Bucky-balls bounce out of Oxford

The news that an Oxford spin-out firm is to start making “bucky-balls” is one of Oxford’s big stories this week. The carbon nanomaterial has unique qualities that could be used in everything from solar cells to MRI scanners. Existing issues with fullerines in solar cells have already led a Belgian group of scientists to make some exciting fullerene-free organic photovoltaic cells, which have just hit a record efficiency. “Carbon onions” have also been the subject of news in the nanotech world, as symmetry appears to be far more useful in mathematical modelling of nanostructures such as viruses than previously thought. All gripping stuff for the Mathematicians, Physicists and Natural Scientists out there.