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Scientists Create Material One Atom Thick
telegraph.co.uk — Flat, parallel sheets of carbon atoms in the graphite of pencil lead have been peeled apart by the scientists to yield a sheet a single atom thick that has peculiar properties.it provides the wherewithal to probe the workings of the universe and without the need for exotic equipment, such as the £4.5 billion atom smasher being readied
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- petsheep, on 04/04/2008, -1/+10(Scientists) say they have used graphene to measure an important and enigmatic fundamental constant of nature - the fine structure constant....This is one of the exact numbers; so-called fundamental or universal constants such as the speed of light and the electric charge of an electron, that play a crucial role in making the cosmos the place it is...."Change this fine tuned number by only a few percent and the life would not be here because nuclear reactions in which carbon is generated from lighter elements in burning stars would be forbidden," (from the article)
- matrixbandit, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1That's a very striking concept to really grasp. It is unfortunately misused occasionally by theists to support "intelligent design", as they point to the many many universal constants that allow for our existence, noting we couldn't exist without the myriad of them lining up the way that they do. I do think it is easy to get swept up in this line of reasoning but we must consider all the forms of life that don't exist, that aren't allowed for, but would be if the universal constants, the laws of our universe lined up differently. It might just as easily be them posing this question in our stead.
- directrix13, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1A constant is just a freaking constant. There is no more value in the number than its worth in application in some equation. Yeah life wouldn't exist if the number was different. Well the value isn't variable so why do we give a ***** and try to find relevancy in completely unrelated things?
- matrixbandit, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1That's a very striking concept to really grasp. It is unfortunately misused occasionally by theists to support "intelligent design", as they point to the many many universal constants that allow for our existence, noting we couldn't exist without the myriad of them lining up the way that they do. I do think it is easy to get swept up in this line of reasoning but we must consider all the forms of life that don't exist, that aren't allowed for, but would be if the universal constants, the laws of our universe lined up differently. It might just as easily be them posing this question in our stead.
- keltin, on 04/04/2008, -4/+3I wonder how that precision was reached by accident in the high octane stars?
- CrimsonBlur, on 04/04/2008, -2/+5Well the Universe has been around for 13 billion years, so there have been plenty of opportunities for chance outcomes like that.
- GliTCH82, on 04/04/2008, -1/+2That doesn't take into account consistency or probability. Chances are, that outcome may not have been as consistent at all, and it could still be chalked up to chaos theory.
- abhoody, on 04/04/2008, -0/+9You use words like "reached" and "accident" already implying that there's some sort of conscious effort at work. If certain variables weren't what they ARE, then we simply wouldn't be here to observe it and comment on it.
Same thing applies to the conditions that allow life to exist on earth. Why aren't you on Jupiter wondering why conditions are the way they are on that planet? The answer is, because rational creatures can ONLY exist in situations where the variables allow life to exist, and therefore any rational creature will ALWAYS be in a situation where every variable is correct.- Elliuotatar, on 04/04/2008, -3/+2But if there's only one universe, and it has not been created and destroyed countless times over then that would mean the dice were rolled only once and came up seven.
- Elliuotatar, on 04/04/2008, -3/+1"has not been created and destroyed countless times over" should have been:
"has not been created and destroyed countless times over, with new universal constants being selected each time"
Digg had an error and wouldn't let me edit it. :(
- Elliuotatar, on 04/04/2008, -3/+1"has not been created and destroyed countless times over" should have been:
- Elliuotatar, on 04/04/2008, -3/+2But if there's only one universe, and it has not been created and destroyed countless times over then that would mean the dice were rolled only once and came up seven.
- CrimsonBlur, on 04/04/2008, -2/+5Well the Universe has been around for 13 billion years, so there have been plenty of opportunities for chance outcomes like that.
- TheUserFactor, on 04/04/2008, -1/+23Kramer made it using the meat slicer he borrowed.
- brstilson, on 04/04/2008, -0/+10There's no place for the flavor to hide.
- palehorse864, on 04/04/2008, -1/+2I've cut slices so thin I couldn't even see them!
- unrequited, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3Hell yeah, now we can make that atom/molecule-thick cutting blade that the badass Eskimo uses in Snowcrash:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash#Important_ ...
DIBS!- bosssmiley, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3We already have them. The glass blades used to pare cellular samples in bioscience labs...
- mali1, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2I believe it's called an ultra-microtome
- bosssmiley, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3We already have them. The glass blades used to pare cellular samples in bioscience labs...
- phazei, on 04/04/2008, -0/+11"Prof Geim is also known for his earlier use of magnetic fields to levitate frogs...."
