This find could lead to devices that efficiently convert heat into electricity, as well as graphene-based chips that can accurately model the behavior of faraway celestial objects like supernovas and black holes.

Graphene is extremely light and strong, a great conductor of heat and electricity, and both very stiff and very ductile. This unique set of features suggests it could replace silicon in electronics and lithium in high-density batteries – or, rolled into carbon nanotubes, perhaps even do something as foolishly ambitious as help build a space elevator.

Making graphene is simple enough, all that's needed is a piece of adhesive tape to peel graphite crystals over and over down to a single layer. But because the end product is only one atom thick, studying the properties of graphene in isolation has not been nearly as easy.