The next Nobel week opened on October 3 in the Swedish capital Stockholm. The Nobel Committee has already announced the laureate in the field of physiology and medicine. Tomorrow and the rest of the days, the winners in physics, chemistry, economic sciences, literature, and the Nobel Peace Prize will be named. Who has already received the prize, what is it for, and do Russian scientists receive the prize this year? Details - in the material Federal News Agency.
How to get a Nobel Prize
Within a week, the world community will learn the names of laureates in various fields of science. This year, the number of nominees for the Nobel Prize is a record - almost 380 people, last year there were less than a hundred. The committee keeps the names of the nominees in strict confidence, but some information still leaked to the media. It is known, for example, that a former US intelligence agent is claiming the Peace Prize. Edward Snowden and even Pope Francis.
How to get a Nobel Prize? The answer is simple: get selected. It is not easy and consists of several stages. Moreover, most of the selection stages are classified, and you can learn about the criteria for choosing a particular scientist only after 50 years. It is known that initially several thousand prominent scientists from different countries are looking for applicants, who are sent personal invitations. Then the list is greatly narrowed and reaches the Nobel committees. Each committee consists of five members nominated by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Karolinska Institute, the Swedish Academy and the Peace Committee. They determine the winner. The prize is awarded only to a living person, although if he dies after the announcement of the results, but before the actual presentation, he will still be considered a laureate.
Every year, various agencies try to predict who will win the Nobel Prize based on research citation ratings. However, the percentage of hits is small, but the experts are still trying. In particular. this year, the victory in the nomination "Medicine" is given in advance to one of the works of scientists who are trying to replace chemotherapy with immunotherapy.
Who got last year
The fundamental ideas of scientists about the universe destroyed the Japanese Takaaki Kajita and Canadian Arthur Macdonald, who showed that the smallest neutrino particle has a mass, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics. The Swedish Chemistry Prize was awarded for joint research on DNA repair. Thomas Lindahl, American Paul Modric and Turk Aziz Sankar. British professor wins Nobel Prize in Economics Angus Deaton who has done extensive work in research on consumption, wealth and poverty
Finally, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich, and the National Dialogue Quartet in Tunisia was declared the winner of the Peace Prize.
2016 Nobel Prize Laureate
This year, the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to a professor from Japan. Yoshinori Ohsumi. He discovered the mechanism of autophagy. This terrible word hides the process of self-destruction of cell parts due to lysosomal degradation. More than 20 years ago, the scientist discovered the genes that are responsible for the process of autophagy, and began his research.
Osumi is 71 years old, has a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, and has received numerous awards in biology. He became the 25th Japanese Nobel laureate. The amount of money reward for the victory is eight million crowns or 932 thousand dollars. In total, the prize in the field of medicine was awarded 106 times. The youngest laureate in 1923 was a Canadian doctor Frederick Banting. He was 32 when he discovered insulin. The oldest recipient is an American pathologist Payten Rose: at the age of 87 he discovered oncogenic viruses.
Nobel Prize - Russians
It was the field of physiology and medicine that brought the first Nobel Prize to Russian scientists. In 1904, Ivan Pavlov received an award for his work on the physiology of digestion, in fact creating the science of higher nervous activity. Everyone remembers his experiments on dogs. Four years later, the Russian embryologist and immunologist Ilya Mechnikov received an award in this nomination. Together with a German doctor Paul Erlich He was awarded the Nobel Prize "for his work on immunity". If a little wider, then he was able to show his contemporaries how the body manages to defeat harmful microbes, which, it would seem, have already entrenched inside.
In terms of the total number of Nobel laureates, the United States is in the lead - 359 people, the second place is occupied by Great Britain - 121 people, Germany - 104 - the third. Russia has only 27 laureates. One of them is a writer Boris Pasternak, at first agreed to accept the award, but then, under pressure from the Soviet authorities, refused it.
TSKHINVAL, October 17 - Sputnik, Maria Sheludyakova. Determining the value of scientific knowledge is not as easy as it seems. The Lumiere brothers, who created the most successful system for recording and reproducing images, for example, did not believe in the future of cinema, and the designer Oliver Evans was not allowed to pantetate a steam locomotive, calling this idea an absurd fantasy.
Every year, the Nobel Committee selects hundreds of worthy scientists from various fields of science, and this choice often shows where the vector of scientific thought is directed, and, as a result, provides an opportunity to look into the world of the future.
The preferences of the Nobel Committee in 2016 confirmed that the science of the 21st century really strives for practical knowledge. The choice fell on those scientists whose research can be applied in practice (for example, to create a new gadget) and show what technologies will be like in the near future.
Many innovative ideas do not find practical application due to the fact that they appeared at the wrong time. Receiving the Nobel Prize suggests that the results of the noted research will most likely be implemented.
The main conclusion that can be drawn from the selection of the 2016 Nobel Laureates is that innovative discoveries occur at the molecular level.
Physics: quantum computers
Americans John Michael Kosterlitz, David Thuless and Briton Duncan Haldane received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their study of "strange" forms of matter. Scientists have studied changes in the properties of matter in various states of aggregation.
It would seem that the topic is "hackneyed" - but during the study, physicists used topology, which helped to explain, for example, the occurrence of superconductivity (lack of electrical resistance). Scientists have explored topological transitions and topological phases of matter, thereby "opening the door to an unknown world" in which matter can be in an unusual state. That is, not in the solid, liquid, gaseous, or plasma state.
One of the winners of the award, Duncan Haldane, was very surprised to receive the award: "When I started working on the topic in the late 80s, I did not think that it could be used in any way." Currently, experts do not exclude that the knowledge gained about materials can be useful for creating quantum computers, which will mark a new generation of electronics.
Chemistry: "molecular" energy storage systems
The 2016 Chemistry Prize was awarded to Dutchman Bernard Fehring, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Scotsman James Fraser Stoddart for the development and creation of molecular machines. Chemists used molecules as building blocks and created miniature devices out of them.
Jean-Pierre Savage is a pioneer in the field of mechanical interlocking of molecular architectures. The report of the Nobel Committee says that research in the field of miniaturization in technology has brought chemistry to a new dimension and will soon make a real revolution.
Molecular machines are not visible even with microscopes. Of course, this is a new word in technology - such machines will be useful in the creation of new materials, sensors and energy storage systems.
Biology: Key to Parkinson's
The Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi was the first to learn about the Nobel Prize. He was noted for his study of the mechanism of autophagy - the destruction of "intracellular debris".
It is noteworthy that since 2011 the award in the field of medicine and physiology has not gone to one person - there have always been several biologists whose scientific interests lay in the same area. Osumi bet on an unpopular issue and didn't lose. By the way, over the past ten years, the number of works on this topic has increased hundreds of times.
Since the late 1980s, Osumi has been trying to understand how cells get rid of molecules that have become unnecessary. The biologist discovered lysosomes, special organelles that contained dilapidated fragments of other cellular structures, as well as autophagosomes - "carts" for transporting unnecessary cell fragments. It turned out that they are surrounded by a special membrane in which enzymes break down "garbage" into simple components.
The discovery can solve many serious problems in medicine. "Self-eating" helps cells compensate for the lack of resources - they begin to use their own energy reserves. Therefore, by stopping this process, it is possible to deplete the resources of the tumor, thereby stopping its development.
Moreover, Osumi's discoveries shed light on Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. They develop due to the accumulation of folded proteins in nerve cells - autophagosomes and lysosomes do not have time to decompose them.
Economics: theory for real business
British economist Oliver Hart received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2016 for his contribution to the development of contract theory. In addition to this theory, his research focuses on the theory of the firm, corporate finance and economics of law.
Hart collaborated on contract theory research with Bengt Holmström, a microeconomic theorist whose best known work is in incentive theory.
Scientists have developed new theoretical tools to understand the contracts that occur in real life. Their research became the basis for bankruptcy law.
The modern economy rests on numerous contracts, and new theoretical tools help to understand their real essence and avoid mistakes when concluding contracts.
Peace Prize: Political Manners
Many political scientists point out that the Nobel Committee is trying to influence world politics, but this desire looks naive.
Thus, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received the Peace Prize in 2016 for "efforts to end the country's more than half a century of civil war." Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, told RIA Novosti that the presentation of the Peace Prize to the head of Colombia is a compromise gesture that will not offend anyone.
