Stardate 20010830.1256 (On Screen): Consider it a lesson in serendipity: fifteen years ago scientists were startled to learn that there was a third form of pure carbon. Two were known: graphite and diamond. The third is an extremely varied set of compounds collectively known as
fullerenes and they are best described as graphite rolled up into balls and tubes. "But what are they good for?" rang out the question from the laymen? "Why are you wasting time studying them?" The answer was, of course, that there was no way to determine what they were good for without studying them; you can't predict "pure" research. But it seemed likely that there was something there, and the only way to find out was to take a look. So the scientists have been puttering away in their labs, and have now determined that the smallest fullerene, the so-called "buckyball" (C-60) can be made into a superconductor which operates at liquid-nitrogen temperatures. When superconductors required liquid helium they were a laboratory curiosity, but at these kinds of temperatures they become practical for industrial use. There is what is known as a
Josephson junction which switches much faster than a transistor does. It had been discovered and demonstrated with liquid-helium superconductors; the next step will be to try to create one using fullerenes, and then to see if dense circuits can be created with them. This may lead to the ability to create computers with serial computing speeds up to a thousand times faster than the ones we have now, although they're probably not going to be practical for desktop use for the forseeable future.
(discuss)
