(SOURCE; THE HINDU)
PHYSICS
The Nobel Prize for physics in 2013 has been awarded to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert, a Briton and a Belgian, "for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider".
Almost 50 years ago in 1964, Englert and Robert Brout, who died in 2011, and Peter Higgs independently published their work in the span of a few days. They had described a mechanism making use of what was known about particle physics at that time to try to answer a perplexing problem: How do particles acquire mass?
Higgs and Englert hypothesised a quantum field, which is a distribution of some energy, throughout the universe. When the field is disturbed, waves travel through it. The dimmest possible wave is called a particle. In this field, since called a Higgs field, the associated particle is called the Higgs boson.
For physicists, finding the Higgs boson meant that the Higgs field exists. And because of the Higgs field and its properties, any fundamental particles that wade through it cause Higgs bosons to clump around the particles. This clumping causes the particle to acquire energy and, therefore, mass.
The existence of the Higgs boson was confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider, near Geneva, Switzerland, over the last year. On July 4, 2012, first hints of the boson's existence were spotted at the collider. Ever since, a series of tests on the particle have yielded confirmation, establishing Higgs's and Englert's work as a cornerstone of modern particle physics.
Through an Edinburgh University statement, where Higgs is an emeritus professor, he said he was overwhelmed to receive the award and congratulated "all those who have contributed to the discovery of this new particle and to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their support. I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research."
CHEMISTRY
Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel won this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for laying the foundation for the computer models used to understand and predict chemical processes.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their research in the 1970s has helped scientists develop programmes that unveil chemical processes such as the purification of exhaust fumes or the photosynthesis in green leaves.
“The work of Karplus, Levitt and Warshel is ground—breaking in that they managed to make Newton’s classical physics work side-by-side with the fundamentally different quantum physics,” the academy said. “Previously, chemists had to choose to use either/or.”
Karplus, a U.S. and Austrian citizen, is affiliated with the University of Strasbourg, France, and Harvard University. The academy said Levitt is a British, U.S., and Israeli citizen and a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Warshel is a U.S. and Israeli citizen affiliated with the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Warshel told a news conference in Stockholm by telephone that he was “extremely happy” to be awakened in the middle of the night in Los Angeles to find out he had won the prize and looks forward to collecting the award in the Swedish capital in December.
“In short what we developed is a way which requires computers to look, to take the structure of the protein and then to eventually understand how exactly it does what it does,” Warshel said.
MEDICINE
Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman and German-born researcher Thomas Suedhof won the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries on how hormones, enzymes and other key substances are transported within cell.The Nobel committee said their research on “vesicle traffic” the transport system of our cells helped scientists understand how “cargo is delivered to the right place at the right time” inside cells.
Disturbances to the system can contribute to diabetes and neurological and immunological disorders, the committee said.
Dr. Rothman, 62, is a professor at Yale University while Dr. Schekman, 64, is at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Suedhof, 57, joined Stanford University in 2008.
“My first reaction was, “Oh, my God!” said Dr. Schekman in a statement released by Berkeley. “That was also my second reaction.”
The university said Dr. Schekman’s research led to the success of the biotechnology industry. Dr. Schekman studied normal and defective yeast to identify the process of vesicle transport, the university said.
The Nobel committee said Dr. Schekman discovered a set of genes that were required for vesicle transport, while Dr. Rothman revealed how proteins dock with their target membranes like two sides of a zipper. Dr. Suedhof found out how vesicles release their cargo with precision.
“These discoveries have had a major impact on our understanding of how cargo is delivered with timing and precision within and outside the cell,” the committee said.
Dr. Rothman and Dr. Schekman won the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their research in 2002: an award often seen as a precursor of a Nobel Prize.
The medicine prize kicked off this year’s Nobel announcements. The awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics will be announced by other prize juries this week and next. Each prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million).
Established by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prizes have been handed out by award committees in Stockholm and Oslo since 1901. The winners always receive their awards on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.
Last year’s medicine award went to Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka for their contributions to stem cell science.
