Nobel Prize in Physics 2006
Wow, i didn’t even know the Nobel Prize in Physics was announced today, I thought it was on Thursday. And, even more fascinating, it has been given to two scientists working on cosmic background radiation!
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2006 goes to John C. Mather and George F. Smoot
“for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation”
The exploring of the CMBR continued with the satellite experiment COBE which started in 1989. Mather coordinated the project and was involved in the FIRAS instrument on the satellite that measured with high precision the black body form of the microwave radiation. Smoot worked on the DMR instrument that measured temperature variations of the background radiation with high accuracy and found anisotropies in the CMBR supporting the inflation models of the universe and gives us insight into how the universe began to form!
So, the Thompson Scientific predictions for the Nobel Prize have failed, but I think that these discoveries honored here are among the most exciting ones, and the most important ones as they lead towards answering the one big question.
October 3rd, 2006 @ 15:34
Indeed! I think that this is one of the greatest experimental triumphs of science ever!