Random Facts and Useless Knowledge

FJohnny

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THE ACTUAL VALUE OF THE HUMAN BODY

A cost (per Kg) of obtaining the element in question, and a value column which is the product of the mass of that element in the body multiplied by the cost of that element.

Element Percentage Mass [Kg] Cost/Kg Value
O Oxygen 65 49.14 $0.20 $9.83
C Carbon 18 18.29 $0.01 $0.18
H Hydrogen 10.2 8.00 $0.20 $1.60
N Nitrogen 3.1 2.06 $0.20 $0.41
Ca Calcium 1.6 1.14 $0.10 $0.11
P Phosphorus 1.2 0.89 $1.00 $0.89
K Potassium 0.25 0.16 $650.00 $104.00
S Sulfur 0.25 0.16 $0.10 $0.02
Na Sodium 0.15 0.11 $250.00 $28.57
Cl Chlorine 0.15 0.11 $1.00 $0.11
Mg Magnesium 0.05 0.02 $3.00 $0.07
Fe Iron 6.00E-03 4.80E-03 $0.20 $0.00
F Fluorine 3.70E-03 2.97E-03 $2,000.00 $5.94
Zn Zinc 3.20E-03 2.63E-03 $2.00 $0.01
Si Silicon 2.00E-03 1.14E-03 $2.00 $0.00
Rb Rubidium 4.60E-04 7.77E-04 $10,000.00 $7.77
Sr Strontium 4.60E-04 3.66E-04 $1,000.00 $0.37
Br Bromine 2.90E-04 2.97E-04 $50.00 $0.01
Pb Lead 1.70E-04 1.37E-04 $0.40 $0.00
Cu Copper 1.00E-04 8.23E-05 $7.00 $0.00
Al Aluminium 8.70E-05 6.86E-05 $2.00 $0.00
Cd Cadmium 7.20E-05 5.71E-05 $10.00 $0.00
Ce Cerium 5.00E-05 4.57E-05 $50.00 $0.00
Ba Barium 3.10E-05 2.51E-05 $60.00 $0.00
Sn Tin 2.40E-05 2.29E-05 $20.00 $0.00
I Iodine 1.60E-05 2.29E-05 $2.00 $0.00
Ti Titanium 1.30E-05 2.29E-05 $8.00 $0.00
B Boron 6.90E-05 2.06E-05 $6,000.00 $0.12
Se Selenium 1.90E-05 1.71E-05 $53.00 $0.00
Ni Nickel 1.40E-05 1.71E-05 $20.00 $0.00
Cr Chromium 2.40E-06 1.60E-05 $20.00 $0.00
Mn Manganese 1.70E-05 1.37E-05 $5.00 $0.00
As Arsenic 2.60E-05 8.00E-06 $5.00 $0.00
Li Lithium 3.10E-06 8.00E-06 $100.00 $0.00
Hg Mercury 1.90E-05 6.86E-06 $40.00 $0.00
Cs Caesium 2.10E-06 6.86E-06 $3,000.00 $0.02
Mo Molybdenum 1.30E-05 5.71E-06 $300.00 $0.00
Ge Germanium 1.30E-05 5.71E-06 $2,000.00 $0.01
Co Cobalt 2.10E-06 3.43E-06 $200.00 $0.00
Sb Antimony 1.10E-05 2.29E-06 $300.00 $0.00
Ag Silver 1.00E-06 2.29E-06 $700.00 $0.00
Nb Niobium 1.60E-04 1.71E-06 $180.00 $0.00
Zr Zirconium 6.00E-04 1.14E-06 $600.00 $0.00
La Lanthanum 2.00E-04 9.14E-07 $1,500.00 $0.00
Te Tellurium 1.20E-05 8.00E-07 $240.00 $0.00
Ga Gallium 1.20E-05 8.00E-07 $1,800.00 $0.00
Y Yttrium 1.20E-05 6.86E-07 $2,000.00 $0.00
Bi Bismuth 1.20E-05 5.71E-07 $400.00 $0.00
Tl Thallium 1.40E-05 5.71E-07 $500.00 $0.00
In Indium 1.40E-05 4.57E-07 $2,000.00 $0.00
Au Gold 1.40E-05 2.29E-07 $40,000.00 $0.01
Sc Scandium 1.40E-05 2.29E-07 $10,000.00 $0.00
Ta Tantalum 1.40E-05 2.29E-07 $200.00 $0.00
V Vanadium 2.60E-05 1.26E-07 $50.00 $0.00
Th Thorium 2.00E-07 1.14E-07 $0.00
U Uranium 1.30E-07 1.14E-07 $0.00
Sm Samarium 5.00E-09 5.71E-08 $0.00
W Tungsten 5.00E-09 2.29E-08 $0.00
Be Beryllium 5.00E-09 4.11E-08 $0.00
Ra Radium 1.00E-17 0.00E+00 $0.00
The most abudant elements in the body are pretty cheap, so they contribute very little to the value of a body. Similarly, the valuable (expensive) elements, such as Gold occur in such trace quantities that their contribution to the overall sum is noise.

