Recapping some of humanity’s most notable achievements of the past year
The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the world. Each year, six winners are highlighted for their various achievements. Each winner is selected to enter in one of the following categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. Nobel prizes have been awarded since 1901, with 2025 marking its 124th year of celebration. The idea behind the Nobel Prize is simple: award those who have contributed the greatest benefit to humanity in the past year.
Nominees were announced this past month of October. The categories of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics of Sciences, all had three winners per category. While the Nobel Peace Prize and Literature each respectively had one winner.
The Physics Nobel Prize winners were John Clarke, Michael H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis. All three of them share the victory for “the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling, and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.” According to the Nobel Prize Institute, a major question in physics has been the maximum size of a system that can demonstrate quantum mechanics. In this case, the rules being quantum mechanical effects. This year laureates conducted experiments that demonstrated both quantum mechanical tunnelling, and quantised energy levels in a system big enough to be held in a human hand. This is a great discovery because quantum physics typically works on extremely small scales.
The Chemistry Nobel Prize winners were Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi. They are sharing the win “for the development of metal-organic frameworks”. According to the Nobel Prize Institute, they were able to create molecule-sized constructions with large enough spaces to allow gases and other chemicals to flow through. The Institute says the development of these constructions can be used to “harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyse chemical reactions.” This discovery is important as it opens up many new avenues for us to solve current world problems.
The Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize winners were Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi. They won the prize for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. The immune system in the human body is composed of different levels. One of these is known as immunological tolerance. In a simple and superficial way, our immune system will attack anything it deems as ‘foreign,’ or not part of the body. According to the Nobel Prize Institute, “the body’s powerful immune system must be regulated, or it may attack our own organs.” Peripheral immune tolerance is the system in which the body operates that prevents the immune system from harming its own body. Their discoveries have now laid the foundation for a new field of research and treatments for ailments such as cancer and autoimmune diseases.
László Krasznahorkai took home the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature. According to the Nobel Prize Institute, the Hungarian author won the prize “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer. The epic poem is a lengthy work of literature. Classical examples of epic literature are Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. However, Krasznahorkai is following the Central European tradition of other great authors such as Franz Kafka, author of The Metamorphosis and Thomas Bernhard, author of Frost. A genre characterized by its absurdism and “grotesque excess.” Krasznahorkai’s style stands out, according to the Nobel Prize Institute, for its more contemplative and finely calibrated tone.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner is Marina Corina Machado. Machado is an outstanding person from Venezuela. She won the accolade for her consistent and meaningful efforts against Venezuela’s current authoritarian government. Notability, in 2023, she announced her candidacy for president in the 2024 presidential election. However she was barred from joining. Machado, instead, supported the opposition alternative candidate. The opposition then collected systematic documentation to prove their candidate was the true winner of the election. According to the Nobel Prize Institute, Machado earned the peace prize for “her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela,” especially during a time where democracy seems to be retreating internationally.
Last but not least, The Economic Nobel Prize winners were Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt. The three laureates are taking home the win “for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress.” Notably, Howitt is a Canadian economist! He completed his BA at McGill University and his masters in University of Western Ontario. Currently he is faculty at Brown University in the U.S.
This year’s winners help explain one of Economics biggest questions: How to achieve continual economic growth. This often proves a challenge given the number of resources available at a given moment are limited. One of the factors economists consider in their studies is the role of technology. According to the Nobel Prize Institute “over the last two centuries, for the first time in history, the world has seen sustained economic growth. This has lifted vast numbers of people out of poverty and laid the foundation of our prosperity.” The Institute highlights “[they] taught us that sustained growth cannot be taken for granted. Economic stagnation, not growth, has been the norm for most of human history.” In other words, their work provides great insight on how to continue to achieve and sustain economic growth into the future.
With over a hundred years of history, The Nobel Prize has served to encourage humanity to keep pushing forward. This past year has come with many challenges and human cost. It is important to take a moment to acknowledge all the amazing humans who continue to work tirelessly for a better future for all.