Chemist's Diary at Lindau 2010: Day 2

Walter Kohn narrating his stories over dinner

The first day of lectures began on a strong note and proceeded to be an excellent day for not just learning science but also socialising with laureates and young researchers. With lectures by Ada Yoanth (C 2009) on the amazing ribosome, Szostak (M 2009) on the origin of life, Mather (P 2006) on the history of the universe and Rowland (C 1995) there was never a dull moment. I also met researchers from Vietnam, Switzerland, France, Germany & USA over lunch and dinner and actually ended up dancing with one. Continue Reading -->

Opening debate at the Lindau meeting

The opening debate chaired by Adam Smith (middle)
Others from Left to Right: Horst, Bilge, Ivar, Aaron

The 60th meeting of the Nobel Laureates at Lindau was officially opened yesterday. It was launched with a debate on whether these meetings have a history with future? The panel consisted of a Lindau alumnus of the 1959 meeting, Horst Grimme; a Lindau alumnus of 2008, Bilge Demirkoz; Winner of Physics Nobel 1973, Ivar Giaver and Winner of Chemistry Nobel 2004, Aaron Ciechanover.Continue Reading -->

Seeking Inspiration?

Sitting on a stool, like the thinking man, Nicholas stared mindlessly at the reaction that he had just setup. This was the seventh time that he'd done exactly the same thing that day, every time hoping that it will give the result that the darn research paper had promised him. Each time that it did not give the desired output, he blamed himself but not the paper. "There must something that I am doing wrong", he thought, "after all Anderson has a such a reputation, there is not a doubt that he got the results that are mentioned in the paper."

The clock struck midnight. Continue Reading -->

Celebration of science: Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

Discoveries in science are rarely celebrated on the scale that great art is or major sporting achievements are. The Lindau Nobel Laureate meetings is a big step towards this celebration.

Has Einstein’s famous equation E = mc² received the same amount of attention that the Mona Lisa on display in the Louvre in Paris has? Probably not. And yet, it has contributed a lot more to society. Some may argue that the attraction to science is not enough because it is harder to explain a scientific concept than to appreciate art. I disagree; there are many ways in which science can be made as accessible as art but more on that in another post. The applications that emerge from great science affect the lives of billions irrespective of their knowledge about it. Continue Reading -->