Science Rendezvous - Labrador West

10/12/2026

10/10/2026

John Nash, “a mathematical genius”, was awarded the prize in economic sciences for his work on game theory – in particular developing the Nash equilibrium.

Nash had a complicated life. His brilliant doctoral thesis outlining his prize-awarded work was completed by the time he was 21. However around 30 he began struggling with his mental health and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His experiences living with the illness were famously depicted in the film ‘A Beautiful Mind’, although it was only loosely based on his life.

When he was awarded the 1994 prize in economic sciences Nash was in good health, but without a job and not well-recognised for his work. The award brought his contributions to light and in his own words “transformed his life.”

Read his life story in his own words: https://bit.ly/35NWJvf

10/10/2026

BREAKING NEWS
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026 is awarded for optogenetics – a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain. Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered a remarkable protein, channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga. Karl Deisseroth transformed the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells. The laureates have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience.

Using optogenetics, researchers have been able to reveal neural circuits governing specific memories, feelings, and behaviours relevant for neurological and psychiatric disorders. In clinical medicine, researchers are using the method in attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment.

Optogenetics has fundamentally altered our understanding of the brain. Every day brings new discoveries, helping to solve one of humanity’s great mysteries: how our incredible brain works.

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10/10/2026

Elusive particles called neutrinos are being captured by an observatory in the South Pole.

In the 1980s, while this year’s physics laureate Francis Halzen was working with cosmic particles, he heard that Soviet researchers were planning to use radio receivers to capture neutrino signals in Antarctica. The idea was that when a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus in the ice it causes an electric spark, which produces a radio wave. If this was strong enough, it could be captured using a radio antenna. Halzen was inspired and realised that another method could be to install light sensors in glacier ice and look for flashes of light from the collisions.

Halzen realised that there were many advantages to siting the neutrino observatory at the geographic South Pole: a research station was already located there, with an organisation for regular transports and everything necessary for a team to work.

Ice also offers many benefits as a material. At a great enough depth, the darkness is constant. Unlike the ocean, there is no interference from living creatures, and there are only low levels of radioactive substances. The ice is stable and provides a solid surface for the people working at the facility. The area is geologically stable with no earthquakes.

The concept generated so much interest that, within a few years, researchers from various institutions had gathered around Halzen to bring his idea of a neutrino observatory in Antarctica to fruition. To start with, they had to solve all the practical problems entailed by placing instruments deep in the ice. From glaciologists, they learned that kilometre-deep holes can be drilled using a type of sophisticated shower head that uses hot water to melt the ice. A long cable with strings of light sensors could then be lowered into the waterfilled hole. Halzen describes these sensors as a lightbulb in reverse – the instrument captures light and then transforms it into an electrical signal.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”

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10/09/2026

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”

Some molecules, such as amino acids, exist as two variants that are each other’s mirror image. However, living organisms only contain one of these mirror images. How chemical asymmetry such as this could have emerged was long a mystery to chemists. Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 for discovering a solution to this puzzle.

Life’s chemistry is what chemists call homochiral, after the Greek words for “same” and “hand”. Like hands, all amino acids exist as two mirrored variants, but only one of them is found in the proteins in your cells. The other is rarely found in nature.

For a long time, chemists wondered how homochirality can emerge. When they began to experiment with chemical reactions that can form two mirrored molecules, they always obtained equal proportions of both in their test tubes. However, chemists strived to produce only one of these mirror images, because in the development of molecules that will interact with living beings – such as in pharmaceuticals – only one mirror image will have the desired effect.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 recognises discoveries that have enabled chemists to drive chemical reactions that lead to homochirality.

Henri Kagan took the first decisive step in 1986, when he discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions. This allowed him to create a greater excess of one of the mirror images than had previously been thought possible.

Kenso Soai took the next step. In 1995, a key publication describes how he designed the first ever chemical reaction that had the potential to be homochiral. In 2003, he finally succeeded. He presented a reaction in which only one of the two possible mirror images was formed. Other than life itself, no one had previously achieved this feat.

Thanks to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai, we now know how homochirality can emerge. Their discoveries have been decisive for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

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10/09/2026

His 1988 sketch of how to use Antarctic ice to detect neutrinos led to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which made the first detections of high-energy neutrinos in 2013.

10/09/2026

Anne Carson, who honed her mastery of the classics at the University of Toronto before giving them new life in the modern age, has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.