What happens when you take your Nobel Prize through airport security indy100 indy100 Indy100 logoNewsletter sign upRegister/Sign inTop 100NewsViralPoliticsCelebritiesScience & TechVideoWishlistWishlistBooksFashion & BeautyFood & DrinkHome & GardenKidsSports & FitnessTechTravel & OutdoorsMoreScience & techVideoConversationsSportIdentitiesLifestyleShowbizTVSearchxNews
What happens when you take your Nobel Prize through airport security
Matthew ChampionOct 12, 2014 Nobel Week is over, the five days when prizes are awarded in chemistry, literature, peace, physics and physiology or medicine. It's said that laureates' lives change overnight, and that was certainly true of Brian Schmidt, the astrophysicist who won the Nobel Physics Prize in 2011 for co-discovering dark energy. In a blog post on the Scientific American, Clara Moskowitz recalls Prof Schmidt saying: "It’s not like you get advanced warning, they just sort of call you up, in my case, in the middle of cooking dinner. ‘Hello? By the way, you’ve won the Nobel Prize'." Speaking last month in New York, Prof Schmidt said that relatively mundane things such as air travel were problematic for a Nobel laureate. He said his grandmother, who lives in Fargo, North Dakota, wanted to see the actual Nobel Prize, a gold disc that resembles an Olympic medal. "You would think that carrying around a Nobel Prize would be uneventful, and it was uneventful, until I tried to leave Fargo with it, and went through the X-ray machine. I could see they were puzzled. It was in my laptop bag. It’s made of gold, so it absorbs all the X-rays—it’s completely black. And they had never seen anything completely black," he said.“They’re like, ‘Sir, there’s something in your bag.’ I said, ‘Yes, I think it’s this box.’ They said, ‘What’s in the box?’ I said, ‘a large gold medal,’ as one does. So they opened it up and they said, ‘What’s it made out of?’ I said, ‘gold.’ And they’re like, ‘Uhhhh. Who gave this to you?’ ‘The King of Sweden.’ ‘Why did he give this to you?’ ‘Because I helped discover the expansion rate of the universe was accelerating.’ At which point, they were beginning to lose their sense of humor. I explained to them it was a Nobel Prize, and their main question was, ‘Why were you in Fargo?’." Hat-tip: Scientific American (Pictures: Getty)Keep reading...Show less In Pictures Borough Market s Harvest Festival a feast for the eyes
100-year-old former Wren among first to receive lovely card from the King
Maternity consultant turned artist to unveil new works at art fair
Please log in or register to upvote this article Top 100
Man endures ' 29 hour flight' with screaming kids for the entire trip
flightplanechildflightOct 12, 2022 Lorraine Kelly hits out at Madonna' s ' boiled egg' face
madonnamadonnalorraine kellygmbshowbizplastic surgeryOct 11, 2022 Elon Musk is actually selling a ' Burnt Hair' fragrance
elon muskthe boring companyperfumeelon muskburnt hairOct 12, 2022 Jon Stewart slams Arkansas attorney general for her ' anti-trans law'
lgbt+transgenderlgbt+jon stewartapple tvarkansasus newsnewsOct 11, 2022 Every time Keir Starmer mercilessly roasted Liz Truss at PMQs today
liz trussLiz Trusspmqsprime ministerprime minister's questionspoliticskeir starmerliz trussOct 19, 2022 Keir Starmer makes hilarious swipe at Liz Truss' new ' book title'
keir stamerkeir starmerliz trusspmqsLiz Trussprime ministerpoliticskeir stamerOct 19, 2022 Just Stop Oil protester praised for ' great' explanation of soup stunt
just stop oilvan goghprotestclimate activistsjust stop oilOct 19, 2022 Couple spark debate for ' scandalous' wedding cake topper
wedding caketiktokwedding cakeviralOct 12, 2022 Love Island star shows extent of how far influencers edit photos
Love IslandOct 11, 2022 Steven Seagal describes Putin as one of ' greatest world leaders'
steven seagalOct 10, 2022 Lizzo wears empowering shirt after being fat-shamed by Kanye West
lizzoOct 10, 2022 Ranking every modern prime minister' s resignation speech
prime ministerOct 20, 2022 A lettuce just outlasted Liz Truss' stint as prime minister
Liz TrussOct 20, 2022 Newsnight guest says ' you can' t treat mortgages like prime ministers'
Liz TrussOct 20, 2022The Conversation (0)