You've no doubt noticed that since the war with Iran broke out, gas prices have spiked: up more than 50% since January.
asserted
prices → notice → January
The world — and the war — don't function without it.
asserted
world → function → it
No new cellphones, laptops, cars, MRI machines, missiles: all require this finite and irreplaceable resource.
asserted
all → require → resource
The closing of the Strait of Hormuz in February trapped one-third of the global helium supply.
asserted
closing → trap → supply
Then just weeks later: Iranian strikes on Qatar's major gas facility further rattled the supply chain.
asserted
strikes → rattle → chain
With the extent of the damage unknown, American industry is left desperate for answers as the helium crisis remains up in the air.
asserted
crisis → leave → air
Last march as a new war raged, Iranian missiles and drones hit military targets throughout the Middle East: oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf, and energy infrastructure.
asserted
missiles → rag → Gulf
All of it meant to destabilize the global economy.
asserted
All → mean → economy
One of those high value targets attacked: Ras Laffan in Qatar - the world's largest facility for natural gas – and its byproduct helium.
asserted
One → attack → gas
7,100 miles away at the University of Chicago, Joe Sachleben was watching closely from his lab.
asserted
Sachleben → watch → lab
When you heard the news that there was an attack on the facility in Qatar, where did your thoughts go?
asserted
thoughts → hear → Qatar
Um I hope that people weren't hurt was first.
asserted
people → hope → ?
And then second, it's like, this is gonna be a problem.
asserted
this → go → ?
I mean, I won't say the words - I was thinking.
asserted
I → mean → words
But, you know, it's, like, crap.
asserted
it → know → ?
We're gonna have to deal with this and I might not be able to get helium.
uncertain
I → go → helium
In Sachleben's lab, these machines are used by students, but also for higher stakes research to develop breast cancer drugs, immunotherapies, and treatments for Alzheimer's.
asserted
machines → use → Alzheimer
So every couple months, Sachleben uses this long tube to pour 100 liters of helium on these magnets to stabilize them at 452 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
asserted
Sachleben → use → Fahrenheit
Once it gets to a critical level, we have to put helium back in the magnet to keep it cold.
asserted
we → get → it
If that doesn't happen, w-- we break the magnet.
asserted
we → happen → magnet
You-- you've got problems if that doesn't--
Joe Sachleben:
asserted
that → get → problems
We have--
Jon Wertheim: --happen.
asserted
We → --happen → --happen
You're saying there-- there's no workaround here.
asserted
You → say → ?
There-- there's no other substance you can substitute in?
asserted
you → be → ?
Nothing else boils that low.
asserted
Nothing → boil → that
Sachleben's lab contracts with one supplier to deliver the helium he needs each month.
asserted
he → contract → helium
First U of Chicago's supplier placed Sachleben and his colleagues on what's called "allocation," essentially rationing.
asserted
what → place → Sachleben
They basically have said, "Well, we'll give you 50% of what you used last year."
asserted
you → say → what
That doesn't help us.
asserted
That → help → us
And so what we have to do is decide which machine are we going to sacrifice and which one are we gonna try to keep.
asserted
we → do → one
That's where we are now if we can't get the helium.
asserted
we → get → helium
Fortunately, we found another supplier that is giving us helium on a fairly regular basis.
asserted
that → find → basis
But they can't guarantee it.
asserted
they → guarantee → it
So we never know if they're gonna say, "Oh, this week, we don't have any."
asserted
we → know → any
Then last month, Sachleben got a message saying that supplier was about to run out.
asserted
supplier → get → message
One fifth of the world's helium is consumed by the semiconductor industry alone to make every modern day electronic you might use, from your iPhone to your pacemaker.
uncertain
you → consume → pacemaker
Outside Minneapolis, we visited one of those chip makers, Polar Semiconductors.
asserted
we → visit → makers
We suited up alongside Surya Iyer, Polar's president and COO, to go inside what's called the "Fab", the ultra sterilized area where they make the chips.
asserted
they → suit → chips
You wonderhow-- how many people going to the Mall of Americas have no idea what's going on a few hundred yards away.
asserted
what → go → idea
Inside, workers in round-the-clock shifts manufacture semiconductors for engine systems in cars, the U.S. military, and those ubiquitous data centers around the country.
asserted
workers → manufacture → country
…and 97 more, not listed.
The Aporia
