Nobel Committee Adopts Neuron Switching Mechanism, Promptly Switches Itself Off
Inspired by this year's medicine laureates, the prize body says it will now run its own votes on the same on/off principle that governs a single nerve cell.
Stockholm's prize secretariat confirmed Monday that, in tribute to the newly honored research into cellular on/off switching, the committee will install an identical mechanism in its own voting chamber, with each member's chair wired to go dark the moment their internal switch is deemed 'off.'
The first test session reportedly ended nine seconds after it began, when two members switched off simultaneously and the remaining quorum was left debating in the dark, unable to determine whether the vote that followed counted as having happened.
"We came together as one neuron, divided," said a committee spokesperson, before excusing themselves to attend a subcommittee on whether excusing oneself requires being switched on in the first place.
Officials say the new system will continue indefinitely, on the grounds that a mechanism good enough to win medicine's highest honor is surely good enough to decide who wins it next.