Three US scientists awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research of quantum dots

After appearing to have released the winning names hours early by mistake, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three scientists in the U.S.

The prestigious annual award was given Wednesday to Moungi G. Bawendi at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Louis E. Brus at Columbia University and Alexei I. Ekimov at Nanocrystals Technology Inc. in New York City for their discovery and development of quantum dots that can be used for a variety of things, from TVs and LED lamps to guiding surgeons removing tumor tissue.

Quantum dots are nanoparticles, the smallest components of nanotechnology, that can transport electrons and emit light of various colors when exposed to UV light, according to Nanowerk.

In the future, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said researchers believe quantum dots "could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and encrypted quantum communication – so we have just started exploring the potential of these tiny particles."

Reuters reported the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published a copy of an email it said was from the academy before the awards ceremony naming Bawendi, Brus and Ekimov as the laureates for chemistry. Johan Aqvist, the chair of the academy's Nobel committee for chemistry, told Reuters it was a "mistake" by the academy and the meeting had not yet begun, so the winners had not yet been selected.

The other Nobel Prizes – in literature, peace and economic sciences – will be awarded every day for the remainder of this week and on Monday.

Who won the Nobel Prize in Physics?

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded Tuesday to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier after the three scientists "demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy," according to the Academy of Science.

The laurates' experiments produced extremely short pulses of light, called attoseconds, that were used to demonstrate it was possible to obtain images of processes inside atoms and molecules. According to the Academy of Science, attoseconds are so short that there are as many in one second as there have been seconds since the birth of the universe.

More: Ohio State scientist among three researchers awarded Nobel Prize in Physics

Who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine?

On Monday, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman for research that led to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

Nobel Prize in Medicine: Award given to two Penn scientists for work with mRNA, COVID-19 vaccines

What is the Nobel Prize?

The Nobel Prize is awarded by the Swedish Nobel Foundation and is a set of awards given annually to people in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. There is also a prize given in Economic Science, funded by the Sveriges Riksbank in 1968.

The first award was given in 1901.

It was created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, known for his invention of dynamite, in his will in 1895.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 winners named for quantum dot research