Trio's 'Short Pulses of Light' Win Them a Nobel

The Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three scientists who look at electrons in atoms during the tiniest of split seconds, per the AP. Their work has "given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules," says the awarding committee, per the New York Times.

• The winners: Pierre Agostini of Ohio State University; Ferenc Krausz of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany; and Anne L'Huillier of Lund University in Sweden.
• Praise: The trio "have demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy," says the committee.
• Milestone: L'Huillier is only the fifth woman to win a Nobel in physics. "This is the most prestigious and I am so happy to get this prize," she said. "It's incredible. As you know there are not so many women who got this prize, so it's very special."

• Last year: Three scientists jointly won the physics prize for proving that tiny particles could retain a connection with each other even when separated. The phenomenon was once doubted but is now being explored for potential real-world applications such as encrypting information.
• Next up: Nobel announcements will continue with the chemistry prize on Wednesday and the literature prize on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award on Monday.
• The prize: The Nobel Prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). The money comes from a bequest left by the prize's creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.

(More Nobel Prize in Physics stories.)