News - Blue-light LED inventors land Nobel Prize in physics

[HEXUS]

The inventors win award for creating the white LED lighting revolution.

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[Big Adam]

A Nobel Prize? These guys single handedly destroyed the reddy/pink and lime green cold cathode modding market!

[lumireleon]

that is less cash, they should have been given $5 million each, I cannot understand why an actor who acts in a 2 hour movie gets more than a scientist who changes the way technology works to the better of mankind.

[Brian224]

...I cannot understand why an actor who acts in a 2 hour movie gets more than a scientist who changes the way technology works to the better of mankind.

Perhaps the same reason an actor or author's work gets many more years of copyright protection than a patent offers? The people (generally politicians and lawyers) that decide this sort of thing enjoy the arts but appear neither to understand nor respect engineering and science. Can you think of a senior politician other than Margaret Thatcher (BSc Chemistry) that has worked as a research scientist?

They may sometimes appreciate shiny toys but not what makes them work (Remember Steven Fry claiming the new iPhone to be the greatest thing ever a few years after he explained on television that a sat-nav sends your position to a GPS satellite).

[crossy]

that is less cash, they should have been given $5 million each, I cannot understand why an actor who acts in a 2 hour movie gets more than a scientist who changes the way technology works to the better of mankind.

Perhaps the same reason an actor or author's work gets many more years of copyright protection than a patent offers? The people (generally politicians and lawyers) that decide this sort of thing enjoy the arts but appear neither to understand nor respect engineering and science. Can you think of a senior politician other than Margaret Thatcher (BSc Chemistry) that has worked as a research scientist?

They may sometimes appreciate shiny toys but not what makes them work (Remember Steven Fry claiming the new iPhone to be the greatest thing ever a few years after he explained on television that a sat-nav sends your position to a GPS satellite).

+1 on both of these. Although maybe there's an unwillingness to have someone who's "hands on" after Baroness T's example. For my mind though there's too many "arts" and "business" folks in charge, we need more engineers in there to restore some balance.

[Fraz]

that is less cash, they should have been given $5 million each, I cannot understand why an actor who acts in a 2 hour movie gets more than a scientist who changes the way technology works to the better of mankind.

I can't understand that either.

Most people just have no clue how important this development was. Science just isn't sexy enough... so I suppose that makes it a marketing problem We just needed giant blue LEDs with naked men/women draped over them to make people understand how awesome them are or something.

[remconieuw]

I can't understand that either.

Most people just have no clue how important this development was. Science just isn't sexy enough... so I suppose that makes it a marketing problem We just needed giant blue LEDs with naked men/women draped over them to make people understand how awesome them are or something.

something like those vintage car ads?

[SineWave]

Great comments, guys. Completely agreed. d=