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Without boron, these meristems wither, the researchers reported in the journal Plant Cell. Portions of the plant called meristems are made of stem cells, which themselves are capable of giving rise to all the different cells that make up a plant. Boron, they found, is crucial to the stem cells of plants. The element is an essential nutrient.īut why? No one knew until August 2014, when researchers at the University of Missouri ferreted out the answer. For example, plant biologists have long known that without boron, plants don't grow. During this process, colliding cosmic rays split the nuclei of atoms, causing fission.īoron doesn't have a lot of pop-culture cachet, but science has a lot to say about this surprisingly intriguing element. Unlike many elements, which form in fusion reactions within stars, boron formed after the Big Bang by a process called cosmic ray spallation.Boron, in its crystalline form, is the second-hardest element behind carbon (in its diamond form), according to Chemicool.A 2013 study found that a Martian meteorite that landed in Antarctica contained 10 times the boron of any extraterrestrial object previously measured.

Or maybe that first RNA got its boron from space.

This research proves that the early Earth had the ingredients needed to build RNA. (Viruses are essentially roving RNA strands.) A June 2014 study found that boron is present in the oldest rocks on Earth, which date back 3.8 billion years. The element stabilizes ribose, part of RNA, the self-assembling molecule that may have preceded DNA.

Boron may have been the key to the evolution of life on Earth.

Boron absorbs excess neutrons, preventing them from zinging into too many uranium atoms. To keep nuclear reactions in balance, reactors are equipped with devices called control rods, often made of boron or other elements, according to the U.S. The key to this process is balancing it so that every fission event triggers just one more fission event otherwise, the reactions speed up like a runaway train and the reactor is said to go supercritical. This is extremely handy for nuclear fission, which is driven by careening neutrons knocking uranium atoms apart. The isotope boron-10 happens to be excellent at absorbing neutrons. (Oobleck can also be made with a mixture of cornstarch and water.)īut boron isn't all fun and games.

The same concept is what makes Silly Putty both able to flow and bounce. A slow movement like pouring or a gentle poke allows the molecules to flow against one another, making the oobleck behave like a fluid. A "tap" or strong pressure forces the molecules in the fluid together, creating a solid. The glue and oobleck join up to create long, thin polymer molecules. Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that its viscosity depends on the shear force applied to it. A mixture of borax solution and liquid glue creates a substance that is liquid when it is poured but solid when it is under pressure. (Pro tip: A borax-sugar solution will also kill ants!) It's also in the recipe for the science-fair goop oobleck, a liquid with some very strange properties. Boron (Image credit: general-fmv, Andrei Marincas Shutterstock)Īs part of borax, boron is a very common household element that is found in many detergents.