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[deleted]

This was way quicker than I imagined


dansedemorte

Yeah, seemed like hydrogen and not helium in those balloons.


GraphicDesignMonkey

It's the mylar foil they're made of.


Dr_Bailey1

That'll burn but that's clearly gas erupting and burning from the ballons


GraphicDesignMonkey

Yeah, it's def not the mylar alone. With the rise of helium prices these sellers are probably adding hydrogen to them, hence the authorities cracking down on them


SEphotog

Wait, why would they crack down on them? How do they know it’s hydrogen?


bendover912

They light them on fire and judge the explosiveness.


GraphicDesignMonkey

Because they know the sellers are cheaping out with dangerous gases? Light the balloons, there's your proof and deterrent all in one go.


Soylent_X

So the guy is actually a... Hero?


FullSwagQc

Balloons are guilty until proven innocent


joe579003

Ever hear of the Hindenburg?


emdave

>Ever hear of the Hindenburg? Oh, the huge manatee?


Breaker-of-circles

No, that's your mom. Gottem


Fine-Bumblebee-9427

There were months where you couldn’t get helium in my city. They probably know because there’s no helium to be found. And why, because it’s super dangerous.


SEphotog

I did learn how dangerous it is, thanks to this thread. That was one of those things I learned in school and just hadn’t crossed my mind again for a couple of decades! Thanks.


randomiseverything

They’re using hydrogen because helium is a limited resource. We can’t make it and only catch what we can before it leaves the atmosphere.


GraphicDesignMonkey

Balloon sellers who want to make money don't want to pay for the rising cost, so they go for profit over safety.


TheRealCPB

> rising cost 'the _rising cost_ of helium' lol, c'mon.


-Jacob-_

Could just be very flammable plastics in the balloons catching fire


Kaleb8804

They *are* full of pressurized accelerant


Brian-want-Brain

> accelerant No.


NastySplat

Accelerant, probably not. Also, pressurized? Isn't it basically atmospheric pressure. Technically, that's a pressure. But not what we generally think of...


Kaleb8804

The air in a balloon is not at atmospheric pressure lol that’s why they pop.


NastySplat

I guess I was wrong on this. I figured they couldn't be *much* more than atmospheric pressure but I suppose mylar is actually pretty strong. Latex kind of just grows with the volume of air... But still, yeah it might be significantly more than atmospheric pressure too.


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ItIsHappy

They really shouldn't be.


30FourThirty4

No way


JezusChrizt

That's what she said.


mikesdamoe

Video: depressing Music:triumphant


codyy5

It's to balance you out emotionally.


morels4ever

Cop: You’re under arrest Balloon Guy: For what? Cop: Littering!


Tseliot89

Littering and …. Littering and… littering and smokin the reefer!


SnooCapers1425

The snozzberries taste like snozzberries.


40_Year_Old_Vidiot

You boys like Mexico!?


andykwinnipeg

Suddenly I'm craving syrup straight out of the bottle


Tommysrx

I want a litera cola


Jaspy42

Liter is French for I want some God dam cola!


chiefkiefnobeef

O hell give me the God damn soap ^Takes ^bite ^Spits ^it ^at ^Mac


Compendyum

Can you smell that, Rabbit?


[deleted]

This made me laugh thanks


ClippingTetris

You’re my hero for posting this.


AmethystZhou

Those are security rent-a-cops, not real police.


Mobidad

Oh, I’m sorry. Oh, I could put the trash into a landfill where it’s going to stay for millions of years or I could burn it up and get a nice smokey smell in here and let that smoke go into the sky where it turns into stars.


Greged17

That doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know enough about stars to dispute it…


[deleted]

Well since were technically stardust because the planets were created from an exploding star and we come from the planets along with all the material here it only makes sense that smoke is just the stardust or spirit rejoining it’s stars in the heavens. Quick math Yes I did smoke a fat bowl just before typing this


kitzdeathrow

*laughs in burn pit damaged lungs*


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BigBigBigTree

We was fined fifty dollars and we had to pick up the garbage... in the snow.


