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United Kingdom Science Technology

UK To Get £50m Graphene Research Hub 40

twoheadedboy writes "The UK Government has made a big commitment to the development of the 'wonder material' graphene, the most likely candidate to replace silicon in computing chips in the future. A £50 million Graphene Global Research and Technology Hub was announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. It is hoped the facility will help commercialize graphene. The University of Manchester, where the material was discovered, welcomed the announcement and will be one of the possible locations of the hub. Right now, universities will be getting ready to apply for their chance to host the graphene hub."
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UK To Get £50m Graphene Research Hub

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  • I hope they find a way to make it strong enough for a space elevator.

    • And I hope there isn't a horrible accident with a 526 B30.

    • by vlm ( 69642 )

      Transparent flexible LCD screens would be nice. No more indium metal...

    • Has anyone considered a space escalator instead of a space elevator? Just keep your space-boot laces away from the yellow lines.

    • And while we're dreaming, make transparent aluminum as well.
      • Apparently aluminium oxynitride [wikipedia.org] is pretty close.

      • I think that when people hear £50m they think it's basically bottomless money with which we can fulfill any scientific fantasy. But think about it this way: There are London mansions that cost more - without staff, equipment, operating costs, or anything else that actually produces science. Granted, Manchester is a cheaper market. Still, £50m is pretty small potatoes by the standards of big science.
    • by KliX ( 164895 )

      It's a 2D structure, so no.

      • by Hentes ( 2461350 )

        It can be rolled up into nanotubes.

      • by tmosley ( 996283 )
        You do know that sheets of graphene can be stacked, and that stacking them increases their strength thanks to aptly named stacking forces that act between parallel aromatic systems? It isn't limited to a single flat sheet.
    • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      One big failing with the idea of a space elevator. Do you know what a guitar string is and how it works, now consider one kilometres and under enormous tension, definitely not good, good, good, vibrations. It would be interesting to see how destructive those resonant effects on that scale would be though.

      • by Hentes ( 2461350 )

        It's very hard for a standing wave to form on a 36000km long string, whose tension also varies with height. Vibration can cause problems but hopefully we will find a way to dampen it.

  • by WillDraven ( 760005 ) on Monday October 03, 2011 @11:12AM (#37590522) Homepage

    They should give it to Nottingham, because then we'll get to see updates on all the great research being done. If you haven't already I suggest subscribing to their awesome YouTube channels:

    http://www.youtube.com/periodicvideos [youtube.com] ( http://www.periodicvideos.com/ [periodicvideos.com] for the table you can click on to see each elements video)
    http://www.youtube.com/user/BackstageScience [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/user/sixtysymbols [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/user/nottinghamscience [youtube.com]
    http://www.youtube.com/user/PhilosophyFile [youtube.com]

    • by mangu ( 126918 )

      They should give it to Nottingham, because then we'll get to see updates on all the great research being done.

      Do you mean that at Nottingham someone would steal it and give it to the poor?

  • We are having some problems with our silicon...
    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Analysts-claim-worldwide-supply-shortage-of-silicon-wafers-this-year.50214.0.html [notebookcheck.net]

    Good idea not to keep all the eggs in one basket, not a good idea to keep 7/10 of them in 1 basket either when it comes to a fundamental that keeps our technology spiraling forward.

    So this is more of a reaction than a proactive move by the UK government ftw.

  • Nice investment for the future. A bigger investment would be to find replacements for the materials the world has become so reliant on China for. Maybe some other AAA country will focus their attention in that direction.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Here's a very simple but accessible explanation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX8ClPVkD1g

  • 50 millipounds seems like a tiny budget. 50M pounds seems more appropriate.

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