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?

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

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

ESA supports Moon mission carrying first European rover - European Space Agency

You can have your cake and eat it too

When he's standing, in front of you

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.

What is music publishing?

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

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

[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.

Anthony says 1st HR made better by Red Sox win - ESPN

(Mumbles of assent)

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:

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

I'm looking for an answer from people who consider themselves "Gender Critical", or transphobic, or TERFs, and my question is this - Why would you refuse to use the pronouns someone wants? What does it cost you? Where's the harm?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Eum ipsa id ullam qui.

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

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

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

North Carolina U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis won't run for reelection in 2026 - Axios

Whatever.

There you go.^†

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

U.S. budget deficit hit $316 billion in May, with annual shortfall up 14% from a year ago - CNBC

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

[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."

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Have you been with a stranger yet?

Whatever.

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

"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?"

Defiant Tusk to call confidence vote to reassert his authority in Poland after election setback - politico.eu