[ExI] Cryonics is getting weird

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of Damien Broderick
> ... 
> Good point. If, say, you want your body to be cut into small 
> cubes, seasoned with herbs, and dispersed around the world, 
> because it's your whim or Gaia wants it done that way, I 
> suppose the court should support your ambitions, as long as 
> it's sanitary and you've provided sufficient funds for it...

While hiking I met two ladies who were discussing the greenest way to
dispose of their remains when the time comes.  They discussed burial, which
takes up land which would be mowed and groomed (bad) or by cremation, which
uses up a remarkable amount of fuel (bad).  I countersuggested having one's
remains frozen inside a steel container submerged in liquid nitrogen, then
the container is shaken violently until the remains are shattered into pea
sized granules, then scatter the still frozen bits into the sea, or over a
wide unimproved area by hauling a minature manure spreader with a bicycle,
whereupon the fragments will be devoured by ants upon thawing.

This is a photo of the device used to shatter a frozen corpse:

http://www.atecorp.com/Equipment/Ling/330.asp


> Which makes me wonder how this works when for decades you 
> have paid an insurance company for the specific purpose of 
> having Alcor freeze your head, then that is prevented (your 
> body is lost at sea, or your head crushed by a trip hammer, 
> or your dearly beloved relatives have your remains 
> buried)--is the company no longer obliged to pay anyone 
> anything, or does the loot go to the estate, or to Alcor's 
> coffers, or what?
> 
> Damien Broderick

Depends on how one sets up the policy.  This should be done carefully with
much forethought.  The company will look for any and every avenue to pocket
the cash, as will one's relatives perhaps.

This ant thing appeals to me for neck-down disposal.  I have a piece of
unimproved land which could be used as a green disposal area.  In this age
of decline of the aerospace industry, there are plenty of Ling shakers
available cheap.  I know how to run one, and how to maintain it.  For
Avantguardian Stuart LaForge or other business-minded types, opportunity
knocks loudly.  While freezing corpses, we could issue carbon credits for
the fuel we didn't burn in cremation, then arrange for the deceased to
donate them to earthquake victims in missionary/kidnapper-ravaged Haiti.  

In a place like the SF Bay Area, this green funeral service would sell like
pure sex.

spike