White light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are found in the most common electronic devices and serve as sources of light in homes around the world. According to the Department of Energy, energy savings from LED lighting could top 569 TWh annually by 2035, equal to the annual energy output of more than 92 1,000 MW power plants. But before Shuji Nakamura, a distinguished professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials Departments, discovered how to create efficient blue LEDs, none of this was possible. 

An in-depth video, produced by Veritasium, explains why it was almost impossible to make blue LED until a young engineer, Nakamura, proposed a moonshot idea that resulted in the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics. The video has nearly 15 million views since it was released on February 8, 2024. To view the video, click here.