Al Eisele: A New Silicon Valley on the Oklahoma Prairie?

Norman, Oklahoma -- You're heard of California's Silicon Valley. Now get ready for Oklahoma's Carbon Prairie. It's here, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, that could be the home of one of the cutting edge technologies of the 21st century. It's called single-wall carbon nanotubes, and it has the potential of replacing environmentally damaging plastics, making faster semiconductor chips, producing lightweight materials stronger than steel, and even reducing the toxicity of chemotherapy treatment for cancer. I wouldn't know a single-wall carbon nanotube if it bit me, but I learned a lot about them last month when Andy Rieger, editor of the Norman Transcript newspaper, accompanied me to the dedication of the new headquarters and manufacturing facility of SWeNT, the acronym for SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc.... [read full story]