You can win Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, and
medicine, but technology? No. There is, however the Millennium
Technology Prize. This is the world’s largest technology prize. It
is rewarded ever two years for a technological innovation that
significantly improves the quality of human life, today and in the
future. This year, Linus Torvalds, Linux’s creator, and Dr. Shinya
Yamanaka, maker of a new way to create stem cells without the use
of embryonic stem cells, are both laureates for the 2012 Millennium
Technology Prize.