Preface: A bit of a biology class, written in collaboration with Gemini. 

Marvin Minsky died on January 24, 2016, at the age of 88. His death was caused by a cerebral hemorrhage (a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain). He passed away at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Minsky was a long-time, outspoken advocate for cryonics—the process of freezing a body in the hope that future technology can revive it. If you are like me, this is likely the first time you are hearing this. It sounds like science fiction, but this was a very real project he worked on. In 2026, cryonics has moved from the realm of "eccentric sci-fi" into a high-stakes debate at the intersection of medical ethics and billionaire ego. Modern cryonics doesn't actually "freeze" you in the traditional sense. Freezing creates ice crystals that act like tiny knives, shredding cell membranes. Instead, the patient's blood is replaced with a cryoprotectant (essentially medical-grade antifreeze). This allows the body to be cooled to -196°C (the temperature of liquid nitrogen) without forming ice. The tissue turns into a "glass-like" state. In September 2025, researchers at Texas A&M made a massive leap by developing a vitrification solution that prevents cracking in large organs—a major hurdle that had plagued the field for decades. This has made the idea of "organ banking" a near-term medical reality. 

The biggest misconception is that cryonics "freezes" people. If you freeze a human like a steak, ice crystals act like tiny knives, shredding cell membranes. Modern cryonics uses vitrification. Instead of ice forming, the body’s water is replaced with Cryoprotectant Agents (CPAs)—essentially medical-grade antifreeze. When cooled to about -124°C, the liquid doesn't crystallize; it becomes extremely viscous and then turns into a solid, amorphous "glass." The goal is not to just preserve the body, but to preserve the connectome (the map of neural connections in your brain). If the structure is intact, the "data" of you is theoretically still there. The process goes like this: once the heart stops, the brain begins to starve of oxygen (ischemia). There needs to be an  immediate application of ice and a "thumper" (mechanical CPR), to slow metabolic decay and maintain blood flow to the brain. Next, we replace blood with a temporary preservative solution on-site, to prevent clotting and prepare the vascular system for CPAs. After this step is completed, the body is then transferred to a facility, where water is used to allow for vitrification. The final step is to keep the body immersed in liquid nitrogen at -196°C, which stops its biological time. The body, or I guess the patient, can stay in this state for centuries. Companies like Tomorrow Bio and Alcor are focusing heavily on "Field Cryoprotection," aiming to start the vitrification process in a mobile ambulance immediately after legal death, rather than waiting to transport the patient to a central facility.

The temperature of -196°C is not an arbitrary number chosen by scientists because it "sounds cold." It is the boiling point of liquid nitrogen at standard atmospheric pressure. In the world of cryonics and cryobiology, this temperature represents the "Goldilocks Zone" for stopping biological time. Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air we breathe. When cooled to -196°C (77 Kelvin or -320°F), it turns into a clear, colorless liquid. Because it boils at this temperature, a tank of liquid nitrogen will stay at exactly -196°C as long as there is liquid left. It doesn't require electricity or a thermostat to maintain—it just requires a vacuum-insulated container (a giant thermos called a Dewar). If the power goes out, the "patients" stay frozen. You only need to top off the liquid every few weeks. The real magic happens a bit warmer than -196°C, at the Glass Transition Temperature (usually around -124°C). As mentioned before, we don't want ice. We want the body to become "glassy." Once the temperature drops below -124°C, the molecules in the body move so slowly that all chemical reactions stop. At -196°C, you are well below that transition point. Theoretically, a biological sample (or a human) could stay at this temperature for thousands of years without aging, decaying, or changing at a molecular level. The only "aging" that occurs is from background radiation from space. 

You might wonder: if cold is good, isn't Absolute Zero (-273.15 C) better? Actually, no. Going colder than -196°C introduces a massive engineering problem: fracturing. As materials get colder, they contract. Between -124°C and -196°C, the "glassy" tissues are under immense structural stress. If you went all the way to Absolute Zero, the thermal stress would likely shatter the brain or body into tiny fragments, making future repair impossible. -196°C is seen as the "stable floor"—cold enough to stop time, but "warm" enough to avoid total structural disintegration. At -196°C, you are essentially "leaping" over the present. If you were preserved today and "woken up" in 200 years, your biological age would not have changed by a single second. To your cells, the two centuries would feel like a blink. 

