10 October 2006 What do Nobel laureates do with all that prize
money?  An informal survey of winners in Physiology or Medicine
reveals generosity and a sense of fun. When the Nobel Prizes in
Physiology or Medicine, Physics and Chemistry are awarded next
week, the winners will be thrown into a maelstrom of publicity.
Over the coming months, they will be interviewed innumerable
times, they will dine with the King of Sweden amid great pomp
and circumstance, and their calendars will fill up with speaking
engagements and appearances. But there is also another dimension
of excitement associated with winning a Nobel Prize: the money.
Each of next week's prizes will carry an award of 10 million
Swedish kronar, the equivalent of $1.3 million. The prizes are
sometimes divided between more than one winner, but even so, the
amount each laureate receives is far from negligible. Based on
past history, it seems a fair bet that the winners will be
generous with the cash, making sizable donations to causes that
matter to them