[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
a third as much here as I did at my last job selling real estate. I work here
because I want to help assure my own journey into the future, and my family s,
too.
Well, that s somewhat reassuring. And you refer to your organization as the
Phoenix? Ben added.
Of Phoenix, Ari-zona. Was your location an accident, or intentional?
Perez laughed. We chose Phoenix because it s one of the least likely places
in the United States to have an earthquake, or any other natural disaster for
that matter. Purely a coinci-dence, but an interesting one, don t you think?
Very.
Of course, once we decided to locate here, it seemed so perfect
to refer to ourselves as the
Phoenix.
A fitting name, Ben allowed, picturing the great bird rising from the ashes.
I tend to think of us as a lifeboat to the future, Perez replied, a metaphor
Ben appreciated more than the man could have realized. But whatever image
works best for you. If you d like to learn more, I ll be happy to send you our
infor-mation package.
A leaky lifeboat to the future may be lunacy, Ben decided, but feeding his
body to the fauna was even crazier. He gave Perez his address.
January 1, 1983
Alone on New Year s Day, Ben finally found time to catch up on his paperwork,
but first he dialed
Gary s number. He now spoke with his son about once a week. Gary s work had
become a focus in
Ben s life; attending exhibitions and reading catalogs to learn as much as
possible about his son s art.
They couldn t be said to be at ease with each other, but now their contact
often seemed to lack the anticipation of pain and discomfort. It was a start.
Ben recalled their conversation of four days ago when Gary had actually
sounded pleased to hear from him. Maybe so, Ben now thought, but they
were still strangers, weren t they? Or no Gary s resentment made them
Page 51
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
too intimate to be strangers, yet they certainly didn t know each other.
Perhaps they never would.
Ben knew he would continue to make the effort. Relent-lessly.
There was no answer. Damn! Gary hadn t bothered to reset his answering machine
again. He d have to try later.
Ben looked at his cluttered desktop and noticed the nine-by-twelve-inch
envelope received six weeks earlier from the Phoenix Life Extension
Foundation. Since its arrival, it had lan-guished unopened.
Wasn t procrastination such a human response to the anticipa-tion of death?
Who wanted to confront
one s own mortality? He also knew that few people spent enough time
arranging their es-tates or preparing their wills; these were not
comfortable activi-ties. He d seen it in his patients time and again. In fact
hadn t his own response to his first heart attack also been procrastination,
borne by denial? He sure as hell wouldn t make that mistake again.
He opened the package.
A few minutes became three hours as Ben pored over the his-tory of cryonics in
the United States and the philosophy of those who ran the Phoenix. Cryonics
still made him nervous, but the literature appealed to Ben s optimistic
nature and seemed not to conflict with scientific realism.
Every doctor knew that nerve cells passing messages within the brain allowed a
person to see, feel, and think; a delicate system that could not function
without constant nourishment from the bloodstream. If a heart attack or other
trauma inter-rupted the flow of these crucial nutrients, enough cells would
perish within ten minutes to render the brain nonviable. At ex-tremely low
temperatures, however, this grace period might be extended for centuries. By
some estimates, the temperature of liquid nitrogen could slow cellular erosion
to less than a tril-lionth of its decay rate at normal temperatures.
It seemed a virtual certainty that thoughts and dreams, in-deed all
neuronal activity, would cease during suspension. To Ben, that premise
alone was of considerable comfort.
At any temperature below the freezing point of water, how-ever, too many cell
membranes would be damaged by ice crys-tals. Modern technology could not hope
to reverse this damage, but someday, many scientists believed, doctors
might have the means to repair individual cells and even DNA strands.
At that point, perhaps suspended patients could be successfully re-vived and
restored to full health; even to youthful vigor.
Embryos, seeds, and simple organisms had already been frozen for years or
centuries, then brought back to life. Dogs had been cooled to about 36 degrees
Fahrenheit, maintained in a lifeless state for several hours, and revived to
apparent nor-malcy. But no mammal had ever been suspended in liquid ni-trogen
as cryonauts were, and revived years, or even minutes, later.
