Cryonics: Ralph Merkle, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Keith Henson, Cryobiology, Robert Ettinger, Cryonics Institute

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 36. Chapters: Ralph Merkle, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Keith Henson, Cryobiology, Robert Ettinger, Cryonics Institute, American Cryonics Society, Charles Platt, Suspended animation, Ben Best, Fred and Linda Chamberlain, Neuropreservation, James Bedford, Curtis Henderson, Thomas K. Donaldson, Jerry Leaf, Mike Darwin, Frozen zoo, Saul Kent, Immortalist Society, Shannon Vyff, Information-theoretic death, James L. Halperin, Danila Medvedev, Brian Wowk, Life Extension Society, Robert Prehoda, Frozen Ark, KrioRus, Cryonics - Freeze Me, Raymond and Monique Martinot, Neurovitrification. Excerpt: Cryonics (from Greek kryos- meaning icy cold) is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology. The stated rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by current legal or medical definitions may not necessarily be dead according to the more stringent information-theoretic definition of death. It is proposed that cryopreserved people might someday be recovered by using highly advanced future technology. The future repair technologies assumed by cryonics are still hypothetical and not widely known or recognized. Responding to skepticism from scientists such as Steve Jones, an open letter supporting cryonics was written and signed by currently 62 scientists. As of 2010, only around 200 people have undergone the procedure since it was first proposed in 1962. In the United States, cryonics can only be legally performed on humans after they have been pronounced legally dead as otherwise it would count as murder or assisted suicide. Cryonics procedures ideally begin within minutes of cardiac arrest, and us...