SAEDNEWS: Join us below as we explore a taste of the sweet side of the cosmos.
According to Saed News, citing Young Journalists Club, we’ve all dreamed of the sky since childhood. The world answers us in proportion to the questions we ask and our curiosity. Big questions, serious curiosity, and sustained effort lead to more fascinating answers—and the astonishing universe offers humanity the chance to explore its greatest mysteries. The cosmos is full of mind-blowing secrets, and Astronomy Week, which concludes today, aims to draw our attention to the universe, its past, and its future.
At first glance, astronomy may seem like a mere hobby, but all knowledge eventually helps solve life’s mysteries and unlock the world’s potential. With that in mind, let’s explore an extraordinary asteroid: Psycho 16, located in a distant asteroid belt of our solar system. Using current technology, it’s about 20 years away from us—but tapping into its extraordinary resources could upend the global economy.
For centuries, humans have scoured the Earth for the most coveted metal: gold. Gold is prized because it doesn’t corrode, tarnish, and always shines. Historically, it has been a symbol of wealth and power. Extracting it, however, is painstaking. Gold appears in tiny grains among rocks, and its unique combination of non-reactivity and malleability gives it countless applications—from jewelry to electronics and advanced technology.
Despite its ubiquity in culture and tech, humanity has mined only around 174,000 tons of gold throughout history—a surprisingly small amount. Unsurprisingly, this rarity has made it immensely valuable. For decades, a nation’s gold reserves even underpinned its currency. Given this, it’s perhaps time for humans to look upward rather than downward—into space.
Psycho 16, though far from Earth, is relatively close in cosmic terms and is estimated to hold $700 quintillion worth of gold. That figure is based on current market prices; if this gold were ever mined and brought to Earth, its value would adjust accordingly. To put it in perspective, that’s about $93 billion per person on the planet—making every human wealthier than Bill Gates. It’s easy to see why certain nations are eyeing this asteroid.
During the formation of the cosmos, materials in different galaxies gradually coalesced. In our corner of the Milky Way—the solar system—some materials became Earth, while others, which might have formed into planets, drifted aimlessly due to the gravitational pull of larger planets. Psycho 16 is one of these wandering M-type asteroids, rich in metals, with a substantial portion of its composition being gold.
Exploring asteroids has long captured the imagination of filmmakers: from Avatar, where a planet is exploited by humans, to Dune, where the most valuable element in the universe is a spice mined under extreme conditions. The appeal of Psycho 16 is its lack of environment and inhabitants. Unlike the Moon, which has its own mining challenges, a spacecraft could theoretically reach this 120-mile-wide asteroid in 20 years, survey it over 10 years, mine it over 25 years, and return in 20 years—a total of 75 years for the mission. The real value isn’t today’s gold but humanity’s access to unprecedented quantities of gold and platinum, potentially sparking revolutions in industry, technology, and medicine.
Imagine gold used in every gadget, not just the most expensive. Electronics, smartphones, tablets, and even medical implants could all be enhanced—revolutionizing global access to a historically scarce resource.
Science relies on spectroscopy, a method that analyzes the spectrum of light emitted or reflected by celestial objects. Comparing this spectrum with known chemical signatures allows scientists to identify elements even from billions of kilometers away. According to solar system formation theories, planets and asteroids have varied chemical compositions because they formed in regions with different temperatures. Psycho 16, rich in metals including gold, is a perfect example.
Around 75% of the gold on sale today was mined over a century ago.
The largest gold bar in the world weighs 250 kg and is worth over $11 million.
Gold can theoretically be made from other elements via nuclear reactions—but it’s prohibitively slow, dangerous, and expensive.
80% of Earth’s gold reserves remain untapped, equaling roughly 52,000 tons, worth $2 trillion.
The human body contains about 0.2% gold, spread across hair, blood, and tissues.
Gold has medicinal applications: it’s studied in treatments for cancer, HIV, and rheumatoid arthritis, including reducing side effects in chemotherapy and joint swelling.
London is the world’s gold vault, with the Bank of England holding 5,134 tons of gold.
Global economies rely on supply and demand. Introducing $700 quintillion in gold would upend prices—but for fun, let’s assume it doesn’t. That would give every one of Earth’s 7.5 billion people $93 billion.
6 billion Jeff Bezos equivalents: $700 quintillion ÷ $126 billion (Bezos’ 2022 net worth) = 6 billion “Bezos” worldwide.
23 million times China’s GDP: The asteroid’s gold is 23 million times China’s 2022 GDP of $30 trillion.
2 billion Toyota factories: With Toyota valued at $300 billion in 2022, Psycho 16’s metals could build 2 billion such factories.
1.5 billion Amazons: Enough to create 1.5 billion Amazon corporations globally.
140 billion football clubs like Real Madrid: Valued at $5.1 billion each, the asteroid could fund 140 billion clubs.
466,000 trillion kilograms of caviar: Enough to buy the world’s most expensive caviar repeatedly.
1 trillion luxury planes: The asteroid could buy one trillion “Air Force One”–style aircraft.
Psycho 16 isn’t just a rock in space—it’s a cosmic treasure chest that could reshape wealth, technology, and society as we know it. Humanity’s curiosity may soon meet the ultimate reward: gold literally out of this world.
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