"All that we profess to do is but this, - to find out the secrets of the human frame; to know why the parts ossify and the blood stagnates, and to apply continual preventatives to the effort of time.  This is not magic; it is the art of medicine rightly understood.  In our order we hold most noble -, first, that knowledge which elevates the intellect; secondly, that which preserves the body.  But the mere art (extracted from the juices and simples) which recruits the animal vigour and arrests the progress of decay, or that more noble secret which I will only hint to thee at present, by which heat or calorific, as ye call it, being, as Heraclitus wisely taught, the primordial principle of life, can be made its perpectual renovator...." Zanoni, book IV, chapter II, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, first published in 1842. Oroboros keyring - Spooky Cute Designs The idea of being able to achieve an immortal life is probably as old as human life itself.  Folklore and myt...

On June 9th, The Daily Mail published an article by Tom Leonard with the title, "Three senior Oxford University academics will pay to be deep frozen when they die so they could one day be 'brought back to life'".  This article was also published on Iol .  Thanks go to John de Rivaz for passing on these links via the Yahoo! newsgroup for Cryonics Europe . The Daily Ma il article attracted 300+ comments, many of which were negative dismissals of the potential of cryonics.  As expected, many of these comments were based on inaccurate beliefs, such as cryo-patients being frozen in ice, or of cryonics being a money-making scam. The Cryonics Institute is a non-profit making organisation.  It's annual finances are published for all to view.  Its directors are elected by the institute's own members. Patients are subjected first to a profusion then a vitrification process, which greatly reduces tissue damage from ice crystals, before being stored in liqui...

Never underestimate a Jack Russell Terrier     It's a pity this photo didn't turn out better.  I've tried tweaking it but the image suffers from poor exposure.  I had been busy in the kitchen and decided to check up on our two Jack Russells.  They'd dragged a cushion off the couch and taken it onto the patio.  And there they were, contentedly sunbathing in comfort.  I didn't want them to stand up before I had chance to take the photo, so I quickly put the batteries back into my digi camera - it devours batteries if they're not removed - and snapped this on Auto.  Is that cute or what, hmm?   It is as well that they enjoyed the sunshine as it's poured with rain almost non-stop since.  The car park behind The Concourse was largely underwater last night as Tim and I arrived for the Riverside Writers meeting.  We discussed several versions of the proposed front cover for Seaside Stories, as this project is nearing complet...

One of our garden's visitors A friend challenged me to sum up the themes of my novels in just two or three words. After a few moments, I said that Tamsin is about making choices, Rowan is about taking responsibility, Bethany Rose is about overcoming adversity;and Fabian is about taking control. It was an interesting exercise as I'd not consciously thought about it before. Have a go yourself, either with something you've written or with a few favourites novels. If you're wondering what's happening on the writing front: (a) I've nearly finished correcting the proof copy of Bethany Rose ; (b) the Seaside Stories anthology is still receiving a few submissions; (c) I'm selecting and completing work for another short story collection; and (d) there was an article about cryonics in Marie Claire magazine's August issue which featured me and two friends. I hadn't known the relevant magazine issue had come out until Freddie told me. She and I have b...

A bird in the bush... It feels weird going for a walk with only one dog in tow.  Even Emily keeps looking behind her and waiting, as if half-expecting Ygraine to emerge from behind a clump of long grass.  Emily's missing her life-long buddy too.  And the heap of old jumpers between the wall and my computer desk feels very empty.  Ygraine always snoozed there while I worked.  I have begun compiling short stories for the forthcoming sequel to Dark Tides , which I've called Dark Waters .  However, since planning these two short story collections I have re-released the two Amazon Shorts ebooks, A Wirral Otherkin Trilogy and Quiet Lives , thinking that as they were already in publishable condition it would be silly to leave them gathering dust on a shelf.  A bird in the hand..., etc.  Compiling Dark Waters, I realised that too many of the stories which I'd earmarked for that project already feature in those....

Of interest to British cryonicists is the new Preferred Priorities for Care (PPC) document.  This piece of paperwork aims to ensure end-of-life choices are expressed clearly, so everyone involved knows what is wanted and how to achieve this.  To quote the NHS website, "The explicit recording of individual wishes can form the basis of care planning in multi-disciplinary teams and other services, therefore reducing unplanned admissions and avoiding inappropriate and/or unwanted interventions. "  For the cryonicist, this is useful development for the obvious reason that unless everyone knows about your intentions to not have an autopsy and to be cryo-preserved in tact, and it's in writing and witnessed, then that old phrase about mice, men and plans being put asunder comes into play.  Having this in a legal Will is good, but Wills tend to be read after the event, whereas this document should be in the patient's Care Plan and medical records. Download a P...

Alan Billis, a sixty-one year old taxi driver with terminal lung cancer, volunteered to be mummified after the manner of Ancient Egyptians.  The taxi driver from Torquay allegedly said his only regret would be that at he wouldn't be around to see the programme, although he hoped it would give his grandchildren an insight into his personality. I wonder if Mr Billis gave cryonics any consideration?  If cryonics works, then he could tell his grandchildren (if they also opted for cryonics) all about himself for himself - and that's assuming cryonics isn't a working reality before Billis's grandchildren require cryo-preservation to make that leap into the future.  A cryo-sceptic would say that's a lot of "ifs", and that is a fair point.  However, looked at with a rational mind which makes the most sense - a slim chance of a possibly-eternal life, or no chance at all? Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret will be screened on Channel 4 on ...

