Library
Alcor Membership Information
General Membership Information
- How to Become an Alcor Member: Step-by-Step Instructions
- Alcor Membership Application [PDF]
- Schedule A – Required Costs and Cryopreservation Fund Minimums [PDF]
- Funding Methods
- Insurance Agents
- Associate Membership
- International Membership
- Comprehensive Member Standby
- Becoming an Alcor Member [PDF brochure]
- Alcor Member Forums
- Membership FAQ
Core Contracts (Required)
- Cryopreservation Agreement [PDF]
- Attachment 1 to Cryopreservation Agreement
- Consent for Cryopreservation [PDF]
- Authorization of Anatomical Donation [PDF]
Optional / Special Circumstance Forms
- Relative’s Affidavit [PDF]
- Emergency Standby Provisions [PDF]
- Emergency Standby Provisions Payment Authorization [PDF]
- Life Insurance or Annuity Buy-Back Agreement [PDF]
- Prepayment Agreement [PDF]
- Standby Prepayment Agreement [PDF]
- Statement of Legal Gardianship for Minor Members (Joint Custody) [PDF]
- Statement of Legal Gardianship for Minor Members (Sole Custody) [PDF]
- Minor’s Declaration of Intent to Be Cryopreserved [PDF]
- International Disclaimer [PDF]
- Religious Objection to Autopsy Forms (for five states)
- Consent to Publish a Cryopreservation Press Release [PDF]
- Membership Contact and Billing Preferences [PDF]
- Funding Cryopreservation with a Trust
- Alcor Underfunding Plan [PDF] (Applies only to members who joined prior to May 4th, 2013)
- Declaration of Intent to Be Cryopreserved
- Alcor Documents in French
- Alcor Documents in German
About Alcor
Introduction to Alcor and Cryonics
- Introduction to Cryonics
- Myths about Cryonics
- Introduction to Alcor Procedures
- Milestones in Alcor History
- Video Tour of Alcor produced in 2020 by Battlestar Gallactica actress Katee Sackhoff. She provides an independent perspective from a person who has not yet made up her own mind on the subject.
- Alcor at Work Photo Gallery
- Alcor Book: Preserving Minds, Saving Lives
Alcor: General Information
- Alcor Member Profiles
- Member/Patient Statistics
- Alcor Board of Directors
- Alcor Staff
- Alcor Scientific Advisory Board
- Other Alcor Officials: Medical Advisory Board, Officers, Board of Advisors, Patient Care Trustees, Website Working Group
- Alcor Statements of Mission, Core Values, and other policies
- Alcor: Origin of Our Name
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Alcor Press Kit
Alcor Patient Care Trusts
- Alcor Patient Care Trusts: General and Financial Information
- Alcor Patient Care Trust Agreement
- Alcor Care Trust Supporting Organization Operating Agreement
- Alcor Care Trust Supporting Organization Agreement [PDF]
- Alcor Care Trust IRS Application for Recognition of Exemption [PDF]
- Alcor Care Trust IRS Exemption Letter [PDF]
Alcor Corporate Documents
- Alcor Financial Statements
- Alcor Bylaws [PDF]
- Alcor Articles of Incorporation
- Alcor IRS Non-Profit Determination Letter [PDF]
- Alcor IRS Application for Recognition of Exemption [PDF]
- Alcor Endowment Trust Supporting Organization Operating Agreement
- Alcor Endowment Trust Supporting Organization Agreement [PDF]
- Alcor Conflict of Interest Policy [PDF]
- Original 1972 Alcor Bylaws [PDF]
The Scientific Basis for Cryonics
General
- Memory Preservation Study Results (2015 article)
- Memory Preservation Study Results (2015 published paper)
- Alcor New York Academy of Sciences Paper
- Alcor Presentation at Cambridge University (2003)
- Cryonics Summary for Medical Professionals
- Advances in Cryonics Protocols, 1990-2006
- Medical Time Travel
- A Door to the Future (Chapter 9 from Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler)
- Rapid Stabilization in Human Cryopreservation
- Brief Scientific Introduction to Cryonics
- List of selected journal articles supporting the scientific basis for cryonics
- Scientist Declarations on Cryonics
Cryobiology
- How Cryoprotectants Work [PDF]
- What is Vitrification?
- New Cryopreservation Technology
- The Cryobiological Case For Cryonics
- How Cold Is Cold Enough?
