# Would You Like To Hibernate? (For Real: New Study Shows We Can) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497 "2005-04-21T22:59:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/1 "2005-04-21T22:59:22Z")
From this article today: [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7588904/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7588904/) I wonder what it would be like to wake up and realize 6 months or a year or longer had passed. Also, would this mean you don’t “age” during that time - if your body is not growing cells, this would mean you aren’t technically getting older, right? The concept actually sounds very good - I mean, assuming you had a serious illness, they could put you into hibernation until they could figure what to do. Would you be willing to make like a bear and hibernate? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/2 "2005-04-21T23:28:22Z")
Yeah, especially if, like a bear, you woke up 6 months later having lost all your fat. 😃 This is one of the fantasies of SF, enabling people to travel to distant worlds, as in Alien and many others. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/3 "2005-04-21T23:44:17Z")
I am obviously making the assumption in this post that my body slowed by “hibernation” would slow my aging, say 1 year of hibernation = 2 months or so of aging … I have absolutely no basis for that whatsoever. But if it worked that way, depending on my personal situation, in abstract I’d like to do it at the end of my life … say 84 and s-l-o-w it all down to down to make it to 100. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/4 "2005-04-22T04:29:51Z")
The phrase “spending a year dead for tax reasons” comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/5 "2005-04-22T04:49:51Z")
I would find it nice to sleep through “non-ski season”, but the weeds would take over my joint. Of course, once I “dispose” of the wife, all things will be considered…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/6 "2005-04-22T06:31:27Z")
_Finally_, a solution to prison and mental hospital overcrowding. (You thought “warehousing” was bad _now_? 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/7 "2005-04-22T08:25:08Z")
I’d _love_ to. Where can I sign up? I don’t even care if I grow older during my hibernating. Just imagine 6 months of peace and quiet. Wooooo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/8 "2005-04-22T11:10:50Z")
Sleep for six months? Sounds comfy. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/9 "2005-04-23T20:53:19Z")
Sure if, as MLS said, we woke up with less fat. It would be a great! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/10 "2005-04-23T21:05:29Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > The phrase “spending a year dead for tax reasons” comes to mind. I was going to say that! My dad used to ‘hibernate’ to save money. Basically, he wouldn’t spend any money unnecessarily. It would be nice if I could hibernate through the winter to save the cost of propane heating. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/11 "2005-04-23T22:22:38Z")
I can see it now: “In tonights news, authorities discovered a local area family was found sound asleep for 3 months, and their personal possessions missing.” Lets not allow this get into the wrong hands, ok? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Marsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Marsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marsie)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/12 "2005-04-23T23:36:36Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Yeah, especially if, like a bear, you woke up 6 months later having lost all your fat. 😃 > > This is one of the fantasies of SF, enabling people to travel to distant worlds, as in Alien and many others. I think that they used to put people in “suspended animation” for months at a time to make them lose weight. One of my college professors said something about the singer Caruso doing this. Has anyone else heard this? ---
**Author:** ![Typically\_Sunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Typically\_Sunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typically_Sunday)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/13 "2005-04-24T03:54:30Z")
Hells yeah, I’d like to hibernate! I don’t care if I’d age or wouldn’t lose weight, I’d do it in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/14 "2005-04-24T04:09:48Z")
Well if a bear loses all that weight then it’s still metabolizing, right? I always wondered how their kidneys stayed functional. I’m totally lost. Wake me up when dumb people run the earth. Time to wake up you say? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/15 "2005-04-24T06:18:43Z")
When I wake up will my MA thesis magically have been completed for me? No? Hmmm. Well, it might be worth it anyway, just to have any excuse. Besides, sleeping is nice. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/16 "2005-04-24T08:12:32Z")
Hydrogenate me with sulfides and put me on the back burner, baby! Bring me back for twenty minutes on January 23, 2160. Bicenntennial Man! ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/17 "2005-04-25T02:50:03Z")
> [@Marsie](#): > > I think that they used to put people in “suspended animation” for months at a time to make them lose weight. One of my college professors said something about the singer Caruso doing this. Has anyone else heard this? This was in _Valley of the Dolls_ – they called it the Sleep Cure, I think, and it was used (in the book, I don’t know about real life) both for dieting and for drug rehab. Just for a week, not for a month, and it was sodium pentathol or something, not suspended animation. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/18 "2005-04-25T03:02:32Z")
Boss: “Where the hell have you been!” employee: “Sorry I’m late boss. I overslept.” Boss: “BY SIX MONTHS!!” :mad: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@The\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hook)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-hibernate-for-real-new-study-shows-we-can/300497/19 "2005-04-25T03:12:50Z")
Yes, but if in a spacecraft, someone should be guarding the onboard computer at _all times._