Only four years after it first became readily available in the laboratory,
graphene, a one-atom thick layer of carbon atoms, has captured the
attention of a wide spectrum of scientists, from particle physicists
interested in testing otherwise experimentally inaccessible quantum field
theoretical phenomena to materials scientists and technologists searching
for the next generation replacement of silicon in field effect electronic
devices. This seminar will review the basics of graphene and it will
discuss the most recent activity which seeks to create a mass gap in the
electron spectrum. It will be agrued that, in the context of one current
proposal, topological domain walls are a common occurrence. Further, the
domain walls behave like one-dimensional conductors embedded in an
insulating gapped graphene environment and could themselves have
technological applications.