Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Kudos to this year’s Nobel laureates!' that was published in Newsband

Kudos to this year’s Nobel laureates!

This year’s Nobel Prize for physics awarded to Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University in Japan and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California at Santa Barbara. These brave men dared to “challenge established truths”. Dr. Akasaki and Dr. Amano, who worked as a team, and Dr. Nakamura used diverse approaches to invent a blue LED; a combination of red, green and blue produces white light. Most scientists who tried this had dropped out of the race midway.

LED technology has made all the other lamp technologies redundant with the superior brightness per wattage that it offers; If blue LED is replaced by all the lights in the US, it will save the energy by 20 percent. Blue Led has wide applications that a few can think now. Amongst the applications one single application is it can sterilize water that many in India need urgently. Water is one of the biggest culprits in making many people sick. This way hospital bills can also be reduced.

In 1962, Nick Holonyak, Jr., who was then a consulting scientist at General Electric Company, developed the first visible-light LED: Red. Five years later George Craford invented the green LED. But the blue LED would not come easily. Dr. Nakamura succeeded because he found out the real culprit to the development of the Blue Led was entrapped Hydrogen gas in GaN. This is the way science works. Every invention is followed by the new one replacing existing one's shortcomings.

LED lights will brighten millions of households in the universe who grope in darkness. Indeed they are the models for our researchers to pursue socially relevant research so as to contribute more to the society at large.

Government must promote the use of LEDs and subsidize them so that even the common people can buy them. LED is a great invention in lighting which is slowly and steadily replacing CFL. This is a boon to a country like India which faces power shortages. Initial investment is high but the reduced power usage and more hours of usage giving bright light ensures recovery of cost. LED lights consume less electricity and are therefore cost-effective and from other sources.

Kudos to these Nobel laureates for their relentless search for better lights has given us another energy saving device. This is yet another year when three Japanese Physicists have shared the Nobel Prize. It is noteworthy all of them had their education from nursery to doctorate level in Japan. The superiority of science education in Japan has to be emulated.

It is really a great innovation, and therefore its due credit must be given.  Hats off to these struggling giants day in and day out with a sustained tenacity to help mankind with a better life. Kudos to them! When will an Indian find a place in this list of glory of the world?