Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and other animals that can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine until resuscitation may be possible in the future. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Human cryopreservation is not currently reversible. Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero Temperatures such as (typically 77 K or −196 In the United States, cryonics can only be legally performed on humans after pronounced legally dead. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society The rationale for cryonics is that the process may be reversible in the future if performed soon enough, and that cryopreserved people are not dead by the modern information-theoretic definition of death. Information-theoretic death is the destruction of the human brain and information within it to such an extent that recovery of the original mind and person that occupied the brain is ^[1] Cryonics is derived from the Greek word κρύος (kryos), meaning cold. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly ^[2]

Contents 1 Premises of cryonics 2 Obstacles to success 2.1 Preservation injury 2.2 Ischemic injury 2.3 Revival 3 Neuropreservation 4 Financial issues 5 Philosophical and ethical considerations 6 History 7 Culture 7.1 Cryonics in popular culture 7.2 The subculture of cryonicists 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Premises of cryonics

The central premise of cryonics is that memory, personality, and identity are stored in cellular structures and chemistry, principally in the brain. In Psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store retain and subsequently retrieve information In Philosophy, personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person that which makes him or her unique The brain is the center of the Nervous system in animals All Vertebrates and the majority of Invertebrates have a brain (Neuropreservation relies entirely on the brain, while "whole body" preservation addresses the possibility that some attributes, such as muscle memory, might reside at least partially elsewhere in the body. Neuropreservation is Cryopreservation of the human Brain with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around the brain Muscle memory is a common term for Neuromuscular facilitation which is the process of the neuromuscular system memorizing Motor skills Overview ) While this view is widely accepted in medicine, and brain activity is known to stop and later resume under certain conditions, it is not generally accepted that current methods preserve the brain well enough to permit revival in the future. Cryonics advocates point to studies showing that high concentrations of cryoprotectant circulated through the brain before cooling can largely prevent freezing injury, preserving the fine cell structures of the brain in which memory and identity presumably reside. A cryoprotectant is a substance that is used to protect Biological tissue from Freezing damage (damage due to Ice formation The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known living Organisms It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living and is often called In Philosophy, personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person that which makes him or her unique ^[3]

To its detractors, the justification for the actual practice of cryonics is unclear, given present limitations of preservation technology. Currently cells, tissues, blood vessels, and some small animal organs can be reversibly cryopreserved. Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero Temperatures such as (typically 77 K or −196 Some frogs can survive for a few months in a partially frozen state a few degrees below freezing, but this is not true cryopreservation. This article is about the block cipher algorithm For the ultrafast laser pulse measurement technique see Frequency-resolved optical gating. Cryonics advocates counter that demonstrably reversible preservation is not necessary to achieve the present-day goal of cryonics, which is preservation of basic brain information that encodes memory and personal identity. Preservation of this information is said to be sufficient to prevent information-theoretic death until future repairs might be possible. Information-theoretic death is the destruction of the human brain and information within it to such an extent that recovery of the original mind and person that occupied the brain is

Obstacles to success

Preservation injury

Long-term cryopreservation requires cooling to near −196 °C (−321 °F), the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which the Vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid Liquid nitrogen (liquid density at the Triple point is 0707 g/mL is the liquid produced industrially in large quantities by Fractional distillation of It is a common mistaken belief that cells will lyse (burst) due to the formation of ice crystals within the cell, but this only occurs if the freezing rate exceeds the osmotic loss of water to the extracellular space ^[4] (and it is virtually impossible to cool a large tissue that quickly). However, damage from freezing can still be serious; ice may still form between cells, causing mechanical and chemical damage. Cryonics organizations use cryoprotectants to reduce this damage. A cryoprotectant is a substance that is used to protect Biological tissue from Freezing damage (damage due to Ice formation Cryoprotectant solutions are circulated through blood vessels to remove and replace water inside cells with chemicals that prevent freezing. This can reduce damage greatly,^[5] but freezing of whole people still causes injuries that are not reversible with present technology.

When used at high concentrations, cryoprotectants stop ice formation completely. Cooling and solidification without freezing is called vitrification. Vitrification is a process of converting a material into a Glass -like Amorphous solid that is free from any Crystalline structure either by the quick removal ^[6] The first cryoprotectant solutions able to vitrify at very slow cooling rates while still being compatible with tissue survival were developed in the late 1990s by cryobiologists Gregory Fahy and Brian Wowk for the purpose of banking transplantable organs. Cryobiology is the branch of Biology that studies the effects of low Temperatures on living things Gregory M Fahy, PhD cryobiologist, biogerontologist is Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Twenty-First Century Brian G Wowk, PhD is a Medical physicist and cryobiologist known for the discovery and development of synthetic Molecules ^[7] These solutions were adopted for use in cryonics by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, for which they are believed to permit vitrification of some parts of the human body, especially the brain. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA -based Nonprofit company that researches advocates for and performs Cryonics Vitrification is a process of converting a material into a Glass -like Amorphous solid that is free from any Crystalline structure either by the quick removal ^[8] This has allowed animal brains to be vitrified, warmed back up, and examined for ice damage using light and electron microscopy. An electron microscope is a type of Microscope that uses Electrons to illuminate a specimen and create an enlarged image No ice crystal damage was found. ^[9][10][11] The Cryonics Institute also uses a vitrification solution developed by their staff cryobiologist, Dr. The Cryonics Institute (CI is a member-owned-and-operated Not-for-profit corporation which provides Cryonics services Yuri Pichugin, applying it principally to the brain. ^[12]

