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Yuri Milner's Fundamental Physics Prize
- ktizo 14y agoIt's a bit like the worlds best lottery. To enter you devise a method that can generate lots of numbers. And then whoever has the numbers that match reality the best, wins $3 million dollars, a big desk and a really comfy chair.
- D_Alex 14y agoExcept the numbers got to be useful in making predictions about how the world will behave in the future. So, only a little bit like a lottery... a very small, tiny little bit.
- SwellJoe 14y agoBut, if you figure out how to predict random numbers, you can win the actual lottery! Who needs this prize, when there's real money to be made?
- spullara 14y agoLike these MIT students: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/computer-scientists-gamed-massachusetts-cash-winfall-lottery-to-win-millions/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/computer-scientists-g...
- Eliezer 14y agoIt's like the lottery, only you win using skill instead of luck! Oh, wait...
- JabavuAdams 14y agoBravo! cracks open physics text
- neurotech1 14y agoFor context, this is the same Yuri Milner that invests $150k in every start-up who completes the YC program. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Milner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Milner
- dfriedmn 14y agoAnd the same Yuri Milner that owns significant stakes in Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, Spotify, and Groupon...
- neurotech1 14y agoI felt that the article glossed over his accomplishments in the tech community. It reads like theoretical physics PhD somehow got rich, and is now awarding a fundamental physics prize.
- skeesicks 14y agoIt'd be really nice if articles like this actually linked to the website for what they're talking about. It's http://www.fundamentalphysicsprize.org http://www.fundamentalphysicsprize.org for the record.
- ak0s 14y agoPardon me for my bad English, why are they call him a dullard? Isn't it synonym for the “moron”?
- troymc 14y agoThe quote is, "On July 31 Mr Milner, by no means a dullard, announced..." That is, they're saying he's not a dullard. I can understand how the phrase "by no means a" could be confusing for someone new to English.
- ak0s 14y agoThank you
- edanm 14y agoIt is, but they say hes not a dullard. They're trying to emphasize the fact that even though he did not end up becoming a physicist, he's pretty smart.
- lacker 14y agoThis is quite interesting. Since it's more money than the Nobel, it seems like it has a shot at becoming more prestigious.
- tikhonj 14y agoPrizes like that are prestigious because of history and because everybody knows about them. I don't think the money attached to the prize has as big of an effect as the history. For a concrete example, the Fields Medal is better known than the Abel Prize despite the fact that it only comes with $15,000 to the Abel Prize's ~$1m.
- henrikschroder 14y agoThe Nobel prizes have been awarded for over a century now, and the main purpose of the Nobel Foundation is to ensure that they can keep giving out the prizes forever. I'm confident that the Nobel prizes will still be around a hundred years from now. Will this Fundamental Physics Prize also be?
- staunch 14y agoAwesome!
- eps 14y agoOn one hand - Yay! 150k for struggling startups - Horay! On the other hand he is a close business associate of Alisher Usmanov, who's commonly considered to be, basically, the mafia boss of modern Russia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisher_Usmanov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisher_Usmanov
- jboggan 14y agoAnd the Borgias helped the Renaissance flourish.
- iRobot 14y agoLess money going into guns then... win-win?
- meric 14y agoUsmanov owns 32% of Digital Sky Technologies which in turn has investments in Zynga, Groupon, Facebook, Airbnb and has strong ties to Goldman Sachs. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Sky_Technologies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Sky_Technologies, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisher_Usmanov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisher_Usmanov) If your allegations are true... I'm sorry, I can't finish this sentence.
- Tichy 14y agoJust because you're paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you...
- gojomo 14y agoThere is not support in the referenced Wikipedia article (or its talk page) for the strong allegation which directly precedes it.
- eps 14y agoYou don't say.
- r3m6 14y ago
- marcamillion 14y agoI love this guy. First he shakes up Silicon Valley investing, now he is moving to high-quality research. The most beautiful thing about his approaches to both, is that they are high-impact, high-leverage. In the investing case, he outsources all the filtering work to YC. In this case, he will outsource the selection work to past laureates. Brilliant!
- isalmon 14y agoYou can criticize this guy, but what he does with his money is actually moving us forward. I have a huge respect for him and his innovative ideas.
- spullara 14y agoI like the unofficial contest to see which internet billionaire can invest the most in basic research.
- gojomo 14y agoThe NYTimes coverage mentioned that the entire $3 million prize was immediately wired to the bank account of a surprised winner (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/science/9-scientists-win-yuri-milners-fundamental-physics-prize.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/science/9-scientists-win-y...). Just imagine the email leading up to that: I represent Russian billionaire holding $3 million in unclaimed physics prizes for you. Please provide your bank and identity details to receive funds.
- mathattack 14y agoI've always wondered why someone didn't do this. It can be cheaper to endow a gift that trumps the Nobel than to endow a top business school. University of Chicago sold the name Booth for a $300 million stake in a fund company. The Nobel pays $1.2 million per year. Milner just gave $27 million, which discounted to perpetuity at 5% is $540 million, but he could have had a similar impact for half the cost.
- wslh 14y agoJuan Martín Maldacena, an Argentinian between the winners http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Mart%C3%ADn_Maldacena http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Mart%C3%ADn_Maldacena