Seventy-Six Nobel Laureates are giving their endorsement to Barack Obama. In an Open Letter to the American People (PDF file), the Nobel winners are saying:

This year’s presidential election is among the most significant in our nation’s history. The country urgently needs a visionary leader who can ensure the future of our traditional strengths in science and technology and who can harness those strengths to address many of our greatest problems: energy, disease, climate change, security, and economic competitiveness.

We are convinced that Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him.

Paul Rolly in the Salt Lake Tribune points out that Utah’s own Nobel winner Mario Capecchi is going against the majority in Utah with his endorsement.

Utah is posed once again to vote overwhelmingly for the Republican presidential candidate, just as the Beehive State has done each presidential election since 1964.

But the Utah citizen who brought more international renown to the state than any other has bucked that trend by joining a group of equally prestigious folks to once again make headlines.

Seventy-six living Nobel Laureates, including the University of Utah’s Mario Capecchi, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for medicine, have signed a letter endorsing Democrat Barack Obama. It is the largest number in history of Nobel winners endorsing a presidential candidate, easily surpassing the previous record of 47 who endorsed John Kerry four years ago.