Helium is a chemical Element, a gas in fact, that is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and inert. It sounds a little boring, actually. So since the world has been running out of Helium, why was there such a panic to find deposits of the gas?

Helium is used in Mri Scanners, spacecraft, telescopes and radiation monitors and the fact it has only been found in small pockets has made scientists jittery that the world may run out of this element, which would mean, if nothing else, no more MRI scanners and the medical consequences of that for many patients must be frightening.

So be Thankful that geologists at Oxford and Durham universities have discovered a large gas field in Tanzinia.

Without Helium there would be no jolly floating party Balloons, weather balloons and airships and even more frightening, the barcode scanners at your local supermarket checkout wouldn’t work.

So be thankful Helium, a rarity on Earth, has been found, after all, what would we do without those Silly people who like to breath it in and make us all laugh at their silly voices.

Vin Diesel on Helium

Tom Kane (c) 2016