In Cryo

Recently I read Lois McMaster Bujold’s new Miles Vorkosigan novel: Cryoburn. Devoted Bujold fans will be over the moon to have new book in this series, but other readers will get a lot out of it as well. Cryoburn presents a planet where the corporations have taken over the process of cryostasis as a business, encouraging everyone to use their facilities. Underneath the main cities there are miles of tunnels full of cryopods. These are so huge that when Miles gets lost in them, there is a real possibility he will be lost forever, but then he’s Miles Vorkosigan, so he doesn’t. When a cryostasis chemical fails and many people in the pods die, the companies plot to move off planet and save their money.............



What’s unusual in this novel is that instead of using cryosleep to take people to distant stars, companies use it to help people circumvent actual death. Even Miles thinks old people should use it instead of dying. But, his mother asks, what would they wake up to?



So where did the idea of cryosleep come from and how did the words associated with it develop?





Derivations





The word ‘cryonics’ was made up in the 1960’s by Karl Werner Aspenstrom, a Swedish poet and essayist. In 1967 the Cryonics Society of California began freezing people who had just died. (And a lot thawed out in 1981 during a power failure, leaving the company to be sued.)



The prefix cryo comes from the Greek word ‘Kryos’, meaning frost. Cryogenesis comes from blending cryo with the word ‘genesis’ which is of Greek origin meaning development. So the first meaning of anything to do with cryo is to be put on ice, or frozen. All the additions to the concept of replacing blood with a special fluid and using a special container, came later.



‘Cryo’ has become a popular prefix. Here’s a short list of words from the Encyclopaedia Britannica:

Cryobanking

Cryoflora

Cryoglobulinemia

Cryoglobulins

Cryolite

Cryolophosaurus

Cryomedicine

Cryophilic

Cryoprecipitate

Cryoprotective

Cryopump

Cryosphere

Cryostat

Cryosurgery

Cryovegetation



None of these words has anything to do with cryonics, but they all have something to do with low temperatures. And yes, it is a dinosaur!



Prior to the use of the prefix ‘cryo’ writers used the term ‘Suspended Animation.’ SA can mean freezing, but it also involves hypnotic trances and gas induced sleep. SA often involves Earth being visited by creatures or people from the past, and spins off into Mummy genres so it is used in nearly the opposite way to ‘cryo’.



For the purpose of this blog I will leave out accidental freezing, in glaciers or the Arctic, as stories about these freezings have different purposes, even though some social problems they discuss overlap.



1940’s and 1950’s





This time period only includes Suspended Animation, which is seen in novels:



Far Centaurus by A.E. Van Vogt in 1944 had sleepers in cryo beaten to their planet by ships with FTL.

The Insurgents by Vercors in 1957.

The Door into Summer by Heinlein in 1957.



1960’s



In this decade cryonics was described in novels, not in films. It was used for different purposes in different books:



Dumarest series by E.C. Tubb, saw two forms of space travel, one using drugs and using cryo.

The Age of the Pussyfoot by Frederik Pohl in 1969. Cryo suspension for travel into deep space.

Why Call Them Back from Heaven? By Clifford Simak in 1967. Asked whether people could be tried for letting people die, not freezing them.

Zapiski iz budushchego by Nikolai Amosov, 1969. Translated into English in 1970 as Notes from the Future.











1970’s





This is the first decade in which cryogenesis appears in film, but it was rudimentary with only words for containers being used, and no systematic language use evolving.



Cryogenic Capsule Blake’s 7: Time Squad Unit providing extremely cold temperatures, used to suspend the aging process of people for long term travel at sub-light speed.



Cryogenic suspension Blake’s 7 Headhunter A booth to maintain life at its lowest viable point.



Cryogenic Freezer Compartment Dark Star Unit in which the fatally injured Commander Powell was kept so that he could be consulted in emergencies.



Cryotube Battlestar Galactica: Lost Planet of the Gods Medical support chambers, kept pilots alive until Dr. Salik found a cure for their infection.





