Hank talks about everyone's favorite squeaky-voice gas and why it's important for more than party balloons. Like SciShow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Follow SciShow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow For further reading: "U.S. government agencies work to minimize damage due to helium-3 shortfall," Toni Feder, Physics Today October 2009, page 21 http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v62/i10/p21_s1?isAuthorize... "Nation's helium reserve running on empty?" Leslie Tamura, Washington Post, Oct.11, 2010 http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele002.html Credits: Produced by Hank Green Chief Editor: Blake de Pastino Cinematographer: Nick Jenkins Video Editor: Matt Ferguson Graphics: Amber Bushnell Written by Rob Chaney TAGS: scishow, science, technology, chemistry, physics, element, helium, large hadron collider, LHC, MRI, strategic helium reserve, dolomite, texas, helium-3, nuclear weapons detection, taylor wilson, bomb detector, lando calrissian, balloon

Subject: Science > Chemistry

Teacher: Hank Green

Created on 06/18/2012 by scishow

Knowmia's Editor Note:

Hank correctly states that Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but doesn't answer why it's so rare on Earth. The answer is that it's lighter than the atmosphere on Earth, and so it just floats away in to space. The only Helium we can capture was produced by radioactive decay and is trapped underground where it can't float away.

Topics covered

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• Elements
• Engineering
• Health
• Helium
• Isotope
• Large Hadron Collider
• LHC
• MRI
• Noble Gas
• Nuclear Weapons
• Radioactive Decay
• Radioactivity
• Science Fair

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