Enough helium discovered to fill more than a million medical MRI scanners

I watched that report bemused. Apparently it was in short supply???? and it's extracted, not manufactured (there is SO much I don't know!!!). And who thought it was o.k. to inhale from balloons and make everyone laugh! While it was in short supply! Must confess, didn't realise it was used for so many serious purposes though. You live and learn.

The problem with all these untapped resources in third world countries is that the Chinese are moving in and buying up vast tracts of land to rape for their natural resources before anyone else can take advantage of them. Not only I'm third world countries either - Australia. It seems that they already have a monopoly on rare earth minerals, so that everyone else has to go cap in hand to buy them to keep their industries afloat. The Arabs, on the other hand are similarly buying up vast tracts of other countries' land to provide for their food resources.

I hope it doesn't all get put into silver party balloons with Disney images on them, to burst out and escape up into the stratosphere. Fat lot of use to MRI scanners it'll be then.

I must admit that my first thought on reading this was why hasn't Tanzania floated off into the stratosphere. It's good news for their economy. I hope it won't be exploited by unscrupulous multi-nationals.

That's amazing.

Me too I immediately thought of squeaky voices - its good news though isn't it. Our world (all of it) is full of untapped resources.

Think of all those very squeaky voiced scientists there will be.

I heard this on the car radio on my way home tonight.
An amazing discovery, but to my shame I half expected the reporter to tell us about it in a high squeaky voice!