2010 Nobel Physics Prize

“It’s not often that materials as humble as Scotch tape and the stuff of pencil lead yield a Nobel Prize in physics, but they play a key role in a discovery honored in the 2010 award, announced Tuesday in Stockholm. Two Russian-born physicists at the University of Manchester in Britain have captured the 2010 Nobel Prize for physics for their isolation of graphene, a crystal-like form of carbon one atom thick. What’s the big deal? Some researchers are calling graphene a ‘wonder material’ capable of spawning a new generation of electronic displays and solar panels, as well as lighter, stronger composite materials used in everything from bullet-proof vests to airliners and spacecraft.”