In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future There Are No Helium Balloons: Experts Call for Ban on Helium - Polidicks

[img]http://i.imgur.com/BRiud.jpg[/img] [quote]Dr Peter Wothers, a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a University of Cambridge chemist, will use this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures to argue that there will be “serious problems” in 30 to 50 years’ time if the lighter-than-air gas continues to be wasted in party balloons. Helium is a non-renewable gas that is used to cool magnets in MRI scanners in hospitals. It is also mixed with oxygen to make breathing easier for ill patients and can help save new-born babies’ lives. However, there is currently a global shortage of the gas, which cannot be synthesized. The gas has to be extracted from beneath the earth’s crust and 75 per cent of the world’s helium comes from the US. Dr Wothers will warn: “The scarcity of helium is a really serious issue. I can imagine that in 50 years time our children will be saying ‘I can’t believe they used such a precious material to fill balloons’.” Dr Wothers will argue in the lectures that there is currently no sustainable way of making helium artificially and once it is released in the atmosphere, it is gone forever.[/quote] [url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9732883/Ban-helium-balloons-this-Christmas-academic-warns.html]SOURCE[/url]

Well what else are we going to use? Hydrogen? Because I don't think we should have kids hauling mini-Hindenburgs around :v:

Another too little too late speech trying to save non renewable something or other.

Oh wow, I didn't know it was non-renewable

[QUOTE=Kinversulath;38788984]Well what else are we going to use? Hydrogen? Because I don't think we should have kids hauling mini-Hindenburgs around :v:[/QUOTE] I think MRIs are more important than balloons sorry

[QUOTE=scout1;38789009]I think MRIs are more important than balloons sorry[/QUOTE] I'd ban some novelty 'toy' thing in a heartbeat if it meant having more medical equipment/breathing aides for the ill.

[QUOTE=scout1;38789009]I think MRIs are more important than balloons sorry[/QUOTE] What kind of intolerable hell do you want to turn this world into

[QUOTE=Kinversulath;38788984]Well what else are we going to use? Hydrogen? Because I don't think we should have kids hauling mini-Hindenburgs around :v:[/QUOTE] That would be cool. You'd get a free fireworks display every time you popped one.

Surely we're just not looking hard enough. We still have radiogenic heating in the interior of the planet, so helium is still being produced constantly. How long does it take to get to the surface, though?

[QUOTE=scout1;38789009]I think MRIs are more important than balloons sorry[/QUOTE] Not to mention pure research! Until we can make viable room temperature superconductors we need helium to cool instruments.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;38789093]Not to mention pure research! Until we can make viable room temperature superconductors we need helium to cool instruments.[/QUOTE] surely we can substitute ice for helium? my freezer goes down to like -8°F, its pretty cold

so, do i have an excuse for going round popping little kids balloons now?

[QUOTE=_Maverick_;38789202]so, do i have an excuse for going round popping little kids balloons now?[/QUOTE] No. What you need to do to save the world is steal as many balloons as possible and take them to the nearest hospital. Make sure to take the candy too.

[QUOTE=Kinversulath;38788984]Well what else are we going to use? Hydrogen? Because I don't think we should have kids hauling mini-Hindenburgs around :v:[/QUOTE] air balloons on a stick

I'd have to agree with banning them

Sadly, due to the way helium balloons are viewed by most, I don't see there ever being a ban on it

[QUOTE=scout1;38789009]I think MRIs are more important than balloons sorry[/QUOTE] Yeah, because I was totally being serious guys. Fuck MRIs.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;38789303]Sadly, due to the way helium balloons are viewed by most, I don't see there ever being a ban on it[/QUOTE] We just need to fear monger how a noble gas is bad for the [I]quantum phosphates in your bloodstream[/I]..

[QUOTE=Bradyns;38789326]We just need to fear monger how a noble gas is bad for the [I]quantum phosphates in your bloodstream[/I]..[/QUOTE] '[I]I apologise to your child for his distress, however, I had to confiscate your helium balloon due to health concerns. When I breathed all the helium in I did so for your protection and in no way was I having fun.'[/I] - Health worker

does your voice go squeaky when you're in an mri?

Here, have an informative video [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZkMQkHGj1s[/media]

Having only just learned that Helium is non-renewable, I'd also have to agree with their banning...

ban them, use hydrogen for balloons

Hydrogen is safe as long as it's handled properly. Obviously this will never be the case for party balloons or any of the like, but I'm fairly sure there are other lighter-than-air gases you could use. Beside the usage of helium mentioned in the article, it's also used in a lot of industrial processes and for science research.

Also, who's to say in 50 years or so that we won't have moved beyond MRIs. Or managed to synthesize helium. Or found something better to put in balloons. [QUOTE=Daemon;38789279]air balloons on a stick[/QUOTE] Yeah, but those are only about as half as entertaining.

If its non-renewable, where does it come from in the first place? Whats the process to its being?

[QUOTE=Puni;38789683]If its non-renewable, where does it come from in the first place? Whats the process to its being?[/QUOTE] [quote]However, there is currently a global shortage of the gas, which cannot be synthesized. The gas has to be extracted from beneath the earth’s crust and 75 per cent of the world’s helium comes from the US.[/quote]

They're not going to ban balloons, they're just considering restraining helium usage. The only thing that's gonna happen is that balloons won't float anymore. Don't like them on the ground? Just tape the damn things to the ceiling. [QUOTE=Puni;38789683]If its non-renewable, where does it come from in the first place? Whats the process to its being?[/QUOTE] What about reading the whole article next time?

For more urgent medical research, isn't a couple stable isotopes of helium produced by nuclear fusion? It's a bit of a feeble last resort, but if there really was an immediate need for medical grade helium, fusion reactors could be a source. (I'm not a chemist so I don't know the difference between naturally occurring helium and helium-4 or helium-6) This shortage has been around for years and there are several helium conservationists, but all of their arguments have fallen on deaf ears. The American party industry is huge and a ban could potentially lead to a large loss of jobs. Also think about the sanctions on bigger balloons: Goodyear blimp, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons, high altitude weather balloons, etc.

I want a balloon I can float with