<article_title>Boron</article_title>
<edit_user>Sbharris</edit_user>
<edit_time>Monday, September 27, 2010 1:05:50 AM CEST</edit_time>
<edit_comment>Include the two major industrial uses of boron compounds (bleach and fiberglass). This should go first!</edit_comment>
<edit_text>The major uses of boron compounds are in perborate bleaches, and the borax component of fiberglass insulation. Boron compounds play specialized roles as high-strength lightweight structural and refractory materials, and <strong><strike>as</strike></strong><strong>ceramics. Boron-containing</strong> reagents are used for the synthesis of organic compounds, including pharmaceuticals. In biology, borates are used as insecticides and a boron-containing natural antibiotic is known. Small amounts of boron play a strengthening role in the cell walls of all plants, making boron a necessary element in soils. Experiments indicate a role for a role of boron as an &quot;ultratrace&quot; element needed by animals, but the exact nature of boron's role in animal physiology is unknown.</edit_text>
<turn_user>Sbharris<turn_user>
<turn_time>Monday, September 27, 2010 1:20:17 AM CEST</turn_time>
<turn_topicname>Adding a bit to the lede</turn_topicname>
<turn_topictext>The lede/lead for this article is one of the shortest for a major element, so I've added a bit, since there is a lot in this article to summarize. Boron is really rare in the universe, being produced only by spallation and a bit in the Big Bang. It's rare on Earth also, but luckily the salts disolve in water and are concentrated in evaporate ores. So all that works well in the the first paragraph. The second paragraph is about the pure stuff, as is traditional. The third paragraph is about the compounds. The major industrial uses of boron are actually as perborate bleaches and borax in fiberglass. But it has a big future in supermaterials, I think, as people learn to work with the nitrides and carbides. The forth paragraph, as also traditional, is the biological role, which is not an important one for life, but at the same time isn't indifferent. Boron is a bit like sodium and iodine-- it's so rare that you wouldn't think life would need it, but the ability of the ocean to concentrate it has made it more used than its crustal concentration would cause one to guess. blueSorangeBHarris 01:20, 27 September 2010 (UTC)</turn_topictext>
<turn_text>The National Acadamies are authorative http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10026&amp;page=514 autosigned—Preceding unsigned comment added by </turn_text>