Novels in this time period included:





Absolute Zero by Ernest Tidyman poses an industrialist building up a cryonics industry, but sends up the idea.

Looking Backward, from the Year 2000 by Mack Reynolds, 1973 used freezing for space travel.

Ozymandias by Terry Carr, 1972 had people escape a war by using cryo.

The Defenceless Dead by Larry Niven showed that the dead could be exploited as a resource.

The Dream Millennium by James White, 1974 examined psychological results of long term freezing.



1980’s





Cryogenic Laboratory Timelapse Location where Hardy was reanimated twelve years after his murder.

Suspended Animation Red Dwarf: Confidence and Paranoia Said to be the state someone held in stasis stayed in.



1990’s





This is the decade when cryo gets going as a concept, with lots of new words appearing to deal with the state of being in cryo, the containers again, and some equipment.



Cryoco Terminator 2 Brand of liquid nitrogen tanker driven by the T1000.



Cryocon Demolition Man Convicts placed in cryogenic suspension, to be revived if their skills are useful to society. Run by Cocteau Industries.



Cryogenic Freezer B5 The Long Dark Container creating a state of hibernation for humans. Mariah Cirrus was revived after one hundred years in one of these



Cryogenic Hibernation SG Out Of Mind Being in a state of cryogenic suspension. SG1 was placed into this state and then revived by Hathor, who created the illusion that they were in an SGC in the year 2077.



Cryogenic Lockers B5 The Illusion of Truth Cryogenic suspension chambers used to freeze a person on Babylon 5 until they could be transferred to Earth for treatment.



Cryogenic Pods 1. Lexx: Wake the Dead Units in which five teenagers stayed for three hundred years after they failed to set up the right code for a wake up call.

2. . SQDSV When We Dead Awaken Containers held in a secure location, one holding Alison Brody who needed a cure for the virus General Brody gave her.

3. . SG1 Into the Fire Device into which Raully placed O’Neill to kill the symbiote in him. [< resembled scene with Han Solo in Return of the Jedi]



Cryogenic Units B5 The Illusion of Truth Suspension chambers used on Babylon5.



Cryo Reversal Stargate: Out Of Mind Process of being brought out of cryogenic hibernation.



Cryostasis 1. Demolition Man To be suspended animation in sub zero conditions. Used as a punishment.

2. Lexx State of suspension in which the dead Kai was held until he was next needed.

3. Lost in Space State of suspended animation required for a long space trip, involving freezing in individual tubes.



Cryosuit Lost in Space Thick leather suits worn by crew when in suspended animation.



Cryotransport Mercy Point Mobile bed allowing a patient to remain in cryostasis.



Cryotube 1. System Shock 2 Medical pod in which G65434-2 woke on the Von Braun with amnesia.

2. Lexx Clear container in which Kai was placed in stasis until he was next needed.







2000’s



Once again, there have been a lot of words coined to deal with new concepts in this field. Notice that cryogenesis is shortened to cryo most of the time.



Cryobank James Cameron’s Avatar Storage facility for cryovaults in the habitation section of a space ship travelling to Pandora. Resembled drawers in a cupboard.



Cryocorps Cryoburn Businesses selling cryogenic services to the population of Kibou-daini, including WhiteChry and NewEgypt. Badly affected when a lot of customers died due to a failure of cryo fluid. Planned to set up new companies on Komarr and flee.



Cryo Device A Past is Prolix Chamber in which Trance was placed when her temperature was out of control due to the approach of her sun. Launched into space and drenched with plasma to save her.



Cryogenic Casket Torchwood: Sleeper Container in which Beth was placed to keep her from activating into an alien agent. Failed as she emitted a false image.



Cryogenic Pods Farscape: Season of Death Containers holding creatures ready for harvest when the Diagnosan needed body parts. Supposedly at the point of death, not all were. Jool was held in one of these.



Cryo Neck Cooler Andromeda: When Goes Around----- Object around Harper’s neck, initially cooling him but imminently causing problems.



Cryopods Farscape: Die Me Dichotomy Stasis chambers, used by Grunchlk to store people in order to harvest their body parts for paying customers.



