It must be the class reunion with the highest collective IQ. For one week a year the small, picturesque town of Lindau, Germany, is overtaken by Nobel laureates and about 600 young hangers-on, eager to bask in the Nobellists' glow.
The subject of the meeting alternates between the four different prize fields. This year it was the turn of the physicists. Unsurprisingly, the Higgs announcement dominated conversation, but the real purpose of these meetings is to give the next generation of promising researchers - mostly master's and PhD students - a chance to mingle with their field's most eminent alumni.
I took this opportunity to ask a few laureates what advice they had for young people planning on pursuing a research career.
You need a passion for how things work
"I knew that my passion lay in experimental science way way back," says Douglas Osheroff, who shared the 1996 Nobel prize for his research on superfluidity in a isotope of helium.
"When I was in high school as soon as my mother would trust me with her car I drove up to Seattle, the nearest big city, to visit the medical supply houses there. I told them I wanted to build an X-ray machine for a science project. I came home with a carload of stuff - it was very easy for me to put this thing together - and soon I was X-raying everything."
A mentor matters
"People can always benefit from a mentor," says John Mather, who shared the 2006 Nobel for his measurements of the radiation signature of the Big Bang. "But a mentor doesn't have to say 'Do it like this,' they can just be there to say 'You can do it; try it.' Because if you're doing something really new a mentor can't possibly know how to do it yet."
You have to go out on a limb
John Mather was still a young scientist when he took up leadership of the COBE mission at NASA, the first dedicated mission to study the origin of the universe.
"I was 28 when we had this idea [to build a detector to measure the cosmic microwave background radiation]. Nobody tells you how to lead or organise such a project. Suddenly you go from 'Let's go to work today' to 'Let's propose the most ambitious cosmology project to date.' But all you can do is start."
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How much can you trust your own memory?
"Remembering is a serious business," Charles Fernyhough warns. "For a journey into the past, you have to pick your moment."
It is this respect for his subject that makes Pieces of Light such an immense pleasure, as Fernyhough casts the emerging science of memory through the lens of his own recollections. The humiliating experience of potty training, for instance, helps him to illustrate the fragmentary, disordered nature of childhood memories before language indexes our past. Touching conversations with his late grandmother, meanwhile, colour his discussions of the ageing brain and the surprising longevity of narrative memories.
In the hands of a lesser writer, such reliance on personal experience could rapidly descend into self-indulgence and cliché, but Fernyhough - a psychologist and published novelist - remains restrained and lyrical throughout.
Like all good writing, the result shines new light on the reader's own life. As Fernyhough examines the way the brain continually rewrites our past, it is almost impossible not to question the accuracy of your recollections. Even the events that we recall with the most vivid sensory detail are not to be trusted. More than three decades of research has confirmed Salvador Dalí's assertion that "the difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels - it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant". Disconcertingly, some of the chapters of our life story are simply borrowed from the experiences of our closest family.
On one level, such findings are deeply troubling - they have cast much doubt on the use of eyewitness testimonies in the courtroom, particularly when it concerns apparent cases of repressed abuse "recovered" through therapy.
But provided we tread carefully, Fernyhough sees no reason why this knowledge should deter us from journeying into our past. Our recollections "might be fictions", he says, "but they are our fictions, and we should treasure them".
It is this respect for his subject that makes Pieces of Light such an immense pleasure, as Fernyhough casts the emerging science of memory through the lens of his own recollections. The humiliating experience of potty training, for instance, helps him to illustrate the fragmentary, disordered nature of childhood memories before language indexes our past. Touching conversations with his late grandmother, meanwhile, colour his discussions of the ageing brain and the surprising longevity of narrative memories.
In the hands of a lesser writer, such reliance on personal experience could rapidly descend into self-indulgence and cliché, but Fernyhough - a psychologist and published novelist - remains restrained and lyrical throughout.
Like all good writing, the result shines new light on the reader's own life. As Fernyhough examines the way the brain continually rewrites our past, it is almost impossible not to question the accuracy of your recollections. Even the events that we recall with the most vivid sensory detail are not to be trusted. More than three decades of research has confirmed Salvador Dalí's assertion that "the difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels - it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant". Disconcertingly, some of the chapters of our life story are simply borrowed from the experiences of our closest family.
On one level, such findings are deeply troubling - they have cast much doubt on the use of eyewitness testimonies in the courtroom, particularly when it concerns apparent cases of repressed abuse "recovered" through therapy.
But provided we tread carefully, Fernyhough sees no reason why this knowledge should deter us from journeying into our past. Our recollections "might be fictions", he says, "but they are our fictions, and we should treasure them".
