Page 21234..»

Archive for the ‘Cryonics’ Category

Ted Williams – Wikipedia

American baseball player (19182002)

Baseball player

Williams in 1949

As manager

Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrupted by military service during World War II and the Korean War. Nicknamed "Teddy Ballgame", "the Kid", "the Splendid Splinter", and "The Thumper", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history and to date is the last player to hit over .400 in a season.

Williams was a nineteen-time All-Star,[1] a two-time recipient of the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award, a six-time AL batting champion, and a two-time Triple Crown winner. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time. His career batting average is the highest of any MLB player whose career was played primarily in the live-ball era, and ranks tied for 7th all-time (with Billy Hamilton).

Born and raised in San Diego, Williams played baseball throughout his youth. After joining the Red Sox in 1939, he immediately emerged as one of the sport's best hitters. In 1941, Williams posted a .406 batting average; he is the last MLB player to bat over .400 in a season. He followed this up by winning his first Triple Crown in 1942. Williams was required to interrupt his baseball career in 1943 to serve three years in the United States Navy and Marine Corps during World War II. Upon returning to MLB in 1946, Williams won his first AL MVP Award and played in his only World Series. In 1947, he won his second Triple Crown. Williams was returned to active military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons to serve as a Marine combat aviator in the Korean War. In 1957 and 1958 at the ages of 39 and 40, respectively, he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth time.

Williams retired from playing in 1960. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, in his first year of eligibility.[2] Williams managed the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise from 1969 to 1972. An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a television program about fishing, and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.[3] Williams's involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars for cancer care and research. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government. He was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Time Team in 1997 and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Williams was born in San Diego on August 30, 1918,[4] and named Theodore Samuel Williams after former president Theodore Roosevelt as well as his father, Samuel Stuart Williams.[5] He later amended his birth certificate, removing his middle name,[5] which he claimed originated from a maternal uncle (whose actual name was Daniel Venzor), who had been killed in World War I.[6] His father was a soldier, sheriff, and photographer from Ardsley, New York,[7] while his mother, May Venzor, a Spanish-Mexican-American from El Paso, Texas, was an evangelist and lifelong soldier in the Salvation Army.[5] Williams resented his mother's long hours working in the Salvation Army,[8] and Williams and his brother cringed when she took them to the Army's street-corner revivals.[9]

Williams's paternal ancestors were a mix of Welsh, English, and Irish. The maternal, Spanish-Mexican side of Williams's family was quite diverse, having Spanish (Basque), Russian, and American Indian roots.[10] Of his Mexican ancestry he said that "If I had my mother's name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, [considering] the prejudices people had in Southern California."[11]

Williams lived in San Diego's North Park neighborhood (4121 Utah Street).[12] At the age of eight, he was taught how to throw a baseball by his uncle, Saul Venzor. Saul was one of his mother's four brothers, as well as a former semi-professional baseball player who had pitched against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Gordon in an exhibition game.[13][14] As a child, Williams's heroes were Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals and Bill Terry of the New York Giants.[15] Williams graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, where he played baseball as a pitcher and was the star of the team.[16] During this time, he also played American Legion Baseball, later being named the 1960 American Legion Baseball Graduate of the Year.[17]

Though he had offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees while he was still in high school,[18] his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed up with the local minor league club, the San Diego Padres.[19]

Throughout his career, Williams stated his goal was to have people point to him and remark, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."[20]

Williams played back-up behind Vince DiMaggio and Ivey Shiver on the (then) Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres. While in the Pacific Coast League in 1936, Williams met future teammates and friends Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr, who were on the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals.[21] When Shiver announced he was quitting to become a high school football coach in Savannah, Georgia, the job, by default, was open for Williams.[22] Williams posted a .271 batting average on 107 at bats in 42 games for the Padres in 1936.[22] Unknown to Williams, he had caught the eye of the Boston Red Sox's general manager, Eddie Collins, while Collins was scouting Bobby Doerr and the shortstop George Myatt in August 1936.[22][23] Collins later explained, "It wasn't hard to find Ted Williams. He stood out like a brown cow in a field of white cows."[22] In the 1937 season, after graduating from Hoover High in the winter, Williams finally broke into the line-up on June 22, when he hit an inside-the-park home run to help the Padres win 32. The Padres ended up winning the PCL title, while Williams ended up hitting .291 with 23 home runs.[22] Meanwhile, Collins kept in touch with Padres general manager Bill Lane, calling him two times throughout the season. In December 1937, during the winter meetings, the deal was made between Lane and Collins, sending Williams to the Boston Red Sox and giving Lane $35,000 and two major leaguers, Dom D'Allessandro and Al Niemiec, and two other minor leaguers.[24][25]

In 1938, the 19-year-old Williams was 10 days late to spring training camp in Sarasota, Florida, because of a flood in California that blocked the railroads. Williams had to borrow $200 from a bank to make the trip from San Diego to Sarasota.[26] Also during spring training Williams was nicknamed "the Kid" by Red Sox equipment manager Johnny Orlando, who after Williams arrived to Sarasota for the first time, said, "'The Kid' has arrived". Orlando still called Williams "the Kid" 20 years later,[26] and the nickname stuck with Williams the rest of his life.[27] Williams remained in major league spring training for about a week.[26] Williams was then sent to the Double-A-league Minneapolis Millers.[28] While in the Millers training camp for the springtime, Williams met Rogers Hornsby, who had hit over .400 three times, including a .424 average in 1924.[29] Hornsby, who was a coach for the Millers that spring,[29] gave Williams useful advice, including how to "get a good pitch to hit".[28] Talking with the game's greats would become a pattern for Williams, who also talked with Hugh Duffy, who hit .438 in 1894, Bill Terry who hit .401 in 1930, and Ty Cobb with whom he would argue that a batter should hit up on the ball, opposed to Cobb's view that a batter should hit down on the ball.[30]

While in Minnesota, Williams quickly became the team's star.[31] He collected his first hit in the Millers' first game of the season, as well as his first and second home runs during his third game. Both were inside-the-park home runs, with the second traveling an estimated 500 feet (150m) on the fly to a 512-foot (156m) center field fence.[31] Williams later had a 22 game hitting streak that lasted from Memorial Day through mid-June.[31] While the Millers ended up sixth place in an eight-team race,[31] Williams ended up hitting .366 with 46 home runs and 142 RBIs. He received the American Association's Triple Crown and finished second in the voting for Most Valuable Player.[32]

Williams came to spring training three days late in 1939, thanks to Williams driving from California to Florida, as well as respiratory problems, the latter of which would plague Williams for the rest of his career.[33] In the winter, the Red Sox traded right fielder Ben Chapman to the Cleveland Indians to make room for Williams on the roster, even though Chapman had hit .340 in the previous season.[34][35] This led Boston Globe sports journalist Gerry Moore to quip, "Not since Joe DiMaggio broke in with the Yankees by "five for five" in St. Petersburg in 1936 has any baseball rookie received the nationwide publicity that has been accorded this spring to Theodore Francis [sic] Williams".[33] Williams inherited Chapman's number 9 on his uniform as opposed to Williams's number 5 in the previous spring training. He made his major league debut against the New York Yankees on April 20,[36] going 1-for-4 against Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing. This was the only game which featured both Williams and Lou Gehrig playing against one another.[37] In his first series at Fenway Park, Williams hit a double, a home run, and a triple, the first two against Cotton Pippen, who gave Williams his first strikeout as a professional while Williams had been in San Diego.[38] By July, Williams was hitting just .280, but leading the league in RBIs.[38] Johnny Orlando, now Williams's friend, then gave Williams a quick pep talk, telling Williams that he should hit .335 with 35 home runs and he would drive in 150 runs. Williams said he would buy Orlando a Cadillac if this all came true.[39] Williams ended up hitting .327 with 31 home runs and 145 RBIs,[36] leading the league in the latter category, the first rookie to lead the league in RBIs[40] and finishing fourth in MVP voting.[41] He also led the AL in walks, with 107, a rookie record. Even though there was not a Rookie of the Year award yet in 1939, Babe Ruth declared Williams to be the Rookie of the Year, which Williams later said was "good enough for me".[42]

Williams's pay doubled in 1940, going from $5,000 to $10,000.[43] With the addition of a new bullpen in right field of Fenway Park, which reduced the distance from home plate from 400 feet to 380 feet, the bullpen was nicknamed "Williamsburg", because the new addition was "obviously designed for Williams".[44] Williams was then switched from right field to left field, as there would be less sun in his eyes, and it would give Dom DiMaggio a chance to play. Finally, Williams was flip-flopped in the order with the great slugger Jimmie Foxx, with the idea that Williams would get more pitches to hit.[44] Pitchers, though, were not afraid to walk him to get to the 33-year-old Foxx, and after that the 34-year-old Joe Cronin, the player-manager.[45] Williams also made his first of 16 All-Star Game appearances[46] in 1940, going 0-for-2.[47] Although Williams hit .344, his power and runs batted in were down from the previous season, with 23 home runs and 113 RBIs.[36] Williams also caused a controversy in mid-August when he called his salary "peanuts", along with saying he hated the city of Boston and reporters, leading reporters to lash back at him, saying that he should be traded.[48] Williams said that the "only real fun" he had in 1940 was being able to pitch once on August 24, when he pitched the last two innings in a 121 loss to the Detroit Tigers, allowing one earned run on three hits, while striking out one batter, Rudy York.[49][50]

In the second week of spring training in 1941, Williams broke a bone in his right ankle, limiting him to pinch hitting for the first two weeks of the season.[51] Bobby Doerr later claimed that the injury would be the foundation of Williams's season, as it forced him to put less pressure on his right foot for the rest of the season.[52] Against the Chicago White Sox on May 7, in extra innings, Williams told the Red Sox pitcher, Charlie Wagner, to hold the White Sox, since he was going to hit a home run. In the 11th inning, Williams's prediction came true, as he hit a big blast to help the Red Sox win. The home run is still considered to be the longest home run ever hit in the old Comiskey Park, some saying that it went 600 feet (180m).[53] Williams's average slowly climbed in the first half of May, and on May 15, he started a 22-game hitting streak. From May 17 to June 1, Williams batted .536, with his season average going above .400 on May 25 and then continuing up to .430.[54] By the All-Star break, Williams was hitting .406 with 62 RBIs and 16 home runs.[55]

In the 1941 All-Star Game, Williams batted fourth behind Joe DiMaggio, who was in the midst of his record-breaking hitting streak, having hit safely in 48 consecutive games.[56] In the fourth inning Williams doubled to drive in a run.[57] With the National League (NL) leading 52 in the eighth inning, Williams struck out in the middle of an American League (AL) rally.[56] In the ninth inning the AL still trailed 53; Ken Keltner and Joe Gordon singled, and Cecil Travis walked to load the bases.[57] DiMaggio grounded to the infield and Billy Herman, attempting to complete a double play, threw wide of first base, allowing Keltner to score.[57] With the score 54 and runners on first and third, Williams homered with his eyes closed to secure a 75 AL win.[57][58] Williams later said that that game-winning home run "remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life".[59]

In late August, Williams was hitting .402.[59] Williams said that "just about everybody was rooting for me" to hit .400 in the season, including Yankee fans, who gave pitcher Lefty Gomez a "hell of a boo" after walking Williams with the bases loaded after Williams had gotten three straight hits one game in September.[60] In mid-September, Williams was hitting .413, but dropped a point a game from then on.[59] Before the final two games on September 28, a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, he was batting .39955, which would have been officially rounded up to .400.[59] Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered him the chance to sit out the final day, but he declined. "If I'm going to be a .400 hitter", he said at the time, "I want more than my toenails on the line."[61] Williams went 6-for-8 on the day, finishing the season at .406.[62] (Sacrifice flies were counted as at-bats in 1941; under today's rules, Williams would have hit between .411 and .419, based on contemporaneous game accounts.[61]) Philadelphia fans ran out on the field to surround Williams after the game, forcing him to protect his hat from being stolen; he was helped into the clubhouse by his teammates.[63] Along with his .406 average, Williams also hit 37 home runs and batted in 120 runs, missing the triple crown by five RBI.[36][61]

Williams's 1941 season is often considered to be the best offensive season of all time, though the MVP award would go to DiMaggio. The .406 batting averagehis first of six batting championshipsis still the highest single-season average in Red Sox history and the highest batting average in the major leagues since 1924, and the last time any major league player has hit over .400 for a season after averaging at least 3.1 plate appearances per game. ("If I had known hitting .400 was going to be such a big deal", he quipped in 1991, "I would have done it again."[61]) Williams's on-base percentage of .553 and slugging percentage of .735 that season are both also the highest single-season averages in Red Sox history. The .553 OBP stood as a major league record until it was broken by Barry Bonds in 2002 and his .735 slugging percentage was the highest mark in the major leagues between 1932 and 1994. His OPS of 1.287 that year, a Red Sox record, was the highest in the major leagues between 1923 and 2001. Despite playing in only 143 games that year, Williams led the league with 135 runs scored and 37 home runs, and he finished third with 335 total bases, the most home runs, runs scored, and total bases by a Red Sox player since Jimmie Foxx's in 1938.[64] Williams placed second in MVP voting; DiMaggio won, 291 votes to 254,[65] on the strength of his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak and league-leading 125 RBI.[62]

In January 1942, just over 2 years after World War II began,[66][67] Williams was drafted into the military, being put into Class 1-A. A friend of Williams suggested that Williams see the advisor of the governor's Selective Service Appeal Agent, since Williams was the sole support of his mother, arguing that Williams should not have been placed in Class 1-A, and said Williams should be reclassified to Class 3-A.[66] Williams was reclassified to 3-A ten days later.[68] Afterwards, the public reaction was extremely negative,[69] even though the baseball book Season of '42 states only four All-Stars and one first-line pitcher entered military service during the 1942 season. (Many more MLB players would enter service during the 1943 season.)[70]

Quaker Oats stopped sponsoring Williams, and Williams, who previously had eaten Quaker products "all the time", never "[ate] one since" the company stopped sponsoring him.[68]

Despite the trouble with the draft board, Williams had a new salary of $30,000 in 1942.[68] In the season, Williams won the Triple Crown,[62] with a .356 batting average, 36 home runs, and 137 RBIs.[36] On May 21, Williams also hit his 100th career home run.[71] He was the third Red Sox player to hit 100 home runs with the team, following his teammates Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin.[citation needed] Despite winning the Triple Crown, Williams came in second in the MVP voting, losing to Joe Gordon of the Yankees. Williams felt that he should have gotten a "little more consideration" because of winning the Triple Crown, and he thought that "the reason I didn't get more consideration was because of the trouble I had with the draft [boards]".[62]

Williams joined the Navy Reserve on May 22, 1942, went on active duty in 1943, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps as a Naval Aviator on May 2, 1944. Williams also played on the baseball team in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, along with his Red Sox teammate Johnny Pesky in pre-flight training, after eight weeks in Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Civilian Pilot Training Course.[72] While on the baseball team, Williams was sent back to Fenway Park on July 12, 1943, to play on an All-Star team managed by Babe Ruth. The newspapers reported that Babe Ruth said when finally meeting Williams, "Hiya, kid. You remind me a lot of myself. I love to hit. You're one of the most natural ballplayers I've ever seen. And if my record is broken, I hope you're the one to do it".[73] Williams later said he was "flabbergasted" by the incident, as "after all, it was Babe Ruth".[73] In the game, Williams hit a 425-foot home run to help give the American League All-Stars a 98 win.[74]

On September 2, 1945, when the war ended, Lt. Williams was in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii awaiting orders as a replacement pilot. While in Pearl Harbor, Williams played baseball in the Navy League. Also in that eight-team league were Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, and Stan Musial. The Service World Series with the Army versus the Navy attracted crowds of 40,000 for each game. The players said it was even better than the actual World Series being played between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs that year.[75]