Developing cryonics technology is no longer just the work of a few nonprofits; it has evolved into a global ecosystem that includes specialized storage facilities, high-tech medical startups, and industrial giants. There are few organizations that focus on long-term storage and the actual practice of cryopreservation. First up is Alcor Life Extension Foundation (USA), the most famous, based in Arizona. They are currently leading the way in "Field Washout" tech—portable systems that allow them to begin the preservation process immediately at the patient's bedside. There is also Tomorrow Bio (Europe), the "new guard" based in Berlin. They have modernized the industry with a tech-startup approach, offering high-speed emergency response teams (SST) across Europe and transparent R&D roadmaps for 2026 that focus on Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) modifiers to prevent brain shrinkage during cooling. Last but not least, Cryonics Institute (USA), based in Michigan, is known for being the more affordable, "utilitarian" option. In early 2026, they introduced Field Cryoprotection (FCP) as an upgrade, allowing members to be vitrified locally rather than waiting for transport to the main facility. Other than the major players, there are a few startups working on solving the reversibility problem. Founded by longevity scientist Laura Deming, Until Labs(formerly Cradle) recently raised over $100 million. Their immediate goal isn't just whole-body cryonics, but reversible organ preservation. If they can freeze and thaw a kidney for transplant, they prove the core science of cryonics works. The Southern Hemisphere's first facility, Southern Cryonics (Australia), located in Holbrook, is currently scaling up their operations after preserving their first patients in 2025 and are positioning themselves as a hub for Asian and Australian members. Lastly, just like AI needs chips, you can't have cryonics without the hardware. Several massive corporations provide the "picks and shovels" for the industry. Chart Industries & Cryofab, manufacture the massive Dewars (storage tanks) and vacuum-insulated piping required to keep patients at -196°C for decades. Linde & Air Liquide, which are global gas giants that supply the endless stream of liquid nitrogen needed for "top-offs."

Many research groups around the world are actively working on this. 21st Century Medicine, a research lab that has achieved "near-perfect" synaptic preservation in animal brains. Their work on Aldehyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation (ASC) is considered the gold standard for preserving the brain's physical structure. The Brain Preservation Foundation (BPF), act as a "quality control" board, offering prizes to researchers who can prove they’ve preserved a brain’s connectome well enough to meet specific scientific benchmarks. In 2026, the trend is "Vertical Integration." Instead of just waiting for you to die and then showing up, companies like Tomorrow Bio and Alcor are building their own ambulances, designing their own cryoprotectants, and using AI-driven CT scanning to verify exactly how well your brain was preserved before you go into the tank. More on this in the next post. ☀️

🧬 Cryonics & Bio-Engineering: Key Terminology

• Vitrification (玻璃化):

  • The process of turning a liquid into a glass-like solid without any ice crystals. This is the "Holy Grail" of cryonics because it prevents ice from shredding cell membranes.

• Cryoprotectant Agents / CPAs (冷冻保护剂):

  • Medical-grade "antifreeze." These chemicals replace the water in your cells so that your body turns into "glass" instead of "ice" when cooled.

• The Connectome (连接组):

  • The total "wiring diagram" of your brain. Cryonicists believe that if the structure of your neurons and synapses is kept intact, your memories and personality (the "data" of you) are preserved.

• Dewar (杜瓦瓶):

  • A high-tech, vacuum-insulated container (like a giant, industrial Thermos). It keeps patients at −196°C using liquid nitrogen without needing any electricity.

• Ischemia (缺血):

  • The period after the heart stops when the brain is starved of oxygen. Minimizing "Ischemic time" is critical to prevent the biological "data" in the brain from decaying.

• Field Cryoprotection / FCP (现场冷冻保护):

  • Starting the preservation process on-site (in a home or hospital) using a specialized ambulance. This avoids the damage caused by waiting to transport a patient to a central facility.

• Glass Transition Temperature (玻璃化转变温度):

  • The point (roughly −124°C) where molecules move so slowly that all chemical reactions stop. Below this temperature, biological time effectively stands still.

• The "Stable Floor" (稳定底限):

  • The temperature of −196°C (liquid nitrogen’s boiling point). It is cold enough to stop time but "warm" enough to prevent the body from shattering like it would at Absolute Zero.

• Fracturing (开裂):

  • A major engineering hurdle where "glassy" tissues crack due to extreme thermal stress. New 2025 research is focused on preventing this in large organs.

• Vertical Integration (垂直整合):

  • A business trend where cryonics companies (like Tomorrow Bio) build their own ambulances, design their own chemicals, and use AI to verify preservation quality in-house.

References & Recommended Reading

Scientific Foundations & Bio-Ethics

• Minsky, M. (1986). The Society of Mind. Simon & Schuster. (For understanding Minsky’s view of the brain as a machine that can be mapped).

• Fahy, G. M., et al. (2009). "Physical and biological aspects of renal vitrification." Organogenesis. (The foundational study on the use of CPAs for organ preservation).

• Best, B. P. (2008). "Scientific justification of cryonics practice." Rejuvenation Research. (A peer-reviewed overview of why vitrification is biologically plausible).

• Texas A&M University Research Report (Sept 2025). "Advances in Large-Scale Vitrification and Thermal Stress Mitigation."

Cryonics Industry & Field Reports

• Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Case Report: Patient A-1644 (Marvin Minsky). alcor.org/library

• Tomorrow Bio. 2026 R&D Roadmap: Blood-Brain Barrier Penetration and Field SST. tomorrow.bio

• Until Labs (Formerly Cradle). "Whitepaper: Reversible Organ Preservation and the $100M Scale-up." (Jan 2026).

Technical Manuals

• Chart Industries. Technical Specifications for Vacuum Insulated Bulk Dewars and Liquid Nitrogen Storage.

• Cryobiology Journal. (Special Edition 2025). "Vitrification vs. Crystallization: The Role of Medical-Grade Antifreeze in Whole-Body Preservation."