Aleksander Iljaszewicz shared an interesting article with me today, in which the author pondered on how our idea of working for a living may change in the future.  Douglas Rushkoff wrote:- "The question we have to begin to ask ourselves is not how do we employ all the people who are rendered obsolete by technology, but how can we organize a society around something other than employment? Might the spirit of enterprise we currently associate with "career" be shifted to something entirely more collaborative, purposeful, and even meaningful?" Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/09/07/rushkoff.jobs.obsolete/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 How many of us would turn up for work each day if we didn't get paid, hmm?  Equally, don't most working people resent those who make a career out of living off state benefits which our taxes pay for?  And yet there are those who insist that if all unemployed people found jobs then this would immediately create more unem...

Can you spot my DNA archive amongst these photos?  (Though I do have more than one archive, stored in various places.) See the gallery: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14509425 The photographer's website:  http://www.murrayballard.com/   

Have a play with this Death Clock.  No, not the cartoon death metal band; this gadget is supposed to be able to calculate the date of your death.  I got July 8th, 2054 - but this date doesn't take into consideration my cryo-preservation contract, or my other (shall we say philosophical?) pursuits. 

I watched the recent TV documentary - on iPlayer as I have no desire to own a TV - which featured the popular Fantasy author Terry Pratchet at Dignitas Clinic. He spoke to two people before they chose to take their own lives at the clinic, and he watched as one of them did so. We, the viewers, watched too. Inevitably the programme has caused a storm of protest. People argue about the sanctity of life being violated, and are concerned about the dismissal of various religious ideas, the ethics of money earned through aiding suicide, the potential exploitation or ‘removal’ of vulnerable people, and the possible grim ramifications of state-sanctioned suicide. These are valid points which need serious consideration. Who has the right to define any standard on what is a good and worthwhile life for anyone other than themselves? My definition will differ from yours, and yours will differ from the next person’s, and so on and so on, endlessly. Pratchet’s documentary emphasised that...

"Attending SA's 2100 conference will give you the opportunity to meet and get to know the revolutionaries who are making it possible for you to have an unprecedented chance at a radically extended healthy lifespan in a future of unlimited potential...  It will reveal the scientific foundations of cryonics, the latest advances in cryopreservation research, and the scientific basis for thinking that revival from cryopreservation is a realistic possibility."  - extract from SA's conference brochure. The conference will take place between the 20th and 22nd of May, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Resort at Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA.  Speakers will include Steven B Harris (MD), Saul Kent, Max More (PhD), Stephen Valentine, Brian Wowk (PhD), Greg Fahy (PhD), and Ralph Merkle (PhD). The conference will be broadcast online, and will also be available on DVD from SA. Further information:  http://www.suspendedinc.com/

1) What if it doesn’t work? If re-animation following cryonic suspension fails, then I’ll be dead and therefore oblivious to the inevitable process of decomposition - just as is any other corpse. 2) What if your body is re-animated but meanwhile you’ve reincarnated into another body? I always was good at multi-tasking. Seriously, why assume that Mind (or Higher Consciousness if you prefer that term) is restricted to one location? Or that Mind cannot flit instantly from one location to another - time and space being relative to Mind. Observe your own behaviour for proof of how little time you spend being truly conscious of your own body and your immediate surroundings. Most people run on auto-pilot most of the time. Maybe one body could run on auto-pilot while the Mind was in the other body doing something more interesting. Besides, I don't have a fixed belief in reincarnation.  It's an interesting possibility and an engaging philosophy, but there is no evidence to pro...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1165377/Please-freeze-How-scores-middle-class-British-couples-hoping-buy-immortality-just-10-week.html This link will whisk you away to The Daily Mail newspaper, where you may read an article about cryonics which includes an interview with me. Life insurance for cryonics costs around £10 per month, and not per week as the intro blurb suggests. I've never described myself as a Science-Fiction writer, even though I've written a few short Sci-Fi stories. There're more incorrect details in there, too, but nothing important.

It’s a gorgeous spring day here. I’ve got the French doors open, and Emily has dragged her blanket onto the patio step to stretch out on it while she’s sunbathing. The forsythia is a blaze of yellow, and cherry blossom is drifting like snowflakes on the warm breeze. Daffodils and crocus are in bloom everywhere, and there’s a pair of blackbirds rummaging for nesting material underneath the shrubby St John’s wort. Yesterday I was in Liverpool as Kevin Holt , a photographer from The Daily Mail , had arranged to visit Richard’s studio so he could take a few shots of us both which will be used in the forthcoming article about cryonics. These will be used as part of an article about cryonics which will published in that newspaper, probably next week sometime. Afterwards I had a meander round the city centre, and bought a new pair of trousers--plain black, but the material is lovely and soft.