Bernot Academy of Sciences

that the radioactive silvery metal 'Curium' was discovered by chemistry laureate Glenn Seaborg?

Seaborg produced and identified the metal in July 1944. The metal tarnishes rapidly in air and is named after Marie and Pierre Curie. Curium is mainly used in scientific research, but it has also been used to provide power to electrical equipment on space missions.

Seaborg himself also has a chemical element named after him, called Seaborgium.

Read more about our laureates' contributions to the periodic table: https://bit.ly/2Y3PU7e

“Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.”
- Norman Borlaug, founder of the green revolution

The story of Norman Borlaug and the green revolution demonstrates how the combination of science, education and social entrepreneurship can transform the world - and save millions of lives.

The cartoon shows him cradling a new hardy type of wheat, called dwarf wheat, which is highly disease-resistant and not easily affected by wind and rain. Borlaug worked with scientists and farmers in Mexico to introduce the new breed. Thanks to their collaboration the country became self-sufficient in wheat in about 11 years.

Borlaug believed in educating farmers on the ground and lessons learned from Mexico were later taken up by other countries including India and Pakistan. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to increasing food supply worldwide through the green revolution.

Learn more about peace laureate Norman Borlaug:
https://bit.ly/2UQLbRs

Scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) are working on a groundbreaking project: a solar panel implant designed for the human retina to potentially restore vision.

This innovative neuroprosthetic device seeks to circumvent damaged photoreceptors by transforming incoming light into electrical signals, which are subsequently transmitted to the brain.
In contrast to earlier approaches that relied on wired electrodes, this implant is both self-sustaining and wireless, utilizing miniature solar panels affixed to the eye.

By utilizing gallium-based semiconductors instead of silicon, the technology facilitates the stacking of multiple cells, thereby enhancing its overall efficiency.

While still in the proof-of-concept phase, the research team is striving to prepare the device for human implantation by developing miniature, pixelated solar panels.

Shoukat Ali

In 1998 physicist Walter Kohn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the density-functional theory." It led to a potentially tricky encounter:

"The day after I received the Prize of course it was quite a sensation in my little town in Santa Barbara, so I walked across the campus and two students... are walking in the opposite direction, and they must have seen my picture somewhere, perhaps in the student newspaper, and so one of them turns around and comes back and says to me, “are you the guy who won the Nobel Prize?” and I said, “yes, I am” and so they both gave me a very friendly hug and then they kept going again, but then one came back again and said, “do you mind, we are just going to a chemistry exam, can we ask you a question?”

So yes I was in a very tight spot! So I said, “well, try me” and I started praying very hard because I knew that the more elementary the questions would be the less likely that I could answer them! And so then this one young woman began to ask a question and then I recognised an interesting fact. You see my … the fact that I got the Nobel Prize in Chemistry reflects the fact that at a certain theoretic level chemistry and physics are very close to each other, but also at the lowest level they’re very close to each other... So the question they had for me was in fact a physics question. So I gave them a brilliant answer! They were very impressed."

See the full interview with Kohn: https://bit.ly/2Vnvtk6

Do you take (digital) tea breaks with your colleagues?

A Nobel Prize laureate who really enjoyed his afternoon tea was physicist J.J. Thomson. Thomson was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies of cathode rays which culminated in the discovery of the electron.

When he became the leader of the research students at the Cavendish laboratory at University of Cambridge, Thomson established a daily tea time welcoming all research students for a tea break. The tea break supposedly became an important ritual during the day at the laboratory. This gave the research students an opportunity to discuss ideas freely on topics such as science and politics. Many students were later grateful for these breaks where Thomson both engaged in their research as well as in their well-being.

More about Thomson: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1906/thomson/biographical/

“When I went to high school, I read a book on Madam Curie and thought that it would be a good thing to become a scientist."

Yuan T. Lee became a scientist after first being inspired by another Nobel Prize laureate - Marie Skłodowska Curie.

Lee went on to study chemistry, with a particular interest in reaction dynamics. In 1986 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work.

Read more: https://bit.ly/37nE2z4