# Californium is cheap compared to this **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 13, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002 "2004-02-13T06:03:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![discoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@discoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discoman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/1 "2004-02-13T06:03:14Z")
From [a 1999 Nasa page](http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/prop12apr99_1.htm) > [@](#): > > Right now, antimatter is the most expensive substance on Earth, about $62.5 trillion a gram ($1.75 quadrillion an ounce). Kinda puts that mint condition Spiderman #1 in it’s place, don’t it. ---
**Author:** ![discoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@discoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discoman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/2 "2004-02-13T06:08:20Z")
Oh, and the [link](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_329a.html). ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/3 "2004-02-13T08:05:01Z")
They make antimatter? Antimatter is commercially available? You live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/4 "2004-02-13T19:03:11Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > They make antimatter? Antimatter is commercially available? You live and learn. Antimatter has been made, and used, at particle accelerators for years. Antimatter is produced in energetic collisions of certain particles. Some colliders even collide matter and antimatter beams (electrons with positrons, protons with antiprotons). From the point of view of a particle physicist, antimatter is not really exotic. Explaining why so little of it survived the Big Bang, is another matter. If you’ll pardon the pun. It is only recently, however, that actual antimatter atoms could be made. It is one thing to send beams of antiparticles in circles; it is quite another to slow down antiprotons and positrons so that they can interact and form antiatoms. A big part of the trick, of course, is to manipulate and contain the antimatter without actually touching it. It is easy to see how magnetic fields might control charged antimatter, but once you’ve created a neutral antiHydrogen molecule you must have to get pretty clever. I knew there were plans to sell antimatter; I was unaware that that it was commercially available, however. Fortunately, we are a long way from casually mailing the stuff - talk about your letter bombs! ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/5 "2004-02-14T13:54:21Z")
To expand on **SlowMindThinking** ’s last paragraph, commercial applications of antiproton production have been considered, as in [this paper](http://www.engr.psu.edu/antimatter/Papers/pbar_med.pdf) (a pdf) or [this seminar](http://www.iucf.indiana.edu/Seminars/abstracts/Jackson_abs.txt). There’s also [this outfit](http://www.hbartech.com/), who seem rather enthusiastic about the prospects, but don’t actually seem to be shipping the stuff yet. Applications where antimatter is involved along the way, like in PET scanning, are very commonplace. ---
**Author:** ![Metaxy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Metaxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metaxy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/6 "2004-02-16T03:53:01Z")
Antimatter isn’t something theorized like “dark matter.” It’s actually a comparitively boring term for positrons etc., positive particles that at the beginning of the universe were roughly equal to negative ones but due to some miniscule imbalance were largely cancelled out. ---
**Author:** ![Metaxy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Metaxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metaxy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/7 "2004-02-16T03:54:12Z")
(compare Dark Matter, which is indeed theoretical) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/8 "2004-02-16T05:28:30Z")
I wouldn’t say that. We may not know all the properties of dark matter, but we’re pretty sure it exists. We have as much evidence for it as we do “black holes”. ---
**Author:** ![TheSundanceKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@TheSundanceKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundanceKid)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/9 "2004-02-16T06:01:26Z")
- We have as much evidence for it as we do “black holes”.\* Except that there’s a pretty obvious logical sequence as to how black holes come to be: Every massive object has an escape velocity, or how fast something must travel to get off of it. If the thing is heavy enough, then its escape velocity is greater than the universe’s maximum speed limit. Thus, a black hole. I’ve never heard of any such obvious explanations for how dark matter could come into existence. Not that I really believe or disbelieve the existence of dark matter; it could be that there’s heavy stuff out there we can’t see, or it could be that our conception of gravity isn’t quite right. Time will tell, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/10 "2004-02-16T06:11:05Z")
> [@TheSundanceKid](#): > > - We have as much evidence for it as we do “black holes”.\* > > Except that there’s a pretty obvious logical sequence as to how black holes come to be: Every massive object has an escape velocity, or how fast something must travel to get off of it. If the thing is heavy enough, then its escape velocity is greater than the universe’s maximum speed limit. Thus, a black hole. > > I’ve never heard of any such obvious explanations for how dark matter could come into existence. Not that I really believe or disbelieve the existence of dark matter; it could be that there’s heavy stuff out there we can’t see, or it could be that our conception of gravity isn’t quite right. Time will tell, I’m sure. If our conception of gravity isn’t quite right, then that pretty obvious logical sequence you used as evidence for black holes falls apart. ---
**Author:** ![johnhaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ebca7d/32.png) [@johnhaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnhaigh)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/11 "2004-02-16T07:00:23Z")
I liked the answer about californium and the thread about anti matter but t5hink they are contenders for the most expensive stuff. What do you think is the most expensive thing? Perhaps cost to build or cost to buy would both be reasonable tests. Would it be something like the space station or the Hoover dam? ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/14 "2004-02-17T08:04:31Z")
While I was wondering about the mental age of **cinnamonfin** based on his wonderous posts on the board I came across another question. How exactly would someone go about giving antimatter to someone once they had bought some. What I it contained in? ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/15 "2004-02-17T08:36:23Z")
Well you can’t say he was wrong, but the article does need updating! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/16 "2004-02-19T09:23:44Z")
I don’t believe him but my brother who is a bio medical/chemical engineer says anti matter cannot be transported. It is only created… and when it is, it’s use is accomplished. Antimatter is created for a sole purpose in the event it is needed. It cannot exist on it’s own as “anti-matter.” In order to transport anti matter, we need billions of dollars AND energy to contain it. It’s just not worth it to transport it…it’s cheaper to create it. P.S. He’s lying on my couch right now playing The Getwaway on my PS2. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/californium-is-cheap-compared-to-this/229002/17 "2004-02-20T00:21:27Z")
You’re right not to believe him. Granted, the traditional method of moving antimatter from A to B has been accelerator beamlines - though, even then, they rarely even approach billions of dollars to build. But people are already developing relatively simple [devices to port antiprotons](http://www.islandone.org/APC/Antimatter/06.html). That PSU scheme is based on Penning traps, which are already common laboratory equipment. There are no doubt some engineering challenges to overcome to make it practical technology, but I see no fundamental physical obstacles.