Once-in-a-Lifetime Lunch with Ray Kurzweil

The Methuselah Foundation

Kurzweil AI

PR Release

Auction

Methuselah Foundation Offers Once-in-a-Lifetime Lunch with Luminary Ray Kurzweil

Author, Inventor, and Life Extension Visionary Will Host Lunch for up to Six Foundation Donors

LORTON, VA and CAMBRIDGE, MA – July 5, 2005 – The Methuselah Foundation announced today that it is offering for auction a lunch with Dr. Ray Kurzweil, recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Technology, and author of numerous books including “Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough To Live Forever” and “The Age of Spiritual Machines”.   The auction will be hosted by industry-leader eBay – the world’s online marketplace for the sale of goods and services – and will run from July 5 through July 14.  The auction can be found at: http://auction.mprize.org

Kurzweil’s latest book, coauthored with longevity expert Terry Grossman, M.D., shows how human beings can use behavior, diet, and lifestyle to remain in good health long enough to benefit from the emerging biotechnology and nanotechnology revolutions, thus enabling us to live indefinitely.  The auctioned lunch will be prepared by Methuselah volunteers and comply with the dietary guidelines outlined in the new book.

“The MPrize - in the spirit of the fabulously successful X Prize - is a powerful vehicle for mobilizing the scientific community to eliminate the degeneration associated with aging,” said Dr. Kurzweil.  “In addition to my earlier donation, this is a fun way to support a cause I believe in – helping people live longer, healthier lives. I look forward to sharing an afternoon of food and conversation with others who are similarly committed.”

Many charities have used celebrity auctions as powerful fundraising tools.  For this auction, bidders can combine their resources and bid in groups of up to six, all of whom will be invited to the lunch.  All proceeds from the auction will go directly into the MPrize fund – which currently stands at $1,300,000 and will continue to grow until the prize is won.

Additionally, those who do not win the auction but elect to join the Mprize Three Hundred - the MPrize's list of givers who commit $1,000 per year for 25 years - will receive an autographed copy of Kurzweil’s and Grossman’s new book, Fantastic Voyage.

Heh, the prize is growing so fast, the press release is already out of date:

All proceeds from the auction will go directly into the MPrize fund – which currently stands at $1,300,000 and will continue to grow until the prize is won.

According to the website, the prize actually stands at just over $1.4 million!

Hehe, yes, its a very positive problem

Two new members of the Three Hundred where added yesterday.

ImmInst Full Members, please see:
http://www.imminst.o...=ST&f=92&t=7092

As long as we're posting links, here's brief list of what's out there on this:

The first few are the same text for the most part, covered as news by various outlets:
http://www.mprize.or...ldisplay&ID=077
http://www.lef.org/n...2&Section=AGING
http://www.betterhum...79/Default.aspx
http://home.business...231&newsLang=en

Here are some blog entries and news links on the subject:
http://news.com.com/..._3-5770459.html
http://anti-ageing.u...-longevity.html
http://www.longevity...fm?news_id=1775
http://www.longevity...fm?news_id=1782
http://www.fightagin...ives/000532.php
http://www.mprize.or...ay_kurzwei.html
http://longevityfirs...e_news_ale.html
http://longevityfirs...twentysix_p.php
http://locative.net/...ity/archives/23


If you know of any other links I missed, post 'em here, so we can keep track.

Here's another copy of the standard press release, at Kurzweil's own website:
http://www.kurzweila......html?id=4639

Important press release, now that there's only 14 hours left!
http://www.forbes.co...14005473r1.html

More blog entries:
http://www.fightagin...ives/000537.php
http://beginnercron....nch-anyone.html
http://longevityfirs...k_of_imm_1.html
http://longevityfirs...eil_charit.html

The auction has ended with a winning bid of $4,050. Adding to that the matching contribution from Ray of $4,000 ( Awesome Ray! ) will in total add $8,050 to the Mprize bringing the cash total very close to $160,000. Congratulations to everyone involved and anyone working to bring healthy life-extension to the main stream. I believe we just added another solid stepping stone.

Who won? Does anyone know who he/she/they are?

Who won? Does anyone know who he/she/they are?

Keep an eye on www.mprize.org. Clarification will come in a news release shortly.

http://www.mprize.or...ldisplay&ID=078

Charity auction in support of the Mprize for longevity research a success

Early Friday morning, Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Chairman of the Methuselah Foundation, announced that Doug Arends of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, bidding for a group of Mprize supporters, had won the once-in-a-lifetime lunch with Dr. Ray Kurzweil, inventor and visionary, author of the recent best-seller _Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever_.

The winning bid came in at US $4,050.00.  Dr. Kurzweil himself surprised Mprize supporters by offering a $4000 matching grant, nearly doubling the winning bid and bringing the Mprize fund up to over $1,460,000.

Doug Arends, the winner, explained his decision to bid saying, "We wanted to put in the strongest bid possible and sought out each other even though we had not met before. We knew that a lunch with Ray Kurzweil was very much in demand and that there is strong support for the Mprize and its ultimate goal of vastly extended human life spans. So on pretty short notice we put together a cohesive group that worked cooperatively through the bidding details from different parts of the continent."

Timothy Webb, another of the group of winners, remarked, "I wanted to support the Mprize, which I believe has enormous potential.  And I have an enormous amount of respect for Ray Kurzweil as an  inventor, and look forward to meeting him in person.  It will be good to know that I am sitting at a table, over a great meal, with people who want to see us all live longer, healthier lives."

Joel Morgan of New York was inspired by the auction to join the Three Hundred, the Mprize's group of committed givers who pledge US $1000 for 25 years to the Mprize.  Morgan said, "Reading _Fantastic Voyage_ made the possibility of radical life extension something that was no longer just science fiction."

Jay D. Fox, of Atlanta, Georgia, longtime Mprize supporter and member of the winning bid team, said, "I wanted to win this auction to support the MPrize, by helping to build the prize's value, both in cash and credibility. I look forward to having such a personal and exclusive lunch with Ray and my fellow members of the Three Hundred."

"This event has not only raised money for the Mprize, it has expanded public awareness of the scientifically based War on Aging," said Dr. Aubrey de Grey.  "As a writer who has been able to interest the general public in the genuine possibility that technological advances could dramatically increase our life spans, Ray gives a huge boost to the Mprize.  We look forward to working with Ray for years to come!"