This happened about 45 minutes ago, and here’s my CNN bulletin
This year’s Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources,” the awarding committee said.
The committee said the trio’s work is in keeping with the spirit of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the prize, because LED lights have ushered in a new energy- and environmentally-friendly light source.
The Nobel prizes in chemistry, literature and economic sciences will be announced later this week, as will the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Guardian actually had live-blogging of the Prize’s announcement, here. And there’s already a video of the announcement on YouTube, first in Swedish and then in English. I’d never seen the actual announcement of the award. I suppose the winners are called immediately thereafter.
The Guardian also showed a list of the physics prizes divided by field (below), with the note:
The dominance of particle physics owes in large part to the flurry of particle discoveries in the 60s and 70s. Last year’s prize followed experimental confirmation of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider, but the prize went for theoretical work in the 1960s that described how some fundamental particles acquire mass.
Neither topological insulators, nor OLED.
Surprised again! But it was a well deserved prize, plenty of social effects.
OLED will come later. I still think there is lots of room for improvement and discovery in that field. Nakamura’s prize is well deserved, though ten years ago I am not quite sure I would have thought that field would have won it…but looking back: laser diodes, giant magneto-resistive effect, etc. the prizes can get a very practical bearing to them…which is good.
Yes LEDs are everywhere – lots of uses!
Not much in the way of basic/foundational science but huge impact on society.
Interesting that this year the US haul is non-existent whereas last year it was 9 prizes.
Yeah, my thought was that this was more engineering than science, providing a small amount of hope that even an engineer like me has a chance of getting a Nobel some day (not really, there’s the Collier Trophy in my field, and I know the chances of me winning it are slim to none).
If Tony Blair, that well-known Middle East Ambassador, gets the Peace Prize I am emigrating …
It’s not that bad to win one. First, the Peace Prize is a burden to anyone selected for it. It has become an anamoly, not a prize. Second, our President got one and he denies Islam motivates people to do violence. The Peace Prize has become wishful thinking for the masses.
Good point about Obama.
Sub
LED lighting has the promise to deliver on what fluorescents were supposed to and kinda did: cheap, low power, and long lifetimes.
As with fluorescents, their spectral power distribution is far from ideal (sunlight), even in the better examples. However, ideal perfection is rarely called for or even offers noticeable benefit. Art galleries and photographers and the like are going to continue using filtered halogen lights for decades, if not centuries…but it won’t be long before changing a lightbulb is as peculiar a notion as changing a ceiling fan.
If it’s not happening already (say, with architect-designed commercial buildings and upscale residences), new construction will include LED bulbs in places with complete disregard for accessibility and only considering their functional and aesthetic qualities, same as is the case today for air conditioning vents. The lights will be intended to require as much maintenance as the light switches and wall sockets. Quite a radical change from just a century ago when candles and oil lamps were still commonplace!
b&
New construction can do that as much as it wants, but it won’t become new sales to me. I’ve done the thing of struggling for 3 hours 60ft up in the derrick in a June snow shower trying to replace equipment that should have a very long lifetime ; I don’t want to do that again. Designing equipment that is going to put people at real risk of death to carry out maintenance is unethical. I can do the “dope onna rope” stuff as well as the next troglodyte, but that doesn’t mean that I want to do it unnecessarily.
IN THEORY, these lamps (or whatever other types of equipment) won’t need maintenance. And IN THEORY there is no difference between theory and practice. IN PRACTICE, things break and need repair or replacement.
No arguments from me. It’s much the same reason as why, despite how impressive the machines are, I won’t be buying any of the new electric vehicles, not even a Tesla. Instead, I’ve got me a 1964 1/2 Mustang, and I’ll be adding a pair of high-power electric motors connected to the driveshaft via Harley-Davidson-style power belts, and a smallish battery pack likely behind the back seat. The end result will be a plugin hybrid-electric not unlike the Chevy Volt, but with far more performance…and a lot less complexity and none of this Internet-connected-and-controlled bullshit.
There’s a lot to be said for simplicity of engineering, even at the expense of some of the fruits of technology….
b&
The last car that I had knowledge of which was made in 1964 died of a combination of tin-worm and impact in 1989. With the combination of salt in winter and rain all year round, very few vehicles make it to that age here.
