The 2008 Nobel Prizes Go To . ..

What does it take to win a Nobel Prize? Let's ask the 2008 winners!

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the world's newest Nobel laureates during the past week. The winners will receive their medals and awards—$1.4 million per prize—on Dec. 10, the date of Alfred Nobel's death. Alfred Nobel, a Swedish scientist, invented dynamite, then left his fortune to establish the Nobel prizes to honor scientists, writers and peacemakers.

• Nobel Prize in Medicine: French scientists Luc Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi discovered the virus that causes AIDS back in the 1980s. They share the prize with German scientist Harald zur Hausen, who found that another virus, HPV, causes cervical cancer in women.
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry: U.S. scientists Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien discovered that a glowing fluorescent green protein found in a type of jellyfish could be used to watch biological processes inside human body.
• Nobel Prize in Physics: Scientists Yoichiro Nambu of the United States and Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan came up with important theories about broken symmetry in particle physics.
• Prize in Economics, in Memory of Alfred Nobel: U.S. professor and New York Times writer Paul Krugman analyzes the effects of free trade and globalization on world economies and communities.
• Nobel Prize in Literature: French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio is known for his innovative stories, play with words, and detailed imagery.
• Nobel Peace Prize: This year's winner is Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of Norway who has quietly helped to negotiate peace agreements ending conflicts worldwide. Read about his work here.

Photo: The Associated Press