Williams was discharged by the Marine Corps on January 28, 1946, in time to begin preparations for the upcoming pro baseball season.[76][77] He joined the Red Sox again in 1946, signing a $37,500 contract.[78] On July 14, after Williams hit three home runs and eight RBIs in the first game of a doubleheader, Lou Boudreau, inspired by Williams's consistent pull hitting to right field, created what would later be known as the Boudreau shift (also Williams shift) against Williams, having only one player on the left side of second base (the left fielder). Ignoring the shift, Williams walked twice, doubled, and grounded out to the shortstop, who was positioned in between first and second base.[79][80] Also during 1946, the All-Star Game was held in Fenway Park. In the game, Williams homered in the fourth inning against Kirby Higbe, singled in a run in the fifth inning, singled in the seventh inning, and hit a three-run home run against Rip Sewell's "eephus pitch" in the eighth inning[81] to help the American League win 120.[82]

For the 1946 season, Williams hit .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs,[36] helping the Red Sox win the pennant on September 13. During the season, Williams hit the only inside-the-park home run in his Major League career in a September 10 win at Cleveland,[83][84] and in June hit what is considered the longest home run in Fenway Park history, at 502 feet (153m) and subsequently marked with a lone red seat in the Fenway bleachers.[85] Williams ran away as the winner in the MVP voting.[86] During an exhibition game in Fenway Park against an All-Star team during early October, Williams was hit on the elbow by a curveball by the Washington Senators' pitcher Mickey Haefner. Williams was immediately taken out of the game, and X-rays of his arm showed no damage, but his arm was "swelled up like a boiled egg", according to Williams.[87] Williams could not swing a bat again until four days later, one day before the World Series, when he reported the arm as "sore".[87] During the series, Williams batted .200, going 5-for-25 with no home runs and just one RBI. The Red Sox lost in seven games,[88] with Williams going 0-for-4 in the last game.[89] Fifty years later when asked what one thing he would have done different in his life, Williams replied, "I'd have done better in the '46 World Series. God, I would".[87] The 1946 World Series was the only World Series Williams ever appeared in.[90]

Williams signed a $70,000 contract in 1947.[91] Williams was also almost traded for Joe DiMaggio in 1947. In late April, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees owner Dan Topping agreed to swap the players, but a day later canceled the deal when Yawkey requested that Yogi Berra come with DiMaggio.[92] In May, Williams was hitting .337.[93] Williams won the Triple Crown in 1947, but lost the MVP award to Joe DiMaggio, 202 points to 201 points. One writer left Williams off his ballot. Williams thought it was Mel Webb, whom Williams called a "grouchy old guy",[94] although it now appears it was not Webb.[95]

Through 2011, Williams was one of seven major league players to have had at least four 30-home run and 100-RBI seasons in their first five years, along with Chuck Klein, Joe DiMaggio, Ralph Kiner, Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Braun.[96]

In 1948, under their new manager, Joe McCarthy,[97] Williams hit a league-leading .369 with 25 home runs and 127 RBIs,[36] and was third in MVP voting.[98] On April 29, Williams hit his 200th career home run. He became just the second player to hit 200 home runs in a Red Sox uniform, joining his former teammate Jimmie Foxx.[64] On October 2, against the Yankees, Williams hit his 222nd career home run, tying Foxx for the Red Sox all-time record.[99] In the Red Sox' final two games of the regular schedule, they beat the Yankees (to force a one-game playoff against the Cleveland Indians) and Williams got on base eight times out of ten plate appearances.[97] In the playoff, Williams went 1-for-4,[100] with the Red Sox losing 83.

In 1949, Williams received a new salary of $100,000 ($1,139,000 in current dollar terms).[101] He hit .343 (losing the AL batting title by just .0002 to the Tigers' George Kell, thus missing the Triple Crown that year), hitting 43 home runs, his career high, and driving in 159 runs, tied for highest in the league, and at one point, he got on base in 84 straight games, an MLB record that still stands today, helping him win the MVP trophy.[36][102] On April 28, Williams hit his 223rd career home run, breaking the record for most home runs in a Red Sox uniform, passing Jimmie Foxx.[103] Williams is still the Red Sox career home run leader.[64] However, despite being ahead of the Yankees by one game just beforea 2-game series against them (last regular-season games for both teams),[97] the Red Sox lost both of those games.[104] The Yankees won the first of what would be five straight World Series titles in 1949.[105] For the rest of Williams's career, the Yankees won nine pennants and six World Series titles, while the Red Sox never finished better than third place.[105]

In 1950, Williams was playing in his eighth All-Star Game. In the first inning, Williams caught a line drive by Ralph Kiner, slamming into the Comiskey Park scoreboard and breaking his left arm.[46] Williams played the rest of the game, and he even singled in a run to give the American League the lead in the fifth inning, but by that time Williams's arm was a "balloon" and he was in great pain, so he left the game.[106] Both of the doctors who X-rayed Williams held little hope for a full recovery. The doctors operated on Williams for two hours.[107] When Williams took his cast off, he could only extend the arm to within four inches of his right arm.[108] Williams only played 89 games in 1950.[36] After the baseball season, Williams's elbow hurt so much he considered retirement, since he thought he would never be able to hit again. Tom Yawkey, the Red Sox owner, then sent Jack Fadden to Williams's Florida home to talk to Williams. Williams later thanked Fadden for saving his career.[109]

In 1951, Williams "struggled" to hit .318, with his elbow still hurting.[110] Williams also played in 148 games, 60 more than Williams had played the previous season, 30 home runs, two more than he had hit in 1950, and 126 RBIs, twenty-nine more than 1950.[36][110] Despite his lower-than-usual production at bat, Williams made the All-Star team.[47] On May 15, 1951, Williams became the 11th player in major league history to hit 300 career home runs. On May 21, Williams passed Chuck Klein for 10th place, on May 25 Williams passed Hornsby for ninth place, and on July 5 Williams passed Al Simmons for eighth place all-time in career home runs.[111] After the season, manager Steve O'Neill was fired, with Lou Boudreau replacing him. Boudreau's first announcement as manager was that all Red Sox players were "expendable", including Williams.[110]

Williams's name was called from a list of inactive reserves to serve on active duty in the Korean War on January 9, 1952. Williams, who was livid at his recalling, had a physical scheduled for April 2.[112] Williams passed his physical and in May, after only playing in six major league games, began refresher flight training and qualification prior to service in Korea. Right before he left for Korea, the Red Sox had a "Ted Williams Day" in Fenway Park. Friends of Williams gave him a Cadillac, and the Red Sox gave Williams a memory book that was signed by 400,000 fans. The governor of Massachusetts and mayor of Boston were there, along with a Korean War veteran named Frederick Wolf who used a wheelchair for mobility.[113] At the end of the ceremony, everyone in the park held hands and sang "Auld Lang Syne" to Williams, a moment which he later said "moved me quite a bit."[114] Private Wolf (an injured Korean veteran from Brooklyn) presented gifts from wounded veterans to Ted Williams. Ted choked and was only able to say,"... ok kid...".[115] The Red Sox went on to win the game 53, thanks to a two-run home run by Williams in the seventh inning.[114]

In August 1953, Williams practiced with the Red Sox for ten days before playing in his first game, garnering a large ovation from the crowd and hitting a home run in the eighth inning.[116] In the season, Williams ended up hitting .407 with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs in 37 games and 110 at bats (not nearly enough plate appearances to qualify for that season's batting title).[36] On September 6, Williams hit his 332nd career home run, passing Hank Greenberg for seventh all-time.[117]

On the first day of spring training in 1954, Williams broke his collarbone running after a line drive.[116] Williams was out for six weeks, and in April he wrote an article with Joe Reichler of the Saturday Evening Post saying that he intended to retire at the end of the season.[118] Williams returned to the Red Sox lineup on May 7, and he hit .345 with 386 at bats in 117 games, although Bobby vila, who had hit .341, won the batting championship. This was because it was required then that a batter needed 400 at bats, despite Lou Boudreau's attempt to bat Williams second in the lineup to get more at-bats. Williams led the league in base on balls with 136 which kept him from qualifying under the rules at the time. By today's standards (plate appearances) he would have been the champion. The rule was changed shortly thereafter to keep this from happening again.[36][119] On August 25, Williams passed Johnny Mize for sixth place, and on September 3, Williams passed Joe DiMaggio for fifth all-time in career home runs with his 362nd career home run. He finished the season with 366 career home runs.[120] On September 26, Williams "retired" after the Red Sox's final game of the season.[121]

During the off-season of 1954, Williams was offered the chance to be manager of the Red Sox. Williams declined, and he suggested that Pinky Higgins, who had previously played on the 1946 Red Sox team as the third baseman, become the manager of the team. Higgins later was hired as the Red Sox manager in 1955.[122] Williams sat out the first month of the 1955 season due to a divorce settlement with his wife, Doris. When Williams returned, he signed a $98,000 contract on May 13. Williams batted .356 in 320 at bats on the season, lacking enough at bats to win the batting title over Al Kaline, who batted .340.[123] Williams hit 28 home runs and drove in 83 runs[36] while being named the "Comeback Player of the Year."[124]

On July 17, 1956, Williams became the fifth player to hit 400 home runs, following Mel Ott in 1941, Jimmie Foxx in 1938, Lou Gehrig in 1936, and Babe Ruth in 1927.[125][126] Three weeks later at home against the Yankees on August7, after Williams was booed for dropping a fly ball from Mickey Mantle, he spat at one of the fans who was taunting him on the top of the dugout;[127] Williams was fined $5,000 for the incident.[128][129] The following night against Baltimore, Williams was greeted by a large ovation, and received an even larger one when he hit a home run in the sixth inning to break a 22 tie. In The Boston Globe, the publishers ran a "What Globe Readers Say About Ted" section made out of letters about Williams, which were either the sportswriters or the "loud mouths" in the stands. Williams explained years later, "From '56 on, I realized that people were for me. The writers had written that the fans should show me they didn't want me, and I got the biggest ovation yet".[130] Williams lost the batting title to Mickey Mantle in 1956, batting .345 to Mantle's .353, with Mantle on his way to winning the Triple Crown.[131]

In 1957, Williams batted .388 to lead the majors, then signed a contract in February 1958 for a record high $125,000 (or $135,000).[132][133] At age forty that season, he again led the American League with a .328 batting average.[134]

When Pumpsie Green became the first black player on the Red Soxthe last major league team to integratein 1959, Williams openly welcomed Green.[135]

Williams ended his career with a home run in his last at-bat on September 28, 1960. He refused to salute the fans as he returned the dugout after he crossed home plate or after he was replaced in left field by Carroll Hardy. An essay written by John Updike the following month for The New Yorker, "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu", chronicles this event.[136]

Williams is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four decades.[137]

Williams was an obsessive student of hitting. He famously used a lighter bat than most sluggers, because it generated a faster swing.[138] In 1970, he wrote a book on the subject, The Science of Hitting (revised 1986), which is still read by many baseball players.[138] The book describes his theory of swinging only at pitches that came into ideal areas of his strike zone, a strategy Williams credited with his success as a hitter. Pitchers apparently feared Williams; his bases-on-balls-to-plate-appearances ratio (.2065) is still the highest of any player in the Hall of Fame.

Williams nearly always took the first pitch.[139]

He helped pass his expertise of playing left-field in front of the Green Monster to his successor on the Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski.[140]

Williams was on uncomfortable terms with the Boston newspapers for nearly twenty years, as he felt they liked to discuss his personal life as much as his baseball performance. He maintained a career-long feud with Sport due to a 1948 feature article in which the reporter included a quote from Williams's mother. Insecure about his upbringing, and stubborn because of immense confidence in his own talent, Williams made up his mind that the "knights of the keyboard", as he derisively labeled the press, were against him. After having hit for the league's Triple Crown in 1947, Williams narrowly lost the MVP award in a vote where one Midwestern newspaper writer left Williams entirely off his ten-player ballot.

During his career, some sportswriters also criticized aspects of Williams's baseball performance, including what they viewed as his lackadaisical fielding and lack of clutch hitting. Williams pushed back, saying: "They're always saying that I don't hit in the clutches. Well, there are a lot [of games] when I do."[141] He also asserted that it made no sense crashing into an outfield wall to try to make a difficult catch because of the risk of injury or being out of position to make the play after missing the ball.[142]

Williams treated most of the press accordingly, as he described in his 1969 memoir My Turn at Bat. Williams also had an uneasy relationship with the Boston fans, though he could be very cordial one-to-one. He felt at times a good deal of gratitude for their passion and their knowledge of the game. On the other hand, Williams was temperamental, high-strung, and at times tactless. In his biography, Ronald Reis relates how Williams committed two fielding miscues in a doubleheader in 1950 and was roundly booed by Boston fans. He bowed three times to various sections of Fenway Park and made an obscene gesture. When he came to bat he spat in the direction of fans near the dugout. The incident caused an avalanche of negative media reaction, and inspired sportswriter Austen Lake's famous comment that when Williams's name was announced the sound was like "autumn wind moaning through an apple orchard."

Another incident occurred in 1958 in a game against the Washington Senators. Williams struck out, and as he stepped from the batter's box swung his bat violently in anger. The bat slipped from his hands, was launched into the stands and struck a 60-year-old woman who turned out to be the housekeeper of the Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin. While the incident was an accident and Williams apologized to the woman personally, to all appearances it seemed at the time that Williams had hurled the bat in a fit of temper.

Williams gave generously to those in need. He was especially linked with the Jimmy Fund of the DanaFarber Cancer Institute, which provides support for children's cancer research and treatment. Williams used his celebrity to virtually launch the fund, which raised more than $750million between 1948 and 2010. Throughout his career, Williams made countless bedside visits to children being treated for cancer, which Williams insisted go unreported. Often parents of sick children would learn at check-out time that "Mr. Williams has taken care of your bill".[143] The Fund recently stated that "Williams would travel everywhere and anywhere, no strings or paychecks attached, to support the cause... His name is synonymous with our battle against all forms of cancer."[143]

Williams demanded loyalty from those around him. He could not forgive the fickle nature of the fansbooing a player for booting a ground ball, and then turning around and roaring approval of the same player for hitting a home run. Despite the cheers and adulation of most of his fans, the occasional boos directed at him in Fenway Park led Williams to stop tipping his cap in acknowledgment after a home run.

Williams maintained this policy up to and including his swan song in 1960. After hitting a home run at Fenway Park, which would be his last career at-bat, Williams characteristically refused either to tip his cap as he circled the bases or to respond to prolonged cheers of "We want Ted!" from the crowd by making an appearance from the dugout. The Boston manager Pinky Higgins sent Williams to his fielding position in left field to start the ninth inning, but then immediately recalled him for his back-up Carroll Hardy, thus allowing Williams to receive one last ovation as he jogged onto then off the field, and he did so without reacting to the crowd. Williams's aloof attitude led the writer John Updike to observe wryly that "Gods do not answer letters."[136]

Williams's final home run did not take place during the final game of the 1960 season, but rather in the Red Sox's last home game that year. The Red Sox played three more games, but they were on the road in New York City and Williams did not appear in any of them, as it became clear that Williams's final home at-bat would be the last one of his career.

In 1991, on Ted Williams Day at Fenway Park, Williams pulled a Red Sox cap from out of his jacket and tipped it to the crowd. This was the first time that he had done so since his earliest days as a player.

A Red Smith profile from 1956 describes one Boston writer trying to convince Ted Williams that first cheering and then booing a ballplayer was no different from a moviegoer applauding a "western" movie actor one day and saying the next "He stinks! Whatever gave me the idea he could act?" Williams rejected this; when he liked a western actor like Hoot Gibson, he liked him in every picture, and would not think of booing him.

Williams once had a friendship with Ty Cobb, with whom he often had discussions about baseball. He often touted Rogers Hornsby as being the greatest right-handed hitter of all time. This assertion actually led to a split in the relationship between Ty Cobb and Ted Williams. Once during one of their yearly debate sessions on the greatest hitters of all time, Williams asserted that Hornsby was one of the greatest of all time. Cobb apparently had strong feelings about Hornsby and he threw a fit, expelling Williams from his hotel room. Their friendship effectively terminated after this altercation.[144] This story was later refuted by Ted Williams himself.[145]

Williams served as a Naval Aviator during World War II and the Korean War. Unlike many other major league players, he did not spend all of his war-time playing on service teams.[146] Williams had been classified 3-A by Selective Service prior to the war, a dependency deferment because he was his mother's sole means of financial support. When his classification was changed to 1-A following the American entry into World War II, Williams appealed to his local draft board. The draft board ruled that his draft status should not have been changed. He made a public statement that once he had built up his mother's trust fund, he intended to enlist. Even so, criticism in the media, including withdrawal of an endorsement contract by Quaker Oats, resulted in his enlistment in the U.S. Naval Reserve on May 22, 1942.

