From the Guardian, October 5:
Two scientists at Manchester University have won the 2010 Nobel prize for physics for creating the thinnest possible flakes of carbon – graphene.
The news that Andre Geim (right), 51, and Konstantin Novoselov, 36, had received the 10m Swedish-kronor (£1m) prize was announced today by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Novoselov is the youngest Nobel laureate since 1973.
Geim and Novoselov were both born in Russia and collaborated as PhD supervisor and student in the Netherlands before moving to Manchester University, one of Britain’s top physics institutes.
The scientists’ breakthrough came from a deceptively simple experiment in 2004 that involved a block of carbon and some Scotch tape. The two used the tape to strip off layers of carbon that were only one atom thick. These thin wafers of carbon, known as graphene, were found to have extraordinary properties.
Tests showed the graphene layers were stretchy, as strong as steel and almost completely transparent. They are exceptionally good conductors of heat and electricity, properties that have made graphene one of the most exciting new materials for producing electronic components, from flexible touchscreens to pollution sensors. The wafers can also be used to study some of the more peculiar effects of quantum mechanics.
Geim encouraged creative experiments at the laboratory, Novoselov said. “We’d just try crazy things and sometimes they worked and sometimes not. Graphene was one of those that worked from the very beginning. It’s such a robust material and all the effects were so pronounced.”
The Nobel committee said of the two scientists in its press release: “Playfulness is one of their hallmarks. With the building blocks they had at their disposal they attempted to create something new, sometimes even by just allowing their brains to meander aimlessly.”
This was the playful comment from a reader who calls himself Old Tom:
“These two sound like immigrants to me. Coming over here, stealing our Scotch tape. Bastards.”
Eric Koch’s book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
I heard about this on radio last night and am so glad you picked up on it. One of the two apparently listed his pet hamster as co-author on a research paper. And Geim won the IgNobel ten years ago for experiments using magnets to levitate a frog. Playfulness is the essence of scientific inquiry! http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2010/10/congratulations_to_andre_geim.php?utm_source=combinedfeed&utm_medium=rss
A better article is here:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1005/Konstantin-Novoselov-and-Andre-Geim-get-Nobel-Prize-for-super-strong-graphene
Homo Ludens, we used to call it. Thank you.
But YOUR article does not have MY punch-line!
I been eating my toast burned for years, so wot’s the big deal?
Next time you burn your toast add scotch tape!