to pay attention to some of … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death
Tagged Brian Wowk, Cryobiology, Cryonics, Human Cryopreservation, Thomas Donaldson
Comments Off
A simple method to resuscitate rats from cold circulatory arrest
This is the eighth entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. In 1982, P.D. Rogers and G.P. Webb published some of their observations (based on previous papers and … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Health, Neuroscience, Science
Tagged Audrey Smith, Death, Hypothermia, Hypoxia, Radoslav Andjus, Ultra-Profound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Resusciation of larger mammals from subzero temperatures
This is the seventh entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. After spending a few years on perfecting on Andjus’ technique for resuscitating rodents (rats and hamsters) from … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Audrey Smith, Death, Freezing, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Behavioral effects of ultraprofound hypothermia in rats
This is the sixth entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. After successfully reanimating rats from deep body temperatures of 0 – 2 degrees C and subsequent respiratory … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Death, Learning, Memory, N. Mrosovsky, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Methods to resuscitate rodents from ultraprofound hypothermia
This is the fifth entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. As we have seen, Radoslav Andjus had determined a method for achieving excellent (75-100%) recovery rates in … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Audrey Smith, Death, S.A. Goldzveig, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Robert White on brain death
Robert J. White is most known, or perhaps most notorious, for his work on primate head transplants. Less known, but more relevant to the practice of human cryopreservation, is his work in cerebral ischemia, hypothermia, and brain preservation. Most of … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death, Neuroscience
Tagged Brain Death, Cryobiology, Cryonics, Robert J. White
Comments Off
Resuscitation of rats from high subzero temperatures
This is the fourth entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. Up to this point we have discussed the groundbreaking research in the early 1950s performed by Radoslav … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Audrey Smith, Death, Radoslav Andjus, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Microwave diathermy to resuscitate hypothermic rats
This is the third entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. Andjus and Smith were delighted that they had managed to modify Andjus’ chest-wall heating technique from using … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Death, James Lovelock, Radoslav Andjus, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Improved methods for resuscitation of cold rats
This is the second entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. As discussed previously, in 1951 Radoslav Andjus developed a simple method for resuscitating rats cooled to deep … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Audrey Smith, Death, Radoslav Andjus, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Resuscitation of rodents from hypothermic circulatory arrest
This is the first entry in a series about resuscitation of non-hibernating rodents from circulatory arrest at ultraprofound hypothermic and high subzero temperatures. Prior work in hypothermia began in the early 1900s, but because cardiac and respiratory arrest were observed … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Audrey Smith, Death, Radoslav Andjus, Science, Ultraprofound Hypothermia
Comments Off
Greg Jordan on Buddhism, Epicureanism, and Immortalism
“Buddhism and Epicureanism combat the fear of death by accommodating the emotions to the reasonable certainty of death. Contemporary immortalism (which includes projects such as life extension, cryonic suspension, and universal immortalism) argues that scientific and technological solutions to the … Continue reading
Posted in Cryonics, Death
Tagged Buddhism, Cryonics, Death; Fear of Death, Epicureanism, Immortalism, Life Extension, Universal Immortalism
Comments Off
Facing death with Epicurus
James Warren is to be complimented for writing a thorough and persuasive book on Epicurean thinking about death. In Facing Death: Epicurus and his Critics, Warren offers a detailed review of Epicurus’ view that “death is nothing to us.” His … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Death
Tagged Death, Epicurus, Ethics, James Warren, Philosophy
Comments Off
Lindbergh and Carrel’s quest to live forever
It’s difficult to follow up a best-selling book about the cultural history of the penis, but David M. Friedman has a knack for engaging readers in topics that others find difficult to broach. This time he tackles the touchy subject … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Science
Tagged Alexis Carrel, Charles Lindbergh, Immortality, Isolatonism, Perfusion, Science
Comments Off
Famous preserved body parts
The website TopTenz recently published a list of the Top 10 Most Famous Preserved Body Parts. The list includes Galileo’s finger and Albert Einstein’s brain. As has been discussed on this blog before, the preservation of human brains (no matter … Continue reading
Posted in Arts & Living, Death
Tagged Albert Einstein, Benito Mussolini, Boyd Rice, Cryonics, Death, Predappio, Vitrification
Comments Off
The secular case against immortality
In 2003 George Hart published an article called “The Immortal’s Dilemma: Decontructing Eternal Life” , making a secular case against immortality. Hart mainly uses logical arguments and provides a fair amount of room to address a number of possible objections … Continue reading
Death is nothing to us
The idea that death gives meaning to life is widespread but does not reflect careful reasoning, and is often a desperate rationalization of human mortality. As a consequence, life extensionists have not been at great pains to defeat “pro-death” arguments. … Continue reading
Liberty and oblivion
In 1991 the Libertarian Alliance published an article called “Immortality: Liberty’s Final frontier” (PDF) by David Nicholas. In this article the author argues that “the continuing fact of death renders all talk of liberty ultimately futile.” The author further argues … Continue reading