Interviews with Nobel Prize winners can’t fail to be interesting. So although the Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and early career scientists finished a couple of weeks ago, we’d still like to bring to your attention a final set of blog posts which came out of that conference.

Nature Network’s own Lou Woodley conducted a pair of interviews with two outstanding scientists. Ada Yonath, last year’s winner of the Chemistry prize for her work on the ribosome, has plenty to say about the difficulties (or not) for women in science, as well has her inspirations in life. Francoise Barré-Sinoussi, who scooped the 2008 prize for Physiology or Medicine, meanwhile, gives wide-ranging advice on everything from sustaining a happy marriage to her work on HIV to methods of scientific recognition beyond publication record.

Beatrice Lugger sat down with Sherwood Roland, one of the 1995 Chemistry winners for his discovery of reactions leading to ozone depletion. He talks about progress made in environmental sciences and the various groups who have helped and hindered progress. Akshat Rathi spoke to another chemist, Jean-Marie Lehn, winner of the 1987 prize. Rathi asked Lehn whether there is any curiosity-driven research in chemistry, for which there is no immediate application:

I have an easy answer to that. It’s not the only answer but it is one answer. So once a guy called me and told me that he is writing a piece in Nature on important problems in science. So he talked to physicists and they said they are studying the rules of the universe, which is a big problem no doubt. He talked to biologists and they said they are studying the rules of life, big problem. Then he asked, so what are chemists doing? I guess what he was trying to say is that we are making new molecules, new materials which is all very good but where is the big problem. I told him that chemist are actually looking at the biggest problems. I mentioned this in my lecture today. Einstein helped us understand some rules of the universe from the theory of relativity but how did this species called Einstein evolve who can think and achieve this for us? What is the process? I have the answer, it’s self-organization. And it is simple, if I may say so. By using the bricks of the universe (atoms) which were built by the laws of the universe we now have such complex organisms.

Finally, Martin Fenner interviews 1992 Physiology or Medicine winner Edmond Fischer, pianist, microbe hunter, pilot and Napoleon expert.

The conference (particularly its lighter side) was also captured on video by a team of roving reporters. Hear the thoughts of young and old supergeeks and short interviews with attendees who discuss why they got into science. In another entertaining event, the “tables were turned on the delegates”https://www.scilogs.eu/en/blog/lindaunobel/2010-07-13/turning-the-tables-students-take-the-high-seat, with Nobel Laureates asking questions of the younger scientists.