Nobel Prizes

Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 was awarded jointly to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources".
For more details on the science, see the article by M.V.N. Murthy in this issue.
Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 was awarded jointly to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy".
For a long time optical microscopy was held back by a limitation that scientists thought could not be overcome: that it would never obtain a better resolution than half the wavelength of the light that was used to illuminate the object. This means that if you shine yellow light on an object, with a wavelength of 5893A or about 0.6 microns, you could not see parts of it that were smaller than half this, or 0.3 microns. (One micron is 1/10^6 m). Helped by fluorescent molecules the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2014 ingeniously circumvented this limitation.
Two laser beams were used by Hell; one stimulates fluorescent molecules to glow, another cancels out all fluorescence except for that in a nanometre-sized volume. Scanning over the sample, nanometre for nanometre, yields an image with a resolution better than the above limit of a fraction of a micron. (A nanometre is 1/10^9 m).
That's not all: Betzig and Moerner, working separately, worked on single-molecule microscopy. The method relies upon the possibility to turn the fluorescence of individual molecules on and off. Scientists image the same area multiple times, letting just a few interspersed molecules glow each time. Superimposing these images yields a dense super-image resolved at the nanolevel.
Today, in this field of what has become known as nanoscopy, scientists visualize the pathways of individual molecules inside living cells. They can see how molecules create synapses (junctions) between nerve cells in the brain; they can track proteins involved in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases as they aggregate; they can follow individual proteins in fertilized eggs as these divide into embryos. New knowledge of greatest benefit to mankind is produced on a daily basis.
Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 was divided, one half awarded to John O'Keefe, the other half jointly to May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain".
How do we know where we are? How can we find the way from one place to another? And how can we store this information in such a way that we can immediately find the way the next time we trace the same path? This year's Nobel Laureates have discovered a positioning system, an "inner GPS" in the brain that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space. This means that we recognise places and their positions in space at a cellular level.
In 1971, John O'Keefe discovered the first component of this positioning system. He found that a type of nerve cell in an area of the brain called the hippocampus was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room. Other nerve cells were activated when the rat was at other places. O'Keefe concluded that these "place cells" formed a map of the room. But question still was - how would such a map be represented in the brain?
More than three decades later, in 2005, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered another key component of the brain's positioning system. When rats were moving in a room which had placed known to them, they saw a pattern of activity in a part of the brain near the hippocampus called the entorhinal cortex. They identified another type of nerve cell, which they called "grid cells", that make up a coordinate system that helps the rat navigate through the room. The coordinate system is like having a ruler attached to every direction in a room: two rulers along the two perpendicular directions on the floor, and one against any wall. So you can state your position in the room by how far you are from either wall and how far from the floor (assuming you are standing on the table or are a fly on the wall!) Their subsequent research showed how place and grid cells make it possible to determine position and to navigate.
Recent investigations with brain imaging techniques, as well as studies of patients undergoing neurosurgery, have provided evidence that place and grid cells exist also in humans. In patients with Alzheimer's disease, the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are frequently affected at an early stage, and these individuals often lose their way and cannot recognize the environment. Knowledge about the brain's positioning system may, therefore, help us understand the mechanism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss that affects people with this disease.
The discovery of the brain's positioning system has opened new avenues for understanding other cognitive processes, such as memory, thinking and planning.
Peace
The Nobel Peace Prize 2014 was awarded jointly to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education".
This is specially relevant to young readers of JM and in fact all children in India who today have a recognised right to be educated and use education to transform their lives.
Children must go to school and not be financially exploited. In the poor countries of the world, 60% of the present population is under 25 years of age. It is a prerequisite for peaceful global development that the rights of children and young people be respected. In conflict-ridden areas in particular, the violation of children leads to the continuation of violence from generation to generation.
Showing great personal courage, Kailash Satyarthi, maintaining Gandhi's tradition, has headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain. He has also contributed to the development of important international conventions on children's rights.
Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzay has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls' rights to education.
The Nobel Committee regarded it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism. Many other individuals and institutions in the international community have also contributed. It has been calculated that there are 168 million child labourers around the world today. In 2000 the figure was 78 million higher. The world has come closer to the goal of eliminating child labour due to the efforts of such like-minded people.
Source: The Nobel Prize: http://www.nobelprize.org/