Re: Plasma Balls with C60

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Original poster: "Harold Weiss" <hweiss-at-new.rr-dot-com> 

Hi David,

It's a carbon molecule that looks exactly like a soccer ball.  It has 60
atoms of carbon, and can semiconduct and superconduct if doped with other
atoms.

In the Corum's ball lightning research, they were looking at diffusion
limited aggreations and things like aerogels loaded with ozone to produce
the ball.  As Buckminster fullerenes are new on the scene, they may have not
been known to the Corum's at the time of their research and not included as
possible forms.

Production of fullerenes is by carbon arc in either an inert gas or vacuum
enviroment.  The ball forms fall as dust and the tube forms form on the
electrodes.  The possibility exists that a ball could be formed within a
ball, but only tube within tube forms have been found so far.  The Corum's
used a charred wood dowel, and I have used zinc wicked candles, wood, car
tire, and used arc spotlight carbons.  The only differance is a ozone/O2
enviroment which would allow them to burn.

David E Weiss


 > Original poster: DRIEBEN-at-midsouth.rr-dot-com
 >
 > Hi all,
 >
 > Please pardon my ignorance, but what is "C60"? I assume it's some
 > form of carbon?
 >
 > David Rieben
 >