"The Immortals" - Documentary by Inka Achté

Not the best documentary I’ve seen pertaining to human cryopreservation, but not the worst either.

The documentary was arty, and definitely trying to make a point, and the point intended is that the subject is full of bittersweet beauty and meandering philosophical reflection, when this is about as true of a cryonics case as it is of CPR.

Scenes are interspersed with shots of gently wafting curtains, drops of water falling, etc. There is a soft, slow, tinkling musical refrain that comes and goes throughout, which while pleasant, suggests that we’re all dying more readily than we are; indeed, one may be forgiven for expecting to see a short text exposé at the end of the documentary, letting the viewer know when each of us died.

Unfortunately little attention to detail, such as spelling more people’s names incorrectly than correctly in the credits, which in and of itself is by-the-by, but I must wonder what else was given little attention.

Editing (so not sure for how much of this Inka was to blame as camera operator / director, and for how much of it the editor, Livia Serpa) left something to be desired in terms of objectivity. As an example, in one scene I am giving a group a tour of Cryonics UK's ambulance. Now, I started the tour with the various critical systems, and finished off with a small few odds and ends (washbasin, first aid kit, gloves for handling dry ice, etc), so deciding to clip down the scene, which part does she choose to show? You guessed it, the latter. So, after showing me ostensibly giving a tour ranging from the washbasin to the gloves, I ask the group if they have any questions before having a look around by themselves; there are not (because I was quite thorough), but the lack of questions makes it look like my talk from the washbasin to the gloves satisfied anything that anybody present might possibly want to know about the systems of the ambulance.

(For the record, what was missed out included the various power systems, refrigeration equipment, oxygen supply plumbing, spare oxygen cylinders, the portable ice bath, deployment mechanisms (ramp, tilt functions, winch, etc), multi-level security system redundancies (the system B to which we switch of system A fails, the system C after that, etc), but this was all skipped in favour of making it look like we're excited about having a sink and a first aid kit.

Interestingly, I am also shown priming the perfusion circuit, and for unstated reasons, she has adjusted the apparent ambient lighting, making what was actually a fairly well-lit clinic room (the same one you've perhaps seen in photos on the CUK website at http://www.cryonics-uk.com ) look like a dark and mysterious place where I am demonstrating arcane equipment to a crowd of hushed onlookers.

Editing; judicious use of certain pieces of film, and juxtaposition of doleful scenes of cloudy skies and dull-looking houses, makes the three main featured interviewees look like impending death is the primary focus of these people, when in many ways quite the opposite is true.

I think it likely that much of this was an issue of confirmation bias; Inka had an idea of how she wanted the finished product to look, and then used every tool in the toolbox to create that image from what was filmed.

Compare and contrast with Murray Ballard's excellently objective photo documentary, all so recently. Other documentary makers have very high standards to reach to achieve what he has, in something that is objective, a real good-and-bad overview, that presents a very real feel of both the parts and the whole of the global "community" of this field, from pensioners in living rooms to medics in shiny hi-tech places, and much of what is in between, while being not only qualifying as art, but also being accurately informative, and an honest representation.

No, I'm not aware of Inka's documentary film being available on the internet at this time. It was produced for a film festival; I merely have the DVD.

Information about Murray's documentary can be found easily enough here: http://www.impressions-gallery.com/events/event.php?id=177 and the exhibition of his work remains open in Bradford for a couple of months yet.

SA Conference and Young Cryonicists Meeting

From the organisers:

The 2011 Teens & Twenties focus group for young cryonicists was originally scheduled to be a weekend in February, but the date has now been changed to Thursday evening, May 19 and all day Friday, May 20. The new dates will allow those attending the Teens & Twenties event to also attend a Suspended Animation, Inc. confe...rence being held on the weekend of May 20 to May 22. Forty scholarships to pay US airfare, lodging, and meals will be available to young cryonicists who have funding and contracts in place for cryopreservation with a cryonics organization. The scholarships cover all costs, not only of the Teens & Twenties event, but of the Suspended Animation conference. Young cryonicists not living in the United States are also welcome to apply, but may be required to pay some of the airfare above what airfare might be from a destination in the USA. First preference is being given to qualified young cryonicists who did not attend the 2010 event. Application forms can be requested from Kathy Marshall kmarshall@lifeextension.com (954) 202-7702

I went to this last year (and will go to it this year again). Worthwhile especially for those who do not already know everyone in cryonics.

Click here for more information

EUCRIO, ImmIntel, SL

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Immintel/166/105/122

A nice spot.

