Because of the global economy, the Nobel Committee will be awarding a smaller amount of prize money this year, reports the Nature News Blog's Ewen Callaway. This year, the committee will hand out 8 million Swedish krona ($1.2 million) per prize, down from 10 million krona. Callaway notes that this is the first time the prize amount has gone down since 1949. "The Nobel Foundation is responsible for ensuring that the prize sum can be maintained at a high level in the long term.