X-Message-Number: 5573
Date: 12 Jan 96 15:13:26 EST
From: Mike Darwin <>
Subject: Perry's response

Cryonetters and CCFers please note this message is being crossposted.  It 
was not sent to your forum by error. I assume Perry will post his comments 
to me on Cryonet, my apologies to the out of contextness of this message if 
he does not.

Mike Darwin


Perry,

I agree with almost everything you've said, and I think your post yesterday 
was great; it ought to be translanted into biological terms and used to 
deal with the issue of decoding hashed human brains.

My previous post was a CROSS POST to CCF.

Some  points:

1) Tape is stable at LN2 temperatures in terms of working when warmed.  The 
problem of overprinting and loss of magnetic domains is supposedly 
dminished by cooling, but I'm no expert.  Here I rely on firm 
pronouncements from Steve Harris and Hugh Hixon, the latter of whom 
consulted with "experts."


2) I should have been more specific when talking about geting the 
algorithms (I used this as an example of information already available, as 
opposed to that which is NOT; i.e., our brain contents! and how they are 
stored).  The simplest way to do things is just to pick a standard current 
format that uses a compact player and archive a player or players.  It 
doesn't matter if all the components don't make it through undamaged by 
time: rubber belts will be inferrable, etc.  Nitrogen packing, even at room 
temperature will probably preserve the equipment in an easily 
function-inferrable form.

3) There is a major difference between VHS and wire recorders; wire 
recorders and even multitrack technical tape like NASA used never were in 
widespread use.  If VHS players do not survive in archival forms in some 
museums or libraries by the time cryonics patients are revived, I think it 
VERY unlikely there will be any cryonixs patients.  Thus, you must separate 
a desire to preserve information for information's sake, and preserving it 
for your own sake.

4) If you modify and H-cylinder for burial you can easily stick a VHS or 
Hi-8 camcorder into the dry nitrogen environment.  It will last a LONG 
time, especially if you overcase it in glass with intert gas.

5) We are in general agreement about fiche and tape.  Aging studies have 
been done up the ying-yang with these things and they've been cooked, 
fried, flooded, baked, and overhumidified with surprising resilience.  This 
is clearly the way to go with printed text.  But that leaves the problem of 
video images and sound which are also very valuable.  I was staggered 
looking back at old tapes of myself in cryonics operations in the early 
80's at how MUCH information there was there.

6) Infared sensors mounted directly above a bed will catch most sleep 
motion.  There are pads for under the sheet (or mattress cover) which will 
pick up more passive motion and exclude fans.  The BIG problem is pets and 
spouses. You mention active-badge technology: what is this, how available 
is it, and how cheap is it?

Finally, I stand by my statement that vast improvments can be made in 
arrest detection for single people without pets with off-the-shelf 
equipment.  Out of the 80 to 100 people frozen so far I know of 8 cases of 
sudden, unattended death; I should qualify this by point out that 3 cases 
out of this number did NOT get frozen because decomposition was so 
advanced.  This is a VERY serious risk.  And that doesn't include close 
calls like Dora Kent, Mona Dick, Jerry Leaf, and several others who have 
been found at the last minute or while dying at home.  We may be pushing 
10% unattended deaths. That is a VERY big risk.

And nothing is being done about it.  Rather than blame Alcor for not 
digging up the poor bastard it would be more constructive to DO something.  
I am not qualified to this, but there are others who surely are in this 
community.  THAT was my point.


Mike Darwin


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