Helium

Helium. Who needs it anyway?  Well, as it turns out, helium isn’t just about party balloons and doctors around the world are worried about a global helium shortage.  Helium is used in MRI machines - each MRI needs about 2,000 litres of ultra-cold liquid helium to keep the MRI magnets cool enough to work.  Helium, a nonrenewable element found deep within the Earth’s crust - is running low. Part of the global helium shortage is due to a failure in a crude helium enrichment plant in Texas and declining or unreliable production from existing sources, and the delay in Russia’s helium facility coming on-line.  This is the fourth time the world has suffered a helium shortage since 2006. As well as balloons and MRI, helium is also used in high-speed internet, computer hard drives, airbags in cars, and as a coolant in nuclear reactors.  It’s also used in weather balloons - which are released from 900 locations worldwide a couple of times a day. Hopefully the helium supply will improve soon, and that there are plans in place for dealing with Helium Shortage 5.0 should it happen.