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

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