uniladtech homepage
  • News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Mind-boggling most expensive substance on Earth goes for insane price tag of $62,000,000,000,000 for one gram

Home> Science

Published 15:05 19 Feb 2025 GMT

Mind-boggling most expensive substance on Earth goes for insane price tag of $62,000,000,000,000 for one gram

It disappears as fast as it is made

Rebekah Jordan

Rebekah Jordan

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: CERN
Science
Space
Nasa

Advert

Advert

Advert

The world's most expensive substance goes for $62 trillion for a single gram - and you can't even buy it.

It goes that the rarest and most valuable materials don't even come close to that of gold or diamonds.

And even if you had that kind of money, you wouldn’t be able to get your hands on it.

Why? Because there might not even be a full gram of it anywhere in the entire universe.

Advert

It's called antimatter and it is the mirror image of the atoms and particles that make up the universe around us.

Antimatter can't be mined or produced in bulk.

Instead, the ultra-rare substance must be assembled atom by atom in a process that requires some of the most advanced technology on Earth.

CERN is the world's largest laboratory for research into particle physics / Ronald Patrick / Stringer / Getty
CERN is the world's largest laboratory for research into particle physics / Ronald Patrick / Stringer / Getty

It could take a billion years to gather one-tenth of a gram.

Although scientists have put their heads together to create antimatter for study, it still disappears almost instantly, making it incredibly expensive to do so.

Antimatter is basically matter in reverse. For every proton, electron and neutron in the universe, there’s an antiproton, positron, and antineutron with the opposite electrical charge.

According to the experts, these antiparticles can be assembled into antimolecules and in theory into entire antimatter planets and galaxies which wouldn't look all that different to ours.

In 1999, NASA scientist Harold Gerrish estimated the cost of antimatter at $62.5 trillion per gram - or $1.75 quadrillion per ounce. This took into account the energy involved and the estimated production capacity.

But with today’s engineering obstacles, experts believe the true price is likely even higher.

"We make such minute quantities that even if you were to destroy all the antimatter that we're making in the course of a year, it wouldn't be even enough to boil a cup of tea," said Professor Michael Doser, a particle physicist at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research).

vchal / Getty
vchal / Getty

"One 100th of a nanogram [of antimatter] costs as much as one kilogram of gold."

That would make the price for a gram approximately $5.24 quadrillion (£4.16 quadrillion).

Believe it or not, antimatter is being created all the time - inside us and around us.

However, because these particles are quickly eradicated by the surrounding matter, it's basically useless for study.

Instead, scientists have to force it into existence: by concentrating so much energy at a single point that it actually becomes matter.

At CERN, a team of scientists use particle accelerators to speed up streams of protons and slam them into iridium blocks.

About once in every million collisions, a tiny antimatter particle is created alongside a regular matter twin.

The potential of antimatter is huge, however. Because of its high energy density, it could likely revolutionise space travel at some point in the future - if we can keep it around for long enough to store.

  • How to spot Artemis 2 astronauts as they head for splashdown back on Earth this Friday
  • Astronaut threatened to never return to Earth leading NASA to make life-saving change
  • YouTuber praised for getting 'better footage than NASA' as he goes behind the scenes at Artemis 2 launch
  • Exactly when Artemis 2 astronauts will be left floating in space with no contact to Earth

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • Peter Cade / Getty
    2 hours ago

    Daily phone habit increases risk of hemorrhoids by 46 percent as global cases rise

    It's linked to one time-wasting habit

    Science
  • Westend61 / Getty
    3 hours ago

    Man 'cured' of HIV following discovery of brother's rare genetic mutation

    Only a handful of patients have ever seen their human immunodeficiency virus go into long-term remission

    Science
  • MIGUEL J RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO / Contributor / Getty
    3 hours ago

    Artemis 2 astronaut's eerie prediction from nine years ago resurfaces

    A 2017 post resurfaces on social media

    Science
  • SANKA VIDANAGAMA / Contributor via Getty
    4 hours ago

    Longest solar eclipse in a generation is just months away and it won't return for over a century

    The rare event won't be seen again for over 100 years

    Science