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Vlad_the_Homeowner t1_isorude wrote

Reply to comment by mechwatchnerd in TIL Liquid Helium is the perfect element to keep the superconductive magnets in MRI machines cold by Alternative-Leg1095

I know the article touches on the topic of depleting the worlds helium supplies, but Reddit tends to skip anything not in the headline. NPR did a pretty good piece awhile back about how helium is the most non-renewable substance on the planet and how widely we rely on it from medical imaging, to quantum computing, to space exploration.

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MrBaker452 t1_isp44er wrote

Yet we still waste it on balloons...

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tyler1128 t1_ispvwgt wrote

We waste plenty from natural gas extraction too. Most helium comes from natural gas extraction, but not all natural gas extraction facilities capture the helium, instead just leaking it to the atmosphere, where it is extremely difficult to extract due to the very low concentration. It also tends to go toward the upper layers of the atmosphere, and can eventually escape into space.

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samaramatisse t1_isqqa5c wrote

I read something on this that said balloons and helium isn't the problem, really, because the helium used for balloons is not anywhere near "pure" enough for things like MRIs, etc. Like it's a byproduct of making the super pure stuff. It's not taking away the supply, but there is less to be found to begin with.

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Delicious-Stretch836 t1_isr0fxr wrote

we do not waste liquid helium on balloons. Getting helium into liquid form is not trivial.

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j-random t1_isotzw4 wrote

Soon enough we'll have fusion power plants, and we'll be able to make as much helium as we want!

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Khourieat t1_isov7ap wrote

The technology is just 20 years away!

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Garlien t1_isp6ov5 wrote

We already know how to fuse helium, just not in an energy-producing way. If we were willing to accept the energy cost, we could fuse enough to keep essential systems such as MRIs online.

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Khourieat t1_ispbq38 wrote

That doesn't seem like it'd address the cost concern, which is the only concern...

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Garlien t1_ispn6tw wrote

If we literally run out of helium, an inefficient fusion reactor would likely be more cost efficient than mining it from outer space.

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Efficient-Library792 t1_isqsgf9 wrote

I think you underestimate what it costs to run even an energy neutral fusion plant. There are a few around the world and they cost 10 figures to build and probably 8 to run. Amd they likely produce tiny amounts of helium

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r4tch3t_ t1_isr2pei wrote

It used to be always 50 years away, the progress in the last few of decades has indeed shifted the time line to a perpetual 20 years now. Hopefully in the next decade or 2 we can get that down to a perpetual 10 years!

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EdofBorg t1_isp9s2i wrote

Redditors like you to put a /s after sarcasm.

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VolkspanzerIsME t1_ispatif wrote

If it's well written sarcasm the /s shouldn't be necessary.

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EdofBorg t1_issqx51 wrote

In today's Dunning-Kruger environment it is difficult to know if someone is being sarcastic or are just genuinely dumb as a post.

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BarneyFifesSchlong t1_isozsjr wrote

We are 20 years away from fusion power plants. Of course, we were 20 years away 40 years ago too.

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junkdumper t1_isp3rb1 wrote

At least we're building them at scale now. That's a hell of a lot closer than we were 20 years ago.

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silverback_79 t1_ispcszt wrote

As keeper of the plane crash food stores, I ate all of the food last night because rescue will probably come in 2-3 days!

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squidvalley t1_ispvxnw wrote

we won't run out for 15 years, that's like forever from now

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Uncle_Budy t1_isp2661 wrote

Is there much quantum computing actually going on? Or is it more, it will need helium WHEN we start quantum computing?

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tyler1128 t1_ispxwff wrote

Beyond research, no. Quantum computing still has many hurdles to overcome before it reaches the point where it is useful for practical applications. Current quantum computers need to be as cold as possible because heat causes the quantum state to "break" (decoherence). The lower the temperature, the longer the state can remain entangled, on average. Liquid helium happens to have the lowest known boiling point, and it also does not ever freeze at standard pressure.

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Jaggedmallard26 t1_ispgzkz wrote

If you do further research you will find that what is running out is a very specific federal stockpile that has been artificially deflating (heh) prices since the age of airships, in fact your article doesn't actually say that theres an inability to produce more, just that at present only 3 states sell it but other major states are considering starting production. Once its depleted we won't run out of helium, we'll just start extracting it from the Earth again. Already colossal quantities of easily capturable helium are let to escape the atmosphere during natural gas extraction and other mining. Helium's role as a common fission product also means the Earth is constantly generating more.

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