Laughlin said in an early morning TV interview with NBC's KRON station in California.
Science is like that.
The Chinese-born scientist barely got a word out at a news conference mobbed with admiring students. Stormer's winning discovery found that big electrons, when thrown together, can form smaller units. Physicists say the breakthrough could be important in the development of smaller electronic components. Most industrial research, Laughlin said, is conducted under total secrecy so that the sponsoring company can benefit from exclusive use of any inventions that result. A recent meeting on the subject at the University of California - Santa Barbara was the most oversubscribed they've ever run, according to UCLA physicist Steven Kivelson.