Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The World is Running Out of Helium

The world is running out of helium - thanks to party balloons, warns research scientist who uses the gas for pioneering experiments

  • Helium is also used in medical scanners and particle colliders
  • Supplies could run out in 30 years, says NRC
Helium serves a vital purpose for research scientists - but some are now warning that their experiments are at risk from a shortage of the gas, because stocks are being wasted on party balloons.

Last week researcher Oleg Kirichek had to postpone an experiment at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot when helium stocks ran out.

He was hoping to study the structure of matter, but had to wait three days to run tests – at a huge cost – while helium was found.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So hurry up and invest in helium because its going up?

Anonymous said...

Bull Crap! There is exactly the same amount of helium on this planet that there was 50 million years ago. The only way to increase or decrease the amount is through fission or fusion and there have have not been nearly enough nuclear explosions to date to make any difference.

Anonymous said...

That's because people are using it to get high. Get it?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 3:14-

The blonde said NO!