SAN FRANCISCO / Inflation strikes balloon sellers / Helium prices are through the roof, leaving party suppliers wondering how long the shortage will persist By Steve Rubenstein , Chronicle Staff ...

Just 12 of the sites use helium, with the rest relying on hydrogen to lift radiosondes, the instruments carried by the weather balloons, nearly 20 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Two pioneering British companies reach back 100 years to the earliest form of air travel and airborne attack, with big potential in the 21st Century for energy, tourism and the military.

Helium does not just fill balloons and render voices squeaky. In gaseous form the inert, lighter-than-air gas is used in a range of applications from welding and fibre-optic technology to deep-sea ...