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Why the World Is Running Out of Helium
jamie writes "The US National Helium Reserve stores a billion cubic meters of helium, half the world supply, in an old natural gasfield. The array of pipes and mines runs 200 miles from Texas to Kansas. In the name of deficit reduction, we're selling it all off for cheap. Physics professor and Nobel laureate Robert Richardson says: 'In 1996, the US Congress decided to sell off the strategic reserve and the consequence was that the market was swelled with cheap helium because its price was not determined by the market. The motivation was to sell it all by 2015. The basic problem is that helium is too cheap. The Earth is 4.7 billion years old and it has taken that long to accumulate our helium reserves, which we will dissipate in about 100 years. One generation does not have the right to determine availability forever.' Another view is The Impact of Selling the Federal Helium Reserve, the government study from 10 years ago that suggested the government's price would end up being over market value by 25% — but cautioned that this was based on the assumption that demand would grow slowly, and urged periodic reviews of the state of the industry."
Jesus, Richard, does she really need hundreds of fucking balloons at *every* party? Isn't it enough we got her ponies *and* two clowns, for crying out loud?!?!?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
All you need is a star with a shitload of hydrogen and a few million years. It's pretty difficult to retrieve, though.
I'd be able to take Mr. Richardson's claims more seriously if his voice wasn't so artificially high ...
Because no generation should be denied the fun of inhaling helium to speak with a goofy high-pitch voice.
Until we get those fusion generators up and running! I hear it will be in the next ten years!
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
There's plenty of Helium-4 & Helium-3 on the moon. Now get crackin' ...
Citation needed????!!!!!
But think of the children!
I was thinking the exact same thing - it's not like we're feeding it all into a fusion plant and leaving none for later generations, they just might have to expend the energy to recapture and re-purify it.
Recapture it from SPACE, you ignorant tool.
Even if we're in no immediate danger of running out, we're still living on a planet with finite resources.
But helium isn't burned or consumed or changed into something else, so we still have it when we are done using it. It's not like the helium is going to vanish into thin air.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
So, since when are Amish encouraged to post on /.?
Your blimp might be fuel efficient, but going from Los Angeles to Sydney at the mind-numbing speed of 45 MPH doesn't appeal to everyone.
I'm also guessing you want us to give up those wasteful automobiles, because your horse-drawn carriage uses less fuel, provides you with a cheap source of fertilizer, and is oh-so-comfortable?
I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
Another reason we need a space elevator - so we can ride to the top and fill our balloons!!
They took citations and stamped "Bible needed".
They really ought to be inflating the price,
Yep, they should definitely take steps to make the price balloon now, before it's too late.
What? Why are you looking at me that way?
Good analogy! "Your basic blimp" vs. a 747 is clearly an apples-to-apples comparison!
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
We can just start burning Republicans. Between them spitting out hot air and being a bunch of old fossils, we should be able to power the planet for centuries.
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
Yes, and it's up there with groping crops for biofuel.
To be fair, it was an exceptionally well-formed ear of corn.
pardon my non science background, but is there a way a to manufacture helium?
Sure we just need to capture a bunch of Hynerians and make them nervous.
Bah. Everyone knows that Greenpeace is just a shell company of BP.
Your basic blimp is also slow, can't carry much weight, and can't deal with storms very well.
I'm an average American , you insensitive clod!