# On the Shitting of Rust

**URL:** <https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/on-the-shitting-of-rust/653>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [November 22, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/on-the-shitting-of-rust/653 "2023-11-22T03:24:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Maximilian\_Crichton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Maximilian\_Crichton](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/Maximilian_Crichton)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/on-the-shitting-of-rust/653/1 "2023-11-22T03:24:30Z")

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Given the prevalence of “rust-shitting ephemeral” as an epithet, I take it the Associated Worlds has yet to encounter iron-metabolising sophonts?

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**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/on-the-shitting-of-rust/653/2 "2023-11-27T18:04:15Z")

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Amusing side-note: _humans_ are literal rust-shitting ephemerals. Why do you think it’s brown?

In any case, iron is not a great element to use in the active part of one’s biochemistry. As exothermic reactions go, combustion of iron is really quite anemic. More commonly found are hydrogen-breathers and sulphide-breathers who reduce iron oxide to iron (which consumes energy) as a byproduct of their other metabolic processes, or because they use the iron or, indeed, the oxygen elsewhere.