Stockholm:
Swedish media outlets reported that the names of this year’s Nobel chemistry prize recipients were leaked hours before the official announcement. Nobel leaks are rare, as the prize-awarding academies take great measures to keep the winners’ names secret until the announcements.
Dagens Nyheter, Swedish Television, and Swedish Radio claimed to have received a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that revealed the names of three US-based chemists. The Academy’s press spokeswoman, Eva Nevelius, stated that they cannot comment until they investigate the situation.
The reported laureates are Moungi Bawendi from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Louis Brus from Columbia University, and Alexei Ekimov from Nanocrystals Technology. They allegedly won the prize for their significant contributions in the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.
The Academy was scheduled to announce the winners shortly after holding a meeting and a vote. Heiner Linke, an expert on the Academy’s Nobel Chemistry Committee, expressed surprise and considered the leak a mistake since the final decision had not been made.
The list of nominations for each prize remains confidential for 50 years.
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