<story><title>Helium shortage has ended, at least for now</title><url>https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20200605a/full/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>sandworm101</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; a Colorado State University chemist who orders a 60-liter dewar every 8–13 weeks to fill his 8-tesla superconducting magnet.&lt;p&gt;So... absolutely no recapture of this used helium?  I wouldn&amp;#x27;t be throwing stones at party balloons.    Seriously, the concept of helium as a &lt;i&gt;disposable&lt;/i&gt; gas is the root of the entire price problem.  &lt;i&gt;Hopefully&lt;/i&gt; the price will rise to the point that capture and recycling become more cost effective.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;A new, $110 000 liquefier at the University of Idaho is expected to recycle most of the helium needed for three NMR magnets, an electron paramagnetic resonance magnet, and a Mössbauer spectrometer, says Blumenfeld. As an added benefit, the new machine will enable the university to purchase its helium in gaseous form instead of liquid, for a substantial cost savings, he says.&lt;p&gt;110K?  That is dirt cheap for nearly any industrial process.   Industrial baking ovens can cost more.  Why are such things not standard with every device needing substantial amounts of helium.</text></comment>
<story><title>Helium shortage has ended, at least for now</title><url>https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20200605a/full/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>Havoc</author><text>And it&amp;#x27;ll improve. There was a helium find with absolutely insane natural concentrations in South Africa recently.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;Helium is found within natural gas in concentrations typically up to 1% by volume of the gas released; however, the updated reserve review shows that the latest well drilled in the Virgina project contains a concentration of almost 11%.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.miningweekly.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;south-africa-to-become-eighth-country-to-export-helium-by-2019-renergen-2018-03-12&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.miningweekly.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;south-africa-to-become-ei...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>