Named after R.
Buckminster Fuller, the Fullerene
molecule, or "Buckyball" contains 60 carbon atoms aranged in a sphere
much like the vertices of a football (that's a soccer ball to all you
Americans out there). Only recently, unfortunately after Bucky's death, were
Fullerenes discovered, in the lab and also in the real world, in micrometeorite
craters on satellites. They are my favourite molecule, and you can find out
more about them here.
The background depicts Fullerenes in their natural FCC packed crystal.
If you can catch the spinning buckyball, you get to see a cool mpeg that I
got from here, and click
on the biggun for a really neat VRML view of a fullerene that I snagged from
here. |