Vitrification in cryonics is different than vitrification in mainstream cryobiology because vitrification in cryonics is not reversible with current technology. It is only structural vitrification. When successful it can prevent freezing injury in some body parts, but at the price of toxicity caused by cryoprotectant chemicals. The nature of this toxicity is still poorly understood. Cryonicists assume that toxicity is more subtle and repairable than obvious structural damage that would otherwise be caused by freezing. If, for example, toxicity is due to denatured proteins, those proteins could be repaired or replaced. Denaturation is a process in which Proteins or Nucleic acids lose their structure (tertiary structure by application of some external stress or compound for

Ischemic injury

Ischemia means inadequate or absent blood circulation that deprives tissue of oxygen and nutrients. In Medicine, ischemia ( Greek ισχαιμία, isch- is restriction hema or haema is Blood) is a restriction At least several minutes of ischemia is an unavoidable part of cryonics because of the legal requirement that cryonics procedures do not begin until after blood circulation stops. The heart must stop beating so that legal death can be declared. Legal death is a legal pronouncement by a qualified person that further medical care is not appropriate and that a patient should be considered dead under the law When there is advance notice of impending clinical death, it is sometimes possible to deploy a team of technicians to perform a “standby”. The team artificially restores blood circulation and breathing using techniques similar to CPR as soon as possible after the heart stops. ^[13] The aim is to keep tissues alive after legal death by analogy to conventional medical procedures in which viable organs and tissues are obtained for transplant from legally deceased donors. Legal death does not mean that all the cells of the body have died. ^[14]

Often in cryonics the brain is without oxygen for many minutes at warm temperatures, or even hours if the heart stops unexpectedly. This causes ischemic injury to the brain and other tissues that makes resuscitation impossible by present medical technology. Cryonicists justify preservation under such conditions by noting recent advances that allow brain resuscitation after longer periods of ischemia than the traditional 4 to 6 minute limit, and persistence of brain structure and even some brain cell function after long periods of clinical death. ^[15][16] They argue that definitions of death change as technology advances, and the early stages of what is called “death” today is actually a form of ischemic injury that will be reversible in the future. ^[17] They claim that personal survival during long periods of clinical death is determined by information theoretic criteria. Information-theoretic death is the destruction of the human brain and information within it to such an extent that recovery of the original mind and person that occupied the brain is ^[18][19][20]

Revival

It is universally agreed by scientists and cryonics advocates that reversing human cryopreservation is not possible with “any near-term technology. ”^[21] Those who believe that revival may someday be possible generally look toward advanced bioengineering, molecular nanotechnology,^[22] nanomedicine,^[23] or mind uploading as key technologies. Bioengineering (also known as Biological Engineering is the application of Engineering principles to address challenges in the fields of Biology and Medicine Molecular nanotechnology (MNT is the concept of engineering functional mechanical systems at the molecular scale Nanomedicine is the medical application of Nanotechnology. The approaches to nanomedicine range from the medical use of Nanomaterials, to nanoelectronic In Transhumanism and Science fiction, mind uploading (also occasionally referred to by other terms such as mind transfer, whole brain emulation Revival (except for mind uploading) requires repairing damage from lack of oxygen, cryoprotectant toxicity, thermal stress (fracturing), freezing in tissues that do not successfully vitrify, physical therapy to regain function of the body (similar to that of a long-term coma), and reversing the effects that caused the patient death. In many cases extensive tissue regeneration will be necessary. In Biology, an Organism is said to regenerate a lost or damaged part if the part regrows so that the original function is restored Hypothetical revival scenarios generally envision repairs being performed by vast numbers of microscopic organisms or devices. ^{[24][25][26][27]} These devices would restore healthy cell structure and chemistry at the molecular level, ideally before warming. More radically, mind transfer has also been suggested as a possible revival approach if and when technology is ever developed to scan the memory contents of a preserved brain. In Transhumanism and Science fiction, mind uploading (also occasionally referred to by other terms such as mind transfer, whole brain emulation

It has often been written that cryonics revival will be a last-in-first-out (LIFO) process. LIFO is an Acronym which stands for last in first out. In Computer science and Queueing theory this refers to the way items stored In this view, preservation methods will get progressively better until eventually they are demonstrably reversible, after which medicine will begin to reach back and revive people cryopreserved by more primitive methods. Revival of people cryopreserved by the current combination of neurovitrification and deep-cooling (technically not "freezing", as cryoprotectant inhibits ice crystallization) may require centuries, if it is possible at all. Neurovitrification is the term that refers to Vitrification of only the human brain (or the human head as a whole usually with the intention of Neuropreservation ^[15]

It has been claimed that if technologies for general molecular analysis and repair are ever developed, then theoretically any damaged body could be “revived. ” Survival would then depend on whether preserved brain information was sufficient to permit restoration of all or part of the personal identity of the original person, with amnesia being the final dividing line between life and death. Amnesia (from Greek) is a condition in which Memory is disturbed

Neuropreservation

Neuropreservation is cryopreservation of the brain, often within the head, with surgical removal and disposal (usually cremation) of the rest of the body. Neuropreservation is Cryopreservation of the human Brain with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around the brain Neuropreservation, sometimes called “neuro,” is one of two distinct preservation options in cryonics, the other being "whole body" preservation. In a substantial number of neuropreservation cases, only the brain is preserved. This can come about because the cryonics practitioner chooses to preserve just the brain or where the brain has been removed by a medical examiner as part of autopsy procedures.

