Top 10 Expensive Materials found on Earth!

• 10.Rhino Horn

A cure to cancer and hangovers are just a couple of the largely unfounded claims of the benefits of this material. It’s powdered rhino horn is considered a valuable resource in some countries in Asia.

Traditional Chinese medicine also makes use of the powder, although having an intact rhino horn is considered a great way to display conspicuous wealth, considering the relative cost and scarcity of the product.

• 9.Heroin

Currently, almost 80% of all opium that’s used in heroin is sourced in Afghanistan. During the 1990s, Latin America was the biggest source of the drug in the United States.

Heroin travels directly to the brain, transforms into morphine and seeks opioid receptors responsible for breathing and other automatic cognitive processes necessary for life. Due to its euphoria-inducing qualities, heroin is one of the most addictive and destructive drugs in the world.

• 8.Cocaine

Another incredibly addictive and expensive stimulant is cocaine, which is derived mostly in South America from the coca leaf. Part of the value of pure cocaine is the ability to make incredible amounts of profit by cutting it with cheaper substances or freebasing the raw material, turning it into crack cocaine.

Due to the short length of the effects of cocaine, addicted users often binge in order to avoid experiencing the negative side effects.

• 7.LSD

More commonly known as acid or LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide was discovered by Albert Hoffman in Switzerland in 1938 while attempting to create a substance useful as a psychological remedy.

Instead, counter culture gurus such as Timothy Leary suggested that people try it as a method to expand consciousness, resulting in the drug becoming wildly popular in the 1960s. LSD creates powerful hallucinations and can result in a dangerous trip that results in psychological problems as well as serious physical injuries.

• 6.Plutonium

Plutonium is derived from uranium that has been used in nuclear reactions. This element rarely comes into existence through natural processes. Nuclear power plants often use the plutonium from uranium reactions to continue the nuclear process, resulting in more than one-third of nuclear fission energy.

• 5.Painite

   

First discovered in Burma during the 1950s, painite is a rare mineral that features a pinkish, reddish or brown hue. Once known as the rarest mineral in the world, very few specimens of painite exist.

Recent discoveries in the Mogok area of Myanmar, however, promise to result in an eventual reduction in its scarcity.

• 4.Taffeeite Stone

  

Taaffeite stone is another incredibly rare gemstone only recently identified by collectors. The attractive colors of this rare material range from red to purple, although there are less than ten red taaffeite stones known to exist.

The amount of taaffeite discovered would fill the volume of approximately half a cup.

• 3.Diamond

 

Long-prized for their beauty and value, diamonds are the most expensive gemstone despite the fact that they’re not the rarest on earth. Diamonds form deep under the earth’s crust through intense pressure and heat, which transform carbon molecules into the hardest gem on earth. Some diamonds have been dated as far back as 3.2 billion years.

The high value of diamonds is, of course, a contentious issue as the resource has been known to be exploited. The mineral is commonly found in certain war-torn areas of Africa, where ‘blood diamonds’ can be used as bartering material for illegal weaponry.

• 2.Californium

Discovered in California in 1950, Californium is a rare earth metal that doesn’t occur naturally on the planet. Highly radioactive, one microgram of Californium releases up to 170 million neutron particles every minute, making it extremely toxic to most organic life. Uses of this element include detection of gold, platinum and moisture gauges for oil wells.

• 1.Anti-matter

   

far the most expensive substance on earth is antimatter, which requires some of the most advanced technology available, such as CERN, in order to create small amounts that are enough for physicists to study. Many people were introduced to the idea of antimatter through science fiction due to its incredibly destructive properties when mixed with regular matter.