Cryogenics....Fact or Fiction

On Friday we talked briefly about cryogenic preservation.  Cryogenics was is the news this past year as a  14 year old girl with cancer in the United Kingdom wanted her body to be frozen rather than buried.  

“I don’t want to be buried underground. I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they might find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish.”

Here are two articles about the case if you want to know more:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/18/health/uk-teenager-cryonics-body-preservation/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/18/teenage-girls-wish-for-preservation-after-death-agreed-to-by-court

So I decided to do some research.

Interested?   In Michigan there is Cryonics Institute...

http://www.cryonics.org/

In Scotsdale, Arizona there is Alcor....

http://www.alcor.org/


What do you think?  This week rather than asking you to read an article.  I am going to let you do the research.  You will still write a scholarly paragraph, but you get to do the research.  Pick a few questions and answer them, pose your own questions, state your opinion, and be sure to comment on someone else's post.

What is cryogenic preservation?
Is cryogenic preservation done on living organisms?
Is revival even possible?
Can a preserved brain be put into another person's body?
Has any mammal been successfully cryopreserved and revived?
How much does it cost?
What is the neuro option?
Do you think it will be possible to cure every disease, reverse aging and fix the damage from freezing?
Can the brain stop working without losing function?
How soon after the heart stops must the person be frozen?

Change the World

Happy Earth Day.  I truly believe that we all can change the world.  I know that I am the ultimate optimist, but I have faith in mankind.  April 22, 1970 was the very first Earth Day.  Clearly, things have changed a ton since 1970.

I love this picture.  Can you imagine if our entire class brought brooms to downtown Crystal Lake and started sweeping?  It would be amazing.

Did you see the Google Doodle this morning?

http://time.com/4751376/google-doodle-earth-day-tips-climate-change/

Did you go to the March for Science in Chicago?

https://sciencemarchchicago.org/

How did you "Take a Stand for Science" today?


The very first Earth Day was focused on educating the public about the environment.  What is the history of Earth Day?  What does it mean to you?  What impact has Earth Day had on our society and our world?  What impact has Earth Day had on you?  In a scholarly paragraph, I would like you to write about Earth Day.  You don't necessarily have to answer my questions.  As long as you have a well-crafted paragraph about Earth Day, I am going to be flexible.  This can be a paragraph about your opinions, a paragraph about the history of Earth Day, a paragraph about your experience at the March for Science (extra credit if you go to the March and show me pictures....totally awesome) or a paragraph about what the government is doing to promote Earth Day issues.

http://www.baltimoremagazine.com/2015/4/22/the-first-earth-day-a-brief-history

http://www.livescience.com/50556-earth-day-facts-history.html

http://www.earthday.org/

Then  you can go and see "Born in China."  It was fantastic.

Are you number 8?

According to two different lists, the octopus is the seventh most intelligent animals on Earth.  They can solve puzzles, use tools, and communicate?  What number are you?  Are you as intelligent as an octopus?

Not only do octopus have amazing gripping power, several hearts, blue blood, and detachable arms, but they are also a lot like Houdini.

Just this week an article was published about this species being able to recode their DNA.  Do you remember when we learned about protein synthesis in the second unit this semester?  (DNA to mRNA to tRNA to amino acids)  Octopus can actually change their RNA.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/science/octopus-squid-intelligence-rna-editing.html

This week we are going to write about the octopus which is way cooler than you could have ever imagined.  Watch the videos and read the article.  In a scholarly paragraph, please respond to the videos and article.  What did you learn?  What did you like?  Do you think you are as intelligent as an octopus?  Can you think of an example of why changing the RNA would be beneficial to the octopus?  Why would changing RNA cause the octopus to have slower evolution?  What other animals show superior intelligence?  Also you need to comment on at least one of your peers.