Williams did not opt for an easy assignment playing baseball for the Navy, but rather joined the V-5 program to become a Naval aviator. Williams was first sent to the Navy's Preliminary Ground School at Amherst College for six months of academic instruction in various subjects including math and navigation, where he achieved a 3.85 grade point average.

Williams was talented as a pilot, and so enjoyed it that he had to be ordered by the Navy to leave training to personally accept his American League 1942 Major League Baseball Triple Crown.[146] Williams's Red Sox teammate, Johnny Pesky, who went into the same aviation training program, said this about Williams: "He mastered intricate problems in fifteen minutes which took the average cadet an hour, and half of the other cadets there were college grads." Pesky again described Williams's acumen in the advance training, for which Pesky personally did not qualify: "I heard Ted literally tore the sleeve target to shreds with his angle dives. He'd shoot from wingovers, zooms, and barrel rolls, and after a few passes the sleeve was ribbons. At any rate, I know he broke the all-time record for hits." Ted went to Jacksonville for a course in aerial gunnery, the combat pilot's payoff test, and broke all the records in reflexes, coordination, and visual-reaction time. "From what I heard. Ted could make a plane and its six 'pianos' (machine guns) play like a symphony orchestra", Pesky says. "From what they said, his reflexes, coordination, and visual reaction made him a built-in part of the machine."[147]

Williams completed pre-flight training in Athens, Georgia, his primary training at NAS Bunker Hill, Indiana, and his advanced flight training at NAS Pensacola. He received his gold Naval Aviator wings and his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps on May 2, 1944.

Williams served as a flight instructor at NAS Pensacola teaching young pilots to fly the complicated F4U Corsair fighter plane. Williams was in Pearl Harbor awaiting orders to join the Fleet in the Western Pacific when the War in the Pacific ended. He finished the war in Hawaii, and then he was released from active duty on January 12, 1946, but he did remain in the Marine Corps Reserve.[77]

On May 1, 1952, 14 months after his promotion to captain in the Marine Corps Reserve, Williams was recalled to active duty for service in the Korean War.[148] He had not flown any aircraft for eight years but he turned down all offers to sit out the war in comfort as a member of a service baseball team. Nevertheless, Williams was resentful of being called up, which he admitted years later, particularly regarding the Navy's policy of calling up Inactive Reservists rather than members of the Active Reserve.

Williams reported for duty on May 2, 1952. After eight weeks of refresher flight training and qualification in the F9F Panther jet fighter with VMF-223 at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Williams was assigned to VMF-311, Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33), based at the K-3 airfield in Pohang, South Korea.[77]

On February 16, 1953, Williams, flying as the wingman for John Glenn (later an astronaut, then U.S. Senator), was part of a 35-plane raid against a tank and infantry training school just south of Pyongyang, North Korea. As the aircraft from VMF-115 and VMF-311 dove on the target, Williams's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, a piece of flak knocked out his hydraulics and electrical systems, causing Williams to have to "limp" his plane back to K-3 air base where he made a belly landing. For his actions of this day, he was awarded the Air Medal.[149]

Williams flew 39 combat missions in Korea, earning the Air Medal with two Gold Stars representing second and third awards, before being withdrawn from flight status in June 1953 after a hospitalization for pneumonia. This resulted in the discovery of an inner ear infection that disqualified him from flight status.[150] John Glenn described Williams as one of the best pilots he knew,[146] while his wife Annie described him as the most profane man she ever met.[151] In the last half of his missions, Williams was flying as Glenn's wingman.[152]

Williams likely would have exceeded 600 career home runs if he had not served in the military, and might even have approached Babe Ruth's then record of 714. He might have set the record for career RBIs as well, exceeding Hank Aaron's total.[146] While the absences in the Marine Corps took almost five years out of his baseball career, he never publicly complained about the time devoted to service in the Marine Corps. His biographer, Leigh Montville, argued that Williams was not happy about being pressed into service in South Korea, but he did what he thought was his patriotic duty.

Following his return to the United States in August 1953, he resigned his Reserve commission to resume his baseball career.[148]

After retirement from play, Williams helped Boston's new left fielder, Carl Yastrzemski, in hitting, and was a regular visitor to the Red Sox' spring training camps from 1961 to 1966, where he worked as a special batting instructor. He served as executive assistant to Tom Yawkey (196165), then was named a team vice president (196568) upon his election to the Hall of Fame. He resumed his spring training instruction role with the club in 1978.

Beginning in 1961, he would spend summers at the Ted Williams Baseball Camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts, which he had established in 1958 with his friend Al Cassidy and two other business partners. For eight summers and parts of others after that, he would give hitting clinics and talk baseball at the camp.[5] It was not uncommon to find Williams fishing in the pond at the camp. The area now is owned by the town and a few of the buildings still stand. In the main lodge one can still see memorabilia from Williams's playing days.

Williams served as manager of the Washington Senators, from 19691971, then continued with the team when they became the Texas Rangers after the 1971 season. Williams's best season as a manager was 1969 when he led the expansion Senators to an 8676 record in the team's only winning season in Washington. He was chosen "Manager of the Year" after that season. Like many great players, Williams became impatient with ordinary athletes' abilities and attitudes, particularly those of pitchers, whom he admitted he never respected. Fellow manager Alvin Dark thought Williams "was a smart, fearless manager" who helped his hitters perform better. Williams's issue with Washington/Texas, according to Dark, was when the ownership traded away his third baseman and shortstop, making it difficult for the club to be as competitive.[153]

On the subject of pitchers, in Ted's autobiography written with John Underwood, Ted opines regarding Bob Lemon (a sinker-ball specialist) pitching for the Cleveland Indians around 1951: "I have to rate Lemon as one of the very best pitchers I ever faced. His ball was always moving, hard, sinking, fast-breaking. You could never really uhmmmph with Lemon."

Williams was much more successful in fishing. An avid and expert fly fisherman and deep-sea fisherman, he spent many summers after baseball fishing the Miramichi River, in Miramichi, New Brunswick. Williams was named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000. Williams, Jim Brown, Cumberland Posey, and Cal Hubbard are the only athletes to be inducted into the Halls of Fame of more than one professional sport. Williams was also known as an accomplished hunter; he was fond of pigeon-shooting for sport in Fenway Park during his career, on one occasion drawing the ire of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.[154]

Williams reached an extensive deal with Sears, lending his name and talent toward marketing, developing, and endorsing a line of in-house sports equipmentsuch as the "Ted Williams" edition Gamefisher aluminum boat and 7.5hp "Ted Williams" edition motor, as well as fishing, hunting, and baseball equipment. Williams continued his involvement in the Jimmy Fund, later losing a brother to leukemia, and spending much of his spare time, effort, and money in support of the cancer organization.

In his later years Williams became a fixture at autograph shows and card shows after his son (by his third wife), John Henry Williams, took control of his career, becoming his de facto manager. The younger Williams provided structure to his father's business affairs, exposed forgeries that were flooding the memorabilia market, and rationed his father's public appearances and memorabilia signings to maximize their earnings.

One of Ted Williams's final, and most memorable, public appearances was at the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston. Able to walk only a short distance, Williams was brought to the pitcher's mound in a golf cart. He proudly waved his cap to the crowda gesture he had never done as a player. Fans responded with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. At the pitcher's mound he was surrounded by players from both teams, including fellow Red Sox player Nomar Garciaparra, and was assisted by Tony Gwynn in throwing out the first pitch of that year's All-Star Game. Later in the year, he was among the members of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team introduced to the crowd at Turner Field in Atlanta prior to Game Two of the World Series.

On May 4, 1944, Williams married Doris Soule, the daughter of his hunting guide. Their daughter, Barbara Joyce ("Bobbi Jo"), was born on January 28, 1948, while Williams was fishing in Florida.[155] They divorced in 1954. Williams married the socialite model Lee Howard on September 10, 1961, and they were divorced in 1967.

Williams married Dolores Wettach, a former Miss Vermont and Vogue model, in 1968. Their son John-Henry was born on August 27, 1968, followed by daughter Claudia, on October 8, 1971. They were divorced in 1972.[156]

Williams lived with Louise Kaufman for twenty years until her death in 1993. In his book, Cramer called her the love of Williams's life.[157] After his death, her sons filed suit to recover her furniture from Williams's condominium as well as a half-interest in the condominium they claimed he gave her.[158]

Williams had a strong respect for General Douglas MacArthur, referring to him as his "idol".[159] For Williams's 40th birthday, MacArthur sent him an oil painting of himself with the inscription "To Ted Williamsnot only America's greatest baseball player, but a great American who served his country. Your friend, Douglas MacArthur. General U.S. Army."[160]

Politically, Williams was a Republican,[161] and was described by one biographer as, "to the right of Attila the Hun" except when it came to Civil Rights.[162] Another writer similarly noted that while in the 1960s he had a liberal attitude on civil rights, he was pretty far right on other cultural issues of the time, calling him ultraconservative in the tradition of Barry Goldwater and John Wayne.[161]

Williams campaigned for Richard Nixon in the 1960 United States Presidential Election, and after Nixon lost to John F. Kennedy, refused several invitations from President Kennedy to gather together in Cape Cod. He supported Nixon again in 1968, and as manager of the Senators, kept a picture of him on his desk, meeting with the President several times while managing the team. In 1972 he called Nixon, the greatest president of my lifetime.[161] In the following years, Williams endorsed several other candidates in Republican Party presidential primaries, including George H. W. Bush in 1988 (whom he also campaigned for in New Hampshire),[163] Bob Dole in 1996, and George W. Bush in 2000.[164]

According to friends, Williams was an atheist[165] and this influenced his decision to be cryogenically frozen. His daughter Claudia stated "It was like a religion, something we could have faith in... no different from holding the belief that you might be reunited with your loved ones in heaven".[166]

Williams's brother Danny and his son John-Henry both died of leukemia.[167]

In his last years, Williams suffered from cardiomyopathy. He had a pacemaker implanted in November 2000 and he underwent open-heart surgery in January 2001. After suffering a series of strokes and congestive heart failure, he died of cardiac arrest at the age of 83 on July 5, 2002, at Citrus Memorial Hospital, Inverness, Florida, near his home in Citrus Hills, Florida.[168]

Though his will stated his desire to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Florida Keys, Williams's son John-Henry and younger daughter Claudia chose to have his remains frozen cryonically.

Ted's elder daughter, Bobby-Jo Ferrell, brought a suit to have her father's wishes recognized. John-Henry's lawyer then produced an informal "family pact" signed by Ted, Claudia, and John-Henry, in which they agreed "to be put into biostasis after we die" to "be able to be together in the future, even if it is only a chance."[169] Bobby-Jo and her attorney, Spike Fitzpatrick (former attorney of Ted Williams), contended that the family pact, which was scribbled on an ink-stained napkin, was forged by John-Henry and/or Claudia.[170] Fitzpatrick and Ferrell believed that the signature was not obtained legally.[171] Laboratory analysis proved that the signature was genuine.[171] John-Henry said that his father was a believer in science and was willing to try cryonics if it held the possibility of reuniting the family.[172]

Though the family pact upset some friends, family and fans, a public plea for financial support of the lawsuit by Ferrell produced little result.[172] Citing financial difficulties, Ferrell dropped her lawsuit on the condition that a $645,000 trust fund left by Williams would immediately pay the sum out equally to the three children.[172] Inquiries to cryonics organizations increased after the publicity from the case.[170]

In Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero, author Leigh Montville claims that the family cryonics pact was a practice Ted Williams autograph on a plain piece of paper, around which the agreement had later been hand written. The pact document was signed "Ted Williams", the same as his autographs, whereas he would always sign his legal documents "Theodore Williams", according to Montville. However, Claudia testified to the authenticity of the document in an affidavit.[173]

Williams body was subsequently decapitated for the neuropreservation option from Alcor.[174] Following John-Henry's unexpected illness and death from acute myeloid leukemia on March 6, 2004, John-Henry's body was also transported to Alcor, in fulfillment of the family agreement.[175]

In 1954, Williams was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.[176]

Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25, 1966.[177] In his induction speech, Williams included a statement calling for the recognition of the great Negro leagues players: "I've been a very lucky guy to have worn a baseball uniform, and I hope some day the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson in some way can be added as a symbol of the great Negro players who are not here only because they weren't given a chance."[178] Williams was referring to two of the most famous names in the Negro leagues, who were not given the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Gibson died early in 1947 and thus never played in the majors; and Paige's brief major league stint came long past his prime as a player. This powerful and unprecedented statement from the Hall of Fame podium was "a first crack in the door that ultimately would open and include Paige and Gibson and other Negro league stars in the shrine."[178] Paige was the first inducted in 1971. Gibson and others followed, starting in 1972 and continued on and off into the 21st century.

On November 18, 1991, President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the US.[179]

The Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, carrying 1.6 miles (2.6km) of the final 2.3 miles (3.7km) of Interstate 90 under Boston Harbor, opened in December 1995, and Ted Williams Parkway (California State Route 56) in San Diego County, California, opened in 1992, were named in his honor while he was still alive. In 2016, the major league San Diego Padres inducted Williams into their hall of fame for his contributions to baseball in San Diego.[180]

The Tampa Bay Rays home field, Tropicana Field, installed the Ted Williams Museum (formerly in Hernando, Florida, 19942006) behind the left field fence. From the Tampa Bay Rays website: "The Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame brings a special element to the Tropicana Field. Fans can view an array of different artifacts and pictures of the 'Greatest hitter that ever lived.' These memorable displays range from Ted Williams's days in the military through his professional playing career. This museum is dedicated to some of the greatest players to ever 'lace 'em up,' including Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris."

In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Williams as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.[181]

At the time of his retirement, Williams ranked third all-time in home runs (behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx), seventh in RBIs (after Ruth, Cap Anson, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Foxx, and Mel Ott), and seventh in batting average (behind Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lefty O'Doul, Ed Delahanty and Tris Speaker). His career batting average of .3444 is the highest of any player who played his entire career in the live-ball era following 1920.

Most modern statistical analyses[which?] place Williams, along with Ruth and Barry Bonds, among the three most potent hitters to have played the game. Williams's baseball season of 1941 is often considered favorably with the greatest seasons of Ruth and Bonds in terms of various offensive statistical measures such as slugging, on-base and "offensive winning percentage." As a further indication, of the ten best seasons for OPS, short for On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage, a popular modern measure of offensive productivity, four each were achieved by Ruth and Bonds, and two by Williams.

In 1999, Williams was ranked as number eight on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, where he was the highest-ranking left fielder.[182]

See the original post:
Ted Williams - Wikipedia

Arizona cryonics facility preserves bodies to revive later

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct 12 (Reuters) - Time and death are "on pause" for some people in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Inside tanks filled with liquid nitrogen are the bodies and heads of 199 humans who opted to be cryopreserved in hopes of being revived in the future when science has advanced beyond what it is capable of today. Many of the "patients," as Alcor Life Extension Foundation calls them, were terminally ill with cancer, ALS or other diseases with no present-day cure.

Matheryn Naovaratpong, a Thai girl with brain cancer, is the youngest person to be cryopreserved, at the age of 2 in 2015.

"Both her parents were doctors and she had multiple brain surgeries and nothing worked, unfortunately. So they contacted us," said Max More, chief executive of Alcor, a nonprofit which claims to be the world leader in cryonics.

Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney, another Alcor patient, had his body cryopreserved after death from ALS in 2014.

The cryopreservation process begins after a person is declared legally dead. Blood and other fluids are removed from the patient's body and replaced with chemicals designed to prevent the formation of damaging ice crystals. Vitrified at extremely cold temperatures, Alcor patients are then placed in tanks at the Arizona facility "for as long as it takes for technology to catch up," More said.

