# How many (dead) people are in cryogenic tanks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2013, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143 "2013-08-02T10:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/1 "2013-08-02T10:05:13Z")
Any number? What’s the cost to maintain all of them? Have any storage process been abandoned due to mishap or expense and the person(s) interred permanently? I remember Elizabeth Taylor wanting to be kept in a cryo tank. What happened to that? ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/2 "2013-08-02T10:40:32Z")
AFAIK, only Alcor currently does cryosuspension. [From wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation): > [@](#): > > As of March 31, 2013, Alcor had 985 members, and 117 [patients](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patients) in [cryopreservation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryopreservation), many as [neuropatients](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuropreservation) (77 of Alcor patients were neuropatients or brain preservation patients as of March 2013).[[3]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation#cite_note-statistics-3)[[4]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation#cite_note-4)[[5]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation#cite_note-quigley143-5) Alcor also cryopreserves the pets of members. As of November 15, 2007, there were 33 pets in suspension.[[6]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation#cite_note-6)[[7]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation#cite_note-7) edit: BTW “neuro” means only the head is preserved - ala Futurama. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/3 "2013-08-02T11:52:28Z")
I don’t know the answer to your question, but if you’re interested in the subject “this American life” did a very interesting podcast about some early experiments in freezing dead people. Well worth a listen. > **[Mistakes Were Made - This American Life](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/354/mistakes-were-made)** > > Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/4 "2013-08-02T11:54:20Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I don’t know the answer to your question, but if you’re interested in the subject “this American life” did a very interesting podcast about some early experiments in freezing dead people. Well worth a listen. > > [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/354/mistakes-were-made](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/354/mistakes-were-made) I came in here to post about this. That program really stuck with me (and kind of creeped me out.) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/5 "2013-08-02T14:08:02Z")
The late Ted Williams (his head) is now in cold storage. Question: if we could download the contents of the human brain, keeping the corpse around would be pretty redundant-any progress on this fron? ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/6 "2013-08-02T15:07:04Z")
All of them I hope. I’d hate to think that anyone was alive in one. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/7 "2013-08-02T15:22:31Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > The late Ted Williams (his head) is now in cold storage. Question: if we could download the contents of the human brain, keeping the corpse around would be pretty redundant-any progress on this fron? You’re being a little trite when you use the term “download” so casually. This isn’t a “transfer a MAC floppy disk to a PC hard drive” type of problem. I haven’t heard anything remotely definitive regarding how information (I don’t say data, because that would also be too trite) is stored in the human brain. So no, I don’t expect progress to be rapid. The cryogenics people will (more or less) openly concede that they really don’t know what direction the reviving of a dead corpse will entail, they just hope the cryopreservation is adequate. I don’t know what’s the plan with the heads, it would be practically impossible identify each spinal cord neuron for brain transfer or head transplant. So more muscle control is possible. If reviving becomes possible for a head, I suspect it wouldn’t be pleasant at all. If we oxygenate blood or a blood substitute and pump it to the major arteries of the head, and the eyes and face muscles still work, and the brain revives – there’s still no way to modulate the air to speak … or scream. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/8 "2013-08-02T15:45:26Z")
I’m curious to know how this works out financially. I once read a “tell all” type book which painted Alcor as a kinda shady outfit. If Alcor ever went broke, the results would be ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/9 "2013-08-02T15:47:54Z")
Corpsicles. It’s all a fantasy, an expensive, wasteful fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/10 "2013-08-02T15:56:51Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > I haven’t heard anything remotely definitive regarding how information (I don’t say data, because that would also be too trite) is stored in the human brain. There is a very good estimate for the total amount of data of all sorts stored in a human head here (pdf) [https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/558/380](https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/558/380) turns out it is 2.6x10[sup]42[/sup] bits; a vast quantity which would take millions of years to read/transfer to another substrate. So if you want an upload of the human mind you’ll have to cut some corners. