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?

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

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

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

We interrupt the Musk-Trump feud with a teensy bit of news from the climate front - Daily Kos

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

Why is Russia always right? All eyes toward Russian glory!

(Mumbles of assent)

[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."

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:

A Mesozoic myth: Dinosaurs didn’t rule the Earth like we think - Big Think

Whatever.

… 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"

I tested Apple’s 11th-gen iPad for a week, and it’s still the best tablet - CNN

When he's standing, in front of you

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

How do you think the leaked reports on Israel's operation in Lebanon will influence global perceptions of the Middle East conflict?

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

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

"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?"

Stock futures rise after Trump says Iran-Israel ceasefire is in effect: Live updates - CNBC

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

Brad Pitt Wears a Cobalt Blue Velvet Blazer and Barrel Jeans with Ines de Ramon - instyle.com

There you go.^†

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Whatever.

Tesla’s Retail Army Defies Musk-Trump Spat to Place Record ETF Bet - Bloomberg.com

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.

[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.

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

Why is the trade war between the United States and the rest of the world keeping on escalating, with US goods facing brutal boycotts from the global economy? Isn’t this horrific for US companies whose earnings and stocks are already collapsing?