Uploads from Dr. Becky

Currently Playing: Predictions for the Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 #shorts

The Nobel Prize is notoriously difficult to predict, but let’s have a go anyway ahead of the announcement of the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday 6th October. Now they often try to spread these out across different physics disciplines. And last year it went to quantum physics, and the year before to the physics that underpins AI systems, and the year before that to atomic physics. So I don’t think it’s going to be any of those. Astrophysics hasn’t won since 2020, so it could be astro’s year who knows? One of the things we can do is look at who’s won other big prizes in physics recently, like Breakthrough and Wolf prize. The breakthrough prize 2026 went to particle physics, specifically the Muon-g2 collaboration from CERN, for their work measuring the magnetic properties of a particle known as the muon. It’s cool because it lets you investigate new physics beyond our best particle physics theory, but I dunno, it just doesn’t seem big enough for Nobel prize. It’s a theme that follows with the latest Wolf prizes as well, that went to super cold atom control, which to seems a bit too similar in theme to 2025’s and 2023’s prize. Martin Rees who won the Wolf prize in 2023 is definite curveball - because he’s one of those people that you feel like should’ve won one by now for something, but hasn’t! He’s been on over 500 astrophysics papers, and was the Astronomer Royal for years. So maybe they’ll do something similar to 2020 where Roger Penrose was finally honoured with a prize that was shared with recent experimental work that was similar to his early theoretical work. I can imagine a prize to Martin Rees and Alan Guth for inflation or something? But let’s wait and see what the official announcement on Tuesday brings.... #nobelprize #nobelprize2026 #physics Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV Video edited and produced by Dr Becky Smethurst --- 📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): http://lnk.to/DrBecky --- 👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): https://dr-becky.teemill.com/ --- 🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive --- 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video! --- 👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars. http://drbecky.uk.com