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The extraordinary life of Alfred Nobel

The Nobel prizes may be one of the most famous and prestigious awards in the world—but who was the man behind them? As I explain in my lectures about Alfred Nobel, the inventor and entrepreneur has left a lasting legacy ...

Winning the Nobel 'an earthquake', says Ruvkun

US scientist Gary Ruvkun, who on Monday won the Nobel Prize in Medicine with fellow American Victor Ambros for their discovery of microRNA, said winning the honor was like "an earthquake".

Publisher Springer Nature makes stock market debut

Leading academic publisher Springer Nature made its stock market debut Friday, one of the few initial public offerings in Frankfurt this year despite the exchange's strong performance.

2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount

Next week's Nobel Prize announcements will crown achievements that made the world a better place, a glimmer of optimism amid a spiraling Middle East conflict, war in Ukraine, famine in Sudan and a collapsing climate.

Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?

Artificial intelligence is already disrupting industries from banking and finance to film and journalism, and scientists are investigating how AI might revolutionize their field—or even win a Nobel Prize.

Researchers unpack sign language's visual advantage

Linguists have long known that sign languages are as grammatically and logically sophisticated as spoken languages—and also make greater use of "iconicity," the property by which some words refer to things by resembling ...

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Saturday Citations: Permian-Triassic mystery solved; cute baby sighted; the nine-day 2023 seismic event
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Backside breathing and pigeon bombers studies win Ig Nobel prizes
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Studies on pigeon-guided missiles, swimming abilities of dead fish among Ig Nobels winners
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First publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's collected poems offers new insights into author's personality
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This year's $890,000 Balzan Prizes awarded for research on aging, restorative justice, climate crisis
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Saturday Citations: Teen seals photobomb research site; cell phones are safe; serotonin and emotional resilience
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A mural honoring scientists hung in Pfizer's NYC lobby for 60 years. Now it's up for grabs
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US disinformation researcher laments 'incredible witch hunt'
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Researchers propose framework for contextual metadata
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First Nations people are three times more likely to die on the road. Here's how to fix Australia's transport injustice
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Saturday Citations: Corn sweat! Nanoplastics! Plus: Massive objects in your area are dragging spacetime
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Claw machine games are Rio de Janeiro's new public enemy
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Best of Last Week—How humans really killed mammoths, making AI systems smarter, mitochondria fling their DNA
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Saturday Citations: Tarantulas and their homies; how mosquitoes find you; black holes not mysterious at all
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World's second largest diamond found in Botswana
Mathematics
New research analyzes 'Finnegans Wake' for novel spacing between punctuation marks
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Saturday Citations: Citizen scientists observe fast thing; controlling rat populations; clearing nanoplastic from water
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Study sheds light on creative thinking
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Flood of 'junk': How AI is changing scientific publishing
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Saturday Citations: A rare misstep for Boeing; mouse jocks and calorie restriction; human brains in sync

Other news

Planetary Sciences
Webb allows researchers to use new method of finding atmospheres in distant planets
Plants & Animals
Male locusts serve as parasols for females during egg laying in the hot sun
Astronomy
Anti-glitches detected in gamma-ray pulsar PSR J1522-5735
Social Sciences
Study questions link between cooperation and societal benefits
Cell & Microbiology
Single-celled eukaryote employs unconventional cytoskeletal components for dynamic shape-shifting
Plants & Animals
Adding fall blooming plants may help both managed and wild bees in cities
Plants & Animals
Reconstruction of fruit fly's anterior visual pathway may lead to insights into animal navigation
Earth Sciences
Scientists explore geothermal energy potential in supercritical reservoirs
Earth Sciences
Research suggests Earth's oldest continental crust is disintegrating
General Physics
Nobel Prize in physics awarded to 2 scientists for discoveries that enabled machine learning
Plants & Animals
Documenting the impact of a fungal outbreak on a forest over half a century
Archaeology
Tunisian snail remains provide insights on a possible 7700-year-old local food tradition
General Physics
Detecting Planck-scale dark matter by leveraging quantum interference
Plants & Animals
Sperm whale departure linked to decline in jumbo squid population in Gulf of California
Biotechnology
Artificial proteasome offers insights for new trichomoniasis treatments
Planetary Sciences
Curiosity rover provides new insights into how Mars became uninhabitable
General Physics
Near-Earth asteroid data help probe possible fifth force in universe
Archaeology
Archaeologists use metabolites in bones to identify smokers from centuries ago
Analytical Chemistry
Efficient way to hydrogenate nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds developed
Astrobiology
Astronomers use Webb to probe a 'steam world' in the constellation Pisces

A quick look at the 2022 Nobel Prizes

The 2022 Nobel Prizes are being announced this week after secret deliberations by the award committees. Here's a look at which prizes have been announced so far, which ones are coming up and what's next for the winners.

Medicine Prize opens Nobel week clouded by war

Breast cancer discoveries and mRNA vaccines are seen as possible winners when the Nobel Medicine Prize kicks off a week of winner announcements on Monday, with this year's awards held under the shadow of war in Europe.

Nobel season is here: 5 things to know about the prizes

The beginning of October means Nobel Prize season. Six days, six prizes, new faces from around the globe added to the world's most elite roster of scientists, writers, economists and human rights leaders.

Can offering choice to researchers reduce researcher bias?

High-quality peer review has never been more important to validate the science we publish. With research integrity regularly hitting the headlines, especially since the COVID pandemic, publishers and reviewers play a pivotal ...