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Probably the single most important thing about the Nobel Prize for most people is whether they get the coveted parking space on campus.
Saul Perlmutter -
I was one of those kids who always thought that we should know how the world works around us
Saul Perlmutter
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It's an unusual opportunity, a chance for so many people to share in the excitement and the fun of the fact that we may be on to hints as to what the Universe is made out of. I guess the whole point of a prize like this is to be able to get that out into the community
Saul Perlmutter -
Nobody really expects a Nobel Prize call
Saul Perlmutter -
Astronomers ought to be able to ask fundamental questions without accelerators
Saul Perlmutter -
There are still so many questions to answer. When you look at any part of the universe, you have to feel humbled.
Saul Perlmutter -
It seemed like my favourite kind of job - a wonderful chance to ask something absolutely fundamental: the fate of the Universe and whether the Universe was infinite or not
Saul Perlmutter -
If you ask almost any of them, do you stand behind your theory, is this the answer, I think they would almost every one say that no, no, no, I'm just trying to expand the range of possibilities. We really don't know what is going on.
Saul Perlmutter
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As a scientist, you feel a sense of team spirit for your country but you also have a sense of team spirit for the international community.
Saul Perlmutter -
You want your mind to be boggled. That is a pleasure in and of itself. And it's more a pleasure if it's boggled by something that you can then demonstrate is really, really true
Saul Perlmutter -
It's interesting to wake up at 3 in the morning by someone saying they're a reporter and they want to know how you feel. I felt fine, but I said, 'Well, why do you ask?'
Saul Perlmutter -
We have a remarkably complete picture in many ways - and it could be that we're not accounting for something that's almost three-quarters of the entire universe
Saul Perlmutter -
I will say that growing up as a kid in an urban environment and having lived in cities all my life, the one achievement that everyone can look forward to is getting the perfect parking spot
Saul Perlmutter -
So it's possible that someday, by understanding a little bit more about how the world works, it will come back to help us in some other way that will be surprising
Saul Perlmutter
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Your job as a scientist is to figure out how you're fooling yourself.
Saul Perlmutter -
It is a tough choice between ending up in the cold or ending up in a fiery blast.
Saul Perlmutter -
You might expect gravity would slow it down, but it's just expanding faster and faster
Saul Perlmutter -
From our point of view, the most exciting thing would be if we discovered something really fundamental in our understanding was just off a bit - and that now we have a chance to revisit it
Saul Perlmutter