The minimum cost is $200,000 for a body and $80,000 for the brain alone. Most of Alcor's almost 1,400 living "members" pay by making the company the beneficiary of life insurance policies equal to the cost, More said.

More's wife Natasha Vita-More likens the process to taking a trip to the future.

"The disease or injury cured or fixed, and the person has a new body cloned or a whole body prosthetic or their body reanimated and (can) meet up with their friends again," she said.

Many medical professionals disagree, said Arthur Caplan, who heads the medical ethics division at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine.

"This notion of freezing ourselves into the future is pretty science fiction and it's naive," he said. "The only group... getting excited about the possibility are people who specialize in studying the distant future or people who have a stake in wanting you to pay the money to do it."

Reporting by Liliana Salgado; Editing by Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Visit link:
Arizona cryonics facility preserves bodies to revive later

David Suzuki: Gaia theorist James Lovelock was always ahead of the times – NOW Toronto

Although once ridiculed, Lovelock's theory that the earth's natural cycles are living, self-regulating organisms underpins much of climate science

Although most of the world knew James Lovelock as an independent scientist and originator of the Gaia hypothesis, he had a slightly different take. Im not a scientist really. Im an inventor or a mechanic. Its a different thing. The Gaia theory is just engineering written very large indeed, hetold theGuardianin 2020.

Regardless of labels, theres no denying the significant influence of Lovelock, whodied July 26on his 103rdbirthday. Although many of his discoveries and ideas on subjects ranging from cryonics to chlorofluorocarbons, and climate to nuclear power were controversial, most gained acceptance as the world caught up.

Named for the Greek Earth goddess, hisGaia theory developed with evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis during the 1960s when he was working for NASAs moon and Mars programs saw the world with its natural cycles as a living, self-regulating organism. When one cycle is knocked out of equilibrium, others work to restore balance.

At the time, many prominent scientists ridiculed the hypothesis, but its continued to gain acceptance because it helps to explain the chemical and physical balances in air, land and water that make life possible. It underpins much of climate science. The idea isnt that Earth is conscious of these processes; just that the cycles work together to keep the planet healthy and able to support life.

Its similar to the ways in which many Indigenous Peoples worldwide view the living Earth. Everything is interconnected. He understood that human activities that destroy rainforests and reduce biodiversity, for example, hinder Gaias ability to minimize the impacts of runaway greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Lovelock wasnt afraid to change his views in the face of evolving evidence, but he also refused to ever soften his message, something I learned from interviewing him several times.

His research revealed the effects of CFCs on the ozone layer, and he warned that burning fossil fuels was changing the climate before these issues were on most peoples radar. His electron capture device, invented in the late 1960s, detected rising CFC levels in the atmosphere as well as pollutants like PCBs in air, soil and water and led to the discovery that this was causing ozone depletion. That eventually resulted in theMontreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, adopted in 1987 by all countries helping the ozone layer to recover and preventing millions of cases of skin and other cancers and eye cataracts.

Like many who clearly see the environmental predicaments weve created, Lovelock wasnt always optimistic, despite his knowledge of the many available and emerging solutions. I would say the biosphere and I are both in the last 1% or our lives, he told theGuardiantwo years ago.

Lovelock, who started out in medicine, even thought pandemics such as COVID-19 could be related to planetary self-regulation: I could easily make you a model and demonstrate that as the human population on the planet grew larger and larger, the probability of a virus evolving that would cut back the population is quite marked.

He said opposition to the Gaia hypothesis surprised him: Im wondering to what extent you can put that down to the coal and oil industries who fought against any kind of message that would be bad for them.

As for solutions to the climate crisis, he advocated for technologies that havent always been popular, including nuclear energy and Edward Tellers suggestion of a sunshade in a heliocentric orbit that would diffuse a few percent of sunlight from the Earth. However, he cautioned, I dont think we should start messing about with the Gaia system until we know a hell of a lot more about it. It is beginning to look as if renewable energy wind and solar if properly used, may be the answer to the energy problems of humanity.

James Lovelock continued to work, write and speak until his final days. My main reason for not relaxing into contented retirement is that like most of you I am deeply concerned about the probability of massively harmful climate change and the need to do something about it now, he said.

Lovelock may have left Gaia, but the knowledge he left endures and is essential to understanding our place, predicament and future.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington.

@nowtoronto

David Suzuki

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and cofounder of the David Suzuki Foundation.

View original post here:
David Suzuki: Gaia theorist James Lovelock was always ahead of the times - NOW Toronto

When Will the Cryonics Industry Arrive at a Tipping Point in Growth …

Twenty years ago, there wasn't all that much of a difference between the public view of rejuvenation research and the cryonics field. Both were mocked by the mainstream media, marginal areas of human endeavor out on the fringes of society, supported by very little funding and a handful of dedicated supporters. Yet in both cases, compelling research existed to support the goals - of the treatment of aging, of reversible cryopreservation - and was largely ignored, or even actively derided by the academic mainstream, worried about appearances.

A great deal has changed since then for the field of rejuvenation research. In the early 2000s, patient advocates were delighted and surprised by the rare occasion on which a six or seven figure check arrived from a philanthropist. It didn't happen often! Twenty years down the line, however, and billions in funding from philanthropists, research institutions, and venture funds are now devoted to the development of in vivo epigenetic reprogramming as an approach to the treatment of aging. Similarly, hundreds of millions have been invested in the development of senolytic therapies to clear senescent cells. The treatment of aging as a medical condition and the goal of reversal of aging is no longer mocked, it is taken seriously, and both funding and the number of ventures are increasing at a rapid pace.

How did this change happen? It was a mix of networking, advocacy, philanthropy, and compelling advances in the science, such as the development of the first senolytics and many consequent studies showing rapid, profound rejuvenation in mice. A tipping point was reached after years of a long, slow grind of bootstrapping: a little more progress, a little more support, a little more progress. Once past that tipping point, matters moved much more rapidly year after year, and the acceleration continues today.

I recently attended the 50th anniversary conference for the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, celebrating the lengthy run of one of the oldest cryonics providers. A good deal of the discussion there orbited around the usual questions asked by a small and passionate community: how does the cryonics field become larger, more robust? How does it achieve greater funding and faster progress towards widespread use? Fifty years on from the very early days of improvised equipment, ad hoc science, and regulatory opposition, the field of cryonics now looks a lot like the field of rejuvenation biotechnology did fifteen or twenty years ago. Slow progress is underway, the organizations are far more professional, and a few visionary philanthropists are putting in six or seven figure checks occasionally. Compelling advances in research exist, and are not receiving the widespread attention that they deserve. New organizations for advocacy and research are being founded with small budgets and big visions. Some of the technology waiting in the wings, such as reversible vitrification of human organs, may help to reach the tipping point once they are fully realized and in widespread use.

Given this, I would not be surprised to see the cryonics field becoming much larger and more commercial, growing suddenly and rapidly, in the mid-to-late 2030s. By that time, I would expect that reversible vitrification of organs will be a going concern, radically changing the economics and viability of organ donation, and adopted as a core enabling technology by the new industry focused on manufacturing patient-matched organs to order. The widespread recognition of this technological capability will bring many more people to the realization that cryopreservation on clinical death is a viable approach to saving lives that would otherwise be lost, and matters will proceed ever more rapidly from there on.

View post:
When Will the Cryonics Industry Arrive at a Tipping Point in Growth ...

Fact check: Walt Disney’s frozen body will not be thawed in December

Walt Disney World reopens to the public after coronavirus closure

Walt Disney World has reopened to the public but with many new precautions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

USA TODAY, Wochit

In the decades following American animator and director Walt Disneys death in November 1966, pop culture conspiracy theorists have promoted a myth that his cryogenically frozen corpse is stored away in a hidden vault.

Over the years, the legend has taken different forms online. Some have speculated his frozen body is located under the Pirates of Caribbean ride, while others have claimed Disney named the movie Frozen sostories about his frozen head would stop showing up on Google.

Now, people are asserting that Disneys frozen body will be thawedin December in an attempt to resurrect him.

55 Years After His Death, Walt Disneys Frozen Body Will Be Thawed December 2021 In An Attempt To Bring Him Back To Life, reads a screenshot of a news headline shared to Facebook on Sept. 23 by the page Disney After Dark.

The post accumulated more than 1,700 shares and reactions in less than a day.The same claim has made its way to Instagram, blog pages and YouTube. On TikTok, a video about the article gained more than 92,000 likes in less than a week.

Fact check: Sony Group still owns Spider-Man film rights, despite online claims

But Disneys body isn't frozen. And the screenshot of the headline circulating online originated on a satirical website, which the posts fail to mention.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.

The headline first appeared in a Sept. 15 article from Daily News Reported, which bills itself as a fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website.

Daily News Reported uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized, reads a disclaimer on the sites about page. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

The disclaimer is not included in the screenshots shared to social media.

Fact check: Image of bleeding Indigenous person at Met Gala is altered

It's an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where storieswritten as satire and presented that way originally are captured via screenshot and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news.As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.

Dennis Kowalski, president oftheCryonics Institute a company that cryogenically freezes bodies and was mentioned in the Daily News Reported article- told USA TODAY the company is not bringing Disney back to life.

"We have heard of this rumor as well and we can confirm that it is not true," Kowalski said via email.

The claim that Disneys body is frozenisbased on the theory of cryonics, an experimental process in whichpatients bodiesare frozen with the hope that future technology will bring them back to life.

But scientists have criticized the cryonics industry and researchers say the theory is based on faith, not science.

"Reanimation or simulation is an abjectly false hope that is beyond the promise of technology and is certainly impossible with the frozen, dead tissue offered by the 'cryonics'industry," Michael Hendricks of McGill University wrote for MIT Technology Reviewin 2015.

Fact check: Claim that Biden is withholding benefits from unvaccinated veterans originated as satire

Regardless, Disney's body was notfrozen.His death certificate says he was cremated,the Los Angeles Times reportedin 2003. His ashes were interred at a family mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California, per PBS.

People close to Disney have also refuted the conspiracy theory.

There is absolutely no truth that my father, Walt Disney, wished to be frozen," Disney's daughter, Diane, wrote in her 1972 biography."I doubt that my father had ever heard of cryonics.

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Disneys body will be thawed in December to bring him back to life. The claim originated on a satirical website. Disneys body was cremated and his asheswere interred at Forest LawnCemetery in Glendale, California.

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app, or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Visit link:
Fact check: Walt Disney's frozen body will not be thawed in December

Cryonics Technology Market Size & Analysis By 2022 -2029 -Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom…

A market study Global examines the performance of theCryonics Technology2022. It encloses an in-depth analysis of the Cryonics Technology state and the competitive landscape globally. The Global Cryonics Technology can be obtained through the market details such as growth drivers, latest developments, Cryonics Technology business strategies, regional study, and future market status. The report also covers information including Plastic Additive industry latest opportunities and challenges along with the historical and Cryonics Technology future trends. It focuses on the Cryonics Technology dynamics that is constantly changing due to the technological advancements and socio-economic status.

Pivotal players studied in the Cryonics Technology report:

Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom Biogenic Systems, Oregon Cryonics, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Osiris Cryonics, Sigma-Aldrich, Southern Cryonics

Get free copy of the Cryonics Technology report 2022:https://www.mraccuracyreports.com/report-sample/380040

Recent market study Cryonics Technology analyses the crucial factors of the Cryonics Technology based on present industry situations, market demands, business strategies adopted by Cryonics Technology players and their growth scenario. This report isolates the Cryonics Technology based on the key players, Type, Application and Regions. First of all, Cryonics Technology report will offer deep knowledge of company profile, its basic products and specification, generated revenue, production cost, whom to contact. The report covers forecast and analysis of Cryonics Technology on global and regional level.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis:

In this report, the pre- and post-COVID impact on the market growth and development is well depicted for better understanding of the Cryonics Technology based on the financial and industrial analysis. The COVID epidemic has affected a number of Cryonics Technology is no challenge. However, the dominating players of the Global Cryonics Technology are adamant to adopt new strategies and look for new funding resources to overcome the rising obstacles in the market growth.

Access full Report Description,TOC, Table of Figure, Chart, etc.@https://www.mraccuracyreports.com/reportdetails/reportview/380040

Product types uploaded in the Cryonics Technology are:

Slow freezing, Vitrification, Ultra-rapid

Key applications of this report are:

Animal husbandry, Fishery science, Medical science, Preservation of microbiology culture, Conserving plant biodiversity

Geographic region of the Cryonics Technology includes:

North America Cryonics Technology(United States, North American country and Mexico),Europe Market(Germany, Plastic Additive France Market, UK, Russia and Italy),Asia-Pacific market (China, Plastic Additive Japan and Korea market, Asian nation and Southeast Asia),South America Plastic Additive Regions inludes(Brazil, Argentina, Republic of Colombia etc.),Plastic Additive Africa (Saudi Arabian Peninsula, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)

The Plastic Additive report provides the past, present and future Plastic Additive industry Size, trends and the forecast information related to the expected Plastic Additive sales revenue, growth, Plastic Additive demand and supply scenario. Furthermore, the opportunities and the threats to the development of Cryonics Technology forecast period from 2022 to 2029.

Please click here today to buy full report @https://www.mraccuracyreports.com/checkout/380040

Further, the Plastic Additive report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Plastic Additive industry, Plastic Additive industry rules and methodologies, circumstances driving the growth of the Cryonics Technology and compulsion blocking the growth. Cryonics Technology development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.

Continue reading here:
Cryonics Technology Market Size & Analysis By 2022 -2029 -Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom...

Dick Yarbrough: Who needs to live forever to be immortal? – Daily Citizen

This is not a piece I was dying to write. Its about death. The great equalizer.

The reason I bring up the subject today is that I read a piece recently that scientists are looking seriously at ways to keep us alive forever. No more wakes. No more inflated obituaries. No more people saying nice things to the family about us they really didnt mean. No more squabbling over who gets what in the estate.

Some deep-pocketed moguls seem to think there might be some big bucks in the effort. Big bucks, as in an estimated $610 billion by 2025. According to my abacus, thats two-and-a-half years from now. This tells me that we must be worth more alive than dead. Sorry about that, estate planners.

Heavy hitters like Paul Thiel, co-founder of Pay Pal and Jeff Bezos, Amazons chairman plus whoever is running Google these days are all funding initiatives to figure out a way to keep us and them, I would assume from kicking the bucket. The ideas range from rejuvenating cells to hacking the little boogers in order to recode them. If some nerdy kid locked away in his bedroom can hack my computer, how hard can hacking a cell be?

At a recent conference at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences which I was unable to attend because it occurred the same week I had scheduled to rearrange my sock drawer, director Thomas Fink told a Washington Post reporter that life could be engineered to live longer if we could figure out why we age in the first place. Scientists agree that all organisms degrade over time and eventually break down. That is probably why my knees ache.

Forrest Sheldon, an associate at the institute, thinks that if the aging process is a mechanism inside the cell controlled by a transcription program, we might be able to influence it. Ill take his word for it because I have no idea what he is talking about.

This isnt the only effort at trying to figure out a way to help us achieve immortality which I will say modestly that I think I have already managed to do, thanks to my witty and thought-provoking columns. (Pause for applause.)

There is cryonics where they freeze your body, hoping to figure out how to thaw you out which seems still to be a bit of a problem. And then there is something called mind-loading which involves scanning the brain accurately enough to copy it to a computer in digital form. The computer would then supposedly be able to experience feelings and have a conscience. What it would not be able to do is write witty and thought-provoking columns which, by the way, doesnt require a conscience.

Searching for eternal life on this earth is nothing new. It has been going on for eons and to no avail. Remember Ponce de Leon who came to Florida supposedly looking for the Fountain of Youth? All he found was water that smells like rotten eggs and a tourism industry.

The big question that must be asked is do you really want to live forever? That means if you can, so can a nutcase like Vladimir Putin. And that little fat guy with the bad haircut who runs North Korea. And the Supreme Whoever in Iran that hates Israel and wont let women ride bicycles. Not to mention the woke crowd, Cancel culturists and robocallers.

On the other hand, I would have humor-impaired wingnuts on both ends of the political spectrum to gig into all eternity as well as more tut-tut special interest groups than a yard dog has fleas, assuring me of an endless supply of witty and thought-provoking columns and further immortality. Not to mention a bunch of cranky emails.

