(说得不是很精简, 好像是几段不同的报道放在一起）
GRAPHENE
Technology
helps the world advance. As humans it's in our nature to investigate, innovate
and solve problems. This curiosity means we make things, create things and
develop new technologies. You can look back thousands of years for basic
examples of technology pushing civilization forward.
Most people don't
understand the rapid change technology has on their life...or the speed at
which change occurs.
The five 'Great Ages' of human progress and
their approximate duration:
Stone
Age —
3.4 million years
-
Bronze
Age — 2,500 years
-
Iron
Age — 500 years
-
Industrial
Revolution — 80 years
-
Information
Revolution — 20 years
You'll
notice the length of each 'age' diminishes as technology improves.
The computer industry calls this trend 'Moore's Law'. It
dictates that computer processing power doubles every 18 months.
200
times stronger than steel...150,000
times thinner than a human
hair...more
flexible
than a sheet of paper
You
may have heard about Graphene.
If you haven't, it's a
newly discovered, very special refined form of graphite.
It's a
one-atom-thick sheet of densely packed carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb
lattice.
Take a look:
Put
simply, it's a sheet of carbon atoms 150,000 times thinner than a human
hair.
Under a powerful microscope, it looks like chicken
wire.
But what's so special about it?
Everything.
For starters, it's 200 times
stronger than structural steel...
It's so strong you could
suspend an elephant from a single strand of Graphene...and the strand
would not break.
It's extremely lightweight too...
Soon, everything from bicycles and boats to aeroplanes and
cars could be made out of graphene composites.
And
when they are, their energy efficiency and durability could
skyrocket.
But that's just the beginning of what this new 'smart
material' can do...
Not only is it the strongest material
researchers have ever tested — it's also one of the best conductors man has
ever found.
IBM has already created a graphene-based processor
capable of executing 100 billion cycles per second.
Researchers believe that in the future, a graphene credit card
could store as much information as today's computers.
Be
clear...
This
one material alone could prove more
revolutionary than — and soon REPLACE
—
plastic,
Kevlar and the silicon chip
Kiss
goodbye to shattered screens!
In
fact, it's such a breakthrough that the first two scientists to successfully
produce single-atom-thick crystals of graphene were awarded the 2010 Nobel
Prize in Physics.
And for good reason...
In just
two years, over 200 companies from a wide array of industries have
researched the magical potential of graphene...
-
Scientists
in the US and China are already
using tiny graphene-based probes to target and identify tumours in live
mice. They hope similar graphene-based particles could shuttle cancer
drugs to tumours...or even kill tumour cells directly!
-
Engineers
at Northwest University, Seattle, found
that specially crafted graphene electrodes could allow a lithium-ion
battery — like those found in your smartphone or Toyota Prius — to charge
10 times faster and hold 10 times more power.
-
And
in 2011, chemists at Rice University, Houston,
created graphene-based thin films — unlocking the secret to incredibly
flexible, super-durable touch screens and solar cells that can wrap around
just about anything...
The
Smallest Revolution
in
History...
Down
at the molecular level there's a lot of friction. Particles can stick
together really easily. This means new and complicated structures can be
formed.
Today scientists are experimenting with different
conditions to see what sorts of new molecular structures they can
create.
The results are astonishing. Some look like thin
wires...
Some
look like pancakes...
Others
look like flowers...
All
these different molecular structures have different properties.
And soon they'll change the way we live...
From
solar panels you can spray onto your roof...to computers and batteries so
small they are invisible. From mobile phones that you can stretch, twist
and even imbed into your clothing...they'll make stronger houses...tougher
cars...and even make us healthier!
Medical researchers are
already looking at using nano-particles to deliver drugs or hunt down
cancerous tumours.
Just imagine 'nano medicines'
patrolling your body, hunting down diseases and zapping problems as soon as
they arise...
Samsung
have already said its flexible displays should enter full-scale production
later this year — and it expects to have a dozen more graphene-based
products on the market within the next five.
IBM, Nokia and
Apple are hot on their heels too.
Touch
screens...processor chips...casings...and batteries in everything from PCs
and HD TVs to tablets, mobile phones and hybrids could be all made with
graphene.
It
could change entire industries...economies...and our lives.
Imagine...
HD TVs as thin as
wallpaper...
Smart phones so skinny and flexible you can roll
them up and put them behind your ear...and so durable you can beat them
with a hammer!
It's mind-blowing.
Imagine how our
world — and your life — would change if the batteries that run your
iPhone...your Kindle...and your laptop held 10 TIMES more power and charged
10 TIMES faster than they do now...
If you could eliminate
breast cancer or prostate tumours with a simple injection...or by swallowing
a graphene-charged pill...
If your house were strong enough to
withstand a bush fire — and your windows processed enough solar energy to
heat your home in winter and cool it in the summer...
If the
car you drove were six times lighter and 20 times
stronger...
The
effects would be staggering!
Fuel-efficiency
would shoot through the roof.
People would live longer,
healthier lives.
Cars and aeroplanes would be lighter, faster
and safer than ever before.
And electronics of every type
would be launched into an era of unprecedented growth and
evolution.
This is just a taste of the cutting-edge innovations
coming in the Molecular Age...
...innovations that will reshape
the future in the months and years ahead...and it's starting
now.
You're
looking at a simultaneous eruption of
new-age technologies that will
alter our lives on a scale not seen for 100 years
All
this technological change and innovation will transform the
world...
-
'Nano
batteries' will charge your mobile in seconds...and even power
whole cities...
-
'Smartphones'
will carry the computing power of IBM's Watson Supercomputer...
-
A
new era of computing mobility — none of the solid rectangular things we
carry now but flexible, wearable devices...
-
Handheld
'breathalysers' will diagnose disease in seconds...
-
Bionic
limbs with human fluidity and dexterity, but the strength of
Superman!
-
Spacecraft
with the capacity to take us beyond our solar system into places
and worlds never explored...
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