| 5 dangerous ideas about cryonicsCryonics cannot be treated as one single monolithic technology and the fate of our survival depends as much on the state of the art in human cryopreservation technologies as on the competence of cryonics providers. |
| Cryonics sets example for emergency medicineAlthough the idea of eliminating ice formation at low subzero temperatures has been discussed since the beginning of cryobiology, vitrification as a serious research agenda was largely driven by the demand for ice-free preservation of the human brain. |
| Immortality and boredomThe argument that immortality will lead to boredom is not empirical, and to the extent that a logical argument is made, it is inconclusive. |
| Liberal creationism and transhumanismOvercoming nature through technology may turn out to be more empowering for academics and public policy makers than the average individual as it will generate a never ending stream of excuses (new or revised concepts of “market failure” and “public goods”) for government intervention. |
| Dietary supplements induce neurogenesis after strokeA recent study in Rejuvenation Research reports that a combination of dietary supplements confer neuroprotection in stroke. Rats treated with the dietary supplements scored better on behavioral tests, had less histological damage, and showed evidence of neurogenesis. |
| Thomas Donaldson on cryonics and anti-agingIn his article “Why Cryonics Will Probably Help You More Than Antiaging” (2004), cryonics activist Thomas Donaldson contrasts cryonics with antiaging as a means to life extension and argues that a major advantage of cryonics is that cryobiology research can move at a much faster pace than anti-aging research, especially as it pertains to humans. |
| Cryonics as an elective medical procedureThe criticism that delays between pronouncement of legal death and start of cryonics procedures will cause irreversible injury to the brain is unfair because it treats the current social and legal obstacles to perform better stabilization of cryonics patients as an intrinsic element of cryonics itself. |
| Curing aging does not make cryonics redundantMost life extensionists and transhumanists do not buy into many of the myths about cryonics. But one perspective that is sometimes voiced by futurists is that cryonics is a rational backup plan until aging is cured. This position has some serious shortcomings and potentially lethal implications. |
| Enbrel reverses Alzheimer’s cognitive deficitsThe latest issue of Life Extension Magazine (August 2008) contains an encouraging report about off-label use of etanercept (commercial name: Enbrel) to reverse the cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease. |
| Selection bias and dietary supplementsOne problem in assessing the merits of taking a specific dietary supplement (ranging from vitamins to exotic multi-ingredient compounds) is widespread selection bias in the documentation that is supposed to support the use of the supplement in question. |
| Vitrification agents in cryonicsIt is doubtful if the state of the art in vitrification in cryobiological research would be where it is today without the incentives provided by cryonics to search for a cryoprotectant that enables reversible vitrification of the brain without ice formation and minimal toxicity. |
| Teaching futurism to children and teensTalking about the future, inspires young children, stimulates their imagination—and then as they grow and become young adults, they’ll still have that foundation within to call on as they must make important and sometimes painful life decisions. |
| Right and wrong lessons from biologyThe right lessons for nanotechnology to learn from biology might not always be the obvious ones, but there’s no doubting their importance. Can the traffic ever go the other way – will there be lessons for biology to learn from nanotechnology? |
| Radical life extension and information-theoretic deathPerhaps the most realistic proposal to reduce the probability of information-theoretic death would be to separate the neurological basis of the person from its body in such a fashion that the risk of complete destruction of the person would become negligible. |
| Singularity economics and the future of moneyOne interesting question is how future advances in science and human nature will impact the monetary system. Two developments that may have a substantial impact on the future of money are molecular nanotechnology and the stability of governments. |
| Coming soon (or not)For those who might prefer a less dramatic discussion of The Singularity, IEEE Spectrum, is running a special report on the subject in its June edition. |
| Why is cryonics so unpopular?The view that acceptance of cryonics is being held back by the perception that it is not technically feasible is hard to reconcile with the observation that increased technical progress in cryonics does not translate into rapid membership growth. |
| Does Alcor "Gott" much of a future?While cryonicists have acknowledged in principle that our organizations might have to keep patients (namely, ourselves) in cryosuspension for centuries, in practice they have tended to run cryonics societies in ways that don't inspire much confidence in their long-term survival |
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