UCLA Scientists Have Found a New Way to Power the World

The super conductor.

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In the award-winning short video called "The Super Supercapacitor," documentarian Brian Golden Davis introduces us to Richard Kaner, whose team of university scientists stumbled onto a new way to power the world.

Kaner, a UCLA chemistry and biochemistry professor, started this scientific journey aimming to create an innovative and highly effective way to make graphene, the thinnest and strongest material on Earth, using a simple DVD burner.

One day, fellow researcher Maher El-Kady, a UCLA Ph.D. candidate, discovered graphene's amazing super powers as a conductor. An energy source the scientist charged for five seconds kept a lightbulb connected to graphene glowing for more than five minutes.

The creation of the graphene supercapacitor (battery that charges and discharges at super speed) could change the electronics and machines in our lives forever. With future advances, we could see smartphones that charge in seconds, not to mention electric cars that we can plug in and get ready on the go.

[Via NotCot]

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