--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: helium became the first and only element…" description: "\"“helium became the first and only element in the chemist’s Periodic Table to be discovered someplace other than Earth. Okay,”\" — Neil deGrasse Tyson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_helium_helium-became-the-first-and-only-element_2141049.png" --- # helium became the first and only element in the chemist’s… ![“helium became the first and only element in the chemist’s Periodic Table to be discovered someplace other than Earth. Okay,” quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_helium_helium-became-the-first-and-only-element_2141049.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_helium_helium-became-the-first-and-only-element_2141049.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_helium_helium-became-the-first-and-only-element_2141049.png) > ““helium became the first and only element in the chemist’s Periodic Table to be discovered someplace other than Earth. Okay,”” [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Helium is unique as the only element discovered off Earth, highlighting humanity’s expanding scientific reach. **In simple terms:** Helium was found beyond Earth, showing scientific progress. Key Takeaway Support space exploration and research. Themes science discovery space elements human curiosity exploration Mood wonder inquisitive Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - space missions - lab experiments - education - public outreach Key Concepts astronomy planetary science elemental research innovation Questions to Reflect On - What other elements might be found elsewhere? - How does off‑Earth discovery change our view of the universe? A Different Perspective Discovery may be limited by technology. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Periodic table](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/periodic-table/) ## Related quotes > [“Further analysis of the Sun’s spectrum revealed the signature of an element that had no known counterpart on Earth. Being of the Sun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/further-analysis-of-the-sun-s-spectrum-revealed-the-signature-of-an/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If the human condition were the periodic table, maybe love would be hydrogen at No. 1. Death would be helium at No. 2. Power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/if-the-human-condition-were-the-periodic-table-maybe-love-would-be/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Our entire universe emerged from a point smaller than a single atom. Space itself exploded in a cosmic fire, launching the expansion of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/our-entire-universe-emerged-from-a-point-smaller-than-a-single-atom/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“As the cosmos continues to cool—dropping below a hundred million degrees—protons fuse with protons as well as with neutrons, forming atomic nuclei and hatching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/as-the-cosmos-continues-to-cool-dropping-below-a-hundred-million/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Helium is widely recognized as an over-the-counter, low-density gas that, when inhaled, temporarily increases the vibrational frequency of your windpipe and larynx, making you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/helium-is-widely-recognized-as-an-over-the-counter-low-density-gas/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Everything we do understand about the universe - the periodic table of elements, Einstein's laws, Newton's laws, all of chemistry, all of biology -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/everything-we-do-understand-about-the-universe-the-periodic-table-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Only three of the naturally occurring elements were manufactured in the big bang. The rest were forged in the high-temperature hearts and explosive remains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/only-three-of-the-naturally-occurring-elements-were-manufactured-in/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“even a scientist can’t help thinking of the Periodic Table as a zoo of one-of-a-kind animals conceived by Dr. Seuss. How else could we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/even-a-scientist-can-t-help-thinking-of-the-periodic-table-as-a-zoo/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Liquid helium belongs to a class of fluids known as quantum fluids, as distinct from classical fluids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lee/liquid-helium-belongs-to-a-class-of-fluids-known-as-quantum-fluids-as/) [David Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lee/) > [Some womans had cause the addition of a new element to the PERIODIC TABLE: Name: Women Symbol: Wmn ATOMIC WEIGHT: Don't even dare to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-womans-had-cause-the-addition-of-a-new-element-to-the-periodic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nuclear fusion of light elements like hydrogen or helium would permit approaching the speed of light. It seems very attractive to refuel your space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-greatbatch/nuclear-fusion-of-light-elements-like-hydrogen-or-helium-would-permit/) [Wilson Greatbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-greatbatch/) > [Well I’ve been doing it for about twenty years, I did films when I was a little kid, when I was about six or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-libman/well-i-ve-been-doing-it-for-about-twenty-years-i-did-films-when-i-was/) Andrea Libman > [We, all of us, are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolves for so long that it begins to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-tarter/we-all-of-us-are-what-happens-when-a-primordial-mixture-of-hydrogen/) [Jill Tarter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-tarter/) > [There are few moments in science in which you genuinely are excited. The discovery of superfluidity in helium-3 was one of those moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lee/there-are-few-moments-in-science-in-which-you-genuinely-are-excited/) [David Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lee/) > [The federal helium program sells vast amounts of the gas to U.S. companies that use it in everything from party balloons to MRI machines.