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Helium Crisis Approaching

Posted by kdawson on from the no-more-squeaky-voices dept.

vrmlguy writes "Within nine years the National Helium Reserve will be depleted, according to an article in Science Daily. It quotes Dr. Lee Sobotka, of Washington University in St. Louis: 'Helium is non-renewable and irreplaceable. Its properties are unique and unlike hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas or oil), there are no biosynthetic ways to make an alternative to helium. All should make better efforts to recycle it.' (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a local article with quotes from Dr. Sobotka and representatives of the balloon industry.) On Earth, Helium is found mixed with natural gas, but few producers capture it. Extracting it from the atmosphere is not cost-effective. The US created a stockpile, the National Helium Reserve, in 1925 for use by military dirigibles, but stopped stockpiling it in 1995 as a cost-saving measure."

8 of 501 comments (clear)

  1. No more helium? by eldepeche · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, no!

  2. Re:Where's the problem? by denzacar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Doesn't this mean that there were a lot of people smooching the US national helium reserve for a long time? Yeah... there is always at least one jerk at every party who still thinks that is funny.
    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  3. Re:Helium is a rebel, a loner by Manchot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Which I guess makes hydrogen the Paris Hilton of elements? Alone at the top??

    It also bonds with pretty much anything it meets.

  4. Re:What? by dintech · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was going to mod you up but then I remembered I time when I didn't have mod points and thought better of it.

  5. Re:Time to ramp up fusion research by Picass0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) Inhales balloon
    2) ?????
    3) <squeakyvoice> Profit! </squeakyvoice>

  6. Re:Look on the bright side by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, they are filled with helium, but after the speeches they've just given up all hope and are too depressed to float anymore.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  7. Re:Look on the bright side by Ranger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ever fill a balloon with carbon dioxide then drop it? It gives visual meaning to the phrase 'went over like a lead balloon.'

    Now that would be a cool sight. Dropping C02 filled balloons at a political rally. They wouldn't float down. They'd plummet straight to the ground and wouldn't even bounce. It wouldn't look natural.

    --
    "You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
  8. Re:Look on the bright side by Warbothong · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmmm.... There's a joke here about hot air, but I can't quite get it off the ground.....