Cold Sleep - Wet or Dry Dreams

[Patron Zero]

If most are familiar with suspended-animation or hibernation as depicted in modern films (Prometheus, Aliens, Alien, Lost In Space, Event Horizon, etc). we are presented with a simple question, wet or dry.

If not mistaken I see that Traveller, overall, seems to favor Cold Sleep (CS) as a dry environment-drug induced process.

Are there any materials that suggest the liquid suspension process be available as an option of GM's choice ?

 

[PFVA63]

Hi,

Other than a Pentapad device in 2300AD, I'm not familiar with a wet form of low berth, but I do kind of like the idea.

One thing that I've kind of wondered about for low berths is how they deal with stuff like keeping the body clean and hydrated, preventing bed sores, preventing drying of the ears, eyes, nose and throat and other such things. I suspect that there is probably some potential theorectical means of acheiving a form of stasis in a dry environment that could address all this, but a wet or gel-filled environment kind of strikes me as an interesting way to try and deal with some of this stuff (especially if its coupled with gravity manipulation/its own grav plates to keep the body suspended in the middle of it).

Sorry I don't have any additional info for you though.

PF

 

[Patron Zero]

Thanks PFVA63, glad to see my thinking wasn't to out-there.

I think the immersion-wet chambers seem to be more versatile in the sense that all the conditions the body in suspension might need could be easily delivered through osmosis or more direct-invasive measures.

Depending on the tech-level involved, the chambers could be independent 'ecologies' based on biological or technological means, engineered microbes or programmed nanites 'swimming' inside said fluidic environs.

One thought too might be the cultural or religious beliefs-doctrines observed by the passenger might determine which process that is chosen so perhaps a Cold-Sleep unit might offer different methods of operation.

I can't see Man as a species leaving home without his ideologies or tenets so operators of starships providing transport will have those needs-concerns also present when meeting such issues of paying customers.

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

I always imagined it to be a fluid filled tube to keep the body hydrated and prevent bedsores, but also to allow for electric stimulation of muscles to keep them from having atrophy set in.

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

Sifu strolls in...

At first, I never thought about it. After all, player characters never travel via low berth, only the unfortunates.

With some thought and reading with these informative forums, I conjectured a pre-freezing drug ingestion and a temperature conducting silicone gel, along with a 'chill cocoon' that helps equalize temperature during freezing and thawing.

A still later version has no freezing temperatures and full body stimulation to prevent bedsores. It has the unusual side effect of being refreshing instead of depleting.

Still haven't decided on if people dream or not while this is happening...

 

[arbitrary.remora]

Sweet Dreams are made of this

At first, I never thought about it. After all, player characters never travel via low berth, only the unfortunates.
...snip...

You are too easy on the PC's I suggest...:devil:
But again, my abuse of low berths is a little habitual.

I've always used the TL as a sliding scale of plot devicey nastiness...
TL-9: Frost bite and persistent flash back terrors and gooey sweat
Tl-15: 'Hmmm, just got in what do you mean wake up?'

 

[Space Hamster]

I have always thought of it as liquid. Mostly because I think of dry as in freeze dried. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze_drying

 

[Hemdian]

Wasn't there an article in one of the Digest magazines about low berths? IIRC it stated that early low berths were 'chill' berths (using cryogenics to freeze people) but most modern low berths were 'cold' berths (using a variation of nuclear damper technology to near-freeze people). To me, that sounds like a chill berth is wet and a cold berth is dry.

 

[starship_captain62]

Cold births

Never tried them myself- my characters have all been too chicken to risk it lol!

My guess is wet at the lower end, dry at higher levels.

Now at what level would stasis pods as in Larry Niven's Known worlds books kik in?

Cheers Philip

 

[starship_captain62]

Freezing recently dead

On a related toipc, could cold births be used to freeze recenty deceased in order to preserve brain function?

Is it possible that the frozen deceased person experience a form of half life such as in Philip K Dick's novel Ubik?

Cheers Philip