- Cryopreservation of the Brain: 2013 Update
- Cryopreservation and Fracturing
- Systems for Intermediate Temperature Storage for Fracture Reduction and Avoidance
- Effect of Human Cryopreservation Protocol on the Ultrastructure of the Canine Brain
- Micrographs of Vitrified Brain
- History of DMSO and Glycerol in Cryonics [PDF]
Cerebral Ischemia
- Cardiopulmonary Support in Cryonics
- Human Cryopreservation Combinational Pharmacotherapy
- Donation after Cardiac Death
- Pathophysiology of Ischemic Injury
- Stability and Autolysis of Cortical Neurons in Post-Mortem Adult Rat Brains [PDF link]
- Prospects of a Cure for “Death”
- Neural Archaeology
- Cryopreservation of Arlene Frances Fried
Repair and Resuscitation
- Revival of Alcor Patients
- A Cryopreservation Revival Scenario Using Molecular Nanotechnology
- Molecular Repair of the Brain
- Molecular Repair of the Brain: A Scientific Critique
- “Realistic” Scenario for Nanotechnological Repair of the Frozen Human Brain
- 24th Century Medicine
- Nanotechnology and Medicine
- Cryonics, Cryptography, and Maximum Likelihood Estimation
- Cell Repair Technology
- Molecular Technology and Cell Repair Machines
- The Anabolocyte: A Biological Approach to Repairing Cryoinjury (1977) [PDF]
- Viral-Induced Repair of Damaged Neurons with Preservation of Long-Term Information Content (1969) [PDF]
- Reconstructive Connectomics
The Religious Basis for Cryonics
The Legal Basis for Cryonics
- The Legal Status of Cryonics Patients
- Alcor’s Legal Battles
- Iowa Court of Appeals Upholds Cryopreservation Wishes (2010)
- Colorado Springs Court Upholds Desire of Alcor Member to be Cryopreserved (2010)
- Big California Legal Victory Affirming the Right to be Cryopreserved (1990)
- The Thomas Donaldson Case
- Chronology of Attempted 2004 Cryonics Legislation in Arizona
The Economics of Cryonics
- Cryonics Life Insurance and Inflation (What Members Can Do)
- Cryopreservation Funding and Inflation (What Alcor Can Do)
- Alcor Underfunding Plan [PDF] (Applies only to members who joined prior to May 4th, 2013)
- Past, Present, and Future of Alcor Membership Dues
- Long-Term Financial Stability in Cryonics
- The Allocation of Long Term Care Costs at Alcor
- Scenario Analysis using a Simple Econometric Model of Alcor Finances [PDF]
- The Cost of Cryonics
Increasing Your Chances for an Optimal Cryopreservation
- Cryonics Life Insurance and Inflation
- Protecting Your Cryonics Arrangements from Interference by Third Parties
- Protecting Yourself in Medical Emergencies
- Medical Power of Attorney for Cryonics
- Cryocrastination
- Thinking About Brain-Threatening Disorders and Cryonics
- Options for Elective Cryopreservation
- Improving Your Prospects for an Optimal Cryopreservation (23-minute video)
Asset Preservation after Cryopreservation
- Multi-Investor Future Income Trust (minimum of $25,000)
- Asset Preservation Trust (minimum of $500,000)
Cryonics: Essays and Monographs
Perspectives:
- Why Cryonics Makes Sense, by Tim Urban [link]
- Problems Associated with Cryonics
- The Death of Death in Cryonics
- Binary Statutes, Analog World
- The Dead Ant Heap
- The Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Dead
- Why Nanotechnology Is Only Half the Story
- Selling Cryonics
- Signing Up Your Relatives
- To Wake Refreshed
- Transitions
- Resuscitation: A Speculative Scenario for Recovery
- Defining the Cryonics Institution
- Medical Professionals in Cryonics
- Has Cryonics Taken the Wrong Path?
- Ray Kurzweil on Memory and Cryonics
- Does Cryonics Offer False Hope?
