Re: [silk] Daring trains..
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 1:45 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.netwrote: I guess the guy doing it would just have to hope nobody was using the train toilets at the time .. indian train toilets basically having a hole at the bottom that drops it all onto the tracks. I wonder, with such an extensive train system and lengthy circuits what are the chances of diving face-first into an old load of crap between the tracks?
Re: [silk] Daring trains..
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Gautam John gkj...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:15 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net wrote: Gautam asked what'd happen if this were to take place in India. That apart, any train buffs on the list? Do Indian locos and compartments have sufficient clearance to attempt this? unlurking But I did come across one incident where a person slipped between the tracks, one of days during monsoon in Bombay. while changing platforms desi way, i.e instead of using the pedestrian bridge. The local train just passes over him. Most of them at the station freaked out. As soon as the train passes by this person gets up and starts running. A bunch of cops catch this guy and start hitting him. Felt sorry for him. Somedays later I wished I had a camera then or a mobile phone with video recording facility and Internet. Must have got good ratings on youtube. could also have tweeted the incident :P Speaking about trains, train buffs. http://www.seat61.com/ gives you options of doing London to New Delhi via trains. Also, gives you the option of around the world by land and sea. One on my to-do list. regards -- Ramakrishna Reddy GPG Key ID:31FF0090 Fingerprint = 18D7 3FC1 784B B57F C08F 32B9 4496 B2A1 31FF 0090
Re: [silk] Daring trains..
Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: having a lot of crap land on your back every time you try this trick isnt going to make it powerfully attractive, eh. Could be a superhero origin story... daring teen goes under train, gets loaded with crap, touches electrical wire accidentally, and becomes... Captain Poop! He ain't gonna take shit from nobody! -- * Madhu Menon Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine | Moss Cocktail Lounge 96, Amar Jyoti Layout, Inner Ring Road, Bangalore @ http://shiokfood.comhttp://mosslounge.com Join the Moss group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39295417270
Re: [silk] Daring trains..
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Malini Aisola malini.ais...@gmail.comwrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 1:45 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.netwrote: I guess the guy doing it would just have to hope nobody was using the train toilets at the time .. indian train toilets basically having a hole at the bottom that drops it all onto the tracks. I wonder, with such an extensive train system and lengthy circuits what are the chances of diving face-first into an old load of crap between the tracks? Ah, I *knew* this crap question was going to come up sooner rather than later, because a. this is the silk list, and b. because that was the first thing that occurred to me. I politely thought Let me not talk about the crap question and I also thought, Surely someone else will bring it up (Er, sorry, wrong words to use!) The fantastic-design open toilets on Indian trains deposit the,er, liquid and solid waste, not *in between* the tracks, but on the sides. I too was under this misapprehension, until, recently, I happened to be standing near a (bad pun) stationary train, and saw where the waste was actually going. But...I don't know about the clearance between the ...erbottom of the train and the tracks, and I certainly wouldn't like to take a chance! Does anyone know who cleans the tracks? Do we have the equivalent of scavengers/nightsoil workers? We must have, otherwise tracks and stations would be stinking by now. When will we find enough money to design proper closed (septic) toilets on the Railways? Come to it, what is the system on aircraft? Not even the all-detail Arthur Hailey has talked about this Cheers, Deepa.
Re: [silk] Introduction - New Member
A Cats and Coffee incident! WIN! On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:13 AM, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.comwrote: Bonobashi wrote: I was reading my mail during breakfast, paging up and came across this unawares. Paging up? Surely shiv does not top-post! The costs: Half a cup of coffee, a mouthful of bread with pineapple jam and a MAC keyboard. This is being written on the desktop; the MAC is stark in death in the corner. Keyboards have MAC addresses now? ;-) -- Sumant Srivathsan http://sumants.blogspot.com
Re: [silk] Daring trains..
