• @[email protected]
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        139 hours ago

        The alternative is to use extremely limited quantities of gas crucial for MRIs, chip making, metallurgy, and a few other high tech applications. But hey, pretty balloons.

        • @[email protected]
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          4 hours ago

          When I was a kid, Dave Berry had a column where he made fun of the US Strategic Helium Reserve. This taught me an important lesson: when people make fun of what seems like government waste, 75% of the time it turns out to be really important. Not always, but you should look into it more.

          • RedEye FlightControl
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            68 hours ago

            Only a matter of time before they can’t get any because we wasted such a limited resource on vanity instead of the pursuit of science.

            • @el_abuelo
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              37 hours ago

              Perspective my dude. An insignificant small amount is spent on vanity.

              I’ve used more helium on a single dive than I’ve ever used in balloons in my entire life.

                • @el_abuelo
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                  14 hours ago

                  At a stretch perhaps, but it’s more recreational - I liken it to going to visit a castle, or going on a safari…just underwater!

        • Blaster M
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          47 hours ago

          Specific airships made by a specific country that had no access to helium…

          • @[email protected]
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            134 minutes ago

            Not exclusively, hydrogen being lighter and cheaper meant it was still sometimes used when helium could have been.