- Beyond Skull and Skin: Concepts of Identity and the Growth of Cryonics
- Notable Quotes
Losses:
Controversies:
- Sports Illustrated Allegations
- Cold War: The Conflict Between Cryonicists and Cryobiologists
- Cryonics and Scientific American
- Dog and Phony Show
- Chemopreservation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- Chemical Brain Preservation and Human Suspended Animation
Crunching the Numbers:
Cryopreservation Case Reports
Especially informative case reports:
- 1985: Patient A-1068
- 1987: Patient A-1133
- 1990: Patient A-1049 Arlene Fried
- 1992: Patient A-1367 Jim Glennie
- 1995: Patient A-1871 James Gallagher
- 2006: Patient A-1097 [Also available in PDF]
All available cryopreservation reports:
Alcor Research Reports
- Hal Finney Cryonics Research Fund
- Persistence of Long-Term Memory in Vitrified and Revived Simple Animals [article from Cryonics]
- Persistence of Long-Term Memory in Vitrified and Revived C. elegans [PDF of journal article]
- Ultrastructural Characterization of Prolonged Normothermic and Cold Cerebral Ischemia in the Adult Rat [link to abstract]
- Stability and Autolysis of Cortical Neurons in Post-Mortem Adult Rat Brains [PDF link]
- Effect of electroconvulsive stimulation on morphological and physiological aspects of post-cardiac arrest cerebral microcirculation [link to abstract]
- Brief History of Alcor Research through 1994
- Alcor’s Pioneering Total Body Washout Experiments
- Reversible 5-Hour Asanguineous Ultraprofound Hypothermia in Canines
- Postmortem Examination of Three Cryonic Suspension Patients
- Histological Study of a Temporarily Cryopreserved Human
- A Comparative Study of Two Cases in Experimental Human Suspended Animation
- Evaluation of the Condition of Dr. James Bedford After 24 Years of Cryonic Suspension
- Algorithmic Estimation of Cortical Autolysis in Post-Mortem Adult Rat Brains [PDF]
- Some cryonics research reports not done by Alcor: BioPreservation Tech Briefs [link]
Alcor-Supported Nanomedicine Research
Procedure and Training Manuals
- Alcor Human Cryopreservation Protocol
- Human Cryopreservation Procedures Book
- General Introduction to Procedures for Alcor Transport Technicians [PDF]
- Elements of a Transport
- Human Cryopreservation Stabilization Medications
- Field Cryoprotection
- Standby: End-Stage Care of the Human Cryopreservation Patient
- Case Reports in Cryonics [PDF]
- Calibration of Alcor Post-Cryopreservation CT Scans
- Isolation of the Brain
- Medical Professionals in Cryonics
- Alcor Historical Procedures Documents
History of Cryonics
- Dear Dr. Bedford – Open Letter to the First Frozen Man
- The First Cryonic Suspension
- The Dora Kent Case
- Suspension Failures: Lessons from the Early Years
- 1972 Manual – Instructions for the Induction of Solid State Hypothermia in Humans [PDF]
- Interview – Mike Darwin
- Interview – Jerry Leaf
- Interview – Thomas Donaldson
Online Books
- Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler. The landmark book that introduced nanotechnology to the world. Chapter 9 is specifically about cryonics.
- Nanomedicine Volume I: Basic Capabilities by Robert A. Freitas. A detailed technical examination of nanotechnology applied to medicine.
- Nanomedicine Volume IIA: Biocompatibility by Robert A. Freitas. A detailed look at potential responses of the human body to the introduction of artificial medical nanodevices.
- The Prospect of Immortality by Robert Ettinger. The book that started the cryonics movement in 1964.
- Human Cryopreservation Procedures by Aschwin de Wolf and Charles Platt. 2020. Over 700 pages.
- The Scientific Conquest of Death – Essays on Infinite Lifespans, edited by the Immortality Institute.
- Alcor Book: Preserving Minds, Saving Lives – It is handy to get the physical book (which we recommend), but most of the content of this book is also available online in this Library.
Video Library
- Katee Sackhoff Tours Alcor (February 7, 2020). Katee Sackhoff, an actress best known for her starring role in the TV series Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), examines the question “Should I FREEZE MYSELF when I die?” She states: “Follow me as I get a fascinating tour of a real-life cryonics facility, with real-life (currently dead) frozen bodies in it. You can decide for yourself if cryonics lands more in the realm of science or fiction. There has been some definite controversy around this subject and I’m not here to promote it one way or the other.”
- Alcor Video FAQs – short videos answering common questions.
- Video Testimonials: “Why Did I Become a Member of Alcor?”
- 2013 Alcor Tour (16 minutes) with Nikola Danaylov (Socrates) of Singularity Weblog.
- 2013 Interview of Alcor CEO Max More (25 minutes) with Nikola Danaylov (Socrates) of Singularity Weblog.
- Cryonic Life Extension – 32-minute presentation by Alcor CEO Max More from the Fifth SENS Foundation Conference in September, 2011, at Queens’ College, Cambridge, UK.
- 2012 Alcor Conference – 12 full presentations from the 2012 Alcor Conference.
- 2006 Alcor Conference – 5 full presentations from the 2006 Alcor Conference.
- The Limitless Future – 28-minute Alcor documentary from 2005 interviewing scientists about how aging can be reversed and how cryopreservation can lead to greatly extended lifespans.
- Alcor Cryonics YouTube Channel