A Whole New World, Thanks to Graphene

This article can be found at http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2010/10/06/two_receive_nobel_physics_prize/  

    The most recent Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to two Russian scientists for their study of the light superstrong material, graphene. Their experiments detail a major breakthrough in materials technology as they show graphene to have exceptional applications in the advancement of many industrial technologies, including satellites, aircraft, cars, televisions, and computers.
    The article does a nice job laying out the story of graphene. It begins with the big questions: what is it and so what? The one-sentence lead immediately answers both, calling graphene “the strongest and thinnest material known to mankind, a potential building block for faster computers and lighter airplanes and satellites.” Then the writer, Karl Ritter, gets more into the details, saying that graphene is “a form of carbon only one atom thick but more than 100 times stronger than steel.” This is a great description—it’s simple and easy to picture. One thing that could have been left for further down in the article was the background of the two scientists. The science behind the experiments, the scientists’ reactions of excitements, and the further implications of graphene are more important and should surely precede the more cursory information about the scientists themselves.
    Ritter also does well in emphasizing the fact that none of these advances in computers or satellites or airplanes or cars or TVs will be coming anytime soon, as he quotes one of the scientists as saying “[it will take awhile] before this sort of technology moves into mainstream application.” Though the capabilities of graphene sound promising, it’s too early to get too excited.