Cryonics Magazine » Featured Issues

Cryonics March 2013

Editor — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 18:48:04 +0000

The March 2013 issue of Cryonics magazine features an article by Alcor CEO Max More called “The Past, Present, and Future of Membership Dues.” Max answers questions such as “Why do Alcor members have to pay membership dues? What are they used for? Why do I also have to pay CMS (Comprehensive Member Standby) fees? Why can’t we run the organization using income from doing cryopreservations and abolish dues? Can’t we just cut our costs?” He also outlines some ideas to lower membership dues in the future and to benefit from economies of scale.” Other articles include a review of the tax benefits of life insurance by Rudi Hoffman and a report of the 2012 Lifespan Society of British Columbia Mini-Conference.

Cryonics magazine is published 12 times a year and is complimentary for Alcor members. Subscription to the magazine is also available by becoming an Alcor Associate member.

Cryonics February 2013

Editor — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:44:54 +0000

The February 2013 issue of Cryonics magazine features an upgraded presentation of Alcor’s membership data, including a complete breakdown of US membership by state and international membership by country. The editor further weighs in on the new membership statistics and discusses what has changed since the last time Alcor published a state-by-state overview. Alcor staff member Michael Perry reviews Michael Rose’s provocative, but rigorous, co-authored book “Does Aging Stop?” and Chana de Wolf contributes her first installment of ‘Cooler Heads Prevail,’ a pro-cryonics neuroscience column.

Cryonics magazine is published 12 times a year and is complimentary for Alcor members. Subscription to the magazine is also available by becoming an Alcor Associate member.

Cryonics January 2013

Editor — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:22:21 +0000

The January 2013 issue of Cryonics magazine contains a detailed report of our successful 2012 Alcor-40 conference, including a summary of the presentations of all speakers. This issue also features an extensive review of chemopreservation as an alternative to cryopreservation by Cryonics magazine editor Aschwin de Wolf. Among the topics discussed are the necessity of functional assays to evaluate progress in preservation methods and the advantages and disadvantages of both methods when they are practiced under non-ideal (ischemic) conditions. This issue also reports on Alcor’s use of CT scans for detecting cryoprotectant distribution and ice formation.

Cryonics magazine is published 12 times a year and is complimentary for Alcor members. Subscription to the magazine is also available by becoming an Alcor Associate member.

Cryonics November-December 2012

Editor — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:22:29 +0000

In the November-December issue of Cryonics magazine former Alcor President Michael Darwin takes aim at the (in his eyes) mistaken idea that preservation of the exact concentration and location of neurotransmitters is important for long-term memory and identity, Stephen Bridge reviews Stephen Cave’s recent book “Immortality: the Quest to Live Forever and How it Drives Civilization,” and editor Aschwin de Wolf identifies 5 dangerous ideas about cryonics. This issue also includes a member profile of long-time Alcor member Keith Lofstrom.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.

Cryonics September-October 2012

Editor — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:46:04 +0000

The September-October issue of Cryonics magazine mostly focuses on the brain. Ben Best contributes a review of the recent Portland symposium on cryonics and dementia and provides details about the presentations and the panel discussion that concluded this first-ever event. This issue contains no fewer than two reviews of Sebastian Seung’s new book “Connectome.” Aschwin de Wolf and Mike Perry both praise the book for its clear exposition of “connectomics” and its discussion of cryonics and other lifesaving technologies, but also point out some flaws in his treatment of these topics. Also featured is the complete program of the Alcor-40 conference and a cryopreservation fund raising appeal for terminal brain cancer patient Kim Suozzi.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.

Cryonics July-August 2012

Editor — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:14:25 +0000

On March 22, 2012, Alcor co-founder Fred Chamberlain III was cryopreserved. The July-August issue of Cryonics magazine features the cryopreservation case report, an older Cryonics article by Fred about making cryonics arrangements, and a poem from the vintage 1971 cryonics publication The Hourglass. Alcor member, economist, and writer of Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World, James D. Miller contributes an article about the coming artificial intelligence explosion and and how it will affect cryonics. Former Alcor staff member and neuroscientist Todd Huffman is featured in this issue’s member profile.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.

Cryonics May-June 2012

Editor — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 22:25:15 +0000

The May-June Cryonics magazine cover article, “The Allocation of Long Term Care Costs at Alcor” by Board member Ralph Merkle presents a conceptual and quantitative analysis of the allocation of storage costs between neuro and whole body patients. Most Alcor members are aware that long term care costs for neuro patients are lower than for whole body patients but how are these number exactly derived and is the current allocation fair? This extensive article also includes new photos of the Alcor patient care bay, dewars and patient enclosures. Also featured in this issue is a review of David Agus’s popular health bestseller The End of Illness.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.

Cryonics March-April 2012

Editor — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:54:05 +0000

The March-April issue of Cryonics features an extensive treatment of protecting one’s cryonics arrangements against inflation through life insurance. Insurance agent and Alcor member Rudi Hoffman makes the case for “superfunding” your cryonics arrangements to keep pace with the rising costs of advanced medical procedures. The author explains the differences between the major forms of life insurance (term life, whole life, universal life, etc.), gives advice on how to evaluate the various bells and whistles insurances companies offer, and provides guidance how to read those long policy illustrations. This issue continues the recent focus on identity-destroying brain disorders by offering an article by Alcor staff member Mike Perry about the latest developments in Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis. Alcor CEO Max More reports on the upcoming Alcor conference and both book reviews deal with the topic of immortality, albeit from a different perspective.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.

Cryonics January-February 2012

Editor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:00:17 +0000

The January-February 2012 issue of Cryonics marks the return of Alcor’s magazine as a bi-monthly professionally printed publication. This issue features two major articles on cryonics and brain-threatening disorders. The first article, by Cryonics editor Aschwin de Wolf, provides a framework for thinking about identity-destroying brain diseases and discusses what Alcor members can do to prevent them from threatening your cryopreservation. Alcor staff member Mike Perry returns to the topic of brain-threatening disorders and presents his updated findings on the options available to cryonicists who have been diagnosed with such a disease, (like Alzheimer’s). After being CEO at Alcor for one year, Alcor CEO and President Max More reflects on his Alcor experience to date and we get a look into the interesting career of one of the pioneers of transhumanism. Another Alcor veteran, Russel Cheney, contributes an article about the importance of “superfunding” your cryopreservation arrangements.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.

Cryonics 4th Quarter 2011

Editor — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:41:18 +0000

The 2011 4th quarter issue of Cryonics magazine is dedicated to the “father of cryonics,” Robert Ettinger, who was cryopreserved on July 23, 2011. Alcor staff member Mike Perry contributes an historical piece on Ettinger and Mark Plus and Charles Platt write about his influence on contemporary cryonics, futurism, and the cryobiology community. Cryonics editor Aschwin de Wolf compiled Robert Ettinger’s mature thoughts on the feasibility of ‘mind uploading’ and situates his outlook in a broader philosophical context. This issue also features a detailed article by the Alcor Board of Directors and Management about member underfunding and its associated challenges for Alcor’s long-term financial health. Alcor member, and prolific science fiction writer, Gregory Benford is featured in this issue’s member profile.

Click on the cover image to peruse or download PDF version.