Search found 224 matches

by jordansparks
Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:20 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Response to Aschwin's Future Development article
Replies: 1
Views: 8222

Response to Aschwin's Future Development article

Aschwin de Wolf wrote an article that just came out in Long Life Magazine. The title is "Part 4: New Research and Future Development". He devoted the second half of the article to Aldehyde Stabilized Cryopreservation (ASC), which is the protocol that we employ at Oregon Cryonics. I think h...
by jordansparks
Fri Dec 21, 2018 6:36 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: No Bay Area Office
Replies: 6
Views: 19874

Re: No Bay Area Office

Also, that office was dependent on one or two very wealthy people coming along to fund it. This does happen, but I now realize that even those kinds of people are not willing to pay the true monthly costs. They tend to be willing to pay for immediate tangible equipment such as an ambulance or a dewa...
by jordansparks
Fri Dec 21, 2018 6:28 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Forum down
Replies: 0
Views: 18884

Forum down

Sorry the forum was down for a few weeks. We reconfigured our wiring and internal IP addresses. This server was the last computer that I got to, and then I didn't realize it still wasn't working for a few more days because our WAN address changed slightly. Anyway, that's a long way of saying we're s...
by jordansparks
Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:42 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: No Bay Area Office
Replies: 6
Views: 19874

No Bay Area Office

I have finally abandoned my vision of having a branch office in the Bay Area. I'm getting older (47), and there just simply isn't enough time. I guess the good news is that it will allow me to focus more on my work here in Salem. By not spreading myself too thin, I think I can to a better job here. ...
by jordansparks
Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:59 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath + molecular brain scan
Replies: 17
Views: 25782

Re: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath + molecular brain scan

>who will pay Many possibilities: Children, grandchildren, spouses, friends, social safety net, researchers, entrepreneurs, historians. As technology improves, the cost also comes down, and at some point, the cost could become trivial. >get brain damage from ischemia after a few minutes No, this is ...
by jordansparks
Tue Aug 14, 2018 4:43 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Why not invite Mike Darwin?
Replies: 4
Views: 10801

Re: Why not invite Mike Darwin?

I'm sure he knows about this forum. His posts are entertaining, but I also enjoy my peace and quiet.
by jordansparks
Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:43 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Singularity
Replies: 2
Views: 9232

Re: Singularity

Great article was just posted: https://singularityhub.com/2018/07/15/why-most-of-us-fail-to-grasp-coming-exponential-gains-in-ai/#sm.000pvny4r11rndymr3h2ccjdmr2py Summary: An exponential curve has exactly the same shape along the entirety. It always looks like it's going vertical in the future and a...
by jordansparks
Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:06 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Suggestion/Hospitals/Cryonics Patients in their new own facilities/hospitals in their future
Replies: 6
Views: 14402

Re: Suggestion/Hospitals/Cryonics Patients in their new own facilities/hospitals in their future

That page is terrible -- one of the worst pages I've ever read anywhere on any topic.
by jordansparks
Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:05 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: transportation?
Replies: 3
Views: 11500

Re: transportation?

You need to live in Salem if you want our services. Transportation is handled by our local vehicles. We largely ignore remote transport issues because that approach would only result in poor quality preservation, so it's about as good as not even bothering to preserve at all. Remote standby and tran...
by jordansparks
Mon Jun 11, 2018 6:17 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath + molecular brain scan
Replies: 17
Views: 25782

Re: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath

If we have nanorobots in 50 years, they might be in the bloodstream. That's somewhat reasonable. But they wouldn't be small enough to leave the bloodstream. That's really complicated and would take another 50 years. If those robots are just operating by feel, then they would not be able to "see...
by jordansparks
Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:09 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath + molecular brain scan
Replies: 17
Views: 25782

Re: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath

When I say "scan" I mean slicing up the brain into millions of physical slices. Yes, chopping up the brain. I've been trained in radiology. I don't think a non-destructive scan like you envision would ever be possible. The thicker the sample, the blurrier the image. There are limits to phy...
by jordansparks
Tue May 29, 2018 10:51 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath + molecular brain scan
Replies: 17
Views: 25782

Re: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath

I think molecular-level is overkill, but I'm guessing around 130 years from now, or 2150. While it wouldn't violate any laws of physics, there are a LOT of intermediate engineering stages that I can envision, each taking a number of years to develop. Since the scan would be destructive, I don't thin...
by jordansparks
Fri May 25, 2018 6:43 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath + molecular brain scan
Replies: 17
Views: 25782

Re: ASC vs. O.C. $1K aldehyde bath

Here it is in layman's terms: ASC is pumping aldehyde through the arteries so that it reaches every single cell. This is done immediately, before the cells have time to degrade. The $1K aldehyde bath is when aldehyde is applied from the outside of the brain rather than through the arteries. In this ...
by jordansparks
Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:55 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: The Death of Death in Cryonics
Replies: 4
Views: 18675

Re: The Death of Death in Cryonics

In fact, I'm not sure the paper ever got it right, even in the context of society 30 years ago. A large portion of the paper is devoted to the strategy of changing the definition of the word "death". But I think it's self-evident that introducing our own jargon would be futile. Not only wo...
by jordansparks
Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:52 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: The Death of Death in Cryonics
Replies: 4
Views: 18675

The Death of Death in Cryonics

Brian Wowk wrote a well-known article in 1988 called The Death of Death in Cryonics. http://alcor.org/Library/html/deathofdeath.html It's been 30 years, and I have gradually come to disagree with the conclusions. Cryonics is, by all accepted definitions of death, the freezing of dead people. We are ...
by jordansparks
Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:04 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant
Replies: 6
Views: 12701

