New Form of "Mobius" Carbon Predicted

KentuckyFC writes "We've seen carbon nanotubes, buckyballs, and chickenwire. Now materials scientists have created a computer model of a Mobius strip fashioned from strips of graphene — a molecule that would have a single surface and only one edge. (Other groups have made Mobius-like organic molecules but never out of carbon sheets.) The model allows the researchers to determine the physical and chemical properties of the molecules and how these depend on the number of twists in the strip. The team says, for example, that 'Mobius carbon' should be stable to temperatures of at least 500 Kelvin (abstract). But the most exciting prediction is that strips with an odd number of half twists should have a dipole moment that would cause them to self-organize into a crystal. That implies that there's a new type of carbon made entirely of Mobius strips ready to be made by any chemists with a good supply of graphene (maybe these guys)."

1st post

[Anonymous Coward]

I wrote the first post on the Moebius strip I wrote the first post on the Moebius strip

V'Ger

[stevedmc]

V'Ger will comply, if the carbon units give the information

Man, I heard that

[B1oodAnge1]

A Mobius strip is bad for your back.
I think I'll just stick with the Pole strip for now thanks.

Only one side...

[LaminatorX]

Can you imagine a Klien Bottle made of these?

Re:Bike Frames?

[syousef]

Will this do anything for bicycle frames?

Yes. Now you'll be able to rid a bike on Venus. You'll disintegrate in 30 seconds but the bike frame won't. Have a nice ride.

Re:Only one side...

[AstrumPreliator]

Yes I can, but can you imagine a Real Projective Plane made of these? Neither can I =(.

Re:Bike Frames?

[rubycodez]

no, but if you put a sheet of them in a clothespin with the end in the spokes, they make a neat engine sound

Re:Insight required

[InsertWittyNameHere]

Not as useful as inanimate carbon rods!

Re:Bike Frames?

[fractoid]

Of course, it'll allow manufacturers to gyp 50-year-old men who aren't quite committed enough to their mid-life crises to buy sports cars into paying an extra $2k for Mobius bike frames that shave an extra 200 grammes off the weight of a 6kg bike. These men will then lean said bikes against the railings of expensive snobby coffee shops at 7am and drink coffee while pretending that it's OK to sit around wearing brightly coloured skintight lycra when you're over 50. Sadly, they will never actually realise that the whole point of a 'cafe racer' bike was that it HAD AN ENGINE.

Also, Mobius bike frames will have the added bonus that they even more easily pretzel into a mobius strip themselves when confronted with a kerb, pot-hole or other such part of the Real World.

Re:Insight required

[Laser_iCE]

All hail the INANIMATE CARBON ROD!

In Rod We Trust.

Re:one side chemical reactions... interesting

[NemoinSpace]

Start over again with Hydrogen, now take the BLUE pill.

Re:one side chemical reactions... interesting

[zygotic mitosis]

We are talking Mobius Carbon, not Morpheus Carbon

Re:Only one side...

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you imagine a Klien Bottle made of these?

Imagine a mobius strip made of these!

Ants?

[antdude]

Will these Mobius strips have ants on them? ;)

Re:Only one side...

[yo303]

A mathematician named Klein
Thought the Mobius strip was divine.
Said he, "If you glue
The edges of two
You'll get a weird bottle like mine."

Hmm

[troon]

Article seems a little ... one-sided.

I'll get my coat.

Re:Insight required

[BobisOnlyBob]

Look between your legs.

Re:Bike Frames?

[Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, cannot /wait/ for Bikerfox (NSFW) [encycloped...matica.com] to begin investing in this new Venus-Capable technology.