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American Morning
Death of Ted Williams Puts Subject of Freezing People in Headlines
Aired July 19, 2002 - 08:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The death of baseball legend Ted Williams has put the subject of freezing people in the headlines.
In "The Moost of It" this morning, Jeanne Moos meets a photographer who has been taking a cold, hard look at putting people on ice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Instead of a tomb, imagine hanging upside down in a tank, a tank that keeps you at 320 degrees below zero, and you're not alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There can be four patients in each one of these?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody in here right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, four whole body patients here, four here.
MOOS: Lately cryonics facilities like Alcor have been in the news, and on our comedy shows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: These men are looking forward to a day at beach with, a, a picnic lunch, b, ice cold beverages, c, Ted Williams.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: British photographer Jason Oddy wasn't trying capitalize on the Ted Williams story.
JASON ODDY, PHOTOGRAPHER: I didn't even know who he was.
MOOS: When he traveled to two cryonics facilities this past March to take photos.
ODDY: This is directly underneath the operating tables. MOOS: Where they drain bodily fluids and replace them with a chemical solution to lessen cell damage from freezing. Oddy describes his visits to the cryonics facilities as...
ODDY: Quite a chilling experience.
MOOS: But not as chilling as the folks in the tanks, often called...
ODDY: "cryonauts."
MOOS (no camera): Like astronauts?
ODDY: Like astronauts, exactly.
MOOS (voice-over): Traveling to the future, maybe. Believers don't talk about death.
(on camera): De-animation is what they call it.
(voice-over): In hope of reanimation in the next 50 to 200 years. The Cryonics Institute outside Detroit hangs portraits of its frozen patients.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like Billie Jean King.
MOOS (on camera): It does, doesn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to have her genes.
MOOS (voice-over): Instead of birth and death dates, this portrait at Alcor lists first life cycle dates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sublition (ph) of that being that there will be a second life cycle.
MOOS: The exhibit at the Fredericka Taylor (ph) Gallery is called "dying is not good for you," a remark made by one of the cryonics technicians.
In movies like "Austin Powers," cryonics is far more futuristic...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reanimation complete.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: ... than here at the real thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call our big foot tanks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This, I think, has some cats and dogs in it.
MOOS (on camera): You're kidding. (voice-over): It's estimated 75 percent of those frozen are men.
(on camera): Why would you think more men?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bigger ego.
MOOS (voice-Over): the tanks at the cryonics institute hold anywhere from two to 14 people. What? No singles?
(on camera): Who wants to be in there with 10 people.
(voice-over): At the gallery, a canister designed to store just heads caused jaws to drop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For just one head?
MOOS (on camera): One head.
(voice-over): From stem cell research comes the notion...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be able to grow a new body out of your neck. They're optimists.
MOOS: At Alcor, you can have your head frozen for $50,000, versus $120,000 for a full body freeze. Ready to stick your neck out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could dig it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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