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| Nobel recognises communications | Nobel recognises communications |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Charles Kao, Willard Boyle, and George Smith will share this year's Nobel Prize for physics. | Charles Kao, Willard Boyle, and George Smith will share this year's Nobel Prize for physics. |
| Kao is lauded for his work in helping to develop fibre optic cables, the slender threads of glass that carry phone and net data as light. | Kao is lauded for his work in helping to develop fibre optic cables, the slender threads of glass that carry phone and net data as light. |
| Boyle and Smith, who work out of the US, are recognised for their part in the invention of the charged coupled device, or CCD. | Boyle and Smith, who work out of the US, are recognised for their part in the invention of the charged coupled device, or CCD. |
| This light detector lies at the heart of nearly all digital cameras. | |
| The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said half the prize would go to Kao, who was born in Shanghai and is a UK-US citizen. | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said half the prize would go to Kao, who was born in Shanghai and is a UK-US citizen. |
| It was his insight while working in the UK in the 1960s, said the academy, which allowed researchers to take fibre optics to a new level - to enable them to transmit light over much longer distances than had previously been possible. | It was his insight while working in the UK in the 1960s, said the academy, which allowed researchers to take fibre optics to a new level - to enable them to transmit light over much longer distances than had previously been possible. |
| Today, fibre optics underpin the communication society. The hair-like cables speed data around the globe. The telephony system is built on the technology, and high-speed broadband internet would not be possible without it. | Today, fibre optics underpin the communication society. The hair-like cables speed data around the globe. The telephony system is built on the technology, and high-speed broadband internet would not be possible without it. |
| The other half of the prize is to be split between Boyle and Smith, both of Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill in the US sate of New Jersey. | The other half of the prize is to be split between Boyle and Smith, both of Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill in the US sate of New Jersey. |
| Their group invented the first digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). | Their group invented the first digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). |
| The light detectors are based on Albert Einstein's famous photoelectric effect. | The light detectors are based on Albert Einstein's famous photoelectric effect. |
| By this effect, light is transformed into electric signals. The challenge when designing an image sensor was to gather and read out the signals in a large number of image points, pixels, in a short time. | By this effect, light is transformed into electric signals. The challenge when designing an image sensor was to gather and read out the signals in a large number of image points, pixels, in a short time. |
| The Nobel Prizes - which also cover chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics (more properly called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize) - are valued at 10m Swedish Kronor (£900,000; 1m euros; $1.4m). | The Nobel Prizes - which also cover chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics (more properly called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize) - are valued at 10m Swedish Kronor (£900,000; 1m euros; $1.4m). |
| Laureates also receive a medal and a diploma. | Laureates also receive a medal and a diploma. |
| This year's medicine Nobel, announced on Monday, honoured the study of telomeres, the structures in cells that cap the end's of DNA bundles, or chromosomes. | This year's medicine Nobel, announced on Monday, honoured the study of telomeres, the structures in cells that cap the end's of DNA bundles, or chromosomes. |
| The work has further our understanding on human ageing, cancer and stem cells. | The work has further our understanding on human ageing, cancer and stem cells. |
| Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk |