THE Nobel Prize in Physics has been jointly awarded to James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their work in furthering our understanding of the universe.

In a ceremony in Stockholm yesterday, one half of the prize was awarded to Peebles for “theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology,” and the other half to Mayor and Queloz for “the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.”

“This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics rewards new understanding of the universe’s structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system,” tweeted the Nobel committee.

“The discoveries have forever changed our conceptions of the world.”

Half of the 9 million Swedish krona (US$910,000) prize will be given to Peebles, while Mayor and Queloz will split the rest.

Peebles is Albert Einstein Professor of Science at Princeton University.

Over two decades Peebles developed a theoretical framework that forms the basis of our understanding of the history of the universe, according to the committee.

His models reveal that we only know about 5 percent of the content of our universe, with the remaining 95 percent consisting of unknown dark matter and dark energy, according to a press release.

“This is a mystery and a challenge to modern physics,” reads the release.

Mayor and Queloz focused their research on looking for unknown worlds in the Milky Way, and in 1995 discovered the first planet outside our solar system.

51 Pegasi b is a gaseous ball similar to Jupiter, according to the release, and its discovery “started a revolution in astronomy.”

Mayor is from Switzerland and teaches at the University of Geneva, while countryman Queloz teaches at the University of Geneva and the University of Cambridge.

On Monday, two Americans and a British scientist were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering how the body’s cells sense and react to oxygen levels, work that has paved the way for new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and other diseases, the Nobel Committee said.

Doctors William G. Kaelin Jr. of Harvard University, Gregg L. Semenza of Johns Hopkins University and Peter J. Ratcliffe at the Francis Crick Institute in Britain and Oxford University will share equally the 9 million kronor cash award, the Karolinska Institute said.

The Nobel Committee said their work has “greatly expanded our knowledge of how physiological response makes life possible,” explaining that the scientists identified the biological machinery that regulates how genes respond to varying levels of oxygen.

The Nobel Committee said scientists are focused on developing drugs that can treat diseases by either activating or blocking the body’s oxygen-sensing machinery.  

(SD-Agencies)