Those that rise to the top of the ratings scale--like helium gas itself--receive the greatest monetary compensation.
Dr Marcy suspects that his new discovery, which has about 45 times the mass of the Earth, is composed of a rocky core surrounded by a thick envelope of hydrogen and helium gas.
The next heaviest element in the periodic table, the inert gas helium, is used for detecting cracks in pressure vessels and the like.
The Helium found in Natural Gas is there simply because Thorium and Uranium are radioactively converting the hydrogen in these fossil fuels into Helium, but this takes millions of years.
It takes a certain minimum level of helium concentration to make it economically viable to separate out the helium from the natural gas.
It has its eye on a joint project to design a gas-turbine modular helium reactor with the United States, Japan and France.
Unlike helium, which is extracted from natural gas, nitrogen can be readily harvested from the air, and cooled for a fraction of the price.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is also calling for greater public awareness of the dangers of laughing gas - nitrous oxide - and helium.
This "perfect storm" between facility issues and lower natural gas production overseas has caused a shortage in helium worldwide.
As a consequence, out of the thousands of sources of natural gas that exist, only 14 are being processed for their helium content.
Those fissures and crevices that have trapped natural gas below the Earth's surface are also capable of trapping helium, although typically in small amounts.
Helium, unlike most other gases, is a minor byproduct in the production of natural gas.
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