h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Beware, dihydrogenmonoxide is all around, governments should ban this dangerous thing NOW!

T**t

Indeed if you say so. All I can add is takes one to know one.

With knobs on

Livzy try doing some research...
http://www.dhmo.org/

or
http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?thread=37697&forum=30859#p237504

also coming soon (I hope) an entry on the amount of people, in my and some of my fellow researchers in the area, that are willing to support a ban on DHMO. Were going to local shopping centers to give out surveys.(OK, it's not for a ban, it's really to see how many people can understand chemical nomenclature, but still it'll be a blast)

*grin*

Do let us know the results, won't you?

26199

Right-o

You could, of course, add subsidiary questions on oxygendihydride to see if they are awake. I look forward to the results too.

Ignoramus - which is far more telling, as it is
a) Latin
b) Indicates contempt
c) Refers to you

get a life

I agree! The importance of water is so great that I am not sure the original entry did it anything close to justice even though many of the entries here are "tounge in cheek". Just think of the implications of water acting like most other liquids as it freezes. We would gradually get all of the oceans changing into ice since ice would form and sink to the bottom where it would not melt in the summer. This could be quite interesting for ships, swimmers, fish, whales - you name it...I am not sure what DA would have called "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish"

This is very true -there are many other important uses of water/hydrogen hydroxide.
Each water molecule forms particulary strong bonds between the hydrogen atoms of neighbouring atoms.This makes it very stable and resistant to external changes.This also gives it high surface tension and cohesion within the particles
Water is a good reagent -participating in the chemical reations of metabolism.It is used as a source of H2 in photosynthesis and in hydrolysis reactions(water splitting)
On the whole then it is a relatively stable liquid making a the perfect environment for organisms to exist within and as part of living organisms.
other biologically important functions include:
Fertilization-sperm swims in it
Dispersal-seeds and the larval stages of water dwelling organisms0
Maintaining turgidity in plant cells
Mechanically supporting plants and supporting the hydrostatic skeleton in animals

So there we are then.