The NewsDemon Blog

As many in the United States discussed Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Prize for Peace, there are other notable awards that were handed out for other categories. Multiple awards were given to groups and individuals that had been responsible for some amazing achievements.

All of these fields that these people had won in share at least one thing in common; dedicated discussion newsgroups on USENET. Thousands over time have contributed, shared and/or discussed the same topics that continue to this day for the same common goal: advancement in knowledge and application.

It wouldn’t be surprising if each of these awarded individuals had some sort of background with USENET. As the premier and prominent online source for communication and sharing ideas, it’s very possible that one, if not some, used USENET as a resource.

Here are the other winners of the Nobel Prize this year:

In the Physiology and Medicine category, the award had gone to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, a group responsible for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and an enzyme.

In Physics, Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith shared one half of the award for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor -  as the other half went to Charles K. Kao for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication, which could lead to astonishing speeds in data transmission.

In the ever changing world of Chemistry, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath shared the award for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome, which are complexes of RNA and protein that are found in all cells.

In the Economics front, it was Elinor Ostrom for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons and Oliver E. Williamson for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm that won them the rights to share the prize equally.

Lastly, in the world of Literature, Herta Müller from Germany won who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.

The achievements each of them have been able to make have been due to the same elements that can be found on USENET: research, discovery and knowledge. With these at our disposal, future advancements are not only possible, but likely.