As if being the basis of all life as we know it was not enough (plus, in one of its forms, CO2, it makes life possible... in fact the same is true for its diamond form! 
) it turns out that Carbon is likely to produce one of the more useful materials in the future:-
"Atom-thick carbon sheets set new strength record"
It makes me wonder if, in the future, it will become economically viable to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, use the carbon in manufacturing and industry (rather than burying it in the ground, which seems a bit daft) and increase the amount of O2 in the world.