Nobel Prize in Physics for producing attosecond pulses of light

 Here's a metric unit one does not see very often - atto. This is one quintillionth (10^-18)! Three physicists figured out how to create attosecond pulses of light in order to study and measure electron activity and processes. It revolutionized how scientists can view and measure the shortest processes one can imagine, and that occur in the quantum realm on a regular basis. 

The winners are Pierre Agostini (French, at Ohio State), Ferenc Krausz (Hungarian), and Anne L'Huillier (French). This is historic, as well, since Dr. L'Huillier is only the 5th woman to ever win a Nobel for Physics...in 117 years! The technique of creating attosecond laser pulses opened a new type of physics and can be used to observe and measure chemical reactions, molecular and atomic processes in new ways.