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but may also find applications in totally different areas. Its results are of considerable value for physics and research into the fundamental laws of nature. According to string theory, which is an ambitious attempt to formulate a theory for all the natural forces, the smallest particles of which the universe is composed are vibrating strings. This theory predicts the existence of additional dimensions and requires very advanced mathematics. The laureates have resolved several important mathematical problems related to string theory and have in this way paved the way for its further development. The laureate in astronomy, Rashid Alievich Sunyaev, has studied the most extreme processes in the universe and developed theoretical models of how black holes devour matter and the origin of the structure of the cosmological background radiation. His description of how matter drawn towards a black hole forms a thin, rapidly rotating, disc is essential if we are to understand how black holes can be the most powerful sources of radiation in the universe. Sunyaev´s work with the cosmological background radiation has inspired measure-ments that provide clues to the creation and structure of the universe. This radiation derives from a period when the universe was only a few hundred thousand years old and contains information about what happened during the ‘Big Bang’. On its journey to us, the background radiation has also been influenced by the distribution of matter in clusters of galaxies billions of years later.

Scientific Research Society Award to Charles Elachi

he Scientific Research Society has awarded the 2008 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement to

Charles Elachi, the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vice president of the California Institute of Technology.

Charles Elachi joined JPL in 1970 and is professor of electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech. He has been a principal investigator on a number of research and development studies and flight projects sponsored by NASA. These include the Shuttle Imaging Radar series, the Magellan

Charles Elachi.

imaging radar at Venus and the Cassini Titan radar. He is author of more than 230 publications in the fields of active microwave remote sensing and electromagnetic theory, and holds several patents in those fields. As JPL’s director for space and Earth science programmes from 1982 to 2000, he was responsible for the development of numerous flight missions and instruments for Earth observation, planetary exploration and astrophysics. In 1989, asteroid 1982 SU was renamed 4116 Elachi in recognition of his contribution to planetary exploration. Elachi has chaired a number of strategic planning committees for NASA. His numerous awards have included being honoured as one of ‘America’s Best Leaders’ by U.S. News & World Report (2006), the joint COSPAR/ Royal Society of London’s Massey Award

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(2006), Lebanon’s Order of Cedars (2006), the American Astronautical Society’s Space Flight Award (2005) and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2005). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics.

The Canadian Killam Prize ed to J. Richard Bond award

. Richard Bond, a key player in this ‘golden age’ of cosmological discovery, has been responsible for major insights

into the evolution of the cosmic web of galaxies we now observe which have evolved from tiny fluctuations generated in the early universe, as well as the study of the definitive role played by dark matter, dark energy, and black holes. An inspirational mentor, he has built an outstanding global network, establishing Canada’s pre-eminent inter-national position in cosmology.

J. Richard Bond Dr Bond developed the theory and experimental analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, the photon

afterglow of the Big Bang, into a high-precision tool for measuring basic cosmo-logical parameters that encode the content and architecture of the cosmos. Increasingly sophisticated international CMB projects – in which Richard Bond played a key role as a theoretician – have captured startling new images of the universe as early as 380 000 years after the Big Bang. Armed with his novel and powerful statistical approaches, various teams have uncovered evidence for the mysterious dark energies that continue to accelerate the expansion of the universe.

Dr Bond returned from Stanford University to the University of Toronto (where he took his first degree) in 1985 to serve as a founding member, university professor, and one time-director of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in the University of Toronto. Currently, he also directs the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Cosmology and Gravity Program. His current research uses a new round of high-precision CMB experiments – on satellites, balloons, and on the ground – to delve further into the physics operating in the universe. Dr Bond, FRS, FRSC, was recently awarded the 2006 NSERC Herzberg Gold Medal, Canada’s highest research award for science.

In Brief Scientists Without Borders

cientists without Borders is a new initiative launched by the New York Academy of Sciences. It recognizes that

the scientific community has tremendous potential for promoting global health, agricultural progress, environmental well-being, energy solutions, and other crucial advances, yet it lacks a way to mobilize its members for these benefits. Guided by the UN Millennium Development Goals, this initiative is addressing this predicament by developing a free, user-friendly online database that will allow users to coordinate science-based

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