Credit & Copyright: Keith Beardmore   
(LANL)  
  
Explanation:
Scientists have found, unexpectedly, tiny time capsules from   
billions of years in the past.    
  
The discovery involves small   
molecules that can apparently become trapped   
during the formation of large enclosed molecules known as   
fullerenes, or   
buckyballs.   
  
Luann Becker    
(U. Hawaii)   
and collaborators recently found fullerenes in an   
ancient meteorite   
that fell to Earth about 30 years ago.    
  
Extra-terrestrial fullerenes inside the   
meteorite survived,   
and upon inspection, were   
not empty inside.    
  
The small molecules trapped inside are giving a   
glimpse of what the   
Solar System was like during its formation.   
  
Pictured above is a computer simulation   
showing a relatively small fullerene (60-atoms of   
carbon) situated above a   
hydrogenated silicon surface.    
  
How these   
fullerenes   
formed, how they survived, where else they can be found,   
and what else might be found inside these   
tiny time capsules is developing into an exciting    
area of research.  
  
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| Публикации с ключевыми словами:
time - fullerenes - cosmogeny - молекулы - время Публикации со словами: time - fullerenes - cosmogeny - молекулы - время | |
| См. также: Все публикации на ту же тему >> | |

 
 
