This is what Peak Helium looks like.

[Atterton]

Due to the world running out of helium, the prices are going up. I guess that is the reason these people decided to fill their balloons with hydrogen instead of helium. With rather explosive consequences. I'd imagine we might see more of this scenario in the future.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/144-armenians-injured-gas-filled-balloons-explode-campaign-rally-article-1.1073055

[James Harrison]

Birthday parties might go off with a bit more of a 'bang' in future 

On the plus side, fewer instances of idiocy of breathing the stuff in and talking like a smurf. 

Swings and roundabouts.

[Atterton]

Ahh, but argon can also be used to alter the voice and we won't run out of that. You just sound more like Barry White than a smurf.

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

Birthday parties might go off with a bit more of a 'bang' in future  

On the plus side, fewer instances of idiocy of breathing the stuff in and talking like a smurf.  

Swings and roundabouts.

Doesn't hydrogen have the same effect? The voice change isn't a special property of helium, and any gas with a sufficiently low density should have the same effect.

But I suppose that if you do it with hydrogen, you stand a much better chance of exploding.

[rovingjack]

Birthday parties might go off with a bit more of a 'bang' in future 

On the plus side, fewer instances of idiocy of breathing the stuff in and talking like a smurf. 

Swings and roundabouts.

Doesn't hydrogen have the same effect? The voice change isn't a special property, and gas with a sufficiently low density should have the same effect.

But I suppose that if you do it with hydrogen, you stand a much better chance of exploding.

Or breathing fire!
Heliums only rare til we get the kinks outta this fusion thing. 

[James Harrison]

Ahh, but argon can also be used to alter the voice and we won't run out of that. You just sound more like Barry White than a smurf.

Personally, I find that funnier than sounding like a smurf 

Heliums only rare til we get the kinks outta this fusion thing. 

Or until we can start collecting He-3 from Luna.  Maybe running out of He 'down here' will finally provoke us into real action in deep space.

[Siliconous Skumins]

Ahh, but argon can also be used to alter the voice and we won't run out of that. You just sound more like Barry White than a smurf.

Personally, I find that funnier than sounding like a smurf 

You might find Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) to be more entertaining... 

MythBusters - Fun With Gas

Plus you can have fun with it's properties - it's so dense you can float a paper boat ON THE GAS! 


I must say however, I really wish people would stop wasting Helium, without it we are *really* screwed when it comes to certain scientific research (cryogenics, superconducting magnets, MRI scanners, etc.) . It's not just a fun party balloon gas, it's really important stuff with unique properties. And yet it's sold off at ridiculously low prices, and thus wasted at an incredible rate. Once it's gone, IT'S GONE! Sure we can (could) make small amounts with fusion reactors, but there is no way to produce 0.1% of the global usage, let alone enough to waste it as we do now. It takes a very long time for Helium to accumulate naturally, and fusion reactors will likely reuse most of the Helium they produce (breeder reactor or directly for fuel) - and even if they didn't , and ALL the worlds energy was supplied via fusion reactors....it still would be nowhere near current production of Helium. So it really is a finite resource... 


A few of the more interesting properties of Helium (watch all in playlist):  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL442F47F12D99C4D2


SS

[DrArclight]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see how helium can be "used up".  It's an inert gas, it doesn't react with anything.  Once we "use" it, it just gets vented back into the atmosphere where it can be re-condensed with the big gas-condensing refrigerators.

Yes, I understand it costs time, money, & energy to re-condense, and there's going to be some lost by progression to the outer atmosphere, but I can't see where it would be enough to cause a "shortage"

I think the most likely problem is that demand may outstrip production capacity and, let's face it, even with recycling, there's only so much helium we can condense out of the atmosphere before the concentration drops too low to produce any appreciable yield.

I guess I mostly have a problem with the semantics of saying the helium is being "wasted" and "used up".

[Narsil]

The problem is that once helium gets into the atmosphere it tends to disappear into space. It's molecules are so light that it's easy for them to escape from the atmosphere entirely as it can easily achieve escape velocity at ambient temperatures.  Heavier noble gases can be condensed out of the atmosphere but not helium in any useful quantity. 

The only real source of helium is from radioactive decay in rocks where it tends to accumulate along with natural gas deposits from which it can be separated. Most of the current supply was extracted from natural gas in the US over a period of several decades where it is currently stored in large underground reservoirs.