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Like coal in the 19th century and oil in the 20th century, is natural gas becoming the fossil fuel of the 21st century? The growth in its consumption and the evolution of its place in the world energy balance point in this direction (Image 1). While it accounted for only

Harold Kroto, at the University of Sussex, had discovered chain like carbon molecules in interstellar gas clouds. Would it be possible to vaporize carbon on earth to produce similar molecules and find out what they are exactly made of ? In order to try and answer this question, Kroto headed