Word: atomically
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Carbon is a kind of natural backbone: the all-important element that anchors the molecules of everything from crude oil to DNA. For the past six years, groups of scientists have been chasing down an exotic form of carbon believed to have a particularly elegant configuration: 60 atoms of carbon arranged like a miniature soccer ball. The improbably spherical molecules were dubbed buckminsterfulleren es, or simply buckyballs, because they resemble the geodesic domes designed by inventor Buckminster Fuller. Researchers knew that some sort of 60-atom carbon molecule existed, but they had trouble producing enough of the stuff to study...
...scientists, the discovery of buckyballs has been like stumbling across % an unexpected cache of buried treasure. Only two other distinctive forms of pure carbon have ever been found: ordinary graphite and precious diamonds. The atom clusters in graphite are flattened into hexagons, like tiles on a bathroom floor, while the atoms in diamonds form tiny pyramids. The molecular structure of buckyballs is so radically different that researchers hope this third form of carbon will lead to a whole new class of materials with a multitude of uses...
Nearly everyone agrees that this challenge will be key. It will surely be one of the most daunting public relations assignments of the century. After nearly 40 years of living with the so-called peaceful atom -- once expected to make electricity "too cheap to meter" -- Americans remain deeply ambivalent about nuclear power. A TIME/CNN poll conducted this month by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman found that 32% of the 1,000 adults surveyed strongly opposed building more nuclear plants in the U.S. vs. just 18% strongly in favor. So do Americans hate nukes? Not necessarily. When asked which energy source...
Such tangled feelings about the risks and rewards of nuclear power fit a worldwide pattern. In March the governments of Britain, France, Germany and Belgium -- Europe's largest users of nuclear energy -- jointly reaffirmed their commitment to the atom and pledged to cooperate in the development of new reactors. Yet while the statement recognized "the environmental ^ benefits" of nuclear power and noted that it provides "one appropriate response to the challenges now confronting the entire planet," the signers warned that future development of atomic energy "must take place in conditions of optimum safety, ensuring the best possible protection both...
...certainly is. Of all the genies unleashed by modern science, none has inspired more anxiety than the power of the atom. As if that were not disquieting enough, the industry has long been plagued by what Victor Gilinsky, an outspoken former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has called "too many deep-dish thinkers," who believed the future belonged to nuclear power and often overstated its potential. "It became a way of life instead of just a practical way of generating electricity," Gilinsky says. "The whole thing just became too ponderous, instead of practical and sensible...