I could paint forever and eat banana pudding forever and avoid broccoli forever, hoping the stuff couldnt get its cells hacked and might disappear forever. I could bleed red and black and never run dry and watch You-Know-Where Institute of Technology win three games a year into perpetuity.

Alas, scientists admit all of this is a long way off and might not even happen not the three wins a year for YKWIT, thats a given Im talking about staying alive forever. Evidently, hacking rejuvenated cells isnt as easy as it sounds. Rats.

I guess I will just forget all the science talk and get back to churning out witty and thought-provoking columns. After all, there is more than one way to be immortal.

Dick Yarbrough is a longtime Georgia resident and former public relations executive. Reach him at dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139; or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dickyarb.

Read more here:
Dick Yarbrough: Who needs to live forever to be immortal? - Daily Citizen

If cryonics suddenly worked, wed need to face the fallout …

Immortality could also be cause for alarm. An uploaded brain, in a sense, will have beaten death, which raises basic psychological and philosophical questions. We can say that death is at the root of consciousness, normative law and human existence, Kauffman says. The loss of death is likely to radically alter who or what the being or creature is.

Theres no guarantee that this being would be the same one who first entered into the cryogenic process, either. As de Grey says, the question remains of whether scanning the brain and uploading it into a different substrate is revival at all, or if youd be creating a new individual with the same characteristics.

Regardless of who or what that ghost in the machine turned out to be, programming in a digital suicide option would likely be necessary just in case the experience proved too overwhelming or oppressive. I think theyd have to decide in advance what the escape hatch would be if it didnt work out, Callahan says. Is it that the company is authorised to kill you, or are you left to do it yourself?

Despite the unknowns, some would still be willing to give such an existence a shot. If the option was complete oblivion and nothingness or uploading my mind into a computer, Id like to at least try it, Kowalski says. It could be pretty cool.

--

Join 500,000+ Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram.

If you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called If You Only Read 6 Things This Week. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Originally posted here:
If cryonics suddenly worked, wed need to face the fallout ...

Simon Cowell to Britney Spears: Super-rich freezing their bodies so they can live forever – Daily Star

Queen's Freddie Mercury once asked, "Who wants to live forever?"

Simon Cowell, Paris Hilton, and a range of other superrich celebs do, apparently.

From Silicon Valley to the X-Factor, thousands of the A-list elite have reportedly signed up to expensive 'cryonics' (aka cryogenics) schemes to have their bodies and brains frozen after they die in the hope of being 'reanimated' deep in the future.

While nobody has successfully died, been frozen, defrosted, and brought back to life just yet, millionaires and billionaires alike are keeping the faith by signing up to expensive 'cryonics' schemes.

These schemes run special ambulances that rush the newly-deceased to super-cold tanks and keep them on ice so that one day, they might live again.

So let's take a look at who's actually planning a dunk into the deep freezer and answer the question: is cryonics even scientifically possible?

Perhaps the most famous cryonics legend is that of Walt Disney.

Since his death in 1966, it's been rumoured that the head of the Mickey Mouse creator was frozen in liquid nitrogen after his death so that scientists could bring him back to life when the technology becomes available in hundreds of years.

Sadly, the 2100s are unlikely to see the famed animator and FBI informant return to the silver screen. Despite running Futurama gags, Disney's family have strongly denied all claims that he was ever frozen.

There is absolutely no truth that my father, Walt Disney, wished to be frozen," Disney's daughter, Diane, said in her biography. "I doubt that my father had ever heard of cryonics.

The rumours were also denied by Dennis Kowalski, the president of the Cryonics Institute. He said: "We have heard of this rumour as well and we can confirm that it is not true."

Indeed, Disney's death certificate says he was cremated, which is the complete opposite of being frozen.

Even 'The X Factor' judges can't resist the lure of eternal life. American Idol head honcho Simon Cowell reportedly told guests at a dinner hosted by former PM Gordon Brown that he had decided to be put on ice.

Cowell reportedly told an audience including Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden in 2009 that: "I have decided to freeze myself when I die. You know, cryonics. You pay a lot of money and you get stuck in a deep freeze once you've been declared dead."

"Medical science is bound to work out a way of bringing us back to life in the next century or so, and I want to be available when they do. I would be doing the nation an invaluable service."

However, Cowell has since gotten cold feet (not literally) about the idea.

On America's Got Talent last year, the cold-blooded music judge told the cameras that he doesn't want to go through with it.

"By the way, I don't want to freeze myself anymore. No one told me you have to chop your head off," he said.

So Simon Cowell and Disney may have pulled out, but there's still growing popularity among the wealthy 1% to undergo the procedure.

Around 2000 people have reportedly signed up to the procedure at one centre of the US-based Cryonics Institute for a price around 150,000.

The Cryonics Institute president, Denis Kowalski, told the Daily Star: "We have billionaires, Hollywood celebs and top surgeons on our books," he said.

"160 bodies are already frozen at our institute, and over 100 pets!"

Britney Spears is reportedly one of the people who have signed up for a 'bus ticket to the future'. Finally free from her conservatorship, she may now be able to perform Toxic when she's 1000 years old.

Paris Hilton is also said to have signed up for the procedure, and wants to be frozen with her dogs Tinkerbell and Cinderella.

If you've got cash to splash, there are cryonic organisations in the US and Russia that could freeze you.

If you pay the 150,000 price tag at the US Cryonics Institute, you'll be picked up by a special ambulance upon your death. All your blood will be removed and replaced with a sort of embalming fluid designed to keep your organs intact.

You'll be dunked in a tank full of liquid nitrogen which needs the occasional top-up.

Once you're frozen, it's just a waiting game until the unspecified date at which science works out how to revive the dead.

Those who sign up for a lifetime membership at the Cryonics Institute can also get their spouse onboard for half price, and underage children go free.

Other cryonics organisations such as Alcor offer membership based models, where you pay a monthly fee of around 41.50 per month on top of a life insurance policy and a fixed price tag.

If you want a cheap deal, Russian cryopreservation company KrioRus will freeze your whole body for 27,000, or you can just get your head done for a bargain at 13,000.

If you can't afford the steep price tag yourself, you can always just freeze your pets. The Cryonics Institute reportedly has more than 110 pets on ice.

For such an expensive service promising major life extension, there is relatively little meat on the bones for most cryonics services.

Due to the fact we don't currently have the technology needed to revive the frozen dead, cryonics is a largely experimental science based on the assumption that the tools for the job will eventually materialise.

On its website, AIcor explains that it is possible to preserve human organs and bodies effectively. "Vitrification" can be used to turn body parts into 'glassy solids' which don't get damaged by ice.

The company also argue that 'molecular nanotechnology' which can restore the damage done by death and the cryonic process will one day be feasible. This technology does not currently exist.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has speculated previously that cryonics could one day be possible. He told an online 'Ask Me Anything':

"Assuming that the brain is frozen quickly after death, then I think you probably could extract quite a lot of information from it in the future. And you might be able to create something approximating that person."

"I mean there's gonna be a few issues obviously. But the brain is very physical. It's much less mysterious than people think."

However, mainstream scientists are slightly more sceptical. Even if deep-future scientists are able to revive bodies, there's the question of how to restore consciousness and memory to a person who's been dead for possibly hundreds of years.

So while freezing people isn't a challenge, defrosting them is a different story.

See the original post here:
Simon Cowell to Britney Spears: Super-rich freezing their bodies so they can live forever - Daily Star

Cryonics Technology Market Pegged for Robust Expansion by 2027 Covid-19 Analysis The Courier – The Courier

This Cryonics Technology market report provides the best business insight and understanding to help key players stay ahead of the competition. It also detects emerging trends and forecasts future market numbers, trends, and characteristics. This Cryonics Technology market report offers the most effective action strategies for dealing with the current market situation and establishing a marketplace. It also helps to improve and enhance the companys position. This Cryonics Technology market report allows industries to easily assess and compare their results to that of others. This Cryonics Technology market report provides a straightforward view of market tactics, which can assist companies in achieving massive profits. It also offers a good picture of trade restraints, product releases, business penetration in new areas, and technical developments and advancements.

Get the complete sample, please click:https://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/request.php?type=1&rid=674280

Industry players are able to go through some prominent industry growth factors in this Cryonics Technology Market Research such as trending developments, the financial status of companies, market scenario, and cost. Profits of few market regions are also given here in order to make beneficial decisions in terms of business expansions. Other leadings elements provided here to grow the market strongly are customer demand and region-wise market size. It gives a clear idea on the growth of key players and qualitative features of business in every region. This Cryonics Technology market research gives a current update on revenue generation, recent developments, financial status, and costing, financial status, and company profiles.

Key global participants in the Cryonics Technology market include:Cryotherm KrioRus Custom Biogenic Systems VWR Sigma-Aldrich Oregon Cryonics Southern Cryonics Alcor Life Extension Foundation Thermo Fisher Scientific Praxair Osiris Cryonics Cryologics Cellulis

20% Discount is available on Cryonics Technology market report:https://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/request.php?type=3&rid=674280

Segmentation on the Basis of Application:Animal husbandry Fishery science Medical science Preservation of microbiology culture Conserving plant biodiversity

Global Cryonics Technology market: Type segmentsSlow freezing Vitrification Ultra-rapid

Table of Content1 Report Overview1.1 Product Definition and Scope1.2 PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) Analysis of Cryonics Technology Market2 Market Trends and Competitive Landscape3 Segmentation of Cryonics Technology Market by Types4 Segmentation of Cryonics Technology Market by End-Users5 Market Analysis by Major Regions6 Product Commodity of Cryonics Technology Market in Major Countries7 North America Cryonics Technology Landscape Analysis8 Europe Cryonics Technology Landscape Analysis9 Asia Pacific Cryonics Technology Landscape Analysis10 Latin America, Middle East & Africa Cryonics Technology Landscape Analysis 11 Major Players Profile

Furthermore, this study sheds light on a few key points that will drive the global markets financial flow. It also focuses on a number of key sources that can be used in the market to achieve the best results and gains. It also covers some critical approaches for exploring global market opportunities and expanding the company. In this Cryonics Technology market report, a thorough regional study is carried out, with a focus on a few main regions such as Europe, China, North America, Japan, India, and South America. Key players can easily gain a prominent position in the market with the aid of this detailed market research. It also depicts the COVID-19 global effects on various segments and countries.

In-depth Cryonics Technology Market Report: Intended AudienceCryonics Technology manufacturersDownstream vendors and end-usersTraders, distributors, and resellers of Cryonics TechnologyCryonics Technology industry associations and research organizationsProduct managers, Cryonics Technology industry administrator, C-level executives of the industriesMarket Research and consulting firms

It reveals macroeconomic factors as well as parent industry patterns. It also shows market rivalry among the most important companies and market experts. This Cryonics Technology Market report includes significant market aspects such as channel features, end-user market data, and key players. From the year 2021 to 2027, market data is provided at the regional level to show growth, sales, and revenue by region. Through this Cryonics Technology market report, it is possible to research potential shortages as well as problems faced by a number of critical industries.

About Global Market MonitorGlobal Market Monitor is a professional modern consulting company, engaged in three major business categories such as market research services, business advisory, technology consulting.We always maintain the win-win spirit, reliable quality and the vision of keeping pace with The Times, to help enterprises achieve revenue growth, cost reduction, and efficiency improvement, and significantly avoid operational risks, to achieve lean growth. Global Market Monitor has provided professional market research, investment consulting, and competitive intelligence services to thousands of organizations, including start-ups, government agencies, banks, research institutes, industry associations, consulting firms, and investment firms.ContactGlobal Market MonitorOne Pierrepont Plaza, 300 Cadman Plaza W, Brooklyn,NY 11201, USAName: Rebecca HallPhone: + 1 (347) 467 7721Email: info@globalmarketmonitor.comWeb Site: https://www.globalmarketmonitor.com

Most Popular Market Research Reports:Silage Additives Market Reporthttps://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/reports/626840-silage-additives-market-report.html

Nuclear Receptor ROR-Gamma Market Reporthttps://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/reports/547442-nuclear-receptor-ror-gamma-market-report.html

Independent Clinical Laboratories (ICL) Market Reporthttps://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/reports/523770-independent-clinical-laboratoriesiclmarket-report.html

Intake-Air Temperature Sensor Market Reporthttps://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/reports/689855-intake-air-temperature-sensor-market-report.html

Plastic Jars in Pharmaceuticals Market Reporthttps://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/reports/676883-plastic-jars-in-pharmaceuticals-market-report.html

Hemagglutinin 5 Market Reporthttps://www.globalmarketmonitor.com/reports/579759-hemagglutinin-5-market-report.html

More:
Cryonics Technology Market Pegged for Robust Expansion by 2027 Covid-19 Analysis The Courier - The Courier

Cryonics company hopes to use legal loophole to freeze …

In pursuit of life everlasting, some turn to God. Others turn to science. Or rather, something science-ish.

If you've ever hoped to be cryogenically frozen, you might come across a legal hurdle: while human cryonics is legal in several countries, you have to be dead before going into the cryonics tank. Otherwise, freezing someone alive is tantamount to killing. So, as it is, you can only get your dead body or head frozenand when thawed, you'd still be dead.

This doesn't deter some people, who simply hope to be cryopreserved until the day comes that humanity masters the art of resurrection, so scientists can re-animate them and cure their ailments. Or upload their consciousness into the cloud. Whichever comes first.

But for those of you who would prefer to go on ice before the immutability of brain death takes hold, there may be a legal loophole to help. According to The Telegraph, one company hopes to avoid that legal issue entirely by building a cryonics lab in a country where human euthanasia is legal.

If Russian cryonics company KrioRus manages to fund it, they plan to buy a bunker in Switzerland and convert it to a cryopreservation lab. People with one foot in the grave could fly in from around the world and be placed in a cryopreservation tank, awaiting the day when their otherwise-fatal disease is cured, and their body is revived to go on living. (Alternatively, they can consider being awoken when we can upload our consciousness to computers, and we won't need our flesh-prisons. I hear that day is near.)

Cryonics is the idea that you can use extremely low temperatures to preserve humans and animals through cryogenic freezing. It's basically like the premise of Futurama, but without the egg timer. However, the procedure is controversial, and the only humans that have been revived after cryogenic freezing are living embryos. The process would probably kill an adult. In Switzerland, though, that could potentially be passed off as "euthanasia."

However, cryonics is unregulated, controversial and unproven to work. Technically, though, cryogenic freezing of non-humans can be used for less science-fictiony endeavors and is not synonymous with cryonics.

According to its website, KrioRus is the first Eurasian company to preserve people and pets, hosting 50 human bodies or heads and 20 animals in tanks in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They have so far only worked with people who have been declared legally dead (and not Walt Disney ). Freezing your body is $36,000, and a head will set you back $12,000.

There's no guarantee that the Swiss pursuit of pre-mortem freezing will go anywhere, let alone conquer mortality. Perhaps the field of cryonics is just trading one eternal, icy embrace for another.

Go here to read the rest:
Cryonics company hopes to use legal loophole to freeze ...

Putting dead heads on ice until the technology catches up – Sifted

At the age of 18, Emil Kendziorra had a life plan.

First, he was going to become a doctor. Then he was going to make heaps of money. Then he was going to use that money to start a longevity business helping people (and himself) live a much longer life.

One of the things that motivates me is the fear of death, Kendziorra tells Sifted. I dont want to die.

Advertisement

The first bit of the plan went exactly as imagined.

He became a doctor. Then he made a lot of money in tech founding companies, including software business Solid Media, a restaurant review site Onfeedback and then doctor-on-demand-network Medlanes (which was acquired last month).

But there was a snag. When researching what was happening in the longevity sector to start his new business, he felt pessimistic that the science would go far enough in his lifetime so he and others really could live forever.

One of the things that motivates me is fear of death

This was a tough moment for the 35-year-old, who had to rethink the next stage of his life plans. If you look at how far science has gotten, it is unlikely that a solution will be found within my lifetime, he says.

This prompted him to take a new path, getting into an even more esoteric field: the cryogenic freezing of people on their deathbed.