Any car of that age would be considered a “classic” in Britain. Which also means that you’d need to specially treat fuel for it (no leaded petrol any more). Oh, the joys of trying to maintain such machines – particularly the never-ending fight against the tin-worm. Nah, it’s bad enough having to deal with a wife who refuses to learn how to change a wheel or open the bonnet (EN_US : hood? or is it trunk?) ; I don’t need to come back into the country to find that a panel has rotted through and needs welding and painting “tomorrow, if not sooner”. It’s not as if she’s even going to look for the tin-worm, or recognise signs of impending problems. She hasn’t even noticed that one of the wheel bearings is starting to squeak, and I’m the one who’s due for a hearing aid in the next few years.
Yes, that’s definitely one of the advantages to living in the American Southwest…the car has a little bit of “tin-worm,” some from some damage to a fender, most in the doors where the drainhole got plugged up and water collected. Very minor and purely cosmetic. Hopefully, we’ll be starting the engine overhaul before too terribly long — once a suitable machine shop can be found…and, then, with the engine (and transmission — going to put in a modern manual to replace the original automatic) out of the way, that’s when we’ll get all the body work done, plus suspension upgrades, cleaning up of wiring, all that sort of thing. It’s really going to be a sweet ride….
Fuel isn’t actually a problem…whatever they’ve done in the refineries has a suitable lead replacement such that basically any engine ever made can just pull up to the pump and pick from the three octane ratings every pump has to match the engine’s compression ratio. There are different regulations and formulations for aviation engines, but standards are such that even those are practically (if not legally) interchangeable these days. This car takes “regular,” the lowest octane…but we’ll likely significantly boost compression with the rebuild such that I’ll be buying “premium,” the highest octane. But since I’ll have roughly a couple dozen miles of all-electric range, the higher cost of the fuel won’t be a concern.
One very significant advantage to me with a car this age…it’s exempt from all emissions testing. My 1968 VW Westfalia Camper, on the other hand, isn’t…go figure. And it always takes at least a couple / few passes through the testing station to get everything tuned as they require.
(And, in the States: the hood covers the engine, the trunk is for storage; typically, the hood is in front and the trunk in back, but it’s the other way ’round for classic VW Beetles and rear-engine Porsches. The Camper has a hood that’s usually called a “lid,” but no trunk….)
It’s a shame that the ravages of climate in most of the world make cars essentially disposable objects rather than true durable goods. Seems to me we might be better off using more of that petroleum you help pump to make long-lived plastics (or paints) to build cars, rather than burn it up in their engines. Indeed, I suspect future generations will rake us royally over the coals for burning what could have been used to make stuff, the same way you’d be pissed at somebody for burning heirloom furniture in the fireplace to roast marshmallows….
b&
When my father was a trainee chemist back in the 1950s, the line was that oil is too good to burn. That hasn’t changed. It’s stark staring insane.
I’d have to go and read the petrol pump to find out what the octane ratings of fuels here are, or the rating that the current car’s engine requires. “Engine power” is pretty irrelevant : the wife drive the car to and fro each day, in traffic. A billion horsepower engine wouldn’t get through the traffic jams at the bridges any faster. And on the open road, we get up to speed after a few minutes and then we’re at traffic speed and again, all the horsepower in the world isn’t going to make you go any faster.
Octane gets measured differently pretty much everywhere…there’re at least two different measurement systems, and blends are adjusted based on the altitude of the station. Mostly, all one has to worry about is if the car needs regular, mid-grade, or premium and pick the handle accordingly. And some modern high performance cars even detect what kind of gasoline you’ve put in them and do some sort of magic such that the car drives perfectly fine on regular but just not with the same kind of performance on premium…but in most cars premium is a waste of money. Just check the label inside the filler cover.
As for engine power…power only determines your maximum speed all out, and is rarely of utmost importance to anybody not on the Bonneville Salt Flats. What is important is torque — and that’s what makes the difference between my ’68 VW Camper which will, as I like to put it, not only do 0-60 MPH but also do a quarter mile (but not necessarily 0-60 in a quarter mile)…and a car which is already going fast enough to get you in trouble before you’re halfway down the freeway onramp.
That sort of thing is a lot of fun, but the only way to do it responsibly is on a track. But it’s still fun to be pushed back in your seat a little bit, even if not as much as the car is capable of. And there are tracks open to amateurs, and operated in ways that you’re not likely to get yourself in trouble….
b&
I’ve flown more cars than I want to.
