B
B1ackwater
Guest
BBC
French scientist Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg of Germany have won
the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics.
They discovered the phenomenon of "giant magnetoresistance", in which
weak magnetic changes give rise to big differences in electrical
resistance.
The knowledge has allowed industry to develop sensitive reading tools
to pull data off the hard drives used in everyday computers.
It has made it possible to radically miniaturise hard disks in recent
years.
Matin Durrani, editor of Physics World, a journal published by the
UK's Institute of Physics, said the award had gone to "something very
practically based and rooted in research relevant to industry".
"It shows that physics has a real relevance not just to understanding
natural phenomena but to real products in everyday life," he added.
If GMR is to work, structures consisting of layers that are only a few
atoms thick have to be produced.
For this reason GMR can also be considered "one of the first real
applications of the promising field of nanotechnology", the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.
- - - - -
An excellent example of how fundamental scientific research
can translate into useful, profitible technological products.
Yet, across the world, funding and support for basic research
is steadily declining in favor of "hard tech". Yet where do
the technologists get their ideas, their table of facts to
work with ? Often as not from 'pure' science. The data
gleaned from studying how horseshoe crabs find food might
emerge as a better TV or bomb-detector or medicine tomorrow.
French scientist Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg of Germany have won
the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics.
They discovered the phenomenon of "giant magnetoresistance", in which
weak magnetic changes give rise to big differences in electrical
resistance.
The knowledge has allowed industry to develop sensitive reading tools
to pull data off the hard drives used in everyday computers.
It has made it possible to radically miniaturise hard disks in recent
years.
Matin Durrani, editor of Physics World, a journal published by the
UK's Institute of Physics, said the award had gone to "something very
practically based and rooted in research relevant to industry".
"It shows that physics has a real relevance not just to understanding
natural phenomena but to real products in everyday life," he added.
If GMR is to work, structures consisting of layers that are only a few
atoms thick have to be produced.
For this reason GMR can also be considered "one of the first real
applications of the promising field of nanotechnology", the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.
- - - - -
An excellent example of how fundamental scientific research
can translate into useful, profitible technological products.
Yet, across the world, funding and support for basic research
is steadily declining in favor of "hard tech". Yet where do
the technologists get their ideas, their table of facts to
work with ? Often as not from 'pure' science. The data
gleaned from studying how horseshoe crabs find food might
emerge as a better TV or bomb-detector or medicine tomorrow.
