RAS question
Which of the following is NOT a 2025 Nobel Physics laureate?
Correct answer: (C) Geoffrey Hinton.
Geoffrey Hinton was not a 2025 Nobel Physics laureate; the 2025 prize went to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis.
Explanation
Geoffrey Hinton is the odd one out because his Nobel Physics recognition belongs to 2024, not 2025. The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit. That citation matches options A, B and D, so they are all 2025 laureates. Hinton's 2024 award was for foundational discoveries and inventions that enabled machine learning with artificial neural networks. The question therefore tests whether you can separate adjacent-year Nobel facts instead of recognising only familiar scientist names.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) John Clarke is one of the three scientists named for the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, so he cannot be the non-2025 laureate.
- (B) Michel H. Devoret is listed among the 2025 Physics laureates for the electrical-circuit quantum tunnelling discovery.
- (D) John M. Martinis is part of the same 2025 Nobel Physics trio, making this option a laureate rather than the exception.
Concept
This tests current science awards under Science and Technology, especially Nobel Prize facts that often appear in RAS prelims as direct identification questions. It recurs because such awards connect contemporary science, named researchers and the cited discovery in one compact fact.