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

[Arnold]

Can we not extract helium from fusion reactors in the future?

[Leg of Doom]

Easy solution get some scientists to genetically build a tree that converts co2 to helium and exhales through teat like organs for efficient capture and you can just attach balloons to the teats for direct production

[Madman_Andre]

[QUOTE=iusehax;38789003]Oh wow, I didn't know it was non-renewable[/QUOTE]

All the Helium in the earth right now is produced from beta decay of radioactive elements in the earth's interior. It's a by-product of natural gas production because helium likes to collect in useful quantities inside pockets of natural gas.

So i doubt the veracity of this, because as long as the earth is hot we're going to have a steady supply of the stuff, or at least as long as we're pulling NatGas from the ground.

[n0cturni]

[QUOTE=Leg of Doom;38790005]Easy solution get some scientists to genetically build a tree that converts co2 to helium and exhales through teat like organs for efficient capture and you can just attach balloons to the teats for direct production[/QUOTE]

So basically we should grow a tree with helium-lactating tits? Are you fuckin' serious?

I like the way you think, someone start a kickstarter

[dass]

[QUOTE=scout1;38789009]I think MRIs are more important than balloons sorry[/QUOTE]

But think of the children!

[Bendacriss]

If I found a way to synthesize helium, I could become a millionaire. MUHAHA
What if I shot deuterium with electrons and hope some of them stick... I doubt that would work. Shit, this is hard...

[Nefarious]

[QUOTE=Benjimon007;38790328]What if I shot deuterium with electrons and hope some of them stick...[/QUOTE]

I think it's called "nuclear fusion".
But should you succeed, your last words would be "IT WO-"

[MadBomber]

-snip my brain is broken-

[FreakyMe]

[QUOTE=Leg of Doom;38790005]Easy solution get some scientists to genetically build a tree that converts co2 to helium and exhales through teat like organs for efficient capture and you can just attach balloons to the teats for direct production[/QUOTE]

And then due to some evolutionary trick, the newly created species ends up spreading like cheat grass and we all die a slow, squeaky death.

[editline]11th December 2012[/editline]

[QUOTE=MadBomber;38790566]Why dont we just get cows to fart into canisters?[/QUOTE]

Methane, not helium.

[Chipset]

Is people in this thread have touched on, the danger is not in running out of helium (helium is the second most abundant element in the entire universe) but in prices spiking because helium production is much slower than it's consumption because twats want party balloons. To clarify on the scarcity issue, because helium is lighter than air when it's released it floats out into space and we can't retrieve it.

[lordcrypto]

build helium funnels around the earth

problem solved

[OvB]

Isn't helium a byproduct of fusion reactors like ITER?

[IPK]

In 50 years we will have a space empire,seeing that the civilization progresses faster and faster.

[Otsegolation]

I hear that we are losing oxygen, hydrogen and helium.

[cqbcat]

If we need helium so much, then the demand will create new processes for collecting or synthesizing it. I guess that's an optimistic way of looking at it, but it's not unrealistic to see some university research or corporation doing something about the problem.

We're running out of oil too, but that isn't stopping people from figuring our how to do more with less or finding alternatives.

[Aokaji]

My low temperate physics lecturer mentioned this a few weeks ago, didn't expect to see it reach the news.
I feel terrible for letting my parents buy a helium canister for my birthday party a few months ago now :c

[Bad)-(and]

if they ban it's use in balloons, then what the hell am i going to use to amuse myself at parties when im blind drunk?

[PolygonLarry]

Damn, but my mum & dad are balloon decorators!

[MrEndangered]

[QUOTE=cqbcat;38791839]If we need helium so much, then the demand will create new processes for collecting or synthesizing it. I guess that's an optimistic way of looking at it, but it's not unrealistic to see some university research or corporation doing something about the problem.

We're running out of oil too, but that isn't stopping people from figuring our how to do more with less or finding alternatives.[/QUOTE]

Helium is more political and is being vastly undersold from it's true value because of the Federal Helium Program.

[Col. Buggernuts]

[QUOTE=Bad)-(and;38792155]if they ban it's use in balloons, then what the hell am i going to use to amuse myself at parties when im blind drunk?[/QUOTE]Hydrogen! Bonus is you can give it a wick or other flammable material for string, let it fly up and watch it explode :D

EDIT: I dunno how forcefully a balloon of hydrogen would explode; but probably not very forcefully considering how bereft of density it is.

[TurbisV2]

[QUOTE=iusehax;38789003]Oh wow, I didn't know it was non-renewable[/QUOTE]

Thanks to my inability to stop clicking related videos on youtube I actually knew this.

[DesolateGrun]

mine the sun!

[supersoldier58]

Moving that joke aside, I'm pretty sure if anything were to be mined for helium to would be our gas giants.

[Naaz]

[QUOTE=iusehax;38789003]Oh wow, I didn't know it was non-renewable[/QUOTE]Give it 70 years, and it will be. Fusion reactors produce it as exhaust:dance:

[Neo Kabuto]

[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;38792249]I dunno how forcefully a balloon of hydrogen would explode; but probably not very forcefully considering how bereft of density it is.[/QUOTE]

[video=youtube;kknU6cpKWL0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknU6cpKWL0[/video]

They make a pretty little fireball when lit.

[Majr]

The most obvious solution is to invent hover drives and put them in the balloons.

Duh.

[lifehole]

[QUOTE=cqbcat;38791839]If we need helium so much, then the demand will create new processes for collecting or synthesizing it. I guess that's an optimistic way of looking at it, but it's not unrealistic to see some university research or corporation doing something about the problem.

We're running out of oil too, but that isn't stopping people from figuring our how to do more with less or finding alternatives.[/QUOTE]

There is a limit for everything, and conventional science using existing resources is not going to be sufficient simply because of the laws of physics at some point.

[veDemaG]

[QUOTE=MadBomber;38790566]Why dont we just get cows to fart into canisters?[/QUOTE]

i'm sorry what

[Mr. Bix]

he thinks methane is helium :v:

[Squad]

[QUOTE=chipset;38790652]Is people in this thread have touched on, the danger is not in running out of helium (helium is the second most abundant element in the entire universe) but in prices spiking because helium production is much slower than it's consumption because twats want party balloons. To clarify on the scarcity issue, because helium is lighter than air when it's released it floats out into space and we can't retrieve it.[/QUOTE]

Actually some danger is in running out of CHEAP helium.

It is INCREDIBLY expensive to try and extract from rocks and what not. I have been saying this for years.

The U.S. government had a HUGE stockpile of helium, (blimps were the future ...) and when airplanes won out over blimps the government said, "Welp, better get rid of this helium" and decided to get rid of it over X amount of years.

This caused the price to be so incredibly low that it was viable to put in balloons to make them fun. ...

And for people saying MRI's, that is an important tool but there are so many other things that will come of this.

Once Helium becomes expensive, small research labs and universities won't be able to cool their NMRs and will be forced to send out samples to other facilities that can afford NMRs. This slows research and cripples departments.

That is just one other instance where this could bite us in the ass.