Quote:
Originally Posted by brxbrx
We don't know what the world of Dominions is made of. The sun is literally a floating disk,FFS.
Let's say that boron is the base of giant bones. In our world, there probably wouldn't be enough for several species of giants. But who's to say that the Dominions is the same? The reason we're short of boron here is because it's not formed by stellar nucleosis, unlike the far more common hydrogen and carbon. But in Dominions, we don't know how the world was created. Boron could be plentiful enough for it to be a part of a giant's skeletal system. It's certainly strong enough.
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...And what do you know about Boron chemistry?
Is boron's or boron nitride's structurally useful form thermodynamically preferred to its other states? (I highly doubt that, in much the same way that graphite is thermodynamically preferred to diamond).
Boron is a weak conductor at STP, but at higher temperatures becomes a good conductor. (Bone, otoh, does not really conduct at all). AT the very least this would suggest a vulnerability to lightning.
Is there a good chemical process by which boron could be laid down in a prescribed pattern during gestation, or permit growth? (organisms have to be viable at all points of ontogeny).
Is boron sufficiently inert to not chemically interact with surrounding tissues?
How does the giant's body isolate pure boron in the first place? Its not easy. And the thermodynamics of the process are best described as 'spectacular'.