--- On Wed, 25/3/09, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote: From: Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.com Subject: Re: [silk] Daring trains.. To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Wednesday, 25 March, 2009, 12:12 PM Deepa Mohan wrote: the Railways? Come to it, what is the system on aircraft? Not even the all-detail Arthur Hailey has talked about this This used to be one of those questions that popped up after a nice round of drinks with friends. Of course, every one got creative at that time. I think some people warily looked up whenever a flight was overhead too. :-) Seriously, it's all collected during the flight and dumped, if I may use the expression, at the airport. If you carefully notice, two tubes get attached to the plane at the airport. One of them is for fuel. V The well-read reader, dear reader, would recall the incident of a large, very large lump of ice with other embedded sediment dropping out of the skies onto a house and demolishing most of the house - fortunately with little or no damage to the humans resident. On examination, it turned out to be the detritus of the plumbing system of a plane, presumably from a passing plane that felt the urgent need for a dump, to use the felicitous expression used above by V-i. Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/
Re: [silk] Daring trains..
Arthur Hailey did, if you read Airport. Search the text for what he calls a 'honey wagon' ps: Just got myself a VCD of airport starring burt Lancaster as mel Bakersfield, dean martin as vern demerest, jacqueline bisset (lovely!) as gwen meighen etc. When will we find enough money to design proper closed (septic) toilets on the Railways? Come to it, what is the system on aircraft? Not even the all-detail Arthur Hailey has talked about this Cheers, Deepa.
[silk] Postal voting in India
Hi, A friend who has relocated from Bengaluru to Mumbai for a few years asked about this. He had his name on the voter list in Bengaluru, but won't be in that place on this election day. What's the best option for him? Register again at Mumbai or vote through post? Is the latter option even available for non-armed-services folks in India? If yes, where can I find the details on this? TIA, ~ash
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On 3/25/09, Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com wrote: Hi, A friend who has relocated from Bengaluru to Mumbai for a few years asked about this. He had his name on the voter list in Bengaluru, but won't be in that place on this election day. What's the best option for him? Register again at Mumbai or vote through post? Is the latter option even available for non-armed-services folks in India? If yes, where can I find the details on this? jaagore.com is the best resource available online as on date. afaik, postal voting is not available in india. he has one of 2 options, come in to blr to vote for that one day or register again in mumbai. if he is sure that he may not be in mumbai when the next general elections will be held, coming in to blr for tht one day seems like a better option. hope this helps! amitha TIA, ~ash
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 15:38, Amitha Singh amithasi...@gmail.com wrote: jaagore.com is the best resource available online as on date. afaik, postal voting is not available in india. he has one of 2 options, come in to blr to vote for that one day or register again in mumbai. if he is sure that he may not be in mumbai when the next general elections will be held, coming in to blr for tht one day seems like a better option. hope this helps! Thanks, so he will reregister at Mumbai to vote. ~ash
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 15:38, Amitha Singh amithasi...@gmail.com wrote: jaagore.com is the best resource available online as on date. afaik, postal voting is not available in india. he has one of 2 options, come in to blr to vote for that one day or register again in mumbai. if he is sure that he may not be in mumbai when the next general elections will be held, coming in to blr for tht one day seems like a better option. hope this helps! Thanks, so he will reregister at Mumbai to vote. ~ash this is NOT as simple as it sounds. His voter id will be deleted in Bangalore, and then he will have to delete his id in Mumbai again next time and re-register in Bangalore so let him decide if he wants to do this! :) _Deepa.
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 16:57, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote: this is NOT as simple as it sounds. His voter id will be deleted in Bangalore, and then he will have to delete his id in Mumbai again next time and re-register in Bangalore so let him decide if he wants to do this! What if the person doesn't inform the Mumbai registration office about his entry in the Bengaluru records? I remember seeing lots of folks having multiple voter records, representing the trail of localities in Bengaluru that they moved around over the years :-) ~ash
Re: [silk] Is there something I should know?
