The Personal Blog of Stephen Sekula

Helium Policy

WFAA shot B-roll footage of me working in my office. Quick, look busy!

I was so busy this summer I forgot to shamelessly mention here that I was interviewed for a WFAA (DFW ABC affiliate) story on the importance of Helium to the nation, and the dangers of a shortage of Helium due to a lack of a national helium policy.

Helium is not just fun at parties; it’s a critical component in many major technologies. One of these is medical imaging; MRI machines rely on a large reservoir of liquid helium to cool the superconducting wire that makes possible the powerful magnetic field of the machine. Liquid helium is also critical to many areas of basic research, including the Tevatron and the Large Hadron Collider. The implications of a poor national policy for producing, storing, and distributing helium are severe.

You can check out the story on the WFAA website: http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/US-runs-low-on-critical-natural-resource-thats-not-oil-122205019.html

 

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