Revelations about the solar system's icy frontier, carbon-based nanostructures and the neurological basis of perception and decision have brought global recognition to seven researchers who are sharing in this year's three $1 million Kavli Prizes.

The prizes have been awarded every other year since 2008 for pioneering work in three areas of research: astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. The program is a partnership involving the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Kavli Foundation and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.

The Norwegian academy receives nominations from their colleagues in other countries and forwards them on to prize committees who recommend the winners. Much of the money for the awards is put up by the foundation, created by Norwegian-born industrialist/philanthropist Fred Kavli.

Here are the winners of this year's prizes, announced on Thursday:

Astrophysics
Planetary scientists David Jewitt, Jane Luu and Mike Brown share the $1 million astrophysics prize "for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members, work that led to a major advance in the understanding of the history of our planetary system." The Kuiper Belt is an icy ring of material on the outskirts of the solar system, between 30 and 50 AU. (One AU, or astronomical unit, equals the distance from Earth to the sun.) UCLA's Jewitt and MIT's Luu found the first Kuiper Belt object beyond Pluto in 1992. Caltech's Brown led a team that found numerous large Kuiper Belt objects, including one that's more massive than Pluto. Brown's discovery of the world now known as Eris led to Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet in 2006, but I don't hold that against him.

Kavli Prize

Winners of the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics: UCLA's David Jewitt, MIT's Jane Luu, Caltech's Mike Brown.

Earlier in the week, Jewitt and Luu were awarded the $1 million Shaw Prize in Astronomy for their study of trans-Neptunian bodies. Jewitt told Physics World it was "very flattering" to receive such rich honors from two independent prize committees almost simultaneously.

Kavli Prize

MIT's Mildred Dresselhaus

Nanoscience
MIT physicist Mildred Dresselhaus will receive the nanoscience prize "for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures." Over the course of five decades, Dresselhaus has come up with a steady stream of insights revealing how the properties of materials at the nanometer scale can be radically different from their properties at larger scales. Her early work on carbon fibers and materials known as graphite intercalation compounds laid the foundation for later discoveries relating to buckyballs, carbon nanotubes and graphene. (Graphene was the focus of a Nobel Prize awarded in 2010.)

Kavli Prize

The 2012 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience goes to Rockefeller University's Cornelia Bargmann, Winfried Denk of the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and MIT's Ann Graybiel.

Neuroscience
Cornelia Bargmann, Winfried Denk and Ann Graybiel share the neuroscience prize "for elucidating basic neuronal mechanisms underlying perception and decision." Rockefeller University's Bargmann used nematode worms to study the molecular controls for animal behavior, including the role of odorant receptors, sensory neurons and the neurotransmitters involved in behavioral adaptation following experience. Denk, a resercher at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, developed two techniques for studing how information is transmitted from the eye to the brain. MIT's Graybiel traced neural loops connecting the outer brain with an inner region known as the striatum. Such loops form the basis for linking sensory cues to actions involved in habitual behaviors.

Norway's King Harald V will present the prizes to the laureates during a Sept. 4 ceremony in Oslo.

Update for 10 p.m. ET June 2: The prize announcement was made during a webcast from the Norwegian Academy of Letters and Science in Oslo that was beamed to the World Science Festival in New York. One of the laureates, Cornelia Bargmann, was in attendance for the announcement. Check out the archived video of the event, and if you're in New York this weekend, check out the festivities at the science festival. It's also worth noting that on the other side of the country, a month-long science fest is just starting up in Seattle.

More about scientific prizes:

• Nobel laureates say we must fund dark energy research
• Three scientists win Nobel for discovering cosmic speedup
• Vindicated! Ridiculed Israeli chemist wins Nobel Prize

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

University of California San Diego

An image made with a lens-less X-ray microscope that sees at the nanoscale reveals magnetic domains that appear like the repeating swirls of fingerprint ridges. As the spaces between the domains get smaller, computer engineers can store more data.

A new lens-less microscope that harnesses X-rays is able to see details at the scale of a single nanometer and could help usher in an era of smaller computer hard disks that hold more memory, researchers report in a new study.

The technique is also scalable, and as X-ray sources are improved, the technique should allow researchers to resolve down to the subatomic scale, Oleg Shpyrko, an assistant professor of physics at the University of California at San Diego, told me today.

The X-ray microscope uses a computer algorithm to generate the images. It does this by converting the diffraction patterns produced by the X-rays bouncing off the nanoscale structures into resolvable images.

While various other microscopes, such as atomic force microscopes, can see at the nanoscale, they are only able to see through thin samples. "The advantage of X-rays is they can see through materials," Shpyrko said.

The technique, for the first time, also allows scientists to see magnetic structure at the nanoscale level without the aid of a lens. This is important because it enables researchers to more easily manipulate the sample being studied, he noted. 

The computer algorithm that serves as the lens is similar to the technology that sharpened the Hubble Space Telescope's initially blurred images before its mirrors were repaired in space. A similar concept is employed by astronomers who use adaptive optics to remove distortion from their images.

