FutureNews
The Latest News from the World of Cryonics and Beyond
“A Father’s Wish To Be Preserved”:
The New Yorker Presents A Cryonics Documentary
In filmmaker Ömer Sami’s October 2024 documentary short, a man’s wish to be cryogenically frozen is given a tour of a cryonics facility and discussions his decision with his wife and children.
“Nasar Ghafoor started a family late in life, and fears that he won’t be there to see his four young children grow up. The average life expectancy for men—around seventy-eight years—looms large on his mental horizon. He decides he is interested in being frozen after death, in the hope of being reanimated.
“Sami captures the family’s warmth and closeness, and the scope of the question that weighs on them: What lengths would you go to for more time with those you love?”
See the entire documentary video here:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/a-family-reckons-with-a-fathers-wish-to-be-preserved-using-cryonics-in-eternal-father
Elon Musk On Cryonics
High School Hack Club gets the world’s richest man to share his views on cryo.
‘Patient One’:
Australian Cryonics Firm Freezes First Patient in Southern Hemisphere
Southern Cryonics, a newly founded cryonics firm which began operations in May 2024, and operates the Southern Hemisphere’s first known cryonics facility, announced that it has cryogenically frozen its first client at its Holbrook facility. The client, a man in his 80s, died in Sydney before being frozen at minus 200 degrees Celsius. He has become what the company refers to as ‘Patient One’.
“His family rang up out of the blue and we had about a week to prepare and get organised,” the Southern Cryonics representative stated. He explained that his team tested all the cryonics equipment, though this was their first actual a cryopreservation. “It’s still a little bit different when you are doing a real case,” he said.
According to ABC News Australia, ‘Patient One’ died on May 12 at a hospital in Sydney. The 10-hour process of preserving his body in the hope of bringing it back to life then began immediately.
The cryopreservation was announced on Southern Cryonics’ account on X/Twitter.
All The Cryonics News That’s Fit To Print
Miss curling up by the fireplace with a cup of hot tea and the latest news magazine? Just take out your laptop: the top two cryonics companies in the world, Alcor and the Cryonics Institute, have put out their latest publications for the year 2024 and are busy putting together new issues for a new year. You may not find them on the magazine rack at Barnes & Noble, but we’ve got them here.
Catch up on what’s happening with the industry leaders. Clicking on the links below, and read the PDFs directly, or print them out on the printer at home.
Alabama Rules That Cryopreserved Embryos Are Children
The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Justices, citing anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”
What are the possible implications not just for the over one million embryos currently cryoreserved, but for the protection of cryonics patients?
Read about the decision here:
AI Videos of a Retro Future
One of the objections to cryonics is that patients will wake up in an unrecognizable future so different that that won’t be able to adjust. But is that really likely? Or will the future not only preserve a good deal of the past, but restore some of its most enjoyable features, and celebrate them?
Artists and AI are showing the way. An entire series of AI-generated jazz videos are appearing on YouTube showing us panoramas of a Retro Future that viewers in love with the Fifties would die die for–or maybe be willing to buy a cryonics ticket and live for.
Below are several of the most charming and striking of these videos. Have a click. The future will never quite look the same.
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Nordic Cryonics Convention 2024
The upcoming Nordic Cryonics Convention 2024 is scheduled for November 23-24, 2024, in Stockholm, Sweden. This event aims to bring together cryonics enthusiasts, professionals, and organizations throughout the Nordic region and beyond.
Event Details:
Date: November 23-24, 2024
Location: Årsta Folkets Hus, Hjälmarsvägen 28, Årsta, Stockholm, Sweden.
Learn more at: https://kryonik.se/sammankomster/nordic-cryonics-convention-2024/
Alcor Reaches 1,500 Members
Alcor Life Extension Foundation, one of the leading cryonics providers, announced a major milestone, breaking the 1,500 mark in the number of members.
The increase reflects growing interest in cryonics as advances in medical technology and longevity science gain traction. Alcor credits this growth to rising awareness, and to its associations with notable futurists like Ray Kurzweil, Eric Drexler and Martine Rothblatt.
Read more about Alcor Membership.e New 60
Cryonics Institute Expands Storage Capacity
The Cryonics Institute has completed its new storage facility in Michigan, expanding its ability to preserve more patients. With an influx of new members, the expansion marks a significant step in the Institute’s goal of providing long-term cryogenic preservation services at more affordable prices.
Cryonics Institute Facility Manager Andy Zawacki Interviewed by NBC News
First European Cryonics Patients Successfully Vitrified in Germany
Tomorrow Biostasis, a Europe-based cryonics organization, recently completed the first successful vitrifications of European patients. This marks a historic moment as cryonics gains ground outside the U.S., driven by increasing demand from European transhumanists and futurists seeking preservation options closer to home.
MIT Ends Contract With Neuropreservation Startup
The recent biotech Nectome is striving to a brain freeze technology intended to preserve the neurons and synapses in a human brain, and thereby (it claims) to secure the memories stored there, providing a digital backup for the brain.
The firm has attracted venture capital, including funds from investor and Y Combinator president Sam Altman. However, MIT Media Lab terminated a subcontract with Nectome following a negative report by MIT Technology Review describing the company’s promotion of its technology. The company continues to seek new investors.
Revivals by 2045: Ray Kurzweil’s Bold Cryonics Predictions
Futurist Ray Kurzweil, known for his predictions on AI and longevity, recently spoke at a life extension conference, claiming that cryonics patients may be revivable as soon as 2045. Kurzweil cited exponential advancements in nanotechnology and molecular biology as driving forces that could make this future a reality.
Cryonics and the Metaverse: The Next Frontier?
Natasha Vita-More, a leading advocate for cryonics and transhumanism, has suggested integrating cryonics with digital preservation. At a recent symposium, she proposed a hybrid model where people not only preserve their bodies but also upload digital versions of their personalities into the metaverse for continuous “life” before physical revival.
“90 Is The New 60”
Will we live long enough to see cryopreservation perfected? The New York Times examines the New Longevity.
Vitrified Kidneys Cryopreserved through ‘Nanowarming’
Freezing is only one part of the cryonics equation. The other is rewarming. Vitrified organs can ail due to ice crystallization if rewarming is too slow or from cracking due to thermal stress if rewarming is not uniform.
A team of researchers recently made a major breakthrough via “nanowarming,” an approach which employs alternating magnetic fields to heat nanoparticles within the organ vasculature, to achieve both rapid and uniform warming, after which the nanoparticles are removed by perfusion. The researchers cryogenically stored rat kidneys for 100 days and successfully recovered them.
Read The Report at the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine
British Scientist Calls For Restrictions On Marketing Cryonics
Clive Coen, a professor at King’s College London has condemned a high court decision in which a dying 14-year-old girl won a court battle to have her body cryogenically frozen. Said Coen, the case could have the “unintended consequence … that a lot of people are going to think this is worth a punt.”
Not all academics agree. Anders Sandberg, research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, disagreed. “There is a good chance they won’t make it, their chances are slim – but it beats the alternative.”
Read about the case here.
Celebrity Endorsements Boost Cryonics
Several prominent celebrities and tech moguls, including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and actors from the Marvel franchise, have publicly stated their interest in cryonics. Other Cryo Celebs include Paris Hillton, Ted Williams, Larry Flynt, and Britney Spears. Will trending celebrity endorsements push the cryonics option into the limelight?
Japan Cryonics Organizations Flourish
Not long ago the Japan Cryonics Association officially opened its doors, making it the first cryonics organization in Asia. Now several new organizations have popped up. With Japan’s rapidly aging population and its deep technological expertise, this trending move could well make Asia a key player in the cryonics movement.