Nobel Prize Award Ceremony: Profiles of laureates for Nobel Prizes in 2017

World
Europe

So, who are the winners of the Nobel Prizes this year? Chuck Tinte runs us through the list.

The Nobel Prize in Physics this year is divided between three American physicists. Half the prize money will go to Rainer Weiss, while Barry Barish and Kips Thorne will share the remainder.

The three scientists were recognized for their discoveries on the faint ripples that pass through our universe called "gravitational waves", proving a theory developed by Albert Einstein a century ago.

The prize in Chemistry will also be shared by three people. They are Swiss Professor Jacques Dubochet, German-born American scientist Joachim Frank and British scientist Dr. Richard Henderson.

The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences said the scientists' cryo-electron microscopy method simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules, taking biochemistry into a new era.

American geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their research on the cir-cad-i-an rhythm -- more commonly known as the human body's biological clock. They confirmed there are indeed clocks - plural- in each of us, in each cell. This knowledge could help us determine the best time to rest, eat, work, and even take medicine.

The Nobel laureate in Literature is Japanese-born British novelist Ka-zuo Ish-i-gu-ro.

The Swedish Academy said his novels are of great emotional force, and uncover the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.

Richard Thaler takes the Bank of Sweden prize in Economic Sciences, for his contributions to behavioral economics. He found that human behavior is able to affect markets.

Last but not the least, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or I-CAN, won the Nobel Prize in Peace. This is due to its work on calling attention to the humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons, and its efforts to attain a treaty-based ban on nuclear weapons.