When you think of the Nobel Prize for Physics (a thought that no doubt occurs to you, as it does to me, an average of every seven to nine seconds), you probably imagine the likes of Einstein, Hans Bethe, and perhaps even 1975 laureate Leo James Rainwater (if you, like me, are into obscure and bizarre names).
You probably do not, however, think of the iPod. Nor of a word as awesome as “spintronics,” or, if you prefer, the rather more pedestrian magnetoelectronics. Spintronics does not, as you might think, have anything to do with the ever-popular field of DJing; rather, it deals with technologies that allow the manufacture of increasingly smaller hard drives for things like notebook computers and—that’s right—iPods. It allows information to be stored in the spin of an electron instead of in an electrical charge, which reduces the amount of space needed.
The prize was jointly awarded to Albert Fert (left) and Peter Gruenberg (right), who made independent discoveries of the “giant magnetoresistance phenomenon” (which will be the name of my band, just as soon as I learn to play an instrument). It’s probably too late for me to have any sort of real grounding in magnetoelectronics, but frankly, I’d be just as happy to have “Doctor of Spintronics” on my next business card.
[Hat tip: Phil]
