The single-layered honeycomb structure of graphene makes it the "mother" of all carbon-based systems: the graphite we find in our pencils is simply a stack of graphene layers; carbon nanotubes are made or rolled up sheets of graphene; and buckminsterfullerene molecules, or "buckyballs" are nanometre-size spheres of wrapped-up graphene. These forms of carbon were isolated long before graphene and have been used in many applications, but their electric, magnetic and elastic properties all originate in the properties of graphene.
In the November issue of Physics World, Antonio Castro Neto, Francisco Guinea and Nuno Miguel Peres explore the fascinating structure of graphene, which is so unique that it could allow scientists to observe strange relativistic effects at speeds much slower than the speed of light.