TransVision 2010, Milano

From my abstract:

Standby, stabilisation, and transport are all very important parts of human cryopreservation. The more time that elapses between cardiac arrest and cryopreservation, the more damage will occur.

Hence the importance of standby – having a team of trained personnel on hand at the patient’s bedside to begin the stabilisation process as quickly as possible. An average standby, statistically, lasts for around ten days. Three days is considered a very short standby, and twenty days is considered very long. The period during which standby is being performed can also be used for ensuring that any bureaucratic issues are foreseen and circumvented, that all paperwork is in place for the patient, before deanimation and subsequent stabilisation occur.

Stabilisation in this context refers to the following: continuation of cardiac support, insertion of medications appropriate to cryopreservation; this includes anti-coagulants, blood-thinners, vasoconstrictors, volume-increasing agents, and pH buffers, amongst others; such is followed by the replacing of the patient’s blood with a medical cryoprotectant, such that the patient may be vitrified rather than frozen, in that as little as possible freezing should be allowed to occur, even with the very low temperatures involved; firstly at dry ice temperatures, and later at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Without these arrangements, cellular degradation will have been more advanced than with them. Also, upon cooling down to very low temperatures, freezing damage is likely to occur. This causes considerable harm to the patient, deemed to be greater than any harm caused even by potentially toxic cryoprotectants. It is noted that the toxicity of these cryoprotectants can be regulated, and is also lowered at lower temperatures.

Transport is the third main element in this process, and is also an issue of critical importance. With good organisation, prior planning, and secure arrangements, a patient can be delivered at dry ice temperatures to their long term care facility within a couple of days. A period of a couple of days for total transport time is quite acceptable, and about the same time as it often takes to get a patient from one part of America to another, if they are passing state borders. Without good preparations for transport, it will be very difficult for a patient to get safely to their destination, and often unacceptable delays are incurred ranging up to weeks.

In the European Union, currently there have been little to no formal arrangements for any of this to occur. In the UK, capabilities have ranged from poor to fair over the years depending on personnel, and outside of the UK, few countries have made even that much progress. Most local cryonics support groups have been able to render only bureaucratic assistance to their members, hiring and instructing funeral directors to arrange shipping of the patient. Even in the UK, assistance has only ever been based on a voluntary mutual-assistance arrangement, and as such has never been guaranteed.

A need is evident, therefore, for a professional full-time cryonics standby, stabilisation, and transport service, throughout the European Union. This must give Europeans the care that they need prior to arrival at the long-term storage facility of their choice, and to ensure that they arrive there in the best possible condition.

To this end, an organisational solution has now been implemented. This development has rendered it such that European cryonicists may avail themselves of such a service, and thus enjoy a greatly enhanced chance of optimal cryopreservation, with what can reasonably be assumed to be better chance of earlier, safer, restoration to viability.

On this occasion, I didn't travel out to Milano as originally intended, as my wife seemed to be going into early labour (she then didn't, but it seemed likely enough that birth was imminent that I was disinclined to travel more than necessary), so I gave my talk remotely, instead.

As is commonly the case, video was made - alas, the internet connection of the person making the video was not sufficient that it was able to load my later slides.

That notwithstanding, the video is here:

Mailshot sent out re EUCRIO launch

I sent out this email today (should you want the documents mentioned in the email, then please by all means find me at david@eucrio.eu and I will be happy to send you copies):

Dear all,

I'd like to draw your attention to the official launch of EUCRIO, which is the first company to offer professional cryonics standby, stabilisation, and transport services to the European demographic.

EUCRIO offers these services to those who already have personal cryopreservation arrangements with any of the three main cryonics long term care providers (Alcor, CI, KrioRus), but in the case of someone who has no such arrangements, we would be happy to assist them in making such, at no charge and with no obligation being placed upon that person.

You might want to know about EUCRIO's capabilities; as such I direct you to our website, information from which is also included in an attached PDF document.

Equally, you might want to know about EUCRIO's costs, which are comparable to those of Suspended Animation Inc (with whom we are not in competition, and in fact from whom we have been pleased to receive advice and assistance over the course of the past year that we have been preparing this organisation). To this end, regarding costs, there is also attached information.

While we are now officially launched, and will already take on members, we commence full operations on November the 1st. As we are taking on members already, I have included membership application forms with this email too, for those who wish to proceed to the next step already.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, and I'll be very happy to talk with you.

