Dean,
Thanks so much for this. If people can email me at my non-work account
(sophiahayes2_at_gmail.com), I'm constantly fielding questions from reporters.
They would like stories from some who are able to go on the record about
their own difficulties.
If there are "force majeure" supply restrictions, especially, it would be
good to know.
I can share that I took 2 of my magnets down when our pricing became very
steep over the past couple of years, and yes, had to do that even with a
small-scale liquefier on site.
I hope a bunch of us can compare notes at the ENC ... not to always be a
Cassandra-esque figure, the voice of gloom and disaster ... I'll be delighted
to see everyone and always hope for better days ahead!
Sophia
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Sophia E. Hayes
Professor of Chemistry
Washington University
1 Brookings Dr., Saint Louis, MO USA
Tel. +1-314-935-4624
Pronouns: she/her
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-----Original Message-----
> From: main_at_ammrl.groups.io On Behalf Of Olson, Dean via groups.io
> Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2026 11:26 AM
> To: main_at_ammrl.groups.io
> Subject: [AMMRL] Recent Stories on the Helium Shortage
Dear Colleagues,
I've pulled together a collection of recent stories about the threat to the
helium supply. Each story takes a different angle on the issue, and each
includes a series of interesting facts. Though you may already be familiar
with many of these topics, it is still helpful to have stories like these
at your fingertips to share with colleagues, friends, or people in your
community. These appear listed on our web page
(
https://scs.illinois.edu/research/welcome-nmr-laboratory/helium-management,
but you can also click the links below.
Here's a CBC video story featuring Bob Berno, among several other Canadian
Colleagues (2 min 8 sec; 5 Apr 2026):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYiw9f0gElU
An audio NPR story (2 min 22 sec; 15 Mar 2026):
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/15/nx-s1-5747927/the-war-in-iran-is-impacting-earths-supply-of-helium
Another audio NPR story (3 min 27 sec; 3 Apr 2026):
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/03/nx-s1-5762568/strait-of-hormuz-closure-deflates-global-helium-supply
A longer, more entertaining, and historical audio episode on NPR (15 min 30 sec;
6 Apr 2026; featuring Sophia Hayes at 9 min 40 sec; Wash U, St. Louis):
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/06/nx-s1-5770505/helium-shortage-iran-war (you can
skip ahead to 2 min 43 sec).
Finally, an interesting but sobering discussion about the business side of
helium on Bloomberg TV (10 min 47 sec):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47JG7ar0Hxw
Regards and good luck to all,
Dean
***********************************
Dean L. Olson, Ph.D.
Director, NMR & EPR Labs
146 Roger Adams Lab
School of Chemical Sciences
U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
600 S. Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
Lab: 217-244-0564; Cell: 217-722-9432
dolson_at_illinois.edu
http://scs.illinois.edu/nmr
http://scs.illinois.edu/epr/
***********************************
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Received on Wed Apr 08 2026 - 09:43:48 MST