I want a balloon full of uranium hexafluoride.
Given its scarcity, helium should be more expensive, to the point where filling party balloons with it is decadent profligacy.
I mean it is expensive, it’s just the amount required for a balloon is insignificant and thus seems cheap.
As a diver who uses helium I can tell you it is, compared to air, so much more expensive they actually charge me for it (rather than just rolled into the cost of a dive) - to the sum of about $300 a dive - depending on depth.
What is helium used for when diving?
Reducing the amount of narcotic gases in your mix so you don’t act like a drunk idiot when in a life threatening situation.
Those narcotic gases are nitrogen and oxygen (although there’s only so little oxygen you can have…and also only so much!)
Edit: extra info: oxygen and nitrogen are narcotic at depth, nitrogen is better understood and so often we talk about nitrogen narcosis, which tends to start hitting people after about 30m, but each person reacts different and to different degrees at different deaths. I personally notice it at about 50m or so. If I was more relaxed while diving it’d probably hit me sooner.
and to different degrees at different deaths.
Was that supposed to say depths?
Yes. Yes it was.
Awesome thank you!
Most welcome! I can talk endlessly about diving so welcome the question.
I added an edit with some more information incase you’re more curious.
Are there other gasses that could be used. E.g some of the noble gasses like argon or neon?
Hydrogen is used at extreme depths, but isn’t so good at moderate depths, and has its own issues, like being flammable as all fuck
Ah very interesting, and yes theoretically I believe. Some people are experimenting with other gases due to the price and low availability of Helium.
Rebreathers are becoming a lot more accessible these days and so are making dives much cheaper, but they’re still $20k so it takes a while to recoup the cost.
Brought to you by big hydrogen.
Fuck! How am I going to refuel this fusion reactor I brought back from the future? You can’t have shit these days.
May I suggest food waste from someone’s garbage can? I hear that works.
😏 …Is there a Mrs. Fusion?
She’s married to Mr. Coffee with an automatic drip
why don’t we just bring a shitload back from saturn or something
Nobody’s stopping you!
Dont you tell me what i can do!!
I double dog dare you
Just use hot air. Lots of that to go around.
I’m afraid it’s already in use by politicians.
I could have sworn they were hot air generators
It’s endlessly recycled.
We should go back to filling them with hydrogen.
What could go wrong?
I mean other than that…
Oh the huge manatee!
The alternative is to use extremely limited quantities of gas crucial for MRIs, chip making, metallurgy, and a few other high tech applications. But hey, pretty balloons.
When I was a kid, Dave Berry had a column where he made fun of the US Strategic Helium Reserve. This taught me an important lesson: when people make fun of what seems like government waste, 75% of the time it turns out to be really important. Not always, but you should look into it more.
(The store was just out of helium.)
Only a matter of time before they can’t get any because we wasted such a limited resource on vanity instead of the pursuit of science.
Perspective my dude. An insignificant small amount is spent on vanity.
I’ve used more helium on a single dive than I’ve ever used in balloons in my entire life.
At least you spent yours on something scientific in nature.
At a stretch perhaps, but it’s more recreational - I liken it to going to visit a castle, or going on a safari…just underwater!
Would make for more exciting birthday parties.
Seems more like a gender reveal party sort of thing.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/23/us/gender-reveal-explosion-new-hampshire-trnd/index.html
Am I missing a joke? Airships used hydrogen gas
Specific airships made by a specific country that had no access to helium…
Not exclusively, hydrogen being lighter and cheaper meant it was still sometimes used when helium could have been.
There will absolutely still be a customer that takes a balloon from behind the sign and asks for it to be filled up in the store.
They will demand it or else poor Kayla’lin 'da Leeigh Lynn Lee’s princess party will be ruined.
I think you just summoned an Elder God.
“I̡̖̝͔̯͌̄̈́ ̧̙̮̈̈́H̥̫̭͈̖̐̆̒̂̓̾A̼͚̘̦̼͂͌̇͒̏̌͝Ṽ̡̡͙͙͌́̽Ȩ̮̝̪̞͖̍͆̋͋̄̒͝ͅ ̳̙͝R̥͕̱̠̱̈̈́͜I͎͒͌̋͗̈̑͜͝S̨͙̻͍̺̟̾Ẹ̳̖̖̼̥̊̓̆Ǹ̡̳͍̏͒͛̉̃̀,̳̅̋͑ ̡̡̠̗͈́͑̌A̡̧̛̦͛̅̎̄͒͂Ṅ̨͕͈͍͎͆̑̕D̻̑̾̔̊̉͊̚ͅ ̧̳̙̳͗̈́͊͊̓͝Ḭ̻̗̻̥̙͉̀̒̂͛̈́ ̢̡̯͖̩̻͍͛D̰͔͇͉̪̆E̛̝̻͇͚̼̤͗̊̑̀͋͜M͕̯̠͎̳͌͛͐͒̋͑Ä̹̺̥̤́̓̾̕N̝͎̓̓̆͋͐D͇̺̮̠̏͊̌͐̍̚͠.͓̼̰̈́͛̈̈͊.̺͎͖̰͔̻̇̂̉̈́̌.̢̮̣͖̳͖̜́͌ ̫̰̗͋P͔͗̑͆O̳͛͌̂̎̀Ṅ̦̣͖̭Ḭ̱̖̊̂Ė̛̠̺̭̓̉Ś̞͔͍̠̟͓̦̿̈́̆”
The Eldritch God of over eccentric suburban moms is somehow more terrifying than anything Lovecraft came up with.
I really wonder what power plants will do with the helium once they get fusion working. Maybe a balloon business on the side isn’t such a bad idea.
I mean too much Helium isn’t a problem. It’s one of the few (only?) elements that will just disappear if you don’t do anything with it.
It’s light enough that it rises to the very tip top of the earth’s atmosphere and is then stripped away by solar radiation. That’s why is a depleting natural resource, not because it’s burned or used or anything, but because it just escapes.
It’s one of the few (only?) elements that will just disappear if you don’t do anything with it.
** Lavoisier crying noises **
At the height of the French Revolution, he was charged with tax fraud and selling adulterated tobacco, and was guillotined despite appeals to spare his life in recognition of his contributions to science. A year and a half later, he was exonerated by the French government.
In a perfect world stick it in a secondary reactor and make lithium. But that’s obviously even further off than hydrogen fusion.
An MRI scanner in every home!
It takes a lot to get those working and stay running. I am one of the guys that supplies it. Well over 100 liters to even start it.
Dayum. How often do they need refilling? With rebco magnets out there, surprised we’re not using more ln2 instead.
Maybe just older machines?
I supply a university with many labs. I route 30 trucks a day. Trends are there. But I’m guessing about once a month? Per lab?
The amount of helium produced is truly miniscule, in the order of a few cubic centimeters. They’ll just pump it into the ground somewhere, assuming we ever get fusion working
Good thing I finally finished voice training and no longer need Helium to pass 👍
nice keming on that one
