[ti:American, French, Canadian Scientists Win Nobel Physics Prize] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.00]Two men and a woman have won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics [00:07.13]for their "inventions in the field of laser physics." [00:12.32]The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says [00:16.87]half of the $1 million prize will go to Arthur Ashkin of the United States. [00:25.46]The other half will be shared by Gerard Mourou of France [00:31.71]and Donna Strickland of Canada. [00:35.76]The Swedish academy said their discoveries [00:40.77]made possible "tools made of light" [00:44.56]that improve scientific research, industry and medicine. [00:51.72]These devices "are opening unexplored areas of research [00:58.67]and a multitude of industrial and medical applications," it said. [01:05.64]Mourou and Strickland are being recognized [01:11.05]for their work on high-intensity lasers. [01:15.38]The Swedish academy praised them for developing a way [01:21.21]to increase the power and usefulness of lasers. [01:26.96]A laser is a device that produces an intense beam of light. [01:33.91]In a report published in 1985, Strickland proposed stretching [01:42.06]and then compressing laser light. [01:45.82]She and Mourou found a way to produce a powerful laser pulse [01:52.95]that lasts an almost unimaginably short period of time. [01:59.92]Their technique puts more light "in the same tiny space," [02:06.35]greatly increasing its intensity. [02:10.92]Their discoveries led to very precise, powerful lasers [02:17.69]that can cut holes in different materials, including living tissue. [02:25.68]Such lasers are now used in corrective eye operations. [02:32.84]Millions of these operations have been performed on people around the world. [02:40.94]Strickland is only the third woman to ever win the Nobel physics prize. [02:50.05]The first was Marie Curie of France in 1903. [02:57.37]Strickland spoke briefly about the lack of women physics winners [03:04.05]in a telephone call with the academy. [03:08.39]"Obviously we need to celebrate women physicists [03:13.38]because we're out there. And hopefully, in time, [03:18.37]it'll start to move forward at a faster rate, maybe," she said. [03:25.06]Mourou said, "I am very, very happy to share this distinction [03:31.85]with my former student Donna Strickland [03:35.45]and also to share it with Art Ashkin, for whom I have a lot of respect." [03:43.19]The American scientist will receive half of the prize money [03:49.61]for what the academy called "optical tweezers." [03:54.55]Ashkin discovered that the "radiation pressure" from a beam of light [04:01.73]can be used to move extremely small objects and hold them in position. [04:09.96]In 1987, he used a laser to seize and hold bacteria without harming them. [04:19.97]His discovery made possible new ways [04:24.88]to study microscopic biology and other objects. [04:30.70]At the age of 96, Ashkin is the oldest person to ever receive a Nobel Prize. [04:41.65]The Nobel Prize in Physics will be officially presented [04:46.38]at ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10. [04:52.62]The first physics prize was given in 1901 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. [05:02.91]I'm Mario Ritter. [05:05.55]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM