Nobel Prize 2023

 

Nobel Prize 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recognising Groundbreaking Contributions To Humanity The world's highest and most prestigious award, the Nobel Prize, has acquired a formidable aura about them. This Prize has come to be regarded as the pinnacle of achievement. The Nobel Prizes often draw the most and widest attention because of the calibre of people and groups nominated and selected. Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the Swedish-born chemist, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, stipulated in his will that the bulk of his fortune was to be converted into a fund and used for prizes in five categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. The Prizes must go to those who "have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind," he wrote. Sweden's central bank added another prize for Economic Sciences in 1968 in memory of Nobel.

From 1901 to 2022, 989 laureates, including organisations, received Nobel Prizes. Only 60 have been women among them. Swedish institutions selected by Nobel are responsible for choosing most award recipients. The Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, administers these institutions. Every October, Nobel Committees in Sweden and Norway name laureates for the six Prizes, each recognising an individual's or organisation's groundbreaking contribution in a specific field. Winners receive a gold medal, a personal diploma created by Swedish and Norwegian artists and calligraphers, and a cash prize. The amount has changed over the years. For 2023, it is set at 11 million Swedish krona, or about $993,000, per Prize. As many as three people can share a Nobel Prize, and the Peace Prize can be awarded to groups.

 

 

PEACE

 

The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2023 to the Iranian woman activist, Ms. Narges Mohammadi, "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all". Ms. Mohammadi, still in prison, is the most prominent advocate of the rights of women jailed in Iran. "Her brave struggle has come with tremendous personal costs. Altogether, the Iranian regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes," the citation said. Referring to the September 2022 protests in Ms. Narges Mohammadi Iran, triggered by the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Jina Amini, in the custody of Iranian morality police, the Committee said, "The motto adopted by the demonstrators, "Woman - Life - Freedom", suitably expresses the dedication and work of Narges Mohammadi." Born in 1972 in Iran, Ms. Mohammadi studied Nuclear Physics. Coming from a political activist family, she currently serves multiple sentences in Tehran's Evin prison under the charges of "spreading anti-State propaganda" and defamation. However, she has been active from within the prison, warning of nationwide protests by sending letters about the state of prisons and detention centres, and violence against prisoners and detainees. The citation of the Nobel Prize reads: "Narges Mohammadi is a woman, a human rights advocate, and a freedom fighter. In awarding her this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour her courageous fight for human rights, freedom, and democracy in Iran."

 

 

PHYSICS

 

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics to three scientists-Mr. Pierre Agostini, Mr. Fernc Krausz and Ms. Anne L'Huillier for their pioneering work in developing a way to study the behaviour of electrons in atoms during the tiniest of split seconds. Mr. Agostini of the Ohio State University in the United States, Mr. Krausz of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany, and Ms. Anne (From left) Mr. Pierre Agostini, Ms. Anne L'Huillier and Mr. Fernc Krausz L'Huillier of Lund University in Sweden have been "recognised for their experiments, which have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. 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," the citation said.

In 1987, Ms. L'Huillier discovered that many different overtones of light arose when she transmitted infrared laser light through a noble gas. In 2001, Mr. Agostini succeeded in producing and investigating a series of consecutive light pulses, in which each pulse lasted just 250 attoseconds. At the same time, Mr. Krausz was working with another type of experiment that made it possible to isolate a single light pulse that lasted 650 attoseconds. The laureates' contributions have enabled the investigation of processes that are so rapid that they were previously impossible to follow. Their work has many potential applications in different areas. In electronics, for example, it is important to understand and control how electrons behave in a material. Attosecond pulses can also be used to identify different molecules, such as in medical diagnostics.

 

CHEMISTRY

 

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 to Mr. Moungi G. Bawendi, Mr. Louis E. Brus, and Mr. Alexei I. Ekimov for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots, which helped drive a revolution in nanotechnology. Mr. Bawendi is an American chemist of French and Tunisian descent, working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge. Mr. Brus is based at Columbia University, New York, and Mr. Ekimov is the Chief Scientist at Nanocrystals Technology, a New York-based company. The citation reads: "The Prize in Chemistry rewards the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties. These smallest nanotechnology components now spread their light from televisions and LED lamps and can also guide surgeons when they remove tumour tissue, among many other things." In the early 1980s, Mr. Ekimov succeeded in creating size- dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. The colour came from nanoparticles of copper chloride, and Mr. Ekimov demonstrated that the particle size affected the colour of the (From Left) Mr. Moungi G. Bawendi, Mr. Louis E. Brus and Mr. Alexei I. Ekimov. glass via quantum effects. A few years later, Mr. Brus was the first scientist in the world to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid. In 1993, Mr. Bawendi revolutionised the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be utilised in applications. Quantum dots are thus bringing the most significant benefit to humankind. In future, they could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and encrypted quantum communication.

 

MEDICINE

 

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to scientists Ms. Katalin Karikó and Mr. Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19, Ms. Karikó is an Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, and Mr. Weissman is the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research at the Perelman School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, USA. The citation reads: "Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed Our understanding of mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented how

rate of vaccine Mr. Drew Weissman and Ms. Katalin Karikó. development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.' After a chance meeting in the late 1990s while photocopying research papers, Ms. Karikó and Mr. Weissman began investigating mRNA as a potential therapeutic. In 2005, they published the fundamental discovery: mRNA could be altered and delivered effectively into the body to activate its protective immune system. In further studies published in 2008 and 2010, the two scientists showed that the delivery of mRNA generated with base modifications markedly increased protein production compared to unmodified mRNA. Through their discoveries, base modifications both reduced inflammatory responses and increased protein production. The mRNA-based vaccines elicited a robust immune response, including high levels of previously been encountered. antibodies that attack a specific infectious disease that has not

 

LITERATURE

 

The Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 to Norwegian author and dramatist Mr. Jon Fosse for "his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable". The Academy honoured Fosse's body of work written in Norwegian Nynorsk, which includes several plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children's books and translations. His works have been translated into more than 40 languages. He is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world. He has also been increasingly recognised for his prose. Mr. Fosse's writing style has come to be known as "Fosse minimalism" because of the way his pieces are pared down to their most simplistic versions. He has often been called the 'New Henrik Ibsen' after the iconic Norwegian playwright. The Academy compared him to Tarjei Vesaas, "his great forefather in Nynorsk literature." Mr. Fosse published his debut novel, 'Red, Black' in 1983, which explored the subject of suicide. His first play, 'And We Will Never Be Parted', was produced and published in 1994. His European debut as a dramatist was in 1999 with 'Someone Is Going to Come'. Mr. Fosse's individuality is completely apparent even in this early piece, with its themes of anxious anticipation and debilitating jealousy. While Mr. Fosse's writing shares his predecessors' pessimistic view, his worldview does not culminate in a nihilistic disregard for the world. Indeed, his work is full of warmth and humour.