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Nobel Prize 2026: The Science Gets Stranger

Nobel Prize 2026: The Science Gets Stranger

From First Principles vor 3 Wochen

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1:59:14

Can light restore aspects of sight? Can recalling a cold experience
change an animal's metabolism? And what can ghost particles and
mirror-image molecules tell us about the universe? Lester Nare and
Krishna Choudhary follow up on our 2026 Nobel Prize episodes with
research building on optogenetics, IceCube and molecular
handedness. We unpack an early human vision-restoration trial,
cold-memory experiments in mice, cosmic neutrino flavors, and a
tiny electrical sensor for distinguishing left- and right-handed
amino acids. Plus: how the Nobels work, our follow-up on the Nobel
chemistry illustration, a brief look at neutrino Earth tomography,
and why fundamental research matters. Which discovery would you
like us to explore next? CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open: memory,
neutrinos and mirror molecules 00:28 Hello Internet and how the
Nobels work 04:32 Optogenetics recap 10:23 Restoring aspects of
vision 25:43 Controlling movement in worms 29:31 Cold memories and
metabolism 41:07 Memory, trauma and ethical questions 45:44 FFP
housekeeping 48:17 IceCube recap 56:23 Measuring cosmic neutrino
flavors 1:10:30 A brief look at neutrino Earth tomography 1:12:20
Why fundamental physics matters 1:26:58 Chemistry and molecular
handedness 1:29:08 Correcting the Nobel illustration 1:39:30
Measuring chirality in tiny samples 1:46:42 Testing the sensor on
meteorite and desert samples 1:51:22 Why these questions matter
1:57:20 Closing thoughts and signoff RESEARCH & FURTHER READING
Optogenetic therapy for visual function (NEJM, 2026):
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2602215 Cold memories and
thermoregulation (Nature, 2025):
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08902-6 Three-flavor composition
of cosmic neutrinos (PRL, 2026): https://doi.org/10.1103/vntd-m133
Chiral discrimination in meteorite and desert soil extracts (Nature
Communications, 2026): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77947-6
Further reading, briefly mentioned: neutrino Earth tomography
(preprint): https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.02644 EDITORIAL NOTES The
vision trial was small and exploratory. The cold-memory findings
discussed are from mice. On-screen clarifications: 16:53 Both eyes
were profoundly visually impaired; the worse-seeing eye was
treated. 19:57 The untreated eye was patched during testing, not a
normal-vision control. 54:41 Neutrino event rates depend on energy
and selection, not just detector volume. 1:05:47 Flavor
identification efficiency is distinct from interaction probability;
both depend on energy. 1:13:35 Other astronomy-related Nobels
include 2017 (LIGO) and 2019 (cosmology/exoplanets). 1:18:00 The
LHC at CERN enabled the Higgs discovery; CERN itself was founded in
1954. 1:44:25 Both enantiomers produce current signals; waveform
features distinguish them. 1:46:42 Murchison is a meteorite. Diego
de Almagro and North of Antofagasta are soil sites. 1:47:40 The
sensor study reports mixed agreement and limitations, not uniformly
negative results. 1:49:00 Phobos is a Martian moon; a
captured-asteroid origin is a hypothesis. WATCH & LISTEN Full
video: https://youtu.be/C9K6onZxyN4 Episode notes:
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