Is There A Helium Shortage?

We use helium to power some of humanity’s greatest technological advancements: MRI machines, rockets to space, party balloons…🎈 You may have heard we’re running out of helium, but that’s not necessarily true. The real answer is a bit more complicated.

Thanks to our friends at @minute_earth for this Science Minute ⏱️🌎

#ScienceMinute #MinuteEarth #Helium #MissionUnstoppableTV

[mrfancyshmancy]

My uni's physics building is built in such a way that helium can be transported anywhere (used for low temperature experiments) and get's recycled, it's a very cool system (eventhoigh the building gets shit on cus it is the ugliest thing you have ever seen)

[jonathanaarhus]

It was also partly due to Cold War politics. The United States kept the reserve partly to brag about having more helium than the Soviets. The reserve was privatized when the Cold War ended.

[jesseking]

I won't be able to become a balloon salesman in the future, therefore I cannot smile.

[mrmason]

That part with the radioactive decay, I was surprised in class to learn that during Alpha decay, Helium 4, 2 is created.

Pretty neat.

[Yliketrainsita]

Why is this comment section talking about helium like it causes every problem in the universe?

[Garfield_Minecraft]

He is everything!
He saves us, we must worship He

[joaquinprimicias]

Solution to inflation of helium price?
Another tragic eve-


I mean more digger 😊

[arnulfogonzalez]

How about hygroin mostly airships if you lived in germany

[deeb]

Ah yes, party balloons are equivalent in use to rocket ship stability. Yes.

[AXLaircey]

I had no idea helium was nonrenewable, or that it came from underground (as opposed to just free in the air, like nitrogen or sulfates or something).

[acompletelynormalhuman]

The funny thing is helium is just a alpha partical with some electrons on it both nuclear and current fusion reactors make plenty of alpha particals

[YesISimpForJohnDoe]

If you have no helium left in your house Just use air

[danaschneider]

That gives me anxiety when a resource is finite

[asmallguy]

It’s also nonflammable so you don’t have to worry out any balloon exploding anytime soon (unless you filled them with hydrogen)!

[fishingforfun]

That’s why big parts for aerospace welding use helium gas and the small parts use argon because argon’s cheaper and does just as good of a job at shielding the puddle helium is better for the bigger parts though when you run a purge

[tylerandrews]

What if we go up super high in the atmosphere and grab some of the helium that floated up there?

[HeitorRauberScussiato]

Until Helium ends we Will already be doing nuclear fuzion to make Helium

[TB-wisq]

But if other countries DON‘T extract (or/and purify) the helium from their natural gas and use it, we will run out of helium sooner than we could🤔

[antarcticpenguin]

i actually thought it was minute earth until it went to the comment section

[pali]

The price helium should reflect its non renewable nature and i'm not sure it should even be available for the average person.