Nobel Prizes | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/nobel-prizes/RSS feed for Nobel PrizesenFri, 09 Oct 2026 18:53:42 +0000Raised in Apartheid South Africa, 2026 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Navi Pillay Is One of the World’s Leading Human Rights Juristshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/raised-in-apartheid-south-africa-2026-nobel-peace-prize-winner-navi-pillay-is-one-of-the-worlds-leading-human-rights-jurists-180989667/When Pillay learned she had won the award, she was in the same courtroom where the Nuremberg Trials held Nazi war criminals to account. Her legal career has been dedicated to fighting against human rights abuses and mass atrocitiesFri, 09 Oct 2026 18:53:42 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/raised-in-apartheid-south-africa-2026-nobel-peace-prize-winner-navi-pillay-is-one-of-the-worlds-leading-human-rights-jurists-180989667/Canadian Poet Anne Carson Brings Ancient Wisdom to Modern Audiences. Now, She's a Nobel Laureate in Literaturehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/canadian-poet-anne-carson-brings-ancient-wisdom-to-modern-audiences-now-shes-a-nobel-laureate-in-literature-180989655/The 76-year-old poet, translator and essayist is renowned for her "bold and inventive" approach to blending poetry, prose and everything in between, leading to what the Swedish Academy calls "new forms for contemporary literature"Thu, 08 Oct 2026 18:23:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/canadian-poet-anne-carson-brings-ancient-wisdom-to-modern-audiences-now-shes-a-nobel-laureate-in-literature-180989655/Two Chemists Win Nobel Prize for Unraveling a Mystery of Molecular 'Handedness,' Helping Drugmakers Develop Safer Medicationshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-chemists-win-nobel-prize-for-unraveling-a-mystery-of-molecular-handedness-helping-drugmakers-develop-safer-medications-180989643/Many molecules come in two mirrored forms—like left and right hands—but living organisms generally contain only one. However, chemists couldn't figure out how to make just one version in the lab. Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai share the prize for their work solving the puzzleWed, 07 Oct 2026 19:10:13 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-chemists-win-nobel-prize-for-unraveling-a-mystery-of-molecular-handedness-helping-drugmakers-develop-safer-medications-180989643/Physicist Wins Nobel Prize for Developing a Massive, Ice-Embedded Observatory That Detects Ghostly Cosmic Particleshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/physicist-wins-nobel-prize-for-developing-a-massive-ice-embedded-observatory-that-detects-ghostly-cosmic-particles-180989627/Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison led the effort to build the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. His work birthed the field of neutrino astronomyTue, 06 Oct 2026 19:51:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/physicist-wins-nobel-prize-for-developing-a-massive-ice-embedded-observatory-that-detects-ghostly-cosmic-particles-180989627/Trio of Scientists Wins Medicine Nobel for a Method to Turn Nerve Cells On and Off With Light, Helping to Unravel the Brain's Mysterieshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/trio-of-scientists-wins-medicine-nobel-for-a-method-to-turn-nerve-cells-on-and-off-with-light-helping-to-unravel-the-brains-mysteries-180989618/Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel received the 2026 award for their contributions to a revolutionary technique in neuroscience called optogenetics, which allows researchers to examine precise connections between neuronal activity and behavioral outcomes in live animalsMon, 05 Oct 2026 19:33:54 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/trio-of-scientists-wins-medicine-nobel-for-a-method-to-turn-nerve-cells-on-and-off-with-light-helping-to-unravel-the-brains-mysteries-180989618/