Number 56 (Story #5), November 15, 1991 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein GRAPHITIC CARBON TUBES , up to a micron in length, have been made using the same arc-discharge techniques used to make buckyballs. Sumio Iijima of NEC Corporation in Japan observed that carbon needles growing on the negative electrode of the apparatus actually consisted of several (as many as 50) coaxial rolled-up sheets of carbon atoms in hexagonal arrays. Iijima believes that the formation of these needles may lead to other new carbon structures. (Nature, 7 November 1991.)