How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage to win a Nobel Prize in physics when computer science already has its own Nobel Prize equivalent in the Turing Awards?

"Hey guys, AI is pretty big so let's centre our prizes on it this year. We can get some attention, and it's all about advertising, at the end of the day, isn't it?"

They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.

[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"

Is it accurate to say that while Donald Trump has "America First" policy, the Democratic Party has "Other nations first" policy?

Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:

[The basic structure of artificial neural networks] has close similarities with spin models in statistical physics applied to magnetism or alloy theory. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes research exploiting this connection to make breakthrough methodological advances in the field of ANN.

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

How should I handle my co-worker (he’s 15 years older than me) who often subtly belittles me and push his work to me?

"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"

One Way of Drinking Coffee Could Help You Live Longer, Study Finds - ScienceAlert

^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).

"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"

Whatever.

Vibe Coding, Windsurf and Anthropic, ChatGPT Connectors - Stratechery by Ben Thompson

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

Whatever.

… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*

Why do people always talk about Ohio as it's a dangerous city?

You can have your cake and eat it too

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

[Younger voice] "But wait a minute, Ising-Lenz goes back to the 1920's. And didn't Hinton plagiarise rather a lot? He also didn't invent modern backprop, did he, that's Linnainmaa? And Amari preceded Hopfield, too. That's not a good look."

Here’s what Ozempic and Wegovy are really doing to your mouth - The Independent

A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

In awarding prizes, the Nobel Committees often seem only marginally more competent than MTG is at explaining meteorology. And if they can give a literature prize for lyrics like:

In December 1973, when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, comedian Tom Lehrer dropped his mic and stamped on it—satire had just died.

Deion Sanders: Pre-draft attacks on Shedeur and Shilo "hurt" - NBC Sports

"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."

When he's standing, in front of you

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Do you agree with a toy company CEO that 'tariffs are almost like speeding towards a brick wall but the driver of the car doesn’t see it yet and by the time he does, it’ll be too late to hit the brakes.'?

There you go.^†

(Mumbles of assent)

"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"

Most freshwater game fish in Southern California carry invasive parasites capable of infecting humans, study finds - Phys.org