Warm regards,

Eternally,

David Styles

General Manager,
EUCRIO

www.eucrio.eu

(website already available in many European languages - the rest will be there very soon)

German Symposium for Applied Biostasis

I was pleased to speak at this German conference on applied biostasis.

My presentation was focussed on unveiling EUCRIO, a new development for cryonics standby, stabilisation, and transport, throughout the European Union.

As such, my talk concerned logistics, though I touched on science. Mostly, I left the science for the scientists, of whom there were plenty in the room.

Feedback included:

How can you charge so much?
How can you charge so little?
Too much marketing information!
Not enough marketing information!

Sometimes it can be fun to try to integrate everybody's wishes into a presentation, in such a fashion.

However, I was pleased to field questions both immediately after my presentation, and in an ongoing fashion through the rest of my time in Goslar (the location of the symposium). I was also interviewed by an Italian TV crew, while there.

By doing these talks all over the place, I've been building up something of a FAQ in addition to the FAQ on the EUCRIO website.

It is my intention to make a series of YouTube videos (and, thus, also blog posts), addressing these.

It was good also to see Cryonics Institute President Ben Best's talks, "Cryonics: Introduction" and "Cryonics: Technical Challenges", which are now available to watch:

www.biostase.de

EUCRIO launches!

www.eucrio.eu

EUCRIO is the company providing cryonics emergency standby, stabilisation, and transport services, across the European Union.

Many Europeans have noticed that they have not enjoyed the same benefits as Americans when it comes to cryonics services, and thus have worried that they will not get the medical help that they need when they most need it, or get where they need to be when they most need to be there - or at all.

We have changed that now.

Our professionally trained teams will attend a call to "stand by" a terminally diagnosed patient's bedside, secure a pronouncement of legal death as soon as such is possible, perform initial cool-down while giving medications and continuing cardiac support throughout to avoid blood clots and circulate the medications properly; we will then provide a vitrification service to the patient, so that wherever possible, freezing damage will not occur. Finally, we cool down the patient to dry ice temperatures, and send them safely on their way to whichever of the three main cryonics storage service providers they have chosen, for the final cool-down to liquid nitrogen temperatures and long-term care.

If you are the kind of person who has had the foresight to make arrangements for personal cryonics services, then you are the rare kind of person who thinks and plans ahead, and invests in your own future.

Before EUCRIO, cases came to our attention wherein the patient had been waiting for a while on dry ice before any assistance came to them. Invariably such patients had no arrangements for standby, stabilisation, or transport, and relied on friends and relatives, to make necessary arrangements at the last minute, which invariably took them longer than expected. These cryonicists suffered far from perfect cryopreservations; often a "straight freeze" with no other preparations, for example, since that was all that could be done by the time help was found.

This is not what we want for you, and we're sure it's not what you want for yourself or your loved ones either.

To that end, we present EUCRIO - European Union Cryonics Rapid Intervention Organisation - and offer professionally trained staff, state-of-the-art medical equipment, specialised vitrification solutions, strong infrastructure and organisation, and in short everything needed to make your transition from terminal illness to long-term cryonics care as safe and secure as possible.

Preserving your life is our reason for being.

www.eucrio.eu

Report on CUK training

I had written this in advance:

Details for the next meeting,
Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th of September 2010


Times will be: 11:00 - 17:00 Saturday, 10:00 - 16:00 Sunday.

Attendance is free of charge.

The meeting will be hosted at our HQ, whose address is:
7 Greenfield Drive
Greenhill
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S8 7SL

Like last meeting, our focus will primarily be on hands-on training, mostly down in the clinic room but some out in the ambulance as well. Training modules that will be covered in addition to the above will include:

Medical Distribution System (MDS)
Portable Ice Bath (PIB), squid, and Cardiopulmonary Support (CPS)
Air Transport Perfusion (ATP)
Ambulance use and functions
Dry Ice Shipper
We will also be introducing one new training segment not listed above.

It's especially important that we all keep up to date with this training, as we are a mutual assistance volunteer standby team. We need as many members as possible to be sufficiently skilled in doing these things that they can join the team.

There will be some discussion elements also to do with present and future progress with the organisation, though at this early time a specific agenda regarding the discussion aspect of the weekend is yet to be set.

If you would kindly let me know if you'd like to attend, that would help me greatly in terms of logistics! My email address is ds@cryonics-uk.com - Many thanks.

