Monday's Molecule #64

 
Today's molecule isn't really a molecule. It's an indirect representation of a molecule. It would be amazing if one of you could guess the molecule by looking at the figure but that's probably beyond the ability of most Sandwalk readers. (I know I can't do it.) Your task is to identify what that strange picture is all about and how is it generated.

There's a direct connection between this image and Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s). Your second task is to figure out the significance of today's photograph and identify the Nobel Laureate(s) who is associated with discovering the technique. (Be sure to check previous Laureates.)

The reward goes to the person who correctly identifies the technique and the Nobel Laureate(s). In addition, you must identify what is unique about this particular Nobel Prize.

Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There is only one ineligible candidate for this week's reward. The prize is a free lunch at the Faculty Club.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the structure and the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureates so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow along with the time that the message was received on my server. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: We have a winner! There were several dozen readers who knew that this was a photograph of an X-ray diffraction pattern. Several of them knew that the crystal was sodium chloride. Many of them guessed correctly that the Nobel Laureates were the Braggs—the first, and only, father and son team to win a Nobel Prize together. The first person to send all of this information in an email message was Andre Macphail. He wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Unfortunately, he lives in France so he won't be able to make it anytime soon. He's taking a rain check.

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