Nobels 2012, etc.

[yovargas]

The idea of "tweezers" made of light is so cool it sounds like it should be scifi, not sci.

[Frelga]

The idea of "tweezers" made of light is so cool it sounds like it should be scifi, not sci.

The difference is only a matter of time.

[River]

The idea of "tweezers" made of light is so cool it sounds like it should be scifi, not sci.

So I was using my tweezers to pull apart RNA and DNA molecules and measure the forces involved.

There were two days a year when everything worked and that wasn't science fiction. Reading sci-fi is a lot less frustrating than living it, lemme tell ya.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith, and Sir Gregory P. Winter for the directed evolution of enzymes and for the phage display of peptides and antibodies.

The power of evolution is revealed through the diversity of life. The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind. Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from biofuels to pharmaceuticals. Antibodies evolved using a method called phage display can combat autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.

Since the first seeds of life arose around 3.7 billion years ago, almost every crevice on Earth has filled with different organisms. Life has spread to hot springs, deep oceans and dry deserts, all because evolution has solved a number of chemical problems. Life’s chemical tools – proteins – have been optimised, changed and renewed, creating incredible diversity.

This year’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have been inspired by the power of evolution and used the same principles – genetic change and selection – to develop proteins that solve mankind’s chemical problems.

[elengil]

The idea of "tweezers" made of light is so cool it sounds like it should be scifi, not sci.

The difference is only a matter of time.

Wash: Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science-fiction.
Zoë: We live in a spaceship, dear.

[Frelga]

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman dies at 96

Leon Lederman, an experimental physicist who studied subatomic particles, has died at 96 after selling his Nobel Prize for $765,000 at an auction to help pay medical bills.

[elengil]

...to help pay medical bills.

[Inanna]

NYtimes reported that he sold it after he turned 90 (diagnosed with Dementia), and the proceeds were “set aside to pay for future medical expenses”.

Is there a difference? Maybe yes, maybe no.

[River]

So I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the Nobel Prize for Literature. It would have been announced today, except it appears that there's been some drama and dysfunction in the Swedish Academy and no prize was awarded this year.

Tomorrow, the Peace Prize.

[Inanna]

Peace Prize awarded for fighting sexual violence.

2018 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Congolese Doctor and Yazidi Activist https://nyti.ms/2CtRW6s?smid=nytcore-ios-share

[Maria]

The idea of "tweezers" made of light is so cool it sounds like it should be scifi, not sci.

So I was using my tweezers to pull apart RNA and DNA molecules and measure the forces involved.

There were two days a year when everything worked and that wasn't science fiction. Reading sci-fi is a lot less frustrating than living it, lemme tell ya.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith, and Sir Gregory P. Winter for the directed evolution of enzymes and for the phage display of peptides and antibodies.

The power of evolution is revealed through the diversity of life. The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind. Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from biofuels to pharmaceuticals. Antibodies evolved using a method called phage display can combat autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.

Since the first seeds of life arose around 3.7 billion years ago, almost every crevice on Earth has filled with different organisms. Life has spread to hot springs, deep oceans and dry deserts, all because evolution has solved a number of chemical problems. Life’s chemical tools – proteins – have been optimised, changed and renewed, creating incredible diversity.

This year’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have been inspired by the power of evolution and used the same principles – genetic change and selection – to develop proteins that solve mankind’s chemical problems.

George P. Smith is with the University of Missouri, Columbia. Their campus is only a couple of miles from where I work. My younger daughter got her degree there. Wow. I had no idea there were any Nobel worthy scholars nearby.

[Impenitent]

The Nobel Peace Prize this year seems a fitting social commentary. I applaud it.

Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Its that time of year again.

Nobel Prize in Physics winners 'forever changed our conceptions of the world'

[Inanna]

Not sure if this should go here; but nevertheless:

C.S. Lewis nominated J.R.R. Tolkien for the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature. He was rejected on the grounds that his writing "has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality."

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-16440150

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I don't have a problem with posting it here. It's not new news, but I would guess not everyone has seen it before.

Meanwhile, this year's Nobel Peace Prize went to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea."

[Inanna]

“Pioneers in Poverty Alleviation Share the Nobel Economics Prize: Three professors, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, both of M.I.T., and Michael Kremer of Harvard, were honored on Monday.”

I especially like the fact that they were chosen for studying specific interventions that have outstanding impact. Such as, deworming and tutoring.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It's that time again.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to scientists who discovered CRISPR gene editing tool for 'rewriting the code of life'

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the development of a method for genome editing.

They discovered one of gene technology's sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and micro-organisms with extremely high precision.
Before announcing the winners on Wednesday, Göran K. Hansson, secretary-general for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said that this year's prize was about "rewriting the code of life."

Charpentier, a French microbiologist, and Doudna, an American biochemist, are the first women to jointly win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the sixth and seventh women to win the chemistry prize.
Charpentier said at a Wednesday news conference that she hoped the win sent a "positive message to the young girls who would like to follow the path of science, and to show them that women in science can also have an impact through the research that they are performing."

Previously announced but not posted here were the prizes for physics and for medicine/physiology.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 was divided, one half awarded to Roger Penrose "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity", the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy."

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020 was awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice "for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus."

[Inanna]

:Happydance:

[Voronwë the Faithful]

World Food Programme wins Nobel Peace Prize for fight against 'hunger as a weapon of war'

This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its "efforts to combat hunger" and its "contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which presented the award in Oslo on Friday, also described the organization as "a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict."
In awarding the prize, committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen noted the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global food supplies and criticized the politics of populism.

Yesterday it was announced that American Louise Gluck wins Nobel Prize for Literature

American poet Louise Gluck won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature for works exploring family and childhood in an “unmistakable...voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”, the Swedish Academy said on Thursday.

While she is undoubtedly a worthy choice, there was disappointment in some circles that a person of color was not given the award.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Nobel Prize in economics goes to Americans Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson

Two American professors have been awarded the Nobel Prize for economic sciences for their work on how auctions function, a field that affects everything from high-end art prices to consumers' electricity bills.

Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson were honored “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats," Secretary General Göran Hansson of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said during the announcement in Stockholm on Monday.

Milgrom and Wilson's discoveries have "benefitted sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world," the prize committee added in a statement.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It's that time of the year again! And this is one of the great headlines in Nobel Prize award history:

How chili peppers helped Nobel prizewinners understand how we feel heat