X-Message-Number: 17447
From: 
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 21:19:22 EDT
Subject: Expensive Resources, Game Plan & Etceteras...

CryoNet:

I "subscribe" to the "teaser summaries" of the following online research 
paper "repositories" (real easy to sign up--just go to one of the following 
URLs where the directions are there or are linked). You can see that some of 
the pieces look interesting.  The ones listed below are just a few from this 
week's menu.  They come in by email about once a week.

To have full access (to be able to read the entire reports) is several 
hundred dollars per year by subscription and to get all of them, from all the 
science disciplines they have categorized, would be many times that amount 
per year.  No way.  Not now.  But all the papers will certainly be archived 
for future access when financial times may be better for me in the 
future--and besides, I am still "learning the language" to fully understand 
such works.  (Right now I understand less than 50% at best of many of Doug 
Skrecky's posts from science journals and have to lookup every fourth word or 
abbreviation.)   Yep, I am a biologist by degree, but that was 20 years ago 
and there has been an advance or two in knowledge since that time, right?  
Also, I was not a *molecular* biology major--just general biology.  

Here's the point:  If any Cryonet reader wishes to share resources, (i.e., 
share a password) now or in the future, keep my email address and let me 
know.  Will the creators of this commercial project be upset?  Hell, No.  
They will be getting business that they otherwise would not.  Yep, it is just 
that simple.  Legally, could they make someone stop sharing a password?--you 
bet.  But they would not.  They're not stupid.  They are aware that most of 
their accounts are pooled use situations such as for an entire office or lab. 
 If it were not for this truth, the cost to an individual like me would be 
about 20% of the current yearly rate and they would have several times the 
number of active accounts-- and might have about the same amount of revenues. 
 They hope "the marginal" will be creative and they also would like to deny 
knowledge that it happens--all for good business reasons.  I know because I 
have had a somewhat similar online information business for about three years 
now.  Clients pay by credit card to get a password to our research and 
solutions. Exactly the same business concept.  BTW, my business associate and 
I researched and developed this real estate valuation-related project, put it 
online, worked out any bugs and then contacted a couple of nationally 
syndicated columnists dealing in real estate related news and asked them to 
review the work.  I did a few interviews over the phone and that was that for 
advertising.  Incredibly, we have never had a single complaint in over three 
years of operation.  Not a huge moneymaker but it is consistent and we have 
built up a lot of credibility with columnist (particularly the ones that did 
not believe what we said could be true--and missed the story) for future 
ventures.  We are well aware there is password sharing to some degree, but 
could not much care less.  So, consider the thought now or later and let me 
know.  I would like to have access to about four of the libraries:

Nature Reviews Genetics
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Nature Reviews Structural Biology
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

I would not be at all surprised if a few of the same people who are 
interested in their offering, but who cannot quite afford it, eventually 
become occasional manuscript contributors.  I bet they know that.  Here are 
some of the titles for today:

THE COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE OF REMEMBERING
R L Buckner & M E Wheeler
http://www.nature.com/nrnlink/v2/n9/abs/nrn0901_624a_fs.html  

IS THAT STUDY REALLY NECESSARY?
Economics helps decide if we should put our money where researchers' 
mouths are. 
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010906/010906-3.html
 
NERVE CHIP GOES LIVE
First nerve cell-silicon microchip built.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-7.html

Unbelievably, one of my commercial appraisal clients paid early at the very 
same time some significant progress was made in my "volunteer work project."  
Efforts are starting to pay off.  For these reasons I put a $100 check in my 
outgoing mail tonight for the Swayze Fund.  Not much, but I feel good it.

As some are aware on this forum, I have done a few simple cryobiological 
experiments and have more planned.  I started restudying physics and 
chemistry about two years ago (and have been studying molecular biology 
pretty seriously for about a year or so).  An ongoing hobby has been keeping 
my 15 year-old BMW 325 running well.  It is. I have all the manuals and many 
of the tools.  Partly from these interests and efforts, an idea occurred to 
me recently for potentially improving the performance of combustion engines 
very cheaply--cars and trucks of all makes and models.  The concept is so 
simple, but thoroughly counterintuitive, that this might explain why it has 
not been done before.  It will be cheap to construct and may be cheap to 
patent and market. (I've been through the process before.)  While preliminary 
work is promising, I estimate a one in a hundred chance that it will prove to 
be commercially viable.  However, if so, it could be worth millions.  If 
these estimates are correct, what is the idea worth at this point?  Easy: 
Assume a net present value of ten million dollars then multiply by the odds 
of one in a thousand ($10,000,000 X 0.001 =  $10,000)).  At $10,000 I need to 
check it out.  So I am putting studying and experiments on hold for a little 
while. Once I know what is what with this project, I will post on it.  If it 
pays off I will start a small bio lab.

By the way, regarding cryonics and costs, and using very conservative 
estimates in every single instance:  Would the certainty of an additional 100 
years of healthy existence sell for a minimum of a hundred million dollars to 
individuals who could afford it?  All day long.  That's been the case for 
well over a 1,000 years before Desoto's search for the fountain of youth in 
Florida.  Is there a 1 in 10 chance that the cryonics/nanotech combo will 
work.  Yes, there is.  Then what is a minimum, conservative value of 
biostasis?  $100,000,000 X 0.10 = $10,000,000 (ten million dollars).

Regards,

David C. Johnson

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