this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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"A dream. It's perfect": Helium discovery in northern Minnesota may be biggest ever in North America::For a century, the U.S. Government-owned the largest helium reserve in the country, but the biggest exporters now are in Russia, Qatar and Tanzania. With this new discovery, Minnesota could be joining that list.

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (73 children)

The helium used for balloons is of low purity.

The shortages you hear about are of pure or near pure helium. The stuff going into the balloons at Tommy's birthday party isn't the same thing used to cool superconductors.

EDIT: And I used to think Reddit was full of ignorant jackasses ...

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (13 children)

Using it for balloons is still a waste because that impure helium could be purified for better uses.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (12 children)

No, no it could not.

The stuff used in balloons isn't pure enough to be used for cryogenic purposes, which is what people really want it for.

And before you ask purifying it is really difficult.

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