Who Won the 2012 Nobel Prizes? Part 3

Welcome to the latest Science for Writers post. Last time we discussed the Nobel Prize winners in Medicine and Literature. In this post I will be discussing the Nobel Prizes in Peace and Economic Sciences.

I have put important words in bold. These words are important in science and I will refer to them throughout the post. It isn't overly important for you to know the exact meaning, so long as you get the gist of what I'm talking about you will be fine following this post.

Writing Links are in italics and these discuss how the science could be used in writing.

Peace

As these posts are more about science, I won't be spending too long on the Peace Prize, which this year went to the European Union that  'for over six decades [has] contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe'.

EU Countries
Image Courtesy of Euro-Dollar-Currency

World War II saw many deaths and truly highlighted the 'need for a new Europe'. Germany and France had been at war 3 times in the space of just seventy years, but now, thanks to the EU, the thought of the two being at war is 'unthinkable'.

The EU gained Greece, Spain and Portugal in the 198s which meant they all had to have a democracy. Having a democracy is one of the key requirements to joining the EU. When the Berlin Wall fell, EU membership became possible for many Central and Eastern European countries. This has been dubbed as the opening of a new era for the EU.

Next year Croatia will join the EU on the 1st of July 2013 and will be the 28th country to do so. In addition Montenegro and Serbia are both candidate countries with the potential of becoming members in the future. This is dais to be 'strengthening' reconciliation in the Balkans.

Who Won the 2012 Nobel Prizes? Part 2

Welcome to the latest Science for Writers post. Last time we discussed the Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry and Physics. In this post I will be discussing the Nobel Prizes in Medicine/Physiology and Literature.

I have put important words in bold. These words are important in science and I will refer to them throughout the post. It isn't overly important for you to know the exact meaning, so long as you get the gist of what I'm talking about you will be fine following this post.

Writing Links are in italics and these discuss how the science could be used in writing.

Medicine or Physiology

This year the prize was in Medicine and was awarded to Sir John B. Gurdon of the UK, and Shinya Yamanaka of Japan for 'the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent'.

In easier terms, this means they have found that cells in the adult body can be changed to be able to become any type of cell we want (with limitations).

It had previously been thought that a developing foetus had many pluripotent (stem) cells and these then specialised to become skin, muscle, nerve cells, etc... It had always been a forward process. It was thought not to ever go backwards. There are some animals which can regrow lost limbs because they have stem cells, but that is a limited ability.

Who won the 2012 Nobel Prizes? Part 1

Welcome to the latest Science for Writers post. Last time we discussed The Placebo Effect. This week we are entering the realm of prized scientists with a look at the Nobel Prize winners for 2012. This is the first of a 3-part su-series looking the 6 Nobel Prizes this year. This week we look at the Physics and Chemistry Prizes.

I have put important words in bold. These words are important in science and I will refer to them throughout the post. It isn't overly important for you to know the exact meaning, so long as you get the gist of what I'm talking about you will be fine following this post.

Writing Links are in italics and these discuss how the science could be used in writing.

About the Prize

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish who was interested in science, social and peace issues, and other technical stuff. He is perhaps best known for his work on trinitroglycerin (TNT) in the late 1800s. He died in 1869 and left a large sum of money in his will for a new prize. The Nobel Prize.

Despite the prize being for advances in science it wasn't until 5 years after his death the first prize was awarded. The reason was his family didn't agree with the amount of money being left for the prize.

Part of the will was as follows: