We live on an extraordinarily big planet with countless things in it. But, have you ever wondered what is that one thing that is the most expensive in the world among so many things? You probably have, which is why you are here reading this. So, read on as we try to answer such questions as what the most expensive thing in the world is, how much it costs, and why it is so costly.
The Most Expensive Thing In The World Right Now
There are zillions of items on earth which to sort out just one that is the most expensive would be like finding a needle in a haystack. So, which of them actually is the most expensive? There are a couple of reasons why this is an extremely tough question to answer. First of all, it is no small task to sort out just one item out of the bizarre numbers that populate the planet. Secondly, the answer will depend on how one defines cost. For instance, do you define cost based on the value derived from every dime spent? Or, do you define cost based on the lump sum debited from your account per purchase?
Again, different things are evaluated differently. An app, for example, can be paid for based on the duration of time it is used while a substance, on the other hand, would be paid for based on its weight on the scale. So, deciding on which item is the more expensive between an app and a substance would be an unequal comparison.
However, after considering all the factors, we have come to settle with antimatter as the most expensive item on the planet. But, while antimatter is more of a species of items than an item, we focus on a variant of antimatter that is so far concretely and commercially available (even if yet in negligible amounts). By this analysis, Antihydrogen is the most expensive thing on earth.
What Is Antihydrogen And How/Why Is It The Most Expensive Thing In The World?
As already hinted on, Antihydrogen is a form of antimatter in the same way that Hydrogen is a form of matter. So, to understand what Antihydrogen is, we need to first understand the concept of antimatter.
Just as the name implies, ‘antimatter’ refers to a kind of substance that is opposed to normal matter. This is how: The ultimate particles of antimatter are composed of the same kind of particles that make up atoms with the same mass but with opposite charges. The opposite charges make all the difference. For example, a positron is the antimatter counterpart of an electron which means that it is everything an electron is with the exception that it is positively charged whereas an electron is negatively charged. Because of this, if an electron ever comes in contact with a positron, they can only annihilate each other.
Antimatter is produced naturally by such occurrences as cosmic rays hitting the earth’s surface. But you cannot find their natural deposits because they are destroyed as soon as they are produced all because they come in contact with equal amounts of normal matter with which they get mutually annihilated. However, because of its great prospect as a source of renewable energy, The European Organization for Nuclear Research (known as CERN) scientists are making efforts to produce antimatter in the lab.
Antihydrogen is the antimatter counterpart of Hydrogen. It is the only form of antimatter that has been produced and made available but only in very negligible amounts yet (in nanograms). In 1999, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) estimated the cost of Antihydrogen to be $62.5 trillion per gram. Based on the inflation that has occurred over the years, this sum is said to be the current equivalent of $94 trillion per gram. This makes Antihydrogen the most expensive thing available on our planet.
What Can Antihydrogen Be Used For?
As already said, antimatter (a part of which is Antihydrogen) is such that if it comes in contact with an equal amount of its material counterpart, both sides would destroy each other. This leads to the release of an enormous amount of energy since the entire mass value on both sides is transformed into energy as explained by Albert Einstein’s relativity principle (E=mc2). Thus, this makes it have a great prospect as a source of renewable energy for high-profile needs such as in powering spacecraft. On the negative side, antimatter is also expected to be useful for crafting weapons of mass destruction that would be far more effective than hydrogen bombs.
However, as great as the prospect of antimatter use is, this is not exactly why it is the most expensive thing you can find on earth. Instead, its ultra-high cost projections are more directly related to the difficulty in producing it. So far, it is extremely difficult to produce any sizable amount of antimatter because of the difficulty in storing and transporting it. The reason is that any storage/transport medium used for it would be made of matter which means that that particular amount of antimatter would be destroyed as soon as it impacts the surface of the storage/transport medium. As already said, the only form of antimatter so far produced and stored is Antihydrogen, and it is stored in very expensive vessels where electromagnetic force is used to suspend it away from the surface of the vessels.
Also Read: 10 Most Expensive Private Jets in the World Right Now and Their PricesÂ
Other Top Expensive Things In The World
In the absence of Antihydrogen and antimatter as a whole, these other items would have been the most expensive you can find on our planet:
- Buckingham Palace – The most expensive real estate valued at $5 billion
- History Supreme superyacht – The most expensive yacht valued at $4.8 billion
- Jadeite (imperial jade) – The most expensive ornamental stone valued at $270 million per gram.
- La Voiture Noire – The most expensive car valued at $19 million
- Stuart Hughes iPhone 4S Elite Gold – The most expensive smartphone valued at $9.4 million
