Science's 'Breakthrough' winners earn over $21 million in prizes

By Sarah McBride MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. (Reuters) - Academia just turned a little more glitzy for a select group of scientists. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner on Sunday handed out seven Breakthrough Prizes, the award for scientific accomplishment he created three years ago alongside technology giants including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 23andme founder Anne Wojcicki and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The prizes are worth $3 million, around three times the sum a Nobel Prize winner receives.