Neuropreservation is motivated by the fact that the brain is the primary repository of memory and personal identity. The brain is the center of the Nervous system in animals All Vertebrates and the majority of Invertebrates have a brain (For instance, spinal cord injury victims, organ transplant patients, and amputees retain their personal identity. ) It is also motivated by the belief that reversing any type of cryonic preservation is so difficult and complex that any future technology capable of it must by its nature be capable of generalized tissue regeneration, including growth of a new body around a repaired brain. In Biology, an Organism is said to regenerate a lost or damaged part if the part regrows so that the original function is restored Some suggested revival scenarios for whole body patients even involve discarding the original body and regenerating a new one because tissues are so badly damaged by the preservation process. These considerations, along with lower costs, easier transportation in emergencies, and the specific focus on brain preservation quality, have motivated many cryonicists to choose neuropreservation.

The advantages and disadvantages of neuropreservation are often debated among cryonics advocates. Critics of neuropreservation note that the body is a record of much life experience, including learned motor skills. While few cryonicists doubt that a revived neuro patient would be the same person, there are wider questions about how a regenerated body might feel different from the original. ^[28] Partly for these reasons (as well as for better public relations), the Cryonics Institute preserves only whole bodies. The Cryonics Institute (CI is a member-owned-and-operated Not-for-profit corporation which provides Cryonics services Some proponents of neuropreservation agree with these concerns, but still feel that lower costs and better brain preservation justify preserving only the brain. About three-quarters of the patients stored at Alcor are "neuros".

Although the American Cryonics Society no longer offers the neuropreservation option, about half of the American Cryonic Society’s patients are “neuros. ” One of the leading advocates of neuropreservation was long time American Cryonics Society President Jerry White. Under Mr. White’s direction, his mother and pet cat, Liza Jane, were so preserved with just the brain of his mother being treated. Upon his death from medical complications brought on by AIDS in 1992, Mr. White was also neuropreserved. ^[29]

Financial issues

Costs of cryonics vary greatly, ranging from $28,000 for cryopreservation by Cryonics Institute, to $155,000 for whole body cryopreservation for the American Cryonics Society’s most expensive plan. The Cryonics Institute (CI is a member-owned-and-operated Not-for-profit corporation which provides Cryonics services The American Cryonics Society ("ACS" is a member-run California -based 501(c(3 tax-exempt Non-profit corporation that supports ^[30] Alcor’s whole body preservation is priced at $150,000 (or $80,000 for neuropreservation of the head alone) plus a ~$500 annual membership fee during life by Alcor. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA -based Nonprofit company that researches advocates for and performs Cryonics ^{[31] [32]} After payment of an initiaton fee, ACS full members pay an annual fee of $300 currently. ^[33] To some extent these cost differences reflect differences in how fees are quoted. The Cryonics Institute fee doesn’t include “standby” (a team that begins procedures at bedside), transportation costs, or funeral director expenses outside of Michigan, which must be purchased as extras. The Cryonics Institute (CI is a member-owned-and-operated Not-for-profit corporation which provides Cryonics services CI Members wanting Standby and Transport from cryonics professionals can contract for additional payment to the Florida-based company Suspended Animation, Inc. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the

While cryonics is sometimes suspected of being greatly profitable, the high expenses of doing cryonics are well documented. ^[34] The expenses are comparable to major transplant surgeries. The largest single expense, especially for whole body cases, is the money that must be set aside to generate interest to pay for maintenance in perpetuity.

The most common method of paying for cryonics is life insurance, which spreads the cost over many years. Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the Cryonics advocates are quick to point out that such insurance is especially affordable for young people. It has been claimed that cryonics is “affordable for the vast majority” of people in the industrialized world who really want it and plan for it in advance.

Philosophical and ethical considerations

Cryonics is based on a view of dying as a process that can be stopped in the minutes, and perhaps hours, following clinical death. Clinical death is the popular term for cessation of blood circulation and breathing If death is not an event that happens suddenly when the heart stops, this raises philosophical questions about what exactly death is. Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific In 2005 an ethics debate in the medical journal, Critical Care, noted “…few if any patients pronounced dead by today’s physicians are in fact truly dead by any scientifically rigorous criteria. ”^[35] Cryonics proponent Thomas Donaldson has argued that “death” based on cardiac arrest or resuscitation failure is a purely social construction used to justify terminating care of dying patients. Thomas K Donaldson (1945&ndash2006 was a Mathematician and well-known Cryonics advocate A cardiac arrest, also known as cardiorespiratory arrest, cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest, is the abrupt cessation of normal circulation of ^[36] In this view, legal death and its aftermath are a form of euthanasia in which sick people are abandoned. Legal death is a legal pronouncement by a qualified person that further medical care is not appropriate and that a patient should be considered dead under the law Euthanasia (literally "good death" in Ancient Greek) refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner Philosopher Max More suggested a distinction between death associated with circumstances and intention versus death that is absolutely irreversible. Max More (born Max T O'Connor January 1964 is a philosopher and futurist who writes speaks and consults on advanced decision making and foresight methods for ^[37] Absolutely irreversible death has also been called information-theoretic death, which is destruction of the brain to such an extent that the original information content can no longer be inferred. Information-theoretic death is the destruction of the human brain and information within it to such an extent that recovery of the original mind and person that occupied the brain is Bioethicist James Hughes has written that increasing rights will accrue to cryonics patients as prospects for revival become clearer, noting that recovery of legally dead persons has precedent in the discovery of missing persons. Bioethics is the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in Biology and Medicine. James J Hughes PhD is a sociologist and bioethicist teaching health policy at Trinity College in Hartford, ^[38]

