quote:Originally posted by The_Tom: Copper, too... but there are Cuprous and Cupric forms, one that's blue and one that's green, and I'm speculating the Bolians have bichemistry that lends itself to the blue form, which I have a hunch is Copper (III). (AP chemistry being a thankfully distant memory, I can't say anything more definate than that.)
Uh, I just had a thought. At least, I remembered something: wasn't there a comment in one episode or another about a blood transfusion from a Vulcan to a Bolian being fatal to the recipient? I ask because it might be that both Vulcans and Bolians have copper-based blood, but one is Cuprous and one Cupric. Just thinking...
Registered: Dec 2000
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It may be worth noting that an Andorian seen in ("Offspring" [TNG]) actually had what looked like green skin instead of blue. Possibly a sign of similarity between Andorian and Vulcan blood, or a different ethnic group from Andor's equatorial regions? Which raises an interesting question, what colour would an Andorian's sunburn be? Would the blue copper react with the heat or solar radiation somehow and turn green? Is the intensity of the Vulcan sun a factor in this? If as the encyclopaedia says, that Bolian blood is chemically very different from Vulcan blood they what else other than copper could be responsible for their blue skin? Is it possible that Bolians have a similar physiology to plant life which would mean that their skin colour may be a part of some kind of photosynthetic process?
quote: Dogs have red blood. However, most dogs have black lips. Also, most dogs do not wear lipstick.
It has nothing to do with blood. Cats and dogs have evolutionized black pigmentation in their lips that, together with the black rims around their eyes, form a delicate visual communications tool. You can see it especially clear in tigers, their other lines in the face boosting the effect.
All the big cats have it, my little one only has a small black passage in the right corner of his mouth, the rest is cutesy pink.
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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Yamashiro Den
Ex-Member
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well, my family is a bunch of fucking tigers, and we don't have black lips. libel! slander!
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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I always thought that the blueskins were those with cobalt-based blood..?
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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capped
I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
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quote:Originally posted by Free ThoughtCrime America: If I had a nickel everytime that was pointed out, I'd have at least enough money for a large pepsi.
or maybe a two liter bottle! 4 dollars an ounce, street value! BWAH HA HA
BTW how much does sunburn have to do with blood? i thought it was just skin getting charred to a deeper color.
ad our skin is pigmented, albinos have white skin with *gasp* red blood underneath
Registered: Sep 2001
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When we're merely speculating, I don't think much stuff needs "figuring out."
And I'm fairly sure Shik is correct in pointing out that a cobalt-based oxygen-carrying molecule would most likely result in blue blood. Of course, whether Andorian blue coloration comes from skin pigmentation or blood or both is unknown. Bolians, at least, have deep blue blood, but whether their colouration comes entirely from the blood or whether pigmentation also plays a role is also unknown. Rixx was a pretty pasty blue Bolian relative to some others, so that would seem to be good evidence of at least some pigmentation variation on top of the mild blue palor any humanoid with blue blood might have.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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As Nimpim rightly implied, we don't need someone with a medical background as much as someone with a veternarian background, or at least someone with as broad a biological background as possible.
While I'm at it:
quote:...about a blood transfusion from a Vulcan to a Bolian being fatal to the recipient? I ask because it might be that both Vulcans and Bolians have copper-based blood, but one is Cuprous and one Cupric. Just thinking...
Get a blood injection from your neighbour, if your blood coagulates, you'll quickly learn why blood transfusions can be fatal even without a different base ion.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Sunburns have nothing to do w/ blood. It's exactly what the name implies: a radiation burn. A suntan is also unrelated to blood. The tan stuff is melanin, a pigment in the skin. It's the same stuff that makes a black person's skin dark (or any other race w/ darker skin than whites), and obviously we all have the same kind of blood.
Registered: Mar 1999
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