Research prizes are demonstrably effective when it comes to
producing results, as measured in funds raised and new
technologies developed. One of the more influential
organizations in the aging research space, the Methuselah
Foundation, started out focused on a research prize for
engineered longevity, and there are many historical examples of
prize-spurred innovation. almost everyone has heard of cryonics
but assumes the entire concept is fundamentally flawed. The
concept is not flawed; it just requires diligent research and
technology development to perfect the technique of brain
preservation. A Brain Preservation Technology Prize has the
unique ability to get the scientific community to start asking
these questions. It can accomplish this purely by putting
forward a clear set of milestones for a preservation technique
to achieve. Brain preservation is simply the only possible
alternative to death on the near-term (<20 years) horizon, but
today there is almost no serious research being performed on the
topic