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"       Plenty of Nobel Prizes go for big discoveries, such as yesterday&amp;#039;s physics prize for the Higgs boson. But sometimes how people approach science is just as important as the discoveries they make, as shown by today&amp;#039;s announcement of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Arieh Warshel, Martin Karplus, and Michael Levitt, three naturalized American scientists, created the essential tools for future chemists and biologists to make groundbreaking discoveries via computer simulations. &amp;quot;To model chemical reactions, you can use two completely different sides of chemistry; that is the world of quantum physics and classical physics,&amp;quot; said Sven Lidin, chairman of the Nobel committee. &amp;quot;The natural way to use the two is together, so what is needed is a way to find quantum mechanics and physical mechanics to shake hands.&amp;quot;  The three Nobel winners did just that. Karplus and Warshel worked together at Harvard in the early 1970s to develop a computer program that would combine the strengths and nullify the weaknesses of quantum and classical approaches to chemistry. Levitt later worked with Warshel, making programs  to explore enzymic reactions . In addition to merging these two disparate sides of chemistry, the Nobel trio also made closed the gap between theorists and experimentalists, according to the academy. &amp;quot;Basically molecules are lazy creatures, most of the time [they] don&amp;#039;t do anything, and then suddenly when they react, everything goes quick. That&amp;#039;s hard to study experimentally,&amp;quot; said committee member Gunnar Karlstrom. &amp;quot;Theory controls time. Theory controls everything. We can do exactly what we want.&amp;quot; These programs have since aided scientists in unveiling the complex systems of photosynthesis and combustion and also contributed to pharmaceutical advancements by helping make better drugs. The three scientists will share the $1.25 million prize. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a9596/three-computer-sim-researchers-win-the-chemistry-nobel-16020571/>