Large, transparent sheets of carbon nanotubes can now be produced at lightning speed. The new technique should allow the nanotubes to be used in commercial devices from heated car windows to flexible television screens.

At team led by Ray Baughman, a chemist from the University of Texas at Dallas, can churn out up to ten meters of nanoribbon every minute. This ribbon can be up to five centimeters wide and compacts to just 50 nanometers thick, making it 2,000 times thinner than a piece of paper.