“This is yet another strange decision, a naive desire to influence world politics. It immediately came to mind when the European Union received the prize in 2012. The EU undoubtedly deserved the peace prize, only not in 2012, but in 1958, when it was all launched and it was a great project, one of the greatest achievements of Europe,” believes the Chairman of the Presidium of the SVOP.
Judgment on Literature
Most of the gossip arose after the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Committee in 2016 noted one of the most famous and titled musicians in the world - Bob Dylan. But the majority agree - the boundaries of the literary prize have been expanded.
The Swedish Academy, which is responsible for awarding the Nobel Prizes, continues to break the mold in the field of literature. The choice of the committee caused a storm of indignation and indignant responses from those who consider Bob Dylan's poetry less "Nobel" than, for example, the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. However, there are those who, on the contrary, believe that Swedish academics have restored the reputation of the literary Nobel Prize.
On Thursday, October 13, the Nobel Committee awarded the Literature Prize. Laureate "for the creation of new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition" .
Nobel Week began on October 3rd. This year, 11 people will receive the award in six categories. The awards ceremony will take place in December. Nobel Prize winners in the RBC photo gallery.
Nobel Prize in Medicine - Yoshinori Ohsumi
Yoshinori Osumi, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, obtained a mechanism for cell degradation, or self-eating, and cell utilization. The phenomenon of autophagy was first discovered in the 1960s. Scientists have noticed that cells can destroy their own content, enclosing it in some kind of bag behind the membranes, where it was disposed of. It was Osumi who made a decisive contribution to understanding this process in a series of experiments in the 1990s. To do this, he first studied and described autophagy in baker's yeast, and then proved that a similar process occurs in human cells.
Osumi was born in 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan. In 1974 he graduated from the University of Tokyo, then studied in New York for several years, after which he returned to Japan, where he teaches at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Nobel Prize in Physics - Duncan Haldane
Duncan Haldane was born in 1951 in the UK. He teaches at the Faculty of Physics at Princeton University in the USA, is a member of the Royal Society of London and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Photo: Jeroen Van Kooten/University of Groningen via AP
Nobel Prize in Chemistry* – Bernard Feringa (Netherlands)
Bernard Feringa, Jean-Pierre Sauvage and James Fraser Stoddart. Scientists have managed to use the smallest molecules like the details of a designer and create miniature devices from them.
Feringa is vice-president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was born in 1951 in Barger Compascuum. Works in the field of stereochemistry, homogeneous catalysis and molecular nanotechnology.
*as part of a team of scientists
Nobel Prize in Chemistry - James Fraser Stoddart (USA)
James Fraser Stoddart is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society of London. He was born in 1942 in Edinburgh, works at Northwestern University (Chicago, USA), a specialist in supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology.
Peace Prize - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos received the award. On September 26, he managed to sign a ceasefire agreement with the FARC group. Thus, an end to the civil war, which has officially been going on since 1964, should be put to an end. As of 2012, 218 thousand people became its victims.
Nobel Prize in Economics - Bengt Holmström
Bengt Holmström and Oliver Hart were awarded the Economics Prize "for their contributions to contract theory". that occur in real life. Their research became the basis for the development of policies and institutions in many areas, including bankruptcy law and political constitutions.
Bengt Holmström was born in 1949 in Finland. Studied at the University of Helsinki and Stanford. From 1978 he taught at the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, and from 1980-1983 at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. For some time he was a professor at Yale University. Since 1994 he has been working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA.
Nobel Prize in Housekeeping - Oliver Hart
Oliver Hart was born in England in 1948. He graduated from King's College, Cambridge University, the University of Warwick and Princeton University, after which he worked for several years at Churchill College, Cambridge University, and then at the London School of Economics. In 1984 he moved to the United States, where he began working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then at Harvard, where he headed the economics department.
Nobel Prize in Literature - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan, one of the most famous and titled musicians in the world,.
In 2008, Dylan won the Pulitzer Prize "for his outstanding influence on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of exceptional poetic power."
Dylan was born in the USA in 1941 and became popular in the mid-60s. He is a multiple Grammy winner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2001 received an Oscar for his song Things Have Changed for the movie Geeks, which he wrote.
