As is the tradition, the first full week of October marked the announcements of Nobel Prizes, with a new one each day: Physiology and medicine Oct. 5, followed by physics, chemistry, literature and peace on successive days. The first three often are considered the science prizes, and since their start in 1901, scientists in the United States have won 44% of those. But that dominance has not always existed, and it may not continue to. The early prizes were awarded mostly to Europeans, as German science especially was preeminent. This year, only one of the six laureates was born in the United States. The other scientists who were honored were French, Japanese, two Germans and a Belgian scientist who immigrated to the U.S. Nobel Prizes usually honor discoveries that were made years or decades ago, so this year’s awards may not reflect a trend yet. But, for several reasons, the U.S. might begin to lose some of its edge, particularly because of reduced funding and new political priorities. In the past fiscal year that just ended Sept. 30, the National Science Foundation, the federal agenc