The war in the Middle East and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz not only affect the energy markets or fertilizer production and thus food security. The availability of one of the most common elements in the universe, which is comparatively rare on Earth, is also becoming scarce. At first, helium sounds like party balloons and fun vocal experiments. In reality, the noble gas is a critical raw material for medicine, research and high-tech industries – from making microchips to taking MRI scans. And that’s not all.
