X-Message-Number: 21452
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 07:20:39 -0500
From: Francois <>
Subject: For Brian, about vitrification

Randy provided links about vitrification, but a short description of the
process might be useful. In cryonics, vitrification refers to a freezing
process that prevents the formation of ice crystals in the body's tissues.
Instead of turning into ordinary ice, the water in the body turns into
"glass", a solid form in which water molecules come together in a more or
less random fashion instead of the regular crystaline structure of normal
ice. The ordinary glass in our windows also has the same random arrangement
of molecules. Obsidian, a black volcanic rock, is natural form of "glass".

So what the people at Alcor do is inject special chemicals in the body to be
preserved. These chemicals prevent the formation of ice crystals and force
the water to solidify in its glassy state. Since it is the formation of ice
crystals that cause the most damage, proceeding like that results in a much
better preserved body that will require far less repair when the time comes
to revive it.

Francois
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