’S KAVLI PRIZES TAP

WORLD’S BEST Image: Courtesy of NEC Corporation IN NANO, NEURO, ASTRO

Diamond's kin, that string-strong substance formed, Craft of mighty tools, wisdom-seekers. Steel's master they made, fine hair's fraction: Hollow plumb bends the stuff of life. Forth comes the spark, heat hurled also, By: Chris Brodie, Forces reined with hewn gossamer soot. Ph.D., freelance science writer Like to fabled spheres, the matchless weft: No mortal distaff spun that thread. galaxies swirling around a central black hole. Quasars The style of the Poetic Edda, that primal text of provide concrete proof of the size and expansion of pre-Christian Nordic peoples, isn’t the first medium that the universe. comes to mind when describing significant advances in In , three laureates shared the prize for science. But new thinking may be required with the determining key features of neurodevelopment. Thomas growing reputation of Norway’s Kavli Prizes, million-dollar M. Jessell of discovered molecular awards that recognize the highest achievements in signals that create neurons and coordinate their nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics. connection. of the Karolinska Institute The stanzas refer, if you haven’t guessed, to carbon deciphered nerve-muscle circuits in simple vertebrates nanotubes—the discovery of which earned and showed that the same rules apply to other animals. of Meijo University in Japan a share of the 2008 of School of Medicine in nanoscience. found that the brain cortex develops from the inside out, a pattern that creates building blocks for higher Norwegian-American tycoon Fred Kavli, through his Kavli brain functions. Foundation, created the prizes in partnership with the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. A third Neuroscience, astrophysics and nanoscience represent partner, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, scientific-subject-matter extremes: the most complex administers the biennial awards. Laureates are selected by phenomenon, the largest scales of space and time, the committees drawn from many of the world’s leading smallest increments of molecular matter. It is fitting that scientific societies, including the Royal Society. The next Norway—itself a land of extremes— recognizes excellence call for nominations will be announced in September 2009. in these disciplines. The Viking verse is optional. If the nanotube-inspired heroic verse still seems opaque, Don't miss out, book today! some context might help: A single-walled nanotube is a Visit: www.britishsciencefestival.org or buckminsterfullerene-type lattice of carbon atoms rolled Call: 020 7019 4947 or pop into: into a long, hollow tube only a few nanometers thick The Tourist Information Centre, Guildford. (that’s about 50,000 times thinner than a hair). Nanotubes are remarkably strong, have unique electrical properties, conduct heat efficiently and have the potential to affect biological chemistry. Nanotubes were first characterized in Kavli Laureate, Sumio Iijima will speak at the University the residue of electrically burned graphite. of Surrey on Monday 7 September, 1.30pm-3.30pm. Iijima shared the nanoscience prize with Louis Brus of Columbia University in New York. Brus discovered quantum dots, tiny molecular flashlights that change color depending on their size. These miniature beacons have become invaluable tools for the study of molecular interactions. The 2008 astrophysics prize was shared by of the Institute of Technology and Donald Lynden-Bell of Cambridge University. Schmidt’s experimental evidence and Lynden-Bell’s theoretical framework revealed the nature of quasars, far-distant

Right: Kavli Laureates in nanoscience Sumio 8 ignite Iijima and Louis Brus