The helium has almost left and gone away

If you think all helium does is make you sound like Donald Duck, pay attention. MRI machines, solar telescopes and even nuclear reactors are essential places where helium is used for proper function and maintenance. Most people just know that helium is a cheap way to give lift to birthday balloons. However, as The Independent reports, the second-lightest element in the Universe is easily slipping from our grasp. The birthday balloons might fall to earth in our lifetime.

Helium’s departure may leave large holes

In 1996, Congress voted in favor of the Helium Privatization Act – and America’s supply has dwindled at a high rate of speed ever since. Helium became a cheaper by the dozen resources, which has dipped severely into supply. The 1996 law also calls for that all the helium in the United States National Helium Reserve near Amarillo, Texas, be sold by 2015, regardless of market price. Helium reserves worldwide are facing similar shortages due to short-sighted management of the resource.

Why running out of helium is bad simply because?

Hospitals use liquid helium to cool their MRI scanners. Terrorists are tracked via radiation-powered devices that require helium for operation. If that’s not serious enough, nuclear facilities need helium-3 isotopes for safe operation. Wind tunnels require garden variety helium. NASA uses it to clean potentially explosive rocket fuel from fuel tanks. However it may all be for naught, as The Independent indicates that helium could possibly be gone inside of 30 years.

”Once helium is released into the atmosphere in the form of party balloons or boiling helium, it is lost to the Earth forever,” said Cornell physics Professor Robert Richardson, a Nobel laureate.

Where does helium come from?

The Sun’s nuclear fusion creates helium as a by-product. Not only that, but the radioactive decay of various rocks produces helium on Earth. Earth’s supply comes from the latter method, of course. It cannot be created in any artificial fashion. Since it is taken 4.7 billion years for natural decay to produce the Earth’s current helium supply, waiting around for the planet for making more isn’t really an option.

Kid, that will cost $ 100

To slow the depletion of the world’s helium supply, Professor Richardson suggests the price for helium be raised considerably. If helium becomes 20 to 50 times more costly than the current rate (15 cubic feet of helium cost about $40 in 2009), motivation to recycle the gas would greatly increase. Thus, expect that a helium-filled Mylar balloon could cost as much as $ 100. There’s no other way.

Martin Rogen