Molecules With Sunglasses
Episode 3 · 1992-01-20
- Documentary
Episode overview
About the original discovery in 1985 of a third form of solid carbon, named Buckminsterfullerene after the architect who invented geodesic domes. The two scientists who discovered the material glimpsed it for brief seconds only in their lasers but neither they nor other scientists subsequently could make the substance last long enough in the laser to prove their theory. Then in 1990, a couple of physicists with an arc-welder in a bell-jar found they could make as much Buckminsterfullerene as they liked, and industrial applications opened up, with talk of new polymers, molecular ball-bearings, lubricants and super- conductors. Meanwhile, the original discoverers were turning back to the fundamental questions surrounding the discovery, such as how and why does it form; does it exist in space or is it the solution to one of the great mysteries of the universe.
60 minutes
Season 29 episodes
1. The Shadow of Breast Cancer1992-01-06
2. Pest Wars1992-01-13
3. Molecules With Sunglasses1992-01-20
4. In Search of the Noble Savage1992-01-27
5. Malaria: Battle of the Merozoites1992-02-03
6. The Black Sun1992-02-17
7. Hitler's Bomb1992-02-24
8. An Expensive Theology1992-03-02
9. The Strange Life and Death of Dr. Turing1992-03-09
10. Hot Jam in the Doughnut1992-03-16
11. A Diet for a Lifetime1992-03-30
12. Before Babel1992-04-06
13. The Man Who Moved the Mountains1992-04-13
14. Iceman1992-04-27
15. Taking the Credit1992-05-11
16. Fast Life in the Food Chain1992-05-18
17. Dodging Doomsday1992-06-01
18. A Question of Sport...1992-06-08
19. Genes R Us1992-06-15
