The carbon molecule known as a buckyball, a member of the fullerene family, can act as a cage for a variety of other chemicals. And now researchers have used one to trap a single molecule of water. The work appears in the journal Science.

Placing a molecule that's essential to life within a spherically ___1___one could let researchers learn more about each.

Water molecules___2___together, because they carry a slight charge on each end. As the positive pole of one H2O attracts the negative pole of another, the molecules ___3__together. You can't separate a single water molecule from its fellows with a tiny pair of tweezers, so isolating it in a carbon cage may reveal new secrets about the intrinsic nature of a lone H2O.

What about the cage itself? Researchers already know that buckyballs refuse to dissolve in water, sometimes even floating like ___4___ beach balls. But what happens when the water is within? Putting polar molecules inside buckyballs may influence the chemical behavior of their outsides, and create new molecules with unique ___5___. Not to mention making our understanding even…fuller.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
symmetrical stick cling tightly miniature properties
一种称作足球烯的碳分子，它是富勒家族中的一员，可以像笼子一样困住别的化学分子。现在，研究人员已经能应用一个足球烯困住单个水分子。这个报道在《科学》杂志上已经出现了。 将“生命之源”——水分子放在球形对称体上可以让研究人员更详细地研究两者。 因为水分子的两边有少量的电荷，他们会相互粘连。当水分子的正极吸引另一分子的负极时，两个分子a紧密连接在一起。你不能用小镊子将他们分成单个的分子。因此，用碳笼把他们分成独立的分子将会显示出单个水分子内在性质的新奥秘。 那对于笼子本身又会发生什么？研究人员得出足球烯不溶于水，有时甚至会像水皮球一样浮在水面。但是当水在球里面会发生什么呢？将极性分子放在足球烯中会使得他们的化学性质与在外面的有所不同，并且产生特殊性质的新分子。更不要说对富勒家族的了解了。