Researchers at Rice University demonstrated a graphite data storage medium that was only 10 atoms thick. They said it could provide many times the capacity of current flash memory and withstand temperatures (up to 200 C) that would make SSD memory disintegrate.

On the minus side, the researchers have only gotten an access time of 100 nanoseconds, about 10 times slower than SRAM. But they're confident that as they experiment more with the material, they'll be able to get that number down. [ComputerWorld]

There are two ways to store electrical energy today—through traditional rechargeable batteries or in ultracapacitors, a newer tech that runs safer, cooler, and longer. The UofT researchers think their breakthough could end up doubling the capacity of current ultracapacitors, which are made with a different, less awesome form of carbon.

If everything works out, it could give a much needed boost to solar and wind energy industries, whose main challenge right now is energy storage for when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. Beyond that, graphene ultracapacitors could end up improving the efficiency of all electrical appliances—cars, buses, trains, you name it. [Science Daily via Slashdot]

Now, I'm no scientist, but apparently this sort of image gives even the most seasoned electron microscopist a raging science boner. But it is not so much about the graphene as it is about the potential of the TEAM 0.5. One researcher noted that it "allows for the detection of every single atom from the Periodic Table provided that the sample under investigation can stand the radiation damage." Basically, it can study individual atoms in real time and produce high-resolution images of its subject. That will allow researchers to fully realize the potential of graphene by understanding how defects in the crystal structure can effect its properties. And they claim this is only the tip of the iceberg. Noooow I feel a science boner coming on. [Nanowerk and Science Daily]

Two engineering professors at Columbia University tested graphene's strength at an atomic level by indenting a perfect sample of the material with a sharp probe made of diamond. The results confirm what many had suspected all along—and that will go a long way to bolster the case that graphene would be able to handle the heat produced in future ultrafast processors. [Technology Review]

Of course advances in semiconductor transistor fabrication will shrink the minimum size down from 32nm soon enough, but when 10nm is reached the cold, hard laws of physics will get in the way. And that's why the graphene transistor is important, since the research team at the University of Manchester says their transistor is already working at just 1nm.

It's made by taking a sheet of graphene, made using standard semiconductor fab techniques, and carving it with an electron beam. This creates a central quantum-dot with a voltage-sensitive conductivity, much as in conventional transistors. Amazing. The one flaw is that for now it's hard to produce graphene in large quantities: the biggest crystals made so far are less than 0.1mm across, and that's too small for mass production. The Manchester team thinks it won't be long until that problem is solved though. Will that mean graphene-chip supercomputer power in pocket sizes? We'll have to see. [Wired Science]

Graphene also has a resistivity (opposition to the flow of electric current) of 1.0 microOhm-cm—which is 35% less than copper. That figure would also make graphene the lowest resistivity material at room temperature. However, impurities in graphine make it less effective than copper at transferring electrons (at least for the moment). Still, with some refinement, the future looks promising for graphene as our next "miracle material." [University of Maryland via Slashdot]