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 12:33, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote: For more than a week now, Yahoo has stopped sending me reminders from my calendar; I have sent three emails to the helpdesk, and for one I got their standard automated response...but nothing has happened... [...] Is there something I am missing.(about Yahoo closing down services other than Briefcase)? Should I start putting in entries on Google now? What a pain, I have several years' worth of reminders stored up on Yahoo, from long before Googol was a number that was asked on a quiz I don't know what's happening with YCal. You should be able to transition from YCal to GCal easily, if that's what you want. Here's how: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2685/google_calendar_import_event_information_yahoo_calendar/ ~ash
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
Amitha Singh wrote: Register again at Mumbai or vote through post? Is the latter option even available for non-armed-services folks in India? AFAIK (I did try this when I was in college), postal ballots are only allowed for the armed forces or people of 'official duty'. Say an official is sent elsewhere for election duty. -- Alok Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around us in awareness. -- James Thurber
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
Ashwin Nanjappa wrote: What if the person doesn't inform the Mumbai registration office about his entry in the Bengaluru records? I remember seeing lots of folks This gives an opportunity for him to vote in Bangalore and Mumbai everytime. :-) IOW, someone will vote for him if he is not around. Does he want this to happen?
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 17:28, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote: This gives an opportunity for him to vote in Bangalore and Mumbai everytime. :-) IOW, someone will vote for him if he is not around. Does he want this to happen? Not if he can prevent it. But, if the erase-and-create option is harder than the new creation option, he might just go for the latter. ~ash
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com wrote: [...] Thanks, so he will reregister at Mumbai to vote. Heh, this sounds so simple. It took me 12 years to get my voter ID card. Finally arrived this year with a photo from the early 90s. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Daring trains..
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 6:47 AM, Gautam John gkj...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:15 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net wrote: Gautam asked what'd happen if this were to take place in India. That apart, any train buffs on the list? Do Indian locos and compartments have sufficient clearance to attempt this? You have to really trust the maintenance track record of the Indian railways and hope there isn't something heavy hanging loose. Cheeni
[silk] Saying no to moral policing in Bangalore
I was heartened to read this piece: http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090325/818/tnl-no-votes-for-moral-cops-say-bangalor.html Even though I do find sleeveless t-shirts a bit lowbrow, with the usual intent of showing off the guns to the relatively unmuscled public. Unless it was a Def Leppard t-shirt, in which case, I believe sleeveless is the desired configuration. This may then help explain the abjectly low number of women walking around on Brigade Rd and the surroundings on a Saturday afternoon. I'm not fooled -- with 1.3 billion people, and women the gating factor for birthrate, they have to be somewhere -- even if sequestered underground in some Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fashion. Not that I have any salacious intent that's being foiled -- I condemn accosting anyone, women or men (for example, I don't want to take a damned 20 rupee one hour ride around the city where the driver drops me at some shopping place that he [I've never seen female autorickshaw driver -- are there any?] get kickbacks from so they can hard/guilt sell me some crap so please stop following me for 2 blocks relentlessly, necessitating I be rude with you to get the message across. Nor do I ever want to engage a woman in such a fashion that she has to be rude to me to get the message across. That's just troglodytic.) -- it was just starkly noticeable and strange to me. For so many vegetarians who thought it'd be such a sausage-fest. Then again, when I heard about the rave and the of the 100 people arrested, how it was such a disgrace that 22 were women, I completely agreed. You've got to have a 50/50 ratio at least. I'm sure that was the reason for the outrage. (But to be fair, they bust raves in the US all the time -- for illegal drugs and unlicensed liquor serving and such -- fair enough, they are breaking the law -- but obscene dancing? That said, there are conservative nut-groups in the US who want to ban school dances and such, as being immoral, so one can hardly argue the US is wholly progressive... But if one hosted a party for young people in much of the so-called Western World with 78 guys and 22 women, the host ought be prepared to be harangued for months about it... unless it was like organized by the single women or a gay party or something, in which case I think one would be rightfully lauded.) I don't think there's any ethical way to stop women from self-actualizing, even if it bothers one for whatever reason. Better we accept this. (I'm no lothario but I've learned to subjugate my anger at this ineptness the respectable way -- with bitterness and alcohol :-). Given the number of 6-foot tall Valkyries in Scandinavia, they had to succumb early, lest the men be soundly beaten, physically. However, there is the bored young men with too much testosterone and retarded inter-gender social skills cause trouble theory. Even without some demagogue to hand down rationalizations, you've got well-armed gangs in the US, frat boys, etc. I can only hope that one day there will be compassion and perhaps treatment for that tragically afflicted legion with age-related testosterone poisoning. I recall it wasn't an easy time.
