5. Contemporary scientific events

The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009 was awarded to a Chinese scientist Charles Kao and Americans Willard Boyle and George Smith for research in the field of information technology. Kao was behind the fiber-optic data transmission technology, and Boyle and Smith have invented a semiconductor device that allows you to receive digital photos directly, bypassing the film. Their work led to the first real revolution in applied science, then in knowledge-intensive technologies, and in the last decade they have become part of our everyday lives, making it much more comfortable.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year went to biologists: their accomplishment is primarily associated with the use of X-ray diffraction method, widely used in biochemistry and brought to the new level with the active participation of the winners. Award “for studying the structure and operation of the ribosomes” is shared by Ada Yonath, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas Steitz. Ribosomes are the “protein factory” of cells; it is them, whose work provides synthesis of the protein from amino-acids, which forms the basis of life of all living things. The award-winning achievement has played a significant role in the development of science; it has direct practical applications: in particular, antibiotics, which kill bacteria by “turning off” their ribosomes, are developed and improved.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 was given to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak “for their discovery of how the enzyme telomerase and telomeres protect chromosomes”. The mechanism of protection of chromosomes from shortening when dividing was first predicted in 1971 by A. M. Olovnikov and subsequently his theory was confirmed in practice by experimenters, who were awarded this Nobel Prize. Telomeres play a significant role in age-related changes of cells and whole organism and in the development of malignant diseases. Further investigation of their dynamics and principles of the way the enzyme telomerase lengthens them may help to find new ways to fight aging and cancer.

5. Researches, discoveries and innovations in English-speaking countries

An international team of researchers has developed a new magnetic carbon material that not only acts as a semiconductor but is also magnetic and could help scientists develop the next generation of microelectronic devices.

The new carbon material is based on graphene, which resembles graphite, the form of carbon found in pencil lead, but which exists as single sheet-like layers resembling nanoscopic chicken wire fencing. Graphene was first created by scientists in Manchester five years ago and is not only 200 times stronger than steel but because its electrons are highly mobile it has unique electro-optical properties. As such, some researchers think that graphene is the natural successor to silicon and could lead to the advent of spintronic devices that exploit electron spin and charge in computer memory and data processing.

Now, researchers from the Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, Peking University in Beijing, China, the Chinese Academy of Science in Shanghai, and Tohoku University in Sedai, Japan have used computer modelling to design a chemical cousin of graphene which they call graphone. Experiments with the new material confirm the electromagnetic properties predicted by the computer models.

One of the important impacts of this research is that semi-hydrogenation provides a very unique way to tailor magnetism. The resulting ferromagnetic graphone sheet will have unprecedented possibilities for the applications of graphene-based materials.