Why You, Non-Nerd, Should Get Excited about Graphene

Let’s talk about the coolest substance ever: graphene. It’s one atom thick, (about one-millionth the thickness of a single strand of hair), it’s 100 times stronger than steel, and it conducts electricity like nothing else. It’s a
supermaterial that is quietly changing the course of technology.
Here’s why you should get excited about it:
It will turn computers into transformers
It is now being suggested that graphene can be changed into different configurations on the fly by simply manipulating it with lasers. That means that it could take on the form of different computers in just seconds, freeing us from hard-printed, static motherboards. Right now, you carry multiple computers configured for different purposes, partially because their motherboards, printed on hard silicon, can’t do anything other than that for which they were designed. Your smartphone handles a selection of communication and entertainment functions. Your camera is filled with camera-friendly chips. Your game console is heavy on graphics and presentation hardware. Your computer is memory-heavy, able to crunch file structures and complex mathematics.

Graphene, with its perceived infinite laser-configurability as a motherboard, could morph into virtually any kind of computer. Different sheets could handle different functions at the same time in the space of a tiny sheet of paper. Electronics could be improved and updated — even changed completely — remotely. Your smartphone operating system updates and game console software updates are one thing, but imagine if you could download a totally new smartphone to your graphene-based device rather than waiting for Apple to announce it every fall.