Helium-3
Helium-3 is a non-
radioactive and light
isotope of
helium. It has two
protons but only one
neutron in contrast to two
neutrons in ordinary
helium. Helium-3 is rare on
Earth and sought-after for use in
fusion. More abundant helium-3 is thought to exist on the
Moon (embedded in the upper layer of
regolith from
solar wind over billions of years) and the
gas giants (left over from the original
solar nebula) in our solar system.
Helium-3 is used in cryogenics to achieve temperatures as low as a few
thousandths of a kelvin.