"Father of Fiber Optics" Wins Nobel Prize 74
alphadogg writes "Charles Kao, whose work in the 1960s laid the foundation for today's long-distance fiber-optic networks, has won a share of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics (PDF). Kao, sometimes referred to as the 'father of fiber-optic communications,' was formally honored by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden 'for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication.' Kao's breakthrough discovery in 1966 was to determine how to transmit light over long distances using ultrapure optical glass fibers. This would extend the distance of such transmissions to 62 miles vs. the mere 65 feet allowed under previous technology held back by impurities. The first ultrapure fiber was created in 1970."
First Post (Score:5, Funny)
At least it would have been if I had a fiber optic network.
Re:Why so long? (Score:3, Funny)
Because, as we all know, the execs at AT&T and other companies are the ones who determine the receptors of Nobel prizes.
Re:Why so long? (Score:2, Funny)
Because, as we all know, the execs at AT&T and other companies are the ones who determine the receptors of Nobel prizes.
I thought it was the Illuminati? Or is it the Freemasons? Maybe the Jews? Or the Scientologists?
Transmission. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:No love for the inventors of the CCD? (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have the glut of amateur porn that's available to us today.
God bless you, sirs.
Re:Good (Score:1, Funny)
Yeah, I could also never understand what they were up to with this crazy guy and his photoelectric effect!
Invented by aliens. (Score:3, Funny)
I'm pretty sure I heard on Art Bell that fiber optics weren't invented on Earth. They were discovered in the Roswell crash. Kao should return this prize.