ANU astronomer set to accept Nobel Prize

Twelve months ago Brian Schmidt was living a routine life, working Monday to Friday in Canberra and trying his hand at winemaking after hours. Since the 44-year-old was named as a winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics, things have changed. “There’s not a lot of free time, that’s for sure,” Prof Schmidt told AAP by phone from Stockholm where he will collect his Nobel prize on Saturday. Typically in early December Prof Schmidt spends his spare time in shorts and a T-shirt at his 35-hectare farm just outside Canberra, where he runs a vineyard and winery, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.