Creators of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and other Nobel Prize winners for an early Nobel Prize Day

A happy early celebration of Nobel Prize Day! I begin the observance with NBC News reporting Two scientists receive Nobel Prize in medicine for work on Covid-19 mRNA vaccine this past October.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman received the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work on the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine. The two found a way to create a vaccine that would get past the body’s defenses but still prompt the immune system to make antibodies to fight the disease. NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell shares more.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize just days after How to Survive a Pandemic about the development of the COVID-19 vaccine won Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary. That's two expert recognitions of COVID-19 vaccines, which came from HIV research and can still result in an HIV vaccine — a technology going full-circle! It's also an early fulfillment of a prediction I made three years ago — "work on coronavirus is likely to win Nobel Prizes, whether in Chemistry or Medicine, about a decade from now. May we all live long enough to see it." It only took three years!

Follow over the jump for the rest of this year's Nobel Prize winners.

CBC News reported on the next award, Nobel chemistry prize awarded for discovery of quantum dots.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three U.S.-based scientists for the 'discovery and synthesis of quantum dots,' tiny particles used in many electronics, such as LED displays.

Frankly, I don't recall ever hearing of quantum dots before, but it seems like I've been using products with them for years. So have my readers. It also sounds like it has helped make solar power cheaper and will continue to do so. All of that makes quantum dots important. It also means I learned something new and it's always a good day when I learn something new.

I go even smaller with the next prize, as Time reported in Nobel Prize in Physics Goes to Scientists for Work on Electrons.

Three scientists were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for their work on how electrons move around the atom during the tiniest fractions of seconds.

This seems very important from a theoretical perspective, but Mark Pearse pointed out the practical possibilities, new electronics and new diagnostic techniques — exciting!

I'm continuing with Time's coverage as it reported Jon Fosse, Norwegian Writer, Wins the Nobel Literature Prize.

Jon Fosse, a master of spare Nordic literature in a sprawling body of work ranging from plays to novels and children’s books, won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday for works that “give voice to the unsayable.”

I second what Fosse said about writing; do it because you want to and feel you need to, not for the fame, although I admit I like people reading what I write.

I conclude Time's coverage, although not this post, with Jailed Iranian Activist Narges Mohammadi Wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Jailed human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, 51, has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her fight against the oppression of Iran’s women and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.

As I've written the past two years, "The Peace Prize recipients generally piss people off and I'm O.K. with that as long they piss off the right people. I think this year's prize qualifies." In fact, I know it does.

I conclude today's entry by returning to CBC News reporting Harvard professor wins Nobel economics prize for research on gender gap in workplaces, which examines another dimension of women's struggle for equality.

Claudia Goldin, a professor at Harvard University, has been awarded the Nobel economics prize. Her research details women's role in the labour market over time.

I found the graph of married women working in the U.S. over time so striking that I'm adding it to this post.


That's something I can share with my students, making this not only a holiday celebration, but another example of blogging as professional development. I feel good about that. I also feel good about congratulating all the prize winners!

Stay tuned for the highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live, the reason I'm celebrating Nobel Prize Day early. Priorities!