Nobel price rewarded invention of Digital cameras

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Well, this isn't exactly a specific Pentax news, but it is certainly a news regarding digital cameras. Mod's feel free to move.

As of today, the invention of the digital image sensor is rewarded a Nobel price in Physics:

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 with one half to Charles K. Kao, Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, UK, and Chinese University of Hong Kong “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”, and the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA “for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor”

More on:
Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien - Nobel Prize in Physics 2009

I think this year I must get myself accross the street to attend to the Nobel laureates lectures on their work when they get here in December.

[falconeye]

Originally Posted by Douglas_of_Sweden

As of today, the invention of the digital image sensor is rewarded a Nobel price in Physics

Thanks for the info and link.

The Swedish site actually has prepared a very good paper explaining the basics of an imaging sensor and goes as far as explaining full well capacities

-> http://www.kva.se/Documents/Priser/N...back_fy_09.pdf

IMHO it is worthwhile to note that CCDs have been invented almost 40 years ago. Another invention which took 25 years to reach the mass market.

[jhaji]

I saw the news this morning and thought it was kewl. These guys had to wait a while after their invention in 1969 - 40 years.

[falconeye]

Originally Posted by jhaji

These guys had to wait a while

That is pretty usual procedure.

BTW, there is another and famous Nobel prize for the foundation of a device which converts photons into electrons: for the "photoelectric effect".

Einstein explained it 1905 and got the Nobel prize in 1922 for this (and not for his theory of relativity).

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Originally Posted by falconeye

That is pretty usual procedure.

BTW, there is another and famous Nobel prize for the foundation of a device which converts photons into electrons: for the "photoelectric effect".

Einstein explained it 1905 and got the Nobel prize in 1922 for this (and not for his theory of relativity).

Neither for the Einstein-Brownian diffussion. Any of those 1905 papers could have given him the Nobel price.

Now, the interresting thing is that Alfred Nobels original instruction sort of indicates that he wanted them to pick young people with bold ideas to give them a chance to be economical independent and go their own way to do ground breaking research. But most of the time they have been so afraid of rewarding some idea that would turn out to be wrong that by now it is standard that people get the price decades later when their work is validated, but when the money wont really make them do new groudbreaking research. I'm not saying they don't disserve it, but I suspect it was not what Alfred Nobel intended.

Anyway, from all DSLR users perspective this years physic price is very interresting, so you should take a look at the popularised summary that the KVA (Kungliga Vetenskaps Akademien) have prepared.

Make you wonder: what is invented today that will change the cameras 40 years from now?

[jogiba]

Originally Posted by Douglas_of_Sweden

Well, this isn't exactly a specific Pentax news, but it is certainly a news regarding digital cameras. Mod's feel free to move.

As of today, the invention of the digital image sensor is rewarded a Nobel price in Physics:

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 with one half to Charles K. Kao, Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, UK, and Chinese University of Hong Kong “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”, and the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA “for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor”

More on:
Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien - Nobel Prize in Physics 2009

I think this year I must get myself accross the street to attend to the Nobel laureates lectures on their work when they get here in December.

Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA is about 15 miles from my house.

Bell Labs Top 10 Innovations

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Originally Posted by jogiba

Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA is about 15 miles from my house.

Bell Labs Top 10 Innovations

Go get there tomorrow...probably there will be celebrations of some sort.

Bells has got a bunch of Nobel laureates. But they also employed that guy who faked all his data on properties of various super-cooled materials. I was really suprised a couple of years ago when I was going through a new number of Nature to find a one page anouncement that this and that publication was withdrawn for research-fraud, and then it just continued paper after paper, page after page. I suppose he is their black sheap!

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Well, somehow this thread ended up under off-topic..talk. I thought that was for subjects that didn't relate to cameras or photo at all? Like graph8s rants about climate change? I'm not all that surprised that it was moved. I had a hard time choosing between either

1) Pentax News and Rumors / Well, while this was not a specific news about the Pentax/Hoya company, there are image sensors in all current Pentax cameras.

2) Everything else / But it is listed under lenses and accessoires...and the image sensor can hardly be considerd a accessoire, can it? Then, 3 hours after me Peter Zack posted his thread "Nobel Prize from my home province - the CCD" under Everything else, and he is a mod so he should now. And had he been before me I would just have added my thoughts to his thread, but he wasn't.

Instead I took option 1, because I thought this was a great news for any camera brand. Instead a mod moved this thread to General talk. OK, random rules...but did I realy earn an "infraction" for making the wrong choice between these options?

[séamuis]

Instead I took option 1, because I thought this was a great news for any camera brand. Instead a mod moved this thread to General talk. OK, random rules...but did I realy earn an "infraction" for making the wrong choice between these options?

no. its in my opinion, that a majority of the mods are over stepping their bounds, and using their own opinion on where something should be placed to decide. this is problematic when a topic could technically fit into a number of specific sub-forums. worse still, they automatically assume that based on their own opinion, that you were in the wrong and deserve to be reprimanded. I am friends with several of the mods, but I will not be afraid to admit that this is quickly becoming a problem. a problem that a growing number of members are having complaints about. its un-needed moderation for the sake of moderating something. I mean lets be serious... people are becoming afraid to post, for fear of having their post moved and being reprimanded. thats ridiculous at best. nobody should be afraid to post something because they have something that could fit into more than one sub-forum. makes one wonder how the forum ever functioned before? god forbid something was posted with a topic fitting in multiple sub-forums! it must have caused mass hysteria.