Warm regards,

Eternally,

David Styles (Organiser)
+44 7706 149 771

PS, here are some directions and hotel suggestions from Tim, our host for the weekend:
Sheffield Park Hotel, 2 mins away, www.pedersenhotels.com
Beauchief Abbey House, 5 mins away, www.beauchiefabbeyhouse.co.uk
Beauchief Hotel, 5 mins away, www.beauchief-hotel.com
Travelodge Richmond, 10 mins away, www.travelodge.co.uk
City centre, 15 mins away:
Travelodge Central, www.travelodge.co.uk
Premier Inn, www.premierinn.com
Ibis Hotel, www.accorhotels.com
And many more, just google!

Time and mileage saving tip:
If traveling from the South up the M1, exit at J29 and head for Chesterfield. When you reach Chesterfield take the A61 to Sheffield. When you hit the Sheffield ring road, you will be at a roundabout with a cricket club on your left and an Audi dealership on your right. Take a left at the roundabout, then first right (Greenhill Avenue), first left (Greenfield Road) and first left again (Greenfield Drive). It's the first house on the left with tall boxy hedges.
If coming up the A1 or down the M1, exit at J33 and take the A630 towards the city centre. Leave the A630 for the A6102 ring road and head towards Chesterfield. Look out for the Audi dealership on your left, go straight over at that roundabout, then first right (Greenhill Avenue), first left (Greenfield Road) and first left again (Greenfield Drive). It's the first house on the left with tall boxy hedges.

---

The weekend was useful and productive, and we finished up once again with doing several run-through scenarios with the team / trainees.

The process is getting pretty tight now, with shorter time taken to do things, and in the final one no errors. I think this is a good way to train.

Introduction to EUCRIO on YouTube

Cryonics UK Exposition with Saul Kent and Catherine Baldwin

I had posted this, in advance:

Cryonics UK European Exposition
with Saul Kent + Catherine Baldwin
Thursday, September 23, 2010 • 12:00pm - 6:00pm, Sheffield • function room at the Sheffield Park Hotel

Cryonics UK exposition / European workshop with some very noteworthy guests from America who wish to meet as many cryonicists (especially Europeans) as possible at this event.

Catherine Baldwin (General Manager, Suspended Animation, Inc.) and Saul Kent (CEO, Suspended Animation, Inc.; Director, Alcor; Co-Founder, Cryonics Society of New York; Co-Founder, Life Extension Foundation; Co-Founder and Director, 21st Century Medicine; Co-Founder and Director, BioMarker Pharmaceuticals; Co-Founder, Timeship Project) will be in attendance, and are looking forward to meeting as many European cryonicists as possible while here.

On this day, we will mostly not be at our usual location, our HQ, but nearby in a hired function room at the Sheffield Park Hotel, a pleasant four star venue around the corner from our HQ. The day will however also include a brief tour of our HQ.

The purpose of the event is severalfold; to allow European cryonicists to meet and ask questions of Saul and Catherine, and also to allow Saul and Catherine to get to know a little better what we do over here and how we do it.

To this end, there will be open discussion time, some short structured presentations (Cryonics UK training, Cryonics in Europe, etc), a tour of our clinic and ambulance, and some social element too.

Attendance is free of charge, as the costs of the event (venue and catering) will be paid by kind sponsorship from Suspended Animation Inc.

If you would kindly let me know if you'd like to attend, that would help me greatly in terms of logistics! My email address is ds@cryonics-uk.com – Many thanks.

Warm regards,

Eternally,

David Styles (Organiser)
+44 7706 149 771

---

The day was pleasant and successful.

I gave a presentation on the topic of CUK, and a presentation on the topic of EUCRIO. A video of CUK training was shown, tours were given of the CUK clinic, bulky equipment storage space, and ambulance. There was a CUK equipment show-and-tell.

Many small peripheral meetings were made; some purely social, and some quite productive.

We were joined by people from England, Scotland, Wales, France, Poland, Finland, and America. Apologies if I missed any countries out; I am writing this somewhat after the fact, and will simply change the date to cause this post to appear in the correct part of the blog.

On a note of light entertainment, a chef obsessed with the hope of discovering that cryonics is a financial scam hired a young man to come and spy on us. The fellow in question dutifully reported that I seem to be a nice fellow, and am not a slick salesman at all, and that there were no attempts whatsoever to sell anything to him.

Of course, this didn't deter the obsessed chef, but I guess his epistemology is much like that of "Creationist Science", in which evidence is only worth considering when it fits the result you hope to find. And if there is no evidence, then make imaginative guesses and then hold them as beliefs.

EUCRIO presentation at Cryonics Institute AGM.