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/the-federal-helium-program-sells-vast-amounts-of-the-gas-to-u-s/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) ## More by Neil deGrasse Tyson > [I don't want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-go-into-space-because-of-war-i-think-we-would-if-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The Pacific is the best toilet for satellites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-pacific-is-the-best-toilet-for-satellites/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If you seek only easy problems to solve, then ultimately, there'll be nothing about you to distinguish yourself from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-you-seek-only-easy-problems-to-solve-then-ultimately-there-ll-be/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The caricature of science is that we hold tight to the theories we have, and shun challenges to them. That's just not true. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-caricature-of-science-is-that-we-hold-tight-to-the-theories-we/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [ They \[scientists of centuries past\] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-on-god-only-from-the-lonely/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/you-can-t-have-people-making-decisions-about-the-future-of-the-world/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Science surrounds you. It's not something that you can step aside, step over or push out of your way because you were never good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/science-surrounds-you-it-s-not-something-that-you-can-step-aside-step/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The idea that God resides in the unknown is what philosophers call the God of the gaps. And we have this thing called science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-idea-that-god-resides-in-the-unknown-is-what-philosophers-call/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Everybody's got money for vacation time. Look at how much we all spend just to get - well, I get sick on the loop-the-loop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/everybody-s-got-money-for-vacation-time-look-at-how-much-we-all-spend/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) [Explore all 1,143 Neil deGrasse Tyson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More Helium quotes > [There are few moments in science in which you genuinely are excited. The discovery of superfluidity in helium-3 was one of those moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lee/there-are-few-moments-in-science-in-which-you-genuinely-are-excited/) [David Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lee/) > [We, all of us, are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolves for so long that it begins to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-tarter/we-all-of-us-are-what-happens-when-a-primordial-mixture-of-hydrogen/) [Jill Tarter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-tarter/) > [Well I’ve been doing it for about twenty years, I did films when I was a little kid, when I was about six or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-libman/well-i-ve-been-doing-it-for-about-twenty-years-i-did-films-when-i-was/) Andrea Libman > [Our entire universe emerged from a point smaller than a single atom. Space itself exploded in a cosmic fire, launching the expansion of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/our-entire-universe-emerged-from-a-point-smaller-than-a-single-atom/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Liquid helium belongs to a class of fluids known as quantum fluids, as distinct from classical fluids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lee/liquid-helium-belongs-to-a-class-of-fluids-known-as-quantum-fluids-as/) [David Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lee/) > [The federal helium program sells vast amounts of the gas to U.S. companies that use it in everything from party balloons to MRI machines.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/the-federal-helium-program-sells-vast-amounts-of-the-gas-to-u-s/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [Nuclear fusion of light elements like hydrogen or helium would permit approaching the speed of light. It seems very attractive to refuel your space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-greatbatch/nuclear-fusion-of-light-elements-like-hydrogen-or-helium-would-permit/) [Wilson Greatbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-greatbatch/) > [Sometimes, when people are talking to me about something I have no interest in and that glazed over look takes me, I imagine the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-when-people-are-talking-to-me-about-something-i-have-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“On Earth, we’d just use glue, but here the only fluid was helium, which has lots of interesting properties, but is definitely not sticky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-haldeman/on-earth-we-d-just-use-glue-but-here-the-only-fluid-was-helium-which/) [Joe Haldeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-haldeman/) > [“I regard breathing industrial gas to be as harmful as heavy smoking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/i-regard-breathing-industrial-gas-to-be-as-harmful-as-heavy-smoking/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When the moon was first visited in 1969, the astronauts brought back a treasure trove of unique minerals. Contained within specimens was an isotope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-hickam/when-the-moon-was-first-visited-in-1969-the-astronauts-brought-back-a/) [Homer Hickam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-hickam/) > [ In a certain sense I made a living for five or six years out of that one star \[Ï… Sagittarii\] and it is still… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-l-greenstein/in-a-certain-sense-i-made-a-living-for-five-or-six-years-out-of-that/) Jesse L. Greenstein > [You sounded like Dolly parton on helium." (After kristy lee cook of season 7 on american idol,sang her country rendition of the Beatles'"Eight Days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-cowell/you-sounded-like-dolly-parton-on-helium-after-kristy-lee-cook-of/) [Simon Cowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-cowell/) > [“sweaty palms. check. shaky bones. check. the feeling that all oxygen in the air has been replaced by helium. yup.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/sweaty-palms-check-shaky-bones-check-the-feeling-that-all-oxygen-in/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Tired of burning fossil fuel and polluting the planet? The moon is covered with helium 3, an isotope from the sun that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-hickam/tired-of-burning-fossil-fuel-and-polluting-the-planet-the-moon-is/) [Homer Hickam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-hickam/) Browse all 62 Helium quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“helium became the first and only element in the chemist’s Periodic Table to be discovered someplace other than Earth. 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