Nobel Laureate and Physicist Arthur Ashkin will give a lecture on his prize-winning invention at the Wheeler Opera House on Wednesday night. Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in physics last year for his optical tweezers: microscopic beams of light that can pick up and move tiny objects, like cells and atoms.
His invention laid the groundwork for numerous other discoveries in physics and medicine. Ashkin is 96 years old, making him the prize’s oldest recipient. He’s currently undergoing treatment for lymphoma and was unable to attend December’s Nobel ceremonies in Oslo. His talk marks Aspen’s first-ever Nobel Lecture.