LAUSR

Scientists fear they may be forced to halt experiments or shut down laboratory instruments because the ongoing blockade of Qatar is threatening their helium supplies. The Gulf state supplies hospitals and laboratories around the world, but had to close its two helium plants after Saudi Arabia and several neighbouring countries blocked most of its exports and imports in June, in a political dispute over Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism. “This is a situation that is changing day-by-day, so you can imagine we are watching it carefully,” says Sophia Hayes, a chemist who specializes in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “I’m extremely concerned.” Her research depends on a continuous supply of liquid helium, which has a uniquely low boiling point of 4 kelvin, to cool the superconducting magnets in her lab’s spectrometers. It’s also used in the lab’s low-temperature research. Another scientist, who requested anonymity, says that their lab is reserving available helium stocks for NMR instruments. A junior colleague who uses large quantities of helium has agreed to cut back his work to help out with supplies, if needed. “This can negatively impact his career; all of us who are senior colleagues would do anything we can to avoid that situation,” says the scientist. Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of helium and its second-largest producer, accounting for 25% of global demand (see ‘Helium supplies’). So the blockade will inevitably cause shortfalls over the next few months, says Phil Kornbluth, a consultant based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, who specializes in the helium industry. Countries likely to be most affected are those closest to Qatar. But Asian countries such as India, China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore are also at risk. “But none of us are immune,” adds William Halperin, a researcher in low-temperature physics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.