Not really. The usual process for separating gases is fractional distillation of air which would be very expensive and inefficient because there is so little in the atmosphere.
Commercial helium comes from radioactive decay and is collected from some natural gas fields using fractional distillation of the methane and helium. Air Products has a writeup and a map on this paper:
G. Morgan wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Osama-is-dead.net:
That's the one. They "cut costs" by limiting supply severely.
I posted two very long replies yesterday. Go read them. THAT's the REAL Canadian medical system: A morass of confusion and scarcity.
That's strange, most Canadians I've spoken to like the system. I know y'all are taxed heavily for this, I thought it was a much better system than you described.
oh come on, Palin was proud of how she was able to redistribute money from the oil companies to the citizens of Alaska
except that sweet corn isn't used in ethanol production
Nope but corn is in just about everything we eat and most is not sweet corn. Meat is corn, sweeteners are corn, there is a lot of corn meal in foods and we use tons of corn starch. The list goes on.
Thank you for making me aware. I have not been a big-abuser, but, going forward, I will act in "Helium-conscious" ways!
Bill
Geez, the more it changes, the more it stays the same.
When I was 12 years old, the big fear was overpopulation. Scientists predicted that by the year 2000, there'd be so many people on the Earth that each of us would only have 1 square foot to stand on.
When I was 15, based on everything I heard, I was worried the world was gonna run out of oil before I got my driver's license.
In the 1970's and 80's, pollution was the boogie man. We were going to pollute the air, rivers and soil to the point where all the food chains collapsed and we'd have to eat scavengers to survive, like maggots, rats and catfish.
In the 1990's the south pole started acting up and we discovered that CFC's were burning a hole in our ozone layer, and we'd all have to wear moon suits to protect us from the UV radiation.
Then we partied like it was 1999 when the Y2K bug didn't destroy our civiliization.
And then global warming hit us when we weren't looking. All the CO2 from factories, auto emmisions and home heating is causing the polar ice caps to melt and hurricanes to be stronger and more frequent.
Now, it's a global shortage of helium that's gonna hit us in the next 30 to 50 years.
Maybe someone should tell this Prof. Welton that in 30 to 50 years, no parent is gonna buy helium balloons for his kid's birthday or bring him a helium balloon while he's recovering from surgery in the hospital. He's gonna buy what the kid really wants, and it'll be a tiny battery powered remote control helicopter with a CCTV camera on board so he can fly around the hospital and see where he's going on his cell phone display. They're on sale at Wal-Mart for $39.99.
That'll be the end of the helium shortage.
Anyone remember Archie Bunker and Michael Stivik hollering at each other about aerosol cans, and global cooling? I remember that. The planet turns into big ice ball. Robert Ringer commented on that, in his book "Winning through intimidation".
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Geez, the more it changes, the more it stays the same.
When I was 12 years old, the big fear was overpopulation. Scientists predicted that by the year 2000, there'd be so many people on the Earth that each of us would only have 1 square foot to stand on.
When I was 15, based on everything I heard, I was worried the world was gonna run out of oil before I got my driver's license.
In the 1970's and 80's, pollution was the boogie man. We were going to pollute the air, rivers and soil to the point where all the food chains collapsed and we'd have to eat scavengers to survive, like maggots, rats and catfish.
In the 1990's the south pole started acting up and we discovered that CFC's were burning a hole in our ozone layer, and we'd all have to wear moon suits to protect us from the UV radiation.
Then we partied like it was 1999 when the Y2K bug didn't destroy our civiliization.
And then global warming hit us when we weren't looking. All the CO2 from factories, auto emmisions and home heating is causing the polar ice caps to melt and hurricanes to be stronger and more frequent.
Now, it's a global shortage of helium that's gonna hit us in the next 30 to 50 years.
Maybe someone should tell this Prof. Welton that in 30 to 50 years, no parent is gonna buy helium balloons for his kid's birthday or bring him a helium balloon while he's recovering from surgery in the hospital. He's gonna buy what the kid really wants, and it'll be a tiny battery powered remote control helicopter with a CCTV camera on board so he can fly around the hospital and see where he's going on his cell phone display. They're on sale at Wal-Mart for $39.99.
That'll be the end of the helium shortage.