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 4:25 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com wrote: [...] Thanks, so he will reregister at Mumbai to vote. Heh, this sounds so simple. It took me 12 years to get my voter ID card. Finally arrived this year with a photo from the early 90s. I'm on my fourth attempt to get mine. One of the previous attempts yielded an ID card that had everything except the photo and my sex incorrect. I think they managed that by translating the original form data from English to Marathi then then back to English. -gabin -- George Burns - Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed.
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 18:55, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote: Heh, this sounds so simple. It took me 12 years to get my voter ID card. Finally arrived this year with a photo from the early 90s. I got my Voter ID card around 2004 when they were issuing it areawise in Bengaluru. I was given a date and location (a government school) to get the card. They took a grainy mugshot using a webcam/low-res digicam (don't remember which), filled out the details, asked me if it's correct, printed out the card, laminated it and gave it to me right there. I have no idea if the card format has changed since then though. ~ash
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
Same experience here -- srs / nokia e71 -original message- Subject: Re: [silk] Postal voting in India From: Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com Date: 25-03-2009 20:01 I got my Voter ID card around 2004 when they were issuing it areawise in Bengaluru. I was given a date and location (a government school) to get the card. They took a grainy mugshot using a webcam/low-res digicam (don't remember which), filled out the details, asked me if it's correct, printed out the card, laminated it and gave it to me right there. I have no idea if the card format has changed since then though. ~ash
Re: [silk] Introduction - New Member
If there's one thing I've learned from Keanu Reeves, it's that there is no spoon... :-) On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 8:56 AM, lukhman_khan lukhman_k...@yahoo.comwrote: Thanks Kiran. Udai is helping me as well -- but the more help the better,especially at this beginning phase which is about taking in the larger scene and seeing what's out there. Shouldnt it be *less help the better* Too much of spoon feeding takes the fun out of the exploration. Lukhman
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 8:01 PM, Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 18:55, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote: Heh, this sounds so simple. It took me 12 years to get my voter ID card. Finally arrived this year with a photo from the early 90s. I got my Voter ID card around 2004 when they were issuing it areawise in Bengaluru. I was given a date and location (a government school) to get the card. They took a grainy mugshot using a webcam/low-res digicam (don't remember which), filled out the details, asked me if it's correct, printed out the card, laminated it and gave it to me right there. I have no idea if the card format has changed since then though. ~ash Ah. I got this kind of card in 1992. NOW...that card no. is not listed anywhere, so I could not get it deleted; and I was told that unless I had that deleted, I could not register in my new constituency. After several futile attempts, I just quiety registered for a new card. The guy-at-the-door, who vetted our documents when we reached the head of the queue (after 2 hours), asked my husband and me if we had never ever voted. Who wanted to state the truth, that we have voted in Chennai, but have been abroad during the election dates for several years? No, we said concisely. He then asked us to provide proof that we had never votedwe had to browbeat him quite a bit to get him to let us through and submit our forms. The irony...we will be abroad at voting time AGAIN, this year. Why are we then going through this? I don't know Cheers, Deepa.
Re: [silk] Is there something I should know?
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 2:46 PM, Ashwin Nanjappa ashwi...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 12:33, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote: For more than a week now, Yahoo has stopped sending me reminders from my calendar; I have sent three emails to the helpdesk, and for one I got their standard automated response...but nothing has happened... [...] Is there something I am missing.(about Yahoo closing down services other than Briefcase)? Should I start putting in entries on Google now? What a pain, I have several years' worth of reminders stored up on Yahoo, from long before Googol was a number that was asked on a quiz I don't know what's happening with YCal. You should be able to transition from YCal to GCal easily, if that's what you want. Here's how: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2685/google_calendar_import_event_information_yahoo_calendar/ ~ash Thanks Ash...I did that, and I got 18 events imorted, after which the daily quota was exceeded. Do you mean to say I have to import the events 18 at a time? That might be almost as painful as doing it individuallyany suggestions? Deepa.
