Breakthrough Prize ceremony at NASA, $36 million donated by Zuckerberg and others to reward scientists

Mark Zuckerberg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Diaz, Sergey Brin, and Jack Ma among others gave out a $36 million reward to notable scientists for breakthrough science endeavors at the recently concluded Breakthrough Prize ceremony at NASA’s Ames research facility. These are persons on the board of the Breakthrough Prize Board, and they are all technology luminaries dedicated to scientific breakthroughs.

The event witnessed several tech tycoons, boffins, and media celebrities rubbing shoulders with the super-wealthy and the super-talented at the grand party. It held at NASA’s Hanger One, and the Breakthrough Prize Board leader, Yuri Milner gave out several millions of dollars to scientists that had made ground-breaking endeavors at life sciences, maths, and fundamental physics among others.

Although important celebs like Kate Beckinsale and Seth McFarlane were on hand to help distinguished pioneers in the tech-studded board give out the awards, Mark Zuckerberg was able to note that “the world faces many fundamental challenges today, and there are many amazing scientists, researchers and engineers helping us solve them. This year’s Breakthrough Prize winners have made discoveries that will help cure disease and move the world forward. They deserve to be recognized as heroes.”

Yuri Milner, the Russian entrepreneur who made most of his wealth from his investments with Facebook and Twitter started the awards, and he encouraged other wealthy techies to support pioneer scientists and researchers with prizes that aim at rewarding them for their contributions to make the world a better place for all.

In the Life Sciences, Alim Louis Benabid was honored for his work with high-frequency deep brain stimulation treatment for Parkinson’s disease; Victor Ambros and Gary Ruckun were rewarded for their work in genetic regulation by microRNSa; and four other scientists also got awards. $3 million was given to five mathematicians for their efforts at quantum field theories and analytics, and over 50 other scientists got a combined prize in Fundamental Physics.