--- title: "Space CEO Offers $1 Million for Evidence of Life After Death" description: "Real estate mogul Robert Bigelow is offering $1 million for the best evidence of survival of consciousness after death. Find out why." date: "2021-01-21" modified: "2021-01-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-ceo-prize-evidence-afterlife" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "afterlife" - "consciousness" - "religion" - "the digest" --- # Space CEO Offers $1 Million for Evidence of Life After Death ![Las Vegas real estate mogul Robert Bigelow is offering up $1 million in prizes for the best evidence for the survival of consciousness after death.]() *\Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Life After Death Las Vegas real estate mogul and CEO of space station module startup Bigelow Aerospace Robert Bigelow is offering up $1 million in prizes for evidence of "the survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death," [*The New York Times* reports](). Bigelow, a billionaire who has also raised eyebrows for investigating UFO sightings, recently founded the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies to support research into what happens after we die. Through the Institute, Bigelow is now offering up prizes ranging from $150,000 to $500,000 for his new afterlife contest, according to the *Times* — probably a fool's errand, but also a modern probe into one of the most captivating questions of the human experience. ## Making Contact To qualify for the prizes, contestants have to submit studies of up to 25,000 words before August 1. A panel of judges made up of specialists will then pick the winner. Bigelow was in part inspired by readings with George Anderson, who [claims]() to be "the world's most scientifically tested medium," after his son and his grandson died by suicide in 1992 and 2011 respectively. When asked if his son had made contact, Bigelow had a simple answer. "Not really," Bigelow told the *Times*, "but what I got out of the readings, I think, was that his spirit existed and that he was O.K." But he does believe in consciousness surviving the death of the physical body. "I am personally totally convinced of it," Bigelow told the newspaper. **READ MORE:** [Can Robert Bigelow (and the Rest of Us) Survive Death?]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on the afterlife:** *[The Digital Afterlife is Open for Business. But It Needs Rules.]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()