– Adam Riess responding to a reporter’s question about the new power that comes with the Nobel Prize.

A remarkable number of people were off to an early morning conference. The Sun had not risen. Well, it was only 8:15am. We all piled into a bus which drove us to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. On the way there, we met the Saul Perlmutter’s “proud parents” and sister. We walked up the hill to the Academy and picked up the press release on the way to the auditorium where the press conference was being held.

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The Nobel laureates in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics filed in and were introduced by the head of the Royal Academy. They were all asked what their research/field is useful for. Answer: WIFI, GPS. It was noted that the Physics laureates had won for the work of large international collaborations. The three Physics laureates were asked whether these kind of collaborations represent the future of the research in their field. Answer: Yes. Even the telescopes that are used to make these great discoveries represent the work of a large group of people. The press seemed to focus quite a bit on the Chemistry laureate whose work people had at first rejected.