Free Republic

My part of the RATE initiative, in collaboration with fellow RATE researchers Steve Austin, John Baumgardner, and Andrew Snelling, was to explain the remarkable retention of helium observed in radioactive crystals in granitic rocks. I showed that the retention is evidence that the usual radioactivity-based billion-year ages for such rocks are grossly wrong, and that the rocks are only 6000 (± 2000) years old. Even before I finished the project, critics began sniping at it. The critics are usually atheists or professing Christians with various old-earth views. They are very disturbed about the project’s strong support of the young biblical...

The composition and mechanical inner workings of the sun beneath the visible photosphere have remained an enigma for thousands of years. There are a whole host of unexplained phenomena related to the sun's activities that still baffle gas model theorists to this day because they fail to recognize the existence of an iron alloy transitional layer that rests beneath the visible photosphere. Fortunately a host of new satellites and the

Helium is the talk of the party balloon industry these days, and it is not a discussion being carried out in high-pitched giggles. The second most plentiful element in the universe is suddenly in short supply on this planet, and that means soaring prices for a lot of things, balloons included. "Some customers have told me they're just not going to sell balloons anymore because they can't get helium," said Chicago party wholesaler Lee Kaufman. "Everybody's scrambling." As raw materials crises go, the helium shortage clearly takes a back seat to the global oil crunch. But the repercussions go well...

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Hamburger chain Wendy's International Inc. is getting complaints that its TV commercial showing floating customers who apparently inhaled helium sends the wrong message to children about inhalants.

BOSTON - With the campaign jabber of the 2008 elections already getting loud, an organization that promotes transparency in politics hopes one slice of the Web can promote reasonable, intelligent debate about issues. The Center for Responsive Politics is working with Web startup Helium Inc. to spark public discussion on such topics as "Should there be spending limits on political campaigns?" and "Should members of Congress be allowed to add earmarks to appropriations bills?" The Web is full of opinions on these and innumerable other matters, of course. What sets Helium apart as a soapbox is that the items voted...

AUSTIN, Texas, March 12 (UPI) -- U.S. physicists report a breakthrough in the field of atomic optics by controlling the speed of a beam of helium atoms using an "atomic paddle." Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin said their technique could someday be used to better investigate microscopic surfaces or create advanced navigation systems. Mark Raizen and colleagues at the university's Center for Non-linear Dynamics created the slow helium beams using a yard-long, rapidly spinning titanium blade tipped with silicon wafers that Raizen calls an atomic paddle. The team pumped puffs of super-cooled helium gas into a vacuum...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Party planners beware: a global but temporary helium shortage could deflate festive balloons this fall. The shortage affecting some suppliers results from a series of unconnected events, including delays in getting helium plants on line in Algeria and the Mideast, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said. The agency manages public lands, mostly in the West, and their mineral resources. It handles 42 percent of the U.S. production of crude helium, the colorless, odorless gas best known for inflating balloons that is derived from natural gas production. The government provides more than one third of the world's...

BERKELEY – University of California, Berkeley, physicists can now tune in to and hear normally inaudible quantum vibrations, called quantum whistles, enabling them to build very sensitive detectors of rotation or very precise gyroscopes. Quantum whistle Hear the synchronized vibrations from a chorus of more than 4,000 nano-whistles, created when physicists pushed superfluid helium-4 though an array of nanometer-sized holes. Note that the pitch drops as the pressure drops. A quantum whistle is a peculiar characteristic of supercold condensed fluids, in this case superfluid helium-4, which vibrate when you try to push them through a tiny hole. Richard Packard, professor...

Moon gas could meet earth's future energy demands: scientistsA potential gas source found on the moon's surface could hold the key to meeting future energy demands as the earth's fossil fuels dry up in the coming decades, scientists said Friday. Mineral samples from the moon contained abundant quantities of helium 3, a variant of the gas used in lasers and refrigerators as well as to blow up balloons. "When compared to the earth the moon has a tremendous amount of helium 3," said Lawrence Taylor, a director of the US Planetary Geosciences Institute, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. "When...

Mining the moon for energy on Earth Bush's space visions kindle zeal for project of Madison scientists By SUSANNE QUICKsquick@journalsentinel.com Posted: Jan. 19, 2004 Forget about drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison think all the energy we need for the next millennium can be found on the moon. UW-Madison Photo/Joe Koshollek Gerald Kulcinski, a University of Wisconsin-Madison nuclear engineering professor, displays the only helium-3 reactor in the world, which is in his lab at the university. Helium-3 litters the moon's surface, he says. The energy source, helium-3, literally litters the...

The principal said that the act set a bad example for other students and violated school policy. But NewsChannel5 reported that the boy's father said that the school overreacted and that the punishment was way out of line. "I was just joking around," seventh-grader Ben Horkan said. "I didn't think that anyone would get mad." Horkan (pictured, below) can't believe the penalty that was handed down at St. Robert Catholic School in Euclid after he grabbed a party balloon in class and inhaled the helium to alter his voice. The school principal, Mary Pittinger, gave Horkan detentions and suspended him...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 13 WIRO at Jupiter Credit: A. Kutyrev (SSAI/GSFC), D. Rapchun(GST/GSFC), J. Norris(NASA/GSFC) R. Canterna & R. Martin (U Wyoming) Explanation: Gazing out over the mountaintops from the Wyoming InfraRed Observatory (WIRO), astronomers recently recorded this bizarre looking image of the solar system's ruling planet, gas giant Jupiter. The false-color picture is a composite of images taken to test a sophisticated digital camera operating at liquid helium...

Tycoon Rests Before Balloon Launch By ROB GRIFFITH Associated Press Writer June 18, 2002, 10:06 AM EDT NORTHAM, Australia -- American adventurer Steve Fossett took a nap Tuesday afternoon -- probably the last decent shuteye he would get for more than two weeks as he attempts to circle the globe in a balloon. Fossett was planning to take off around dawn Wednesday (4 p.m. EDT Tuesday) in his sixth attempt to fly solo around the world in a balloon. Weather permitting, he hoped to begin inflating his hot air- and helium-filled balloon, the Bud Light Spirit of Freedom, in...