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Sci-Tech : Graphene: a novel material with myriad uses

After the discovery of one form of carbon — fullerenes — was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996, this year's Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Andre K. Geim and Konstantin S. Novoselov, both at the University of Manchester, U.K., for succeeding in producing, isolating, identifying and characterizing another form of carbon — graphene. Anyone who has used an ordinary pencil has probably produced graphene-like structures, but without knowing it. A pencil contains graphite, and when it is moved on a piece of paper, the graphite is cleaved into thin layers that end up on the paper and make up the text or drawing that we are trying to produce. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/graphene-a-novel-material-with-myriad-uses/article816652.ece
A couple of stories about interesting, new materials caught my eye and I thought I might pass them along. The lightest solid In the picture above a 2.5kg brick is supported by 2gm worth of aerogel .

Materials

http://theglitteringeye.com/?p=3107
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene

Graphene

Graphene is a substance composed of pure carbon, with atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern similar to graphite , but in a one-atom thick sheet.
By "unzipping" carbon nanotubes, researchers can make graphene ribbons.

Unzipping Carbon Nanotubes Can Make Graphene Ribbons

http://phys.org/news159436730.html

Graphene Outperforms Carbon Nanotubes for Creating Stronger, Mor

http://phys.org/news191522014.html New studies by Professor Nikhil Koratkar show graphene outperforms carbon nanotubes and other nanoparticles for boosting the strength and mechanical performance of epoxy composites. Pictured are graphene platelets that Koratkar's research team extracted from bulk graphite.