The Nobel Prize’s Post

“They do not discriminate between combatant and civilian, nor between battlefield and village. You cannot see them. You cannot smell them. And they offer no warning for the unsuspecting.” Chemical weapons have a long and dark history. World War One was the first example of their large-scale use. By the end of the war, a total of 124,000 tonnes of gas had been produced. 85,000 are reckoned to have lost their lives owing to chemical weapons, while almost 1.2 million were injured. Over time there were demands to bring an end to this method of warfare, but it was of little effect until a new Chemical Weapons Convention was drawn up, overseen by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which was formed on 29 April 1997. The mission of the OPCW is to achieve a world free of chemical weapons. As of 31 March 2024, 98% of the world’s population live under the protection of the convention and 100% of the world’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been destroyed. OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. Read their Nobel Prize lecture: https://bit.ly/3u3Wzh8

“Radiocarbon dating had its origin in a study of the possible effects that cosmic rays might have on the earth,” said Willard Libby. In 1949 he developed a method harnessing radioactive decay to determine the age of organic materials and revolutionised archaeology. His method has been used to solve historical mysteries and shed light on “the wilderness of prehistory”, and is known as radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating. Carbon is a fundamental component in all living material. In nature there are two variants: carbon-12, which is stable, and carbon-14, which is radioactive. Living organisms absorb both types of carbon. When an organism dies and the supply of carbon from the atmosphere ceases, the content of carbon-14 declines through radioactive decay at a fixed rate. Experts can accurately determine the age of organic materials up to 60,000 years old by counting carbon-14 atoms left in the materials. “You read statements in books that such and such a society or archaeological site is 20,000 years old. We learned rather abruptly these numbers, these ancient ages, are not known accurately,” Libby said in his Nobel Prize lecture. He initially tested his dating method on charred bread from Pompeii and a fragment of an ancient chest from Ancient Egypt. But carbon-14 dating has since been used to determine the real age of the Shroud of Turin and reveal more about Ötzi the Iceman, whose remarkable remains were found in the Alps, frozen for 5,300 years. As well as revolutionising the field of archaeology and shedding light on the history of humankind through the use of chemistry, Libby’s breakthrough has helped scientists understand Earth’s geology and changing climate, and reveal how our bodies work.

"I would find it very hard to write papers with people that I’m not friends with, that I don’t like to spend time with. I can’t be very close friends with all of them, but writing a paper is a vulnerable process. You share ideas, some of them are not going to work out, some of them are not good ideas, you make mistakes, so you need to have a fair amount of trust and a level of comfort with people to work with them." Guido Imbens was awarded the prize in economic sciences alongside his friends Joshua Angrist and David Card. He spoke to us about the importance of friendship: https://bit.ly/356U6bN

Elements occur as various isotopes, variations of elements with different atomic weights. American scientist Harold Urey wondered if the smallest atom, hydrogen, had other isotopes, and he calculated how they ought to be constituted if that were the case. In 1931, he discovered heavy hydrogen and named the new form of hydrogen deuterium. The name is formed from the Greek deuteros, which means "second", to denote the two particles composing the nucleus. According to the New York Times obituary, Urey once commented that at the time of the discovery, he thought that heavy hydrogen might eventually have practical use in "something like neon signs". Deuterium and tritium are the forms of hydrogen used as fuel in the hydrogen bomb. Deuterium, combined with oxygen as "heavy water", is also essential to operating some nuclear reactors. Urey was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Chemistry but refused to travel to Sweden because his wife was pregnant, so he delivered his Nobel Prize lecture the following year. Read his lecture: https://bit.ly/3KIVBN6

Jane Addams was a social work pioneer, feminist and peace maker. In 1910 Addams received the first honorary degree ever awarded to a women at Yale University. She dedicated her life to getting great powers to conclude peace agreements and helping the poor. She ran Hull House in Chicago with the mission "to institute and maintain educational and philanthropic enterprises, and to investigate and improve the conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago." After being nominated on 91 occasions for the Nobel Peace Prize, Addams was finally awarded the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize together with Nicholas Murray Butler. Addams became the second woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after Bertha von Suttner. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3gdYgSz Photo: Jane Addams, 1906. Painting by George de Forest Brush. Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of Mrs. Nancy Pierce York and Mrs. Grace Pierce Forbes.

When asked what his best quality is, physicist Pierre Agostini said “precision”. Perhaps this is not surprising if you consider he won the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 for helping to develop super short pulses of light. But Agostini wasn’t always quite so precise. “I remember once we had a glass setup in the lab. It had to be heated to a gas to purify the atmosphere inside. Once we were heating it, and I forgot went for lunch, and when we came back, it was melting. It was horrible! And it was all my fault… From that time, I think I've tried to be aware of things.” Watch to hear Agostini’s advice about recovering from failure: https://lnkd.in/eTEHQSg2

“It is always better if you have a diverse group with people coming from different countries and different genders. This really helps to have a more dynamic group,” says physics laureate Anne L’Huillier. “Of course, you can have your own ideas that pop up, but very often it’s […] within a group discussion.” She believes that having a group comprising people with different backgrounds and expertise is beneficial, as well as a good atmosphere to promote discussion and “where people are happy to be in that group and to contribute, [so they can] do great research”. Watch her Nobel Prize lecture to better understand L’Huillier’s research: https://lnkd.in/e2TMZunY

On 28 April 1962 Linus Pauling (shown left, holding sign) joined protesters in front of the White House to protest against the testing of nuclear weapons. After World War II Pauling, a celebrated scientist, was at the forefront of voices speaking out against the emerging nuclear arms race, despite his actions labelling him a suspected communist. Ultimately his efforts paid off – a treaty banning nuclear testing came into force on 10 October 1963. On the same day, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. It was his second award, having previously received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3k4g1n7

Albert Lutuli was Africa's first Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Lutuli was a Zulu Chief, teacher and trade unionist. He was known by his Zulu name Mvumbi, which means continuous rain. In 1952, Lutuli became president of the African National Congress (ANC) liberation movement. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence and became the spokesman for a civil disobedience campaign against South Africa's apartheid and racial segregation policies. He spearheaded several demonstrations and strikes against the white minority government. Lutuli was arrested along with other opponents of South Africa's racial segregation. He and other activists were subjected to government surveillance, imprisonment and abuse. At the time he received the Nobel Peace Prize, the South African government had banned him from travelling outside a fifteen-mile radius of his home. The government lifted this restriction for ten days so Lutuli and his wife could attend the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies in Oslo. Discover more Lutuli's incredible life: https://bit.ly/2BKS56m #FreedomDay