Off the radar

Although helium is used to run high-speed particle accelerators and in industrial leak testing, about a quarter of the country's helium supplies go toward health care, both for keeping MRI magnets cold and generating radioactive isotopes for nuclear medicine, Shah said.

Despite its importance in radiology, Shah said he was surprised to learn most of his colleagues aren't especially aware of the problem.

"I work in an academic setting and my colleagues are up to date on all the latest developments in radiology. They can tell you about some of the most obscure diagnoses and newest procedures," he said. "But [helium's] completely off the radar of most radiologists."

Yet, once world gas reserves run out, the next option will be processing it out of the air -- which, at least with current technology, would be hugely inefficient and costly, requiring the distillation of thousands of gallons of air to squeeze out only tiny usable amounts of helium. Of course, by then, the pressure to conserve the gas could result in widespread, and more efficient, methods of recycling. And one day -- although this is now firmly in the realm of science-fiction -- helium could be extracted from the moon.

But Shah said, at least for the near future, he's not optimistic. "We can't even tackle global warming," he said.


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