• 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      32
      ·
      edit-2
      17 hours ago

      The universe is full of Helium.

      It’s just not concentrated here on Earth.

      And also we want a very specific isotope of helium. The stuff you put in a balloon isn’t the same helium the planet is getting low on.

      • Aljernon@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        19
        ·
        17 hours ago

        I read that if it wasn’t for the US dumping it’s strategic helium supply, the price of a party balloon would be $50. Yes, Helium 3 gets attention for Fusion research but regular Helium is used heavily in imaging equipment like MRI’s. The Large Hadron Collider needs 130 metric tons of the stuff.

        • chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          11 hours ago

          Helium is one of those things I don’t really care about. I could tell you I never liked balloons because of their impact on the environment, and that would be true, especially with ones getting released into the air. However I also have a really selfish reason, and that was cleaning them up. I never really liked water balloons for the same reasons, and I’m so happy I haven’t been around much confetti.

      • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        17 hours ago

        helium3 is getting low, right? I had heard we’re looking at mining operations on the moon, but I think that would be a very bad idea…

        nothing like unchecked capitalism in space.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          12 hours ago

          There’s virtually no helium 3 on Earth, but that’s not because we’re using it up, it’s because there was essentially never any really to begin with.

          The moon has helium 3 on its surface so naturally that leads to the idea of mining the moon for the material. But there are no actual serious plans to do so, for one thing nobody knows how you would actually go about doing that. Besides there’s practically no market for it, it’s used in some fusion research but only a tiny quantity is required and that can be supplied with domestic supplies more or less forever, since it’s possible to manufacture it from normal helium.

        • Petter1@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          12 hours ago

          I think there was a this movie 🤔 about helium 3 🤔 and other stuff on the moon 🤔🤔

          Ohhh, yea

          It was Nazis 😂

        • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          17 hours ago

          Honestly we’re probably way too late to stop that from happening. That’s been part of Elon’s plans for a long time. Battery power, robot tech, space technology. And Elon isn’t the only player eyeing what’s out there.

        • ghen@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          17 hours ago

          By the time we figure out something better than capitalism will have a few more solar systems to screw up on the new thing too.