The Nobel Prize

“The mind is capable of any selfishness and it thinks unworthy things whether you want to or not. Best to admit it is a bad child rather than to pretend it is always a good one. Because a bad child can improve but a good one is a liar and nothing can improve a liar.” - Nobel Prize laureate John Steinbeck in a letter to his third wife Elaine Scott dated 28 July 1949. Read the full letter: https://bit.ly/2MsxbbK

Around two decades after it was first isolated, graphene - a thin flake of ordinary carbon, just one atom thick – could revolutionise everything from materials science to quantum physics.  Graphene is 100 times stronger than steel, more conductive than copper and transparent yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it. Ever since physics laureates Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov extracted the graphene from a piece of graphite - found in ordinary pencils - the race has been on to manufacture it in large enough quantities for applications in aerospace, consumer electronics, quantum physics and beyond. Progress is now being made. The wonder material is expected to accelerate the production of new consumer electronics that consume less energy. Due to its transparent and conductive properties, graphene could be used to make coatings for touch-screen displays and enable rollable e-paper, while electrodes made from the material or entirely new battery chemistries based on it, could increase charging speeds for phones and electric vehicles. It is also hoped the conductive material could be used to maintain the march of progress in the chip and electronics industry by using it to make ever smaller transistors. Scientists have already demonstrated a graphene transistor gate roughly the size of a single carbon atom. Aerospace engineers swiftly grasped the potential of graphene and while carbon fibre has enabled planes to become faster, greener and cheaper, incorporating graphene into existing materials to replace steel frames, for example, could improve performance again. Learn more about the laureates who discovered graphene: https://lnkd.in/er473iTG

“My philosophy is that you cannot make new discoveries behind the office desk, you make them in your fume hood.” Chemistry laureate Morten Meldal talks about his love of science and making discoveries in his official Nobel Prize interview. Watch here: https://bit.ly/3XXyg1O

Take a look at Albert Einstein's abgangszeugnis (diploma) that he received 124 years ago. Einstein got the diploma after completing his studies at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich during 1896-1900. More documents regarding Albert Einstein via ETH Zürich: https://bit.ly/3hJ1oF8

”If they are reading their magazines by the million, then I want my stories there rather than in magazines read only by a few. For story belongs to the people. They are sounder judges of it than anyone else, for their senses are unspoiled and their emotions are free.” In her Nobel Prize lecture, novelist Pearl Buck spoke about her desire for her writing to reach as many people as possible. Discover more about Pearl Buck: https://lnkd.in/ddDwwTM

“I was in the right place at the right time and I had the right interests and skills to do more than just pass it by.” Robin Warren, who was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, has died aged 87. Warren, alongside his collaborator Barry Marshall discovered that the bacteria Helicobacter pylori could cause gastric ulcers, at a time when accepted wisdom was that bacteria did not grow in the stomach. Their work means that today peptic ulcer disease is no longer a chronic, frequently disabling condition, but can be cured easily with a course of antibiotics. Read more about Robin Warren, his life and his work in his Nobel Prize biography: https://bit.ly/3SovdOh

“Ptolemy made a universe which lasted 1,400 years. Newton also made a universe, which have lasted 300 years. Einstein has made a universe and I can’t tell you how long that will last.” Literature laureate George Bernard Shaw pays tribute to physics laureate Albert Einstein at a speech at the Savoy Hotel in London, England, 27 October 1930. Shaw was awarded the 1925 ‪Nobel Prize‬ in Literature "for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty."

Take a look at this wedding photo from 26 July 1895 of the most renowned couple in the history of the Nobel Prize: Marie Skłodowska and Pierre Curie – co-recipients of the 1903 physics prize for their research on radioactivity (along with Henri Becquerel). Instead of a bridal gown, Marie wore a dark blue outfit that would serve her for many years as a laboratory outfit. The couple were given money as a wedding present which they each used to buy a bicycle. Long, sometimes adventurous cycle rides became their way of relaxing. Their life was otherwise filled with work and study. Marie was awarded her second Nobel Prize in 1911, this time in the chemistry category, for her "advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element." She was the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize twice.

Did you know Philip Noel-Baker is the only person to have both an Olympic and Nobel Prize medal? Noel-Baker was a British diplomat and amateur athlete who was passionate about disarmament. He won a silver medal for the 1,500 metres during the 1920 Summer Olympic Games. Thirty-nine years later he followed it up with a gold medal - the Nobel Peace Prize, for his lifelong work towards peace and cooperation both during and between the wars of the 20th century. Learn more about Noel-Baker: https://bit.ly/3kmiEAc #NobelPrize

Is your birthday worthy of a Nobel Prize? Louise Brown’s was. Louise was the first IVF baby, born on this day in 1978. Her very existence was made by Nobel Prize laureate Robert Edwards, whose research enabled IVF. Although the media referred to Louise Brown as a "test tube baby", her conception took place in a petri dish. By removing an egg from the woman, allowing it to be fertilised in a petri dish and then replacing it in the woman, Edwards explained how eggs mature and how sperm is activated, and in cooperation with gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, found a method for removing eggs from the ovaries. Louise Brown made history as the first child born as a result of in vitro fertilisation. Known as the ‘father of assisted reproductive technology,’ Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010, but two others may also have been recognised if they had lived longer. Steptoe and nurse and researcher Jean Purdy were also IVF pioneers and with Edwards, established Bourn Hall, the world’s first IVF clinic. Together, their work has helped millions of people bring new life into the world. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gzRp_xRP