Re: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant

It was pointed out that I should have expressed everything as w/v instead of v/v. Yes, of course. So I just went back and revised the website to reflect w/v. And our chosen percentage is now 82% w/v. There might also be room for further improvement. For example, a higher percentage of DMSO and a low...
by jordansparks
Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:59 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant
Replies: 6
Views: 12701

Re: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant

On the other hand, if no cryoprotectant was used, as in the case of a straight freeze, then we really are talking about an essentially solid state. In a straight freeze situation, -80C is fine for days/weeks. You know, if a quality fixation was performed on your end prior to cryoprotection, then the...
by jordansparks
Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:36 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant
Replies: 6
Views: 12701

Re: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant

We left the vials at -80C for days, without any change. Any crystals formed either immediately or within about a day. I was really struck by how syrupy the mixtures remained. Shipping at that temperature would be a liquid state, not a solid state.
by jordansparks
Fri Apr 06, 2018 3:01 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant
Replies: 6
Views: 12701

Re: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant

The simple experiments were done and the results are fascinating. http://www.oregoncryo.com/researchHighConcentrations.html Ethylene glycol, as used in Aledhyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation (ASC), is a poor choice of cryoprotectant because of its narrow safe concentration zone. Our EG/DMSO mixture is...
by jordansparks
Wed Apr 04, 2018 10:41 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Brain Preservation prize for large mammal
Replies: 1
Views: 12830

Re: Brain Preservation prize for large mammal

An article was posted stating that Dr. Boyden is distancing himself from Nectome. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610743/mit-severs-ties-to-company-promoting-fatal-brain-uploading/ He gave two reasons. 1. It's not known whether the biomolecules are being preserved. This is absolute rubbish. You c...
by jordansparks
Sat Mar 17, 2018 12:38 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: The Case for Brain Cryopreservation
Replies: 2
Views: 9532

Re: The Case for Brain Cryopreservation

I've changed my position on this topic. A brain that's been fixed well is firm. This makes it very easy to damage with the craniotome. It also makes it difficult to access the cranial nerves and remove it from the irregular cranial cavity. So it's always a bad idea. The only time we do it now is whe...
by jordansparks
Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:51 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Brain Preservation prize for large mammal
Replies: 1
Views: 12830

Brain Preservation prize for large mammal

The Brain Preservation Foundation (BPF) has awarded the Large Mammal Brain Preservation Prize to 21CM, Robert McIntyre, and Greg Fahy. http://www.brainpreservation.org/large-mammal-announcement/ There are also a slew of related news articles. For example: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610456/a-...
by jordansparks
Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:17 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Tissue cryopreservation with inductive heating
Replies: 8
Views: 16577

Re: Tissue cryopreservation with inductive heating

The only verification we can perform is to look at the ultrastructure under an electron microscope. We would only do this on non-patients. I would say it's fairly difficult to get good electron micrographs. So if the quality of the electron micrographs is good and is consistent across broad areas of...
by jordansparks
Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:17 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Tissue cryopreservation with inductive heating
Replies: 8
Views: 16577

Re: Tissue cryopreservation with inductive heating

It's been established for quite some time that memories are stored as changes in molecular structure of synapses. Yes, we're a bit vague on what that actually means, but it is almost certainly fundamentally correct. As we gain further understanding, we will no doubt refine and expand the model. Any ...
by jordansparks
Tue Jan 23, 2018 9:41 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Higher concentration of cryoprotectant
Replies: 6
Views: 12701

Higher concentration of cryoprotectant

I've decided it's time to increase the concentration of cryoprotectant that we use. We've been using 65%, but we're going to move closer to 75% or 80%. Higher concentrations have the very important advantage completely preventing all ice formation, regardless of temperature or cooling rate. This wil...
by jordansparks
Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:01 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Aldehyde Stabilized Cryopreservation
Replies: 9
Views: 18162

Re: Aldehyde Stabilized Cryopreservation

I see the link above is broken. I've been more focused on developing protocols, and have eased up on trying to explain them to anyone. I just added a short explanation of toxicity to this page: http://www.oregoncryo.com/suspendedAnimation.html If you don't see it at first, hit refresh. Toxicity is w...
by jordansparks
Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:00 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Dewar lid needs paint
Replies: 4
Views: 16062

Re: Dewar lid needs paint

Not quite sure what you're getting at. A can of spray paint would be considered toxic, I suppose.
by jordansparks
Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:31 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Intermediate Temperature Storage
Replies: 7
Views: 18333

Re: Intermediate Temperature Storage

I'll have to make a web page to explain the cost comparisons. It's not lower cost after all. When compared to a CI Cryostat, it uses 3x as much LN2 per volume, and when compared to an Alcor Bigfoot, it uses 2x as much LN2. Those larger dewars are more efficient. But, for its size, it's probably abou...
by jordansparks
Mon Dec 18, 2017 6:33 am
Forum: Forum
Topic: Intermediate Temperature Storage
Replies: 7
Views: 18333

Re: Intermediate Temperature Storage

The LN2 slowly hits a heat exchanger at the top of the space. Some gas gets vented out the top of the unit as this happens. If the heat exchanger gets too cold, it will pause for about 10 minutes to prevent liquid from coming out the heat exchanger and to prevent the exhaust gas from being too cold....
by jordansparks
Sun Dec 17, 2017 4:11 pm
Forum: Forum
Topic: Intermediate Temperature Storage
Replies: 7
Views: 18333

Re: Intermediate Temperature Storage

It's a short and fat dewar, unlike many of the tall dewars in use in cryonics, so the stratification is not as significant. The cooling heat exchanger is at the top of the space. The top and bottom of the space do have slightly different temperatures. Might be a 5-6 degree difference? That spread is...