The biggest contributors to the value of the body appear to be the Alkali Metals – Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium and Caesium. Potassium appears to be the single most 'valuable' element in the body because it lies at the sweet-spot of being both reasonable common and reasonably expensive. (Hydrogen also is classified as an Alkali Metal because of its lonely electron in the outside shell, and because of the high volume of the element in the body it also makes a non-negligable contribution to the value).


Summing up all the amounts in the Value column, we come to a grand total of just over $160.


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The potassium really stands out. Over a hundred bucks per, huh?

Holy crap! Do the math on that. Big light bulb moment.

7500 people pack it in daily in the USA. If you can recover just the potassium and make $10 each we're talking half a mill each week. We're rich. Who's in?
 

L8APEX

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So it's better financially to part out the human body than to sell the elements that it's made of.
So I'm more likely to wake up in a bathtub full of ice and a kidney missing than someone pumping out my blood for the potassium and other metals/ salts
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Ohio Snake

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So it's better financially to part out the human body than to sell the elements that it's made of.
So I'm more likely to wake up in a bathtub full of ice and a kidney missing than someone pumping out my blood for the potassium and other metals/ salts
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Id agree with that assessment. Its about supply and demand of organs at that point.


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EatonEggbeater

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You'd be weightless at the center of gravity of the Earth.

You'd be torn apart if you were in the center of gravity of Jupiter.

(If it was possible to exist in such places)
 

CV355

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Every sub-atomic particle in your body existed at the birth of the universe, though not necessarily configured within the same molecule.

The Cold Death theory of the universe is the theory that, eventually, all matter in the universe will be consumed within black holes, then dead radiation. Think of every galaxy as a whirlpool. Those supermassive black holes expel energy through Hawking radiation, sort of "boiling off" over time in the form of radiation. After an incomprehensible amount of time, all matter will be dissipated with no thermodynamic free energy. That state is the maximum entropy state for the universe, assuming it is finite and a closed thermodynamic system. Sub-atomic particles will cease to move within their orbital configurations. Dead matter at zero kelvin. At that point, everything that has ever existed has lost the game.

Also, cool side-note... The largest supermassive black hole calculated within galaxies we know of has an event horizon 7 times larger than our solar system. Its average density would be that of water. As large as that is... If our sun was a grain of sand, the solar system would be about as large as a football field, and our galaxy would be roughly 50-60% of the size of our actual sun. So 7 football fields on the sun is about the same scale as the largest singular item (I don't count clouds or groupings) known in the universe vs a relatively normal sized galaxy.

Bonus: Water is compressible. Compress it enough (beyond roughly 25% increased density), and it phase changes to ice. Hot ice. Cool that ice and it becomes liquid again. If you maintain constant temperature, that highly compressed ice changes crystalline structure from ortho-rhombic to hexagonal.
 
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James Snover

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You'd be weightless at the center of gravity of the Earth.

You'd be torn apart if you were in the center of gravity of Jupiter.

(If it was possible to exist in such places)
You would be torn apart at the center of the Earth, too. Gravity increases as you go down.
 

Revvv

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Every sub-atomic particle in your body existed at the birth of the universe, though not necessarily configured within the same molecule.

The Cold Death theory of the universe is the theory that, eventually, all matter in the universe will be consumed within black holes, then dead radiation. Think of every galaxy as a whirlpool. Those supermassive black holes expel energy through Hawking radiation, sort of "boiling off" over time in the form of radiation. After an incomprehensible amount of time, all matter will be dissipated with no thermodynamic free energy. That state is the maximum entropy state for the universe, assuming it is finite and a closed thermodynamic system. Sub-atomic particles will cease to move within their orbital configurations. Dead matter at zero kelvin. At that point, everything that has ever existed has lost the game.

Also, cool side-note... The largest supermassive black hole calculated within galaxies we know of has an event horizon 7 times larger than our solar system. Its average density would be that of water. As large as that is... If our sun was a grain of sand, the solar system would be about as large as a football field, and our galaxy would be roughly 50-60% of the size of our actual sun. So 7 football fields on the sun is about the same scale as the largest singular item (I don't count clouds or groupings) known in the universe vs a relatively normal sized galaxy.

Bonus: Water is compressible. Compress it enough (beyond roughly 25% increased density), and it phase changes to ice. Hot ice. Cool that ice and it becomes liquid again. If you maintain constant temperature, that highly compressed ice changes crystalline structure from ortho-rhombic to hexagonal.
Thank you, now my brain hurts.

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