Cryosleep James Cameron’s Avatar State of suspended animation in which soldiers and others sent to Pandora were kept for the trip in cryovaults.



Cryosync The Incredible Hulk 2008 Cryogenic freezing chamber in which the super soldier serum was kept.



Cryostasis Farscape :Thank God It’s Friday, Again State Rygel was kept in until Aeryn worked out what was wrong and how to cure it. Kept him at 105 degrees below Galerian frost point.



Cryovault James Cameron’s Avatar Container in which people were kept in cryosleep for the trip to Pandora. Laid flat in a cryobank, had hardly any headroom for the sleeper.



That Darned Container



The container a human is placed in to be frozen has had a lot of names:



Cryovault, cryosync, cryopods, cryogenic pod, cryogenic casket, cryo device, cryotube, cryogenic locker, cryogenic unit, cryogenic tube, cryogenic capsule, cryogenic freezer or freezer compartment.



Hmmm – no consensus yet.





Stasis





Cryostasis is a word used in Demolition Man/Lexx /Farscapeand Lost in Space. It’s use is valid in that it means to be frozen for huge amounts of time, remaining stable and not decaying. But it’s meaning is likely to be mixed up with the concept of ‘Stasis’ which relates to Quantum Physics. Theoretically a living being could be placed outside the space time continuum and then be returned hundreds or thousands of years later, feeling as if they had been gone a second or two.



This is of course, what happened to Lister in Red Dwarf.



Stasis Chamber 1.Red Dwarf The End Container in which normal space/time can be ‘switched off’ leaving the occupant outside our reality.

2. Deep Space 9 Vortex Container used to keep Croden’s daughter Yareth safe.

3. Doctor Who: 42 Medical containment cylinder the Doctor wanted Korwin kept in, placed in it himself when infected. This didn’t seem to operate like a normal stasis chamber.

4. Stargate Atlantis: The Kindred Ancient device in which Carson’s clone was placed until the drug needed to keep him alive could be synthesised.

5. Stargate Atlantis : The Last Man Ancient device in which Sheppard had to remain for hundreds of years until the solar activity was sufficient to send him back to his own time.



Stasis Generator Slider’s :The Unstuck Man Machine creating a field to hold Geiger who had become unstuck between dimensions.



Stasis Gun Farscape : A Bug’s Life Weapon placing victims in suspended animation rather than killing them.



Stasis Leak Red Dwarf: Stasis Leak A leak from the stasis chamber, floor 16, froze time in a particular place, creating a doorway through time which Lister, Rimmer and the Cat used to travel back in time. People could come back from the past unless they belonged in the future.



Stasis Lock Transformers 1984 Automatic shutdown of systems in a Transformer to prevent the loss of spark when severely damaged.



Stasis Pod 1. Transformers 1984 Container which held protoform until given a solid form. Able to scan life forms and use them as a template for the form of the Transformer.

2. The Next Generation: The Neutral Zone Containers holding the frozen bodies of dead humans, kept in orbit around Earth until the container drifted far into space.

3. Enterprise: Precious Cargo Type of biopod for transporting people over long distance.

4.Stargate Atlantis: Whispers Containers in an abandoned lab, left by Michael with creatures he made from the DNA of several animals. They could not be controlled so they were left there.

5. Earth Final Conflict: Trapped by Time Containers housing three astronauts from Apollo 20 who returned before they left. X Trammel.

6. The Wizard of Mars Aka jazzy columns. X Column

7. Doctor Who: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood Suspended animation chambers used by the Silurians to survive what they thought was an Apocalypse. View of multiple chambers in Roman Army camp pattern resembled Star Wars 2.





Once again, the word ‘stasis’ is used in the 1960’s in the Wizard of Mars and in the 1980’s in Transformers. But its widespread use is in the 1990’s and 2000’s. There is a similar confusion of its meaning, with some uses being what is really cryogenesis.

There are stasis pods and chambers, so there is more agreement on the naming of the devices used here than there is for cryogenesis.