STOCKHOLM, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Three scientists shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for helping develop fiber optic cables and digital photography technology.
British-based Charles Kao was honored for his work involving the transmission of light in fiber optics, threads of glass that carry data such as telephone calls.
Willard Boyle and George Smith are recognized for their role in the invention of the charged coupled device, or the CCD image sensor, which is a key element in digital cameras.
The scientists all have U.S. citizenship, while Kao also holds British citizenship and Boyle is also a Canadian national.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said half of the 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) prize would go to Kao, who works for Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow in southern England and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The academy said the honor was "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication."
The other half will be split between Boyle and Smith, both of Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill in New Jersey, for "the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor."
The prize, founded by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, also covers chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics.
This year's medicine prize, which was announced on Monday, rewarded research of telomeres that protect chromosomes. The work is important for understanding human ageing, cancer and stem cells.
The prize in chemistry will be announced on Wednesday.