Gel mixture lets you hide a secret message in goo
A new method for mixing gels lets you hide secret messages in pools of unassuming goo, but it could also help create artificial spines.
Gels are made through a process called polymerisation, in which small molecules known as monomers join together in a tangled network. This makes mixing two gels while retaining their individual properties difficult, as the two different monomers end up combined in a single network. One solution is to polymerise the two gels first and then combine them, but that leads to a weak join between the two materials.
Now chemists at the University of Maryland have a better idea. It turns out that thickening the gel monomers with small particles of clay before polymerisation prevents them from mixing together while also providing a strong and seamless join.
The team demonstrated their new method by writing the letters "UMD" in one gel and surrounding them with another in a Petri dish, resulting in a smooth clear disc with no letters visible. The message is only revealed when viewed through polarising lenses, as the two gels polarise light differently. Another version of the same experiment using different gels only revealed the message when the disc was heated.
Hiding message isn't the real aim of the research, however, as hybrid gels have a number of other uses. Gels are currently used as scaffolding for growing tissue from stem cells, such as a new windpipe, and combined gels could be used to create mixes of different tissues. They could also replicate other organic materials that are known to be mixtures of gel-like substances, such as spinal discs.
Gels are made through a process called polymerisation, in which small molecules known as monomers join together in a tangled network. This makes mixing two gels while retaining their individual properties difficult, as the two different monomers end up combined in a single network. One solution is to polymerise the two gels first and then combine them, but that leads to a weak join between the two materials.
Now chemists at the University of Maryland have a better idea. It turns out that thickening the gel monomers with small particles of clay before polymerisation prevents them from mixing together while also providing a strong and seamless join.
The team demonstrated their new method by writing the letters "UMD" in one gel and surrounding them with another in a Petri dish, resulting in a smooth clear disc with no letters visible. The message is only revealed when viewed through polarising lenses, as the two gels polarise light differently. Another version of the same experiment using different gels only revealed the message when the disc was heated.
Hiding message isn't the real aim of the research, however, as hybrid gels have a number of other uses. Gels are currently used as scaffolding for growing tissue from stem cells, such as a new windpipe, and combined gels could be used to create mixes of different tissues. They could also replicate other organic materials that are known to be mixtures of gel-like substances, such as spinal discs.
Passing the baton of life - from Schrödinger to Venter
Sixty-nine years ago, Erwin Schrödinger stood before a crowd at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and tackled one of the biggest questions of science: What is life? Last night, geneticist Craig Venter stood before a packed crowd at the very same college and asked that same question.
A decade after Schrödinger was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on atomic theory, the Austrian physicist was serving as the first director of the school of theoretical physics at the newly established Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. At a public lecture in February, 1943, he turned his attention to the physical nature of the gene. Little was understood about the composition of genes at that stage, but Schrödinger proposed that a gene could be thought of as an 'aperiodic crystal'.
That proved to be a key insight, said Luke O'Neill, professor of biochemistry at Trinity and master of ceremonies at last night's event. "The gene had to be stable, so it had to be a crystal, and it had to have information so it was aperiodic," he explained.
"Equally important, Schrödinger also discussed the possibility of a genetic code, stating the concept in clear physical terms." But while his specific insights had tremendous influence, the very fact that Schrödinger was viewing biology through a physical lens had a ripple effect through different disciplines. "A famous physicist writing about biology inspired many physicists and chemists to consider biological questions," O'Neill said.
Schrödinger's series of talks over the course of three Fridays and the book that followed went on to have an important influence on science. By looking at life from a physical perspective, Schrödinger inspired researchers including James Watson who, together with colleagues, worked out the double-helical structure of DNA in the 1950s and won a Nobel prize for the work in 1962.
How appropriate then, that as Venter took to the podium to offer a 21st century update of Schrödinger's lectures, Watson himself was in the crowd.
Venter, who has read Schrödinger's "little book" at least five times, delivered a potted history of discoveries about DNA and its functions in the cell. He described how genomes can now be sequenced in a relative lightning flash compared to the 'old' days of just 10 or 15 years ago, and he spoke about his team's work on artificially synthesising DNA to reboot cells.
"All living cells that we know of on this planet are 'DNA software'-driven biological machines comprised of hundreds of thousands of protein robots, coded for by the DNA, that carry out precise functions," said Venter. "We are now using computer software to design new DNA software."
The digital and biological worlds are becoming interchangeable, he added, describing how scientists now simply send each other the information to make DIY biological material rather than sending the material itself.
