How to Win a Nobel Prize in Physics

Andre Geim : "You put [sticky tape] on graphite or mica and peel the top layer. There are flakes of graphite that come off on your tape. Then you fold the tape in half and stick it to the flakes on top and split them again. And you repeat this procedure 10 or 20 times. Each time, the flakes split into thinner and thinner flakes. At the end you're left with very thin flakes attached to your tape."

Aha! That's all it takes, then. Maybe we should quit messing around with supercomputers and pulsed neutron sources....?

Supercomputers: animal magic.

China: The "River in the Sky" supercomputer (below) jumps to Number Five on the Top 500 list.:


















..but Japan, the country that gave us the Earth Simulator (below) - the world's fastest supercomputer between 2002 and 2004 - now suspends building the next generation. :
















...and the U.S.?












ORNL's Jaguar slinks past LANL's Roadrunner to the Number One spot and U.T's Kraken is coiled at Number Three.







Fearsome beasts! Now arguably the most friendly animals to be found at the Supercomputing '09 conference in Portland oregon were in the Baby Supercomputer Petting Zoo.