the.com/oxygen
the silent partner in every fire, every breath, and your slow, fabulous rusting.
means Oxygen is the colorless, odorless gas (element number 8) that makes up about a fifth of the air, sustains breathing, and feeds fire and rust.
from Coined in the late 18th century by the French chemist Lavoisier from Greek 'oxys' (sharp, acid) plus '-genes' (forming, producing) — literally 'acid-maker,' because he wrongly believed the gas was the essential ingredient of all acids. The chemistry turned out to be off, but the name stuck, so we breathe a word built on a beautiful mistake.
- origin
- Forged in dying stars, exhaled by ancient bacteria.
- toxic
- Pure oxygen can poison and kill you.
- rust
- It's literally oxidizing your body right now.
- liquid form
- Pale blue and magnetic when cold enough.
- abundance
- Most common element in Earth's crust.
great oxidation event — atmospheric oxygen rose from <1% to 21% around 2.4 billion years ago, killing anaerobic life
apollo 1 cabin fire — pure oxygen environment at cape canaveral killed gus grissom, ed white, roger chaffee on january 27, 1967
oxygen minimum zones — dead zones like the gulf of mexico where oxygen drops below 2 mg/l, killing most marine life