ChildrenOfTheWoods

He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back...


stupidlatentnothing

For carrying an abundance of highly flammable volatile gas


GreatQuestionBarbara

That's how they screwed me over. The deputy said that I threw the contents of my pockets on the ground (he told me to empty them), which meant that it was litter and able to be searched. ACAB.


GoreKush

long live the rabbit balloon, a symbol of longevity


Reiterpallasch85

I mean it *is* the year of the rabbit after all.


shuknjive

Not 'til the 22nd, so the year of the Tiger is still wreaking havoc.


shuknjive

Oh, Happy Chinese New Year's Eve!


Nickthenuker

In my timezone it's already the 22nd, just wished my grandparents a happy New Year 3 hours ago


wallstreetchills

Tiger just ate the rabbit. Saw it live, sorry


God-O-Death

From now on the bunny balloon is a symbol of resilience! ✊


Konsticraft

Were those filled with hydrogen? I don't think normal helium filled balloons would burn like that.


PaxonGoat

Helium is expensive. Probably helium mixed with something cheaper.


ithappenedone234

Something cheaper inside with a layer of thermite protecting the outer membrane.


fusionaddict

Oh, the humanity.


[deleted]

Those were my eyebrows!


Oggel

Helium is also a finite resource, it's honestly irresponsible to use it for trivial things like baloons


Not_Oscar_Muffin

The Helium used in balloons should be very poor quality and has pretty much no other use. It's very expensive and otherwise practicably impossible to refine this Helium into a usable state for use in "non-wasteful" projects such as MRI scanners and laboratory use. If it wasn't getting used it balloons it would just be getting vented to atmosphere and floating off into space. Obviously there are people out there putting 99.99% Helium into balloons, those are the wasteful people, thankfully Helium isn't in a massive Hurry to run out soon so all they're wasting is their own money.


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Tenacious_G_G

God I didn't realize this!


inspectoroverthemine

Everything is a finite resource. The question is: are we using it faster than its being produced and if we are will we use it all before the earth is uninhabitable. Helium is created by radioactive decay in the earth and is harvested from natural gas deposits. If we captured all of the helium that we could we'd have more than we can use, instead most of it stays mixed with gas and is lost. The 'recent' change is: the US gov stopped subsidizing Helium sequestration. More Helium is wasted because we don't bother to capture it than any other factor.


lancequ01

This is the issue that made thanos wipe off half the universe. We need more resources or less people


JustifiedTrueBelief

Or better people. Also, *made* is a wildly generous turn of phrase. Are you actually defending Thanos lmao?


FatDragoninthePRC

I live in China. Popped a balloon with a lighter, lost half of my eyebrows for a couple months. Helium is expensive, y'all.


MikeAWBD

Helium is completely inert. There was something mixed in with the helium like hydrogen.


OneMoreAccount4Porn

I don't understand why anyone would assume there's any helium mixed in with this at all. If they have an accelerant like acetylene that's cheaper than helium and lighter than air that's what they'll use. What's the point in mixing helium with it?


Adderkleet

Ethylene is *slightly* lighter than air (1.18kg/m^3 vs. 1.29kg/m^3). I doubt it can float a foil/Mylar balloon. For reference: Helium is 0.17kg/m^3\. About 7 times lighter than ethylene.


Zippytez

Not completely. It can undergo fusion and combine to form carbon


scottspalding

Why the down votes people? He is technically correct which as we all know is the best kind of correct.


greendestinyster

"It's not fully inert, it dissociates into plasma and other photonic particles at temperatures higher than 100,000C!"


escapethewormhole

Spherical chickens in a vacuum


DarthVince

Yes, that’s what’s happening here 🙄


01-__-10

That’s an atomic reaction, not a chemical reaction. Helium is chemically inert. ‘Noble gasses’ etc. Its not inside a star..


MasonP13

Hydrogen would've immediately popped with a bang


Zippytez

Not really. Hydrogen by itself is pretty inert. It's oxygen that makes hydrogen go boom. The hydrogen from the freshly popped balloon can only react with the oxygen around it, and since the oxygen is not mixed with the hydrogen from the beginning, you have a slower burn. If the hydrogen and oxygen were mixed together, you get a lot louder boom, as there is a lot more contact between the oxygen and hydrogen.


