X-Message-Number: 807
Date: Tue, 5 May 92 20:27:11 +0200
From:  (David Stodolsky)
Subject: CRYONICS: #798 - Re: Brain Scan Question

 Brian Wowk <> said:
 
>        Getting down to nitty-gritty details, 50 keV x-rays have a wavelength
> that is about 1/10th of an atomic diameter.  How are you going to record the
>interference patterns of such waves? 
 
Using positional information of thin film(s) of atoms would give adequate
resolution. But can't the interference patterns record a magnified image of the
brain? This is a potential advantage of the approach.
 
> Also, how do you produce coherent x- 
>rays without an atomic bomb? 

Synchrotrons produce coherent soft x-rays (as a result of bending the path of
high speed electrons) that have been used for imaging live cells. Frequency
would have to increased a lot though.

>X-ray holography  
>has no advantages, and has the distinct disadvantage of being physically  
>impossible. 

It has the advantage of parallel nearly instantaneous information transfer.
          
>        What, though, is the point of this discussion?  


Concern about damage to the brain by imaging techniques was originally suggested
as a limitation. This is not obvious (yet).

>Are you suggesting  
>that capabilities for recovering patient identity (and perhaps uploading)  
>will be available before the capability of actual revival from cryonic  
>suspension?  This I seriously doubt. 

Capabilities for reliably storing patient identity as data may be available

before capabilities are available for reliably storing it by suspension. If data
storage is an option, then it is a lot safer and perhaps cheaper then cryonic
suspension that would have to continue for, perhaps, centuries. I am thinking
here primarily of social breakdowns.

A, perhaps, more important point. We are all now using devices that, if
appropriately configured, could be capturing information helpful in personality
reconstruction. Should we not develop some standard software to do this?

David S. Stodolsky                Messages: + 45 46 75 77 11 x 24 41
Department of Computer Science                 Tel: + 45 31 95 92 82
Bldg. 20.1, Roskilde University Center        Internet: 
Post Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark        Fax: + 45 46 75 42 01

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