nobel

Filmmaking at the atomic level? IBM nets Guinness world record

If you're looking to attract attention, setting a Guinness World Record is probably a good way to start.

That was the goal -- attracting attention, that is -- for a group of IBM Research scientists who recently set out to make what turned out be the Guinness World Record-certified smallest stop-motion film ever.

Called "A Boy and His Atom," the animated film features a small boy having a good old time as he bounces around, playing catch, and dancing. The twist? The film was shot at the atomic level and features 130 atoms that were painstakingly placed, atom by atom, as the researchers shot 250 individual frames. The images were created at a temperature of negative 268 degrees Celsius and were magnified 100 million times. … Read more

Want a Nobel? Forgo glasses, shave, wait till you're 60

When I interviewed Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka back in 2008, I had an inkling he'd win the Nobel Prize one day for his work on stem cells. I didn't pay any mind to his appearance or background.

Yamanaka shared the Nobel in physiology or medicine this week with Britain's John Gurdon for their groundbreaking work on changing adult cells into stem cells, which can become any type of cell in the body.

It turns out that Yamanaka defied the odds. He was born in September, he's 50, bespectacled, and Japanese. According to a historical survey of Nobel laureates by the BBC, which goes back to 1901, those aren't favorable characteristics. … Read more

Nobel Prize in physics awarded for work in quantum optics

Two researchers received the Nobel Prize in physics today for their work in manipulating single particles of light or matter -- advancements that could help build a new type of super-fast computer based on quantum physics.

Serge Haroche of France and David J. Wineland of the United States independently developed methods for measuring and manipulating individual particles while preserving their quantum-mechanical nature. The Nobel citation said such advancements, which allow researchers to directly observe individual quantum particles without destroying them, were previously thought unattainable.

"For single particles of light or matter the laws of classical physics cease to apply … Read more

Ig Nobels celebrate ponytail math, shut up gun

If you've ever wondered what makes your ponytail sway from side to side, you're not alone. Researchers who unraveled the mysterious math behind human ponytails have been recognized with an Ig Nobel prize for their contribution to science.

As I predicted they would back in February, Joseph Keller, Raymond Goldstein, Patrick Warren, and Robin Ball took home the humorous accolade for their study in Physical Review Letters, which describes a hairy equation governing locks.

The Ig Nobels are handed out in a ceremony at Harvard University and honor research that first makes you laugh, and then makes you think. … Read more

Solved! The mysterious math of ponytails

Does your coif suffer from orientational disorder? Have you checked the gravitational effects on your locks lately? Can you solve the differential equation in your beehive?

Well, scientists now can. Pioneering British researchers have succeeded in formulating an equation that unravels the deep physics mysteries of that great frontier of science, human ponytails.

In a study that screams Ig Nobel Prize, the researchers from the University of Cambridge, the University of Warwick, and Unilever published a hirsute equation that for the first time describes how hairs hang together and predicts the form of a ponytail.

"We identify the balance of forces in various regions of the ponytail, extract a remarkably simple equation of state from laboratory measurements of human ponytails, and relate the pressure to the measured random curvatures of individual hairs," Raymond Goldstein, Robin Ball, and Patrick Warren write in Physical Review Letters.

You'd think these boffins went a-hunting for ponytails in the wild and examined specimens back in the lab. That was probably too hairy a prospect. … Read more

Ig Nobels honor study of horny beetles, why we sigh

Papers on sexually confused beetles, why people sigh, and a patent for a wasabi emergency alarm were among the scientific research projects receiving Ig Nobel prizes last night in a ceremony at Harvard University.

Presented by the science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research," the awards have been given out for the past two decades to honor achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think," according to a statement from the organizers.

The biology prize was given to a team or researchers for discovering that certain types of beetles try to mate with … Read more

WikiLeaks, Net nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

WikiLeaks and the Internet are among the 241 nominees for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel nomination comes as Julian Assange, the spokesman for the secret-sharing site, is facing possible extradition to Sweden on sex-related charges, and a criminal probe on likely espionage charges is underway in the Washington, D.C., area.

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize may come from any professor of "social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology," in addition to national governments and former Nobel Peace Prize recipients, under the rules of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Previous Nobel Peace Prize winners have included … Read more

Graphene research yields Nobel Prize in physics

Two researchers received the Nobel Prize in physics today for their work on graphene, a super-thin sheet of carbon atoms that has unusual and potentially useful properties.

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, currently professors at the University of Manchester, won the top physics prize for their work on isolating graphene from graphite--a more ordinary form of carbon used in pencils--and characterizing its behavior.

Graphene holds potential for profoundly transforming materials science--everything from computer chips and flexible displays to solar cells and lighter aircraft. Such products aren't on the verge of hitting store shelves, but the research is active--for example, … Read more

Ig Nobels honor research on cursing, bat sex, socks

The next time you get injured, go ahead and swear.

Researchers who found that cursing actually relieves pain were among the winners of Ig Nobel prizes today. Also honored were projects on whale snot and certain things fruit bats do while copulating.

Sponsored by the science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research," the annual awards were presented tonight in a ceremony at Harvard University to projects that "cannot and should not be reproduced."

The Ig Nobel peace prize was awarded to research from Keele University in the U.K. that confirmed that swearing can lessen pain. … Read more

Tech pioneers win 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded for "two revolutionary optical technologies."

Charles K. Kao, who discovered how to transmit light through fiber optics, and the team of Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, who designed the first digital-imaging sensor, split the Nobel Prize, announced by the Nobel Foundation on Tuesday.

Born in Shanghai, Charles K. Kao made a discovery in 1966 that would lead to today's fiber optics. A man ahead of this time, Kao calculated how it would be possible to transmit light over 100 kilometers (62 miles), compared to only 20 … Read more