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!
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
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