Graphene - stronger than diamond, faster than silicone (made in UK!)

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Earl_of_Rochester

Some geeks at Manchester University have just won the Nobel Prize for this:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19540-andre-geim-why-graphene-is-the-stuff-of-the-future.html

Made in Blighty too! Albeit by some Russian chap, it's still British damnit! Apparently it's going to be the wonder product of the future, to be used in aircraft, computers etc and the lab sheet design is only one atom thick!

graphene, the single layers of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice that my colleagues and I first isolated in 2004. Graphene is stronger and stiffer than diamond, yet can be stretched by a quarter of its length, like rubber. Its surface area is the largest known for its weight.

Despite graphene's thinness it is impermeable to gases or liquids. It conducts heat and electricity better than copper, and can be made into transistors which are faster than those made from silicon.

It makes possible experiments with high-speed quantum particles that researchers at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, can only dream of.

The soft, silvery-grey form of pure carbon found in pencils consists of stacked-up sheets of interlinked carbon atoms. Separate these sheets to obtain gossamer films of carbon just one atom thick and you have a material called graphene, whose properties mimic those of the exotic substances found in collapsed stars

Late last year, Geim's team discovered that the quasiparticles in graphene are like nothing ever seen in a conducting material. Amazingly, the quasiparticles behave as if they were electrons travelling close to the speed of light. Such fast-moving electrons are usually found only in extreme conditions where particles are accelerated to enormous speeds - for example, close to neutron stars or in the big bang.

Of these many intriguing structures, graphene is causing the biggest stir. This is partly because of its unusual combination of properties: its two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms combines fantastic electrical conductivity with a strength tens of times that of steel in a material that is transparent to visible light. Best of all, we have finally learned how to make it.



More info about the wonder product here:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125591.700-quantum-weirdness-on-the-end-of-your-pencil.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427362.000-welcome-to-the-highcarbon-future.html

I wonder if it has any potential for the sex market?

~EoR
 
uh dude, theres a bit of a flaw for this stuff.

It STRETCHES

Do you really want to fly something that will stetch and shrink mid flight?
Do you really want a tank to be like an underinflated ballon in that you can hit it and instead of the blow being stopped, it bedns IN on the PEOPLE INSIDES instead of lightweight ceramic armor which would dissipate explosives and halt armor piercing rounds.

The best place i think youll find this stuff is in a bedside lamp.
 
Knight of will said:
uh dude, theres a bit of a flaw for this stuff.

It STRETCHES

Do you really want to fly something that will stetch and shrink mid flight?
Do you really want a tank to be like an underinflated ballon in that you can hit it and instead of the blow being stopped, it bedns IN on the PEOPLE INSIDES instead of lightweight ceramic armor which would dissipate explosives and halt armor piercing rounds.

The best place i think youll find this stuff is in a bedside lamp.

Not if regular tank armor is covered with this new material...  :???:

Or a plane has a metal skeleton or frame...
 
Well now this is just a **** move. How the hell are we supposed to kill each other now, when everyone is armored head to toe in this ****?
 
BadabombadaBang said:
Tiberius Decimus Maximus said:
Well now this is just a **** move. How the hell are we supposed to kill each other now, when everyone is armored head to toe in this ****?

Blunt weapons.  :razz:

Well that just opens up a whole new field of modern warfare.
 
Tiberius Decimus Maximus said:
BadabombadaBang said:
Tiberius Decimus Maximus said:
Well now this is just a **** move. How the hell are we supposed to kill each other now, when everyone is armored head to toe in this ****?

Blunt weapons.  :razz:

Well that just opens up a whole new field of modern warfare.
I can see it now - armies marching onto battlefields with giant dildos. 
 
BadabombadaBang said:
Tiberius Decimus Maximus said:
Jousting. The new art of war.

Or maybe we can have like these round things on a chain on a wooden handle! With spikes that swing around and gain momentum! It will be devastating!

Wow man, now you are just getting too advanced. I doubt our industry could keep up with such high demands.
 
Faster than silicone

I'm pretty sure what I'm imagining is not what silicone is used for, but think about this for a moment: breast implants made of graphene.

They'll be tougher than diamond, but stretchy like rubber. Unbreakable tits.
 
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