Friday, October 12, 2012

Nobel Prize – 2012


Some more people wrote their name in the golden book of history. Let’s take a view on the accomplishments of these people, who contributed much to the development of human race. Starting with my favourite subject.

Physics


This year’s Nobel prize goes to, Serge Haroche (from Collège de France and Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France) and David J. Wineland (National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA) who 'independently invented and developed methods for measuring and manipulating individual particles while preserving their quantum-mechanical nature, in ways that were previously thought unattainable.'

Quantum physics is one of the important and interesting areas in Physics. Breakthroughs in these areas will definitely bring wide ranging benefits to humanity. May be their contributions will help humans, to reach one more step close to the dream of Quantum Computer.

Chemistry


2012 Nobel prize for Chemistry goes to 'Robert J. Lefkowitz' (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA) and Brian K. Kobilka (Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA ) for 'groundbreaking discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family of such receptors (that enable it to sense its environment): G-protein–coupled receptors.'

Receptors are critical for human functions; in a sense even our eye is a receptor. Through their researchers, these two scientists and their teams were able to identify and isolate some of receptors - which sense the cell environment - in cells.

Physiology or Medicine


This year's Prize goes to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for 'for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent'. In simple words, by starting to answer the question, how we can reprogram a matured cell to an immature cell, which we can later develop to any other cell. Interesting isn't it?

Literature


Literature Nobel Prize for 2012 goes to Chinese writer 'Mo Yan', 'Who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary'. Guan Moye (Mo Yan - means 'don't speak' in Chinese - is his pen name). He is also the author of 'Red Sorghum' (this was the bases for the movie of same name in 1987).

Peace Price


This year’s peace price goes to European Union (EU) for contributing ‘to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.' Hope that Nobel Price will give a boost to the Union, which is currently passing through difficult times.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize (Nobel Prize in Economics)



This year's Sveriges Riksbank prize in Economic Sciences was awarded jointly to Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design"

Note that, even though knows as Nobel Prize in Economics, this prize was actually established and endowed by Sweden's central bank Sveriges Riksbank, in 1968 on the occasion of the bank's 300th anniversary, in the memory of Alfred Nobel.

Sajeev.

News and photo courtesy: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

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