Nobel Prize 2020 Winners Announced!
The winners of the various prizes have been announced! We have, once again, gathered up highlights of each of the STEM related awards. This way you can keep up to date with the latest contributions that these men and women have dedicated their life to.
Prize in Physiology and Medicine 2020
On Monday October 5th, it was announced that three scientists would be awarded the prize. Those three scientists are Michael Houghton, Charles M. Rice, and Harvey J. Alter. All three of them have been working on finding the cause of why Hepatitis A and B had so many cases that no one could explain. They discovered the reason why people could not explain these blood-borne cases. They cases had a completely new virus called Hepatitis C. This discovery has led to new medicines and being able to cure this virus through blood tests. Because of their discovery, they have saved millions of lives and will continue to better the health of people all over the world.
Prize in Physics 2020
The physics award was given to Reinhard Genzel, Andrea M. Ghez, and Roger Penrose on the 6th of October. Roger Penrose worked independently compared to the duo Reinhard Genzel and Andrea M. Ghez. Each of them proved information about the formation of a black hole. Penrose proved the existence of black holes through relativity. While Genzel and Ghez proved that an invisible, hughnormously heavy object in at the center of our galaxy. This object controls the stars that orbit around it with the only explanation of there being a black hole in our galaxy. They found this information by creating a new method of looking through the worlds biggest telescope. Uncovering this information will lead to more advancements in the physics industry and will further explain black holes in the future.
Prize in Chemistry 2020
This award was jointly awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna on October 7, 2020. They created a genetic scissor called CRISPR/Cas9. This genetic tool is used for destroying DNA with upmost precision and delicacy. This genetic instrument was created by discovering tracrRNA which had traces of CRISPR/Cas that eliminate a virus’s harmful nature. CRISPR/Cas9 can be used to help plant researchers and medicine. The tool can be used for developing stronger crops and curing inherited diseases. This advancement will help both feed and heal mankind.
Noble Prize in Literature 2020
The sole winner of this prize is Louise Glück and was awarded on Thursday, October 8, 2020. She was given this achievement for her dedication and work in poetry. Her words made individuals feel beauty is existence and all around us. Empowering those who would read her work and make a more lasting impact on people.
Peace Prize 2020
The winner of the 2020 Noble Peace Prize is the World Food Programme. This organization was given the prize of October 9th for their efforts in trying to stop world hunger. They are the UN’s primary partner for aiding the hunger. Despite their efforts, in 2019 there was a severe increase of people who had suffered from hunger due to the rise of war, conflict, and coronavirus. Because of these difficult times World Food Programme knew that they needed to increase their efforts to help people from dying of starvation. They know that hunger is a powerful force to war and knew they had to act fast to try and hinder anymore violence. This organization not only increased their efforts into aiding the hunger but also their humanitarian efforts. The nations wanted to show their support by giving them the Noble Peace Prize based on their work towards a more peaceful world for everyone.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred 2020
On the 12th of October, the winners of this award were announced. Paul Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson were given this amazing achievement. They discovered an application that can be used around the world to help all of society. This application benefits the sellers in an auction. Wilson created a theory called the common value meaning that in the end is the same for everyone. Sellers are worried that they will overpay and not get their moneys worth. Milgrom created a different theory, called private values. This theory meaning that each person has different values from the next person. This in a beneficial theory to sellers because they can get buyers to pay more from giving more information about what they are actually buying. These theories have helped society by increasing the buyers satisfaction of the purchase(s) and not focusing on solely profits.
Who was Alfred ?
Alfred (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 1833. His family was descended from Olof Rudbeck, the best-known technical genius in Sweden in the 17th century, an era in which Sweden was a great power in northern Europe. was fluent in several languages, and wrote poetry and drama. was also very interested in social and peace-related issues, and held views that were considered radical during his time. Alfred ’s interests are reflected in the prize he established upon his death in his will, which you can see in the except below:
“All of my remaining realizable assets are to be disbursed as follows: the capital, converted to safe securities by my executors, is to constitute a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The interest is to be divided into five equal parts and distributed as follows: one part to the person who made the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics; one part to the person who made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who, in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction; and one part to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry are to be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiological or medical achievements by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm; and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that when awarding the prizes, no consideration be given to nationality, but that the prize be awarded to the worthiest person, whether or not they are Scandinavian.”