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Alcor conference marking our 50th year

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Alcor is holding its first conference in seven years, celebrating half a century in operation. Come join us in Scottsdale on June 3-5, 2022.

Featured speaker: We are delighted to announce the in-person presence of David Chalmers, one of the most famous contemporary philosophers (and cognitive scientists) who specializes in the areas of philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. Prof. Chalmers is a Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science at New York University, as well as co-director of NYU’s Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness. Prepare your questions for our special “fireside chat”.  

David’s most recent book, Reality+, is the first serious philosophical treatment of what is real, and what is valuable, in virtual worlds—a topic of unique interest to cryonicists who hope one day to live in the far future with this type of technology.

Featured panel: The first-ever Presidents’ Panel, bringing together the heads of four cryonics organizations: Patrick Harris, Dennis Kowalski, Emil Kendziorra, and Peter Tsolakides.

Other sessions cover exciting cryobiological results, biostasis technologies, long-term financial planning, revival and reintegration, cryonics as “Plan A”, technical advances at Alcor, rewarming of vitrified organs, and more. More information and registration here:

2022 Conference
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A-1107 became Alcor’s 190th patient in January 2022

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A-1107, 93-year-old whole body member, was pronounced legally deceased in January 2022 in California, USA. No standby was possible but Suspended Animation responded and packed the patient in dry ice and transported to Alcor. A-1107 became Alcor’s 190th patient.

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Read the Fourth Quarter 2021 Issue of Cryonics!

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The current issue of Cryonics magazine, published online, packs in plenty of good reading. Following the explanation of the Donor Challenge, in “Limits to Limits to Growth”, Max More critically reviews the infamous and Malthusian 1972 Club of Rome’s report Limits to Growth and how its claims have held up since. An accompanying piece, “Peak Oil Hysteria”, examines repeated claims that we have reached the peak of oil production, and considers what that would imply.

In “Let’s Make Sure The Next Carl Sagan Is a Cryonicist”, Jason Harrow extracts a lesson from Sagan’s failure to make cryonics arrangements.

“Alcor Case Metrics 1967-2020” continues to reveal how Alcor is doing on a number of variables from its origin until today.

“Schrödinger’s Freezer and the Restoration of Lost Information: Some Consequences of an Interesting Variant of the Many Worlds Interpretation” will stretch the physics-and-philosophy part of your brain.

And this issue includes the usual thorough roundup of anti-aging research and revival-related technologies.

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A-2798 becomes Alcor’s 188th patient

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A-2798, a 36-year-old with whole body cryopreservation arrangements, was declared legally deceased in December 2021 in Pennsylvania, USA.

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Alcor’s 50th Anniversary Donor Challenge

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The highlight of the fourth quarter 2021 issue of Cryonics is Alcor’s ambitious 50th Anniversary Donor Challenge. Rather than ask for financial support, Alcor wants to earn your contribution by running a Donor Challenge! The Donor Challenge focuses on growing membership and awareness of cryonics. Donor Challenge allows you to pledge a donation and make Alcor work to achieve a specific membership goal.

Alcor had 1397 full members at the end of 2021. Alcor’s president, Patrick Harris, is challenging the membership and himself. He asks you to pledge a donation if membership reaches various levels by the end of 2022. For instance:

  • You can pledge $100 if Alcor makes it to 1500 members by the end of the year. That requires almost 7.4% growth – quite good by recent standards.
  • You can pledge $10,000, to be paid only if Alcor reaches 1700 members. You then become a member of the 1700 Club and Alcor grows by at least 21.7%.
  • Or join the Millionaires Club, and pledge that amount if Alcor reaches a stunning 2255 members.

See the new issue for the details and answers to your questions. You have only until February 22, 2022 to make your pledge. The next day – Alcor’s 50th birthday! – new growth strategies will be unveiled. What kinds of strategies will get us to these ambitious levels of growth? You will find out then! Before then, place your bet and make a pledge.

