Re: Bike to Anywhere Day Redux

On 5/18/2025 11:14 PM, pH wrote:

On 2025-05-18, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

On 5/18/2025 8:11 AM, pH wrote:

On 2025-05-17, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

On 5/17/2025 10:08 AM, pH wrote:

On 2025-05-16, Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gXXmail.com> wrote:

On 5/15/2025 8:25 PM, sms wrote:

Bike to Anywhere Day Redux
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<snip>

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Interestingly, I was on some of those same roads and trails this week.
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That wasn't a blimp. It was LTA Research's Pathfinder 1 rigid airship.
(A blimp is limp.) It's the largest flying machine currently existing. I
watched one flight from the northern end of the Stevens Creek preserve,
near GooglePlex. I've got contacts at LTA, and was given a facility tour
last Friday.
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(Yep, look at me!)

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Holy Hindenberg, Batman, I didn't know there were any dirigibles flying.
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It seems to be a disappeared part of history that there was indeed a few
years of the big ships flying hither and yon.
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pH
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slightly related, I recall reading that Helium supplies may be diminishing.
Of course we can make all the Hydrogen we want, but there's the "boom"
factor.

>
Helium, which has many uses including the cooling medium for
massive imaging facilities (one of my brothers is in that
racket) is indeed more scarce since the US strategic reserve
was abolished.
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https://directmedimaging.com/coldheads-helium-compressors-guide/
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https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2024/09/09/the-united-states-national-helium-reserve-and-privatization-relevance-to-the-space-economy/
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The various players and interests have not yet adjusted,
which is an actual problem, but there's no physical shortage
of helium so the situation will at some point resolve.
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>
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That is good to know that there is not (yet) a shortage.  I was going to say
we're not making any more here but I guess that's not true--radioactive
decay.
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...but maybe we'll develop the technology to harvest it from the Sun; we
seem to be doing some amazing things as a species...
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pH

>
It's a byproduct of oil/gas extraction. Not free, but it
does exist in some quantity.
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https://rockymountainair.com/blog/how-is-helium-extracted/
>
>

Thank-you for this link/read, Mr. M.
 pH

One of my ex-employees ran a gas separation plant in Oklahoma for years which is how I know a little bit of that.
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971