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The challenge of graphene

Re the knockers. Don't forget that the Industrial Revolution began HERE. We had the first railways and we became the workshop of the world. We also had "King Cotton" which at its peak provided most of Britain's GDP. In more recent times the worlds first electronic computer was invented HERE (Berkely USA was only touted as having this honour because of the UK's 30 year rule!) Other innovations have been television, the hovercraft and the jump jet but for reasons that I don't understand we seem to give our best ideas away. Standard procedure nowadays seems to be Joint Ventures with low wage countries. Once the product has been perfected in the UK the factory can be shut down and asset stripped. A skeleton staff in a small office is of course retained but the jobs and know-how are exported. I saw this happening in Manchester in the 1950s. The cotton mills were shut down and the best looms were shipped to India. Presumably when the production of Graphene is perfected the know-how will be given away for free or almost free as in the UK this seems to be par for the course.

16 May 2012

11:06 am