Two Carnegie Institution researchers who have spent decades analyzing the behavior and properties of minerals exposed to extreme conditions, especially high pressure, have been jointly awarded the Balzan Prize in mineral physics by the International Balzan Foundation. Four prizes awarded annually recognize achievements in science, art, the humanities, and social sciences. Since 1961, 106 scientists, institutions, and others have received the Balzan Prize, including Mother Teresa, Jean Piaget, and the Nobel Foundation.
Russell J. Hemley, a senior staff scientist at the institution’s geophysical laboratory in Washington, DC, and director of the US Carnegie/Department of Energy Alliance Center (CDAC), and Ho-kwang Mao, a senior staff scientist at the institution’s geophysical lab, won the award “for the impressive impact of their joint work leading to fundamental breakthroughs, theoretical and experimental, in the field of minerals submitted to extreme physical conditions,” according to the foundation’s citation.
The foundation said the...
