The Nobel Prize 2008

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2008
"author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization"

One of the most translated modern French authors, whose first novel appeared when he was only 23 years old. Due to his early experimentalist approach to novel, Le Clézio has been counted among the avant-garde writers, but actually his work is difficult to pin down. Le Clézio's themes are cross-cultural. He moves freely, without restriction, from one continent to another, fusing ideas and images from different kinds of literature and culture.

Some titles of his books are:
Desert
Le Rêve mexicain ou La Pensée interrompue
Le Deluge
Gens des nuages

Professor Harald zur Hausen, DSc MD

Professor Emeritus and recent Chairman and Scientific Director, German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany

"for the discovery of the causative role of papilloma viruses in cancer of the cervix which led to the development of a successful HPV vaccine"
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Francoise Barre-Sinoussi
Director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit, Institut Pasteur
(profile at the time of induction in 2006)

Professor Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of the virus responsible for AIDS, is totally dedicated as a scientist and human being to fighting this terrible disease.
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Dr. Luc Montagnier:
Montagnier was born in Chabris, near Tours, France. He studied natural sciences at the University of Poitiers and received his license of sciences from the University of Paris in 1955. In 1960 he qualified for his doctorate in medicine at the same university. Montagnier became research director of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 1974 and in 1985 professor at the Pasteur Institute.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008
"for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics"
"for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature"

Yoichiro Nambu, USA AND Makoto Kobayashi, Japan AND Toshihide Maskawa, Japan
half 1/2 of the prize quarter 1/4 of the prize quarter 1/4 of the prize

Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago
Chicago, IL, USA High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)

Tsukuba, Japan Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP), Kyoto University
Kyoto, Japan

"for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP"

Osamu Shimomura, Japan, Americans Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien

Osamu Shimomura

Osamu Shimomura was the first person to isolate GFP and to find out which part of GFP was responsible for its fluorescence. His meticulous research laid the solid foundations on which the GFP revolution was built. In 1960, shortly after he arrived in Princeton from Japan, Shimomura started studying the bioluminescence of the crystal jellyfish, Aequorea victoria.

Osamu Shimomura in the lab in the basement of his home. He is holding a sample of real GFP isolated from Aequorea victoria, not produced by bacteria. (Photo courtesy of Osamu Shimomura)

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Martin Chalfie

We are using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate aspects of nerve cell development and function. The wealth of developmental, anatomical, genetic, and molecular information available for C. elegans provides a powerful and multifaceted approach to these studies. Our work has focused on the study of a set of six neurons that are the sensory receptors for gentle touch (the touch cells), to address two questions: 1) How is neuronal cell fate determined? and 2) What is the molecular basis of mechanosensation, a sensory modality that underlies a variety of senses(e.g., touch, hearing, and balance)? We also work on neuronal degeneration, microtubule structure and function, and channel structure and function. Facilitating these studies is the development of new experimental methods, such as Green Fluorescent Protein and reconstituted GFP as gene and protein markers, a two component system (recCaspase) to selectively kill particular cells, and method to generate temperature-sensitive strains for virtually any C. elegans gene.

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Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D.

Roger Tsien's fascination with colors has revolutionized the fields of cell biology and neurobiology by allowing scientists to peer inside living cells and watch the behavior of molecules in real time. He is renowned for developing colorful dyes to track the movement of calcium within cells and has genetically modified molecules that make jellyfish and corals glow, creating fluorescent colors in a dazzling variety of hues. These multicolored fluorescent proteins have been used by scientists worldwide to track where and when certain genes are expressed in cells or in whole organisms. Now, Tsien is building on his fluorescent protein work to develop a novel way to image and possibly even deliver specially targeted drugs to cancer tumors.

Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2008
"for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity"

From the news:
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman won the Nobel economics prize on Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.

Krugman was the lone of winner of the 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) award and the latest in a string of American researchers to be honored.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences praised Krugman for formulating a new theory to answer questions about free trade.

In June 28th 2010 we can read in New York times:
Paul Krugmans article:
We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost - to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs - will nonetheless be immense. .........
.........And who will pay the price for this triumph of orthodoxy? The answer is, tens of millions of unemployed workers, many of whom will go jobless for years, and some of whom will never work again.

The crisis isn't the only scary thing going on. Something very ugly is taking shape on the political scene: As John McCain's chances fade, the crowds at his rallies are, by all accounts, increasingly gripped by insane rage.

It's not just a mob phenomenon - it's visible in the right-wing media, and to some extent in the speeches of McCain and Sarah Palin.

We've seen this before. One thing that has been sort of written out of the mainstream history of politics is the sheer insanity of the attacks on the Clintons - they were drug smugglers, they murdered Vince Foster (and lots of other people), they were in league with foreign powers. And this stuff didn't just show up in fringe publications - it was discussed in Congress, given props by the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, and so on.

What it came down to was that a significant fraction of the American population, backed by a lot of money and political influence, simply does not consider government by liberals (even very moderate liberals) legitimate. Ronald Reagan was supposed to have settled that once and for all.

What happens when Barack Obama is elected? It will be even worse than it was in the Clinton years. For sure there will be crazy accusations, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some violence. The next few years are going to be very, very tough.

by Paul Krugman, professor i ekonomi och Nobelpristagare 2008

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (born on June 23, 1937) is a former President of Finland (1994-2000) and a United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.

His most recent appointment was as UN Special Envoy at the Kosovo status process negotiations, aimed at resolving a long-running dispute in Kosovo which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Later that year He is now rewarded the Nobel prize "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".

Alfred Nobel Swedish Inventor Manufacturer and Prize-Giver Giclee Print
42 in. x 56 in.




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The City Hall of Stockholm is one of the most beautiful buildings. Here are the celebration of the Nobel Festivities every year 10th of December


It is a big event and is followed by Swedish television. The guests are eating, dancing and visiting. The whole royal family is present.

The china is especially designed for this event.