The Nobel Prize

"When I found my fascination for chemistry at the age of eleven, I thought that chemists can explain everything, since they look into the smallest parts of matter. This vision of an eleven-year-old proved, of course, to be wrong. We cannot explain everything. Nevertheless, I am very grateful and happy that in my career I had the chance to contribute to understanding a little bit more of the world we live in." - 2021 chemistry laureate Benjamin List List developed a new type of catalysis that builds upon small organic molecules. Catalysts are substances that accelerate chemical reactions, without becoming part of the final product. An important capacity of many such catalysts is the ability to build only one of two mirror image variants of a molecule. Such catalysts are used for example in pharmaceutical research and have made chemistry more environmentally friendly. Read his biography: https://bit.ly/3YMpi9X

Is it possible to predict the complex structure of proteins? Is it even possible to design our own proteins? The answer is yes to both those questions - thanks to the 2024 chemistry laureates. This year's chemistry laureates David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper cracked the code for proteins’ amazing structures. Baker succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins. Hassabis and Jumper developed an AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures. These discoveries hold enormous potential. Baker and his research group have produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors. With the help of Hassabis and Jumper's AI model, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can decompose plastic. Discover more about this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry: https://lnkd.in/dtReFeYp

RNA has multiple functions. Among these, messenger RNA (mRNA) carries genetic information from DNA to protein formation. RNA is often a single-stranded spiral, but also exists in double-stranded form. In 1998, Craig Mello (pictured) and Andrew Fire discovered through their studies of the roundworm C. elegans a phenomenon dubbed RNA interference. In this phenomenon, double-stranded RNA blocks mRNA so that certain genetic information is not converted during protein formation. This silences these genes, i.e. renders them inactive. The phenomenon plays an important regulatory role within a genome. Fire and Mellow were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2006. Read more: https://bit.ly/3eM8UBh

"We have to be elusive to continue in this art of fiction, we should never give up everything, but we should continue to give up something from the inner depths of our spirit, from our heart." Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk believes the writing that resonates most comes from the heart and telling an honest story. In his writing, Pamuk finds a way to discuss all kinds of identities. His imagination pulls characters and places together so readers can understand their similarities and differences. What do you think makes a story relatable? Learn more about Pamuk in this interview: https://bit.ly/3AkvZ3A #NobelPrize

On International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we highlight the work of 2019 economic sciences laureates Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. Their innovative research, based on field experiments, has developed new approaches to alleviating global poverty.

In 1993, chemistry laureate Moungi Bawendi revolutionised the chemical production of quantum dots, particle so tiny that their size determines their properties. One of their amazing uses is to create coloured light, now used in television screens and LED lamps - but to get there researchers needed to find a way to make perfect quantum dots of a very specific size. Bawendi started his postdoctoral training at his co-laureate Louis Brus’ laboratory in 1988, where intensive work was underway to improve the methods used to produce quantum dots. Using a range of solvents, temperatures and techniques, they experimented with a variety of substances to try and form well-organised nanocrystals. And the crystals were getting better, but were still not good enough. However, Bawendi did not give up. When he started working as a research leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, he continued his efforts to produce higher quality nanoparticles. The major breakthrough came in 1993, when the research group injected the substances that would form nanocrystals into a heated and carefully chosen solvent. They injected as much of the substances as was necessary to precisely saturate the solution, which led to tiny crystal embryos beginning to form simultaneously. Then, by dynamically varying the temperature of the solution, Bawendi and his research group succeeded in growing nanocrystals of a specific size. During this phase, the solvent helped give the crystals a smooth and even surface. The nanocrystals that Bawendi produced were almost perfect, giving rise to distinct quantum effects. Because the production method was easy to use, it was revolutionary – more and more chemists started working with nanotechnology and began to investigate the unique properties of quantum dots. Read the full story: https://bit.ly/3sJaETq

Needing some inspiration to help achieve your goals? Check out what these laureates said about about focus, failure, and the best time of day to get work done.

Which book by 2024 literature laureate Han Kang is your favourite? In her oeuvre, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose. Han Kang’s physical empathy for extreme life stories is especially reinforced by her increasingly charged metaphorical style. 희랍어 시간 ('Greek Lessons', 2023) from 2011 is a captivating portrayal of an extraordinary relationship between two vulnerable individuals. A young woman who, following a string of traumatic experiences, has lost the power of speech connects with her teacher in Ancient Greek, who is himself losing his sight. From their respective flaws, a brittle love affair develops. The book is a beautiful meditation around loss, intimacy and the ultimate conditions of language. Read more about Han Kang's literary world: https://lnkd.in/gtAQ2j9x

“I think it will have a huge influence. It will be comparable with the industrial revolution. But instead of exceeding people in physical strength, it’s going to exceed people in intellectual ability. We have no experience of what it’s like to have things smarter than us and it’s going to be wonderful in many respects. In areas like healthcare, it’s going to give us much better healthcare.” - Geoffrey Hinton at the press conference last week when it was announced that he shared this year's physics prize with John Hopfield, for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks. Hinton is sometimes described as the "Godfather of AI" and he helped lay the foundation for the machine learning revolution that started around 2010. Read more about the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics: https://lnkd.in/eh_eWRHC