The Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield, the two scientists who developed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This technology has absolutely revolutionized the safe and painless diagnosis of diseases of the brain, spine, bones, and joints. One can't listen to a broadcast of ESPN "SportsCenter" without hearing about an athlete who is scheduled to undergo an MRI for one thing or another. Given that my day job is the interpretation of MRI scans on orthopedics and sports medicine patients, this is very gratifying news.