Ethical and theological opinions of cryonics tend to pivot on the issue of whether cryonics is regarded as interment or medicine. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the If cryonics is interment, then religious beliefs about death and afterlife may come into consideration. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos AfterLife is a film drama set in Scotland directed by Alison Peebles made in 2003 about an ambitious Scottish journalist forced to choose between Resuscitation may be deemed impossible by those with religious beliefs because the soul is gone, and according to most religions only God can resurrect the dead. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. This article concerns itself with Jesus Christ Christian, Islamic and other religious interpretations of resurrection in general Cryonics advocates complain that theological dismissal of cryonics because it is interment is a circular argument because calling cryonics "interment" presumes that cryonics cannot work. ^[39] They believe future technical advances will validate their view that cryonics patients are recoverable, and therefore never really dead. ^[40] If cryonics is regarded as medicine, with legal death as a mere enabling mechanism, then cryonics is a long-term coma with uncertain prognosis. Legal death is a legal pronouncement by a qualified person that further medical care is not appropriate and that a patient should be considered dead under the law In Medicine, a coma (from the Greek koma, meaning deep sleep is a profound state of Unconsciousness.

Alcor has published a vigorous Christian defense of cryonics,^[41] including excerpts of a sermon by Lutheran Reverend Kay Glaesner. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA -based Nonprofit company that researches advocates for and performs Cryonics Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther Noted Christian apologist John Warwick Montgomery has defended cryonics. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth John Warwick Montgomery was born October 18, 1931 in Warsaw New York. ^[42] In 1969, a Roman Catholic priest consecrated the cryonics capsule of Ann DeBlasio, one of the first cryonics patients. Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service usually religious ^[43] Many followers of Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov see cryonics as an important step in the Common Cause project (reference: Fedorov seminar in Moscow, Russia on 25. Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (Никола́й Фёдорович Фёдоров surname also Anglicized as "Fedorov" ( June 9, 1829 &ndash December 11. 2006) and compatible with Orthodox Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world

At the request of the American Cryonics Society, in 1995, Philosopher Charles Tandy, Ph. D. ^[44] authored a paper entitled “Cryonic-Hibernation in Light of the Bioethical Pinciples of Beauchamp and Childress. ” Dr. Tandy considered the four bioethical factors or principles articulated by philosophers Beauchamp and Childress as they apply to cryonic suspension. These four principles are 1) respect for autonomy; 2) nonmaleficence; 3) beneficence; and 4) justice. Tandy concluded that in respect to all four principles “biomedical professionals have a strong (not weak) and actual (not prima facie, but binding) obligation to help insure cryonic-hibernation of the cryonics patient. ” ^[45]

History

Benjamin Franklin suggested in a famous 1773 letter^[46] that it might be possible to preserve human life in a suspended state for centuries. Benjamin Franklin ( April 17 1790 was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. However, the modern era of cryonics began in 1962 when Michigan college physics teacher Robert Ettinger proposed in a privately published book, “The Prospect of Immortality”,^[47] that freezing people may be a way to reach future medical technology. Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (born December 04, 1918) is known as "the father of Cryonics " due to the impact of his 1962 book Even though freezing a person is apparently fatal, Ettinger argued that what appears to be fatal today may be reversible in the future. He applied the same argument to the process of dying itself, saying that the early stages of clinical death may be reversible in the future. Clinical death is the popular term for cessation of blood circulation and breathing Combining these two ideas, he suggested that freezing recently deceased people may be a way to save lives.

Slightly before Ettinger’s book was complete, Evan Cooper^[48] (writing as Nathan Duhring) privately published a book called Immortality: Physically, Scientifically, Now that independently suggested the same idea. Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (born December 04, 1918) is known as "the father of Cryonics " due to the impact of his 1962 book Cooper founded the Life Extension Society in 1965 to promote freezing people. Ettinger came to be credited as the originator of cryonics, perhaps because his book was republished by Doubleday in 1964 on recommendation of Isaac Asimov and Fred Pohl, and received more publicity. Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (born December 04, 1918) is known as "the father of Cryonics " due to the impact of his 1962 book Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian Frederik George Pohl Jr (born November 26, 1919) is a American Science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career Ettinger also stayed with the movement longer. Nevertheless, cryonics historian R. Michael Perry has written “Evan Cooper deserves the principal credit for forming an organized cryonics movement. ”^[49] Cooper founded the first cryonics organization in 1964, the Life Extension Society (LES).

Cooper’s Life Extension Society became the seed tree for cryonics societies throughout the country where local cryonics advocates would get together as a result of contact through the LES mailing list. The actual word “cryonics” was invented by Karl Werner in 1965 in conjunction with the founding of the Cryonics Society of New York (CSNY) by Curtis Henderson and Saul Kent that same year. Curtis Henderson was a pioneer in the practice of Cryonics. Personal background Henderson graduated from Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University Saul Kent is a prominent Life extension activist and co-founder of the Life Extension Foundation, a major Dietary supplement vendor and promoter of anti-aging This was followed by the founding of the Cryonics Society of Michigan (CSM) and Cryonics Society of California (CSC) in 1966, and Bay Area Cryonics Society (BACS) in 1969 (renamed the American Cryonics Society, or ACS, in 1985). The American Cryonics Society ("ACS" is a member-run California -based 501(c(3 tax-exempt Non-profit corporation that supports Neither CSNY nor CSC are currently in operation. CSM eventually became the Immortalist Society, a non-profit affiliate of the Cryonics Institute (CI), a cryonics service organization founded by Robert Ettinger in 1976. The Cryonics Institute (CI is a member-owned-and-operated Not-for-profit corporation which provides Cryonics services Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (born December 04, 1918) is known as "the father of Cryonics " due to the impact of his 1962 book CI now has more cryonics patients than any other organization.

