Introduced in the Vancouver Olympics, the platinum medal is an Olympic medal awarded only to those whose performances far exceed the requirements for a gold medal or whose egos far exceed the requirements for being able to accept a silver medal. So far, the only one to have ever been awarded this high honour is Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who received this award upon successfully completing a quad when all of his opponents only completed triple or less. To imitate the Olympic podium, it is often placed in between "gold" and "bronze" in the standings and is abbreviated "S" for "special snowflake."

The safeguarding of Earth and other worlds from biological cross-contamination (i.e. billionaires with too much time on their hands).

Also known as “planetary protection.” Planetary protection / quarantine “reflects both the unknown nature of the space environment and the desire of the scientific community to preserve the pristine nature of celestial bodies until they can be studied in detail.”

There are two types of interplanetary contamination. Forward contamination is the transfer of viable organisms from Earth to another celestial body. Back contamination is the transfer of extraterrestrial organisms, if such exist, back to the Earth's biosphere.