The Wonder Breathing Gas - Trimix
Helium from a tidally shredded star being expelled from a black hole Credit: NASA; S. Gezari, The Johns Hopkins University; and J. Guillochon, University of California, Santa Cruz Fred Stratton Instructor and Technician fred@bubblesornot.com TECHNICAL DIVING SERIES PART IV Helium's atomic weight and number Credit: Greg Reese on Pixabay Most people think of the Goodyear blimp and party tricks when they think of helium. Commercial and technical divers embraced helium decades ago as a means to diminish nitrogen narcosis and oxygen toxicity beyond recreational depth. To trimix divers helium is a miracle gas that opens a vast realm of new adventures unattainable on air. Astronomers discovered helium by noting a yellow spectral line signature during a solar eclipse in 1868 and named it after Helios, Greek god of the sun. Helium is the second most abundant element in our universe after hydrogen although it is rare on Earth comprising only 0.000