Helium is more than just fun and games: it is also a scarce industrial resource with important uses in technology and medicine, and scientists are still learning about its strange properties.

How much helium is needed? Enough to fill 600,000 to 700,000 Mylar party balloons. But the parade helium is 99.999 percent pure, whereas the stuff in a party balloon might be only 97.5 percent pure.

Helium is No. 2. It is the second-lightest element on the periodic table with atomic number of two. It is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen s 75%, comprising 23%, the ...

Deep within giant planets, helium may form stable compounds with other elements, a new study finds — something that was long thought never to happen in nature. Skip to main content.

Helium is the second-most common element in the cosmos, but it's far rarer on planet Earth. As part of our celebration of the periodic table's 150th birthday, reporter Geoff Brumfiel shares a ...

By harvesting helium-3, which is rare and limited in supply on Earth, Interlune could help change that calculus by deriving value from resources on the Moon. But many questions about the approach ...