[graphicgr8s]

Yeah I mentioned that about Peter's thread. I think he should give himself an infraction.

[lithos]

Agree with séamuis. It's going to some of the mods' heads. No, this topic doesn't really fit in neatly anywhere, but I thought the "News" was a good place for it. It's the "original poster is too stupid to know what his/her post is about," that gets me.

Were you given any notice, Douglas? Anyone talk to you about this thread being moved? Did you know where it was moved too, or did you have to find out yourself?

I always thought mods should be there for serious cleanups (a thread about, say, a movie in the film forum, for example,) but always informing the OP. Were there any non-mods who had objections to the thread's original location?

[Gooshin]

burn the admins!

burn them at the stake!

[m8o]

Originally Posted by séamuis

... people are becoming afraid to post, for fear of having their post moved and being reprimanded. thats ridiculous at best. nobody should be afraid to post something because they have something that could fit into more than one sub-forum. makes one wonder how the forum ever functioned before? god forbid something was posted with a topic fitting in multiple sub-forums! it must have caused mass hysteria.

At risk of this post being removed for being sooo off topic... well, I have 9 points left ... Lol, just happened to me too. And like Douglas I made it be known that I knew this news was only loosely related to this forum, but still related none the less.

The success of this board over the last few years is a double edge sword, calling for firmer moderation than a few years ago. But in this regard, when people start making their opinion known by not re-donating, I think the message will be heard loud and clear by Adam.

[Gooshin]

^^^^

this board is in no way different than 2007 when i joined...

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Originally Posted by graphicgr8s

Yeah I mentioned that about Peter's thread. I think he should give himself an infraction.

That must be your funniest post ever! Gave me a big laugh and made my irritation go away. Thanks!

Originally Posted by séamuis

no. its in my opinion, that a majority of the mods are over stepping their bounds, and using their own opinion on where something should be placed to decide. this is problematic when a topic could technically fit into a number of specific sub-forums. worse still, they automatically assume that based on their own opinion, that you were in the wrong and deserve to be reprimanded. I am friends with several of the mods, but I will not be afraid to admit that this is quickly becoming a problem. a problem that a growing number of members are having complaints about. its un-needed moderation for the sake of moderating something. I mean lets be serious... people are becoming afraid to post, for fear of having their post moved and being reprimanded. thats ridiculous at best. nobody should be afraid to post something because they have something that could fit into more than one sub-forum. makes one wonder how the forum ever functioned before? god forbid something was posted with a topic fitting in multiple sub-forums! it must have caused mass hysteria.

This is analogue to sorting slides or negatives. You have only one original, so you can only sort it in one place, which is sometimes a tough choice.
But on digital picture web-bases such as flickr, pbase etc one can have the same picture in multiple sets/folders/collections.

Maybe one could have a similar technical solution here? Just like with photos, posts may truly fit in more than one place...and why not let them do that? I don't know if the software could handle that, but it would be great.

Originally Posted by lithos

Agree with séamuis. It's going to some of the mods' heads. No, this topic doesn't really fit in neatly anywhere, but I thought the "News" was a good place for it. It's the "original poster is too stupid to know what his/her post is about," that gets me.

Were you given any notice, Douglas? Anyone talk to you about this thread being moved? Did you know where it was moved too, or did you have to find out yourself?

I always thought mods should be there for serious cleanups (a thread about, say, a movie in the film forum, for example,) but always informing the OP. Were there any non-mods who had objections to the thread's original location?

No warning (despite that the message notifying me about the infraction informed me that I was supposed to get a warning). Then, and this is interresting, the moderator said that I should have posted in "everything else", but that my post would be moved to "general talk". Perhaps that was part of the punnishment? Does it make sense? Not to me!
I haven't heard that anyone complained.

If I was a moderator, I'll look for sexism, rasism, verbal insults etc. That is what should be important. Perhaps Adam would have to instruct me specifically not to infract people for being unscientific when they post and claim that climate change is a lie But I'm happy someone else does the mod job for me.

Originally Posted by Gooshin

burn the admins!

burn them at the stake!

Hold it Gooshin, I don't want to start a revolution or rise a mob.

Originally Posted by m8o

At risk of this post being removed for being sooo off topic... well, I have 9 points left ... Lol, just happened to me too. And like Douglas I made it be known that I knew this news was only loosely related to this forum, but still related none the less.

The success of this board over the last few years is a double edge sword, calling for firmer moderation than a few years ago. But in this regard, when people start making their opinion known by not re-donating, I think the message will be heard loud and clear by Adam.

Well, I want you to know that justice has now been served thanks to the supreme court. I'm a guiltless man again! No more infarct, sorry, fracture, sorry, infraction.

As a bonus I have learned a new English word. Hope I can remember it.

Live and let live!