Mathematicians Yves Meyer, Ingrid Daubechies, Terence Tao, and Emmanuel Candès have been recognized with the Princess of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research 2020.
Using wavelet theory (in English wavelets) they have developed pioneering techniques that enable extremely efficient data processing, especially images, both in terms of speed and quality. Their techniques allow files to be compressed without loss of quality, applicable, among others, to medicine for diagnostic tests and to entertainment for viewing high-definition movies.
Last year, another mathematician, Shlman Khan, won the cooperation award for creating a free website where children from all over the world can learn science.