Can a humanoid alien race have combustible blood?

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SUMMARY

This discussion explores the concept of a humanoid alien race possessing combustible blood, chemically activated by a toxic fruit juice. The aliens utilize retractable syringes to extract and inject their blood into the fruit, causing it to smoke and eventually explode. The feasibility of such a biological trait raises questions about its implications for the aliens' civilization and technological advancement, particularly in terms of survival and societal structure.

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  • Familiarity with alien biology concepts in science fiction
  • Knowledge of Isaac Asimov's works on alien chemistries
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  • Research biochemical pathways that could lead to combustion in biological systems
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Writers, scientists, and enthusiasts interested in speculative biology, science fiction world-building, and the implications of unique biological traits on societal development.

Bab5space
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Was wondering this for a scifi alien race I have in mind, is it chemically possible to have a race with combustible blood.?
The answer: Yes, but I wonder how close the blood will be to our own? Since oxygen carrying blood like ours is preferred since it can deliver more energy for the work the creature does daily.

In the setting, the blood would become combustible when mixed with the fruit juice of a plant that is toxic to them, but animals like.

The aliens have biological retractable syringes they can poke themselves with to draw blood and then drain it with the syringe where they wish.

The toxic fruit starts to smoke with steam when the alien blood is injected into it's flesh through the rind, which let's the alien know the fruit is about to explode like a grenade.
How chemically plausible is this and what effect will it have on civilization and tech progress?

Aliens are humanoid.
 
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Are your aliens subject to natural selection? If so, you have to work through what selection pressure would result in this atypical behavior. It does not seem like a likely survival of the fittest scenario, though. So, if it's artificial, you need to work through who and how...and why.

Bab5space said:
what effect will it have on civilization and tech progress?

That's not really a serious question, surely?

Anyway, your scenario suggests some kind of hunter gatherer society, because any society with a high population is unlikely to allow inhabitants to legally go around lobbing fruit grenades. And if you've technology like we do, you can construct more dangerous weapons anyway, so your fruit grenades are going to be the playthings of the alien equivalent of teenagers goofing around.

Honestly, @Bab5space, this seems like a brain fart. Are you really writing a story?
 
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