Cryonic/Cryogenic: Get it Straight
I don’t understand how it happens, but I can’t stand when an incorrect term becomes so widespread it becomes “correct”. Sometimes this stems from simple confusion with a more familiar word (antidote/anecdote being one that particularly drives me nuts), but most of the time it seems these mixups persist out of plain ignorance (the continued use of the term Brontosaurus, for example, over a hundred years after it was discovered that genus didn’t really exist).
What really pisses me off though, is when I discover I’m a victim of this bullshit. I don’t know how many cryobiologists I’ve embarrassed myself in front of, but it must be in the hundreds. I believed rich people and their toy poodles were cryogenically frozen, when I learned today that they are in fact cryonically frozen. Let’s clear this up real quick so I can save you the humiliation of being laughed out of a cocktail party with your cryobiologist friends. I only wish somebody had done this for me.
Cryogenics refers to the creation of extremely low temperatures and their effects on substances and elements, yadda yadda.
Cryopreservation refers to the preservation of living cells and tissues in extremely low temperatures, and is used all the time to store semen, blood, eggs, etc. Try it yourself!
Cryonics refers to the cryopreservation of humans and animals.
Examples:
Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen after his death and remains in this state underneath the Magic Kingdom. Incorrect term usage + false information.
Walt Disney was cryonically frozen after his death, revived shortly afterwards and runs a shadow government from a sophisticated command center underneath the Magic Kingdom. Correct term usage + fact.
Now go attend that cocktail party with confidence.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Jesus christ man, you need a girlfriend.
September 29th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Hahaha, I hate you.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Shawn said it all. I peed in my pants when I read his comment. Shawn, wherever you are, I hope you and Mallory are happy and I hope you guys come visit Casper soon.
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:00 am
Nice to see we’re on the same wave leangth, all though I must be getting my inspiration from the future, I made that doc about three years ago.