At Rice University, physicists have confirmed what theory long whispered: that a single layer of carbon, bent sharply enough, can generate powerful electrical charge through geometry alone. The phenomenon — flexoelectricity — had been predicted for two-dimensional materials since 2008, but the experimental proof required wrinkles so extreme that previous attempts fell short by a thousandfold. By coaxing graphene to self-assemble into atomic-scale folds atop molybdenum disulfide, the team has demonstrated that shape, not chemistry, can be a primary language for engineering the electrical soul o