Posted on 06/04/2026 11:23:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: What is happening inside this unusual nebula? Planetary nebula Tc 1, captured here in exquisite detail by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the celestial site where buckyballs were first identified in 2010. Buckminsterfullerene — as buckyballs are officially called — is a molecule with 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in the shape of a soccer ball. The molecule is named for architect Buckminster Fuller because of its resemblance to the geodesic dome he helped popularize. Webb’s new data reveal where the C60 molecules live in this nebula, and the geometry is striking: they populate a thin spherical shell around the central star, visible here as the bright edge of the nebula’s glowing orange central region. Look closely near the nebula’s heart and a more perplexing feature emerges: a delicate structure shaped uncannily like an upside-down question mark, fitting punctuation for the many questions this nebula still poses.
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The center looks like it could be an “S”. Maybe it should be called the Superman Nebula.
Clouds of Kryptonite
Icosadodecahedrons forever!
Wow.
His show still comes on on one of the cable channels.
After all these years, poor Jimmy Olson is still just a Cub Reporter.
Wonder if it might be an early-days Kardashev Type II civilization?
His 'handlers' had to come help him off the stage. This was in the early-to-mid '70's.
I remember that sound.
I’m quite sure the purpose was to expose us to, and encourage our openness to, alternative solutions. Bucky was interesting and quirky and, ultimately, uninspiring: a solution in search of a problem. The “enduring” proof of that is the utter lack of geodesic domes far and wide.
The Humphrey Metrodome collapsed due to snow. It had a frame composed of rectangles. Hexagons would have been stronger, no?
Spirograph is an inadequate yet sincere tribute to God’s celestial pastime.
Gimme mine over easy.
Certainly. You don’t see rectangular bee honeycombs. That was Bucky’s starting-point: hexagons achieve closest-packing, hence greatest and most economical strength.
The old saw was, “Doctors can bury their mistakes, but architects can only plant ivy.” But that presumes their edifices remain upright.
In my college days, after a night of drinking, I would look in the mirror the next morning and see that….😵💫
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