Human hibernation has made some strides recently. I think a year or so ago a Wired mag article said the only significant unsolved problem is shivering. They have a cocktail of drugs that makes hibernation possible apart from the fact that people shiver at low temps.

If they solve this, I will gladly prefer to be shipped as cargo on a sail boat or airship so long as someone tends to a heart monitor to ensure a few heartbeats per min or whatever is still happening. No more Gestappo airport security, stresses of delayed flights, screaming babies, people eating Camembert cheese within 5 meters of you. You age at like ⅓ the rate in hibernation (or something like that). I’d gladly trade a week of reduced useful lifetime in exchange for a later death (experiencing more of the future than otherwise possible). The idea of being able to easily flip the middle finger to Boeing would also be a nice perk. (#boycottBoeing)

  • @[email protected]OP
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    11 months ago

    You don’t need air travel if you can go into hibernation for a lengthy period on slower travel methods.

    Also worth noting one of the main drives for human hibernation: nutrient/food intake is cut to like ⅙ when hibernating, so you can be shipped to Mars and that hugely weight-sensitive payload allowance can be cut down to a manageable amount. IIRC, 1 person eats 1 ton of food throughout the whole trip to Mars (3 years). That food weight is a substantial hinderance in sending people to Mars, at least in numbers.

    EDIT: also consider that room + board on a cargo ship is currently ~$100/day, making it much more costly than air travel in addition to having to tolerate the length of the trip. Your cost of travel in hibernation would surely fall to more like ~$20/day, making it financially more attractive than flying.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 months ago

      Also worth noting one of the main drives for human hibernation: nutrient/food intake is cut to like ⅙ when hibernating, so you can be shipped to Mars and that hugely weight-sensitive payload allowance can be cut down to a manageable amount. IIRC, 1 person eats 1 ton of food throughout the whole trip to Mars (3 years). That food weight is a substantial hinderance in sending people to Mars, at least in numbers.

      Space travel? Yes, that makes sense. But working on this just so we can attend a party on Ibiza… no, it doesn’t IMO.

      The reason for developing this is what bothers me and makes no sense IMO.