Bucky Ball Buckminsterfullerene (IUPAC name (C60-Ih)[5,6]fullerene) is the smallest fullerene in which no two pentagons share an edge. It is also the most common in terms of natural occurrence, as it can often be found in soot. The structure of C60 is a truncated T=3 icosahedron, which resembles a soccer ball of the type made of hexagons and pentagons, with a carbon atom at the corners of each hexagon and a bond along each edge. The diameter of a C60 molecule is about 1 nanometer (nm). From AIDS medicines to superconductors to flat-screen TVs, a wide range of medical and industrial uses are envisioned for the buckminsterfullerene, an incredibly strong soccer-ball-shaped molecule that is the third form of carbon after diamond and graphite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckyball http://www.godunov.com/Bucky/fullerene.html

Bucky Tube The strength and flexibility of carbon nanotubes makes them of potential use in controlling other nanoscale structures, which suggests they will have an important role in nanotechnology engineering. The highest tensile strength an individual multi-walled carbon nanotube has been tested to be is 63 GPa. Carbon nanotubes have already been used as composite fibers in polymers to improve the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the bulk product. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube

Bucky Egg An egg-shaped fullerene, or "buckyball egg" has been made and characterized by chemists at UC Davis, Virginia Tech and Emory and Henry College, Va. The unexpected discovery opens new possibilities for structures for fullerenes, which could have a wide range of uses. Beavers started to map out the structure, she found two pentagons next to each other, making the pointy end of the egg. Initially she thought that the results were a mistake, but she showed the data to Marilyn Olmstead, an expert on X-ray crystallography, and they decided that the results were real. The egg contains a molecule of triterbium nitride inside. http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news