You may be surprised to learn of the widespread uses of helium. In today’s Academic Minute, the University of Connecticut's Nicholas Leadbeater explains the wide application of this chemical element and why its days of filling party balloons may be coming to an end. Leadbeater is an associate professor of organic and inorganic chemistry at UConn, where he heads the New Synthetic Methods Group. Find out more about him here. A transcript of this podcast can be found here.