- Summary- Winners opened the way to powerful new quantum technologies- Findings enabled work on quantum computers, encryption- Winners' research is based on 'mind-boggling' insight- Zeilinger 'shocked but very positive' on hearing the news- Scientists shone light on behaviour of subatomic particlesSTOCKHOLM, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Scientists Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for experiments in quantum mechanics that laid the groundwork for rapidly-developing new applications in computing and cryptography.In an interview after being awarded an honorary doctorate earlier this year, Zeilinger said that protected quantum communication over potentially thousands of kilometres via cables or satellite would soon be on the cards.In background material explaining the prize, the academy said the laureates' work involved "the mind-boggling insight that quantum mechanics allows a single quantum system to be divided up into parts that are separated from each other but which still act as a single unit."Sean Carroll, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and author of books on topics such as quantum mechanics, told Reuters the prize for the trio was long overdue."Even though the ... experimental techniques that these folks pioneered might not be directly applicable, they're laying the ground work for using quantum entanglement as a technological resource," he said."