NEWS POST: Scientists Are Awarded US$21 Million In Prizes At The Star-Studded Breakthrough Awards For Work Into Neutrinos And Alzheimer's

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner (pictured right, with Mark Zuckerberg) handed out seven Breakthrough Prizes, for scientific accomplishment

*Russian billionaire Yuri Milner handed out seven Breakthrough Prizes each worth $3 million (£2 million) - three times the sum of a Nobel prize

*Prize for physics was shared by a team of 1,370 researchers

*Five prizes for life sciences were awarded and one for mathematics

You might not think particle physics is a particularly sexy profession, but last night, physicists rubbed shoulders with Hollywood actors and Grammy award-winning singers.

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner handed out seven Breakthrough Prizes, for scientific accomplishment, worth US$3 million (£2 million) each - three times the sum a Nobel winner receives.

He created the prize three years ago alongside technology giants including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 23andme founder Anne Wojcicki and Google co-founder Sergey Brin to recognize outstanding scientific work across three fields: life sciences, mathematics and fundamental physics.

The prize for physics was shared by a team of 1,370 researchers for their work confirming the theory of neutrino oscillation, a phenomenon in quantum mechanics.

Two of the team have previously won the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on helping to reveal how mysterious subatomic particles called neutrinos can change their identity.

While seven team leaders will split two thirds of the prize, the other physicists will get US$700 (£464) each.

‘I would love to give US$3 million (£2 million) to each one, but we're not there yet,’ Milner said in an interview on Friday.

Increasingly, he added, breakthroughs are made through vast consortiums rather than a handful of scientists working in relative isolation, raising the chances of such shared prizes in future.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said: 'By challenging conventional thinking and expanding knowledge over the long term, scientists can solve the biggest problems of our time

'The Breakthrough Prize honours achievements in science and math so we can encourage more pioneering research and celebrate scientists as the heroes they truly are.' 

Five prizes went to researchers in life sciences for advances in areas ranging from optogenetics to sequencing of ancient genomes.

Five prizes went to researchers in life sciences for advances in areas ranging from optogenetics to sequencing of ancient genomes. Professor John Hardy of UCL (pictured left) received one of them for his research into Alzheimer's, while Ian Agol of UC Berkeley (pictured right) took the Mathematics prize

John Hardy of University College London (UCL) was recognised for discovering genetic mutations in the ‘plaque’ or protein gene, Amyloid Precursor Protein gene (APP) that builds up in the brains of early onset Alzheimer’s victims. 

Ed Boyden of MIT and Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University received a prize for creating optogenetics, which uses light signals to control brain activity, which could ultimately be used to treat Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders. 

Helen Hobbs of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre and Howard Hughes Medical Institute was recognized for the discovery of human genetic variants that alter the levels and distribution of cholesterol and other lipids, inspiring new approaches to the prevention of cardiovascular and liver disease.

Svante Pääbo, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology was awarded a prize for pioneering the sequencing of ancient DNA and ancient genomes.

His work has shed light on the origins of modern humans, our relationships to extinct relatives such as Neanderthals and the evolution of human populations and traits.

‘This year’s laureates have all opened up ways of understanding ourselves,’ MsWojcicki said.

‘In the life sciences, they have pushed forward new ideas about Alzheimer’s, cholesterol, neurological imaging and the origins of our species. And for that we celebrate them.’ 

Svante Pääbo, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology was awarded a prize for his work on ancient DNA and genomes, which are shedding light on our evolution. He, pictured centre, between Yuri Milner (left) and Christina Aguilera (right)

A prize in mathematics went to a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, for work in low dimensional topology and geometric group theory.

Ian Agol completed the last steps of a ‘big problem’ challenge that began in 1982 covering concerning the mathematics of shape transformation.

Eight scientists early in their mathematics and physics careers won awards of US$100,000 (£66,273).

Milner has set his sights on giving the sciences the same cultural resonance as sports or entertainment, but on Friday, he said it was too early to see if his work was having any effect.

He pointed to the ceremony's broadcast on a major US network, Fox, for the first time as a sign things were moving in the right direction.

A onetime physics PhD student in Moscow who dropped out to move to the United States in 1990, Milner has backed some of the world's biggest technology companies, including Facebook.

Seth MacFarlane, creator of the hit TV series ‘Family Guy,’ hosted the black-tie ceremony, held at the Nasa Ames Research Centre in Mountain View, California.

Hollywood celebrities including Christina Aguilera, Hilary Swank and Lily Collins hobnobbed with Silicon Valley personalities, while Pharrell Williams serenaded the audience before dinner.

Earlier this year, Milner said he would spend US$100 million (£66 million) looking for intelligent life in space by searching for radio and light signals. 

Image source: Daily Mail UK

Originally published in MailOnline and Popular Science