G. Morgan wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Osama-is-dead.net:
They like that they don't have to pay for it out-of-pocket, and that's about it. The "big bills" stories they hear from the US scare them.
I can't count the number of Canadians who have told me, "Thank God didn't happen to me in the States; I'd be bankrupt by now". And then in the next breath they complain about how long it took to get through all the waiting lists.
Yes. The system is anything but "free". It's a bit cheaper than your system, but you wait a lot. Plus the technology tends to be older, because older technology is cheaper.
It's slow, impersonal, and hasty. When you have to actually go through it, you don't like it so much anymore.
People forget that the Canadian system was far different prior to 1985. Before that it was largely privately provided and funded. All our current problems have their roots in the 1985 law.
When I hear these stories I always tell people to go to one of the province web sites and run their taxes through the Canadian tax code. It always shocks them as to how much in taxes you guys pay. I bet you don't have 47% not paying any income tax at all.
I'm sure the health care work force in the UK has more workers than the Jamaican army. Do they even have one?
A scientist cited in one of the urls here
But if the price is lower and only the wealthy could buy them, that's better than everyone doing so. HE balloons are not a necessity of life. They barely add even a smidgen to the quality of life, and watching a video of a HE balloon going to the right side of the car when a speeding car turns right is good enough. No one has to see it in person, anymore than he has to go to the moon in person. .
I didnt read the whole article. If this is true, and more importantly if it's true in the US too, and he doesn't say so, (he's referring only to the UK) that would make a big difference:
"But John Lee, the association's chairman insisted that the helium its members put into balloons, was not depriving the medical profession of the gas.
"The helium we use is not pure," he said. "It's recycled from the gas which is used in the medical industry, and mixed with air. We call it balloon gas rather than helium for that reason.
"There is no way the balloon and party industry would even consider taking badly-needed helium from the medical profession. That is important - people have to come first.
"If I thought this industry was taking helium away from the medical profession, I would be looking at doing things differently." "
I think they seel a lot more balloons in the US than could possibly come from recycled medical industry gas. I'm figuring the gas in an MRI is changed once a week, when really it seems like it could last for months, or maybe it's once a day, but I doubt it.
I envision hydrogen baloons, and soon some teenager will figure out s/he can explode them with a lighter. Lots of fun.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Now that smoking is virtually illegal, maybe hydrogen balloons are the answer (outside only).
Who gave you authority to tell others what to do?
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
But if the price is lower and only the wealthy could buy them, that's better than everyone doing so. HE balloons are not a necessity of life. They barely add even a smidgen to the quality of life, and watching a video of a HE balloon going to the right side of the car when a speeding car turns right is good enough. No one has to see it in person, anymore than he has to go to the moon in person. .
You're ignorant, don't check facts, and want to tell people how to behave, based on your lack of knowledge? I think that's dangerous.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
I didnt read the whole article. If this is true, and more importantly if it's true in the US too, and he doesn't say so, (he's referring only to the UK) that would make a big difference:
"But John Lee, the association's chairman insisted that the helium its members put into balloons, was not depriving the medical profession of the gas.
"The helium we use is not pure," he said. "It's recycled from the gas which is used in the medical industry, and mixed with air. We call it balloon gas rather than helium for that reason.
"There is no way the balloon and party industry would even consider taking badly-needed helium from the medical profession. That is important - people have to come first.
"If I thought this industry was taking helium away from the medical profession, I would be looking at doing things differently." "
I think they seel a lot more balloons in the US than could possibly come from recycled medical industry gas. I'm figuring the gas in an MRI is changed once a week, when really it seems like it could last for months, or maybe it's once a day, but I doubt it.
The question might arise, would this balloon explode or implode? A fairly large balloon would end up being a few drops of water. Then you have to ask, how much of that water be vaporized by the heat of the reaction?
Where are our chemistry majors?
Taking the statement "corn for eating is expensive today because so much corn is being diverted..." to actually mean CORN and not a corn product, no table/sweet corn is used in the production of anything but a complete meal, soup or snack.
Also soybeans are used a lot for most of the same purposes and don't forget that the DDGS get used as cattle feed
No that's the Canadian medical system from your point of view. I on the other hand have no issues with the system and I am grateful for the number of medical issues my family has been through over the past thirty years that we lived here, otherwise we would have been flat broke from all the bills that could have been.
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