helium

14 Stories

The Lunar Rush Is On, With Plans to Mine Helium-3
Rare Gas Sets Off
a Lunar Rush
Mar 23, 2024 7:30 AM CDT

Rare Gas Sets Off a Lunar Rush

Startup Interlune plans to mine the moon for helium-3, estimated to be worth $4 billion per ton

(Newser) - Like many private companies, Interlune is seeing dollar signs in the night sky—and now its plans to extract a rare gas from the moon has a timeline. Per Ars Technica , there's an abundance of helium-3 that can hypothetically be extracted from the moon and transported back home, and...

Discovery of 'Dream' Amount of Helium Caused 'a Lot of Screaming'
In Minnesota,
a 'Dream' Helium
Discovery
in case you missed it
Mar 10, 2024 7:50 AM CDT

In Minnesota, a 'Dream' Helium Discovery

Babbitt, Minnesota, could be home to highest concentration of the gas in North America

(Newser) - A reservoir of lucrative helium, potentially boasting the highest concentration of the gas in North America, has been confirmed in Minnesota. "There was a lot of screaming, a lot of hugging and high-fives," Pulsar Helium CEO Thomas Abraham-James tells CBS News . Helium was first discovered by accident in...

US Sells Off Helium Supply, Stoking Fears in Medical World

Privatizing the reserve may complicate distribution of the crucial element

(Newser) - The US government sold off the Federal Helium Reserve this week to a private buyer, a worrying move to doctors and scientists who rely on the finite gas for everything from research to operating MRI machines. The deal is still being finalized with the highest bidder, industrial gas company Messer,...

Here's a Tangible Sign of World's Helium Shortage

Party City to shut 45 stores

(Newser) - A national chain's announcement that it is shuttering 45 stores nationwide perhaps got more attention than it might have thanks to a scientific reality. The chain is Party City, supplier of balloons and all manors of party favors, and the scientific reality is that the world is facing a...

Qatar Conflict Highlights Vulnerability of Helium Supply

Shortages affect industries ranging from rocketry to medicine

(Newser) - The conflict brewing in the Middle East between Qatar and neighboring countries has had an odd consequence: a sudden drop in global helium availability. The Atlantic reports Qatar manufactures 25% of the world’s helium supply, making it the second largest producer after the US. But a shipping issue has...

Sad Day: Helium Sucked Out of Last Original Blimp

Don't worry—you'll still spot Goodyear's 'blimps' hovering over America

(Newser) - Goodyear has let the helium out of the last of its fabled fleet of blimps, but the company's flight program will carry on. About two dozen employees witnessed the deflation early Tuesday of the California-based Spirit of Innovation, the AP reports. Not to worry too much, as blimp fans...

'Game Changer': Giant Helium Field Found

A 'globally significant' find that could boost world supply of precious gas

(Newser) - What scientists are calling a "game changer" for society has been discovered deep in Tanzania's Rift Valley: a massive helium gas field with enough of the precious commodity to fill more than 1.2 million MRI scanners, Phys.org reports. Besides the sheer amount of gas, the discovery...

Earth May Have More Helium Left Than Thought

Great news for MRI machines, the Large Hadron Collider, inflatable cartoons

(Newser) - Don't mourn the loss of your humorously high-pitched voices quite yet. Despite years of warnings from scientists that Earth's supply of helium is quickly running out , the results of a study announced Wednesday in Prague show there could still be large deposits of the element hidden underground, the...

Yellowstone Blasts Incredibly Old Helium

The gas has been building for hundreds of millions of years

(Newser) - Yellowstone National Park has long been known as a gassy place, and its reputation as such just got more firmly established. That helium emanates from the ground in the park is an established fact, Smithsonian Magazine explains, but when researchers dug into the makeup of that helium, what they found...

Let's Stop Wasting Precious Helium on Giant Balloons

Our supply is dwindling, and helium matters

(Newser) - This story may leave you feeling a bit deflated. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a waste of the world's dwindling helium supply, argue Miriam Krule and Noam Prywes for Slate , and it may be time to put a pin in the balloons. Earth's supply of 1....

We're Running Out of Helium
 We're Running Out of Helium 
Aug 24, 2010 11:07 AM CDT

We're Running Out of Helium

... and that's a bad, bad thing

(Newser) - Would you pay $100 for a helium balloon? That’s how much it’s worth, and if we keep selling helium at “ridiculously cheap” prices, we’ll deplete the world’s supply within a generation, Nobel laureate and physics professor Robert Richardson tells the Independent . That’s a pretty...

Calif. Pol Aims to Burst Balloons

Blames orbs on blackouts; opponents vehemently rally to helium-filled cause

(Newser) - A California lawmaker is pushing to ban helium-filled foil balloons, blaming the globe-shaped menaces for flying into power lines and causing more than 800 blackouts in the state last year. The bill easily passed the state's senate, but it’s facing an uproar from balloon artists and balloon lovers alike...

Lawn-Chair Pilot Plans Record 300-Mile Flight

Oregon man will strap on 150 balloons for third attempt at reaching Idaho

(Newser) - An Oregon man plans to strap 150 balloons to his lawn chair tomorrow for his third attempt to fly to Idaho, reports the Chicago Tribune. Kent Couch made it 193 miles in last year's effort before landing in scrub land. This year, with corporate sponsorship behind him—and his wife's...

Dallas Gas Explosion Injures 3
Dallas Gas Explosion Injures 3
Jul 25, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

Dallas Gas Explosion Injures 3

Truck fire ignites massive blasts; major highways shut down

(Newser) - At least three people were injured today after a stock of acetylene tanks and 18-wheelers exploded at a gas plant south of downtown Dallas, sending thick plumes of black smoke and chunks of debris flying into the air. Two people suffered burns and a third sustained a back injury; all...

14 Stories