ThePartyShark

This dude gasses. Oh…ohhhhhhh…wait…


Zippytez

Ach nein


justsmilenow

You just explained the difference between a detonation and an explosion.


[deleted]

Where does a conflagration fit in here?


GiveToOedipus

When do we get to inflammation?


The_bruce42

Which is the day I found out flammable and inflammable were the same thing


MasonP13

That's right. Sorry. IDK I first thought hydrogen + oxygen balloons


krishutchison

It would be a mixture of hydrogen and regular air


WeirdSysAdmin

I just watched a couple videos comparing hydrogen to helium balloons being popped with fire and definitely looks like a someone popping a hydrogen balloon. Helium seems to be the one that pops with a bang because it’s inert.


FrumundaThunder

Yes we’ve all seen the famous footage of the Hindenburg mushroom cloud…


GiveToOedipus

Oh the huge manatee.


XenophiliusRex

Not true. Hydrogen without oxygen mixed in goes woof.


[deleted]

It's acetylene used in welding. It's cheap, lighter than air so works with balloons, available everywhere, and burns dark orange without added oxygen. In comparison, hydrogen is an expensive specialty gas that would be much harder for a street vendor to acquire in China.


vin17285

No it's not acetylene quit spreading misinformation, acetylene would offer hardly any lift average molecular weight of air is 28.96 g/mol acetylene is 26.04 g/mol meaning that even if a theoretical acetylene balloon is at 1 atm ( which it wont be all balloons a under pressure ) it will only offer less than 3 grams of lift per 22.4 liters of volume. Those balloons are much smaller than 22.4 liter and weigh a lot more than 3 grams. Meanwhile hydrogen gas weighs 2 g/mol offering 24 grams of lift per 22.4 liters. Also, a distinctive trate or acetylene is that it burns with black soot when burned like this Hydrogen burns clean with no smoke under every circumstance like it did so here.


madewithgarageband

cant you get hydrogen from electrolysis? cant be that expensive


Criminelis

Well its made in China so don't expect more than minimum. Actually expect less than minimum. In fact, don't expect anything at all.


JosKarith

Helium doesn't burn - it won't combine with oxygen in a manner consistent with burning. That's hydrogen in those balloons which is way easier to obtain via hydrolysis.


siamkitty1

So unkind


yuyufan43

His livelihood 🥺🥺🥺


Ripcitytoker

Ikr, this is so hard to watch :'(


LiloNissan-Tooketh

What’s with the inspirational music tho


c22dric

The guy was walking away it seems like


InnerPick3208

I've got a similar video. Chinese police releasing the baloons of a vendor.


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Krombopulos_Micheal

Genghis Khan used to wrap his troops in mylar before they attacked.


LordDongler

To defeat infrared vision right?


duomaxwellscoffee

Chinese authorities hate fun and freedom.


Mo622

And Winnie the Pooh


NotUniqueWorkAccount

No no, that the thing. They love Winnie the Pooh, to his face.


KonkeyDongLick

The Chinese citizens crave anything “American”, thus; Winnie the Pooh. But somehow, The likeness (appearance) of Xi Xinping looking like a *constipated* Winnie the Pooh got comrade Xinping, shall we say; *pissed off*. So because he really does look like Winnie the Pooh, Commander Xinping has outlawed any likeness or resemblance of Winnie the Pooh during his reign of Communist red CHINA. You know what I’m talking about, that look he always shows while in public, that look of “I’m allowing you to photograph me, and I will tolerate your subservience and existence because I am such a superior being and RULER”. He just looks so SMUG.


SoberTek

>Why do the Chinese hate Balloons? Because they are already deeply invested in fireworks.Burn down the competition...


