You didn’t have helium balloons at your birthday party this year, did you? You did? Oh NO! How could you do such a thing?

We are just teasing you. But before the Tanzania discovery, people might have asked you that question—and been totally serious! At that time, people thought helium was almost gone. They were busy imagining a world without it. The picture in their minds wasn’t very pretty.

Helium is a very useful element. It doesn’t catch fire easily. It is lighter than air. That makes it perfect for filling airships. Helium can get much colder than other gases can. That’s why people use it to keep electronic equipment from getting too hot. People use helium to cool large medical machines like MRIs. They use it to give NASA rockets the right pressure. Scientists also use helium for their research. Welders use the gas to make metal products. Deep-sea divers breathe a mixture of helium and other gases so they can work underwater.

So you can imagine what people were thinking: “We can’t let helium run out! We have to use as little as possible!” Without helium, people would live in a different world. Rockets might not work. Airships might instead have to be filled with hydrogen. Hydrogen easily catches fire. MRI machines wouldn’t work anymore. Because of that, doctors might be unable to diagnose patients’ problems. Scientists might miss out on some major discoveries. No wonder the worriers didn’t want anyone to waste helium on balloons!