X-Message-Number: 4112
Date: 31 Mar 95 08:58:39 EST
From: yvan Bozzonetti <>
Subject: SCI.CRYONICS: Low level conservation.

	Cryonics organizations are far appart and can't always operate in 
the best conditions. In fact, present day conservation technology let few 
hope to live again cryonics patients. To swalow the big pill nanotech idea 
needs some deep rooted faith.

	Here, in France, the situation is best in some way: Law forbids any 
serious cryonics attempt for many hours after death (whatever you choose to 
define it). If we can think to bring back to life people, can we do nothing 
or emigrate to US? This is the official position of the "Societe cryonique 
de France". I disagree and think uploading is the answer. Even carbonic 
snow or ice would be sufficient to freeze the outher cell domain and cells 
walls. Putting asside hair splitting, brain information seems storred in 
both, the nerve cell connections and the chemical states of terminal 
dendrite buttons.

	Computer neuron simulation asks for something as 10 000 instruction 
per second. The new P6 processor is ratted at 1.7 billion instruction per 
second, or 170 000 neurons running at human speed. A bee has some 800 000 
neurons working at least ten times that fast. That put current computer at 
their real power. Now, processing power get a two fold increase every 2.5 
years, that is, in 50 years, single processors will be able to cope with 
1.7 10^11 neurons or 10 human brains. The real problem is to get a brain 
reader, that is a system able to look in three dimension with a 1 000 nm 
resolution. This is not a biological issue, only a physical problem.

	Now, I would address an even more speculative domain: If 
conservation is very poor, for example with some simple chemical fixators, 
permafrost or dry cold desert climate, is there some hope to get something 
back? Few would give a negative answer at the DNA level, to recover a brain 
content is another issue.

	Some time ago, I have suggested on cryonet the possibility to cool 
down cryonics patients with ghosts. I defined them not as "spirits" but 
rather as domains where relativistic thermodynamics laws prevail. To use 
that physical possibility to get a simple cooling was suggested with a 
pinch of salt or to be taken with a smile. On the other hand, such "ghosts" 
could well do some "miraculous" jobs such reversing euclidean 
thermodynamical second law. Knowing not the limits of that potential 
technology, I think it would be wise to take into account the possibility 
to turn hamburger into cow in a not too far future. On a more practical 
ground, who is interested in relativistic physics ?

	Y.B.


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