Skip to main content
Worldbuilding

You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.

We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.

Required fields*

8
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ The problem I see with this is that gold is unreactive, making it biologically difficult to work with and generally unavailable for uptake from an environment. Not a hard blocker, just an obstacle that isn't adequate to stop the Rule of Cool. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 21 at 19:49
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ +1 for ambition, but the biological justification “Living organisms which are able to transport and use metals is nothing too uncommon” is very tenuous — using compounds of metals is ubiquitous, but I don’t know anything that procudes metal in pure elemental form. Many pop-sci descriptions that suggest that (e.g. wasp with zinc-tipped ovipositor) turn out on closer inspection to be metal-enriched biological materials. Still cool, but not what’s needed here. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 21 at 22:21
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @PeterLeFanuLumsdaine The closest I recall are the deep sea molluscs that have a deposit of iron sulphides (e.g. pyrite) on their shell, so basically a normal shell with a coating of iron sulphide. There is also a fungus that is thought to trigger gold deposition via reaction between gold complexes and reduced carbon species in situ. nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10006-5 $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 22 at 1:22
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ It does not even require all that much gold. For a very thin layer of one or a few molecules thickness, the amount of actual gold needed is very small. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 22 at 9:20
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @vsz I can vouch for that. It was estimated that even 100 grams of gold could be hammered out to cover the entire surface of a large room and look just as impressive as seen in palaces. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 26 at 9:12