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<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to
award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011 </FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>with one half to</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>Saul Perlmutter<BR> The Supernova Cosmology
Project<BR> Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of
California,<BR> Berkeley, CA, USA</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2> and the other half jointly
to</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>Brian P. Schmidt<BR> The High-z Supernova Search
Team<BR> Australian National University,<BR> Weston Creek, Australia
</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>and</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>Adam G. Riess<BR> The High-z Supernova Search
Team<BR> Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute,
<BR> Baltimore, MD, USA</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of
the Universe through observations of distant supernovae"<BR> <BR>Written in
the stars</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in
ice..." *<BR> What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it
will end in ice, if we are to believe this year's Nobel Laureates in Physics.
They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and
discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The
discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates
themselves.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as
two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of
the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched
at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial
role.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>The research teams raced to map the Universe by
locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the
ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging
sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the
1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called
type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as
the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much
light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50
distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected - this was a sign that
the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been
numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had
reached the same astonishing conclusion.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>For almost a century, the Universe has been known to
be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago.
However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the
expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in
ice.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark
energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma - perhaps the greatest in
physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three
quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in
Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to
science. And everything is possible again.</FONT></STRONG></DIV></BODY></HTML>