Human Hibernation on the Horizon?

Mincemeat.net writes "The BBC is reporting that scientists at University of Washington have successfully induced a state of extreme hibernation in mice. The mice suffered no ill effects. Naturally, testing in larger animals will ensue. Humans wouldn't necessarily appreciate the smell of hydrogen sulfide while being placed into suspended animation. However, the applications are numerous if the usage of similar techniques can be applied to us. Cancer treatment, delaying death from injuries, interplanetary expeditions top the lists of possibilities. While it's not a quick freeze, maybe Fry will be able to meet Bender after all."

Comments

Experience is King

[A Boy and His Blob]

a chamber filled with air laced with 80 parts per million (ppm) of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) - the malodorous gas that give rotten eggs their stink
...
its possible use in space travel

Hey NASA, I'm your man, I've been enduring riding the elevator with my gaseous coworkers for YEARS.

Re:Experience is King

[gokulpod]

No wonder your boss catches you sleeping all the time.

This is news?

[0x461FAB0BD7D2]

Hibernation has been taking place in people since geeks took to their parents' basements.

Re:This is news?

[Skrybe]

I think you've got the wrong word there, the one you're looking for is not "hibernation", it's "masturbation".

Re:This is news?

[Jeremi]

If I could masturbate as long as bears hibernate, I definitely wouldn't be in my parents' basement

Very true. Most likely you would be in the emergency room, awaiting a skin graft.

Please put me in hibernation

[Travoltus]

So I'll be alive when Duke Nukem Forever is finally released. :)

why?

[tsioc]

why? oh why did it have to be THAT molecule?

Olson Twins

[Frodo Crockett]

Wake me up when the Olson Twins are legal.

Wait, nevermind...

What I expect...

[Rie Beam]

"Finally, after being in a constant state of hibernation for the last fifty years, I am ready to greet the future!"

"Yeah...about that...we all kinda went in after you...so science and technology is about at the same point you left off."

"So I still have cancer?"

"Technically, yes. But hey, at least that asteroid never hit...right?"

Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!

[janek78]

Hey, I was frozen, I know what guy wants to hear first: the bathroom's that way.

</end of obligatory Futurama quote>

Sweet!

[Anonymous Coward]

Letter to my lawyer

Enclosed in this envelope is my account information. Please wake me up when I can afford a decent spaceship.

Thank you

PS. ZZZZZzzzzzzzz

Re:Sweet!

[Sven The Space Monke]

1. Deposit £/$20 in a bank account.
2. Ask to be woken up when the money in your account has accumulated enough interest to be higher than the cost of the hibernation and wakeup procedure.
3. Be woken up 100 years later when the bank takes possesion of your body due to 100 years of overdue service charges, overdraft interests and late-payment penalties
4. Have your organs removed so that the bank manager can have them transplanted into his own body so that he may live another 100 years

Fixed your list, no need to thank me :)

Re:I can't wait for...

[K2Extreme]

an instant coast-to-coast flight

I live in Switzerland, you insensitive clod !

Been done

[Anonymous Coward]

Really, I've done this. I hacked my deep freeze to cryogenically freeze me and let me awake in the year 2211. I set up a Unix server to run it all and made sure I had power available until then at least by having my power bill paid from an account into which I deposited $263. I figured the compounding interest over that time would more than pay for the power plus give me a nice nest egg when I awoke. Assuming they still used money in those days. I put myself to sleep on Februray 4th, 2003. Unfortunately I had forgotten to put out dog food for the time I was going to be asleep and poor old Turing (the dog) got a bit restless and he ended up pulling the power on that Unix box. Well, the freezer defrosted, the door popped open and I awoke. First thing I did was turn on the TV. MTV in fact and wow, everything was so different than before. I saw nothing I recognised. I was convinced I had awoken in my choosen time. ThenI looked at my watch and it was February 5th. 2003. Damn the fast moving and ever changing world of popular music.

Re:That's nice.

[varghan]

From what I've heard, the use of certain acetylated opium derivatives induce a state where one needs less sleep (2hrs/day).
The use has quite some side effects, one of them, in my city at least, seems to be a strong preference for car hifi equipment.

Re:Quite the interesting point

[EvilTwinSkippy]

It would sure make airliners a lot quieter.

Actually, as a parent I can think of a few times where a few hours of peace could be a really good thing. Now the question is do I administer it to me or the child...

Re:I don't understand the Fry comment?

[JohnFluxx]

Fry: "You're a robot, why do you need to drink?"
Bender: "I don't need to drink! I can quit any time I want!"

It's not as funny without the voices.. ;)

Re:Well Water

[Mr2cents]

and a leak in a H2S line will definitely ruin your day...

Not to mention your appetite..

Re:Not necessarily a good thing....

[milosoftware]

...one of the four horsemen...

They drive motorcycles nowadays, and Plague has been replaced by Pollution.

Re:Not necessarily a good thing....

[operagost]

Masterzora's world looks something like this:

MORTICIAN: Bring out your dead!
Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
CUSTOMER: Here's one -- nine pence.
DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead!
MORTICIAN: What?
CUSTOMER: Nothing -- here's your nine pence.
DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead!
MORTICIAN: Here -- he says he's not dead!
CUSTOMER: Yes, he is.
DEAD PERSON: I'm not!
MORTICIAN: He isn't.
CUSTOMER: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
DEAD PERSON: I'm getting better!
CUSTOMER: No, you're not -- you'll be stone dead in a moment.
MORTICIAN: Oh, I can't take him like that -- it's against
regulations.
DEAD PERSON: I don't want to go in the cart!
CUSTOMER: Oh, don't be such a baby.
MORTICIAN: I can't take him...
DEAD PERSON: I feel fine!
CUSTOMER: Oh, do us a favor...
MORTICIAN: I can't.
CUSTOMER: Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He
won't be long.
MORTICIAN: Naaah, I got to go on to Robinson's -- they've lost
nine today.
CUSTOMER: Well, when is your next round?
MORTICIAN: Thursday.
DEAD PERSON: I think I'll go for a walk.
CUSTOMER: You're not fooling anyone y'know. Look, isn't there
something you can do?
DEAD PERSON: I feel happy... I feel happy.
[whop]
CUSTOMER: Ah, thanks very much.
MORTICIAN: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
CUSTOMER: Right.