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(2007-10-10)
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
(Associated Press) -
It's an extra happy birthday for 71-year-old Gerhard Ertl of Germany.
He's the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in chemistry for studies of chemical reactions on solid surfaces.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says Ertl's research laid the foundation of modern surface chemistry. Such chemical reactions are key to answering questions like why the ozone layer is getting thinner and how fuel cells work.
Ertl says it's the best birthday present a person could get, telling The Associated Press that he's "speechless."
Nobel prizes for literature, peace and economics will be announced by next Monday.
© Copyright 2012, Associated Press
