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this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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Chemistry
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Not possible for certain things, plus hydrogen in balloons is dangerous.
It's needed to super cool magnets in NMR (and MRI), and it's heavily used as a carrier gas in GC (where hydrogen is used as the flame gas).
Many GC methods could have helium replaced with nitrogen, but the difference in gas performance means updating every method with tedious work.
For NMR, there is no alternative, just varying degrees of effectiveness in how you use helium.
I was specifically talking about novelty balloons. Personally I think the danger is overblown in most situations, small rising pop (perhaps of flame), but if you have a problem with that, use air... with the goal of saving it for more important uses, like some of your examples. Blimps are another egregious waste, especially if usage scales up they need to be engineered for sustainable hydrogen.
Someone needs to make a "balloon" you fill with normal air and then has a rechargable battery and 4 drone propellers to make it float up.
The balloon lasts much longer than a helium balloon, only downside is you have to charge it and it's noisy.