Celebrating Fire and Mello's Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine

[neutrino]

It's that time of the year again...

Physiology/Medicine

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2006

jointly to

Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello

for their discovery of

"RNA interference – gene silencing by double-stranded RNA"

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2006/press.html

 

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

Pretty cool, quick though.

 

[robphy]

Physics

http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/staff/CVs/John.Mather/" "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation"

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/index.html

 

[neutrino]

WTG, COBE team!

 

[Moonbear]

Pretty cool, quick though.

I agree, rather quick. I see it as too much of the current "hot topic" rather than something that has withstood the test of time to be a Nobel-worthy discovery.

 

[Chi Meson]

Reminds me of a great T-shirt (origin in this cartoon)

Warning. An offensive word herein.
http://xkcd.com/c54.html

 

[mrjeffy321]

Reminds me of a great T-shirt (origin in this cartoon)

Warning. An offensive word herein.
http://xkcd.com/c54.html

I am not sure I understand the joke contained within the cartoon, care too explain?

 

[Chi Meson]

I am not sure I understand the joke contained within the cartoon, care too explain?

The cartoon shows the blackbody curve of cosmic radiation, indicating a peak radiation of 160 GHz, corresponding to a background "temperature" of 2.7 K. This is what was predicted back in the 40's and 50's, and this is what was later experimentally verified by the prize winners (someone else can fill in the finer details). It is one of the finest moments of the "scientific method."

So when people say things like "well that's only a theory" I would like to flash a T-shirt that has this cartoon on it.

The epithet in the cartoon is a modern use of the word and not directed at females specifically. I've tried to think of a different word that is not so insulting, but I can't think of one that retains the humor: "Science. It works, b****es!"

 

[Rach3]

Hurray for anisotropies!

 

[neutrino]

One man gets to take home all the million dollars from the chemistry prize.

Roger D. Kornberg
Stanford University, CA, USA

"for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription".

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2006/press.html

That's the fifth US citizen in a row, this year!

 

[mrjeffy321]

American are doing quite well this year,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061004/ap_on_sc/nobels_american_sweep_1"
Its like the Olympics for scientists.

 

[neutrino]

Wow, this is surely turning out to be an all-American affair...

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2006 to

Edmund S. Phelps
Columbia University, NY, USA

“for his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy”.

Literature and Peace remaining. Any bets on those?

Btw, I just saw this at http://blags.xkcd.com (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Nobel Prize:

Two of the guys who did the COBE experiment — the one shown on the back of my t-shirt — won the Nobel Prize for their work. I’ve sent them both free t-shirts. Maybe they’ll wear them to the prize ceremony.

 

[Moonbear]

One man gets to take home all the million dollars from the chemistry prize.

Roger D. Kornberg
Stanford University, CA, USA

"for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription".

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2006/press.html

That's the fifth US citizen in a row, this year!

Hmm...I'd think that would be another contender for Physiology and Medicine rather than Chemistry. These seem like odd choices this year.

 

[Chi Meson]

Literature and Peace remaining. Any bets on those?

Well we can't win 'em all, can we?

W is more likely to win for literature isn't he?

 

[neutrino]

Didn't he write a book on nucular proliferation?

 

[neutrino]

The literature Nobel goes to the Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2006/press.html

 

[siddharth]

Hmm...I'd think that would be another contender for Physiology and Medicine rather than Chemistry. These seem like odd choices this year.

It's been like that for the past few years hasn't it? For example, the chemistry nobels for http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2003/" .

 

[neutrino]

And finally, the Peace prize goes to Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh and his Grameen Bank...

"for their efforts to create economic and social development from below"

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/

 

[siddharth]

And finally, the Peace prize goes to Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh and his Grameen Bank...

"for their efforts to create economic and social development from below"

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/

That's very nice. I think he deserves it.
I'm sure cyrus agrees as well

 

[radou]

The literature Nobel goes to the Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2006/press.html

There are writers who deserved it a bit more, perhaps. This is nothing more than a mirror image of the world's motto these days; political correctness <=> everything ok. That's not bad, except I find it somehow irritating from time to time. And he's pretty young, too. They could have postponed it for a couple of years in the future - he'd deserve it for sure - and give the Nobel prize to someone older, who perhaps may not be amongst the living any more in the same few years mentioned. But, who am I to place criticism anyway?