[silk] References for top posters
Found this in another mailing list, thought it might be helpful to the top posters here :) - How to Write Effective Mailing List Email http://www.digital-web.com/articles/how_to_write_effective_mailing_list_emai l/ - A Beginner's Guide to Effective Email http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.php - Quoting style in newsgroup postings http://www.anta.net/misc/nnq/nquote.shtml - Problem Solving: Sending Messages in Plain Text http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/listadmins/plaintext.html - Godwin's law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
Re: [silk] TED India Registrations now open
Me too. On 3/24/09, Ravi Bellur rav...@gmail.com wrote: I'm game! Why don't we have a silk meetup there since there have been some newcomers to the list (myself included)? Need the latest food guide for Bangalore. Kiran -- Sent from my mobile device
Re: [silk] TED India Registrations now open
Me too. On 3/24/09, Ravi Bellur rav...@gmail.com wrote: I'm game! Why don't we have a silk meetup there since there have been some newcomers to the list (myself included)? Need the latest food guide for Bangalore. Kiran -- Sent from my mobile device
Re: [silk] TED India Registrations now open
An alternate choice of venue is Moss, the cocktail lounge run by fellow silkster Madhu. I loved Shiok, but never frequented it due to the distance from where I stayed earlier in Bangalore. I'm guessing Fri or Sat dinner? I'm off Friday. Kiran 2009/3/25 Venkat Mangudi's Silk Account s...@venkatmangudi.com Me too. On 3/24/09, Ravi Bellur rav...@gmail.com wrote: I'm game! Why don't we have a silk meetup there since there have been some newcomers to the list (myself included)? Need the latest food guide for Bangalore. Kiran -- Sent from my mobile device
Re: [silk] Postal voting in India
On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 23:40, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote: Ah. I got this kind of card in 1992. NOW...that card no. is not listed anywhere, so I could not get it deleted; and I was told that unless I had that deleted, I could not register in my new constituency. After several futile attempts, I just quiety registered for a new card. That can't be the same ID card. For one, webcams/digicams were either not prevalent or non-existent in 1992 in India. Just kidding! But, I think this current Voter ID card drive and database was started only around early 200x. ~ash
Re: [silk] the business of charity!?!
On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 10:30 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net wrote: if he wanted to compare donation figures he could compare those to the figures going into shirdi, puttaparthi, siddhivinayak temple, There was a media report on this some years ago but I dont remember the details. Apparently, Indian laws mandate all hindu temples (of certain size/earnings?) automatically fall under the purview of the Indian government. That means temples which want a tax-exempt status have to maintain a board which *has* to have government representative/s who make decisions on the temples behalf. All the funds collected (like hundi donations) and earned via sales get tax-exemption status, are public property (read, under government rules) and subject to govt directives. While the temple is a rich entity under the government control with 80G tax-exempt status, the temple priest gets a daily salary of Rupees 100 (this data is a few years old and needs to be verified). Under the RTI act, it *may* be possible to get information on how a (for example, mumbai's siddhivinayak) temple's funds educational institutions in Maharashtra's districts/villages. It would also be enlightening to check the antecedents and political affiliations of the management receiving the funds. You (read public) cannot ask a CSI, wakf board or a NGO/sec25 company, trust or society board for their annual financial data since all other religions are considered minorities, not covered by this legislation under Indian laws. Private entities are exempt from public purview/censure. The legal eagles on this list would know legalese better. Another example: A temple land can easily be encroached upon, not so with land belonging to other religious trust/boards who can go to court (a temple trust can too but its easier to stall that and the reader can use their imagination on how). The author could have researched a little bit more before penning his article. aurobindo ashram etc (several of which have 100% tax exemption for social work projects they carry out, and which also have large, even grandiose building programs like that huge golden golfball at auroville, for example) ... isnt that the 5-star path to moksha (nirvana if you must). .
Re: [silk] the business of charity!?!
