How the Blue LED Changed the World, and Won a Nobel Prize

Their inventions have found their way into bedside lamps, television screens, and smartphones, and have the potential to give light to the 1.5 billion people who don’t have access to electricity grids, according to the Nobel Assembly. In recognition of this, scientists Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, whose invention of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) “triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology,” were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Assembly announced Tuesday.