Venter also outlined a vision of small converter devices that can be attached to computers to make the structures from the digital information - perhaps the future could see us distributing information to make vaccines, foods and fuels around the world, or even to other planets. "This is biology moving at the speed of light," he said.
A decade after Schrödinger was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on atomic theory, the Austrian physicist was serving as the first director of the school of theoretical physics at the newly established Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. At a public lecture in February, 1943, he turned his attention to the physical nature of the gene. Little was understood about the composition of genes at that stage, but Schrödinger proposed that a gene could be thought of as an 'aperiodic crystal'.
That proved to be a key insight, said Luke O'Neill, professor of biochemistry at Trinity and master of ceremonies at last night's event. "The gene had to be stable, so it had to be a crystal, and it had to have information so it was aperiodic," he explained.
"Equally important, Schrödinger also discussed the possibility of a genetic code, stating the concept in clear physical terms." But while his specific insights had tremendous influence, the very fact that Schrödinger was viewing biology through a physical lens had a ripple effect through different disciplines. "A famous physicist writing about biology inspired many physicists and chemists to consider biological questions," O'Neill said.
Schrödinger's series of talks over the course of three Fridays and the book that followed went on to have an important influence on science. By looking at life from a physical perspective, Schrödinger inspired researchers including James Watson who, together with colleagues, worked out the double-helical structure of DNA in the 1950s and won a Nobel prize for the work in 1962.
How appropriate then, that as Venter took to the podium to offer a 21st century update of Schrödinger's lectures, Watson himself was in the crowd.
Venter, who has read Schrödinger's "little book" at least five times, delivered a potted history of discoveries about DNA and its functions in the cell. He described how genomes can now be sequenced in a relative lightning flash compared to the 'old' days of just 10 or 15 years ago, and he spoke about his team's work on artificially synthesising DNA to reboot cells.
"All living cells that we know of on this planet are 'DNA software'-driven biological machines comprised of hundreds of thousands of protein robots, coded for by the DNA, that carry out precise functions," said Venter. "We are now using computer software to design new DNA software."
The digital and biological worlds are becoming interchangeable, he added, describing how scientists now simply send each other the information to make DIY biological material rather than sending the material itself.
Venter also outlined a vision of small converter devices that can be attached to computers to make the structures from the digital information - perhaps the future could see us distributing information to make vaccines, foods and fuels around the world, or even to other planets. "This is biology moving at the speed of light," he said.
Neuron forest grows out of brain trauma experiment
You can't visit this tropical jungle. It's a forest of neurons snaking through a pig's brain. The brain cells, enlarged and coloured here, are being investigated to give scientists a clearer view of the mechanics of brain matter when it is hit hard.
Michel Destrade, an applied mathematician at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and colleagues obtained samples of pig brains from a local slaughterhouse to study the mechanics of brain matter undergoing rapid impacts. With the aim of improving the treatment of traumatic head injuries, they used the samples to create computer models of electrical signals inside the brain.
But during the course of the experiment, Destrade's student Badar Rashid decided to find out what white and grey matter inside a brain look like. He started with an image of neuron bundles taken using scanning electron microscopy, and blew it up to 4,000 times its actual size. He then added colour to the black and white result according to his own aesthetic.
Michel Destrade, an applied mathematician at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and colleagues obtained samples of pig brains from a local slaughterhouse to study the mechanics of brain matter undergoing rapid impacts. With the aim of improving the treatment of traumatic head injuries, they used the samples to create computer models of electrical signals inside the brain.
But during the course of the experiment, Destrade's student Badar Rashid decided to find out what white and grey matter inside a brain look like. He started with an image of neuron bundles taken using scanning electron microscopy, and blew it up to 4,000 times its actual size. He then added colour to the black and white result according to his own aesthetic.
Astrophile: Loner galaxy is seed of giant black hole
NGC 4178 enjoyed the single life. Even though the flat, disc-shaped galaxy was getting on a bit, it had a svelte spiral figure to be proud of. Its central black hole was perfect: not too small, not too large. It had never been involved in a major merger with another galaxy, and wanted to keep it that way. None of the unsightly bulges and warps associated with too much socialising for NGC 4178.
But other, more gregarious, galaxies were getting together all around it. They merged into grand spiral galaxies in a firework display of star formation which left them with impressive bulging bellies. They pooled their central black holes until they were billions of times larger than the sun. NGC 4178 watched it all from the sidelines, glad to maintain its trim appearance, although it couldn't help wondering if it wasn't missing out on something.
Unsociable galaxies are unusual. Astronomers think that galaxies grow from scraggly clusters of stars to elegant spirals like the Milky Way by merging and pooling their resources. Loners like NGC 4178, which has spent most of the lifetime of the universe avoiding the company of other galaxies, are useful tools for disentangling how this happens. They are rare snapshots of a simpler time.
