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I think this is one of those technologies that the public will wake up to if and when a small mammal is frozen and then revived.
How long till they can preserve a kidney or other solid organ?
Scientists have preserved and recovered cryogenically-frozen brains in near-perfect condition. Robert McIntyre and Gregory Fahy from 21st Century medicine were able to prevent neuron shrinkage that follows dehydration. The pair used ultrafast chemical fixation and a new cryogenic storage technique called aldehyde-stabilised …
Good catch, except that I am not sure that they actually meant to convey what you understood.
From the link:
>The result was an intact rabbit brain uniformly filled with such a high concentration of cryoprotectants that it could be vitrified solid and stored at -135 degrees Celsius.
They go on about an intact pig brain. Maybe the slicing is for dissection and required to examine the cell-level impact of the thawing?
True, but, if you are not religious, a darn sight more convincing as a future possibility than magically passing through the pearly gates if you've worshiped dutifully during your life.
I think half of the question is actually why would anyone un-thaw you in 200 years. If you are one of the very few, sure. Or if you have very specialized knowledge useful for some reason. If you are one of millions upon millions of folks and if the planet is already crowded, why exactly? Unless you have a special trust fund set up for the purpose, your friends and family will all be dead already.
Anyone remember the Twilight Zone episode (which was ripped off from a non-remunerated SF writer) where someone first gets paid to bring back the dead and then gets paid again to put them back?
the people behind the current generation of cryonics are touting future nanomachines as being able to repair the damage
Sure. That's more convincing for their particular gullible audience than "fairies and unicorns will fix you up".
I think half of the question is actually why would anyone un-thaw you in 200 years.
The texture's lousy if they just throw you into the pot frozen.
No it isn't! The investigative journalists at Robot Chicken have video proof!
Contract probably referred to the actual freezing procedure as "experimental," meaning no refund.
Besides, the big, big, big money isn't made freezing parts; it's in keeping said parts frozen year after year, decade after decade. Refunds would only apply if parts are allowed to thaw, accidentally like.
Hum..... maybe that guy who volunteered to have his head cut off, frozen, thawed and stuck on a different body - is now a little bit closer to surviving the experimental surgery! That having being said - just because the brain slices look "pristine" - that doesn't mean it would actually still perform it's functions.
Some progress in this area - and I think this research is an exciting milestone - is better than none.
Having found the right version of "antifreeze" to use on the most critical part of the body (the rest can just be cloned, after all) is the major step to making cryopreservation work.
Of course, it's up to the voters to demand that when it does work that it get included in the local equivalent of the National Health.