I made a presentation regarding EUCRIO at this year's AGM of the Cryonics Institute.

My presentation was well-received, and I received many well-wishes, and enquiries regarding EUCRIO's services.

I also made some useful new connections, enjoyed spending some time with some old friends, and benefited from other people's presentations at the AGM.

Of particular interest to me was the research update from Aschwin and Chana de Wolf, of Advanced Neural Biosciences Inc, regarding the effects of various perfusates on warm and cold ischemia (they have been rat brain perfusion studies).

CI's 100th Patient

CI’s 100th patient was brought to the facility by his son.

I accompanied CI President Ben Best in preparing the cooling equipment, that is to say allowing liquid nitrogen access to the enclosed space where liquid nitrogen is sprayed over the patient (who is protected by a thermally insulated sleeping bag). During the preparation stage, liquid nitrogen is sprayed through the space the patient will soon be occupying. The temperature is carefully continuously monitored throughout this process, and also throughout the later cool-down of the patient.

The son brought the patient in; the patient had been cooled already to below -83˚C, and was now lying in a body bag in a Ziegler container, the space between the two being filled with many blocks of dry ice. The son had stopped on the way up to pick up more, to guard against the sublimation of dry ice compromising his father’s safety. The Ziegler container itself was insulated by thick foam blocks that had been fastened around it.

Upon arrival, we removed the outer casing of foam and the lid of the Ziegler container, and took out as much of the dry ice as possible without moving the patient. We then transferred the container to a fork lift truck, and from the fork lift truck to the ground.

A back-board with an insulated sleeping bag on it was produced, and we set about the task of transferring the patient from the container into the sleeping bag. To do this, we first took out as much of the remaining dry ice as possible (although we had removed all the blocks already, there were very many small pieces between the patient’s body and the bottom edges of the Ziegler container), and then adjusted his position along the horizontal plane, so as to ensure he was in no manner attached to the base of the container, before lifting him out, which was accomplished by inclining the container somewhat and transferring him manually to the sleeping bag. We then zipped the sleeping bag up, and placed some dry ice around the patient’s head while Andy (CI Facility Manager Andy Zawacki) ran a cord in a criss-cross fashion around the sleeping bag and back-board, once they had been placed on a gurney.

We then wheeled the patient around to the cooling apparatus, from which position he was lifted by winch, and then lowered into place, for the lengthy process that would be his cool-down from dry ice temperatures, to liquid nitrogen temperatures, before being placed in an LN2 cryostat.

Congratulations to Marta Sandberg

CI Director Marta Sandberg was re-elected on this day, winning first place in the election with a strong majority of votes.

My hearty congratulations to her. A good woman doing a good job.

EUCRIO is hiring.

In the following countries:

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

The following positions are being filled:

(Note: "the country in which operating" is assumed to be your own country. If you are prepared to travel, at the company's expense, to nearby countries if requested, then the same language requirements will apply to the country in which you are agreeing to work)

Team Leader

You will manage a private paramedical terminal care support team, which will include standing by in a hospital, and when required to provide care, ensure that the company's protocol is followed. Leadership ability is essential; a background in medical or paramedical services is ideal but not required as full training will be given. You must be able to fluently speak the language of country in which operating and English. Work will be "as required", with assignments given at short notice, and pay will be a daily rate plus travel and accommodation expenses. Ideal as supplemental work for an existing or former team manager of any field.

Team Post-Mortem Surgeon

You will work as part of a private paramedical terminal care support team, which will include standing by in a hospital, and when required to provide care, you will raise and encannulate the carotid arteries in a post-mortem patient. Other similar surgical duties may occasionally be required as the case demands, for example occasionally femoral encannulation will be requested instead of carotid. To this end, a surgical background is essential. It is essential that you have the ability to fluently speak either the language of country in which operating or English (preferably both). Work will be "as required", with assignments given at short notice, and pay will be a daily rate, open to negotiation, plus travel and accommodation expenses. Ideal as supplemental work for an existing or former surgeon, mortician, or embalmer.

Team Perfusionist

You will work as part of a private paramedical terminal care support team, which will include standing by in a hospital, and when required to provide care, you will perfuse the post-mortem patient in the manner prescribed by the company's protocol. Full training in the company's protocol, and the use of the company's equipment and perfusates, will be given, but you should have a background in perfusion, embalming, or a closely related field. It is essential that you have the ability to fluently speak either the language of country in which operating or English (preferably both). Work will be "as required", with assignments given at short notice, and pay will be a daily rate, open to negotiation, plus travel and accommodation expenses. Ideal as supplemental work for an existing or former perfusionist or embalmer.