"They are more representative of the initial stuff, from when structure started to form in the universe," says Nathan Secrest, a graduate student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Galaxies like NGC 4178 are about "as pristine as you can get".
One of the puzzles they can help solve is the origin of supermassive black holes. Most large galaxies seem to have a giant black hole, millions or billions of times larger than the sun, at their centres. How these black holes got so big is still a mystery: did they grow gradually from mergers of smaller black holes, coalescing when their host galaxies merged? Or did they form when gas clouds collapsed in the early universe?
If these giants did grow by devouring their more diminutive counterparts, then the universe should also be riddled with middleweight black holes, tens of times the size of the sun. But only a few of these have ever been spotted.
But other, more gregarious, galaxies were getting together all around it. They merged into grand spiral galaxies in a firework display of star formation which left them with impressive bulging bellies. They pooled their central black holes until they were billions of times larger than the sun. NGC 4178 watched it all from the sidelines, glad to maintain its trim appearance, although it couldn't help wondering if it wasn't missing out on something.
Unsociable galaxies are unusual. Astronomers think that galaxies grow from scraggly clusters of stars to elegant spirals like the Milky Way by merging and pooling their resources. Loners like NGC 4178, which has spent most of the lifetime of the universe avoiding the company of other galaxies, are useful tools for disentangling how this happens. They are rare snapshots of a simpler time.
"They are more representative of the initial stuff, from when structure started to form in the universe," says Nathan Secrest, a graduate student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Galaxies like NGC 4178 are about "as pristine as you can get".
One of the puzzles they can help solve is the origin of supermassive black holes. Most large galaxies seem to have a giant black hole, millions or billions of times larger than the sun, at their centres. How these black holes got so big is still a mystery: did they grow gradually from mergers of smaller black holes, coalescing when their host galaxies merged? Or did they form when gas clouds collapsed in the early universe?
If these giants did grow by devouring their more diminutive counterparts, then the universe should also be riddled with middleweight black holes, tens of times the size of the sun. But only a few of these have ever been spotted.
Earth's water piggybacked on asteroids, not comets
Whether comets or asteroids were the source of Earth's water has long been the subject of debate. Now an analysis of the composition of meteorites suggests the water did not originate in the outer solar system, a finding that favours asteroids as the vehicle for its arrival.
Both asteroids and comets are found in a region of the solar system known as the asteroid belt, which occupies a wide swathe of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. However, comets with their icy tails would have been born in the chillier region of space between Saturn and Jupiter and then migrated into the asteroid belt.
To find out whether comets or asteroids were the parents of carbonaceous chondrites: rare meteorites which delivered water and volatile elements such as nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen to Earth, a team led by Conel Alexander from the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington DC measured the amount of deuterium &nash; a heavy isotope of hydrogen – in 86 chondrite samples found on Earth.
The further from the sun an object was formed, the more deuterium-rich it tends to be. The chondrites Alexander tested turned out to contain significantly less deuterium than comets, indicating that the chondrites most likely originated in a different place. "So, they probably formed closer in to the sun," says Alexander, most likely in the asteroid belt itself.
Despite the finding, exactly where the chondrites formed remains an open question – one that is particularly difficult to answer, says Fred Ciesla, a researcher at the University of Chicago, Illinois, who models the formation of planets. "You can't just say, you formed something at this one location and it sat there for 4.5 billion years. Things move around all the time," he says
Both asteroids and comets are found in a region of the solar system known as the asteroid belt, which occupies a wide swathe of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. However, comets with their icy tails would have been born in the chillier region of space between Saturn and Jupiter and then migrated into the asteroid belt.
To find out whether comets or asteroids were the parents of carbonaceous chondrites: rare meteorites which delivered water and volatile elements such as nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen to Earth, a team led by Conel Alexander from the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington DC measured the amount of deuterium &nash; a heavy isotope of hydrogen – in 86 chondrite samples found on Earth.
The further from the sun an object was formed, the more deuterium-rich it tends to be. The chondrites Alexander tested turned out to contain significantly less deuterium than comets, indicating that the chondrites most likely originated in a different place. "So, they probably formed closer in to the sun," says Alexander, most likely in the asteroid belt itself.
Despite the finding, exactly where the chondrites formed remains an open question – one that is particularly difficult to answer, says Fred Ciesla, a researcher at the University of Chicago, Illinois, who models the formation of planets. "You can't just say, you formed something at this one location and it sat there for 4.5 billion years. Things move around all the time," he says
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