Three American scientists were awarded a Nobel prize in physics this morning. Two of these intrepid inventors were the brains behind that crucial step in digital photography technology, the CCD sensor. Bravo!

Willard Boyle and George Smith worked together at the famous Bell Labs in New Jersey. They invented the CCD in 1969 and capturing light has never been the same since.

For those of you that are rusty on your camera physics, here's how the CCD works. The charge-couple device makes use of the photoelectric effect, coined by one Albert Einstein, which states that matter, aka stuff, loses electrons when it absorbs energy. Crucial point of information here: light is energy people! Remember photons? So when your digital camera snaps an image, light photons knock electrons off of the CCD that can then be translated into a digital image. Phew.

You probably won't find a CDD in your DSLR, as most favor the more efficient CMOS sensor, but advanced photography equipment, such as the cameras that catch those sweet electron microscope photos, still use them.

The two CCD boys share their Nobel prize with Charles Kao, a fellow American physicist. Kao made the landmark discovery, back in 1966 that light could be sent over long distances using fiber optic cables. Thanks to his work, we enjoy modern phone networks and high-speed internet. One continent that is about to feel the difference of fiber optics is Africa. Massive underwater cables is about to change to the way Africans communicate with the world. Nice work Mr. Kao!

All together, these three men have contributed to technology that each of us use in our everyday lives. It is about time they got a little recognition, and $1.4 million doesn't hurt either. Thanks guys and have fun in Stockholm!

(images from wikimedia commons)