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@sellathechemist@mastodon.social

Post #856671

2026-03-29 12:05 UTC

I’ll be talking about the very serious helium shortage that is looming (actually, it’s already upon us) and risks crippling semiconductor chip production and diagnostic instruments like MRI scanners, not to mention low temperature science.. It’s maddening because we’ve known that helium is very limited but it’s cheap so no one recovers it. It’ll be on BBC World Service Newshour around 13:45 BST. #elements #chemistry #economics #profligacy

Replies (9)

  • @f4grx@chaos.social 2026-03-29 12:11

    @sellathechemist the CEA was recovering spent helium in their plants at Grenoble in the Alps, in 2004. Why was this not done more globally?

    Open ##1778986

  • @sellathechemist I may have missed it ... doing other things, recording the last 10 minutes, but I may have missed it. I'm aware of the problem and it quietly makes me very angry every time I think of it. Nothing I can do ... I try not to let it upset me.

    Open ##1778988

  • @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot 2026-03-29 13:03

    @sellathechemist ... Indeed! The US particularly has a recent history of stupid decisions about helium - eg Helium Privatization Act of 1996, and most of their actions since... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve

    Open ##1779004

  • @the_turtle@mastodon.sdf.org 2026-03-29 15:00

    @sellathechemist all most people will hear is that the mylar balloons for their fucking brat's birthday party will cost a lot more. Fuck mylar balloons.

    Open ##1779006

  • @Ichinin@mastodon.social 2026-03-29 15:11

    @sellathechemist I wonder how much Helium is wasted because people want to talk funny.

    Open ##1779008

  • @sellathechemist “Limited but cheap”, one wonders how we got here.

    Open ##1779033

  • @johndgriffith@twit.social 2026-03-29 16:31

    @sellathechemist This is a link to a different discussion on the same topic https://pca.st/episode/558d7abf-c938-45f7-b14a-a5245bb64da4

    Open ##1779039

  • @hicksy2@mastodon.green 2026-03-29 19:39

    @sellathechemist low Helium consumption instruments exist: https://www.iceoxford.com/

    Open ##1779044

  • @nblr@chaos.social 2026-04-02 00:22

    @sellathechemist Helium being a finite ressource, helium being used for balloons, this never felt reasonable in my brain, market economy somehow never made sense to me on that level. Maybe… it just does not, in general.

    Open ##1779048