A buckyball or fullerene is a very newly found allotrope of carbon. Buckyball is a carbon molecule structure (C60) shaped like a hollow sphere. Also called fullerene (buckminsterfullerene), it is composed of carbon atoms. Spherical fullerenes are called buckyballs whereas cylindrical ones are called buckytubes. Harold Kroto, Richard Smalley, James Heath and Robert Curl discovered (C60) at Rice University. It …

A boomburb is a booming suburb or satellite townships dreamt up by developers. It gives an idea of wealth, a boom. Boomburg is a similar term. These suburbs are usually not complete towns – though they are self-sufficient. Learn More Boomburb is a neologism for a large, rapidly growing city that remains essentially suburban in character even as it reaches …

The bonobo (Pan paniscus) is a great ape most closely related to the chimpanzee. It lives in a remote rain-forest region of central Africa, and was only identified as a species in 1933. Often referred to as the pygmy chimpanzee the body weight of the bonobo is, on average, the same or slightly less than that of the eastern common …

A blind hole refers to a hole that is reamed, drilled, or milled to a specified depth, thus without breaking through to the other side of the workpiece. The etymology is that it is not possible to see through a blind hole. Other types of holes also include through holes, and clearance holes. In this instance blind may also refer …

A chemical bond is the phenomenon of chemical species like atoms held together by electrostatic or electronic forces. Of the several types of chemical bonds, a special type exists in the molecule of boron hydride BH3 which exists as a dimer B2H6 molecule. It contains two types of hydrogen atoms. Four hydrogen atoms are of one type, which are used …

A 120-cell is a finite regular four-dimensional polytope with the schlafli symbol 5,3,3 . It is also known as hyperdodecahedron or hecatonicosachorn and is composed of 120 docahedra, hence it is known as 120-cell. The 120-cell has 600 vertices, 720 pentagons and 11,200 edges. It is one of the six regular polychora.

Researchers in Japan have invented a tiny brain which can act as a remote control for swarms of nanomachines. They simultated eight such nano-machines to create a ‘nano factory’. Experts say nanomachines could be used to boost the processing power of future computers. They also hope nano-machines can treat diseases. The machine is made from 17 molecules of the chemical …

A ‘tester’ is a canopy over a bed, which is supported on the pots of the bedstead or suspended from the ceiling. Formerly the word was used to described the vertical post at the head of the bed which rose to, and sometimes supported the canopy or the framework on which the canopy and curtains rested. The term ‘testour’ occurs …

A simple fortification consisted of two parts: a natural or artificial mound (motte) with a wooden tower or keep on top, and a larger area at the foot of the mound enclosed by palisades, (and later by walls and towers of masonry), called a bailey. The bailey was used for stores and huts. This outer walled space sometimes had a …

From about A.D. 800 the Norse sailors raided the coasts of northwest Europe, and the craft they used were the broad and shallow ‘longships’. The Vikings, as the Norsemen are commonly called today, set out from their creeks or fiords in Scandinavia and Denmark in early spring and late summer, and sailed away on long, bold searches for plunder. These …