Dr. Hewitt had amplified his ultra-microscope by "feeding electric current to the electrodes of a zinc sulfate phosphor screen". Sort of an inside joke since that describes a black and white TV screen.
Opening scene has high voltage discharge through plate glass creating pattern in the glass. Lichtenberg figures are branching (dendritic) patterns formed by very high voltage current going through a relatively insulating material. 3D Lichtenberg trees formed in acrylic blocks are commercially available. The patterns show the path of the electricity, nothing more.
The International Society of Science in Geneva, Switzerland wanted to make Dr. Hewitt the third American ever to receive its annual prize. The real world annual Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm by various Swedish agencies. By 1956 about 40 USA citizens had received Nobel Prizes in the sciences.