I took a class from a professor who was entranced with the possibilities of bucky balls. He thought it possible that cures for diseases such as AIDS could be crafted from them, among many other things. The "cure" would reside within the hollow space, etc. Well, that wasn't all too long ago, but I think the excitement about this has far outweighed the practical outcomes. It's an interesting physical phenomenon that may not lead anywhere particularly useful any time soon, but it sure captures the imaginations of physicists.
"buckyballs"
“ Our brains deal exclusively with special-case experiences. Only our minds are able to discover the generalized principles operating without exception in each and every special-experience case which if detected and mastered will give knowledgeable advantage in all instances.”
- from Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, 1963
Others have seen so much more standing on this mans sholders.
R. Buckminster Fuller was way before his time. I wish articles like this would at least mention him beyond "buckyballs" and "fullerenes".
If you haven't read his Ops manual for Spaceship Earth - do so - even now in 2006 it will still blow your mind to new heights.
I actually had the privledge of meeting this man and shaking his hand twice - once in Switzerland at a physics conference in the early 70's and again in San Diego at a Shriners Temple where he was lecturing shortly before his passing in 1983.
We are blessed with one of his Geodesic Domes here in Oakland CA at Lakeside Park and if memory serves me it predates the one in Canada.
http://www.bfi.org/
Nice place to visit for more info on this Great Thinker and Doer.