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Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by ChuckMcM on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @04:27PM (#9735018)
I have always found it interesting that helium leaves the planet when it escapes into the atmosphere. Something cool about letting some out of a balloon on the ground and knowing you have just launched something into space, to rise up and then get picked up by the solar wind and sent flying.

Romantic notions aside though, it is pretty common in space being the by product of the star's initial gas load. At some point I wonder if collecting it there will be economical.

Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by kordless on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @04:31PM (#9735045)
The moon is chock full of it. Would be hysterical if we went back to the moon just because kid's balloons.
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by ChuckMcM on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @04:54PM (#9735231)
Nah, one MRI magnet uses more helium than 10,000 kids balloons, and you get to charge $5,000 every time you use it.
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by TeMPOraL on Thursday June 18, 2015 @07:19AM (#9737849)
Uses or wastes? I.e. is 10k-balloon-equivalent helium released or reused?
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by Kliment on Thursday June 18, 2015 @07:48AM (#9737957)
Reused unless you do a quench (emergency shutdown)
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by jackgavigan on Thursday June 18, 2015 @09:06AM (#9738246)
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by PhasmaFelis on Thursday June 18, 2015 @02:14AM (#9737077)
Apparently helium balloons use only about 8% of the annual consumption of helium, and that's just about the highest-margin use there is--hospitals effectively pay less for their helium because it's subsidized by kiddie balloons.
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by Jweb_Guru on Thursday June 18, 2015 @04:18AM (#9737357)
It is an entirely fanciful notion that the cost of helium would ever be high enough that going to the moon to retrieve it would be economically viable.
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by InclinedPlane on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @08:13PM (#9736066)
Long term, perhaps. With the right technology you could skim Helium out of the atmosphere of Jupiter or Saturn.

As long as natural gas continues to be extracted, there's likely to be sufficient Helium production from Earthly sources for the foreseeable future. It mostly just requires the right equipment on wells.

Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by albinoloverats on Thursday June 18, 2015 @04:48AM (#9737440)
Sounds like it's time to found the Jupiter Mining Corporation...
Re:The Increasing Scarcity of Helium by ionised on Thursday June 18, 2015 @07:18AM (#9737848)
Dispatch the small rouge one!