Two Americans win the Nobel Prize in physics Ronald Kotulak, Chicago Tribune

Two… Two Americans win the Nobel Prize in physics Ronald Kotulak, Chicago Tribune

Two physicists who obtained a satellite picture of the infant universe a mere 389,000 years after its explosive birth some 13 billion years ago, a feat most scientists thought would never be achieved, have been awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics.

Many consider their accomplishment the most important development in the field of cosmology, cementing the Big Bang theory as the best explanation for how the universe began, showing how stars and galaxies formed and providing scientists with a marvelous time machine for exploring the past and future of the cosmos.

For their measurement of cosmic background radiation, which is the afterglow of the Big Bang, John Mather of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and George Smoot of the University of California at Berkeley will share the $1.37 million prize at a ceremony Dec. 10 in Stockholm, Nobel officials announced Tuesday.

“The discovery literally opened the gate to the golden age of cosmology that we’re in,” said Michael Turner of the University of Chicago. “It’s a fantastic discovery that’s enabling us to learn about the universe, how old it is, its shape and its composition.”

The measurements of the microwave radiation were taken by the COBE satellite, which began returning spectacular results within hours after it was launched into Earth orbit in 1989. The information transformed cosmology from an art into a precise science, according to physicists.

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Click before you’re sick: Web sites let you check prices, doctors, hospitals Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal

You can’t put a price on an open-heart surgery that saves your life. Not yet, at least.

There’s a growing push to provide patients with the tools they need to become better consumers and make more informed decisions about their health care.

Employers are asking their workers to pick up more of the health bills through higher deductibles and out-of-pocket charges.

Consequently, patients are demanding more information because they have more of their own money on the line, said David M. Garratt, vice president of the Ohio and Kentucky markets for Aetna, one of the nation’s largest health insurers.

“In order to make the right decisions, consumers need to know more about price and quality,” Garratt said.

Insurers, employer coalitions, the federal government and others are responding by offering e-reports that provide clues about the quality and cost of care on a regional basis and, in some cases, down to the hospital level.

Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and some younger disabled Americans, already has been offering some quality comparison information for hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers through links on its Web site.

This summer, Medicare launched the first phase of an enhanced Web site with hospital pricing information.

For now, consumers can use the site to see the range Medicare pays hospitals within a specific county and state for some of the most common procedures and treatments.

Additionally, the federal site shows how many people with various conditions are treated at each hospital annually.

Eventually, the government wants to work with insurance companies and employer and consumer groups to share comparable cost and quality information down to a hospital level, said Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“People need to know how much their health care costs,” he said during a recent national conference call. “They need to know the quality of the care they receive. And they need to have a reason to care. Consumers making a decision today often make a decision with little or no information.”