Carbon's unique bonding capabilities are dependent on the availability of both p and s electron shells in a way that silicon cannot. This is why there are very long alkane chain molecules (methane, methane, propane, butane) but not much past silane (SiH4).
I am slightly surprised to see a Wikipedia article about "carbon chauvinism." It does acknowledge the chemistry problem of p-s bonding, but I see some postcolonial discussions.
Islam, Monirul (2016). "Posthumansm: Through the Postcolonial Lens". In Banerji, Debashish; Paranjape, Makarand R. (eds.). Critical Posthumanism and Planetary Futures (1st ed.). New Delhi: Springer India : Imprint: Springer. p. 117. ISBN 978-81-322-3637-5.
This crap goes everywhere.
Silicon is highly unlikely as a building block.
ReplyDeleteBut that wasn't the point of the episode. It was on learning to cooperate ...play to everyone's strengths. And ignorance and arrogance of humans sometimes.
Agreed. And respect for life even if it looks weird.
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