sciencetech-blog

comments

American scientists Eric Betzig and William Moerner and Germany's Stefan Hell have won the 2014 Nobel prize in chemistry.

The award was given for the development of 'super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.'

'Their ground-breaking work has brought optical microscopy into the nanodimension,' the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement 

Professor Stefan Hell, 51 is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany. Professor Hell, along with two US colleagues - Eric Betzig and William Moerner - have won the 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work in improving the resolution of microscopes to see objects at a nanoscale

For a long time optical microscopy was held back by a limitation: that it would never obtain a better resolution than half the wavelength of light.

Helped by fluorescent molecules the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry got around this limitation. Their ground-breaking work has brought optical microscopy into the nanodimension.

In what has become known as nanoscopy, scientists can now visualise the pathways of individual molecules inside living cells.

This means they can see how molecules create synapses between nerve cells in the brain or track proteins involved in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases.

American scientists Eric Betzig (left) and William Moerner (right) and Germany's Stefan Hell (centre) have won the 2014 Nobel prize for chemistry

'Their ground-breaking work has brought optical microscopy into the nanodimension,' the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement. Pictured is. Pictured are fibroblast cells (connective tissue) captured using fluorescence microscopy

Dr Betzig, 54, works at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, Virgina, while Professor Moerner, 61, teaches at Stanford University. 

Professor Hell,51 is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany. 

Professor Sven Lidin, a materials chemist from Lunds University, said 'the work of the laureates has made it possible to study molecular processes in real time.'

The chemistry prize has often lived in the shadow of physics and its star scientists such as Albert Einstein, though it was the field that was arguably closest to the heart of Nobel's own work developing dynamite and other explosives. 

Last year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel. 

The trio devised computer simulations to understand chemical processes and in doing so, laid the foundations for new kinds of pharmaceuticals.

Nobel Prize season began on Monday with the announcement of the 102nd Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

It was awarded to John O'Keefe at University College London, and the Norwegian husband-and-wife team, Edvard and May-Britt Moser.

Ahmed Zewail on being awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The award was announced at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. Journalists waiting for the beginning of the award's press conference are pictured

The team discovered cells in the brain that act as the body's internal global positioning system.

Since these cells are among the first to be hit in Alzheimer's, understanding how they are degraded should shed important light on the disease process. 

Yesterday, three Japanese-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for inventing blue-light emitting diodes (LEDs) that have revolutionised the lighting industry.

Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and U.S. scientist Shuji Nakamura won the award for their 1990s invention, which has led to the use of environmentally-friendly light sources worldwide.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the technology is just 20 years old, 'but it has already contributed to create white light in an entirely new manner to the benefit of us all.' 

But today, the man who created the first LED light in the 1960s has said he feels insulted at being overlooked for a Nobel Prize.

Speaking from his assisted-living home in Urbana, Illinois, Professor Nick Holonyak, 85, said the blue LED would never have happened without the work he and others undertook in the early 1960s. 

The next Nobel Prizes to be announced will be the Literature prize tomorrow, the Peace prize on Friday and the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel this coming Monday. 

Pictured is the average age of Chemistry Nobel Laureates over the past century. The average age of all Chemistry Laureates between 1901 and 2013 is 58 years

Find out what happens if a Laureate doesn't believe they won

Yesterday, Shuji Nakamura (left), Isamu Akasaki (centre) and Hiroshi Amano (right), all born in Japan, won the 2014 Nobel Physics Prize, for their environmentally-friendly blue LEDs. The lighting breakthrough creates more energy-efficient home lighting, and can improve keyhole surgery techniques

NOBEL SNUB LEFT LED CREATOR IN DARK

Professor Nick Holonyak, 85, said the blue LED would never have happened without the work he and others undertook in the early 1960s.

The man who created the first LED light in the 1960s has said he feels insulted at being overlooked for a Nobel Prize.

His comments come after three scientists were honoured for their blue version behind the glowing screens of today's mobile phones, computers and TVs.

For years, many of Professor Nick Holonyak's colleagues have said he deserved the Nobel Prize for his invention of the first light-emitting diode.

Professor Holonyak always resisted the suggestion that he and his 1962 invention had been snubbed, but yesterday's Nobel Prize in physics prompted the former University of Illinois scientist to question why that LED was worthy while his - the very first - was not.

Speaking from his assisted-living home in Urbana, Illinois, Professor Holonyak, 85, said the blue LED would never have happened without the work he and others undertook in the early 1960s.

'The LED as you know it today comes from us,' he said, sitting next to his bed thumbing through a book, The Bright Stuff, written about him and his invention. 'The blue LED? You cannot get to it, cannot (without that).'

Blue LEDs have continued the evolution begun by the red LED, leading to the invention of smartphones and computer and television screens. 

Blue LEDs also combine with green and red LEDs to create light that appears white, an energy-efficient replacement for traditional incandescent bulbs. One popular use is to make Christmas lights brighter.

Professor Holonyak said he was not diminishing the work of the scientists who were honoured and knows Mr Nakamura. But he believes the work on the blue LED cannot be separated from the original LED and he and the other people involved in that research. 

Nobel Prize season began on Monday with the announcement of the 102nd Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. It was awarded to british scientist John O'Keefe, (pictured) from University College London and his team who discovered cells in the brain that act as the body's internal global positioning system

Winners in all categories receive 8.0 million Swedish kronor this year – just over £690,000 or $1.1 million.

In practice the names of the losing nominees are supposed to be kept secret for 50 years, although it is common for some to become known.

Winners must be alive, but they are not contacted until very shortly before the official announcement.

This rule proved problematic in 2011, when it was discovered that Canadian Ralph Steinman, had died of cancer four days before being told about his Nobel Prize.

Nominations are also required to stand the 'test of time', which means the lag between a discovery and an award is usually about 20 years.

The Nobel Prizes will be handed out on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.

From 1901 to 2013, 876 have received Nobel Prizes including the likes of Marie Curie, Nelson Mandela and Ernest Hemingway. 

The Nobel Prizes will be handed out on December 10, which is also the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's (left) death in 1896. On the right are the top 10 Nobel Laureates in chemistry