Graphene

Indium is one of the rarest metals on Earth, but it’s a key ingredient in ubiquitous electronic devices. Engineers have demonstrated a way to swap indium for graphene, which is made from common carbon, while retaining the same electronic properties.

A couple of years ago, Canadian scientists celebrated the Christmas season by creating a microscopic gingerbread house. In that same spirit, Danish researchers have now produced the world's thinnest Christmas tree – and it's made of graphene.

An experimental new material could help rehabilitate the injured and allow the nonspeaking to "speak," among other potential uses. It's also highly elastic, electrically conductive and self-healing – and it's known as CareGum.

Norda's new 001 G+ Spike trail running shoe keeps feet dry and warm through snow, slush and icy puddles with a graphene membrane. Combine that with Dyneema up top and spikes down low, and you have a high-tech running shoe that thrives in winter.

Currently, most diabetics have to check their blood glucose levels by performing finger-prick blood tests, or via implanted sensors. An experimental new device, however, could someday do the job while simply adhered to the surface of the user's skin.

Even with the toughest-looking bike locks, many people still say, "An angle grinder would go right through that." Well, Hiplok's new D1000 is claimed to be different – it's touted as being "the first portable anti-angle-grinder bike lock."

A first-of-a-kind trial now underway seeks to apply the wonder material graphene's impressive attributes to one of the UK's major thoroughfares, by deploying it in a road resurfacing project along a stretch of the A1.

Graphene is already shaping the future of battery technology in some interesting ways, and now scientists have deployed a novel form of the wonder material in a sustainable sodium battery to bring about a tenfold increase in capacity.

Electronics and batteries are vulnerable to very high or low temperatures, but a new thermal switch could help deal with both. Made from graphene foam, it can dynamically trap heat when it’s cold out or allow heat to escape when it gets too warm.

MIT researchers have found yet another use for the over-achieving wonder material graphene, by making a reusable filter out of graphene oxide foam that acts like a magnet for uranium, effectively pulling the radioactive element out of drinking water.

A new method converts carbon from a variety of sources straight into useful forms such as graphene or diamond. The technique uses a “flash” of electricity to heat the carbon, converting it into a final form determined by the length of the flash.

As the world's strongest artificial material, graphene may have a lot to offer the world of construction, and scientists have offered another example of this by using it to create a novel form of cement that is highly resistant to water and cracks.