He now has a business called Tomorrow Biostasis that in exchange for an insurance payment of 30100 per month will cryopreserve users bodies from -130 to -196 degrees celsius with the idea that they will one day be resurrected.

Its part of a growing trend of companies getting into this field. But why is he freezing people? How does it work? And does it even work?

If there is a fair bit of scepticism out there about the whole science of longevity, or living forever, there is even more so about cryonics.

Cryonics is probably best known for showing up in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Vanilla Sky or the television series Futurama.

The technology was also recently featured in a documentary on Netflix in which the parents of a terminally ill two-year-old decided to cryogenically preserve her brain.

The idea of inducing metabolic stasis in humans using cryogenic temperatures was proposed in the 1960s as a way of preventing structural decay of the brain, following the terminal failure of the body.

Indefinitely preserving the brains physical state was though to leave open the possibility of resuscitating consciousness: in other words, by restoring function to the brain using one of several theorised but as of yet undeveloped techniques such as digital reconstruction or nanobot cellular repair.

The idea of the technology has long been to freeze the human body shortly after pronounced legally dead, replace the blood with a solution designed to preserve the organs and then adding a so-called cryoprotectant solution that freezes cells without causing crystal formation. Then the body is kept in cold storage until the technology has developed enough to successfully revive the body.

The trouble is that this might, of course, never actually work something Kendziorra readily admits. But he says that there are few scientists who say that this will definitely never be possible just different ideas about how likely it is to ever work.

From scientists in the community, that I would all say are good scientists, the range is from, 2%, to 90% [likelihood that it will work], he says.

But just because it is described as science fiction doesnt mean that one should give up, according to Kendziorra.

The first heart transplant was done in 1967 and if you had asked doctors before that, if it was possible, their answer would probably have been no, you are insane.But that is not reason enough not to try making it happen.

In late 2018, Kendziorra set up a company called Tomorrow Biostasis where people all over Europe are able to sign up for cryogenically freezing and storing when they die.

Working with big insurance companies, users pay a monthly fee for the right to be frozen. Similar to life insurance, it only is a guarantee as long as you are under the age of 60 or 70 depending on the plan.

So far the startup says it is on the trajectory of having 500 customers signed up in the next few months.

But even the freezing is hard.

One thing that is very important, logistically speaking, is if someone dies, you need to be there quickly to start the cooldown process, otherwise the cell damage starts to happen, Kendziorra says.

Alcor, one of the leading US companies when it comes to cryopreservation, believes that the process needs to start within minutes of death, however, this rarely happens due to delays at the hospital where the patient died.

Others would argue that severe cell damage caused by a body left dead for several hours, cannot be reversed, not even with the best medical nanorobots of the future.

Kendziorra is a bit more optimistic and Tomorrow Biostasis picks up people across Europe.

We have a medical response team that has a specialised ambulance vehicle, which is basically a mobile operating room, that is dispatched to pick up the patient, he says.

When the patient is ready for long-term storing, Tomorrow Biostasis uses non-profit organisations set up for this work.

According to Kendziorra, 100k is set aside for each patient. That money is then invested with the idea of 23% return of investment per year 2% for inflation and 1% to pay for the storage of the body.

The idea is that over time, even if it takes 50 or 100 years, you only use the interest and always keep the principle that you had in the beginning. Then you have this money available to pay for revival, Kendziorra says.

And some of that money would also be put aside as pocket money after one is revived. Whether money even exists and how one would fit into society a century from now are two different questions.

Apart from Tomorrow Biostasis, there arent a lot of cryonic startups in Europe. According to Kendziorra, the Swiss-Russian company Kriorus had some internal problems that had a negative effect on the reputation of the company.

One thing that is very important, logistically speaking, is if someone dies, you need to be there quick to start the cooldown process, otherwise the cell damage starts to happen

Kendziorra believes that trust and stability are key for a cryonics company. So far Tomorrow Biostasis has only raised an undisclosed amount from angel investors in Berlin and Silicon Valley but is planning for a larger funding round for 2021.

If you want more companies to choose from, youd better turn to the US.

Based in Arizona and by being around for 40 years, Alcor has perhaps helped the reputation of the technology, particularly in Silicon Valley.

To put yourself on ice is something that both PayPal founder Peter Thiel and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil have signed up to. In 2017, the AI-run hedge fund Numerai allowed employees cryonic body preservation as a benefit.

To be afraid of dying is not the only motivator for people that sign up for cryopreservation, according to Kendziorra.

Apart from not liking the idea of non-existence, I believe that people, who want this, think positively about life and therefore want it for longer. Another common motivation is also a curiosity about how life will look in the future. I think its always a combination of these three motivations. And I would say I subscribe to all of them, he says.

Mimi Billing is Sifteds Nordic correspondent. She also covers healthtech, and tweets from @MimiBilling

View original post here:
Putting dead heads on ice until the technology catches up - Sifted

Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd. – Cryogenics and connecting the cold bits – Design Products & Applications

Author : Roy Phillips, MD, CryoCoax

05 January 2021

Its early origins were in the late nineteenth century when Faraday et al experimented with the liquefaction of various gases and has developed tremendously over the subsequent 140 years or so. (Note: it not to be confused with cryonics, the science of freezing dead bodies!).

Today Cryogenics has become a key part of our scientific and engineering present and is set to become an even bigger part of our future.

A key emerging market for cryogenics in the electronics industry is being created by the immense interest in quantum computing, while other applications include medical, space, defence, aerospace, education, test and measurement, biological research, chemistry and more.

The use of electronics, particularly RF, within cryogenic applications is especially interesting and involves a phenomenon called superconductivity.

Superconductivity occurs within certain materials at ultra-low temperatures when a charge or signal moves through the material without resistance. The obvious benefits of this are a massive increase in capacity, efficiency and the signal integrity of an RF system.

One of the biggest challenges in this market is the very the narrow supply chain for the exotic materials required to manufacture cryogenic products and the new technology required to combine components into a working system or sub-assembly. While not insurmountable, this remains the biggest challenge to successfully create manufacturable products with reliable and repeatable performance.

As conventional soldering is not possible with some cryogenic cable materials Intelliconnect has designed a solderless connector and other low temperature hardware to create assemblies which work to below 2 K (-271.15C) at bandwidths up to 40GHz.

Technical specifications, both electrical and mechanical are significantly different in the cryogenics world and product design engineers will be working with scientists outside of the customary world of electronics, rather than their traditional customer base of RF and electronics engineers, which presents a new set of challenges.

The enormous investment in equipment and stock required was the first major hurdle. Specialised test equipment, self-designed manufacturing equipment, hugely expensive materials and even additional manufacturing space has had to be procured.

Relationships with many seats of learning in UK, USA and elsewhere were essential and Intelliconnect has developed a large network of University partnerships which has helped immeasurably with product development and elevating technical expertise.

In such a specialised vertical market brand recognition becomes extremely important. In an industry where physical and electrical tolerances are very low, quality expectations are incredibly high, and product and supply reliability are paramount, it has been essential to create a new brand which was synonymous with all of these customer requirements. Intelliconnect has created a specialised subsidiary business CryoCoax dedicated to the cryogenics industry.

CryoCoax are members of the British Cryogenics Council, the Cryogenics Society of Europe and the Cryogenics Society of America. An ISO9001 manufacturer CryoCoax is also SC21 accredited to a Silver standard. SC21 is a business quality and improvement qualification designed to provide a continuous improvement programme and assure supply chain performance. Silver Award proves >96% on time delivery and 99.5% quality.

View original post here:
Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd. - Cryogenics and connecting the cold bits - Design Products & Applications

Cryonics In 2020 Guide: Will It Replace Burial and Cremation?

What Is Cryogenics?

Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at very low temperatures.

This field of study helps us understand the chemical changes which occur when a substance reaches the lowest possible temperature of -273.

Presently this knowledge has been applied to the field of death care as human bodies are now being frozen in hopes of reanimating them in the future.

About 350 people all over the world have chosen to have their bodies frozen immediately after death.

Lots of paperwork must take place long before death if the cryogenic process is to take place.

Clients must complete all the necessary documentation and make sure funding is in place well ahead of time.

The freezing process must begin within 2-15 minutes after the person has been declared legally dead.

Then the body is packed in ice and injected with chemicals to keep the blood from clotting.

A special machine called a heart-lung resuscitator artificially restores circulation and breathing.

The body is then transported to a long-term care facility for final cooling and perfusion, a process in which the patients blood is slowly and carefully replaced by special substances to protect against ice formation.

They are then slowly cooled to a temperature of -196 and preserved in liquid nitrogen in a special storage unit called a cryostat.

For most of us, this idea seems creepy yet weirdly hopeful at the same time.

It reads like the plot of the most far-fetched science fiction novel.

But is it possible that this science fiction may simply becomescience?

As you can imagine, the issue is by no means simple.

Here are the different schools of thought on whether this is medical science or wishful thinking.

In 2015, the MIT Technology Review published an article debunking cryonics as a false science.

Their main point is that human consciousness is much too complex to recreate.

Even reconstructing the consciousness of a roundworm, a far less complex organism than humans are, remains beyond us.

In addition, we have no evidence that major organs such as the heart and the kidneys could be successfully frozen and thawed.

Promoters of cryonics declare that indeed there are other specimens of life which have been frozen and reanimated.

These include insects, vinegar eels, and even embryos which later became human children.

Recent advances in biology point to the hope that we can do even greater things in the future.

We already know that victims of cardiac arrest can sometimes be saved through lowering body temperature. Who is to say that we couldnt use it to save more people at some later time?

As you can well imagine, there are many misunderstandings about this radical approach to post-death care.

Here we debunk some of these common myths.

Although its true that the process of cryonics involves lowering your bodys temperature substantially, its not at all the same process as simply throwing something in the freezer.

The chemicals placed in your cells (through a process called vitrification) actually protect tissue and organs from freezing.

The goal is simply to slow all molecular movement to a standstill so that the body can be preserved in its original state.

We now understand that death is not an abrupt event. In fact, its a lengthy process which happens in stages.

Medically, a person is declared dead when his/her heart stops beating.

However, life processes continue within cells and tissue until they gradually cease and begin to decay due to the lack of oxygenated blood.

In cryonics, the patient is stabilized before this gradual decay can begin. Tissue and organs are kept viable through artificial means, similar to the emergency procedures employed for cardiac arrest patients.

As with most controversial issues in the medical field, there are some experts who support cryonics and others who do not.

Unfortunately, the credibility of cryonics has been undermined by some bad press and over-sensationalized reporting.

Because of this controversial reputation, there are some scientists who have dismissed the idea without bothering to research it thoroughly.

In spite of this, there are at least 60 prominent scientists who have publicly endorsed cryonics by signing an open letter in support of it.

There is still a considerable amount of work to do to secure legal rights for cryonicists.

In most states, the next of kin has the right to determine what happens to a loved ones body after death. Even if the deceased person has a legal contract with a cryonics facility, their wishes are often undermined by family members who bury or cremate them instead.

However, representatives of cryonics facilities are diligent about going to court to fight for the rights of those with whom they have legal contracts. In many cases, they can even file an injunction to stop an autopsy.

Because this is still a new method, there are still some ethical questions around it which remain unclear.

For example, if the cryonic facility runs out of money or the technology fails, does it still have a duty to care for the patients entrusted to them?

On a more existential level, can we even preserve all the complex components of a persons true identity?

If someone is successfully reanimated 30 years from now, would they be able to function as their true self in a society thats sure to be radically different from what they remember?

These are all questions that the cryonics community still needs to grapple with.

So assuming you want to preserve your body after death for future revival, who can you go to?

There are two reputable American organizations worth looking into if this route holds any appeal for you.

The Cryonics Institute offers an impressive level of stability.

Here are some of the advantages to choosing this company.

The mission of the Cryonics Institute, as stated on their website, is to provide the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost.

As a non-profit, they are committed to benefiting their members.

The Institute asserts a passionate belief in the possibility of a radical extension of the human lifespan, giving patients a second chance at life, youth and health as expressed in Robert Ettingers 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality.

The Cryonics Institute was founded back in 1976 by Robert Ettinger, the scientist credited with starting the cryonics movement.

Ettinger became a celebrity after the publication of The Prospect of Immortality. He appeared on talk shows and spoke with newspapers and magazines on the topic.

In 2004, vitrification became part of the cryopreservation process, based on the work of researchers Greg Fahy and William F. Rall.

Since their beginning in 1976, the Cryonics Institute has cryopreserved a total of 100 patients who are still successfully preserved at the facility.

The Cryonics Institute is owned by the membership and governed by a board of twelve directors, all of whom demonstrate personal passion for the ideals of immortality that cryonics represents.

They have established a rapid and effective system incorporating the best aspects of emergency medicine and mortuary care.

They have teams of funeral directors specially trained in the science of cryonics. These highly skilled and effective teams can be dispatched anywhere in the world when their services are urgently needed.

Another leader in the newly-emerging field of cryonics, Alcor is a reputable organization to look into if you want to explore the option of cryopreservation.

Here are the things you need to know.

Alcor is a non-profit organization based in Scottsdale, AZ.

Founded in 1972, they specialize in cryonics research and technology.

Members have the ability to use life insurance towards the cost of cryopreservation.

Presently, Alcor is working on technology to preserve the information in the brain which comprises memory and identity.

Alcor has clearly prioritized the five components of their mission as follows:

Maintain the current patients in biostasis.

Place current and future members into biostasis (when and if needed).

Eventually restore all patients in Alcors care to health and reintegrate them into society.

Fund research into developing more cost-effective and reliable means for 1-3 above.

Provide public education as a means of fostering growth to support the goals of 1, 2, 3, 4 above.

As of the end of 2019, Alcor has a total of 177 patients in its care.

129 of these patients are male; 46 of them are female.

Their first suspension was in 1967, carried out while Alcor still went by the name of the Cryonics Society of California.

The most recent was a 77-year-old man who had been a member of Alcor since 2000.

The number of patients in cryonic suspension with Alcor has risen steadily since its founding.

The cost of cryonics can be prohibitive, as it is much more expensive than other deathcare options.

The Cryonics Institute typically charges a one-time cost of $28,000, which can be covered by life insurance. This cost includes storage as well as vitrification perfusion.

For a whole body cryopreservation, Alcor charges $200,000, also payable through a life insurance policy. There is also an option to preserve only the patients head for $80,000.

The practice of cryonics demands a radical reimagining of everything we thought we knew about death.

Maybe death isnt as final as we have always believed.

If this is true, then it opens up a whole new way of thinking about our post-death rituals.

Naturally this leaves us with many questions.

Here are some of the most common questions about cryonics.

As of this writing, no human has yet been revived after their body temperature has been lowered to a level far below freezing.

However, the point of cryonics lies in the hope that technology will eventually advance enough to allow this to happen.

There is an expectation that the field of molecular nanotechnology will discover ways to reverse any damage caused by the cryonics process.

To that end, cryonics patients are cared for until such time as they can be revived safely.

This question is tricky, because there are multiple definitions of dead.

By law, the cryonics process cannot begin until the patient is legally dead.

Usually, a medical professional declares someone legally dead if they have stopped breathing, their heart has stopped beating, or brain activity has ceased due to the removal of life support.

But the philosophy behind cryonics is that we will one day have the ability to resuscitate these patients.

Breathing and blood circulation are restored immediately after legal death so that essential organs continue to function.

For that reason, cryonics patients are not considered dead. Instead, the term cryopreserved is used.

Ideally, the cryonics process should begin as soon as possible after the heart stops beating, usually around one or two minutes and certainly not more than fifteen.

If it takes longer, the process of restoration could pose more of a challenge.

Thats because any decay of the circulatory system can make it more difficult to circulate the chemicals necessary to prevent ice formation.

The most affordable way to fund cryonic suspension is by purchasing a life insurance policy in which you name the cryonics facility as the primary beneficiary.

To do this, you just have to purchase a life insurance policy in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of cryopreservation. Then you make a monthly payment.

Read more from the original source:
Cryonics In 2020 Guide: Will It Replace Burial and Cremation?

Brit pensioner plans to freeze his own corpse in hopes of being revived centuries later – Daily Star

A British pensioner says he wants to have his body frozen after death in the hope that future generations will one day be able to bring them back to life.

