Future brightens for carbon nanotubes

For the first time, researchers have used the unusual electronic properties of carbon nanotubes to make a lightbulb glow.

The scientists used multiwalled carbon nanotubes, each made up of many nested cylinders of carbon. Other researchers have used carbon nanotubes as tiny electron guns in flat electronic displays, but until now, no one had made a lightbulb based on nanotubes, says Jean-Marc Bonard.