English CC by Charles Baluyot
You need some serious walking around money to score a sample of these substances.
Welcome to WatchMojo.com,
and today we're counting down our picks,
for the "Top 10 Ridiculously Expensive Substances on Earth".
For this list,
we're considering natural and man-made substances,
as long as they're pricey.
However we are excluding street drugs like heroin and cocaine,
because while they are expensive,
they're better suited to a list of their own.
We're just starting our list and already we've hit the pharmaceutical jackpot.
Known as eculizumab in the medical world,
Soliris is an artificial inhibitor designed to complement the antibodies,
that clear pathogens in patients with certain rare blood diseases.
Specifically, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.
Considered the most expensive drug in production worldwide,
it's sold to medical practitioners for a measly five thousand dollars ($5,000) per 30 mL.
So how much would it cost for the average American?
Oh, around four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for a year of treatment.
Most individuals will never be given the drug,
as it's only used in the rarest of cases.
Highly sought after by anyone who longs for fortune and riches,
our next entry has been pursued since ancient times.
Originally used as a form of currency for trade between nations,
gold is just as desired now, as it was during the Gold Rush.
Due to its electrical conductivity,
and its ease of handling and minting,
the average price for your own pure piece of the metal,
is roughly forty dollars ($40) per gram.
While it's now mainly used for jewelry and investment purposes,
having gold is still a status symbol for the upper class.
Face it,
we all love gold and it's not hard to see why.
Have enough gold in your treasure chest?
Then step up to our next entry,
considered by many professionals as a noble metal.
Platinum is used in many different industries,
because of its strong resistance to corrosion
and low reactivity.
Due to the many different ways platinum can be used,
it's roughly thirteen hundred and sixty five dollars ($1,365) for only an ounce of this stuff.
Platinum is everywhere,
LITERALLY.
As its use in the catalytic converters of cars,
means its present in vehicle exhaust,
and dust streets worldwide.
It doesn't stop there,
as platinum has also been used in different anti-cancer medications.
It's a truly versatile metal.
Who knew carbon could look so damn appealing?
Renowned worldwide for its appearance
and it's low count of impurities,
diamonds are yet another symbol of the ruling class.
This may also be the reality,
because for an authentic diamond,
you could easily be expected to shell out an average of
thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000) per carat.
Though now that price can rise to over thirty three thousand dollars ($33,000),
according to some sources.
While authentic diamonds are rarely found in the Earth's crust,
scientists have created a process to create synthetic diamonds.
Diamonds may be a girl's best friend,
but they will also quickly empty your pockets,
if you want to get your hands on one.
Our next material only exists because of space.
Hydrogen's third and only radioactive isotope,
tritium is most commonly synthesized.
Though natural tritium is created in the atmosphere while interacting with cosmic rays.
Due to the complexity of the elements creation,
natural tritium is extremely rare,
and the price can skyrocket to as high as thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) per gram.
Now what is tritium used for?
It's a common element in the enhancement efficient of fission bombs,
but it mainly powers those self-lighting exit signs you see in buildings.
Just don't go breaking them open and hopes of getting rich quick.
Warning:
Improper handling of this chemical element,
may result in loss of life.
This highly radioactive metal is often used to make bombs weapons-grade,
with the rating based upon the amount of plutonium included.
Need something to go nuclear?
Feel free to shell out about forty thousand dollars ($40,000) per gram,
or just steal it from your friendly neighborhood Libyan terrorists.
But believe us,
one gram will never do.
Unlike most of the other entries on our list,
finding plutonium is a rather common occurrence,
thanks to the fission of neutrons in the Earth's surface.
But don't go selling it to the next warlord
that glances in your direction.
Let's face it,
if you have disposable income,
you may want some gems to show off to your friends.
Similar to a spinel,
taaffeite was discovered in 1945,
and it's considered the rarest gemstone on Earth.
Since it's only been found naturally,
a handful of times in 70 years.
Due to its rarity however,
taaffeite is used exclusively as a gemstone
and will cost up to a cool twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) per gram.
Interesting fact:
The gem is the only object that contains both beryllium and magnesium naturally.
You must have some serious dough,
if you can afford even a gram of this brilliant stone.
Need a different, more expensive gem to show off?
Go for our next mineral.
Originally discovered in the 1950s,
painite is a non-radioactive mineral,
primarily composed of calcium, oxygen,
aluminum, boron, and zirconium.
Just how rare is it?
Well for the majority of the time that science has been aware of painite,
just 25 crystals were known to exist.
Does that sound like it cost a lot?
It should.
A gram of painite can cost upwards of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000).
So if you want to drain your bank account quickly,
just find a guy who can hook you up
with some sweet, sweet painite.
Just cause an element doesn't appear naturally,
doesn't mean it can't be ridiculously expensive.
An isotope of the artificial element Californium,
Californium-252 is radioactive,
and highly unstable as a result of the spontaneous fission of its atoms.
While an exact price is not available for public knowledge,
it's estimated that an individual would have to spend an approximate
twenty-seven million dollars ($27,000,000) for a single gram.
This is due to the fact, that 252 isused to start nuclear reactors,
and to treat some advanced types of cancer thanks to its radioactive properties.
See, radioactivity isn't always bad...
Mainly comprised of a collection of antiparticles,
antimatter is perhaps best known as what keeps the enterprise's engine running on Star Trek.
However if produced,
it could have real world uses in space travel,
weaponry, and medicine.
As the exact price of antimatter is unknown,
it's estimated that it would cost an approximate,
100 trillion dollars ($100,000,000,000,000) to synthesize only a single gram.
This is due to the difficulty of antimatter creation.
Since antimatter as individual antiparticles,
can only be created by using a particle accelerator
or in some rare cases,
as a result of radioactive decay.
While this limits our ability to traverse the secrets of open space,
it doesn't limit our ambition or our imagination.
Do you agree with our list?
What's your favorite expensive substance?
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