5 materials that could change the world

Graphene

Discovered in 2004, graphene was hailed as the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material – winning its discoverers Nobel Prizes for Physics. It’s tipped to replace silicon in chips, and soon. What took so long? Layering it with boron nitrate for a four-layered structure that made the graphene act in isolation. That means we may soon enjoy bendy touch screens and computers, lighter aircraft, wallpaper thin HDTVs and superfast internet connections. And that’s just the start.