WHAT'S NEW Friday, 10 Oct 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 10 Oct 03   Washington, DC

1. THE PRIZE: CHEMIST AND PHYSICIST SHARE MEDICINE NOBEL AWARD. 
Paul Lauterbur of the University of Illinois, a chemist, was
awarded a long overdue Nobel prize for his seminal role in the
development of MRI.  In work done at Stony Brook, he introduced
gradient coils into the magnetic field, making it possible to
build up two-dimensional images.  The prize was shared with a
British physicist, Sir Peter Mansfield, who showed how signals
could be mathematically analyzed for extremely fast imaging,
effectively giving a three-dimensional view.  The discovery of
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance by Felix Bloch and Ed Purcell was
recognized by the Nobel Prize in 1952.  The word "nuclear" was
later omitted to ease public concern, but then Paul Brodeur, of
EMF/cancer notoriety, advised people to avoid MRI because the
magnetic field might induce cancer (WN 25 Aug 89).  Go figure. 

2. RECALL MOVE: NOT THE ONE IN CALIFORNIA, THE ONE IN STOCKHOLM.
The Washington Post carried a full page ad yesterday showing an
upside down Nobel medal and huge print proclaiming, "This Year's
Nobel Prize in Medicine: A Shameful Wrong That Must Be Righted." 
The ad says medical doctor Raymond Damadian made the breakthrough
discovery.  It didn't say who paid for the ad, but there was a
phone number.  It turned out to be that of the Fonar Corp.  We
complained.  The next day the ad was in the NY Times, and Fonar
was identified.  We Googled Fonar; guess who the CEO is?  Raymond
Damadian.  There's an important moral here somewhere.  Science is
open.  We share our thoughts and our data, everything.  We can't
always recall the source of our ideas.  Sometimes, even friends
feel slighted.  But the Nobel Prize is valuable to all of us. 
It's a chance to give the public a glimpse of what science can
do.  We honor the winners, but in truth we all contribute by
stirring the intellectual stew from which new insights emerge.  

3. MEANWHILE: MEDICAL DOCTORS SHARE A NOBEL PRIZE FOR CHEMISTRY. 
This year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to two medical
doctors for explaining selective transport of molecules across
cell membranes.  Peter Agre of Johns Hopkins showed how water
channels serve as water purifiers.  Independently, Roderick
MacKinnon of Rockefeller Univ. discovered how potassium ions pass
through channels in the cell membrane that exclude other ions. 
We are truly entering an age in which traditional disciplinary
boundaries separating scientists mean little (WN 3 Oct 03).

4. PHYSICS NOBEL: A WINNING STRATEGY SHOULD INCLUDE LONGEVITY. 
It might also be a good idea to work on superconductivity. 
Alexei Abrikosov 75, who is an American and Russian citizen, is
at Argonne National Lab.  He based his treatment of type-II
superconductors on the theory of Vitaly Ginzburg, 87, from the
Lebedev Institute in Moscow, who had long since given up hope of
a Nobel.  Anthony Leggett, both American and British, is a mere
65.  He is at the University of Illinois, which did quite well
this year.  He explained superfluidity in helium-three, but his
theory also found application in particle physics and cosmology.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY.  
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.
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