Dude, I'd rather see that. He should post a how-to vid.- phazei, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Just googled it. Check this out
http://youtube.com/watch?v=m-xw_fmB2KA&feature=rel ... - lamiaconfitor, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1or for a more comprehensive "how to..." click this link. http://www.hfml.ru.nl/froglev.html diamagnetic levitation is being used to levitate all sorts of neat-o stuff. Including water, strawberries, tomatoes and crickets. according to the research, even wood carries a magnetic charge that, using a strong enough electromagnet, could enable it to float. the fact that this is done to no detriment to the frog or cricket is the part that is amazing.
- phazei, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Just googled it. Check this out
- Encablossa, on 04/04/2008, -5/+2You'd think he could cut atoms, but not cut his own hair..
- ParaSwarm, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Mad scientists do not cut their hair.
- pitdog, on 04/04/2008, -0/+8It should say "one atom THIN"...
- Berkana, on 04/04/2008, -0/+6So that's what they were talking about in that comic . . .
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic= ...- underdog138, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1That was funny until the science stopped and the huge stretch of what is supposed to be a joke, began.
- Berkana, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1Honestly, the thing that bugs me about that comic series is that while it isn't nearly as entertaining as XKCD, its artwork is very good, whereas XKCD uses stick figures; I would not be surprised if a good portion of its audience "reads" the comic (or at least visits the site on a regular basis) to ogle the female characters.
- underdog138, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1That was funny until the science stopped and the huge stretch of what is supposed to be a joke, began.
- qbelek2, on 04/04/2008, -0/+5"exotic equipment, such as the £4.5 billion atom smasher being readied" - well someones a little jealous... ;]
- bosssmiley, on 04/04/2008, -0/+5"We're gon' find that pesky Higgs Boson before them durn Europians do with nothing but a knife, a magnifying glass and some good ole American know-how!"
- ultraJesus, on 04/04/2008, -0/+4Dont forget apple pie for lunch.
- bosssmiley, on 04/04/2008, -0/+5"We're gon' find that pesky Higgs Boson before them durn Europians do with nothing but a knife, a magnifying glass and some good ole American know-how!"
- britblogger, on 04/04/2008, -5/+1"atom smasher"
do those two words scare anyone else besides me?- warriorscot, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2Not really we have been doing it for a while now.
- lamiaconfitor, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2Its just you.
- t2t2, on 04/04/2008, -1/+4BUT will it blend?
- leoedin, on 04/04/2008, -1/+11man, imagine the guys at CERN now;
"Finally, the LHC is finished... Lets read todays paper"
(Headline: without the need for exotic equipment, such as the £4.5 billion atom smasher being readied ")
NOOOOO - neko, on 04/04/2008, -0/+4"No carbon means no life."
At least, none of -this- life that is observing this constant. If there was no carbon, it might be Bolognium-based life doing similar experiments like this, exclaiming "Wow, if this constant were different, the universe would be full of carbon, and life would not exist!"
Go read The Science of Discworld books. They cover all kinds of interesting topics like this. - colinmhayes, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1neat stuff. I hadn't heard of it until some grad student offered to coat one of our diffraction gratings with the stuff.
- thespiff, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1If you didn't know about this already, apparently you only read Digg for your tech news.
- brandonelliott, on 04/04/2008, -2/+5one word. CONDOMS
- bluechips23, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1In other news, Apple started its research on new thinner laptops called Apple iGraphene - so thin that you can't even see it. And oh btw word's around that it will cost just a few million dollars ONLY.
- SomeoneLikeYou, on 04/04/2008, -1/+2Don't you mean one Atom thin?
- neodorian, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1I wonder if it works on cupcakes.
- rainierbeer, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1one atom thick.. i thought this was already done and they called it gold
- HangoverBoy, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1lol, wut?
Are you saying that scientists have created a one atom thick sheet of gold? When was this?
- HangoverBoy, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1lol, wut?
- ParaSwarm, on 04/04/2008, -1/+2I, for one, welcome our new atom-thick pencil overlords.
- robbiemuffin, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1you're catching the tail end of the science series for april fool's week reruns here on digg
- Brainclone, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Mono-filament whip anyone?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomolecular_wire - pyro789x, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1I'm more racist than I thought I was... The first thing I saw when I opened the article was the picture, and I immediately thought, "oh, huh. I didn't think that something as profound as this would have been able to be created in Mexico..." Damn..
- NanoStuff, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Telegraph discovered the year 2004, good for them.
- jmp120, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1I thought this stuff was around for a while. Isn't this what store brand toilet paper is made out of?
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