The Advances in Human Cryopreservation conference held this past May in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, was an eye opener in that Saul Kent and others detailed what still has to be accomplished to make human cryopreservation a reality.

Saul announced that the LIFE EXTENSION FOUNDATION (LEF) has made a 5.6 million dollar commitment to fund the first phase of a project to perfect human vitrification.

LEF is buying a 20,000 square foot building, not far from the existing facility, to house the new research.. They also announced they’ll be hiring about six new people including two surgeons. The fact that this is the first phase makes one realize the tremendous amount of effort that still has to be made to reach the goal of perfected suspended animation.. This should come as no surprise as CI President Ben Best has said so many times.

When I was at the 21^st Century Medicine facility a few years ago, helping with the transfer of ACS patients to CI’s Michigan facility, someone told me that it was naive for CI to even think that they could accomplish with one man what LEF is undertaking.

The obvious question members must be asking is, is CI’s ultimate research goal the same as LEF’s, or are the intermediate goals different? Does CI expect to accomplish with one man, and limited financing what LEF is undertaking with a new infusion of over 5 million dollars for the first phase?

As with the Cryonics Institute’s annual meeting in September, the recent Suspended Animation (SA) conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, was a great opportunity to renew old friendships, and to make new ones.

As part of the registration process, registrants were given the option to have their name and a brief bio appear in a handout that everyone received upon check in. About 20 of the attendees (including myself) opted out of being listed in the handout. This I regret doing.

It was only after watching Ben Best talking to one particular fellow for a while, that I made the brilliant connection with a picture that appeared in the (old) Immortalist. It was Alan Mole! This was Saturday evening, and regrettably, I didn’t see Alan again. Looking over the photos I took, I apparently walked by Alan a few times after that without recognizing him.. Alan was the only CI Director there, and Jim Yount was the only representative from the American Cryonics Society. Alcor’s presence was subtle but pervasive. Most of the speakers had a past or current Alcor connection.

I met Phil Rhoades, from Australia and found him interesting to talk to. Also, Curtis Henderson, Fred Ringel, Bob Nelson, Jim Yount, Mike Quinn, David London, Mike Darwin, Austin Tupler, Dr. Gunter Boden, from Germany, as well as CI President Ben Best. Saul Kent was the MC of the Saturday program. He ran a tight ship. The conference started as scheduled, and ended on schedule. A couple of times he had to cut off a speaker because they were running over their allotted time.

Two cryonics pioneers, Bob Nelson (left) and Curtis Henderson relax after breakfast.

Will the Real Saul Kent Please Stand Up? One of the few humorous moments occurred as Saul was speaking during the segment "Funding for Revival and Wealth Preservation" The three scheduled speakers were Ben Best, Rudi Hoffman, and Michael Riskin, Riskin was unable to attend so Tanya Jones was substituted..

Saul spoke about his Reanimation Trust, and that he planned to fund it with a sizeable amount of money. He then speculated that on his reanimation, when he went to claim his money, there would be a number of others claiming to be Saul Kent. He then theorized that perhaps someone would gather them together so that they could make their case before a group of impartial judges who would then decide who was the real Saul Kent.

Sounds like a good bit for a stand up comic!

The SA staff were always courteous and helpful. The buffet at the Friday night social was sumptuous and very well attended, so much so, that, for most people it was standing room only. The Saturday night banquet was equally sumptuous. It was at the banquet that Saul announced that LEF was committing 5.6 million dollars to fund the next phase in vitrification research, as well as. buying a 20,000 sq. ft. building to house the expanded research program.

The Suspended Animation building was about 30 miles north of the Conference site, the Sheraton Hotel, by Ft Lauderdale Airport. On Sunday morning, SA had buses running every half hour, so that attendees who flew in wouldn’t have to rent a car to visit their facility.

Overall, I’d say it was a first rate operation!

Normally, Long Life is sent to our overseas members in manila envelopes, with this issue we’re sending them in USPS approved poly bags. The poly bags cost around 10% less and weigh half of what a manila envelope weighs. This is not a minor consideration. Postage charges continue to rise for those overseas shipments. This combined with using a lighter paper for the cover beginning next year should put us in a lower weight class and save over $100 per issue in postage alone..