User blog comment:Wildoneshelper/Guess the Object (Round 2)!!/@comment-4189499-20140614072425

Wooh! I would like to say that if I remember correctly, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is found in our bodies in the form of bones. It's very hard to say if any chemical other than DNA is "living", because they're smaller than cells, making their aliveness hard to determine. In other words, while bones are living, it would be hard to judge whether the chemicals that make them up can be considered living too. It does have covalent bonds within the CO3 ions, so that part is true. (Covalent bonds are the ones that hold together non-metal atoms in molecules by sharing their electrons, as opposed to an ionic bond where one atom gives electrons to another and are then held together through the electrostatic force created by the difference in their charges.) I think the "will it blend" questing is relating to the popular YouTube series of the same name, where a guy puts different things in a blender, rather that talking about solubility or miscibility. Speaking of solubility, it does dissolve in water, and is the main cause of water "hardness". It's just not very soluble, hence why animals can make shells out of the stuff. And finally, bases and alkalis to carry slightly different definitions, and I highly doubt it's the typical American English vs. Everyone Else's English thing as much as a difference in year 12 chemistry versus whatever level you're studying at. You wouldn't believe how much they oversimplify things before you get to your senior years!

Sorry, I'm a bit of a science nerd, so I must talk about these things. Just be glad this has nothing to do with particle physics; you would never get me to shut up!