Tokyo Institute of Technology Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi. The Japanese scientist was awarded it for his fundamental work, which explained to the world how autophagy occurs - a key process for the processing and recycling of cellular components.
Thanks to the work of Yoshinori Ohsumi, other scientists have received the tools to study autophagy not only in yeast, but also in other living beings, including humans. Further research has shown that autophagy is a conserved process, and it occurs in much the same way in humans. With the help of autophagy, the cells of our body receive the missing energy and building resources, mobilizing internal reserves. Autophagy is involved in the removal of damaged cellular structures, which is important for maintaining normal cell function. Also, this process is one of the mechanisms of programmed cell death. Autophagy disorders may underlie cancer and Parkinson's disease. In addition, autophagy is aimed at combating intracellular infectious agents, for example, the causative agent of tuberculosis. Perhaps thanks to the fact that yeast once revealed to us the secret of autophagy, we will get a cure for these and other diseases.
In 2016, Nobel Week opened on October 3rd. By tradition, the laureates were named in six categories: for achievements in the field of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, economics, as well as for achieving success in the struggle for peace.
The award will be presented on December 10 at the Stockholm Philharmonic on the day of the death of Alfred Nobel. The laureates will receive a gold medal with a portrait of the founder of the award, a diploma and a monetary reward of 8 million crowns ($932,000).
All the winners and their discoveries are in the TASS material.
Physics
- The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to American scientists David Thouless, Michael Kosterlitz and Duncan Haldane "for their theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter." Scientists have discovered unexpected behavior of solid materials and used advanced mathematical methods to explain states unusual for matter - superconductivity and superfluidity. The discoveries of scientists can be applied in electronics, in particular, in the creation of superconductors and quantum computers.
Physiology and medicine
- In the field of medicine, the prize was awarded to Japanese professor Yoshinori Osumi for the discovery of the mechanism of autophagy - the natural process of "self-cleaning" of the cell of living organisms, that is, the destruction and processing of its internal components. Autophagy plays an important role in various physiological processes: it can destroy bacteria and viruses that have entered the cell, promote the development of the embryo, cells also use this mechanism to eliminate damaged proteins and organelles, which is important for counteracting aging. Mutations in genes that control autophagy can cause diseases such as Parkinson's disease and cancer.
Chemistry
- Jean-Pierre Sauvage, a Frenchman, Fraser Stoddart, a Briton working in the US, and Bernard Feringa, a Dutch scientist, were awarded the Chemistry Prize "for the design and synthesis of molecular machines." Scientists have created molecules whose movement can be controlled. With their help, you can manipulate single atoms and molecules, for example, transfer them from one place to another, bring them closer to form a chemical bond, or move away from each other to break it. The discovery can be used to improve the effectiveness of the treatment of various diseases, such as cancer. With the help of such molecules, scientists hope to develop ways to target disease foci without harming healthy parts of the body.
Economy
- The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström. Economists have created new theoretical tools in the field of a real assessment of contracts between participants in business processes, which make it possible to identify the "pitfalls" of contracts. The theory of contracts develops the theme of managing a company under the possibility of the presence of conditions for the asymmetry of information. This is a phenomenon present in the business environment, when the management of the enterprise, investors, as well as direct executors are differently aware of the situation on the market and the risks that the company bears. The studies of Hart and Holmström are important for various fields, in particular, economics, law, and state studies.
Peace Prize
- This year, a record 376 candidates were nominated for the Peace Prize. On October 7, the Nobel Committee awarded it to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos "for his determined efforts to bring an end to more than 50 years of civil war in the country." The armed conflict between the authorities and the rebels began in the 1960s. And only in 2016, the parties managed to reach a final agreement on its completion. During this time, 220 thousand Colombians died, almost 6 million people left their homes.
Literature
- The name of the laureate in the field of literature was the main surprise of this year. The award was given to poet and performer Bob Dylan "for creating poetic imagery in the great American song tradition." He became the first musician to be awarded the Nobel Prize in its history. Dylan is the author of The Times They Are a-Changin’ (Times, they change), Blowin "in the Wind, Like a Rolling Stone, recorded the albums The Freewheelin" Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited and others. In his country, Bob Dylan is popular not only as a musician, but also as a poet and prose writer.
