The Field Guide to Particle Physics https://pasayten.org/the-field-guide-to-particle-physics©2021 The Pasayten Institute cc by-sa-4.0The definitive resource for all data in particle physics is the Particle Data Group: https://pdg.lbl.gov.The Pasayten Institute is on a mission to build and share physics knowledge, without barriers! Get in touch.A few References and Resources for you.Isotopes of Helium:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_heliumHelium Fact Sheet from NIST:https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/inchi/InChI%3D1S/HeSuperconducting Magnets from the National Magnetic Field Laboratoryhttps://nationalmaglab.org/about/maglab-dictionary/superconducting-magnetThe US Federal Helium Programhttps://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/helium/federal-helium-programThe American Chemical Society Podcast on the Helium Shortagehttps://cen.acs.org/business/specialty-chemicals/Podcast-helium-shortages-changed-science/98/web/2020/10The Helium Privatization Act of 1996https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-104publ273Planet Money Episode on the Helium Shortageshttps://www.npr.org/2019/08/16/751845378/episode-933-find-the-heliumThe Alpha ParticlePart 2 - The Helium ShortageIt may have been a while, but have you ever been to a birthday party in a big auditorium?  You know, lots of tables. Party favors. Screaming kids. Maybe a clown or a magician? And balloons. Helium filled balloons. Where do all the balloons that kids “accidentally” let go wind up? Yeah. Exactly. The ceiling. Last time, we pondered the question, where on Earth do you go to find Helium gas? Raw. In the wild. Hopefully, thanks to this party analogy, the answer is now clear.We can collect helium when it’s trapped by a ceiling. Trapped Underground.Helium is mined with natural gas. While drilling into gas wells, through the capstone rock at the top of the Earth’s crust, helium is released. Some wells have more helium than others. Some of the biggest sources of helium - apparently - come from natural gas wells near the biggest deposits of heavy elements like Uranium and Thorium. Like natural gas, there’s a huge, international commodities market for helium. Because Helium does not interact with other chemicals, it is strongly preferred for numerous industrial applications.For example.Helium is used whenever you want to avoid exposure to reactive elements, particularly those in air. Welders use helium as a shield to keep the weld itself from exposure to reactive chemicals like oxygen and water vapor. Ship builders use helium to detect leaks in the hull of ships. It’s not corrosive and unusual to find in the surrounding environment. If you fill part of a ship’s hull with pressurized helium, and find some helium gas outside the ship - especially near a weld or some other joint - you probably have a leak.Rocket scientists and engineers use helium to clean and pressurize rocket fuel tanks. And of course, we use it for balloons: both of the weather and party varieties. Actually, that’s something that might be surprising. Hundreds of weather balloons are launched every day - all over the globe - to collect data about atmospheric conditions for weather forecasting. I should say that these balloons are enormous, bigger than a typical human at launch. Many - although certainly not all - of those weather balloons are filled with helium gas. Some are filled with hydrogen gas, which though much cheaper is arguably much more dangerous to work with.So far, most of those applications are pretty intuitive. Helium doesn’t form chemical bonds, so it’s a good gas to use for physical, industrial purposes. But there is another application of helium that is far less intuitive: cooling.Modern air conditioning and refrigeration systems typically use a working fluid to absorb heat and carry it away, so it can be vented. If you’ve ever put coolant in the engine of your car, you’re familiar with this idea. Liquid helium plays the role of coolant in devices that need to be really, really cold. Like minu