Although there was at least one earlier aborted case, it is generally accepted that the first person frozen with intent of future resuscitation was Dr. James Bedford, a 73-year-old psychology professor frozen under crude conditions by CSC on January 12, 1967. James Hiram Bedford ( 20 April 1893 - 12 January 1967) was a University of California psychology professor who had written several Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. The case made the cover of a limited print run of Life Magazine before the presses were stopped to report the death of three astronauts in the Apollo 1 fire instead.

Cryonics suffered a major setback in 1979 when it was discovered that nine bodies stored by CSC in a cemetery in Chatsworth, California, thawed due to depletion of funds. ^[50][51] Some of the bodies had apparently thawed years earlier without notification. The head of CSC was sued, and negative publicity slowed cryonics growth for years afterward. Of seventeen documented cryonics cases between 1967 and 1973, only James Bedford remains cryopreserved today. Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero Temperatures such as (typically 77 K or −196 Strict financial controls and requirements adopted in response to the Chatsworth scandal have resulted in the successful maintenance of almost all cryonics cases since that era.

The largest cryonics organization today, in terms of membership, was established by Fred and Linda Chamberlain in 1972 as the Alcor Society for Solid State Hypothermia (ALCOR). Frederick Rockwell Chamberlain III and his wife Linda are the founders of the Cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation. In 1977 the name was changed to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA -based Nonprofit company that researches advocates for and performs Cryonics In 1982, the Institute for Advanced Biological Studies (IABS) founded by Mike Darwin and Steve Bridge in Indiana merged with Alcor. Michael G ("Mike" Darwin, who is an American was the president of the Cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation from 1983 to 1988 and Research During the 1980s Darwin worked with UCLA cardiothoracic surgery researcher Jerry Leaf at Alcor to develop a medical model for cryonics procedures. The University of California Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Westwood Los Angeles, California, United Jerry D Leaf (April 4 1941 &ndash July 10 1991 was Vice President of the Cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation, and President of the Cryonics They pioneered the first consistent use of a cryonics procedure now known as a “standby”, in which a team waits to begin life support procedures at the bedside of a cryonics patient as soon as possible after the heart stops.

The oldest incorporated cryonics society still extant is the American Cryonics Society (ACS). The American Cryonics Society ("ACS" is a member-run California -based 501(c(3 tax-exempt Non-profit corporation that supports This tax-exempt 501(c)(3) membership organization was incorporated in 1969 as the Bay Area Cryonics Society (BACS) by a group of cryonics advocates that included two prominent Bay Area physicians, Dr. A tax exemption is an exemption from all or certain Taxes of a state or nation in which part of the taxes that would normally be collected from an individual or an organization 501(c is a provision of the United States Internal Revenue Code ( listing 28 types of Non-profit organizations exempt from some federal M. Coleman Harris and Dr. Grace Talbot. The first suspensions under BACS auspices were performed in 1974 by Trans Time, Inc. , a for-profit company started by BACS members. BACS researcher Dr. Paul Segall, working with Jerry Leaf of CryoVita, developed a medical model to induce hypothermia shortly after pronouncement of death. Dr. Segall later went on to pioneer blood substitutes for use in both cryonic suspension and in mainstream medicine.

Cryonics received new support in the 1980s when MIT engineer Eric Drexler started publishing papers and books foreseeing the new field of molecular nanotechnology. Kim Eric Drexler (born April 25, 1955 in Oakland California) is an American engineer best known for popularizing the potential of Molecular Molecular nanotechnology (MNT is the concept of engineering functional mechanical systems at the molecular scale His 1986 book, Engines of Creation, included an entire chapter on cryonics applications. Engines of Creation is a seminal Molecular nanotechnology book written by K ^[52] Cryonics advocates saw the nascent field of nanotechnology as vindication of their long held view that molecular repair of injured tissue was theoretically possible. ^[53] Alcor’s membership expanded tenfold within a decade, with a 30% annual growth rate between 1988 and 1992. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA -based Nonprofit company that researches advocates for and performs Cryonics

Alcor was disrupted by political turmoil in 1993 when a group of activists left to start the CryoCare Foundation,^[54] and associated for-profit companies CryoSpan, Inc. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA -based Nonprofit company that researches advocates for and performs Cryonics (headed by Paul Wakfer) and BioPreservation, Inc. ^[55] (headed by Mike Darwin). Michael G ("Mike" Darwin, who is an American was the president of the Cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation from 1983 to 1988 and Research Darwin and collaborators made many technical advances during this time period, including a landmark study documenting high quality brain preservation by freezing with high concentrations of glycerol. ^[56] CryoCare ceased operations in 1999 when they were unable to renew their service contract with BioPreservation. CryoCare’s two patients stored at CryoSpan were transferred to Alcor. Several ACS patients stored at CryoSpan were transferred to CI.

