"A computer hard-disk reader that uses a GMR sensor is equivalent to a jet flying at a speed of 30,000 kmph, at a height of just one metre above the ground, and yet being able to see and catalogue every single blade of grass it passes over."
GMR involves structures consisting of very thin layers of different magnetic materials.

For this reason it can also be considered "one of the first real applications of the promising field of nanotechnology", the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.
"Applications of this phenomenon have revolutionised techniques for retrieving data from hard disks," the prize citation said. "The discovery also plays a major role in various magnetic sensors as well as for the development of a new generation of electronics."

Bigger, cheaper

A hard disk stores information, such as music, in the form of microscopic areas that are magnetised in different directions.
The information is retrieved by a read-out head that scans the disk and registers the magnetic changes.
The smaller and more compact the hard disk, the smaller and weaker the individual magnetic areas.
More sensitive read-out heads are therefore needed when more information is crammed on to a hard disk.

"It's no good having computer hard-drives that can store gigabytes of information if we can't access it," said Professor Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey, UK.
"The technology that has appeared thanks to the discovery of GMR in the late 1980s has allowed hard-disk sensors to read and write much more data, allowing for bigger memory, cheaper and more reliable computers."

Last year, US scientists John C Mather and George F Smoot won for their work examining the infancy of the Universe.
They were honoured for their studies into cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the "oldest light" in the Universe.

More Info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_magnetoresistance
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7035247.stm

Nobel Peace Prize 2007 Laureates

Nobel Peace Prize 2007 has been awarded to Albert Gore, ex-US VP & the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

It’s no doubt that Al Gore’s ground-breaking and award-winning documentary film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth was a essential in raising awareness of global warming internationally. The IPCC, headed by Indian Dr. Rajendra Pachauri is the only organisation that collects scientific data on climate change & releases Assessment Reports. In its last Assessment Report 2007: Climate Change, the IPCC concluded that Warming of the climate system is unequivocal. Personally, I think it’s a great honour that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to climate change’s most vocal proponents. This will most certainly bring about a greater recognition of the threat of Climate Change, and will hopefully convince the world that it’s high time we act.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the recipients' efforts to "lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract climate change".
The committee said it wanted to bring the "increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states" posed by climate change into sharper focus.

It highlighted a series of scientific reports issued over the last two decades by the IPCC, which comprises more than 2,000 leading climate change scientists and experts.
The reports had "created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming", the committee said.

Mr Gore was praised as "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted", through his lectures, films and books.

The choice of recipients continues a trend of the Nobel Peace Prize redefining the potential sources of conflict and threats to peace, says the BBC's world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge.

Planetary emergency

Speaking in Washington, Mr Gore praised the IPCC, "whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years".
"We face a true planetary emergency," Mr Gore warned. "It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
He said he would donate his half of the $1.5m prize money to the Alliance for Climate Protection, reported the news agency Reuters.
Correspondents say Mr Gore's selection has prompted supporters to renew calls for him to stand in next year's US presidential race. Until now, Mr Gore has said he will not run.

The IPCC, established in 1988, is tasked with providing policymakers with neutral summaries of the latest expertise on climate change.
The organisation involves hundreds of scientists working to collate and evaluate the work of thousands more.

Mr Gore made a failed run for the US presidency in 2000.
Since then he has emerged as a leading climate campaigner. His 2006 documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, was an unlikely box-office hit and won two Oscars - though it was also criticised by a British judge this week for containing nine errors, and for being alarmist.

The Nobel committee closely guards the names of nominees, but this year speculation was high that the recipient would be linked to climate change campaigns.

The award comes just weeks before a key UN conference in Bali intended to lay down a roadmap for the next round of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.