Hail to thee, O Boron

Of all the weirdly useful elements, Boron cannot be forgot.
Everyone may call it five electrons short of a stable orbital...
Or one electron short of a Z-axis...
But Boron, we salute you.
Hail Boron, you forgotten element you.

Look at it's usefulness! The common form is B(OH)3, AKA Boracic acid, or, as you know it, Borax.

It's a fine white power, available as "20 Mule Team Borax".

If you had any doubt as to it's power, Mules are 50% donkey, a stubborn creature. So if you can get something going with a team of (effectively) 6 donkeys, it's no small feat.

But since you still don't believe me, here are its uses:

Borax:
General cleaning
Shining enamel
Deodorizing
Killing ant colonies
Cross-linking chain-growth polymers
... also known as making your own bouncy balls...
Organic synthesis: adding alcohol groups in funky places, the non-toxic way (not non-explosive, mind you...)
Making wonderful explosions, either when exposed to air or to water


Isn't it grand?


Yeah.