The combined strength, flexibility and lightness of our bones outdoes all our synthetic building materials.  A shin bone can bear thirty times the weight of the person standing on it.  A piece of iron is no stronger, but has the disadvantage of being far too heavy and rigid to take the stresses of the body in motion.

It's only recently that we have found some clues as to why our bones are so resilient.  Bones are composite materials.  They are made of a combination of mineral crystals, a form of calcium phosphate and collagen.  The natural polymer, collagen, forms a toughening network of fibres which holds the bone together.

New findings indicate that bone's resilience comes largely from the way the chemical bonds, in the collagen molecules, break easily on impact and quickly dissipate energy.  This occurs before forces can build up enough to break the carbon backbone of the collagen molecule.  The collagen bonds really sacrifice themselves to preserve the polymer network.

As we age, our bones become brittle.  A clumsy, young child has bones that are still soft enough to absorb considerable jolting without breaking.  As children grow, their bones harden as the rubbery cartilage is slowly replaced by rigid material of bone tissue.

So next time you take a tumble, be thankful for those collagen bonds, which take the worst of your fall.

MOVING BEYOND MATTER
by Debbie Hughes

It's amazing how much we take for granted.  When we watch children grow, we note that their bones are getting longer and their muscles stronger.  But we're not usually aware that their bones are actually changing in composition.  The nature of bones undergoes a chemical process which strengthens them.  Of course, if this didn't happen their muscles would overpower the soft bone tissue.  This would be disadvantageous to both the skeletal structure and the muscular system.

We do tend to think of changes in bone composition when we consider age-related processes and diseases.  As bones lose density, they become brittle and prone to fractures.  But this isn't the only change that comes with age.

Of course there are the physical changes that occur, most times gradually, occasionally forced upon us by accident or disease.  Sometimes the changes are social - such as joining a new club or moving to a new city.  Or they can be developmental - making the change from teen years to the adult world of college or work or family.  Political and economic changes, cultural changes, vocational changes - these all affect us during our life.

It is interesting to consider that changes may have a strengthening effect or a weakening one.  And the same change may be experienced by two different people in two quite different ways.  Just as the changes in chemical composition in bones can cause a child's soft bone to become mature and hard, or conversely, an adult bone to become weak and brittle, so too the experiences and processes in life cause profound change in us, for better or for worse.

Add to this the reality of the spiritual dimension and we are prompted to ask a host of questions.  What kind of people do we become when we live under favourable conditions?  Under unfavourable ones?  How do these circumstances reveal our character?  What ethical standard do we use to choose these character qualities?  And what would the world look like if it were populated with your ideal person?