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/11 "2013-08-02T18:40:14Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > There is a very good estimate for the total amount of data of all sorts stored in a human head here (pdf) > [https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/558/380](https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/558/380) > > turns out it is 2.6x10[sup]42[/sup] bits; a vast quantity which would take millions of years to read/transfer to another substrate. So if you want an upload of the human mind you’ll have to cut some corners. Well… if it only took 70 years to get all that information into the brain the first time, there are clearly ways of doing it more quickly. Of course, even if you had some pseudo-magical solution for reading all that data, working from a frozen head wouldn’t be ideal. I’d wait until we can duplicate a living brain before I’ll consider freezing mine. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/12 "2013-08-02T19:36:57Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I’m curious to know how this works out financially. I once read a “tell all” type book which painted Alcor as a kinda shady outfit. If Alcor ever went broke, the results would be ugly. You pay annual dues which are pretty expensive. Aside from that you have to have your method of preservation financed in advance. Most people use a life insurance policy payable to Alcor but you can make other arrangements. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/13 "2013-08-02T19:41:26Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Corpsicles. It’s all a fantasy, an expensive, wasteful fantasy. So are headstones, memorials, and burial plots. People want that fantasy in times of loss. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/14 "2013-08-02T19:54:10Z")
There was some hope for cryonic suspension as long as there was serious research being done into tissue vitrification. The problem with it that currently you can’t avoid the formation of ice crystals which shred cells from the inside out. Vitrification would have prevented that and offered some chance for being able to thaw someone out w/o having them turned into mush. Now however, I think the research is mainly into regrowing replacement organs from induced pluripotent stem cells so there is no need to freeze (vitrify) donated organs to create vast organ banks. Autologously harvested stem cells also eliminate the possibility of rejection. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/15 "2013-08-02T21:12:15Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > The late Ted Williams (his head) is now in cold storage. Question: if we could download the contents of the human brain, keeping the corpse around would be pretty redundant-any progress on this fron? I did a IMHO thread like this–essentially would you download your mind (with several backups) and become a computer if it meant you could live for a ridiculously long period of time, upgrade yourself as technology advances,…etc. Someone brought up the very astute, and essentially threadkilling point: “You” would cease to exist. Instead, there would be a machine that truly believed it was you. Kind of a philosophical mind blower, really, and one that makes the concept of teleportation of humans a lot more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/16 "2013-08-02T21:50:33Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Corpsicles. It’s all a fantasy, an expensive, wasteful fantasy. Unless and until it works, and then it will have been science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/17 "2013-08-02T22:18:44Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I did a IMHO thread like this–essentially would you download your mind (with several backups) and become a computer if it meant you could live for a ridiculously long period of time, upgrade yourself as technology advances,…etc. > > Someone brought up the very astute, and essentially threadkilling point: “You” would cease to exist. Instead, there would be a machine that truly believed it was you. Kind of a philosophical mind blower, really, and one that makes the concept of teleportation of humans a lot more difficult. What about just fabricating memories of visiting the Eifel tower and uploading them so you wouldn’t have to pay for airfare to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/18 "2013-08-02T22:43:45Z")
I’m pretty sure I suspect that’s happening to me every day. Impossible memories from out of nowhere that don’t fit what I think my timeline has been, other things I should remember–gone until I’m reminded I should remember something and then, nope, nothing but cobwebs in that particular braincupboard. Pretty sure I’m an old Apple experiment running on a burnt out Commodore64 in some old nerd’s mom’s basement… ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/19 "2013-08-02T23:08:43Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > …Of course, even if you had some pseudo-magical solution for reading all that data, working from a frozen head wouldn’t be ideal. I’d wait until we can duplicate a living brain before I’ll consider freezing mine. It’s not like you’d still be alive when they froze it. Cryonics may be a longshot in the extreme and/or a scam, but it still gives you better odds than letting your brain rot underground or setting it on fire. > [@Knorf](#): > > Corpsicles. It’s all a fantasy, an expensive, wasteful fantasy. One could say the same thing about religion. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143/20 "2013-08-02T23:25:51Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Someone brought up the very astute, and essentially threadkilling point: “You” would cease to exist. Instead, there would be a machine that truly believed it was you. Kind of a philosophical mind blower, really, and one that makes the concept of teleportation of humans a lot more difficult. A rather common argument, but plenty of people think it would still be you. An exact copy of you is a better candidate at being you than the person who was you two weeks ago, for instance. If you don’t have an issue with idea that you today and you yesterday are the same person, then, logically, you shouldn’t have a problem with you and the individual you’re a perfect copy of being the same person too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dead-people-are-in-cryogenic-tanks/665143.md?page=2)