Nobel Prize /oss/taxonomy/term/7252/all en Tiny MicroRNAs Win Big Nobel Prize /oss/article/technology-general-science/tiny-micrornas-win-big-nobel-prize <p>It may surprise you but when microRNAs were discovered, the scientific community shrugged. “So what?” it seemed to say. Here we are, in 2024, and this discovery has resulted in two of its leading figures, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.</p> <p>How can something be so important to win the top award in science yet appear to be so trivial as to earn a collective “meh?”</p> <p>The reason is that we are an egocentric species. We don’t much care about worms.</p> Fri, 11 Oct 2024 04:50:40 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10109 at /oss The Nobel Prize Winning Scientist Who Became His Own Patient /oss/article/medical-contributors/dr-ralph-steinman-nobel-prize-winning-scientist-who-became-own-patient <p>For over 100 years the Nobel foundation has recognized outstanding individuals for contributions to their respective fields; however, the rules stipulate that prizes cannot be awarded posthumously. But in October 2011 an exception was made for an exceptional individual: Dr. Ralph Steinman was awarded the joint Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine three days after he died of pancreatic cancer. At the time of the announcement, the news of his death had not yet reached the Nobel committee. So they decided that his wife and children would be able to accept his prize on his behalf.</p> Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:14:10 +0000 Cassandra Lee, OSS Contributor 9829 at /oss The Uncertainty of What Happened When Heisenberg Met Bohr /oss/article/medical-history/uncertainty-what-happened-when-heisenberg-met-bohr <p>It isn’t often that the subject matter of a play on Broadway is science. “Copenhagen” opened on Broadway in 2000 after a run in London’s West End. Its focus was a 1941 meeting in Bohr’s Copenhagen house between Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his former protégé German physicist Werner Heisenberg. The meeting was an informal one so there is no record of the actual discussion, but when questioned later, the two parties had different memories of the dialogue.</p> Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:39:11 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9809 at /oss