Nobel Prize

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Nobel Winner Was 'Too Stupid for Science'

Schoolmaster urged stem-cell pioneer John Gurdon to study something else

(Newser) - Academic underachievers everywhere can take heart from the story of John Gurdon, the British professor who won this year's Nobel prize for medicine —64 years after being told it would be a "sheer waste of time" for him to study science. When he was 15, Gurdon was...

Nobel Prize for Medicine Goes to Stem Cell Scientists

John Gurdon, Shinya Yamanaka share the prize

(Newser) - The first of this year's Nobel prizes was announced this morning, with a British scientist and a Japanese scientist sharing the prize for medicine. John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka helped discover that specific and mature cells "can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all...

Nobel Prize No Longer Worth What It Once Was

Award cut 20% after foundation gets poor return on investments

(Newser) - In the latest sign of the world's economic woes, the Nobel Foundation is slashing the value of its prizes for the first time since 1949. The winners of this year's prizes in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace and Economics will receive $1.1 million, down from $1.4...

Why Tolkien Wasn't Given Nobel Prize: Bad Writing

Jury member was not impressed with storytelling

(Newser) - His novels became classics, but back in 1961, JRR Tolkien's work wasn't good enough for the Nobel Prize committee. The Lord of the Rings author was nominated that year by fellow fantasy author CS Lewis, but the committee rejected him because his writing wasn't good enough, the...

2 Americans Win Nobel Prize in Economics

Thomas Sargent, Christopher Sims studied effects of tax cuts, interest rate hikes

(Newser) - Americans Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims won the Nobel economics prize today "for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced. The prize committee said the winners have developed methods for answering questions such as how economic growth and...

Liberian, Yemeni Women Win Nobel Peace Prize

Johnson Sirleaf, Gbowee, Karman to share prize

(Newser) - This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to three women the Nobel committee wants to reward for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work." The prize will be shared between Liberian leader Ellen Johnson...

Egyptian 'Facebook Girl' Could Win Nobel Tomorrow

Esraa Abdel Fattah organized protests, spent time in jail

(Newser) - She spent weeks in jail after organizing a key strike to protest the government; now, the Egyptian woman once known as “Facebook Girl” is up for the Nobel Peace Prize. But it’s not about her, Esraa Abdel Fattah tells the Christian Science Monitor . “If I win this,...

Nobel Prize for Literature Goes to Tomas Transtromer

Swedish poet probes mysteries of the human mind

(Newser) - Better luck next year, Bob Dylan . Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer was today awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for literature. The AP calls the 80-year-old a "perennial favorite" to win, and notes that Swedish journalists regularly camp outside his apartment in Stockholm on the big day in anticipation of victory....

Israeli Scientist Daniel Shechtman Wins Chemistry Nobel for Discovery of Quasicrystals
 Israeli Wins Chemistry Nobel 

Israeli Wins Chemistry Nobel

Daniel Shechtman discovered quasicrystals

(Newser) - Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry today for his discovery of quasicrystals, a chemical structure that researchers previously thought was impossible. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman's discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter. "It feels...

3 Americans Win Nobel for Finding Expanding Universe

Americans independently made same discovery

(Newser) - The universe isn't just expanding, it's expanding faster every day. Three American scientists who made that discovery have won the Nobel Prize in Physics today for their efforts, the AP reports. The men were split between two competing research teams during the 1990s, with Saul Perlmutter on one...

Whoops: Today's Nobel Winner Died on Friday

Foundation will award prize posthumously

(Newser) - Earlier today, the Nobel team announced this year’s winners for medicine ; hours later, it emerged that one of the three intended recipients, immune researcher Ralph Steinman, has been dead for three days, the BBC reports. "The news is bittersweet," said the president of Rockefeller University, where Steinman...

Immune System Researchers Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann, and Ralph Steinman Win Nobel Prize
 Immune System 
 Researchers 
 Win Nobel 
nobel prize for medicine

Immune System Researchers Win Nobel

International scientists paved the way to better vaccines

(Newser) - The week of Nobel Prize announcements has begun, and first up was medicine, which was awarded today. The winners: three researchers who have made key discoveries about the immune system. American Bruce Beutler, Luxembourg native Jules Hoffmann, and Canadian-born Ralph Steinman "have revolutionized our understanding of the immune system...

WikiLeaks Nominated for Nobel
 WikiLeaks Nominated for Nobel 

WikiLeaks Nominated for Nobel

Norwegian lawmaker calls it a 'natural contender'

(Newser) - A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated WikiLeaks for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, calling it “one of the most important contributors to freedom of speech and transparency” in the 21st century. Yesterday was the deadline for anyone not on the Nobel committee to submit nominees, according to Reuters . Snorre Valen,...

US Sizes Up ElBaradei
 US Sizes Up ElBaradei 

US Sizes Up ElBaradei

He hated Bush, and used to love Obama; where is he now?

(Newser) - Until now, Mohamed ElBaradei and Barack Obama have always had something of a bromance. When Obama won the Nobel Prize, ElBaradei praised his commitment to “restore moral decency.” When ElBaradei toured Latin America in 2009, he told each leader to “help President Obama succeed.” When Obama...

China Blocks CNN, BBC Ahead of Nobel Ceremony

It's standard policy for Beijing on sensitive subjects

(Newser) - Beijing appears to be blocking foreign media, with CNN, the BBC and a Norwegian news organization blacked out on the mainland the day before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. China hasn't stated it is doing so intentionally, but CNN and the like are frequently blacked out when dealing with sensitive...

China Convinces 19 Countries to Skip Nobel Ceremony

Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Afghanistan and others to stay home

(Newser) - The number of countries avoiding Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony has more than tripled in the last three weeks, from six to 19, as countries cave to pressure from China to snub the dissident. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Vietnam, the...

China to Europe: Boycott Nobel Ceremony

And intensifies the crackdown at home

(Newser) - China is leaning on European governments to skip the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo, and to refrain from issuing their usual statements of congratulations. In a diplomatic note to European embassies in Oslo, China argued that Liu is a criminal, and that the award interferes with...

US Presses China to Release Nobel Winner's Wife

Liu Xia says jailed husband has asked her to collect peace prize

(Newser) - China should allow the wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiabo to "move freely and without harassment," American diplomatic officials in Beijing say. Liu Xia has been under house arrest since meeting with her husband Sunday. Chinese authorities, infuriated by the award, have cut off her...

Obama Fed Nominee Wins Nobel in Economics

Shares award for work on unemployment

(Newser) - Americans Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen and British-Cypriot citizen Christopher Pissarides won the 2010 Nobel economics prize today for developing theories that help explain how economic policies can affect unemployment. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says the trio won the prestigious award "for their analysis of markets with...

Jailed Chinese Dissident Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Liu Xiabo praised for human rights struggle

(Newser) - Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiabo has been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Liu, China's best-known dissident, is serving an 11-year sentence for trying to subvert state power. He was detained in 2008 for co-authoring Charter 08, an open letter calling for democratic reforms. The Nobel committee praised Liu, who...

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