We know graphene is tough stuff, but Big Blue's discovering the substance makes a great transistor too, to the tune of a record-setting 100GHz.

You see, the 100Ghz graphene transistor IBM was crowing about this week is already much, much faster than a comparably sized silicon one. Current "state-of-the-art" silicon maxes out at 40Ghz. But better still, IBM created the graphene screamer using existing silicon fabrication methods. No new gear necessary!

However, as is commonplace with these types of stories, graphene transistors—at least ones deployed widely in everyday computing—are still a ways away. IBM researchers, why must you tease us so? [IBM via Engadget]