Inventors of low-energy LED light get Physics Nobel

Japanese scientists Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano and American Shuji Nakamura won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics for inventing a new energy efficient and environmentally friendly light source, the LED, the award-giving body said on Tuesday. ‘With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources,’ the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement awarding the 8 million Swedish crown prize.‘As about one fourth of world electricity consumption is used for lighting purposes, the LEDs contribute to saving the Earth’s resources,’ it said.

Akasaki works at the Meijo University in Japan and Amano is professor at the Nagoya University. Nakamura works at the University of California, Santa Barbara.