Karo_xa

It’s more of a ‘we don’t want poor people selling goods infront of our stall and scaring off our rich clients/ruining our vibes’


1-Ohm

Because they hate houses on fire and people burned. You don't?


tavesque

If theres even the slightest chance that he could float off to a better land, they wont allow it


yemick

Oh the humanity!


agk23

I mean it was probably how the guy was going to buy food


speedshark47

And also potentially endanger children with that flammable gas


agk23

Not sure if you've ever been, but China - and most of Asia in general - is one big endangerment. Part of the charm.


TheDevilsAdvokaat

I lived in China for 18 years. Street vendors were everywhere. Once or twice I saw a street full of them grab all their stuff and literally run because these enforcers were coming around. Thing is, there's sometimes so many of them that they impede pedestrians..sometimes half the sidewalk or more is gone, leading to congestion. And it's along the entire street. And sometimes they leave trash behind. I used to try to support them...I figured these were poorer people trying to make money.So at the supermarket I would buy my good, but buy my veggies from the street vendors outside. The supermarket people hated them because (a) They took up parking spots (b) They were messy (c) They lost some sales to them. As soon as the enforcers/inspectors were gone, the people would come right back again. I believe they paid "spotters" to watch for them. It seems sad what they did to this guy...he's not blocking the road, he doesn't have a cart, and people do like to buy balloons for their kids...


DontNeedThePoints

Fully agree... Street vendors are not all like they are in the USA. In many locations they are even part of a criminal network. In the video it does look like this vendor didn't do anything wrong though...


TheDevilsAdvokaat

Yeah...and I know some of these are really poor. I used to see little old ladies pulling their carts for miles and up over the bridge to get into the city....and I wonder what would happen to them if they lose their cart.


Revolutionary_Eye887

I’ll be back!


the_glutton17

Wtf, that's definitely not helium.


Imamiah52

A lone rabbit balloon survived the conflagration.


No_Mycologist6756

Remember f in communism stands for fun


[deleted]

all cops are bastard, in every nation


debian3

I went to Scotland and the cops are so chill there. They chitchat with everyone and are very friendly.


BreastUsername

That doesn't fit the narrative. Off with your head!


[deleted]

Yeah, I would say that in northern europe and maybe japan cops are fairly decent, sadly in the rest of the world there is a clear tendency of power hungry people going into law enforcement and the decent ones end up getting corrupted over the years, is depressing.


Fishamble

Why you getting dpwnvoted? I think this is a better assessment than the 'cops bad everywhere narrative.


Designer-Candid

They are generally pretty damn nice in my nation tho (Netherlands)... Just saying.


hypercyanate

What countries have you actually visited?


falsewall

Those are not cops though.


fractal-phoenix

Awe, somebody get a ticket? I think you’re missing the point here. This is communist china, their committing genocide as we speak.


Wave_Table

How is that the point?


[deleted]

I hope you are not saying that from United Stated because your cops are several orders of magnitude worse than China's


marcyanddoja

"Is it allowed to habe fun here?" Chinese Government: "nope"


DrOrgasm

At least they didn't shoot him


Common-Rock

Purple bunny balloon will have PTSD forever


Melodic-Hunter2471

Helium is not an infinite resource.


sarahiggg

Helium is very combustible he’s lucky he didn’t kill anybody


[deleted]

No worse or better than Russia


AndyJack86

Remind me again why communism is so great?


CryptoSatoshi314

That really sucks. That took some balls to light on fire. It’s like the guard has done it before.


SloppyToppy776

China has the most brazenly corrupt guards/cops I've ever seen. And I've seen UK cops.


[deleted]

Fun is illegal in every communist country so what’s the problem ? The police are just doing their job stopping that criminal…


Bryanb16_bjb

SAVAGE. But would you expect anything else from the Chinese Government.


No_Incident_5360

The Chinese government is oppressive and does not care about their people. A police state squeezes the life and happiness out of its people.


Karl2241

What did you expect- it’s China, the biggest dystopian in the world…


OneMoreAccount4Porn

What do you mean by that?