Step-daughter is learning (slowly) how to drive and she may actually pass before she’s 25. I haven’t discussed it with her Mum – because she’d probably veto the idea – but I’m considering getting her a “driving pass present” of a “track and rally” day at the Knockhill track. The main intention being that she’ll either learn some sobering lessons on the skid pan, or just plain get her first crash over and done with. And then have to get back into the car and carry on driving.
Earlier this year, I got a chance to do one of those things at the Bondurant School — the top racing school in the States — for a pittance as a promotional deal from the roadside assistance company. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a great deal. It’s the first time I’ve operated a vehicle where I was no longer in control of it, both on the black ice simulator and in the go-carts. They had a “simulator” where you drove a (real) car down a straight lane to a section where it forked into three lanes, each with a traffic signal over it; at the last minute, the signal would change and you either had to pick the correct lane or screech to a complete stop…a very visceral demonstration of the relative effectiveness of the brakes and the steering wheel, as well as just how piss-poor our reactions are even when we’re expecting something dramatic to happen.
I’d definitely recommend it for anybody, especially those who hold a driver’s license or are preparing to get one. I’d also recommend following up with some time at the local go-cart racing track to practice both the car handling skills and to get a better intuitive idea for what a vehicle “feels” like at the edge of its controllability.
b&
Ever since I started learning to drive (I think I was about 24 at the time), I’ve argued that people should get a driving license for (approx) 10 years and then lose it. No “if”, “but”, or “maybe” about it ; you lose you license and you do not get it back until you have passed the current driving qualification test(s) again. Some provisions for the license to be lost and regained on the same day, some flexibility on the exact dates (say, 3 months), but no flexibility on the fact that you have to demonstrate competence at handling this dangerous machinery. I have to demonstrate my competence at getting out of helicopters crashing into the water every 4 years, and I’m looking at getting a “wild oil well control certificate” which will require demonstrating competence in a simulator every 2 years. Pilots have to do simulator re-qualification and new-model qualification at regular intervals. I see no reason to exempt drivers from such competence demonstration.
There are unofficial schemes for demonstrating “advanced” skills in Britain – and probably the US. Skid pan and “defensive driving” are appropriate options, and some insurance companies accept such certification for a premium discount. I’ll have to look at those schemes again.
I’m absolutely with you on that one.
In the States, you don’t even have to take a driving test to get a new license in a different state if you’ve got a valid one from another state; just a written exam — and you don’t even have to answer all that many questions correctly on those, either.
Worse, you can be found at fault for a wreck, even cited for it and have your license suspended…and, best I know, all you have to do to get the license back is wait for the term of the suspension to end.
Frankly, I’m amazed that OSHA regulations permit workers to operate vehicles on public roads, for they certainly don’t permit operating heavy machinery in other situations with similar safety records and lax conditions.
b&
Here in Ontario you don’t have to take the driving part even in your 90s!!
A timely recognition of the breakthrough technology. The Nobel Prize sends a strong message to the global community that energy-efficient LED light is the way to go. If we are serious about efficient energy use/global warming that is.
Congratulations to the Japanese scientists!
Given that 9 of those categories depend on the tenth, I’m surprised that there aren’t more awards for “instrumentation”. Which tends to disagree with perceptions of attention to engineering mentioned above.
I recall seeing discussion of the computational requirements of the LHC during it’s design phases in the late 1990s. There is some eye-watering equipment and data processing going on there, underpinning the whole of the project. Recognition? Not a lot, that I’m aware of.
I wonder what discoveries they classified as “instrumentation”? (and how often I have to use it) :
2009 CCDs (every day, repeatedly);
2007 giant magneto-resistance (recent hard drives);
2005 precision laser spectrometry (not in the field, yet? Possibly a solution to our 2ethane over-response problem, but that’s for the equipment design team to worry about these days. A class 3 problem.);
2000 integrated circuits (thereby computers);
1986 electron microscopes (monthly use);
1971 holography (everyday use);
1964 masers and lasers (everyday use);
1956 transistors (therefore computers and essentially all modern electrical equipment);
1953 phase-contrast microscopy (most months) ;
1930 Raman spectroscopy (back-office work for characterising oil source materials, used several times a year);
1927 Compton scattering (every month, rock density);
1915, XRD (every month, for back-office mineralogy);
1909 wireless telegraphy (what can I say?)
That’s 13 items, There are others, but which also fall under e.g. Particle Physics for the bubble chamber.
Should have put in a “heading” : the list is year, description, and how often I have to use it.