Team Medic

You will work as part of a private paramedical terminal care support team, which will include standing by in a hospital, and when required to provide care, you will administer medications in the manner prescribed by the company's protocol (this will include IV lines, intra-osseous infusion, and oesophageal insertions). Full training in the company's protocol, and the use of the company's equipment and medications, will be given, but you should have a background in the administration of medicines. It is essential that you have the ability to fluently speak either the language of country in which operating or English (preferably both). Work will be "as required", with assignments given at short notice, and pay will be a daily rate plus travel and accommodation expenses. Ideal as supplemental work for an existing or former paramedic or nurse.

Team Recorder (Audio-Visual)

You will work as part of a private paramedical terminal care support team, which will include standing by in a hospital, and when required to provide services, you will record the proceedings by means of audio-visual recording. This will be for quality assurance purposes, and not for publication. It is essential that you have the ability to fluently speak either the language of country in which operating or English (preferably both). Work will be "as required", with assignments given at short notice, and pay will be a daily rate plus travel and accommodation expenses. Ideal as supplemental work for an existing or former documentary film-maker or camera operator.


Team Recorder (Photographer)

You will work as part of a private paramedical terminal care support team, which will include standing by in a hospital, and when required to provide services, you will record the proceedings by means of still photography. This will be for quality assurance purposes, and not for publication. It is essential that you have the ability to fluently speak either the language of country in which operating or English (preferably both). Work will be "as required", with assignments given at short notice, and pay will be a daily rate plus travel and accommodation expenses. Ideal as supplemental work for an existing or former documentary photographer.

Lawyer (Consultant)

You will be available for periodic consultations regarding the law of your country of operation and its effect on all areas of our business. You will be able to speak English and the language of the country in which you are operating. You will have a background that includes one or more of the following: international law, conflict of laws, European Union law, contract law, tort law (experience with this latter field in the context of medical and/or mortuary practice will be especially useful). Consultations will be as required, and fees will be negotiable.

To apply for any of the above, please express your interest by emailing your CV / resumé and a short covering letter to david@eucrio.eu to arrange an interview.

Cryonics UK Training with Ben Best

Time is short and this weekend had a lot of content, so rather than report at length, I'll direct you to Ben Best's account of this Cryonics UK training weekend, as published in Long Life magazine:

http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/september10/CUK_training.pdf

Society for Cryobiology Annual Conference

This was, incidentally, the first public representation of EUCRIO by my good self.

---

Time is short and this conference was long, so I'm going to talk about one particular presentation I enjoyed seeing.

Specifically, regarding cryopreparation techniques used for transmission microscopy, which include chemical fixing followed by slicing into 150+/-50nm slices.

Logically this bodes well for the plans of the Brain Preservation Society, though results have included cells horribly lysed in some samples as well as cells preserved intact, albeit in parts internally damaged. If the purpose is to create a map (as in the transmission electron microscopy, such as could be used for keeping a record of the brain) rather than restore the cell to viability (as in cryonics), this is just fine.

I would draw a parallel to someone who has suffered brain damage due to oxygen starvation; the cells aren't properly functional, but still there and in tact.

I realise this is a somewhat tenuous analogy since the cells in a brain-damaged patient are viable whereas the fixed and sliced cells now frozen are not, this is irrelevant if the object is to record, rather than directly restore.

The upshot of all this (my conclusion, not that of the speaker) is that whole brain emulation could mean that someone's recorded brain could conceivably have its data "fed into" an artificially created brain (be it cloned, bioprinted, or even non-biological) and jump-started top effectively boot up the having-been-preserved person's mind (with the assumption of the validity of the premise of anatomical basis of mind, such that the mind is a function of the information communication in the brain).

Cryonics training in Portugal

I recently gave training to the Alcor Portugal group, who are beginning to get equipped to perform local (Portugal and Spain) Cryonics emergency standby, stabilisation, and transport.

So far, their equipment runs to a PIB, thumper, and air compressor - bare bones basic stuff, but much more is on the way.

The PIB is of the design used by the Oregon Cryonics local assistance group, built by a local fabricator following to-the-millimetre specifications from the US. Upon seeing it, I was somewhat envious of its very shiny professional appearance, compared to Cryonics UK's seasoned old wood-and-plastic PIB that has seen action in I don't know how many suspensions.

