X-Message-Number: 21453 Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 08:12:28 -0500 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: CryoNet #21446 - #21451 For Brian Stewart: Rather than just give you a net reference, here is a short discussion of it. Many substances, including chemical solutions in water, can FREEZE. Technically speaking, this means that they crystallize, usually with lots of faults in the crystal. The temperature at which they freeze depends on the substance: iron freezes at what we would call a high temperature (1535 C), ice at a "moderate" temperature, benzene at well below zero, and nitrogen very low (-209.86 C). However many substances, under the right conditions, do not freeze but turn into a glass. A glass (technically) isn't the same as what we put in our windows. Instead, it is a form of matter which is not in crystals, but instead physically disordered just as if it were a liquid that for some reason had molecules that moved very very slowly. Glass is actually a good example of glasses in the technical sense: its atoms are disorganized as if they were liquid, but move so very slowly that we do not notice their motion within our (present) lifetime. We say that these substances have VITRIFIED. There are no implications here about the temperature at which vitrification occurs --- it depends on the substance. Since the MAJOR cause of damage to our tissues (and brain) when we are suspended consists of damage caused by the crystallization of freezing, means to prevent crystallization but instead form the liquid surrounding us into a glass ie. VITRIFY it, become quite important. Done well enough, this might even make our repair almost trivial. Best wishes and long long life for all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21453