  Possible chemical, catalytic, and cosmic roles of charged pentagonal
dodecahedral water clusters having "buckyball-like" symmetry are discussed on
the basis of electronic and vibronic theory and experiment. The electronic
structure in conjunction with the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect is argued to make
water buckyballs catalysts and oxygenates for fuel combustion and active agents
in biological systems. The broad electronic and unique low-frequency vibronic
spectra of water buckyballs may explain certain diffuse interstellar bands,
far-infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray cosmic background radiation, and some
"missing cosmic baryonic matter". The relevance of water buckyballs to the
properties of liquid and supercritical water concludes the paper.