The unnamed 73-year-old, from Nottingham, has signed up to a programme that allows customers to be cryogenically frozen soon after death.

Their body will then be cooled and transported to the US where it will be placed in liquid nitrogen at a chilling temperature of -196C in a facility in Arizona, operated by the firm Alcor.

The scientific procedure is described as "life extension" and patients are put in "pause" before returning to humanity potentially thousands of years in the future when it is technologically and scientifically possible.

The man said: "The number of people signing up to cryonics isn't booming but it is increasing all the time, it has been for many years.

"Most people are taking up the option because there is less belief in religion these days and there's a gradual realisation that with the constant advances in science, cryonics will work.

"It is advancing at an exponential rate, it always has.

"Compare the time from the discovery of electricity or the invention to mobile phones to now, and then look to the end of this century.

"The advantage is extending your life for possibly a very long time. It's a way of taking advantage of technology that will be available in the future.

"Part of our role with Cryonics UK is to help you get there by cooling your body down as quickly as possible and doing our best to preserve it by using cryogenic preservatives to replace the blood and most of the water in your body so you won't suffer ice crystals in your brain, though in the future there will probably be a way of getting around that.

"Then we put your body in a large casket with dry ice that's minus 79 degrees and ship it off to America."

The British man's body will stored by Alcor, a firm specialising in 'life extension'. According to the company, the process is not new with people trying to prolong their lives since as far back as the 1960s.

Their services are not cheap, with the majority of patients usually needing a life insurance policy of $200,000 (150,000) for a "whole-body cryopreservation or $80,000 (60,000) for neuro cryopreservation".

It is vital the procedure begins within the first minute or two after the heart stops beating.

Alcor says: "Longer delays place a greater burden on future technology to reverse injury and restore the brain to a healthy state, and make it more uncertain that the correct original state can be determined.

"Except for embryos, no human has ever been revived from temperatures far below freezing."

See more here:
Brit pensioner plans to freeze his own corpse in hopes of being revived centuries later - Daily Star

Global Russia Cryonics Technology Market 2020: Classification, Application And Specifications, Industry Overview, Analysis Of The Main Key Regions And…

This new research report compilation added as an assessment overview of the global Russia Cryonics Technology market is directed to unravel crucial details about market developments, encompassing various factors such as market trends, lingering barrier implications as well as dominant drivers that effectively carve a favorable growth route for global Russia Cryonics Technology market progression and growth. The report specifically underpins superlative reader comprehension about multiple market developments by gauging into regional growth spots.

Access the PDF sample of the Russia Cryonics Technology Market report @ https://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/2441773?utm_source=Atish

Key Players Mentioned in the Report:

Alcor Life Extension FoundationBiocisionCellulisCesca TherapeuticsCryologicsCryonics Asia Ltd.Cryonics InstituteCryothermGE HealthcareHumaiKriorusOregon CryonicsOsirisPanasonic BiomedicalPraxair TechnologySigma-AldrichSouthern CryonicsThermo Fisher ScientificVWR

A keen observation and evaluation of the Russia Cryonics Technology market developments based on qualitative and quantitative research practices have been meticulously compiled to understand dynamics such as drivers, restraints, challenges and threats that closely influence holistic growth in global Russia Cryonics Technology market.

Make an enquiry of Russia Cryonics Technology Market report @ https://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/2441773?utm_source=Atish

Some of the most crucial market relevant information drawn in the report is aimed at equipping market players with a crisp overview of fast transitioning vendor landscape. The report is also designed to influence lucrative decision making amongst prominent players in terms of their investment discretion towards most appropriate investment decisions pertaining to dynamic product and pricing mix to initiate user acceptance. A close review of the sub-segmentation has also been tagged in the report, aimed at unveiling novel growth opportunities, offsetting market saturation. Minute classification of the growth hubs, encompassing details on global and local developments alike to entice critical decision making.

Types Covered in Report:

Slow FreezingVitrificationUltra-Rapid

Application Covered in Report:

Animal HusbandryFishery ScienceMedical SciencePreservation Of Microbiology CultureConserving Plant BiodiversityEnd user SegmentationLife Science And Healthcare FacilitiesResearch Laboratories

Browse the complete Russia Cryonics Technology Market report @ https://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/russia-cryonics-technology-market-report-2018?utm_source=Atish

About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients.

Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (972)-362-8199 ; +91 895 659 515

Read the rest here:
Global Russia Cryonics Technology Market 2020: Classification, Application And Specifications, Industry Overview, Analysis Of The Main Key Regions And...

Europe Cryonics Technology Market 2020 Top Trend, Size and Growth, Key Insights, Segmentation, Key Regions And Future Forecast Till 2022 – The Daily…

This new research report compilation added as an assessment overview of the global Europe Cryonics Technology market is directed to unravel crucial details about market developments, encompassing various factors such as market trends, lingering barrier implications as well as dominant drivers that effectively carve a favorable growth route for global Europe Cryonics Technology market progression and growth. The report specifically underpins superlative reader comprehension about multiple market developments by gauging into regional growth spots.

Access the PDF sample of the Europe Cryonics Technology Market report @ https://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/2441441?utm_source=Atish

Key Players Mentioned in the Report:

Alcor Life Extension FoundationBiocisionCellulisCesca TherapeuticsCryologicsCryonics Asia Ltd.Cryonics InstituteCryothermGE HealthcareHumaiKriorusOregon CryonicsOsirisPanasonic BiomedicalPraxair TechnologySigma-AldrichSouthern CryonicsThermo Fisher ScientificVWR

A keen observation and evaluation of the Europe Cryonics Technology market developments based on qualitative and quantitative research practices have been meticulously compiled to understand dynamics such as drivers, restraints, challenges and threats that closely influence holistic growth in global Europe Cryonics Technology market.

Make an enquiry of Europe Cryonics Technology Market report @ https://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/2441441?utm_source=Atish

Some of the most crucial market relevant information drawn in the report is aimed at equipping market players with a crisp overview of fast transitioning vendor landscape. The report is also designed to influence lucrative decision making amongst prominent players in terms of their investment discretion towards most appropriate investment decisions pertaining to dynamic product and pricing mix to initiate user acceptance. A close review of the sub-segmentation has also been tagged in the report, aimed at unveiling novel growth opportunities, offsetting market saturation. Minute classification of the growth hubs, encompassing details on global and local developments alike to entice critical decision making.

Types Covered in Report:

Slow FreezingVitrificationUltra-Rapid

Application Covered in Report:

Animal HusbandryFishery ScienceMedical SciencePreservation Of Microbiology CultureConserving Plant BiodiversityEnd user SegmentationLife Science And Healthcare FacilitiesResearch Laboratories

Browse the complete Europe Cryonics Technology Market report @ https://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/europe-cryonics-technology-market-report-2018?utm_source=Atish

About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients.

Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (972)-362-8199 ; +91 895 659 515

See the original post here:
Europe Cryonics Technology Market 2020 Top Trend, Size and Growth, Key Insights, Segmentation, Key Regions And Future Forecast Till 2022 - The Daily...

Cryonics Technology Market Key Trends, Drivers, Challenges and Standardization To 2020-2026 – PRnews Leader

The recent report titled Global Cryonics Technology Market Size, Status and Forecast 2020-2026 offered by Researchmoz.us, comprises of a comprehensive investigation into the geographical landscape, industry size along with the revenue estimation of the business. Additionally, the report also highlights the challenges impeding market growth and expansion strategies employed by leading companies in the Cryonics Technology market.

This is the most recent report inclusive of the COVID-19 effects on the functioning of the market. It is well known that some changes, for the worse, were administered by the pandemic on all industries. The current scenario of the business sector and pandemics impact on the past and future of the industry are covered in this report.

Grab A Free Sample Copy of the Cryonics Technology Market Report

In market segmentation by manufacturers, the report covers the following companies : Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom Biogenic Systems, Oregon Cryonics, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Osiris Cryonics, Sigma-Aldrich, Southern Cryonics and among others.

Exploring Growth Rate Over a Period:

Business owners looking to scale up their business can refer this report that contains data regarding the rise in sales within a given consumer base for the forecast period, 2020 to 2026. Product owners can use this information along with the driving factors such as demographics and revenue generated from other products discussed in the report to get a better analysis of their products and services. Besides, the research analysts have compared the market growth rate with the product sales to enable business owners to determine the success or failure of a specific product or service.

Cryonics Technology Market is segmented as below:

Analysis by Application:

Analysis by Product Type:

Global Cryonics Technology Market Report 2020 Market Size, Share, Price, Trend and Forecast is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Cryonics Technology industry.

The Report at a Glance

The Cryonics Technology market report focuses on the economic developments and consumer spending trends across different countries for the forecast period 2020 to 2026. The research further reveals which countries and regions will have a better standing in the years to come. Apart from this, the study talks about the growth rate, market share as well as the recent developments in the Cryonics Technology industry worldwide. Besides, the special mention of major market players adds importance to the overall market study.

Market segment by Region/Country including:

Do You Have Any Query Or Specific Requirement? Ask to Our Industry Expert

The research provides answers to the following key questions:

Why Choose Researchmoz?

!!! Limited Time DISCOUNT Available!!! Get Your Copy at Discounted Price

To summarize, the global Cryonics Technology market report studies the contemporary market to forecast the growth prospects, challenges, opportunities, risks, threats, and the trends observed in the market that can either propel or curtail the growth rate of the industry. The market factors impacting the global sector also include provincial trade policies, international trade disputes, entry barriers, and other regulatory restrictions.

.

Contact Us:

ResearchMozMr. Rohit Bhisey,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: [emailprotected]Follow us on LinkedIn @ http://bit.ly/2RtaFUo

Follow me on : https://marketnews-24.blogspot.com/

Read the rest here:
Cryonics Technology Market Key Trends, Drivers, Challenges and Standardization To 2020-2026 - PRnews Leader

White Whale Vinyl: Metallica Go Green With ‘Ride the Lightning’ – Revolver Magazine

Our weekly column "White Whale Vinyl" spotlights the most sought-after rare vinyl in the heavy-music universe. Shop for vinyl, including a selection of limited-editionRevolver-exclusive variants, viaour store.

In 1984, Metallica released their hotly anticipated second album, Ride the Lightning. Taking its title from Stephen King's The Stand, the record boasted certified bangers like "Fight Fire With Fire," "Creeping Death" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Those soon-to-be-classics along with cryonics nightmare "Trapped Under Ice" and the Lovecraft-inspired instrumental "The Call of Ktulu" kept the denim n' leather faithful frothing at the mouth. But the band got some grief from seasoned heshers who balked at the power ballad "Fade to Black" and radio-friendly melodies of "Escape." Of course, millions more disagreed: Ride the Lightning has since been certified six times platinum. And that's just in the U.S.

Of the roughly gazillion copies sold worldwide, a few hundred don't share the album's iconic deep blue sleeve. Sure, the electric chair and lighting are still front and center, but the sleeve itself is an alien emerald green. These rare editions were the result of a misprint by Bernett Records, the label that released Ride the Lightning in France. But there seems to be some disagreement about how many of these misprints exist: Some sources claim 400, while others say it's as many as 1,000.

The higher number seems more likely, as this green monster comes up for sale fairly often. At least 10 have sold on Discogs so far in 2020, with the most recent copy going for $179 in VG+ condition. As of this writing, there are five copies available on the site all from overseas sellers ranging in price from 100 euros (G+ condition) to 350 euros (NM condition). The original misprint was pressed on black vinyl, and there are apparently two versions of the sleeve: one with the legend "Printed in France" and one without.

Bernett also produced a cassette version of Ride the Lightning with green artwork. It seems to be even rarer than the LP it hasn't appeared for sale on Discogs in over a year. Oddly enough, Metallica's U.S. record label at the time, Elektra, sent a promo single of "Fade to Black" to radio stations in early 1985. The record was pressed on phosphorescent green vinyl.

Read this article:
White Whale Vinyl: Metallica Go Green With 'Ride the Lightning' - Revolver Magazine

Global Cryonics Technology Market share, size 2020| emerging rapidly with latest trends, growth, revenue, demand and forecast to 2026 – The Daily…

Global Cryonics Technology Market Size, Status and Forecast 2020-2026 explains the historic growth of the market and the forecasts the future. The report determines the market properties, industry layout, obstacles in the market, and industry effectiveness. The report covers various aspects of the global Cryonics Technology market along with the factors governing the same. The report gives insights of market size, trends, share, growth, development plans, investment plan, cost structure and drivers analysis. The document provides in-depth analysis for new competitors or existing competitors in the market. It focuses on recent trends and developments and the changing structure of the market.

Market Scope:

The scope of the report is limited to the application of the type, and distribution channel.This report presents the worldwide Cryonics Technology market size (value, production and consumption), splits the breakdown (data status 20152020 and forecast to 2026), by manufacturers, region, type and application. It analyzes opportunities in the overall market for stakeholders by identifying the high-growth segments. The research report is a compilation of key data with regards to the competitive landscape of this vertical and the multiple regions where the business has successfully established its position.

DOWNLOAD FREE SAMPLE REPORT: https://www.magnifierresearch.com/report-detail/29997/request-sample

NOTE: Our analysts monitoring the situation across the globe explains that the market will generate remunerative prospects for producers post COVID-19 crisis. The report aims to provide an additional illustration of the latest scenario, economic slowdown, and COVID-19 impact on the overall industry.

Below mentioned companies are analyzed upon their revenue, price margins in the market and main products they offer: Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom Biogenic Systems, Oregon Cryonics, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Osiris Cryonics, Sigma-Aldrich, Southern Cryonics,

Market segment by product type split into

along with their consumption (sales), market share and growth rate

Market segment by application, split into Animal husbandry, Fishery science, Medical science, Preservation of microbiology culture, Conserving plant biodiversity, along with their consumption (sales), market share and growth rate

Moreover, the report contains comprehensive list ofkey market playersalong with their global Cryonics Technology market overview, product protocol, key highlights, key financial issues, SWOT analysis, and business strategies. The study dedicatedly offers helpful solutions for players to increase their clients on a global scale and expand their favor significantly over the forecast period. Major activities employed by leading players such as mergers and acquisitions, collaborations along with new product launches are assessed in the report.

Here are the strengths of the geographic divisions: North America (United States, Canada, Mexico), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Rest of Europe), Central & South America (Brazil, Rest of South America), Middle East & Africa (GCC Countries, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Rest of Middle East & Africa)

ACCESS FULL REPORT: https://www.magnifierresearch.com/report/global-cryonics-technology-market-size-status-and-forecast-29997.html

Key Questions Answered In Report:

Customization of the Report:This report can be customized to meet the clients requirements. Please connect with our sales team ([emailprotected]), who will ensure that you get a report that suits your needs. You can also get in touch with our executives on +1-201-465-4211 to share your research requirements.

About Us

Magnifier Research is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry. Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Magnifier Research also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise. We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover. Magnifier Research provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.

Contact UsMark StoneHead of Business DevelopmentPhone: +1-201-465-4211Email: [emailprotected]Web: http://www.magnifierresearch.com

View Related Report: Global Medical X-ray Radiation Protection Glass Market 2020 Strategic Market Growth, Key Manufacturers and Industry Demand Analysis to 2025

Global Fluorescence Microscopy Market 2020 Industry Challenges, Top Manufacturers, Key Countries with Forecast to 2025

Read the original post:
Global Cryonics Technology Market share, size 2020| emerging rapidly with latest trends, growth, revenue, demand and forecast to 2026 - The Daily...

Is resurrection possible? Researchers catalogue ways science may achieve it – Big Think

There's no evidence that life exists after death. But there's also no proof that death is the end of subjective experience, or that it's irreversible, or that we can't achieve immortality. In fact, some researchers think immortality is not only possible, but inevitable.

Alexey Turchin, an author, life extensionist and transhumanist researcher from Moscow, believes artificial intelligence will eventually become so powerful that humans will be able to download themselves or, the quantifiable information contained in their brains onto computers and live forever. Of course, even if that's possible, it'll take a while to develop that technology, anywhere from 100 to 600 years, according to Turchin.

