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Dark matter, new planets could bring physics Nobel
2008-10-07
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Scientists who have pursued dark matter, hunted for undiscovered planets and advanced nanotechnology were being touted Monday as candidates for the 2008 Nobel Prize in physics. But the prize being announced on Tuesday is one of the toughest to predict given the complexity of science involved for an award encompassing a wide latitude of subjects. Karin Bojs, science editor of Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter, predicted the 2008 award would honor work to discover planets in other solar systems. Her top picks for researchers in that field who could take the prize were Aleksander Wolszczan of Poland, Canadian researcher Dale Frail and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. Bojs said other possibilities include Vera C. Rubin of the Carnegie Institution of Washington for her work on dark matter, material that makes up most of the universe yet can only be discerned by its gravitational effects. Researchers said there were dozens of scientists in the field of nanotechnology who could be seen as candidates for the prize. Whomever wins, it is likely to be someone who completed their primary work years ago and saw it serve as a foundation for future study. France's Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg won last year's prize for giant magnetoresistance, a discovery that has shrunk the size of hard disks found in computers, iPods and other digital devices. Alfred Nobel, the Swede who invented dynamite, established the prizes in his will in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. The economics prize is technically not a Nobel but a 1968 creation of Sweden's central bank. The awards include a $1.4 million purse, a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896. On Monday, three European scientists shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer. French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were cited for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, in 1983. They shared the award with Germany's Harald zur Hausen, who was honored for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women. ___ On the Net: http://nobelprize.org
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