Eight scientists win Norwegian Kavli prizes

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Oslo, June 3 (DPA) Eight scientists were Thursday named winners of the Norwegian Kavli prizes for discoveries in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters said.The astrophysics prize was shared by Jerry Nelson of the University of California, Ray Wilson, formerly of Imperial College London and the European Southern Observatory, and Roger Angel of the University of Arizona, for 'innovations in the field of telescope design'.Two US scientists - Donald M Eigler of IBM's Almaden Research Centre in San Jose and Nadrian Seeman, of New York University - shared the nanoscience prize.Eigler was cited as the first researcher to 'pick up an individual atom and move it precisely to another location' - a feat achieved in 1989.Seeman used DNA, the building blocks of living organisms, to create raw materials for sensors and medical devices, the academy said.German-born Thomas Suedhof of Stanford University School of Medicine in the US, and Americans Richard Scheller of the biotech company Genentech, and James Rothman of Yale University, shared the neuroscience prize for work on the transfer of signals between nerve cells in the brain.Each prize category was worth $1 million.The awards are to be presented at a ceremony in Oslo Concert Hall September 7.The Kavli Foundatation was set up by Norwegian Fred Kavli, who lives in the US. It is partnered with the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.

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