Why is Helium so difficult to synthesize?
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It’s impossible to synthesize because to synthesize means to combine two things to create something new. Helium is an element, so to make an element you have to combine protons and neutrons which is much much harder than it sounds.
There are only 2 environments that commonly make elements. First is inside stars where the pressure and heat are unimaginably high that the protons and neutrons flu around in massive soup until they can stick to each other. That’s pretty impossible to replicate at this point.
The second is radioactive decay where unstable atoms lose protons and neutrons in order to become more stable. That is actually the only reason why we have any useable amounts of helium on earth to begin with. Radioactive elements deep in the earth decayed and created helium over billions of years. Which of course that time scale is just so insanely long that it really isn’t useful to wait until radioactive elements decay into more helium.
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