BuckyEggAn egg-shaped fullerene, or "buckyball egg" has been made and characterized by chemists in America at UC Davis (California), Virginia Tech, and Emory and Henry College in Virginia. They were trying to encapsulate terbium atoms within fullerenes but instead encapsulated terbium nitride within an egg-shaped fullerene.1

The compound Tb₃N@C₈₄ was synthesized using an arc-discharge generator by vaporizing composite graphite rods containing a mixture of Tb₄O₇, graphite, and iron nitride as catalyst in a low-pressure He/N₂atmosphere. This gave a complex mixture of products and chromatography gave seven terbium-containing fractions, the fourth fraction of which contained two isomers of Tb₃N@C₈₄. Crystallographc studies show the compound from one angle in particular seems very egg shaped! Remarkable! The Tb₃N unit is clearly visible (terbium in green and nitrogen in blue).

Until the publication of this work it was normally accepted that no two pentagons can touch in a fullerene and are always surrounded by hexagons. However in this case there are two pentagons (the 8 atoms at the pointy part of the egg at the top of the attached image) linked as a bent pentalene fragment.

• 1. Tb3N@C84 :  An Improbable, Egg-Shaped Endohedral Fullerene that Violates the Isolated Pentagon Rule,
  Beavers, Christine M., Zuo Tianming, Duchamp James C., Harich Kim, Dorn Harry C., Olmstead Marilyn M., and Balch Alan L.
  , Journal of the American Chemical Society, 09/2006, Volume 128, Issue 35, p.11352 - 11353, (2006)
  

Virginia Tech (USA) researchers found that calcium intake among US adolescents has remained constant, if inadequate, since the 1970s and does not appear to be linked to soft drink consumption. Milk consumption among adolescent girls is low, with this group falling far below recommended dietary levels of calcium consumption. So drink some milk!

Conclusion: carbonated soft drink consumption among adolescent girls is modest and does not appear to be linked to decreased calcium intake. The analyses in this paper show that creative effective, efficient, and targeted policies should be considered to help adolescent girls increase calcium intake. Making low-fat milk products, flavored milks, calcium-fortified beverages and foods more attractive and available will help encourage girls to consume more of this important mineral. When adequate calcium intake is not achieved through foods, health professionals should consider recommending calcium supplements.