The Mail
Thursday, September 19, 2002
Contest Prize to Die For
The winner of a magazine contest will get an unusual prize - the chance to be frozen after death in the hope that scientists in the future will be able to bring him or her back to life.
Once pronounced legally dead, the lucky person will be suspended in liquid nitrogen - a state known as `cryonic preservation'.
The offer comes from New Scientist to publicise a revamp. Editor-in-chief Alun Anderson said: `We believe this is a way of making science interesting to everyone, not just scientists, which is exactly the same message we are trying to communicate about the magazine itself.
`The idea of cryonic preservation is not for everyone because people may not believe it could work or because they may be opposed to it on religious grounds, but it does get people talking about science and that is what the magazine aims to do'
If the winner would rather have the prize sooner rather than later, the alternative is a week's holiday in Hawaii.