Post edited 12:46 pm - April 13, 2011 by Nathan Wosnack

A hypothetical scenario: let's assume you came up with the money, and you're almost ready to make a conscientious effort to sign up as a patient with the cryonics organization of your choice (for either neuro [head] or full body preservation)… but you have some remaining questions. What would your main questions and concerns for the cryonics organization be?

Post edited 1:30 am - April 14, 2011 by Nathan Wosnack

CMStewart,

Thanks for your great reply to this hypothetical scenario. These are questions I'd consider asking if I were to sign up to cryonics. The failsafe power source and funding were questions I have recently raised to Nikki, and got answers on from the web-sites of current cryonics patients.

4. Understand what they do to ensure a failsafe power source.

A power source is not entirely necessary as the vertically positioned Dewars with Alcor Life Extension Foundation operate independently without a power source like electricity. Liquid nitrogen is all that is needed and it only needs to be added to the Dewar of the Cryonics patient every few weeks, and the liquid nitrogen "boils off slowly". Since Cryonics patients are placed head-first into the Dewar, the head (neuro) – the most important part of the body to be preserved, would be the last to thaw. This is the same situation with The Cryonics Institute which stores its patients in vertically positioned Cryostats that also do not require electricity and also only require liquid nitrogen. The use of liquid nitrogen is safe, low-cost and in large abundance with multiple ways a company like Alcor Life Extension Foundation and The Cryonics Institute, and others, could obtain liquid nitrogen for their patients.

5. Look at their funding, if possible.

With so many cryonics companies failing in the 70's and 80's, there is definitely an anxiety that has stuck for people, amongst the famous horror stories (some true, some a myth), and general pretexts people already have about Cryonics. Not only that, but the obvious concern being the significant cost are big things concerning potential Cryonics patients who don't want their money misappropriated by "flim-flam" men and women.

According to Eric Krastel, Transhumanist and Cryonics patient Alcor:

"As of 1997, Alcor is now 2 separate legal entities, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation (ALEF) and Alcor Patient Care Trust. Both are non-profit. ALEF is the "front-end" for Alcor. They organize the membership, perform suspensions, do PR, etc. They are the less financially stable side of Alcor. While it's feasible that ALEF could go out of business it's unlikely, as the members have proven willing to contribute to ensure its continued operation. The Patient Care Trust is concerned only with the long-term care and eventual resuscitation of the patients who are already suspended, and financially they're very stable. The Trust owns the actual facility and their expenses are meager. ALEF pays rent to the Trust, which alone more than covers the Trust's operating expenses. In addition to that, ALEF places $25,000 into the Trust for each neuropatient and $65,000 for each whole body patient. This comes from the insurance pay-out for the suspension, and is invested in stocks and bonds by Morgan Stanley. If ALEF were to fold tomorrow then the dividends that the Trust earns would still be sufficient to cover their operating costs in perpetuity. It's reasonable to expect that continued growth of the Trust will be able to pay for not just resuscitation, but also research to help lead to resuscitation technology. Little short of a societal collapse is going to put the Trust out of business. Incidentally, in order to be on the board of the Trust you must be an Alcor member and have a family member currently in suspension. This is to help prevent any conflict of interest."

The Cryonics Institute has a fee schedule and specific details of its funds on their Funding Cryopreservation page.

CMStewart,

You're most welcome.

"famous horror stories (some true, some a myth)" Yikes! Are these stories readily available?

They certainly are!

See three .pdf's that I uploaded to my server for:

Cryonics: An Historical Failure Analysis

These are a lengthly read but completely worth reading through if you want to really get a good sense of Cryonics, from a Cryonics legend Mike Darwin. They outline a lot of the failures of cryonics, including those famous horror stories I mentioned.

• Part I: Preface and Initialization Failure
• http://www.tchl.ca/cryonics/Cr…..1_v3.0.pdf
• Part II: Inherent Failure Mechanisms and Risks
• http://www.tchl.ca/cryonics/Cr….._2v5.2.pdf
  
• Part III: Dissociation of Researchers from the Clinical Environment
• http://www.tchl.ca/cryonics/Cr….._3v5.4.pdf

Other horror stories are available online, but Mike Darwin goes into great detail about the stories of cryonics failure (with disturbing photos - warning!).