Gregory Smith, age 12 of Lawndale, Calf., for his question:

Where is helium found?

There are tiny traces of helium gas in the air, but not enough to make extracting it worth while. Large quantities of helium are present in certain deposits of natural gas. Projects for extracting helium from natural gas are under way at Exell and Amarillo in Texas, Otis in Kansas and at Shiprock in New Mexico. Most of the known suppliers of helium gas are in the United States.

Strange to say, helium was discovered in the sun before it was known to exist on the earth. This was in the year 1868. Twenty seven years later, it was discovered in a uranium mineral. Helium is the best of the gases used for lifting aloft balloons and dirigibles. It is less buoyant than hydrogen, but hydrogen is highly inflammable and helium is not. Helium is also used in medicine and in industry.