And the winner of the 2006 Darwin Awards is...

Pengwuino

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...balloon05.html

They literally forgot to breathe...

Rach3

They didn't "forget to breathe", they asphyxiated!

JamesU

good, I wasn't the only one wondering WTF pengwuino was talking about

Pengwuino

Fool! That line isn't funny!

Rach3

Then make up something that is.

Astronuc

My heart breaks for the parents who have lost a son and daughter. I doubt they thought about the fact that the baloon was still full of He and that there was no oxygen.

Such accidents have happened in other industries where people enter storage systems or tanks that are full of nitrogen or other inert gas. The company responsible for the balloon should have given safety instructions to the young people.

heartless

This doesn't deserve darwin's award, it's too normal... :)

Pengwuino

Both of them were 21...

scott1

Also know as:
Lack of Intellgence design.
This will help the Evoloution of the human race greatly.

Moonbear

You'd think it would be self-evident not to crawl inside a balloon, period, and especially one filled with helium. Somehow I don't think all the warnings in the world would have helped kids that are truly that stupid...or drunk....or both. You do feel sorry for the other people left behind, though. It's tough to lose someone close anytime, but it always seems more tragic when they are young.

FredGarvin

Confined space permits and training are probably not immediately on most people's minds, but you'd wish that parents would instill a certain amount of common sense in their children. Even without the presence of He, there should have been little alarms going off in their minds before trying to do it.

Then again, it could be foul play....Nah. I watch too much CSI.

BobG

You think the two worked there?

I kind of got the impression they were just a couple of college kids who happened to see the hydrogen balloon outside the store. I guess some kind of warning like the 'anti-theft' device warning on vending machines (the picture of the vending machine falling over on the guy shaking the machine) could have been used, but I doubt the couple read any warnings that may or may not have been on the balloon.

Astronuc

Well, I just assumed one or the other or both were retrieving the balloon. Perhaps they just decided to get inside and have fun, not realizing that with He inside, there is no oxygen to breath. I wonder how many young people would think of that? Probably very few.

JamesU

they were able to breathe helium in Sphere...

Gokul43201

Wow, Astro! You set terribly low standards for today's youth!

Tuneman

i think its terrible that these kids who might not have been ultra smart, made a mistake that cost them their lives and now some dorks on the internet are saying that their death was for the progress of humanity.

Astronuc

I visited the local high school, which is one of the largest in the state and considered one of the best. I was not impressed. Two or three of the several hundred of students I met expressed capability and motivation.

On the other hand, I did hire the valedictorian a few years ago. He was a brilliant kid who just graduated from Harvard with a degree in mathematics. He turned out to be an excellent programmer. But he still has a lot to learn.