At the Academy Museum, A-listers including Robert Downey Jr., Margot Robbie, Brie Larson turned out for another award show in Los Angeles on Saturday (April 13).
But it wasn't to celebrate film. It was, as Glenn Close put it, to celebrate the "superstars of science".
The Breakthrough Prize celebrates scientists who have developed breakthroughs in their fields, which can lead to solutions for medial or societal issues.
There were new treatments for cancer, developed by Carl H. June and Michael Sadelain, discoveries about Parkinson's disease (Thomas Gasser, Ellen Sidransky, Andrew Singleton and Richard J. Youle), in Quantum Field Theory (John Cardy, Alexander Zamolodchikov) and in AI with AlphaFold (Demis Hassabis, John Jumper), a program that can map proteins and develop new drugs through its findings.
Dr. Carl June is behind a new treatment for cancer, which so far has had positive results. Asked about the collision of celebrities and scientists, he told Reuters: "I am shell shocked. I mean, it's great to see if the celebrities can then help what we really need in science is to be able to educate the public about you know, new advances and why we need to keep to do research and the celebrities are trusted people that can help educate people who's never heard of this. They can really have a major impact."
Paul Negulescu is being honored for creating medicine tackling the underlying causes of Cystic Fibrosis.
He told Reuters: "It's so rewarding because we get into science to make a difference and to have had that opportunity to see a project through. I'm here with two of my colleagues, we've been working on this for over 20 years and now we're hearing from patients how much it's made a difference in their lives. The life expectancy, when we started our work, was around 30 years old and now it's projected to be in the 80s."
A slew of celebrities, including Zoe Saldana, Jessica Chastain, Michelle Yeoh, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Adam Levine, Venus Williams and Lizzo, turned out alongside tech leaders including Bill Gates and Elon Musk.
Actor Edward Norton said: "I think there is actually in a way good value in maybe people getting too much attention kind of saying 'Hey. There are a lot of people doing a lot of kind of good work. Let's celebrate it all'. I don't think films should be the only thing we put on a tux for. Do you know what I mean?"
(Production: Jack Ferry, Allysyn Landrum, Rollo Ross)