JAPAN PRIZES. This year's Japan Prizes go to a forest conservationist and creators of technology essential for personal computers, video recorders, and portable music players. The Science and Technology Foundation of Japan, which sponsors the prizes, each year creates two new categories in basic research for the $435,000 awards.
CREDIT: THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION OF JAPAN
Albert Fert (above, left) of the University of Paris-South and Peter Grünberg (above, center) of Germany's Research Center of Solid State Physics in Jülich share the prize for Innovative Devices Inspired by Basic Research. In 1988, the pair independently described giant magnetoresistance (GMR), in which the electrical resistance of certain materials drops when a magnetic field is applied. GMR is used in devices requiring large-capacity hard disk drives, such as personal computers.
Peter Shaw Ashton (above, right), professor emeritus of forestry at Harvard University, will receive the prize for Science and Technology of Harmonious Co-Existence for his work on tropical forest conservation and the development of modern forest classification systems. The awards will be presented in April.