To test the microscope, Shpryko and colleagues made a layered film composed of the magnetic elements gadolinium and iron that are being considered for the development of higher capacity, smaller, and faster computer memory and disk drives.

When combined, these materials self assemble into a series of magnetic stripes that look akin to the repeating swirls of the ridges in fingerprints. Being able to see these patterns will enable researchers to make and see smaller and smaller fingerprint patterns, known as magnetic domains, which will allow more data to be stored in a smaller space within a material, according to the researchers.

"We want to be able to make materials in a controlled fashion to build magnetic devices for data storage or, in biology or chemistry, to be able to manipulate matter at nanoscale," Shpryko said in a news release. "And in order to do that, we have to be able to see at the nanoscale. This technique allows you to do that."

Currently, the technology is "still somewhat a conceptual proof of principle," Shpryko told me, but given advances in technology, he can envision a future when the microscope technique finds uses in chemistry and biology, for example imaging cells and viruses with a spatial resolution higher than that available with visible light.

More on microscope technology:

• You'll need a microscope to see 'nanobama'
• Researchers say microscope can see atoms
• New nanoscope sees objects smaller than ever
• Japanese scientists create microscopic bowl

A paper on the telescope was published online August 8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Co-authors include: Ashish Tripathi, Jyoti Mohanty, Sebastian H. Dietze, Erik Shipton, Eric E. Fullerton, Sang Soo Kim, Ian McNulty.

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com.

Carbon  nanotubes, seen here in a scanning electron microscpe image, are being considered for use in filters to remove contaminants such as water soluble drugs from municipal water supplies.

Scientists are eyeing carbon nanotubes to clean up municipal water supplies contaminated with water soluble drugs and other compounds that sneak past common charcoal filters.

The teeny tiny tubes of carbon are a factor of 1,000 more effective at filtering out the aromatic molecules in water soluble drugs, Thilo Hofmann, who heads up the department of environmental geosciences at the University of Vienna, explained to me in an email on Friday.

This trait makes carbon nanotubes ideal for inclusion in "filtration membranes for water treatment … the technique for all major league cities," he said.

However, safety concerns about carbon nanotubes abound. One study, for example, found that longer threads of the stuff mimic the toxic qualities of asbestos. Another study found that common sized tubes can get into the lungs and increase the risk of developing cancer. 

Such risks have prompted Hofmann and his colleagues to cautiously probe the potential of carbon nanotubes for water filtration. 

A test on the interaction between the tubes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — a class of organic contaminants — reveal a "high potential" for use in treating municipal water supplies, Hofmann said.

Key among the findings, the team notes, is that at concentrations likely to occur in the environment, the tubes removed 13 tested PAHs from contaminated water, allaying concerns that the pollutants would compete with each other and some would not attach to the tubes, rending the technology ineffective.

The results were published this June in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.  

While more research is needed, Hofmann said these results prompt him to keep pursuing the use of carbon nanotubes for water treatment in large cities. In rural areas, he noted, "there is not the same need to filter out pharmaceuticals."

More on carbon nanotubes and water treatment:

• Study: Carbon nanotubes mimic asbestos
• 'Smart' fabric glows in response to allergens
• Pharmaceuticals lurking in U.S. drinking water
• Sea shells used to clean up heavy metals

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).

Gary W. Meek / Georgia Tech file

Georgia Tech Professor Zhong Lin Wang holds a prototype nanowire array that could be used to power nanometer-scale devices. Wang and his colleagues say they have developed a commercially viable version of the nanogenerator.

Someday, your pulse could provide all the power you'll need for your iPod. At least that's the promise held out by researchers who say they've developed the first commercially viable nanogenerator.

The nanogenerator is actually a flexible chip containing millions of zinc oxide nanowires. The important thing about these wires is that when you flex them, they create a tiny bit of electric current. This phenomenon, known as the piezoelectric effect, was discovered more than a century ago and plays an essential role in lots of electronic devices.

Suppose you could deposit millions of power-generating nanowires in just the right arrangement, within layers of polymer material, and suppose you could flex them in just the right way to capture and combine the resulting electricity. That's what Georgia Tech's Zhong Lin Wang and his colleagues have been working on for the past six years.

Their latest prototype chips are about a quarter the size of a postage stamp, but when you stack five of the chips on top of each other like a sandwich, you can produce 1 microampere of current at 3 volts — which is equivalent to the voltage of two AA batteries. And you can produce it just by squeezing the chips together with your fingers.

That's enough power to light up an LED bulb or a liquid crystal display on a calculator or computer.

"While a few volts may not seem like much, it has grown by leaps and bounds over previous versions of the nanogenerator," Wang said in a news release from the American Chemical Society. "Additional nanowires and more nanogenerators, stacked together, could produce enough energy for powering larger electronics, such as an iPod or charging a cell phone."

Zhong Lin Wang / Georgia Tech

When the nanogenerator chip is flexed between the fingers, it puts out enough power to light up an LED bulb and an LCD display.

