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Technology Stocks : The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (31608)	10/6/2009 2:01:18 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 46821

"What do you do with results from an exaflop computer?" I suppose the first thing you do is try to find a broadband line that supports it ;) ------

To: FJB who wrote (31608)	10/7/2009 12:11:01 AM
From: tech101	Respond to of 46821

'Masters of Light' Get Nobel Physicists Honored for Breakthroughs That Play Key By GAUTAM NAIK, WSJ OCTOBER 7, 2009 From left to right: Charles Kao, Willard Boyle and George Smith. (Reuters) Three scientists who harnessed the power of light in ways that helped turn the Internet into a global phenomenon and launched the digital-camera revolution were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday. Charles Kao, who received half the total prize money of $1.4 million, was lauded for a breakthrough that led to fiber-optic cables, the thin glass threads that carry a vast chunk of the world's phone and data traffic and make up the circulatory system of the Internet. The other half of the prize was shared by Willard Boyle and George Smith for work that led to the charge-coupled device, the "electronic eye" of a digital camera that turns light into electrical signals. The device, which eliminates the need for capturing images on film, paved the way for both today's point-and-shoot digital cameras and the Hubble Space Telescope. The Nobel committee described the three physicists as "masters of light." Optical fibers, developed in the 1950s, had great theoretical potential because light can carry a lot more data than microwaves or radio waves. But impurities in the glass fibers of the time absorbed much of the light. In 1966, Dr. Kao, while working at Standard Telephones and Cables' laboratory in Harlow, England, tackled the problem. "His insight was that if you could get rid of the impurities, you could transmit light over many kilometers," said Jeff Hecht, who wrote a history of fiber optics in 1999. A 1970 photo shows Willard Boyle, left, and George Smith at Bell Labs with the charge-coupled device, which transforms patterns of light into useful digital information. Dr. Kao, who was born in Shanghai and has both U.K. and U.S. citizenships, figured out a way to increase the distance information could be sent to about 60 miles. Manufacturing breakthroughs then opened the way for moving signals over far greater distances, and the first ultrapure fiber was made in 1970. Industry experts were skeptical. But, eventually, they were won over by Dr. Kao's vision of how fiber optics could substantially alter communication. ... online.wsj.com

To: FJB who wrote (31608)	10/8/2009 6:30:40 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 46821

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009, Revisited and Amplified The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics honors three scientists, who have had important roles in shaping modern information technology, with one half to Charles Kuen Kao and with Willard Sterling Boyle and George Elwood Smith sharing the other half. Kao’s discoveries have paved the way for optical fiber technology, which today is used for almost all telephony and data communication. Boyle and Smith have invented a digital image sensor – CCD, or charge-coupled device – which today has become an electronic eye in almost all areas of photography. The Nobel prize site includes great information on the science behind the research that has been honored: The first ideas of applications of light guiding in glass fibers (i.e. small glass rods) date from the late 1920’s. They were all about image transmission through a bundle of fibers. The motivation was medicine (gastroscope), defense (flexible periscope, image scrambler) and even early television. Bare glass fibers were, however, quite leaky and did not transmit much light. Each time the fibers were touching each other, or when the surface of the fibers was scratched, light was led away from the fibers. A breakthrough happened in the beginning of the 1950’s with the idea and demonstration that cladding the fibers would help light transmission, by facilitating total internal reflection. Optical communication of today has reached its present status thanks to a number of breakthroughs. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) and especially diode lasers, first based on GaAs (800-900 nm) and later on InGaAsP (1-1.7 ?m), have been essential. The optical communication window has evolved from 870 nm to 1.3 ?m and, finally, to 1.55 ?m where fiber losses are lowest. Gradient-index fibers were used in the first optical communication lines. However, when moving towards longer wavelengths and longer communication distances, single-mode fibers have become more advantageous. Nowadays, long-distance optical communication uses single mode fibers almost exclusively, following Kao’s vision. The first such systems used frequent electronic repeaters to compensate for the remaining losses. Most of these repeaters have now been replaced by optical amplifiers, in particular erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. Optical communication uses wavelength division multiplexing with different wavelengths to carry different signals in the same fiber, thus multiplying the transmission rate. The first non-experimental optical fiber links were installed in 1975 in UK, and soon after in the US and in Japan. The first transatlantic fiber-optic cable was installed in 1988. From: engineering.curiouscatblog.net Paper: Two Revolutionary Optical Technologies - 2009 Published by KUNGL. VETENSKAPS-AKADEMIN bit.ly ------