One of the big dangers of open wounds is infection — when bacteria get in and generally make a bad situation a lot worse. Now a group of Chinese scientists have figured out a way to make bandages with built-in bacteria barriers.
The key is the carbon-based wonder material graphene. Graphene is essentially thin sheets of carbon, each just an atom thick. First created in 2004, graphene could make possible everything from better batteries to low-cost lighting. In the course of their research, the scientists crafted a strip of graphene paper and tried to colonize bacteria on it. Turns out the bacteria had trouble getting a solid footing on the graphene, but human cells were pretty much unaffected.
The practical applications are obvious. Besides bandages with inherent antibacterial properties, the graphene paper could also be in food wrappers or even antibacterial clothing. Personally, I wouldn't mind putting a layer of this stuff all over my bathroom tiling.
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