There is an awful lot going on in the news right now, so you would be forgiven if you may have missed the Nobel Prize announcements. The committees in Norway and Sweden typically make the announcements in December, but the worldwide health crisis has forced a change of plans.
Certain events that had been scheduled to take place in Stockholm will now happen virtually instead. The winners will receive their medals and diplomas from their home country’s embassy, and any winners will be invited to the 2021 ceremony, if that’s able to take place. Norway will hold smaller ceremonies this year featuring limited audiences.
Prizes for the winners are also bigger this year than ever before. Every winner will earn 10 million Swedish krona, which is an increase of one million over last year. In American dollars, the prize value has risen by a little over $110,000.
Some winners have already been announced, while winners in other fields will be revealed over the next several days. Who has won the Nobel Prizes for 2020 thus far? And who are the top candidates in the fields that have yet to be announced?
Physiology or Medicine
Winners
- Harvey J Alter
- Michael Houghton
- Charles M. Rice
These three earned Nobel Prizes on Monday for their work in discovering hepatitis C. The Nobel committee said the doctors “made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.”
BREAKING NEWS:
The 2020 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.” pic.twitter.com/MDHPmbiFmS— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2020
Over 70 million people around the world are infected with hepatitis C, but the work of Drs. Alter, Houghton, and Rice has made it possible for the virus to eventually be eradicated from the earth. Several forms of hepatitis have different effects on the body. Back in 1976, Baruch Blumberg earned the Nobel Prize in this exact same category after discovering hepatitis B.
Dr. Alter was among the first scientists to surmise that a third hepatitis pathogen may exist back in the 1970s. In the next decade, Dr. Houghton was among the first to formally identify hepatitis C, which led to the development of a blood test that was able to identify the virus. Dr. Rice was able to help scientists better understand the virus and set up an animal model that will allow scientists to continue to study the pathogen.
Physics
Winners
- Roger Penrose
- Reinhard Genzel
- Andrea Ghez
Dr. Penrose, an Englishman, Dr. Genzel, a German, and Dr. Ghez, an American, were awarded Nobel Prizes in physics for their work in the field of astrophysics. All three were awarded prizes for their work on black holes, specifically.
Dr. Penrose took home half of the $1.1 million top prize for discovering that black holes exist if Albert Einstein’s gravity theory is correct. Drs. Genzel and Ghez split the remaining prize for their decades-long work investigating the potential existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
With her win, Dr. Ghez becomes the fourth woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, following Marie Curie (1903), Maria Goeppert Mayer (1963), and Donna Strickland (2018).
Chemistry
Leading Candidates
- Harry B. Gray
- Richard H. Holm
- Stephen J. Lippard (Bioinorganic Chemistry)
- CRISPR Researchers
- Bioorthogonal chemists
While we can do our best to try and guess who may be under consideration for a Nobel Prize, it’s not like we have a list of nominees from which to choose. There are candidates to earn the Nobel Prize in Chemistry all over the world, but one trio seems to be gaining plenty of momentum from the public.
That would be Harry B. Gray, Richard H. Holm, and Stephen J. Lippard, who have gained notoriety in the field of bioinorganic chemistry. All three Americans are among the most recognizable names in the field, and they have all earned their fair share of honors over the years as pioneers in the bioinorganic chemistry field.
Others potentially receiving consideration are CRISPR researchers, while figures in the bioorthogonal chemistry realm have generated a little buzz.
Literature
Leading Candidates
- Maryse Conde (Novelist)
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Novelist)
- Can Xue (Literary Critic)
- Yan Lianke (Novelist)
The Nobel Prize for Literature has gone in a number of different directions in recent years, but there are certain trends we can follow. Men have won this prize 101 times, compared to just 15 victories for women. English-speaking writers have won three times over the past seven years, while five Europeans have done so in that same span.
“Writing comes to me like a force I can’t resist.” — Maryse Condé via @guardian https://t.co/6MycpZtEq3
— Sasha Ann Panaram (@SashaPanaram) July 5, 2020
However, the New Republic lists three Chinese writers as potential favorites to claim the prize in 2020. Maryse Conde has also been among the betting favorites to win in each of the last several years, though she has still yet to claim the top prize. She may receive extra consideration in light of 2020’s social justice movements, however, as her work routinely touches on race and inequality around the world.
The real winner is anybody’s guess, though. Let’s not forget that Bob Dylan won this award in 2016, which was an off-the-board pick few saw coming. The committee may not get that weird with their pick in 2020, but it seems unlikely they go with another European after having picked Euros almost exclusively in recent years.
Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Marilynne Robinson are among the Americans that could earn some recognition, but Conde stands out as a very intriguing candidate for the reasons stated above.
If you’re inclined to bet on the Nobel Prize for Literature, take a shot on Conde.
Peace
Leading Candidates:
- World Health Organization
- Greta Thunberg
- Jacinda Ardern
- UNHCR
- Donald Trump
- European Union
- Black Lives Matter
- Bill Gates
When most think of the Nobel Prize, the Nobel Peace Prize is what immediately comes to mind. This is the category that often receives the most betting interest, as well. Juan Manuel Santos, Abiy Ahmed Ali, and former president Jimmy Carter are among those to have earned this honor in recent years.
You may notice the current American president, Donald Trump, is in the middle of the pack when it comes to betting odds set by online sports betting sites. Trump has earned recognition as a result of the United States’ hand in helping broker recent Middle Eastern peace deals. If you ask the president himself, he likes his chances of winning:
Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize following Israel-UAE accord https://t.co/hYElcJX9j6 via @nypost
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2020
The World Health Organization is among the favorites due to their work in trying to help combat the pandemic that has dominated headlines all over the world so far in 2020. Black Lives Matter is nominated due to their part in the social justice protests that have swept the planet, as well. Greta Thunberg, a teenage Swedish environmentalist, is among the odds-on favorites for the second straight year.
The pandemic is the top story of the year. The WHO makes for a logical choice, but New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardem makes for an interesting bet considering the effectiveness with which her country has been able to fight the virus.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Friday, October 9.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
