That is already illegal in the UK (though rarely enforced, especially if the cyclist is a child)
Except who the hell is going to vote for that knowing it’ll be someday be their turn? Would you?
Why helium specifically rather than much more abundant argon?
I agree that eventually all cars will be self-driving, but why does that lead to individuals not owning them? Right now, you can already hire a car, but it’s not the norm. Why would that change?
Well, first you eliminate that whole pesky “voting” thing, of course.
I don’t know- I’m not an industrial welder. All I know is, 10 or 15 years ago I built a website for a guy who owned a welding shop, promoting a new welding process he invented that used a fraction of the helium that other welding processes typically used. Because even back then, helium was getting increasingly scarce and expensive.
Here’s what Google’s AI had to say on the matter, FWIW:
Helium is used in industrial welding, specifically for high-productivity applications involving thick, non-ferrous metals like aluminum or copper. It provides deeper penetration and higher travel speeds due to superior heat transfer compared to argon. However, argon is generally preferred over helium due to lower cost, better arc stability, and superior arc cleaning action. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Why Helium is Used in Welding:
- High Heat Input: Helium allows for higher heat input, which is essential for thick materials (>1/4 inch) and high thermal conductivity metals.
- Faster Speeds/Penetration: Its properties enable faster travel speeds and deeper, wider penetration, boosting productivity.
- Reduced Porosity: It can help reduce porosity in humid environments.
- Versatile Mixing: Often blended with argon (75\% He/25% Ar) to combine deep penetration with arc stability. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Why Argon is Preferred Over Helium:
- Cost Efficiency: Argon is significantly cheaper and more readily available, making it the standard for most welding applications.
- Arc Stability: Helium produces a less stable, wider arc, making it harder to control for beginners or for thinner materials.
- Better Cleaning Action: Argon provides superior oxide removal (cleaning action) on metals like aluminum.
- Density: As a heavier gas, Argon provides better shielding coverage at lower flow rates compared to lighter Helium, which tends to rise away from the weld. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
According to this discussion on The Fabricator, industrial, automated operations often use helium-argon mixtures for the best results, as discussed on the Weld Talk Message Boards and detailed by Simcoe Gases. Detailed, application-specific guidance is also offered by Oxygen Service Compa
The same people who smoke in 2026? Young people who don’t really believe they will be old?
I’m not sure why penetration would be a good thing for a welding gas… I thought that the point was just being sure you were excluding oxygen, not that you actually needed a gas present there at all.
Like I said…
And some people cannot have children, so that would be most unfair.
And did nobody think of the LGBTQI+?
More difficult will be the case of the people the autorities do not want to have children at all. People they don’t like, or who are the wrong color, religion, football club… If we are talking about future dystopias we well might end in a place where there is a minimum rate of reproduction in place on one hand and a reproductive ban on the other, only for different people.
Probably not, but we can certainly raise children, and if you’re not fussy about the insemination process, engender them, too.
Or even without insemination tech there are examples in history of LGBTQI+ people “closing their eyes and thinking of England” to procreate in the traditional way.
Those people are a net drain on society the planet. Once a person gets past the age where they are good for free, reliable babysitting, either because they are physically incapable or the grands are old enough to not need babysitting anymore why should we keep 'em around…except for the fact that I’ll be that age soon enough myself.
That would sucketh mightily! Needing to lug everything in & out at every stop & have a place to put it all during the day, including but not nearly limited to:
- Dirty laundry to go to the laundromat after work
- Dropping off the dry cleaning after work
- Whatever you large / bulky item you need to return
- Going for a bike ride after work
- Playing / coaching / umpiring soft or baseball where you need to bring bases, bats, & balls, cooler, etc.
- Leaving from work to go away for the weekend
Doubly bad if you have a (doctor’s) appointment somewhere along the way during your day & now need to lug any of the above twice because you can’t just leave it in your vehicle.
Very poor utilization. For the vast majority of car owners, their cars are driven a very small percentage of the time. This is wasteful and costly. A much more efficient system would have fewer cars, but each car would be on the road >95% of the time.
Here are some formerly common things that have been banned/phased sort of recently: portable gas cans that just pour. CFL lamps. Hood ornaments. Wideband 25khz two way commercial radios, some wireless theater & studio mics aren’t legal anymore, too.
Maybe helium purges the residual oxygen better?
Not to mention the vast acreage currently given over to parking - a LOT of land could be freed up if there was less need for parking.
Certainly many commercial vehicles have the same need to be used as movable storage, so it seems likely that licenses for that kind of use will remain available even when most folks get by just fine with on-demand vehicles.
Conversely, lots of folks who currently have trouble bringing home bulky items from the DIY center will be able to page a van when that’s what they need instead of owning a truck for the 5% of the time it is really necessary.
In the long run, I don’t think it makes a difference, since cars that spend 95% of their time driving will wear out that much quicker. And there are a number of reasons why people prefer there being one specific car that’s always theirs.
Were CFL lamps banned, or just outcompeted by LEDs?
You can already rent a pickup truck from those places.
The Ceaușescu regime in Romania attempted to impose measures to increase the birthrate; it worked about as well as most Communist projects did.
Not if they’re designed for it. Commercial aircraft spend 90% of their time in the air. Electric, autonomous cars can be designed to do the same.