Damage from the freezing process itself was far too exten-sive for current [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl ocenkijessi.opx.pl
a third as much here as I did at my last job selling real estate. I work here
because I want to help assure my own journey into the future, and my family s,
too.
Well, that s somewhat reassuring. And you refer to your organization as the
Phoenix? Ben added.
Of Phoenix, Ari-zona. Was your location an accident, or intentional?
Perez laughed. We chose Phoenix because it s one of the least likely places
in the United States to have an earthquake, or any other natural disaster for
that matter. Purely a coinci-dence, but an interesting one, don t you think?
Very.
Of course, once we decided to locate here, it seemed so perfect
to refer to ourselves as the
Phoenix.
A fitting name, Ben allowed, picturing the great bird rising from the ashes.
I tend to think of us as a lifeboat to the future, Perez replied, a metaphor
Ben appreciated more than the man could have realized. But whatever image
works best for you. If you d like to learn more, I ll be happy to send you our
infor-mation package.
A leaky lifeboat to the future may be lunacy, Ben decided, but feeding his
body to the fauna was even crazier. He gave Perez his address.
January 1, 1983
Alone on New Year s Day, Ben finally found time to catch up on his paperwork,
but first he dialed
Gary s number. He now spoke with his son about once a week. Gary s work had
become a focus in
Ben s life; attending exhibitions and reading catalogs to learn as much as
possible about his son s art.
They couldn t be said to be at ease with each other, but now their contact
often seemed to lack the anticipation of pain and discomfort. It was a start.
Ben recalled their conversation of four days ago when Gary had actually
sounded pleased to hear from him. Maybe so, Ben now thought, but they
were still strangers, weren t they? Or no Gary s resentment made them
Page 51
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
too intimate to be strangers, yet they certainly didn t know each other.
Perhaps they never would.
Ben knew he would continue to make the effort. Relent-lessly.
There was no answer. Damn! Gary hadn t bothered to reset his answering machine
again. He d have to try later.
Ben looked at his cluttered desktop and noticed the nine-by-twelve-inch
envelope received six weeks earlier from the Phoenix Life Extension
Foundation. Since its arrival, it had lan-guished unopened.
Wasn t procrastination such a human response to the anticipa-tion of death?
Who wanted to confront
one s own mortality? He also knew that few people spent enough time
arranging their es-tates or preparing their wills; these were not
comfortable activi-ties. He d seen it in his patients time and again. In fact
hadn t his own response to his first heart attack also been procrastination,
borne by denial? He sure as hell wouldn t make that mistake again.
He opened the package.
A few minutes became three hours as Ben pored over the his-tory of cryonics in
the United States and the philosophy of those who ran the Phoenix. Cryonics
still made him nervous, but the literature appealed to Ben s optimistic
nature and seemed not to conflict with scientific realism.
Every doctor knew that nerve cells passing messages within the brain allowed a
person to see, feel, and think; a delicate system that could not function
without constant nourishment from the bloodstream. If a heart attack or other
trauma inter-rupted the flow of these crucial nutrients, enough cells would
perish within ten minutes to render the brain nonviable. At ex-tremely low
temperatures, however, this grace period might be extended for centuries. By
some estimates, the temperature of liquid nitrogen could slow cellular erosion
to less than a tril-lionth of its decay rate at normal temperatures.
It seemed a virtual certainty that thoughts and dreams, in-deed all
neuronal activity, would cease during suspension. To Ben, that premise
alone was of considerable comfort.
At any temperature below the freezing point of water, how-ever, too many cell
membranes would be damaged by ice crys-tals. Modern technology could not hope
to reverse this damage, but someday, many scientists believed, doctors
might have the means to repair individual cells and even DNA strands.
At that point, perhaps suspended patients could be successfully re-vived and
restored to full health; even to youthful vigor.
Embryos, seeds, and simple organisms had already been frozen for years or
centuries, then brought back to life. Dogs had been cooled to about 36 degrees
Fahrenheit, maintained in a lifeless state for several hours, and revived to
apparent nor-malcy. But no mammal had ever been suspended in liquid ni-trogen
as cryonauts were, and revived years, or even minutes, later.
Damage from the freezing process itself was far too exten-sive for current [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]