Three Scientists from the US, Canada, and France Win the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded on Tuesday, October 2, to three scientists from the US, Canada, and France for their research in the field of lasers, research that has been described as a 'revolution' and 'turning imagination into reality.' According to the Associated Press, Arthur Ashkin, a 96-year-old American scientist from Bell Labs in New Jersey, is the oldest person to win a Nobel Prize. Donna Strickland from the University of Waterloo in Canada is the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in the last three years and the third woman in the history of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Gérard Mourou from the École Polytechnique in France and the University of Michigan is also a third scientist who will jointly receive this award. Half of the one million dollar prize will be awarded to Mr. Mourou and Ms. Strickland, and the other half to Arthur Ashkin. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which selects the Nobel Prize winners, stated that Arthur Ashkin's research on the invention of 'optical tweezers' that can move very small objects like viruses without damaging them 'realizes an old scientific and science-fiction wish to move small objects using the pressure of light rays.' David Hawley, a member of the Nobel Committee, said, 'These optical tweezers are very important for measuring the effects of small forces on molecules and small objects.' Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou also played a significant role in developing devices that can emit short yet powerful laser pulses, which have numerous applications in both industry and medicine, including laser eye surgery and very precise industrial cutting machines. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, their paper published in 1985 was 'revolutionary' in this field. Gérard Mourou stated, 'With the technology we invented, the power of lasers has increased by a million and perhaps even a billion times.' The Associated Press adds that Donna Strickland is the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Before her, this award was given to Maria Goeppert Mayer in 1963 and Marie Curie in 1903. After the announcement, Ms. Strickland said, 'There is no doubt that the success of female physicists should be praised as many of them are working and researching. Perhaps in the near future, they will achieve even more successes, I hope.' Michael Molloy, president of the American Physical Society, praised all three Nobel Prize winners in Physics and said, 'At the same time, the awarding of this prize to a female physicist after 55 years brings great joy and adds to the historical significance of this year's award.' Erwin Peterman, a physicist at the University of Amsterdam, said that the optical tweezers invented by Arthur Ashkin can be used to capture and manipulate proteins, DNA, and other biological molecules and to study elements and even activate them. On Monday, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for important research in combating cancer using the body's immune system to James Allison, an American scientist, and Tasuku Honjo, a Japanese scientist.