Mark Zuckerberg, Kevin Spacey Attend 2014 Breakthrough Prizes

It was a star studded affair at the 2014 Breakthrough Prize event in Mountain View, CA on Thursday (December 12). Known as the Oscars of the science awards, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, venture capitalist Yuri Milner and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg teamed up to award innovative scientists a total of $21 million. "Really the scientists here have no parallel and the kinds of things that we consider high risk and high impact entrepreneurially are but a tiny fragment of what they do," said Brin. The tech titans were joined by celebrities like Kevin Spacey and Glenn Close to present the prize winners with awards given out to fields in fundamental physics and life sciences with a focus in curing intractable diseases and extending human life. "I had a wonderful biology 101 professor in college at William & Mary and that kept me curious for the rest of my life," said Close. "It inspired me and it still does." The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and Life Sciences were founded to honor scientists and promote science interest among young people. The event will be broadcast on the Science Channel on January 27.