CHEMISTS in Germany have built a single-molecule replica of the World Cup. Work began when the football tournament kicked off, and finished just daysbefore France beat Brazil in the final on 12 July. At 3 nanometres, the molecular replica is less than a 100-millionth the sizedof the real cup, which is 36 centimetres high and consists of a globe supportedby an angel in the shape of a vase. Andreas Hirsch and his student Antonio Soiat the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg decided to make the replica when theyrealised the molecules they were working with were ideal for the job. “Werecognised we had both parts in our hands already, and that we could connectthem together,” says Hirsch. The researchers used a spherical buckyball molecule for the globe. For thevase, they used a bowl-shaped molecule called a calixarene, named after theLatin for cup or chalice. They joined the two molecules together with a pair ofmethylene groups. Reporting their work in the New Journal of Chemistry (1998, p1337), the chemists graciously dedicate their creation to the French winners ofthe competition. “I would have liked to see Germany in the final, but it wasn’tto be,” says Hirsch. “For us, it was scientific fun.” The molecule might even prove useful. Hirsch and Soi expect it to be able totrap light energy in the same way as chlorophyll. “If you irradiate thefullerene with light, we expect an electron to hop into the calixarene,” saysHirsch. Find a way of capturing this electron and feeding it into an electricalcircuit, and the World Cup molecule could be used to make solar energy