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  While the laureates were already revealed in  October , the actual ceremony is held today, as well as the very first, in 1901. So today's bits of history include a few mentions of past winners of the Peace Prize, including The Red Cross (1917), Woodrow Wilson (1920), and American diplomat Ralph Bunche (1950). But I wanted to look at 1903, when Marie and Pierre Curie won the Physics Prize for their work with radium.  I recently saw a post that mentioned her journals, which will remain radioactive for another 1,500 years. Marie Sklodowska Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1867, the daughter of a Physics teacher.  In 1891, she went to study in Paris.  She received a degree in physical sciences (1893) and mathematics (1894) before she met Pierre.  They were married in 1895. As a subject for her doctoral thesis, she began studying uranium.  She coined the term radioactivity, describing the phenomenon of radiation caused by atomic decay. Together, she an...

  Nobel Prize in Physics John Clarke, Michael D. Devoret, John M. Martinis  "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantisation in an electrical circuit." Their experiments on a chip revealed quantum physics in action . Nobel Prize in Chemistry Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal-organic frameworks." Their molecular architecture contains rooms for chemistry . Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance." They understood how the immune system is kept in check . Nobel Prize in Economics Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt "for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress." They show how new technology can drive sustained growth .

  Physics John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton: "For foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks." They used physics to find patterns in information . Chemistry David Baker: "For computational protein design." Demis Hassabis and John Jumper: "For protein structure prediction." They cracked the code for proteins' amazing structures . Physiology or Medicine Victor Ambrose and Gary Ruvkun: "For the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation." Tiny RNAs with profound physiological importance . Literature Han Kang: "For her immense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life." Biobibliography Peace Nihon Hidankyo: "For its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." The grassroots movement of atomic ...

  Physics Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, Anne L'Huillier They have demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy. Background Chemistry Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, Alexei Ekimov For the discovery and development of quantum dots.  These tiny particles have unique properties and now spread their light from television screens and LED lamps.  They catalyze chemical reactions and their clear light can illuminate tumor tissue for surgeons. Background Physiology or Medicine Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman Their discoveries were critical for developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. Background Literature Jon Fosse For his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable. Background Economics Claudia Goldin Her research since the 80's has given us new and often surprising insights into women's historical and contemporary roles in the labor market. Peace Narg...

  Physics Awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for "experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science." Chemistry Awarded to Carolyn Bertozzi, Morton Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless "for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry." First, Sharpless coined the concept for click chemistry, where reactions occur quickly and unwanted by-products are avoided.  Then Meldal found the chemical reaction for mapping DNA. Next, Bertozzi applied this to living organisms, to track biomolecules on the surface of cells. Physiology or Medicine Awarded to Svante Paabo, "for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution." Paabo discovered a previously unknown hominin, Denisova.  He determined that gene transfer occurred to homo sapiens  following the migration out of Africa 70,000 years ago, and his work gave rise to a new...

  These came out earlier this month, but I got distracted by other things going on, so we'll just recap them now. Physics Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann - "for the physical modelling of Earth's climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming." Georgio Parisi - "for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales." Our Understanding of Complex Physical Systems Chemistry Benjamin List and David MacMillan - "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis." This is a precise new tool for molecular construction and will have an impact on pharmaceutical research, making chemistry greener. Enamine and iminium ion–mediated organocatalysis   Physiology/Medicine David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian - "for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch." They were able to explain the molecular basis for sensing heat, cold, and mechanical force. Di...

 The Nobel Prizes have been awarded in all but Economics at this point, so let's go over the winners. Physics One half awarded to Roger Penrose "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity," with the other half jointly awarded to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy." Read More Chemistry Awarded to Emmanuelle Carpenter and Jennifer Doudna "for the development of a method for genome editing," known as the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. Read More Physiology or Medicine Awarded to Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles Rice "for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus."  Highly sensitive blood tests are now available and have essentially eliminated post-transfusion hepatitis in many parts of the world. Read More Literature Awarded to American poet Louise Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with a...

Alfred Bernhard Nobel December 10, 1901 - the first Nobel Prizes are awarded in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. This was exactly five years after Nobel's death.  His estate went to the creation of these prizes - he had misgivings about the use of his own inventions and so he wanted to focus on those "who have conferred the greatest benefit of mankind." Nobel experimented with explosives.  He invented a way to control detonation of nitroglycerin, and then a blasting cap.  After his nitroglycerin factory exploded, he focused on combining nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, which was the development of dynamite.  He later introduced ballistite, a smokeless nitroglycerin powder, with nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. 1901 Winners: Physics - Wilhelm Röntgen, for detecting x-rays. Chemistry - Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff, for his role as a theoretical chemist.  He is considered a founder of physical chemistry as it is known today....

PEACE Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali "In the wake of the peace process with Eritrea, [he] has engaged in other peace and reconciliation processes in East and Northeast Africa." LITERATURE Peter Handke "For an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and specificity of human experience." Also, because the 2018 announcement was cancelled due to allegations within the Swedish Academy, Olga Tokarczuk was awarded this year. "For a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life." CHEMISTRY John B. Goodenough M. Stanley Whittingham Akira Yoshino "For the development of lithium-ion batteries." PHYSICS James Peebles "For theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology." Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz "For the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star." PHYSIOLOGY ...