LINK to Donor Challenge

Comment and tell us:

  1. What changes and strategies do you think Alcor will launch on Feb 23, 2022?
  2. What changes and strategies do you think will get Alcor to these ambitious levels of growth?

What types of benefits do you think Alcor should offer to 50th Anniversary Club Members who make pledges before February 23, 2022?

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A-2999 became Alcor’s 187th patient in November 2021

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A-2999, a 91-year-old male with neurocryopreservation arrangements, was declared legally dead in November 2021 in Colorado. A standby was not possible due to a rapid change in the member’s condition. A field cryoprotection was performed and then the patient was transported to Alcor. He became Alcor’s 187th patient. A full case report is being prepared.

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A-1794 became Alcor’s 185th patient in September 2021

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A-1794 was a 78-year-old male with neurocryopreservation arrangements. Legal death was declared in California, USA in September 2021. After transport to Alcor by Suspended Animation, cryoprotective perfusion and cryogenic cooldown took place. He became Alcor’s 185th patient. A full case report is being prepared.

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Getting Better Part 2: Scarcity or Abundance?

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Why have so many past predictions and forecasts about resources, health, wealth, and well-being turned out to be excessively pessimistic? In the second part of his “Getting Better” series, Max More details the errors of pessimists as exemplified by ecologist Paul Ehrlich. We can learn from historical fears such as the Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894. The logic behind that fear is like that behind many recent supposed crises.

Max looks at a famous bet between Ehrlich and economist Julian Simon and extracts some lessons from it. Shots fired by Ehrlich sympathizers largely miss their target but examining the claims leads to a better understanding of how best to measure improvements in living standards. He looks at other badly failed pessimistic predictions and asks what is wrong with excessive pessimism.

He concludes with a look at the Simon Abundance Index, which measures the change in abundance of resources over a period. This shows that the Earth was 6.18 times as plentiful in 2018 as it was when Ehrlich and Simon commenced their wager. Find “Scarcity or Abundance?” starting on page 3 of the third quarter 2021 issue of Cryonics magazine.

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Alcor Case Metrics 1967-1999

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The third quarter 2021 issue of Cryonics magazine includes a new report on the meta-analysis project. This report looks at case metrics from 1967 through 1999. (Previous reports covered more recent cases.) This period covers the pre-vitrification era of high concentration glycerol perfusions. You can find out the percentage of local cases, autopsies, unattended (legal) deaths, straight freezes, standbys, cases with cardiopulmonary support, duration of procedures, and more.

This Alcor-funded research is being carried out by Advanced Neural Biosciences. Among its goals are:

  • to create a complete secure database of all the important case variables gleaned from case reports, raw data, and CT scans
  • to identify important information about trends and outcomes of Alcor procedures
  • to create a set of case metrics that provide a quantitative result that measures the quality of each patient preservation
  • and resulting recommendations to improve procedures, case work, and case logistics.

The Alcor Meta-Analysis Project started in January 2019 and will continue into 2022. Find the current report starting on page 12 of the third quarter 2021 issue of Cryonics magazine.

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Alcor’s First Half Century Part 1: 1970-1976

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Alcor Life Extension Foundation is in its 50th year. How did the organization get started? What inspired the founders? How was what they did different from the failed cryonics organizations of the 1960s? In “Alcor’s First Half Century Part 1: 1970-1976” cryonics historian Michael Perry reveals the details, covering the early years from  just before Alcor’s founding on February 23, 1972, through 1976.

This fascinating article may surprise many readers. The careful, detailed, and intelligent way the founders, Fred and Linda Chamberlain, set about structuring the organization still looks solid today. You can see this in the quoted article, “Alcor Activities and Systems” from November-December 1972. “Alcor’s First Half Century Part 1: 1970-1976” starts on page 27 in the third quarter 2021 issue of Cryonics magazine.