this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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chapotraphouse

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Privatizing the US national helium reserve. Gonna laugh when in a few years the government of another nation ends up owning it. Helium is dwindling finite resource that key technological infrastructure relies upon.

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[–] [email protected] 93 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Just tearing the copper wires out of the walls without a shred of irony at this point.

[–] [email protected] 69 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nobody left to neocolonize but ourselves I guess.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 9 months ago (101 children)

someone once said that fascism is when the colonial methods of oppression are brought home to the imperial core

[–] [email protected] 37 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 87 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Can't wait for all that finite, medically important helium to be wasted on sellng party balloons.

Capitalism is so rational

[–] [email protected] 45 points 9 months ago

Think of those quarterly profits though Jack biden-troll

[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago

The free market has spoken and found party balloons to maximize utility

[–] [email protected] 70 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Gonna laugh when in a few years the government of another nation ends up owning it.

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1114964240/new-battery-technology-china-vanadium

A bunch of scrappy engineers made a next generation battery and sold the technology to the US government

The government never bothered to manufacture anything. Instead they sold everything to China and now they’re already releasing public versions of the batteries. Now the US doesn’t have any knowledge on the batteries or even the factories to build them

[–] [email protected] 38 points 9 months ago (1 children)

the US doesn’t have any knowledge on the batteries or even the factories to build them

hilariously based

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The story is a trip

Every dumb and evil thing in amerikkka can ultimately be traced back to capitalist greed

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

[Lead Scientist Gary Yang] soon ran into trouble. He said he couldn't persuade any U.S. investors to come aboard.

"I talked to almost all major investment banks; none of them (wanted to) invest in batteries," Yang said in an interview, adding that the banks wanted a return on their investments faster than the batteries would turn a profit.

Yang acknowledges that he wanted his U.S. engineers to work in China. But he says it was because he thought Rongke Power could help teach them critical skills.

He said he wanted to manufacture the entire battery in the U.S., but that the U.S. does not have the supply chain he required. He said China is more advanced when it comes to manufacturing and engineering utility-scale batteries.

"In this field — manufacturing, engineering — China is ahead of the U.S.," Yang said. "Many wouldn't believe [it]."

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago

Many such cases xi-cooking

[–] [email protected] 60 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Helium is technically finite, but it's really a byproduct of natural gas extraction. Most natural gas operations don't bother to even harvest the helium.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 9 months ago

Holy shit, why would you do this. Neoliberals are the stupidest people on the planet. "Oh well we have to sell it off because it's not profitable enough!" sure am glad this won't cause the price of helium to surge resulting in a hike in MRI costs.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Get ready for helium in everything for like three years and then it’s all gone. No more floaty balloons ever again.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago

We can always use hydrogen for the floaty balloons. Double as fireworks!

[–] [email protected] 47 points 9 months ago (1 children)

joe biden with the highest voice you've ever heard

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This shit is a crime against the people and in a civilized country, these fuckers would be sent to a gulag for 20 years, then the people would seize the helium back.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 9 months ago

capitalists are the stupidest fucking people on earth

[–] [email protected] 37 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 53 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

The article says it will probably owned by a German company, Messer Group. Germany and helium... 🤔

During the Nazi era, the Messer-led company benefited considerably from the regime's arms production, employed forced laborers and was a supplier for the V2 production and the Wehrmacht.[1] In the denazification process, Messer, who had been a member of the since 1933, was classified as a follower in 1948

oh, right.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Messer

Also, can't wait for this to make people's medical treatment even more expensive! Exciting times! Thanks Joe Biden!

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Can't wait to listen to all my analytical chemistry friends complain about how helium is too expensive and how they have to design new procedures.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago

Looks like we're already out, bought a "helium-filled" HDD and it doesn't even float.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago

When I looked into this a couple years ago, my understanding was that yes, the supply is finite, but the amount we have in storage is a lot and we slowing mining operations because we have enough on reserve for a while.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Havent they been in the middle of doing this for like 20 years?

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