The Cold, Hard Facts of Cryonics

217-218). In 1931, the concept received even greater contemplation after the publication of "The Jameson Satellite" by Neil Ronald Jones, in a popular science fiction magazine. In this story, the dead hero's body was preserved in the extremely cold temperature of space, until it was revived 40 million years later (Jones, 1931, p. 3). It was not until 1962, however, that cryonics became the subject of actual science, when Robert Ettinger, a professor of physics and mathematics, wrote "The Prospect of Immortality." Though Ettinger's book was the first to make a scientific case for cryonics, it was not until three years later that the term itself ( 'cryonics') was first used by a student at the Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY) named Karl Werner (Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 1993, p. 6). Since then, numerous people have been cryonically preserved. In 1967, James Bedford was the first to undergo the procedure (Iserson, 1994, p. 289). His body is located at Alcor, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where 106 other "cryonauts," including Ted Williams, are being preserved (Johnson, 2009, p. 187). .
             The process of cryonically preserving a person's body begins even before death. The prospective cryonaut notifies a cryonics organization, such as the Alcor Life Extension Foundation or the Cryonics Institute, of their intent to be preserved. After arrangements are made for payment (currently $200,000 – often paid from life insurance), a "remote standby team" and transportation are prepared. The standby team is comprised of certified technicians, who implement the first phase of preservation, as soon as death is declared. This includes providing mechanical cardiopulmonary circulation, while the body is quickly cooled. It also includes the injection of medications, such as an anticoagulant, to assist in preservation. The procedure is done in a specially-equipped ambulance that simultaneously transports the patient to a cryonics storage location, such as Alcor.