During a presentation at this week's ACS national meeting in Anaheim, Calif., Wang said the latest device puts out thousands of times more power and 150 times more voltage than the early prototypes.

"This development represents a milestone toward producing portable electronics that can be powered by body movements without the use of batteries or electrical outlets," he said. "Our nanogenerators are poised to change lives in the future. Their potential is only limited by one's imagination."

If Wang were merely talking about charging up iPods by pinching your fingers together, that wouldn't create much of a stir. But he suggests that piezoelectric nanogenerators could be placed into the soles of your shoes to power up wearable electronic devices (fitness monitors, for example). They could be implanted inside the body, using the energy of your heartbeat to keep an insulin pump going. They could be woven into wind-powered environmental sensors that flap in the breeze, or built into the automotive tires to produce an extra jolt of electricity for your car's accessories.

But all those applications are still a little farther down the road. Wang and his colleagues still have to find a way to make further improvements in power output, and then find a company to produce the devices commercially. Wang estimates that the first nanogenerators will make their appearance on the market in the next three to five years, most likely as power sources for environmental sensors or infrastructure monitoring devices.

More about tiny power sources:

• How Wang's device could power micro-robots
• Micro-motor runs on bacteria power
• Transistor merges man and machine
• Could sperm power nanobots?

Funding for the nanogenerator research comes from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force.

Join the Cosmic Log community by clicking the "like" button on our Facebook page or by following msnbc.com science editor Alan Boyle as b0yle on Twitter. To learn more about my book on Pluto and the search for planets, check out the website for "The Case for Pluto." 

Joe Raedle / Getty Images file

Will paper coated with silver nanoparticles make an appearance at the meat counter?

Scientists have developed a technique to coat paper with nanoparticles of silver — a combination that makes the paper lethal to bacteria such as E. coli and potentially suitable as a food packaging material.

Silver is widely used to fight bacteria, and silver nanoparticles are already found in textiles, fibers, plastics and metals for biomedical applications. The technology is used in wound dressings and microbial resistant catheters, as well as consumer products such as odor-resistant socks (and even space underwear).

Until now, scientists have been unable to deposit the particles of silver — each one-50,000 the width of a human hair — onto paper. The new method involves the use of ultrasound, or high-frequency sound waves, to anchor the particles on paper.

The technique was pioneered by a research team led by Aharon Gedanken at the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and described last month in the journal Langmuir, published by the American Chemical Society.

In laboratory tests, the so-called "killer paper" showed lethal antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus, two causes of bacterial food poisoning, "suggesting its potential application as a food packaging material for longer shelf life," the researchers write.

In addition to food packaging, the coating method could be extended to other nanomaterials to create properties such as water resistance, various degrees of conductivity, and roughness. That "could lead to interesting applications," the researchers say.

Are you ready for your meat to come wrapped in paper coated with nanoparticles? Feel free to weigh in with a comment below.

More on nanotechnology:

• City of Berkeley to regulate nanotechnology
• Scientists see risks and benefits in nanofoods
• Nanotechnology leaves the lab
• FDA told to watch nanotech products for risks

Science / AAAS

(A and B) Scanning electron micrographs of lateral and cross-sectional views, respectively, of laminated Si3N4 and carbon nanotube sheets that were biscrolled into yarn. The brighter regions correspond to the carbon nanotubes. (C) Scanning electron micrograph of an undensified biscrolled yarn containing TiO2 powder. (D and E) Scanning electron micrographs showing that biscrolled carbon nanotube yarns containing 95 weight percent LiFePO4 (for high performance batteries) and 88% weight percent SiO2 powder, respectively, are sufficiently strong to be knotted. (F) Optical micrograph showing that a biscrolled yarn containing 85 weight percent TiO2 can be sewn into Kevlar textile.

High-tech clothes that function as batteries and fuel cells, some of them even self-cleaning, may all be possible — thanks to a new type of yarn developed by nanotechnologists.

The high-tech yarn is spun out of carbon nanotubes infused with powdered particles that are traditionally tricky to work with. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas developed a way to deposit the particles on a web of carbon nanotubes. and then twist them up into yarn.

The powder accounts for up to 95 percent of the mass of the so-called bioscrolled yarns. which can then be knitted, knotted, braided and sewn into other fiber and textile products, including clothing. Laboratory tests show it can even be washed without losing many of the powdered particles, thus retaining their functionality.

The functionality of the yarn depends on the powder sprayed onto the nanotubes. A material found in lithium ion battery electrodes, for example, was used to make a yarn that was "shown to have the battery performance, flexibility and mechanical robustness needed for incorporation in energy-storing and energy-generating clothing," UT-Dallas said in a news release.  A paper describing the technology is reported in last week's issue of the journal Science.

More on high-tech duds:

• 'Smart' clothing responds to wearer's emotions
• New fitness apparel will sport sensors and microchips
• 'Smart' textiles emerge from nanotech labs
• Nanotubes show their strength in numbers

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).