This is The Guardian.

Late last week, it looked as if maybe the Strait of Hormuz might finally reopen.

But over the weekend, talks between the U.S. and Iran ended without an agreement.

President Trump's response to announce a blockade.

The backlog, to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, it is about to get worse.

The U.S. says it will start blocking all ships heading to or leaving from Iranian ports

starting Monday morning at the direction of the U.S. president.

Once again, oil prices have jumped up and the world faces a worsening energy shock.

But it isn't just fossil fuels that are stuck, another crisis is brewing.

At least 30% of the world's supply of helium passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Not just for birthday balloons, helium is a critical element in all kinds of areas,

from MRI machines to the large Hadron Collider and even deep-sea diving.

It's also integral to the AI boom.

Without it, no chips.

So today, the invisible gas that's powering modern technology and what happens if we'd run out.

I'm the Guardian Science Editor Ian Sampal, and this is Science Weekly.

Maddie, the war in Iran has had an unexpected, for the most of us, at least impact. Helium shortages. Give me a primer on helium

and why it's so important. Helium is a very special element that we use in loads of different

applications and that's because helium has some very special properties. So if you imagine the periodic table in front of you, helium sits

at the top right-hand side above the rest of the noble gases like neon and argon. It being a noble gas

means that it's inert, so it basically doesn't interact or react with anything else.

Famously, it's lighter than air, it floats, but it's also non-flammable,

...