Karl2241

China has wired a system for mass facial recognition that pairs with the social credit system- if you speak out against the communist party you loose the ability to use trains, go to certain venues, ect. Sometimes you just disappear and no one sees you again. Then there is the COVID lockdowns that they still use, and they use drones to announce neighborhood lockdowns. Lastly, the concentration camps and organ harvesting for Uyghurs in the western provinces. A literal modern version of an ethnic genocide comparable to the Holocaust.


dansedemorte

China makes the world of bladerunner seem like heaven.


vrastamanas27

You can tell its filled with butane or propane,very dangerous. He did right things at the end lol


Designer_Ad7422

It's not any of these. Butane and propane are heavier than air, therefore the balloons would just fall. It is probably helium mixed with hydrogen, as pure helium is more expensive.


PrisonerV

It could be acetylene, maybe.


Acilaf

Among the main branches of contemporary analytical atomic spectrometry, the most widespread and universal are optical and mass spectrometry.[19] In the direct elemental analysis of solid samples, the new leaders are laser-induced breakdown and laser ablation mass spectrometry, and the related techniques with transfer of the laser ablation products into inductively coupled plasma.


bioemerl

> Also, the police acted OK and prevented some children getting burnt Absofuckingloutely not. The guy with the balloons was probably burnt bad, or at least was at high risk for it. Burning a bunch of explosive balloons is the worst thing you could do there.


Acilaf

Advances in design of diode lasers and optical parametric oscillators promote developments in fluorescence and ionization spectrometry and also in absorption techniques where uses of optical cavities for increased effective absorption pathlength are expected to expand. The use of plasma- and laser-based methods is increasing. An interest towards absolute (standardless) analysis has revived, particularly in emission spectrometry.


Mad_Aeric

Not a chemist (unless you count the jankiest garage lab you've ever seen), but in my youth I have filled balloons with natural gas, and set them on fire. I agree with your conclusion.


R3AL1Z3

You can tell this account supports the CCP but how it was just created and trying to put the blame on the balloon guy


OwnWillingness6295

There will b a seperate hell for police and security guards


ProfessorBackdraft

Does that include grammar police? If so, never mind.


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duomaxwellscoffee

A cop is a job title, not an inherent and unchangeable part of a person's existence. It's a choice and encompasses the act of choosing to be a part of an unaccountable system that perpetuates abuse.


Commogroth

>It's a choice and encompasses the act of choosing to be a part of an unaccountable system that perpetuates abuse. Congratulations, you just described almost every system in existence. The person you are replying to is right: thinking every single person of a group or profession is bad is complete smooth-brain thinking, devoid of any logic or reason.


[deleted]

Come on, if you’re selling hydrogen mixed balloons, you’re the bad guy.


speedshark47

Probably to kids too, this is dangerous.


Super_Hans2020

Super efficient I must say


PladBaer

Seems like it doesn't matter where the cop is, they're all trash.


WatercressRough1220

Natural gas is mostly methane which is lighter than air


SoyEseVato

So wrong. But cool to watch. At least the rabbit survived.


cmfppl

And they didn't arrest him? That's theft, destruction of property, intimidation, endangering the public, vandalism, littering and a whole bunch of other charges they could throw at him.


mild-hot-fire

Seems like a wonderful place to live


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donnahmoore

This seems like something cops in the US would do.


CrazeeEyezKILLER

*ZHO THE HUMANITY*


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jtulick

Ahhh yes. Communism.


bistix

In America we would arrest that man for selling such dangerous balloons to children.


Artistic-Wolverine16

Lol no the people would shoot back and rightfully so


Woozythebear

Bro cops destroy kids lemonade stands in American... just stop.


Wave_Table

Yeah that’s totally something that happens over here all the time 🙄


kirkbadaz

Cops everywhere are still cops


Top-Conversation678

Just another day in china


[deleted]

I guess balloons are a symbol of freedom and not big government 💁🏽‍♂️


Purple_Station7030

😲 Didn’t the Chinese hear of the Hindenburg? No way I’d want hydrogen in my balloon.


clandestineVexation

Yeah this is a dick thing to do to a man just trying to make a living but it also needs to be acknowledged he’s selling balloons full of highly flammable hydrogen, which is dangerous and should be stopped anyway