Maybe Cold Sleep Long Voyage ships aren't that far off

[Chumbly]

Maybe Cold Sleep Long Voyage ships aren't that far off

interesting article on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/09/cheating.death.suspended.animation/index.html

I'm not looking to be a volunteer test subject though :shock:

 

[GamerDude]

very interesting. thanks for the link...


Sure you don't want to sign up?

 

[Gee4orce]

Something similar has been talked about for a while now, but I think previous reports were about administering minute amounts of hydrogen sulphide to induce hibernation. This seems to be different - the story is not particular clear on the details but it does seem to suggest what he's doing is totally replacing oxygen intake with Hydrogen Sulphide.

Very interesting.

 

[rust]

I am more than a little sceptical. Rodents have the genetic "makeup"
for hibernation, so it is possible to start hibernation in mice or rats
with certain drugs. Humans, or the swine mentioned in the article, do
not have the genetic "makeup" for hibernation, so the methods that
work on rodents are quite likely to simply kill them.

 

[BP]

I am more than a little sceptical. Rodents have the genetic "makeup"
for hibernation, so it is possible to start hibernation in mice or rats
with certain drugs. Humans, or the swine mentioned in the article, do
not have the genetic "makeup" for hibernation, so the methods that
work on rodents are quite likely to simply kill them.

Quite -and frogs and certain fish can be frozen and 'come back' - and IIRC ceratin antarctic fish have been found to hibernate.

None the less, the linked article is interesting (thanks Chumbly) and at least it did actually quote the scientist - "There are almost certainly reasons it would not, but I don't know what they are yet,"

Of course, the article didn't mention how long the mice lived afterwards or possible side effects.

Sort of like the mice breathing liquid (fluorocarbons) - sounds real cool - but the mice all died shortly after... see this and this. (Note this is about replacing medium - i.e. liquid for air - instead of replacing oxygen - the point being that both experiments might 'work' only in definition of not resulting in immediate death...)


I love when the media points out that the DoD is financially involved as if to add credibility. Most SBIR grants - the U.S. government's primary funding of pure 'commerical' research - are administered by the DoD (via banks), this isn't really saying much.

 

[GamerDude]

yeah, creatures like frogs and fish are a bit more adaptable than humans (frogs changing gender when only females are available? wow).

Also, some of the stuff I read gets into cellular disruption... what happens when the protoplasm and such inside a cell freezes... cell wall damage, damage to internal workings, etc.

I'd love a way to live longer but dam, does it have to include the high-risk of freezer burn? ;-)

 

[BP]

...does it have to include the high-risk of freezer burn? ;-)

Chilling thought

The nice thing about the technique in the article is it avoids such things - hopefully without other equally unpleasant side effects. Hibernation and the ability of certain species to survive freezing shares the trait of reducing the need for oxygen and slowing of metabolic processes.

Of course, this technique seems to do this by substituiting a caustic gas for oxygen - and the times don't sound very long. (And 1/4 million dollars to gas rats seems a bit pricey ).

The fact that mammals as large and intelligent as bears 'hibernate' is somewhat encouraging in this respesct - as is the free diver who holds records who has trained his body to act similiar in some respects to a dolphin.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

I still remember the 'Judge Dredd' story when they unfroze Michael Jackson... tasteless, but perhaps salutary.