• @[email protected]
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    222 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
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      152 months ago

      (The store was just out of helium.)

      • RedEye FlightControl
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        112 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]
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          42 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
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            -12 months ago

            At least you spent yours on something scientific in nature.

            • @[email protected]
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              32 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]
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      2 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
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        22 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”.