I made an observation that with the side bars in place all around the PIB, there was insufficient room to slide the thumper in and not have its operations obstructed by the horizontal bars. After some experimentations with positioning of the thumper, it was decided to take the bars out at the part where the thumper slides in, such that it has a gap in the side at that part to allow the thumper room to get in as far as the necessary part of the patient's chest, as the CUK PIB does.

Removing these bars thus went on a to-to list, and later on we tested the structural integrity of the PIB (still with all the sides in place and unaltered at this stage) by part filling it with water (part filling as naturally water without ice is slightly more dense than ice water).

The PIB failed this testing process; the central folding part of the base board folded the wrong way under the pressure, and the aluminium bars bent out of shape.

Apparently the fabricator, a hefty fellow, had tested it by jumping up and down in it, and it had been fine, but clearly the water weight proved too much for it.

To this end, the existing PIB will be fixed, reinforced, and re-tested; and also a new PIB will be constructed after CUK's design.

Everything will be tested as rigorously as needs be, before going into action with any of it.

The thumper, a Michigan Instruments 1004, can run directly from the air compressor, which itself will run from a car cigarette lighter for non-ambulance vehicle use (say for example, if a van were used in an emergency).

Given the lack of other equipment on-hand as yet, other less hands-on instruction was given in the form of a keynote presentation, some videos, and a show-and-tell slide session, to give an overview of the whole standby, stabilisation, and transport process.

This took the best part of one day, and though I stayed from Friday to Monday, the other time was taken up with various related prep-work, about which I'll not blog for now but rather update the world on that and some other work I've been doing, in a couple of months' time.

While as yet small, the local group in Portugal has a lot of commitment and for that and other reasons I see them going very far.

Zoll Autopulse purchased

http://www.zoll.com/medical-products/cardiac-support-pump/autopulse/

For any unfamiliar, this item is the Rolls-Royce of (very!) transportable and efficient automated cardiac support.

Way better than the LUCAS Chest Compression System and incomparably preferable to the Michigan Instruments Thumper.

Provides compression all around chest instead of just at one point, and automatically measures the patient's chest's resistance, so that it neither over- nor under-compresses (either could cause significant damage). No clumsy compressed air cylinders to worry about, as it's powered by batteries. No careful calibration needed, as with the Michigan Instruments thumper and friends, as it calibrates itself automatically.



The most expensive machine in the kit, but with three times the survival rate (compared to other CPR/CPS solutions) in hospital use, at what price a life?

Too long have cryonics patients (over here, away from the field of operations of Suspended Animation Inc) not had the best chances. That's all changing now.

"Cryonics: What, Why, and How" at Oxford University

I had the pleasure recently of speaking to a group of 60 or so engineers, scientists, and philosophers at Oxford University, having been invited by Alex Flint of the Oxford Transhumanists group.

I had been asked to give an overview of cryonics in general, and the situation regarding cryonics in the UK in particular. This was quite pleasing to deliver, given the various recent positive developments in our area.

I called the presentation "Cryonics: what, why, and how" and set about answering those questions;

* What cryonics is - with an emphasis on outlining the basics in fashion that makes clear the premises
* Why cryonics, despite the fact a (fully developed) human has not (yet) been brought back from cryosuspension, is a demonstrably viable medical procedure
* How cryonics is implemented - with a focus on the (now good and rapidly excelling) situation in the UK

In terms of how I went about the above, I will give only a nutshell version notes here, but:

An important part of the "what" included my adjustment to the standard definition of cryonics; I redefined cryonics thus:

"Cryonics is the science of using lowered temperatures to suspend the biochemical processes that would otherwise further harm the body of a (legally) dead person."

This is an improvement on previous definitions that have generally involved such terms as "suspending the body of a..." which is not very clear and leaves room for ambiguity. It is much clear to elucidate what exactly is being "suspended", using the word in a more meaningful fashion.

It is also an improvement on definitions that just say "dead" rather than "(legally) dead". The term "dead" is remarkably nebulous if one does not include some kind of qualifier. By loose definitions, many people "come back from the dead" if they suffer clinical death that is successfully reversed by the application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Note well: if such a person (who was clinically dead and reanimated by CPR) had enjoyed the benefit of a doctor on the scene who noted the clinical death and pronounced him dead, then he would have been not only clinically dead but also legally dead as well - so, just like a cryonics patient. And, just like the cryonics patient, he had a good chance of revival if given the necessary treatment (in his case, CPR; in the case of a cryonics patient, CPS, cooling in a PIB, administration of medications, perfusion, and further cooling).

