
Helium kills iPhones: MEMs oscillator sensitivity to helium [video] - juancampa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzWaVvB908
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teilo
This is the inevitable follow up to this:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/9mk2o7/mri_disabl...](https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/9mk2o7/mri_disabled_every_ios_device_in_facility/)

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juancampa
This makes me wonder if someone could somehow silently inject helium in a room
to kill all phones (iPhone only?) for malicious purposes

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jwalton
I'd just like to point out, for folks who are thinking of trying this at home,
that in addition to killing iPhones, helium has been known to kill people:
[https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/inhaling-gas-
from-h...](https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/inhaling-gas-from-helium-
balloons-no-laughing-matter-it-can-kill/news-
story/4126938014edcc1cac02ae8c7ca2de83)

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CyberDildonics
Helium doesn't kill people, lack of oxygen kills people. Helium also doesn't
stay in the same place for long - it is too lightweight to even stay in the
atmosphere. Any helium released in a room will immediately float upwards and
rapidly be gone forever.

For someone to die using helium, they would literally have to first find pure
helium (which isn't sold at party stores any more - helium is mixed with
oxygen) and pump it into a plastic bag over their head with the bag sealed
(because it will come off when you pass out, you will breath in oxygen, then
wake up).

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skissane
> Helium doesn't kill people, lack of oxygen kills people.

Helium embolism can kill people. Due to helium's permeability, it can travel
through tissues and into the blood stream. Helium gas bubbles form in the
bloodstream, preventing the flow of blood.

[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S134462231...](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1344622317302717)

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nradov
Divers routinely breathe >90% helium mixes with no ill effects provided they
ascend and descend at the proper rates. I very much doubt that helium embolism
is a real phenomenon at normal atmospheric pressures. More likely that article
is just completely wrong based on misinterpreting postmortem changes.

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skissane
If one is breathing helium directly from a pressurised tank, one can be
inhaling it at higher than normal atmospheric pressure.

Divers control the pressure at which the diving gas is being delivered. A
person who is breathing helium directly from a tank, either for misguided
recreational reasons or with suicidal intent, is unlikely to be doing that.

The original suggestion – of adding helium to a room in order to damage
iPhones – unless the room is pressurised, it is going to be at normal
atmospheric pressure, so asphyxiation is a far greater risk than embolism.
But, the point remains, inhaling helium is actually a lot more risky than many
people think, sometimes it kills.

[https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-
news/index.ssf/...](https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-
news/index.ssf/2012/02/parents_of_eagle_point_girl_wh.html)

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nradov
Previously discussed:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18340693](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18340693)

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Communitivity
This would make a great plot device for a murder mystery story.

