# 'Anything on Earth that can't be found in the rest o' the solar system? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545 "2003-06-09T00:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/21 "2003-06-09T14:55:17Z")
THC, atropine, morphine, human chorionic gonadotrophin, cocaine, psilocybin, bufotenin, solanine, bungaroo toxin. Earth is a rich source of peculiar chemicals that might not be found anywhere else in the galaxy. The _real_ pirates of Boskone may find us to be quite a a little treasurehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/22 "2003-06-09T14:57:12Z")
A dangerous question to ask an Igneous Petrologist/Trace-Element Geochemist, **Podkayne**! I’ll try not to put you to sleep. The primary geochemical mechanisms for concentrating various elements in magmatic systems are _fractional crystallization_ and _liquid immiscibility_. Plate Tectonic processes have a lot to do with magma generation in the first place, and the effects of Plate Tectonics (e.g., over-thickened crust) have a lot to do with how differentation processes proceed, but Plate Tectonics itself has little to do with how trace-elements concentrate in natural systems. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/23 "2003-06-09T15:26:51Z")
Sushi, pizza, and beer. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/24 "2003-06-09T15:37:17Z")
Bungaroo toxin?!? ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/25 "2003-06-09T15:57:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enola Straight \* > \*\*Bungaroo toxin?!? \*\* Used primarily to kill inflatable kangaroos, with a possible application in the cosmetic field. No known antidote, but its LD50 is one of the most variable known to man. ---
**Author:** ![jonpluc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jonpluc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonpluc)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/26 "2003-06-09T17:07:21Z")
Brittany Spears, although except to look at her, her value is dubious. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/27 "2003-06-09T17:23:21Z")
Sedimentary rocks and clays. Unless you’ve had liquid water running over stone you won’t get much. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/28 "2003-06-09T17:31:40Z")
There are all kinds of things here that extraterrestrial aliens might find useful. I get scads of e-mail messages about them every day. I even got one today for cast-iron Christmas tree stands. RR ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/29 "2003-06-09T18:10:49Z")
Spam! No way there’s spam anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/30 "2003-06-09T18:33:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pantellerite \* > \*\*A dangerous question to ask an Igneous Petrologist/Trace-Element Geochemist, **Podkayne**! I’ll try not to put you to sleep. > > The primary geochemical mechanisms for concentrating various elements in magmatic systems are _fractional crystallization_ and _liquid immiscibility_. \*\* Interesting, the Earth is obviously special place. Then again, how about Io? There might be some of these concentrating processes going on there. And don’t the asteroids contain most minerals and elements in a less concentrated but more accessisble state- i.e. not trapped on a 1-gee planet? * * * SF worldbuilding at [http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html](http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html) ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/31 "2003-06-09T19:21:08Z")
Penn & Teller created a brilliant short movie for TV which addresses a question very similar to the OP. I think it’s brilliant, but if you haven’t seen it don’t read the spoiler box. I haven’t seen it for a long time so my recall will be imperfect, but it goes something like this. Aliens are threatening to wipe out Earth unless we can prove that we Earthlings are a worthwhile species and we should be allowed to survive. We try to prove this in various ways, none of which impress the aliens. Then someone does a magic trick, and says it’s done with ‘invisible thread’, and makes the claim that we should be allowed to survive because we’ve advanced to the stage where we can invent invisible thread. We, the viewers, know that the trick is not, actually, done with invisible thread and that there’s no such thing anyway (this is all explained in the movie in typical P&T style). However, the hope is that the aliens will be impressed by our amazing invention of ‘invisible thread’. In the end, the aliens crush our plans by revealing they are well aware that the trick was done by other means, and that all the stuff about ‘invisible thread’ was just bogus. However, they decide to let us live because we’re the only species in the universe that would have the imagination to come up with a concept as ludicrous as ‘invisible thread’ and the audacity to expect anyone else to believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/32 "2003-06-09T20:52:55Z")
The shaving cream atom? Buxom Hollywood starlets? Earth girls _are_ easy you know. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/33 "2003-06-09T22:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enola Straight \* > \*\*Bungaroo toxin?!? \*\* Oops, that’s lab-slang. The intergalactic drug-lords would actually plunder the earth for our rich supply of [bungarotoxin](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=+%22bungarotoxin%22&spell=1). ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/34 "2003-06-09T23:17:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*Fossil fuel. \*\* The atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune are primarily methane, as is that of Saturn’s moon Titan. Jupiter has methane, hydrogen and ammonia. All the fuel our would-be conquerers would ever need, assuming they could get a suitible oxidizer. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/35 "2003-06-10T01:41:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Anuses to probe? > > ‘sentience’ is probably the best answer - if we ever make contact with a sentient extraterrestrial race (and I suspect it will be radio contact, if anything ever at all, which rather limits the options), it is _the exchange of ideas_ that will be most valued, in my opinion. \*\* [hijack] **Mangetout** , is there a reason why you (and a lot of other scientist) think that communication will be by radio waves? Isn’t it possible that extraterrestrials will have different technologies and/or sensitivities to the electromagnetic spectrum? Is there a reason to think that they don’t “see” in the infrared range and communicate in UV or something like that? [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/36 "2003-06-10T02:18:14Z")
[Split-crotch panties](http://members.fortunecity.com/cfu40bdsm/07monty/tv/03/3510algon.html) > [@](#): > > This is the planet Algon, fifth world in the system of Aldebaran, the Red Giant in the constellation of Sagittarius. Here an ordinary cup of drinking chocolate costs four million pounds, an immersion heater for the hot-water tank costs over six billion pounds. and a pair of \*\*split-crotch panties \*\*would be almost unobtainable. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/37 "2003-06-10T02:33:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by USCDiver \* > [hijack] > **Mangetout** , is there a reason why you (and a lot of other scientist) think that communication will be by radio waves? Isn’t it possible that extraterrestrials will have different technologies and/or sensitivities to the electromagnetic spectrum? Is there a reason to think that they don’t “see” in the infrared range and communicate in UV or something like that? > [/hijack] I could be wrong, but I believe that radio waves are much less vulnerable to insterstellar absorption than UVs or opticals are. Why do you think _we_ communicate using radio waves? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/38 "2003-06-10T02:50:21Z")
Marble… aliens would get crazy about it, would trade antimatter weight to weight for it… at least if they have any artistic or aestetic sense 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/39 "2003-06-10T03:15:07Z")
I, too have seen that movie about the “Magic Trick.” It had Dan Akroyd in it. We impressed the aliens and saved humanity with a booger, if I recall. It had some pretty spooky parts to it. -M ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545/40 "2003-06-10T03:24:55Z")
I think Pantellerite is on to something. Earth is the most massive rocky body in our solar system, although Venus comes close. So there are bound to be some unique geologic processes here. Of course, orbiting Sirius A is Jinx, which is a rocky body 2.5 times as massive as earth. If the aliens were smart they’d go there instead. Volatiles are much much more easily obtained in the outer solar system. You wouldn’t want to ship liquid water anyway. Just let it stay below 0C and it’s as easy as transporting rocks. There won’t be much free O2 anywhere except on planets with ecosystems. But oxygen itself is very common. After hydrogen and helium, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are the most common elements in the universe. Which means methane, ammonia, and water are the most common compounds in the universe. Nobody is coming to earth looking for water or natural gas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-on-earth-that-cant-be-found-in-the-rest-o-the-solar-system/180545.md?page=3)