The 2010 Nobel prize for Physics has been awarded to two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim, of the University of Manchester and Radboud University Nijmegen, and Konstantin Novoselov, also in Manchester, for their work on the monolayer carbon material graphene. Graphene is basically a flat sheet of carbon atoms connected in a honeycomb lattice, that displays some interesting properties: it’s flexible, strong and is an excellent conductor for heat and electricity.
Geim and Novoselov’s work to separate the material from bulk graphite has opened up a whole new area of research, into potential applications of graphene or simply to test our understanding of the basic physics of materials on this exciting new material.
Graphene was first isolated by Geim and Novoselov with the aid of some sellotape and a pencil, which has made it an easier Nobel for the media to report on than, say, that of Nambu, Kobayashi and Maskawa for spontaneous symmetry breaking in 2008 (I quite enjoyed listening to that press Q&A session).
A further tinge of humour was added to this year’s physics prize by the amusing factlet that Geim is a previous recipient of the IgNobel prize for levitating a live frog in a magnetic field, and co-authoring a paper with his hamster (h/t to the Guardian for posting the link). H.A.M.S. ter Tisha also applied for a PhD at the Radboud University Nijmegen.
That Geim & Novoselov’s work sounds like a Blue Peter project may also be because at least Novoselov must have been a mere toddler to win the Nobel at … 36?! No, the work actually dates back to 2004, which is amazingly recent. Does anyone keep statistics on the time from publication to Nobel prize? This must surely be one of the shortest?
Humour aside though, congratulations to the two for groundbreaking work in a super interesting field. And what an excellent time for British scientists to be winning major international awards (the Medicine Nobel also went to a British scientist), it may give politicians something to think about….
[Instant update: Just as I posted this, I spotted a tweet by Evan Harris that Andre Geim has signed the Science is Vital petition. Score! If you haven’t yet and you care about science, do it now.]
