Carbyne, as infinitely long polyyne chain is a very reactive 1D carbon allotrope. Recently T. Pichler´s group has shown how to stabilize ultra-long carbon chains inside carbon nanotubes. In two recent back to back publications in ACSNano and Nanoletters a close cooperation between ETH Zürich, Tokyo Metropolitan University and the University of Ulm and T. Pichler´s group has determined how the carbon nanotube chirality determines the properties of encapsulated linear carbon chain and how the extraction of linear carbon chains via density gradient ultracentrifugation unravels the role of the carbon nanotube host. These results pave the way regarding the future application of these materials in sensing and optoelectronics.