A desperate helium shortage is inflating prices on the natural gas faster than a runaway blimp, threatening to burst the dreams — and spike the costs — of everyone from balloon businesses to welders ...

Hearts are heavy these days in the world of lighter-than-air helium balloons. A helium shortage is making balloon prices rise faster than a helium balloon itself after a kid lets it go. "I don't want ...

One of the most abundant elements in the universe is getting harder to come by. Helium goes into a lot more than balloons. Because the gas is inert and has extreme melting and boiling points—both near ...

Francey Freeman has seen the cost of doing business go sky-high. Prices for buying helium to fill balloons and rental tanks at her Balloons Fantastique in Fort Worth have dramatically increased in the ...