Nobel Grandeur

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, left, former President of Finland, lights the flame of peace with an unidentified girl, outside the Nobel Peace Center ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, poses with his medal and diploma at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo. The Nobel prizes are always presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of their founder, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. The peace prize is presented in Oslo, and the other prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden.

Norway's Queen Sonja, left and Crown Princess Mette-Marit attends the ceremony for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, waves from a balcony to a crowd marching past the Norwegian parliament with torches in his honor, in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Ahtisaari accepted this year's Nobel Peace Prize with a plea to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama: Waste no time getting involved in the Middle East conflict.

Actress Scarlett Johansson arrives for a gala dinner in honor of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

Entertainer Diana Ross arrives with her two sons, Evan, left and Ross Naess, for a gala dinner in honour of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, at the Grand hotel in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

British actor Michael Caine, right, and his wife Shakira Baksh, left, arrive for a gala dinner in honor of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, at the Grand hotel in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

A group of Kosovar nationals greet Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari, not seen, as he waves from a balcony at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Finnish mediator Martti Ahtisaari accepted this year's Nobel Peace Prize with a plea to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama: Waste no time getting involved in the Middle East conflict.

Sweden

The Swedish royal family from left front, Queen Silvia, Princess Madeleine, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Prince Carl Philip, and Crown Princess Victoria, and attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 10, 2008. This year, five Europeans, four Americans and three Japanese were selected by the Nobel Prize committees.

A general view of the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in the concert hall in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Nobel laureates are seated at left, Swedish Royal family and nobilities at right. Amid royal pomp and circumstance, Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf handed out the prestigious $1.2 million awards in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and economics.

Germany's Harald zur Hausen, left, co-laureate for the Nobel Prize in medicine, receives his medal and diploma from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, right, during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

Japan's Makoto Kobayashi, left, and Toshihide Maskawa, center, co-laureates of the Nobel Prize in physics, and Japan's Osamu Shimomura, right, co-laureate of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, pose for photographers with their medals during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

U.S. economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, laureate of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, is seen after receiving his medal and diploma from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, not seen, during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

U.S. scientist Roger Tsien, center, co-laureate of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, gestures after receiving his medal and diploma from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, not seen, during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, center, Nobel Prize for literature laureate, is seen after receiving his medal and diploma from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, not seen, during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel prizes are always presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of their founder, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

French researcher Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, left, co-laureate for the Nobel Prize in medicine, is seen after receiving her medal and diploma from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, right, during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

French researcher Luc Montagnier, left, co-laureate for the Nobel Prize in medicine, receives his medal and diploma from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, right, during the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Amid royal pomp and circumstance, Sweden's King handed out the prestigious $1.2 million awards in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and economics at the ceremony.

From left: Swedish Crown Princess Victoria, left, U.S. Nobel prize chemistry laureate Martin Chalfie, French Nobel prize medicine laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Japanese Nobel prize chemistry laureate Osamu Shimomura are seen during the Nobel Prize banquet at the Stockholm City Hall, Dec. 10, 2008.

The Nobel Award ceremonies in Norway and Sweden were followed by lavish banquets at which the laureates dine with Scandinavian royals, university professors, politicians and foreign diplomats. Here'a a look at the banquet at the Stockholm City Hall, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.

Sweden

CBS News 24/7