Carbon, the chemical that makes up you and me, used to come in two pure forms: graphite (the working end of your humble pencil) and diamond.
In the last twenty years a new member of the carbon family has been discovered. Buckyballs or, to give them their proper name, fullerene, are microscopic balls of carbon appropriately shaped exactly like a football. They have since been detected naturally in a variety of environments, from desert rocks to the depth of space. Why the interest in an obscure chemical? Because, at present, there are many research projects exploring the possible practical application of these chemicals. Many chemical companies are very excited at these prospects, some going so far as to claim that fullerene will be the twenty first century equivalent of fibreglass and carbon fibre.
Potential future uses of fullerene include cosmetics, micro-containers for delivering antibiotics inside the body, lubricants, reinforcing fibres in a variety of materials, electric wires, personal armour and superconductors. More extravagant possibilities for buckyball fibres include uses as slingshots to launch rockets, artificial photosynthesis, invisibility cloaks, textiles and oil replacement in the kitchen. If only some of these projects come to fruition, this substance has the potential to really change our world. When you think about it, it is quite amazing what you can do with a football, albeit a small one.
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