The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two Japanese scientists and a Japanese-born American for developing the blue light-emitting diode (LED), the missing piece that now allows manufacturers to produce white light far more efficiently than incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.
Thanks to their invention, Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Japanese-born US citizen Shuji Nakamura have revolutionised the way the world lights its homes and offices, helping to create the glowing screens of mobile phones, computers and TVs.
National media coverage includes:
New Zealand Herald: LED there be light: 3 share Nobel for blue diode
CIO: Three Japanese win physics Nobel for invention of blue LED
Dominion Post: Nobel Prize for physics goes to inventors of low-energy LED light
TVNZ: Three share Nobel for blue diode lights