Is it possible for precious metals to evolve on other planets in our universe.
Think of the possibilities!

I once read in a (I think Discover) magazine that it's possible that on the surface of Neptune it rains dimonds because of the high carbon content in the planet's uppermost atmosphere.

You can take it or leave it. While I have read a lot of good articles in Discover, a lot more of it is science fiction.

Had to comment. Precious metals do not "evolve", they are the product of certain extreme reactions that are believed to occur in events like supernovas.

We see the accumulation of precious metals on earth because of geologic processes that cause the metals to be concentrated in certain specific areas of the earth's crust. The process is well understood, and is currently happening as we speak, in the so called "black smokers" found in the oceans.

So to sort of answer your question, on a planet where similiar processes occur as they occur here, there is a possibility that precious metals will accumulate in usable quantities.

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Heh, one more comment! :P

It is estimated that 1% of the earth's core is made up of gold. If that 1% could somehow be extracted, there would be enough gold to cover the entire dry surface of the earth in a layer of gold approximately 1cm thick!

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All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct.~ Carl Sagan ~

Humanity must rise above the Earth, to the top of the atmosphere and beyond, for only then will we fully understand the world in which we live.~Socrates, 500 B.C. ~

Let every man judge according to his own standards, by what he has himself read, not by what others tell him. ~Albert Einstein~

Correct me if im wrong, but i think thats more like sci-fi because diamond to form takes very high pressure and millions of years.

Interesting thought anyway, but better look for strong shelter when it starts raining LOL

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Mikael Kandell

We need "first foundation" now...join me:)

Hi All, This was from a foxnews report, hope it helps.

Uranus and Neptune May Form Diamonds


Recent laboratory experiments carried out at Berkeley have tried to mimic the effects caused by the enormous pressures on Uranus and Neptune. By subjecting methane - a common element in the planets' atmospheres - to 100,000-500,000 times the pressure on Earth, some of the methane turned into diamond.

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I know the answer to everything........YEAH RIGHT

Heavier elements can only be formed in supernovae, but it only takes some pressure to create new substances. Diamond is carbon, graphite is carbon, different substance, same atom, just arranged under different conditions.

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MacTalk - The Australian Apple Community - iPod, iPhone and Mac.

Metals should be on the planets of course, question is which ones and how much. Metals are created when a star dies, as its density increases... and then in the nova explosion, the heaviest elements are created.

I thought the heavier elements through gravity would mostly form closer to the gravitational center. (ie our sun in our solar system) that is why the gas giants are further away i could be wrong and just miss read it.

Elements are what you read on chemistry periodic table. The difference in elements are changes in the number of protons and neutrons.

Fusion is the process of binding elements together to form heavier elements. For example, we believe that hydrogen fuses to become helium in our Sun.

We think of fusion as giving off energy, but that's not necessarily true. Fusion of light elements gives off energy. But fusion of heavier elements requires energy.

I believe that "iron" is the middle ground. You get energy from fusing anything lighter than iron, and require energy to fuse anything heavier than iron.

During a supernova, the conditions are there to actually imput energy into elements - this is why we believe all the heavier elements are derivatives from supernovea.

What's interesting is that a technologically-developed race could actually generate elements AND energy from hydrogen - all the way up to iron. With the proper technology and industry base, we could mine Jupiter (a hydrogen source) and fuse elements such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, iron, etc. to support a colony. Neat huh?

Fission is the opposite - fission splits an element to form lighter elements. You get energy by fissing (sp?) anything heavier than iron, and require energy to fiss (?) anything lighter than iron. So really, nuclear energy is our MOST non-renewable resource!

PS: to answer the actual question - we believe that our asteroid belt has quite a few valuable metals. As well, they might be more accessible than the metals under our crust.

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We can get to space as a species. The above link is information about life-extension (living longer) so that you can personally see a space-based civilization.

The MPrize (a prize to encourage life extension research now contains over 3 million dollars.