There have been numerous, often transient, for-profit companies involved in cryonics. For-profit companies were often paired or affiliated with non-profit groups they served. Some of these companies, with non-profits they served in parentheses, were Cryonic Interment, Inc. (CSC), Cryo-Span Corporation (CSNY), Cryo-Care Equipment Corporation (CSC and CSNY), Manrise Corporation (Alcor), CryoVita, Inc. (Alcor), BioTransport, Inc. (Alcor), Trans Time, Inc. ^[57] (BACS), Soma, Inc. (IABS), CryoSpan, Inc. (CryoCare and ACS), BioPreservation, Inc. (CryoCare and ACS), Kryos, Inc. (ACS), Suspended Animation, Inc. ^[58] (CI, ACS, and Alcor). Only Trans Time and Suspended Animation still exist. Apparently none of the companies were ever profitable.

The cryonics field seems to have largely consolidated around three non-profit groups, Alcor, Cryonics Institute (CI), and the American Cryonics Society (ACS), all deriving significant income from bequests and donations. A newly formed non-profit group called the Cryonics Society was formally incorporated in 2006 but is devoted solely to promotion and public education of the cryonics concept. The Cryonics Society is a registered 501(c3 non-profit organization and is the only registered nonprofit organization in the world dedicated solely to educating and informing the

As research in the 1990s revealed in greater detail the damaging effects of freezing, there was a trend to use higher concentrations of glycerol cryoprotectant to prevent freezing injury. A cryoprotectant is a substance that is used to protect Biological tissue from Freezing damage (damage due to Ice formation In 2001 Alcor began using vitrification, a technology borrowed from mainstream organ preservation research, in an attempt to completely prevent ice formation during cooling. Vitrification is a process of converting a material into a Glass -like Amorphous solid that is free from any Crystalline structure either by the quick removal Initially the technology could only be applied to the head when separated from the body. In 2005 Alcor began treating the whole body with their vitrification solution in a procedure called "neurovitrification with whole body cryoprotection". Vitrification is a process of converting a material into a Glass -like Amorphous solid that is free from any Crystalline structure either by the quick removal ^[59] In the same year, the Cryonics Institute began treating the head of their whole body patients with their own vitrification solution. ^[60]

The Cryonics Institute maintains 87 human patients (along with about 52 pets) at its Clinton Township, Michigan facility. The Charter Township of Clinton, usually referred to as Clinton Township, is a Charter township of Macomb County Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. A significant number of these cryopreserved humans and pets came to the CI facility through contract with the American Cryonics Society. Alcor currently maintains 80 cryonics patients in Scottsdale, Arizona. There are support groups in Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. There is also a small cryonics facility in Russia storing four neuropatients called KrioRus, and plans for a facility in Australia. KrioRus is the first Russian Cryonics company Established in 2005 by Danila Medvedev, it is the first cryonics company outside the United States For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. There are also plans for a multi-acre facility to be built in an undisclosed location in the United States. This facility is to be named Timeship^[61] and will be built along a futuristic design emphasizing security and safety developed by renowned architect Stephen Valentine^[62].

Culture

Cryonics in popular culture

Procedures similar to cryonics have been featured in innumerable science fiction stories to aid space travel, or as means to transport a character from the past into the future. In addition to accomplishing whatever the character's primary task is in the future, he or she must cope with the strangeness of a new world, which may contain only traces of their previous surroundings. This prospect of alienation is often cited as a major reason for the unpopularity of cryonics.

Notable early science fiction short stories featuring human cryopreservation, deliberate or accidental, include Jack London's first published work "A Thousand Deaths" (1899), H. " A Thousand Deaths " is an 1899 short story by Jack London, and is notable as his first work to be published P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air" (1928), and Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw" (1937). "Cool Air" is a short story by the American Horror fiction writer H The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw is a 1937 short story by Edgar Rice Burroughs about an unfrozen 50000 year-old caveman and his politically-incorrect views Many of the subjects in these stories are unwilling ones, although a 1931 short story by Neil R. Jones called "The Jameson Satellite", in which the subject has himself deliberately preserved in space after death, has been credited with giving Robert Ettinger the seed of the idea of cryonics, when he was a teenager. Neil Ronald Jones ( 29 May, 1909 - 15 February, 1988) was an American author who worked for the state of New York. Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (born December 04, 1918) is known as "the father of Cryonics " due to the impact of his 1962 book Ettinger would later write a science fiction story called The Penultimate Trump published in 1948, in which the explicit idea of cryopreservation of legally-dead persons for future repair of medical causes of death, is promulgated ^[63].

Relatively few stories have been published concerning the primary objective and definition of cryonics. Influential novels with this theme include the early The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein (1956), The Age of the Pussyfoot (1966) by Fred Pohl and Ubik by Philip K. Dick (1969). The Door into Summer is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A Heinlein, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. The Age of the Pussyfoot is a Science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl, first published as a novel in 1969 Frederik George Pohl Jr (born November 26, 1919) is a American Science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career Ubik (pronounced "yoo-bik" is a 1969 Science fiction Novel by Philip K Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 – March 2) was an American Science fiction Novelist and Short story Writer. Also included are national best-seller The First Immortal by James Halperin, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Charles Sheffield, Chiller by Sterling Blake (aka Gregory Benford), Ralph’s Journey by David Pizer, Formerly Brandewyne^[64] by Jude Liebermann, and I Was a Teenage Popsicle by Bev Katz Rosenbaum. The First Immortal is a fiction book written by James L Halperin, about the first man re-animated after a Cryonics procedure James L Halperin (born October 31, 1952 in Boston Massachusetts) is an American author and businessman Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a 1997 Science fiction novel by Charles Sheffield. Charles Sheffield ( June 25, 1935 &ndash November 2, 2002) was an English -born mathematician physicist and Science fiction Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941 in Mobile Alabama) is an American science fiction author and Astrophysicist who is on the ^[65] A fictional book about cryonics specifically for children is 21st Century Kids by Shannon Vyff. ^[66][67]

