-FUPPETS- Science Digest

-FUPPETS- loves scientific endeavor. Humans have an innate need to explore, whether it be experiencing physical travel, or delving into what is unknown. Scientists use the empirical scientific method to answer questions about our world and ourselves. Science does not require "belief" in itself for it to work. The scientific method works even when the results are completely unexpected. These are the thrills of the researcher. It is in these unexpected surprises and setbacks that the light is shined on a dark corner of our knowledge.

The Nobel Foundation has announced the 2010 recipients for the Nobel Prize in Physics. Two Russian-born physicists, working at the University of Manchester, discovered/created a new form of carbon called GRAPHENE. Graphene is a two-dimensional "sheet" of carbon atoms. The chemical, physical, and electrical properties of this material are quite wild.

As a material it is completely new — not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it. Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again. ( Associated Press )

It is amazing that us humans are capable of creating whole new substances, and that it seems the sky is the limit. Scientists will be researching the capabilities of graphene for decades.
Here are the two Nobel Prize winners, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov.