23 Jul 10
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7905706/Spaceballs-found-in-distant-galaxy.html
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Sir Harry Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of buckyballs, told the BBC: "All the carbon in your body came from star dust, so at one time some that carbon may have been in the form of buckyballs."
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23 Jul 10
Originally posted by zeeblebotWhy? All the carbon in your body should be in the form of organic compounds. It gets there through chemical reactions mostly originating in plants converting carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds.
in that case i'd expect my body to still contain some buckyballs.
23 Jul 10
Originally posted by twhiteheadThat doesn't rule out the possibility of bucky's coming into the body through the atmosphere and just breathing them in and getting lodged in the lung like asbestos particles.
Why? All the carbon in your body should be in the form of organic compounds. It gets there through chemical reactions mostly originating in plants converting carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds.
23 Jul 10
Originally posted by zeeblebotGosh, a distant galaxy? This I have to read!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7905706/Spaceballs-found-in-distant-galaxy.html
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Sir Harry Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of buckyballs, told the BBC: "All the carbon in your body came from star dust, so at one time some that carbon may have been in the form of buckyballs."
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What galaxy? Which one?
[read read read]
Let's see, here it is:
"The signature came from a star in the southern hemisphere constellation of Ara, 6,500 light-years away."
Gosh, a distant galaxy only 6,500 light years away? Oh, mighty! šµ
23 Jul 10
Originally posted by sonhouseI am sure thats possible, though the article implies that they are not very common in nature (on earth).
That doesn't rule out the possibility of bucky's coming into the body through the atmosphere and just breathing them in and getting lodged in the lung like asbestos particles.
23 Jul 10
Originally posted by FabianFnasI find it improbable that the claim that they are the 'The largest molecules ever found in space' is valid either. I don't know if other planets count as 'in space', but certain hydrocarbons are fairly common on other planets and meteorites.
Gosh, a distant galaxy only 6,500 light years away? Oh, mighty! šµ
23 Jul 10
Originally posted by twhiteheadSince the Earth itself is a planet, and as we know, planets cannot exist anywere else than in space, we have to account every molecule on earth as something 'found in space'.
I find it improbable that the claim that they are the 'The largest molecules ever found in space' is valid either. I don't know if other planets count as 'in space', but certain hydrocarbons are fairly common on other planets and meteorites.
I don't know what largest molecule known is, but a buckyball is quite small in comparison.
23 Jul 10
Originally posted by FabianFnasJust think about it: the infinite molecule! What would be the shape?
Since the Earth itself is a planet, and as we know, planets cannot exist anywere else than in space, we have to account every molecule on earth as something 'found in space'.
I don't know what largest molecule known is, but a buckyball is quite small in comparison.
24 Jul 10
Originally posted by twhiteheadbuckyballs being such tough molecules i wouldn't expect them to be degraded over the millenia into their component atoms, if they're being detected as wisps in interstellar space the ones in my body probably didn't get blasted to atoms along the way.
Why? All the carbon in your body should be in the form of organic compounds. It gets there through chemical reactions mostly originating in plants converting carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds.
24 Jul 10
Originally posted by zeeblebotBut how did they get in your body in the first place? They are apparently not common in our environment. If we can detect them in a 'distant galaxy', surely we can detect them in the air, or environment on earth? Yet the article claims the only known ones on earth were made in the lab.
buckyballs being such tough molecules i wouldn't expect them to be degraded over the millenia into their component atoms, if they're being detected as wisps in interstellar space the ones in my body probably didn't get blasted to atoms along the way.
24 Jul 10
2 edits
Originally posted by sonhouseHere is one possible candidate:
Just think about it: the infinite molecule! What would be the shape?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene
From the article:
"In this regard, graphene has been referred to as an infinite alternant (only six-member carbon ring) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)."
Of course Diamonds are something similar but in 3D.