Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 13 december 2017

U.S. Nobel laureate fears U.S. politics could undermine science

By DAVID KEYTON and JIM War II,” Rosbash said. “Im- “The pride we feel when tives of the group awarded weapons, she said after
HEINTZ migrants and foreigners someone from our nation this year’s Nobel’s Peace ICAN received the Nobel
Associated Press have always been an indis- wins a Nobel prize is differ- Prize. Setsuko Thurlow, who prize it won in October.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — An pensable part of our coun- ent from the one we feel was 13 when the U.S. bomb “Our light now is the ban
American scientist who try, including its great re- witnessing one of our ath- devastated her Japanese treaty,” Thurlow said. “I re-
shared this year’s Nobel cord in scientific research.” letes winning an Olympic city during the final weeks peat those words that I
Prize for medicine bluntly Literature laureate Kazuo medal. We don’t feel the of World War II, spoke as heard called to me in the
criticized political develop- ruins of Hiroshima: ‘Don’t
ments at home in his ad- give up. Keep pushing. See
dress at the awards’ gala the light? Crawl toward it.’”
banquet, saying that U.S. The treaty has been signed
scientists are facing fund- by 56 countries — none of
ing cutbacks that will hurt them nuclear powers —
research. and ratified by only three.
Michael Rosbash, who was To become binding it re-
honored for his work on quires ratification by 50
circadian rhythms — com- countries. ICAN Executive
monly called the body Director Beatrice Fihn, who
clock — expressed con- accepted the prize along
cern that U.S. government with Thurlow, said that while
funding such as that re- the treaty is far from ratifica-
ceived by him and Nobel tion “now, at long last, we
colleagues Jeffrey Hall and have an unequivocal norm
Michael Young is endan- against nuclear weapons.”
gered. “This is the way forward.
“We benefited from an There is only one way to
enlightened period in the prevent the use of nuclear
postwar United States. weapons — prohibit and
Our National Institutes of eliminate them,” Fihn said.
Health have enthusiasti- The prize winners were an-
cally and generously sup- nounced in October.
ported basic research ... All except the peace prize
(but) the current climate Michael Rosbash, laureate in Medicine 2017 delivers a speech, during the Nobel banquet in the were awarded in Sweden
in the U.S. is a warning that City Hall, in Stockholm, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. Associated Press on Sunday.
continued support cannot The other laureates were
be taken for granted,” Ros- Ishiguro of Britain expressed pride of our tribe demon- a leading activist with the American Richard Tha-
bash said in a short speech concern about increasing strating superiority over Nobel-winning Internation- ler for his work in behav-
Sunday night at Stock- tensions between social other tribes. Rather it’s the al Campaign to Abolish ioral economics; American
holm’s ornate city hall. factions. pride that from knowing Nuclear Weapons. physicists Kip Thorne, Rainer
The 2018 federal budget “We live today in a time of that one of us has made a Thurlow said the Hiroshima Weiss and Barry Barish for
proposed by President growing tribal enmities of significant contribution to blast left her buried under confirming the existence
Donald Trump calls for cut- communities fracturing into our common human en- the rubble, but she was of gravity waves; and
ting science funding by bil- bitterly opposed groups,” deavor,” he said. able to see light and crawl Jacques Dubochet of Swit-
lions of dollars. said Ishiguro, who was born In the Norwegian capital of to safety. In the same way, zerland, American Joachim
“Also in danger is the plu- in Japan. Oslo, a survivor of the atom- the campaign to which Frank and Richard Hender-
ralistic America into which He said Nobel prizes can ic bombing of Hiroshima she belongs is a driving son of the United Kingdom
all three of us of born were counterbalance such ani- compared her struggle to force behind an interna- for advances in electron
born and raised after World mosity. survive in 1945 to the objec- tional treaty to ban nuclear microscopy.q