"The development of AI is going rather fast, but we are still far away from being able to 'download' a human into a computer," Turchin told Russia Beyond. "If we want to do it with a good probability of success, then count on [the year] 2600, to be sure."

That's out of reach for us, sure. But downloading yourself onto a computer is just one possible route to immortality. In 2018, Turchin and Maxim Chernyakov, of the Russian Transhumanist Movement, wrote a paper outlining the main ways technology might someday make resurrection and, therefore, immortality possible.

First, some terms: The paper defines life as a "continued stream of subjective experiences" and death as the permanent end of that stream. Immortality, to them, is a "life stream without end," and resurrection is the "continuation of that same stream of experiences after an arbitrarily long gap."

Another key clarification is the identity problem: How would you know that a downloaded copy of yourself really was going to be you? Couldn't it just be a convincing yet incomplete and fundamentally distinct representation of your brain?

If you believe that your copy is not you, that implies you believe that there's something more to your identity than the (currently) quantifiable information contained within your brain and body, according to the researchers. In other words, "informational identity" is not enough for "real" identity.

In this scenario, there must exist what the researchers call a "non-informational identity carrier" (NIIC). This could be something like what religions call a "soul." It could be "qualia," which are the unmeasurable "subjective experiences which could be unique to every person." Or maybe it doesn't exist at all.

Either way, resurrection should be possible.

"If no 'soul' exist, resurrection is possible via information preservation; if soul exist, resurrection is possible via returning of the "soul" into the new body. But some forms of NIIC are also very fragile and mortal, like continuity," the researchers noted.

"The problem of the nature of human identity could be solved by future superintelligent AI, but for now it cannot be definitively solved. This means that we should try to preserve as much identity as possible and not refuse any approaches to life extension and resurrection even if they contradict our intuitions about identity, as our notions of identity could change later."

Turchin and Chernyakov outline seven broad categories of potential resurrection methods, ranked from the most plausible to the most speculative.

The first category includes methods practiced while the person is alive, like cryonics, plastination and preserving brain tissue through processes like chemical fixation. After all, there have been "suggestions that the claustrum, hypothalamus, or even a single neuron is the neural correlate of consciousness," so it may be possible to preserve just that part of a person, and later implant it into another organism, the researchers noted.

Other methods get far stranger. For example, one (very speculative) method might include superintelligent AI that uses a Dyson sphere to harness the power of the sun to "power enormous calculation engines" that would "reconstruct" people who collected a sufficient amount of data on their identities.

Turchin

"The main idea of a resurrection-simulation is that if one takes the DNA of a past person and subjects it to the same developmental condition, as well as correcting the development based on some known outcomes, it is possible to create a model of a past person which is very close to the original," the researchers wrote.

"DNA samples of most people who lived in past 1 to 2 centuries could be extracted via global archeology. After the moment of death, the simulated person is moved into some form of the afterlife, perhaps similar to his religious expectations, where he meets his relatives."

Delving further into sci-fi territory, another resurrection method would use time-travel technology.

"If there will at some point be technology that allows travel to the past, then our future descendants will be able to directly save people dying in the past by collecting their brains at the moment of death and replacing them with replicas," the paper states.

How?

"A nanorobot could be sent several billion years before now, where it could secretly replicate and sow nanotech within all living being without affecting the course of history. At the moment of death, such nanorobots could be activated to collect data about the brain and preserve it somewhere until its future resurrection; thus, there would be no need for forward time travel."

Pixabay

The paper goes on to outline some more resurrection methods, including ones that involve parallel worlds, aliens and clones, along with a good, old-fashioned possibility: god exists and one day he resurrects us.

In short, it's all extremely speculative.

But the aim of the paper was simply to catalogue the potential ways humans might be able to cheat death. For Turchin, that's not some far-off project: In addition to studying global risks and transhumanism, the Russian researcher heads the Immortality Roadmap, which, similar to the 2018 paper, outlines various ways in which we might someday achieve immortality.

Although it may take centuries before humans come close to "digital immortality," Turchin believes that life-extension technology could allow some people to survive long enough to see it happen.

Want a shot at being among them? Beyond the obvious, like staying healthy, the Immortality Roadmap suggests you start collecting extensive data on yourself: diaries, video recordings, DNA information, EEGs, complex creative objects all of which could someday be used to digitally "reconstruct" your identity.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

Here is the original post:
Is resurrection possible? Researchers catalogue ways science may achieve it - Big Think

How Is Cryonics Performed? – How Cryonics Works …

If you decide to have yourself placed in cryonic suspension, what happens to you? Well, first, you have to join a cryonics facility and pay an annual membership fee (in the area of $400 a year). Then, when your heart stops beating and you are pronounced "legally dead," an emergency response team from the facility springs into action. The team stabilizes your body, supplying your brain with enough oxygen and blood to preserve minimal function until you can be transported to the suspension facility. Your body is packed in ice and injected with heparin (an anticoagulant) to prevent your blood from clotting during the trip. A medical team awaits the arrival of your body at the cryonics facility.

Once you are transported to the cryonics facility, the actual "freezing" begins. Cryonics facilities can't simply put their patients into a vat of liquid nitrogen, because the water inside their cells would freeze. When water freezes, it expands -- this would cause the cells to simply shatter. The cryonics team must first remove the water from your cells and replace it with a glycerol-based chemical mixture called a cryoprotectant -- a sort of human antifreeze. The goal is to protect the organs and tissues from forming ice crystals at extremely low temperatures. This process, called vitrification (deep cooling without freezing), puts the cells into a state of suspended animation.

Advertisement

Once the water in your body is replaced with the cryoprotectant, your body is cooled on a bed of dry ice until it reaches -130 C (-202 F), completing the vitrification process. The next step is to insert your body into an individual container that is then placed into a large metal tank filled with liquid nitrogen at a temperature of around -196 degrees Celsius (-320 degrees Fahrenheit). Your body is stored head down, so if there were ever a leak in the tank, your brain would stay immersed in the freezing liquid.

Cryonics isn't cheap -- it can cost up to $150,000 to have your whole body preserved. But for the more frugal futurists, a mere $50,000 will preserve your brain for perpetuity -- an option known as neurosuspension. Hopefully for those who have been preserved this way, technology will come up with a way to clone or regenerate the rest of the body.

If you opt for cryonic suspension, expect to have some company. Several bodies and/or heads are often stored together in the same liquid-nitrogen-filled tank.

See the original post here:
How Is Cryonics Performed? - How Cryonics Works ...

Netflix’s Hope Frozen: A Quest To Live Twice Review: A Hope To Be Resurrected | TechQuila – TechQuila

- Advertisement -

Hope Frozen: A Quest To Live Twice premiered on 15th September 2020. Directed by Pailin Wedel, the documentary takes us closer to the Naovaratpong family whose daughter is the youngest cryogenically frozen person, after her sudden demise due to brain cancer.

Hope Frozen: A Quest To Live Twice revolves around the lives of the Naovaratpong family who decided to cryogenically freeze their daughter Einz (meaning love) who, at the age of 2 years, unexpectedly fell into a coma due to a fatal form of brain cancer that has 0% survival rate. After multiple surgeries and procedures, Einz lost her battle. But before her demise, the family contacteda company in Arizona called Alticor, who agreed to cryogenically preserve her remains for the future.

Cryogenically freezing refers to a procedure where an individuals corpse or severed head is preserved at a low temperature (196 C or 320.8 F) with the speculative hope that resurrection may be possible in the future with technological advancements and treatment availability. The Naovaratpong family took this decision in order to preserve their daughter today but to revive her someday in the future in a better world where there is a cure for her fatal cancer.

- Advertisement -

The family faced a lot of backlash from the media as everyone believed that the family stopped the childs soul from reincarnating or trapped the soulless body of their child, and questioned their decision both in the name of science and religion.

The documentary in itself carries a lot of questions related to science, ethics, and religious philosophy. While I felt the plight of the parents and, to an extent, understood what they did and why they did so, on the other hand, their decision stopped them from moving ahead. A piece of them, which is physically dead, still remained in the hope of revival someday. The presence of undying hope and optimism is great but too much of anything can be painful.

While reading more about the whole scenario, I found out that Einzs body wasnt preserved, but rather, what remained of her cancer-affected brain. While Einz and brother Matrix shared a heartwarming bond, after her demise, he decided to progressively look forward with hope and inquisitiveness, and contribute towards science. While his decision is very strong and heartwarming, I felt there was a constant, unconscious pressure on him to do something for his sister, something thatll take years of work with little to no success rate.

- Advertisement -

Matrix visits the chamber where his sister is kept and places a card on it that read You are your own unique story. The sentiment is both strong and odd and speaks volumes.

STREAM IT! Hope Frozen: A Quest To Live Twice is a story of hope, optimism, love, science, parenthood, and grief. The documentary isnt exactly loaded with facts and figures but takes you closer to a family who are widely misunderstood and criticized. Definitely, a worthy watch!

- Advertisement -

The cultural code followed in the documentary takes us closer to the family and does not fancy the mise-en-scene. The simple making and close-knit storyline makes this documentary both heartwarming and heart wrenching. The narrative elements and balance allow it to interact with the viewers, giving them an insight into the reality and the world cryonics!

Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice is now streaming on Netflix.

Read our other reviewshere.

- Advertisement -

See original here:
Netflix's Hope Frozen: A Quest To Live Twice Review: A Hope To Be Resurrected | TechQuila - TechQuila

‘Hope Frozen’: The cryonics industry offers strength to grieving families but does the technology actually wor – MEAWW

When it comes to scientific advancements, there is no question that the past 100 years have been characterized by a number of innovations that have propelled us much farther into the future many of them in the medical field. One of those techniques that are considered groundbreaking by some but with skepticism by others, seems to be more like science-fiction rather than reality. Cryonics is the process of deep-freezing the bodies of people who have just died, in the hope that scientific advances may allow them to be revived in the future this has been regarded with skepticism within the mainstream scientific community but for others, it presents hope.

In 2015, Matheryn Naovaratpong became the youngest person to be cryogenically frozen at just two years old. Matheryn aka Einz was the second child of Sahatorn and Nareerat Naovaratpong, whose first child, Matrix, had wanted a younger sibling. The baby brought joy to the family when she was born. However, she developed a rare form of brain cancer just after her second birthday -- a form of cancer for which the survival rate was minimal if not zero. Sahatorn made the decision to cryogenically freeze his child, in the hopes that she could be revived in the future when there would be a cure for her cancer.

The Naovaratpong family's quest to give their child a chance to live and the aftermath of that decision is the subject of Netflix's latest documentary, 'Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice'. Sahatorn passes on his dreams of reviving Einz to his son, Matrix, who himself holds up that dream with fervor. Matrix goes to visit an American scientist in the latter half of the documentary to learn how close they are to reviving those who have been cryogenically frozen. What he learns there is heartbreaking.

The scientist who worked on successfully freezing and reviving a rabbit tells him that current techniques mostly will not ensure that revival will be a successful process. The scientist stresses that the cell structure needs to be intact to ensure that the person being revived remains the same. However, with current techniques, he believes there will only be a 0.1% chance of success.

How exactly does cryonics work? Once the patient is declared clinically dead, cryonic technicians drain their blood and replace it with a solution designed to preserve organs, then follow it up with a cryoprotectant solution that freezes cells without causing the crystal formation that would damage them when returned to normal temperature. Bodies are then placed in tanks of liquid nitrogen for long-term storage -- the nitrogen must be regularly topped up.

The scientific community, however, is much more skeptical about the process, as we have seen in the documentary. What makes a person who they are, are their thoughts, memories, and their knowledge and the cryonics process could destroy the structure of the brain by dehydrating it. The method to recreate synaptic connections or the nervous system's workings in a virtual scenario is still an impossible task. A 2015 article from MIT Technology Review states that such a technology does not exist, even in principle, and says the cryonics industry is offering "an abjectly false hope that is beyond the promise of technology."

'Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice' is now streaming on Netflix.

View post:
'Hope Frozen': The cryonics industry offers strength to grieving families but does the technology actually wor - MEAWW

These are the best films and TV shows to watch on Netflix in September – Peterborough Telegraph

There is a wide range of new titles set for release this month. (Shutterstock)

If the unseasonable weather kept you inside more than you anticipated in August, causing you to binge watch the entirety of Netflixs collection, theres no need to fear.

Throughout the month of September the streaming service is releasing a whole new batch of films and series to keep you fully entertained as the summer creeps to a close.

Here are the top titles set for release this month.

The Duchess

UK Netflix release date: Friday 11 September

Stand up comedian and occasional 8 out of 10 Cats panelist Katherine Ryan has an exciting new sitcom set for release this month. The Duchess follows Ryan, who plays an exaggerated version of herself as a flawed but loving single mum. Katherine decides to have a second child, but there is one issue: shes not in a relationship. The series follows her as she tries to find a way to make this dream a reality from considering sperm donors to asking her ex.

The Devil All the Time

UK Netflix release date: Wednesday 16 September

The Devil All the Time is an American psychological thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock. It follows Arvin Russell (played by Tom Holland) as he tries to protect his loved ones in a town filled with sinister characters such as a suspicious preacher played by Robert Pattinson, an ominous couple played by Jason Clarke and Riley Keough and a corrupt sheriff played by Sebastian Stan. Also starring Bill Skarsgrd - known for his role as Pennywise in Stephen Kings IT - and Mia Wasikowski (Jane Eyre).

Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice (2020)

UK Netflix release date: Wednesday 15 September

This emotional documentary follows a Thai Buddhist family as they make the unconventional choice to have their terminally ill two-year-old daughter cryogenically frozen in the hope that she will be resurrected and restored back to health in the future. The documentary provides rare insight into not only grief, but the largely undocumented, new scientific fringe innovation of Cryonics, a subject that has been criticised by the wider scientific community.

Bookmarks

UK Netflix release date: Tuesday 1 September

This new Netflix kids show tells childrens stories with an angle on race, features several big names such as Lupita Nyong'o (Us), Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), and Tiffany Haddish (The Lego Movie 2). Bookmarks tells stories specifically from black points of view, covering themes of identity, respect, justice and action.

Im Thinking of Ending Things

UK Netflix release date: Friday 4 September

Charlie Kaufmans new psychological horror film, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Iain Reid, is quite an unnerving watch. The story captures the doubts and anxieties of a nervous woman meeting her boyfriends rather strange parents for the first time. Starring Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons and David Thewlis.

Enola Holmes

UK Netflix release date: Wednesday 23 September

Written by Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials) and directed by Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag), Enola Holmes puts a feministic spin on the classic Sherlock Holmes story, by focusing on the tales of Sherlock and Mycrofts lesser-known sister Enola, played by Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things). The film follows the lively Enola and friends as she tries to find her newly missing mother (Helena Bonham Carter). Starring Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin play Sherlock and Mycroft.

Zodiac

UK Netflix release date: Tuesday 1 September

This crime thriller from director David Fincher is based on a true story and has a star studded line up, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. Zodiac follows a crime reporter, a political cartoonist, and a couple of cops as they work to investigate San Francisco's infamous Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer operating in the late 60s and early 70s, who is thought to have killed over 20 people and who remains unknown.

The full list of releases coming to Netflix in September:

A Beautiful Mind (2001)BookmarksBorgen, seasons 1-3Demolition Man (1993)Indecent Proposal (1993)The Sum of All Fears (2002)Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)Zodiac (2007)

Chefs Table: BBQ, season 1

Afonso Padilha: ClasslessCall the Midwife, season 8Young Wallander

AwayIm Thinking of Ending Things

Get Organised With the Home EditLa Linea: Shadow of NarcoThe Social DilemmaSo Much Love to Give

The DuchessFamily Business, season 2

Hope Frozen: a Quest to Live TwiceMichael McIntyre: ShowmanMisfits, seasons 1-5

Challenger: The Final FlightCriminal, season 2The Devil All the Time

GIMS: On the RecordThe Last WordThe School Nurse Files

Jurassic World: Camp CretaceousRatchedWhipped

The School Nurse FilesSneakerheads

American Murder: The Family Next Door

Originally posted here:
These are the best films and TV shows to watch on Netflix in September - Peterborough Telegraph

Archives