> What I am really getting at is - are there any "actual" applications at this time?
Of course not, they literally just figured out how to make it in a lab through what sounds like a very labor intensive process. They haven't (presumably) figured out how to mass manufacture it. They've probably just begun to characterize it's actual properties. Engineers haven't had their hands on it at all yet.
It's a very cool advance in science IMO! It's not a "product" and won't be for awhile. That's normal. Science isn't about making products.
Science drives products, though. Very few people would be interested in a square inch of refined sand flipping electric charges between positive and negative, if it didn’t result in a yellow circular man eating dots and chasing ghosts.
Graphene shows some interesting properties, perhaps less widely marketable than video games, but time will tell. We’re still before the 8086 on that time scale.
For single atom thick gold? I dare not even speculate.
Though gold grabs extra attention due to its financial role, its over hyped in this particular regard. It doesn’t degrade and the global reserves can easily absorb some scientific research. All discussions of inflation and / or monetary value tossed completely aside
You still need to have some delineation. Science drives new applications, yes - that's why approximately anyone with money is interested in funding it[0]. But it's also not why it's done by practitioners. Scientists tend to be interested in things just because. And then there's rarely a direct connection between foundational research and applications. Like, I doubt any of the physicists that gave us quantum mechanics, nor any of those who gave them the mathematical tools for it, were remotely thinking that this will enable Netflix and HDR TVs.
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[0] - Though FWIW, refined sand flipping electric charges was found to be very interesting not because of a yellow circle eating white circles, but because it helped with designing bombs that eat cities.
Of course not, they literally just figured out how to make it in a lab through what sounds like a very labor intensive process. They haven't (presumably) figured out how to mass manufacture it. They've probably just begun to characterize it's actual properties. Engineers haven't had their hands on it at all yet.
It's a very cool advance in science IMO! It's not a "product" and won't be for awhile. That's normal. Science isn't about making products.