The buckyball traps a single water molecule!

I thought this was sort of a cute story.

Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan published an article in Science in which they determined that a fullerene C60 (buckminsterfullerene, buckyball, etc.) carbon cage molecule can trap a single water molecule. So what? Well, water molecules are notoriously difficult to separate (maybe impossible using other isolation methods?). This capture in a fullerene cage may be a way to study water molecules without the influence of the ever-present effects of hydrogen bonding. I'm not sure if this is going to be a successful way to study the properties of individual molecules of water, but it's a great start.

Literature cited:

Kurotobi K and Murata Y. A single molecule of water encapsulated in fullerene C60. Science. 2011 Jul 29;333(6042):613-6.

Welcome to the blog

There's a lot of great science being done out there, and because of vast increases in the number of labs, projects, scientific fields and research journals reporting these discoveries, it's increasingly difficult to sift through everything to focus on the great discoveries that will stop you in your tracks.


I'm a biologist by training, but I'm interested in all aspects of science and how scientific research relates to my life and the world. I'll be posting regularly on new discoveries and revisits of past discoveries that I feel are important to share widely. I hope you enjoy the blog, and I hope it helps you to find fascinating discoveries that you might have otherwise missed.