October 10, 2000

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses how New York Yankees match up against Seattle Mariners in American League championship series; photo (M)

Caryn James reviews ABC television program Gideon's Crossing; photo of Andre Braugher and Bruce McGill (M)

Rising gasoline prices are having little effect on American driving habits; few people are cutting back significantly on their mileage, and nation is on pace to use almost same amount of gas as it did last year, which was the most ever; gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles and other trucks continue to gain market share; some drivers are, however, switching from premium to regular gasoline; charts on gasoline prices, usage and average fuel economy of vehicles since 1970's; photo (M)

Scientists say that buckyball, prodigious soccer-ball shaped molecule named after R Buckminster Fuller, is on verge of fulfilling some of its early promise; buckyballs--more formally, buckminsterfullerenes, were discovered in 1985; most common consists of 60 carbon atoms arrayed in sphere; since late 1990, after chemists in Arizona and Germany figured out how to make them in more than trace quantities, buckyballs have become scientific craze; some fields of research in buckyballs have been abandoned, while others still hold promise, and are subjects of ongoing investigations; photos; drawing (L)

Amateurs are being asked for their stock picks in the latest trend in money managing; Djordje Radulovic SpaceAge Defense Fund is one of 11 new investment portfolios being offered by Djordje Radulovic's employer, Maxfund.com, privately held start-up that is one of six companies aiming to give individual investors a chance at managing money; photo (M)