X-Message-Number: 5355 From: (RAMole) Newsgroups: sci.cryonics Subject: Help on Hibernation Date: 6 Dec 1995 02:34:23 -0500 Message-ID: <4a3h1v$> I'm interested in interstellar colonization. The basic situation is that fusion may soon give us flight times of 40-100 years. We can probably send frozen embryos and artificial wombs (I've been told those should be easier than hearts), but we'll need either adults or good robots to raise the kids. But we can't send adults in a wakeful state -- they eat and breathe too much, and we can't afford to send huge masses of consumables. Besides they would go mad or die of old age during the journey. Either fully frozen "sleep" or at least hibernation is required. Can anyone point me to a good current summary of hibernation research? Especially metabolic and aging rates. And, what is the limiting factor on survival time in the "almost freezing" (+2C ) experiments in which dogs and a baboon have been revived? Is there still a metabolic rate, and if so, what? If you can near-freeze and revive after hours at this temperature, why not see whether you can after days or months? Or do some bacteria work slowly when cold to cause decay? I'm new to the field, so any help appreciated, Alan Mole Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=5355