Domovi Butler from the Artemis Fowl series was frozen after his death and kept frozen over night in the third book, there after being revived by fairy magic. There is a draft page for this article here. Artemis Fowl is a series of Fantasy novels written by Irish author Eoin Colfer

Fictional application of cryonics as rescue after freezing in space has continued since The Jameson Satellite in 1931. Arthur C. Clarke's 3001: The Final Odyssey reveals that Frank Poole, murdered by HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey was cryopreserved by his exposure to space, and found and revived a thousand years later. Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917–19 March 2008 was a British Science fiction Author, Inventor, and 3001 The Final Odyssey ( 1997) is a Science fiction Novel by Arthur C Frank Poole is a Fictional character from Arthur C Clarke 's Space Odyssey series HAL 9000 ( Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic Computer is a fictional Computer in Arthur C 2001 A Space Odyssey is a science-fiction story produced in 1968 as both a film (directed by Stanley Kubrick) and a novel (written by Arthur C The Larry Niven short story "Wait It Out" depicts a sort of emergency self-cryopreservation by men marooned on Pluto. Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles California) is a US Science fiction author. The 1992 Hugo-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge features a protagonist who is resuscitated by a superintelligence, thousands of years after a spaceship accident. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992 is a Science fiction Novel written by Vernor Vinge, an award-winning Space opera about superhuman Vernor Steffen Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born October 2, 1944 in Waukesha Wisconsin, U

Movies featuring cryonics for medical purposes include the Woody Allen comedy, Sleeper, and the films Late for Dinner, Abre los Ojos (remade as Vanilla Sky) and Wes Craven's Chiller. Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and Sleeper ( 1973) is a futuristic Science fiction Comedy Film, written by directed by and starring Woody Allen. Open Your Eyes ( Abre los ojos) is a 1997 Film directed by Alejandro Amenábar and written by him and Mateo Gil. Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American Psychological thriller Film, which has been variously characterized by published film critics as "an odd Chiller, or as it is sometimes known Wes Craven's Chiller, was a horror /thriller released in 1985 One of the most famous movies regarding a cryonics-like process was 1992's Forever Young, starring Mel Gibson. Although not about cryonics per se, the Ron Howard film Cocoon has been hailed by cryonics advocates as expressing the values motivating cryonics better than any other film. Ronald William Howard (born March 1 1954 is a director and producer as well as an Actor. Cocoon is a 1985 Science fiction film, directed by Ron Howard about a group of elderly people who are rejuvenated by aliens ^[68]

Cryonics is featured in the movies Alien and Aliens where the ships crew enter "cryo-sleep" so they can travel through space great distances without aging. Alien is a 1979 science fiction / Horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver. This article is about the film for the video games see Aliens (Square computer game and Aliens (arcade game. A form of "cryo-stasis" is featured in the film Demolition Man where criminals are frozen in a "Cryo-penitentiary" and given neural implants to alter their characters and remove violent tendencies. Demolition Man is a 1993 American Action film. It was directed by Marco Brambilla, written by Peter M More recently cryogenics has featured in the Austin Powers spoof series of films where Dr. Evil and Austin Powers were both cryogenically frozen between the 1960s and the 1990s. Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE, is a Fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films Dr Evil (born Douglas "Dougie" Powers) is a fictional character played by Mike Myers, in the Austin Powers Film series Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE, is a Fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films During the freezing process Dr. Evil's cat Mr Bigglesworth went completely bald due to feline complications of the freezing process.

In the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back, the character Han Solo is captured and cryogenically frozen in carbonite. Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 Space opera Film directed by Irvin Kershner. Han Solo is a character in the Star Wars universe. He was played by Harrison Ford in Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope, Carbonite ( Chemical formula: CO22-) is an explosive made from such Ingredients as Nitroglycerin, Wood meal His later revival in The Return of the Jedi leaves him disoriented and temporarily blind. Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi is a 1983 Space opera Film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas

On television, producer David E. Kelley wrote well-researched portrayals of cryonics for the TV shows L.A. Law (1990 episode^[69]), Picket Fences (1994 episode^[70]), and Boston Legal (2005 episode^[71]). David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is a multi-Emmy award winning American Writer, Executive producer, and creator of the well-known LA Law is an American television Legal drama that ran from 1986 to 1994. Picket Fences is a 60-minute television drama centering around the residents of the fictional community of Rome Wisconsin. Boston Legal is an American Legal drama - Comedy created by David E In each case, there was a dying plaintiff petitioning a court for the right to elective cryopreservation. Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero Temperatures such as (typically 77 K or −196 Cryonics was also featured in an episode of Miami Vice called "The Big Thaw", the episode "When We Dead Awaken" of seaQuest DSV, the last two television works of Dennis Potter, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus, and the anime Cowboy Bebop. Miami Vice is an American Television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. seaQuest DSV was an American Science fiction television series created by Rockne S Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935&ndash7 June 1994 was a controversial English Dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective Karaoke was a British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying from Cancer of the Pancreas. Cold Lazarus is a British television four-part drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying from cancer of the pancreas is a Japanese animated television series. Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe and written by Keiko Nobumoto, Cowboy Bebop was produced by Cryonics was also satirized by the comedy cartoon series Futurama, in which the main character is frozen from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2999. Futurama is an Emmy Award -winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Groening and

In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed", a number of genetically enhanced humans from the 20th century, who were preserved cryonically in an unmanned space ship, are discovered and awakened by the Enterprise crew. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through " Space Seed " is a first season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, that was first broadcast on February 16, 1967 and repeated A similar instance appears in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone". Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry " The Neutral Zone " is the finale of the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation.

