• Flying SquidOPM
    link
    434 months ago

    What could go wrong?

    I mean other than that…

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      224 months 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.

      • Flying SquidOPM
        link
        154 months ago

        (The store was just out of helium.)

        • RedEye FlightControl
          link
          English
          114 months 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.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            44 months 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.

            • RedEye FlightControl
              link
              English
              -14 months ago

              At least you spent yours on something scientific in nature.

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                34 months 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!

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        8
        edit-2
        4 months 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.

        • @Aqarius
          link
          24 months ago

          Yeah, there’s areas where it’s surprisingly hard for laypeople to tell apart “mostly useless” and “saves lives on a daily basis”.

      • Blaster M
        link
        English
        64 months ago

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

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          54 months ago

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