. [26/03/09 08:38 +0530]: aurobindo ashram etc (several of which have 100% tax exemption for social work projects they carry out, and which also have large, even grandiose building programs like that huge golden golfball at auroville, for example) ... isnt that the 5-star path to moksha (nirvana if you must). Auroville is about the only place you can get authentic croissants rather than the poor (soggy / overly chewy etc) imitations you get in most five star hotels, bakeries etc in India. So I am glad to let my wife believe all that while I check out croissants and apricot preserve.
[silk] Graphenes
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090325/full/458390a.html Graphene gets ready for the big time Physicists are talking about how to make practical use of a former laboratory curiosity. Geoff Brumfiel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Sheet happens: graphene could have potential uses in solar cells or flexible displays.A. WEE, NATL UNIV. SINGAPORE/H. HUANGPhysicists are in the grips of graphene madness. At last week's American Physical Society meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they packed conference rooms to hear about the atom-thick sheets of honeycombed carbon. Talks on graphene transistors, chemical sensors, electrodes, scales and frequency generators could all be heard, with participants from industry, notably IBM, in many of the sessions. The ultra-thin carbon sheets have turned the normally staid community into a herd of rhinos, says Andre Geim, a physicist at the University of Manchester, UK. And, he adds, this year, I feel more like applications are what's driving the field. Not everyone is sanguine about graphene's chances for going commercial. Graphene has several problems, notably a lack of an obvious 'band gap', a break in electron energy levels that would allow it to be easily used as a transistor, says Kenneth Shepard, an electrical engineer at Columbia University in New York. There are a lot of problems with this stuff, he warns, fearing that starry-eyed researchers may overhype this latest material. “There have been great advances in making large-scale graphene.” But others argue that graphene is much more promising than its predecessor, carbon nanotubes. Nanotubes, essentially rolls of graphene, have been difficult to control and integrate into existing electronics, says Tomás Palacios, an electrical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Graphene's uniformity and flatness make it easier to combine with current silicon technology, and many researchers who once worked on nanotubes are now focusing instead on graphene. The shift was evident at this year's meeting: there were 16 sessions on nanotubes, whereas graphene had 28. Work on graphene — discovered by Geim and his colleagues almost 5 years ago (K. S. Novoselov et al. Science 306, 666–669; 2004) — heated up quickly as researchers realized that the material's two-dimensionality caused it to show unusual quantum behaviours (see Nature 438, 201–204; 2005). But graphene also has properties that make it alluring for certain applications. Electrical charge can fly through the sheets at high velocities, up to four times those in silicon. Large thin layers of graphene would be both flexible and transparent. Graphene ribbons might act as transistors, even though bulk graphene does not. And because graphene is so thin, even the slightest brush from neighbouring atoms can alter its mechanical and electrical properties. It has been a fascinating material, says Marcus Freitag of IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Silicon transplant? To turn graphene applications into reality, the material must first be synthesized in large quantities. Until now, it has often been grown on substrates of silicon carbide, a costly material that is available in only limited quantities from suppliers. But at last week's meeting, several new techniques were on display, including a way to grow graphene through chemical vapour deposition, a process widely used in the electronics industry. In one session, Byung Hee Hong of Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea reported using the technique to grow films up to 10 centimetres in diameter — a figure he soon hopes to double. There have been great advances in making large-scale graphene, Freitag says. While some researchers work on making more graphene, others hunt for ways to use it. The most immediate application would be as a simple electrode. Although transparent electrodes using materials such as indium tin oxide are already commercially available, graphene's flexibility would give it an edge in solar cells and displays, says Philip Kim, a physicist at Columbia University. Graphene also shows promise for broadband communications, in part because electrical charge can move so quickly through it. Graphene transmitters and receivers should be able to operate at frequencies on a scale of hundreds of gigahertz (109 Hz) or even terahertz (1012Hz), far better than silicon, which operates at several gigahertz, says Palacios. Higher frequencies allow for more bandwidth, and that means graphene could pave the way for broadband satellite communication. In early experiments on display at the conference, Han Wang, one of Palacios's graduate students, presented data up to one megahertz (106 Hz), but Palacios is bullish: We should be able to have competitive devices just a few months from now, he says. Whether graphene can replace silicon as the basic unit of the electronics industry is another question; its lack of a band gap is a formidable problem. The most obvious