Captain America was placed unwillingly in a form of cryogenic suspension, according to Marvel Comics, when he was entombed in ice, preserving him, mind and body, for twenty years in the mainstream Marvel continuity (disappearing in 1945, and being revived in the sixties), and nearly sixty years in the Ultimate Marvel timeline, during which time each version was revived. His arch-nemesis the Red Skull was the recipient of a similar treatment in the Heroes Reborn universe. The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional Comic book Supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe.

The most famous cryopreserved patient is baseball player Ted Williams. Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams ( August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) also nicknamed The Kid, the Splendid Splinter The popular urban legend that Walt Disney was cryopreserved is false; he was cremated, and interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. An urban legend or urban myth is a form of modern Folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately-owned Cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles, in the United States. Robert A. Heinlein, who wrote enthusiastically of the concept, was cremated and had his ashes distributed over the Pacific Ocean. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. The Door into Summer is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A Heinlein, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Timothy Leary was a long-time cryonics advocate, and signed up with a major cryonics provider. Timothy Francis Leary ( October 22, 1920 &ndash May 31, 1996) was an American Writer, Psychologist, Futurist He changed his mind, however, shortly before his death, and so was not cryopreserved.

Cryonics was the inspiration for the song "Cryogenic" by the electronic rock group TheSwimmingPools.

In the South park two part episode entitled, "Go God Go" the character Eric Cartman is desperately awaiting the launch of the Wii. South Park is an animated American television comedy series created and written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for Comedy Central " Go God Go " is episode 1012 (#151 of Comedy Central 's South Park. Eric Theodore Cartman,commonly referred to by his Family name, Cartman, is one of the four main Fictional characters in the animated series To pass the time quicker, Cartman has himself frozen into a mountain side to be reawakened at the launch of the Wii. An avalanche covers his body and he is never found by his friends or family. He sits in suspended animation for more than 500 years until he is unfrozen by the Unified Atheist League, one of three groups of atheists that then control the world.

The subculture of cryonicists

Cryonicists have been able to form cryonics societies in highly populated areas (see history section), have regular meetings, publish magazines and hold conferences. Cryonics is the low-temperature Preservation of Humans and other Animals that can no longer be sustained by contemporary Medicine until Saul Kent, Evan Cooper, Jerry White, Dr. Saul Kent is a prominent Life extension activist and co-founder of the Life Extension Foundation, a major Dietary supplement vendor and promoter of anti-aging M. Coleman Harris, as well as Fred and Linda Chamberlain were active in organizing cryonics conferences in the early years of cryonics. Frederick Rockwell Chamberlain III and his wife Linda are the founders of the Cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation. The magazines of the cryonics organizations have also helped keep members of the cryonics community informed about events and common problems. On July 24, 1988, a Ph.D. in computer science named Kevin Brown started an electronic mailing list called CryoNet^[72] that became a powerful tool of communication for the cryonics community. "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their An electronic mailing list (sometimes written as elist or e-list) is a special usage of e-mail that allows for widespread distribution of information to Numerous other mailing lists and web forums for discussing cryonics and the affairs of particular organizations have since appeared, but CryoNet remains a central point of contact for cryonicists.

Cryonicists have also had a common jargon, including their use of the words patient, deanimation and suspension. The phrase cryonic suspension to describe cryopreservation is falling into disfavor, partly because the abbreviation suspension is too easily misunderstood. As in other subcultures, some members of the community can have strong feelings about the use of "politically correct" cryonics language. Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior

See also

• Alcor Life Extension Foundation
• American Cryonics Society
• Cryonics Institute
• Cryonics Society
• Cryptobiosis
• Engineered negligible senescence
• Hibernation
• Immortality Institute
• Immortalist Society
• Information theoretical death
• KrioRus
• Life extension
• Nanomedicine
• Neuropreservation
• Rejuvenation (aging)
• Super cooling
• Suspended animation
• Vitrification

References

External links

• Cryonics FAQ
• Ralph Merkle's introduction to cryonics
• CryoNet
• Alcor Life Extension Foundation
• Cryonics Institute
• American Cryonics Society
• Cryonics Europe
• Cryonics Society of Canada
• Cryonics Society - Resources and Advocacy
• Cryostasis.com: Cryonics
• Depressed Metabolism (cryonics technology blog)
• Immortality Institute Cryonics
• Cryonics UK
• Cryonics Association of Australia FAQ
• "Mistakes Were Made", This American Life, 18 April 2008. This American Life ( TAL) is a weekly hour-long Radio program produced by Chicago Public Radio and hosted by Ira Glass. Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The story of Robert ("Bob") Nelson, the Cryonics Society of California, and the Chatsworth case.

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