What a link between chocolate and Nobel prizes reveals about our trust in scientists

Research shows how failing to engage the public can lead scientists' work to be inaccurately reported and interpreted.

Katrine Donois, PhD Candidate in Science Communication., Anglia Ruskin University • conversation
Oct. 29, 2020 • ~8 min

Remembering Mario Molina, Nobel Prize-winning chemist who pushed Mexico on clean energy -- and, recently, face masks

Molina, who died on Oct. 8, 'thought climate change was the biggest problem in the world long before most people did.' His research on man-made depletion of the ozone layer won the 1995 Nobel Prize.

Elena Delavega, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Memphis • conversation
Oct. 10, 2020 • ~6 min

Nobel Peace Prize spotlights the links between hunger and conflict

Over 820 million people around the world go to bed hungry at night, and that tide is rising. For working to reverse it, the U.N. World Food Program has received the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

Jessica Eise, Postdoctoral Researcher, Purdue University • conversation
Oct. 9, 2020 • ~7 min

Nobel prize: who gets left out?

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were awarded the Nobel prize in chemistry for Crispr but they weren't the only key figures in its development.

Rebecca Owens, PhD Candidate in Intellectual Property Law, University of Liverpool • conversation
Oct. 8, 2020 • ~4 min

Nobel Prize for chemistry honors exquisitely precise gene-editing technique, CRISPR – a gene engineer explains how it works

The tools to rewrite the genetic code to improve crops and livestock, or to treat genetic diseases, has revolutionized biology. A CRISPR engineer explains why this technology won the Nobel, and its potential.

Piyush K. Jain, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida • conversation
Oct. 7, 2020 • ~8 min

Nobel Prize: how Penrose, Genzel and Ghez helped put black holes at the centre of modern astrophysics

Roger Penrose helped resurrect Einstein's general theory of relativity, and Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez showed there was a black hole in the middle of our galaxy.

Andrew King, Professor of Astrophysics, University of Leicester • conversation
Oct. 7, 2020 • ~6 min

Want to solve society's most urgent problems? Cash prizes can spur breakthroughs

Society has never faced more pressing challenges. Researchers are investigating how monetary prizes can help focus innovators' attention, creativity and investment on finding solutions.

Luciano Kay, Research Associate at the Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research, University of California, Santa Barbara • conversation
Oct. 1, 2020 • ~9 min

Nobel Prizes have a diversity problem even worse than the scientific fields they honor

With 3% of science Nobels going to women and zero going to Black people, these awards are an extreme example of how certain demographics are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College • conversation
Sept. 29, 2020 • ~8 min

Sexism pushed Rosalind Franklin toward the scientific sidelines during her short life, but her work still shines on her 100th birthday

Franklin was born a century ago, and her X-ray crystallography work crucially contributed to determining the structure of DNA.

Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University • conversation
July 20, 2020 • ~8 min

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