Robert Richardson (Image: Cornell University)

Robert Richardson worked on the superfluid properties of helium – now he worries that we are squandering our supplies of the gas

Most of us think of helium as something to fill balloons with or that makes your voice go funny when you inhale it. Why does it matter that helium supplies are running low?

There are some substitutes, but it can’t be replaced for cryogenics, where liquid helium cools superconducting magnets for MRI scanners. There is no other substance which has a lower boiling point than helium. It is also used in the manufacture of fibre optics and liquid crystal displays. …