It also is a better definition than most because it omits the common "in the hope that future medical technology will be able to restore them to health"; since this is something that comes after cryonics, and is not cryonics itself, so why has it been previously included in the definition of cryonics? It is rather unreasonable to suggest that the definition of something should include mention of in what ways it is not the panacea that it never claimed to be.

One does not define a quadruple heart bypass surgery as "the process of disconnecting the heart of a terminally ill person and plumbing it back in again, this time attached with bits of leg, in the hope that medical care afterwards will be able to restore them to health".

So why has cryonics previously suffered such shoddy defining? The answer is obvious, and is analogous to how if you had performed CPR prior to the 1950s you'd have been arrested for molesting a corpse (which would also be a poor definition of that activity, by the way).

As for why cryonics is (despite a (fully developed) human not (yet) being returned from cryopreservation) a demonstrably viable medical procedure, I point to the obvious and abundant proofs of principle; including, but not limited to:

* Cryopreservation and later rewarming of human embryos such that the survival rate of cryopreserved embryos is quite good
* Studies demonstrating that time spent in cryopreservation does not affect the viability of stored embryos
* Studies in which small mammals (eg rats) have been suspended around freezing temperatures and restored to viability
* Studies in which large mammals (eg dogs) have been suspended to close to freezing temperatures and restored to viability
* A case study in which a dog was suspended below zero degrees Celsius and restored to viability
* Case studies of comatose patients that demonstrate that brain functions can cease totally and yet still be restarted later without extensive memory loss
* The fact that it has been demonstrated by example that an organ can be vitrified, rewarmed, and transplanted with viability.

Regards to the "how" element, I focussed on my own field, that of the standby, stabilisation, and transport side of cryonics services, being less qualified to speak on the finer details of the cool-down between -96 and -196 degrees, as the last my side of the work sees of the patient is at dry ice temperatures rather than liquid nitrogen (which is performed at the facility of the patient's chosen long term storage provider).

I gave an overview of the start-to-finish of the SST process, and spoke briefly on what occurs thereafter.

As part of the explanation of the SST process, I talked the audience through the following parts:

* Cardiac arrest
* Resuscitation failure
* Continued cardiopulmonary support (Michigan Instruments / Ambu-CardioPump / Zoll AutoPulse)
* PIB and squid
* Medications (and meds support kit use; IVs, F.A.S.T intra-osseous infuser, CombiTube, etc)
* Transport in specialised ambulance
* Washout and perfusion with vitrification solution (benefits cf. other solutions such as 8M glycerol, or even simply mRPS-2, as these had been our options prior to the availability of CI VM-1 in the UK)
* Further cool-down to -96 degrees
* Transport in Sinclair dry ice shipper

With respect to the final preparations made at the other end, I skirted through these briefly, and mainly used that section to talk about the very promising likelihood of viability, citing various studies that demonstrate this.

As I had the slides to hand from a previous speaking engagement, I also made mention of some peripheral aspects of CUK's recent activities, situations in the media, etc.

I additionally touched on the progressive implementation of reliable cryonics emergency standby, stabilisation, and transport capabilities through Europe, something that has been very slow progress but is very soon about to accelerate very rapidly indeed.

Upon coming to what would be the end of my talk, it occurred to me that I had not addressed any of the philosophical considerations, and spoken only of the engineering and scientific aspects. To this end, I gave a short overview of the various common philosophical objections to cryonics, and demonstrated how each of those objections was based on bad logic - contrariwise highlighting how the logical arguments in favour of cryopreservation are pretty much unassailable.

I thereafter fielded questions on the topic I had covered, and also on a few that I hadn't, but are peripheral to cryonics (such as uploading, and suchlike).

Some very insightful questions from members of the audience, addressing sociological aspects that tend to pass most people by. As the evening's primary topic (cryonics: what, why, and how) had attracted a lot of interest, I ended up in a very productive dialogue with the audience that took me up the two hour mark, by which time I had to dash to catch a train (the perils of a busy life; no rest for the wicked), rather than stay for more questions / continue in a pub as invited.

Perhaps next time!

All in all, a great evening.

Cryonics UK: One Year On

I spoke recently to the UK Transhumanist Association in London (on the 16th of May), on the topic "Cryonics UK: One Year On - An Update from David Styles".

As the title suggested, the purpose of my talk was to inform the world regarding what progress has been made during the first year of my tenure as Organiser for Cryonics UK. I was happy to report a lot of positive developments:



Further details of Cryonics UK can be found at www.cryonics-uk.com