Commercializing one of the world’s most awesome materials. Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel. It is superb at conducting heat and electricity. And it’s incredibly pliable. Now the Carbon Research and Development Co. is building a Graphene Research Center in Wise County with the backing of a $1.5 million loan from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority. The Center, which is focusing on applications in the manufacturing center, is collaborating with Virginia Tech, reports the Roanoke Times, to derive the carbon-based material from coal.
First nurse practitioner licensed under new law. To address the shortage of physicians in rural areas, the General Assembly passed a law this year that allows nurse practitioners in Virginia to be licensed to practice autonomously without collaborating physicians. Now Susan Adamson, a nurse practitioner, is the first in Virginia to receive such a license, reports WHSV. She works at the Free Clinic in Harrisonburg. Nurse practitioners must have worked for 9,000 hours or five years to qualify. Clearly the law represents a step forward for rural health care, but it’s not clear how many nurse practitioners ultimately will qualify.