On Sunday evening, the brightest stars in research science and mathematics convened in the heart of Silicon Valley, at NASA’s Moffet Field, in Mountain View, California, to be toasted by the brightest stars in technology, Hollywood, and even professional sports. The event—co-hosted by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan; Yuri and Julia Milner; Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki; and Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter—was emceed by the inimitable Morgan Freeman. The venerable actor delighted the guests in the stunningly illuminated space, designed by Basil Walter, by noting that their work was God-like. He subsequently noted, of course, that he should know. He had played God. Twice.

The Breakthrough Prizes, awarded by a committee of past winners, granted a total of $25 million over the course of the night, rewarding advancements in the fields of life sciences, fundamental physics, and mathematics. It may have once seemed bizarre, or even inconceivable, to fathom a room full of geniuses being honored by venture capitalists (Chris Sacca and Ron Conway, among others); jocks (A-Rod and newfound Bay Area resident Kevin Durant); not to mention actors and musicians, from Jeremy Irons to Alicia Keys. But, on some level, greatness respects greatness. 

On another, as our world comes to be dominated by technology, the Breakthrough Prize now musters the attention of the Cannes Film Festival or Y Combinator: it’s a place where brilliance is recognized by a larger market. It would be quite something if professor Roland Nusse’s exploration of one gene’s implication for cancer, say, could one day find its way to a larger audience. In the meantime, watch some pretty smart people enjoy a pretty swell party.