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Alberto Salazar, a trainer of highly successful athletes, has been experimenting with new forms of physical therapy to give his clients an extra edge. One of his techniques is called the cryosauna:
The cryosauna is the latest tool, even though Salazar admits, he is still testing to understand its most effective uses. “That’s how all advances are made in science and life,” he said. “It’s by experimentation.”
The knowledge will be gained through trial and error on his elite athletes, though all agree the machine is harmless and potentially a breakthrough. Theoretically, it makes sense: a container of liquid nitrogen turns to gas and is pumped into the cylinder where the athlete stands, plunging the temperature below negative 200 degrees Fahrenheit for a short burst of time. The body believes that it is dying and rushes blood to protect its vital organs. Two minutes later, when the athlete emerges from the container, the concentrated and enriched blood rushes back through the body, providing an instant cleanse and relief.
Rupp, who has trained with Salazar since high school, views the experience practically. “An ice bath you can sit in for 20 minutes,” he said. “This thing you go in for two minutes.”
Link via Marginal Revolution | Image from Lexx by Salter Street Films
I can’t believe we almost missed this: on January 12, 1967, University of California psychology professor James Bedford became the first man to be cryogenically frozen:
As the first man to be preserved, the bill was paid by the Life Extension Society. He also earned the awesome title of “cryonaut,” the term given to cryogenically preserved individuals. (Source: The Retro Blog)
Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a company that will freeze your body for a fee, has a fascinating account of the freezing of Dr. James Bedford:
The Cryonics Society of California "suspension team" was woefully unprepared. From testimony taken from Nelson and Robert Prehoda it appears that your "perfusion," so glowingly detailed to the news media, consisted of multiple injections with either pure DMSO or a DMSO-containing solution of a composition which was unknown to Nelson. (Prehoda recalls that pure DMSO from Matheson Scientific was employed). Attempts were made to introduce the cryoprotectant into your carotid arteries bilaterally and to circulate it by performing manual chest compressions coupled with bag-valve respirator ventilations. According to Nelson, within approximately two hours of your deanimation you were transferred to a foam-insulated box, still wrapped in the bed sheet on which you deanimated (with some crushed water ice still on you) and covered over with one-inch-thick slabs of dry ice.
