Buckminster Fullerine
Buckminster Fullerine is a recently discovered form of carbon. Sixty atoms of carbon which can be arranged into a ball, constructed like radomes – large spheres built from lots of little triangles; geodesic domes. Like the Epcot domes. And inside the spherical Fullerine molecule, is a tiny vacuum. After its discovery, as its molecules are tiny spheres, its possible use as a lubricant was soon spotted. Atoms of other elements can be placed inside the little vacuum within the Fullerine molecules. A clever material, but it is as good as absent from natural ecosystems. Now there have been rare natural sightings of Fullerine in pre-cambrian rocks from Russia, but by and large it has not interacted in natural ecosystems. A chemical that has never been active in the environment should wave a red flag. Violates the Island Principle. Possibilities of cancers being caused? That sort of thing. Similarly the rare minerals asbestos and uranium ore seemed fantastic early on, but Problems were waiting in the wings.
Nice idea though. And when the environmental impact assessment of some new super-chemical shows it to be potentially hazardous, the government will say “ah, well, we need to stay ahead of the world. GDP you know. So we’re giving the go-ahead. And the impact report? Urr….well…WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE!?!” (Government chief points over listener’s shoulder and runs off in the other direction).
The Truth is: we don’t understand our environment. For example, CFC’s were actually developed because they were thought to be inert; behold and lo, they started destroying the ozone layer. If we are honest, we must admit that it is virtually impossible to do a proper Environmental Impact Assessment on any chemical; the world is so complicated and little understood.
Good science works, it has no ego, but scientists are human and humans often do. When we scientists think we know everything, we create Problems. For more on science, spirituality, and Tantric Sex (they are the same thing!) see here: Science, the Ultimate Spiritual Adventure.
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