We are down to the Final 4 for Sigma Xi's Nobel Prize prediction contest, October Madness. See below for the results from last week and then vote! Everyone can vote for who they think should win the Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, and physiology or medicine as well as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences.
Voting for the Final 4 round ends at 11:59 p.m. PDT on September 18.
Elite 8 Results
Chemistry
Economic Sciences
Physics
Physiology or Medicine
Final 4 Voting
Chemistry
Vote here for your predictions for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The Final 4 chemistry match-ups are:
1.
Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier for the CRISPR gene editing tool
VS.
Michael Grätzel for discovering dye sensitized solar cells, a new type of solar cell for powering portable electronic devices with applications for building integrated photovoltaics
2.
Kim Lewis for the discovery of Teixobactin, the first antibiotic in 30 years
VS.
Paul J. Reider for the discovery and development of approved drugs, including those for treating asthma and for treating AIDS
Economic Sciences
Vote here for your predictions for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences.
The Final 4 economic sciences match-ups are:
1.
Jennifer Hunt for analysis on immigration
VS.
Gary S. Fields for contributions on the importance of efficient labor markets to fight poverty and foster economic development in low- and middle-income countries
2.
Roland Fryer for ground breaking quantitative analysis techniques that reveal causes and effects of economic and educational gaps based on racial discrimination and other inequities
VS.
Esther Duflo for advances in applied economics through innovative field studies that examine how public policy affects microeconomic outcomes in developing nations
Physics
Vote here for your predictions for the Nobel Prize in Physics.
The Final 4 physics match-ups are:
1.
Vera Rubin and Kent Ford for dark matter
VS.
William Borucki for leadership of NASA's Kepler mission, which uncovered planets and solar systems
2.
Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Ronald Drever for the direct detection of gravitational waves
VS.
Sandra M. Faber for leadership in numerous path-breaking studies of extra-galactic astronomy and galaxy formation
Physiology or Medicine
Vote here for your predictions for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Final 4 physiology or medicine match-ups are*:
1.
Seiji Ogawa for the discovery of the principle for functional magnetic resonance imaging
VS.
Theodore Friedmann and Alain Fischer for the proposal of gene therapy and its clinical applications
2.
Matthias Gromeier and Gordana Vlahovic for using a genetically engineered polio virus (PVS-RIPO) to attack glioblastoma, a brain cancer, and discovering that it seeks out and attaches to receptors that are highly common across tumor types, while leaving normal cells alone
VS.
Paul Quinton for significant contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms behind cystic fibrosis, particularly the discovery that the fundamental defect in cystic fibrosis is chloride impermeability
*The Elite 8 round resulted in ties between Seiji Ogawa and Jacques Francis Albert Pierre Miller as well as between Maurice Samuel Deveraj and Paul Quinton. The ties were broken based on how many votes each person received in the Sweet 16 round.
Heather Thorstensen is the manager of communications for Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.