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Blog – Page 5093

The material of the future could make an imaginative concept of the past real.

Brief history of the space elevator

Like most time-honored revolutionary ideas for space exploration, the space elevator can be traced to Russian/Soviet rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857−1935). Considered to be the top contender for the title of the “Father of Rocketry” (the other two being Hermann Oberth and Robert Goddard), Tsiolokovsky is responsible for developing the “Rocket Equation” and the design from which most modern rockets are derived. In his more adventurous musings, he proposed how humanity could build rotating Pinwheel Stations in space and a space elevator.

Continue reading “A New Method for Making Graphene has an Awesome Application: A Space Elevator!” | >

Taiwan’s dominance of the semiconductor manufacturing market has made it a vital geopolitical interest for the US.

Taiwan dominates the world’s supply of computer chips — no wonder the US is worried.

One aspect of Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan that has been largely overlooked is her meeting with Mark Lui, chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC). Pelosi’s trip coincided with US efforts to convince TSMC — the world’s largest chip manufacturer, on which the US is heavily dependent — to establish a manufacturing base in the US and to stop making advanced chips for Chinese companies.

US support for Taiwan has historically been based on Washington’s opposition to communist rule in Beijing, and Taiwan’s resistance to absorption by China. But in recent years, Taiwan’s autonomy has become a vital geopolitical interest for the US because of the island’s dominance of the semiconductor manufacturing market.

Semiconductors — also known as computer chips or just chips — are integral to all the networked devices that have become embedded into our lives. They also have advanced military applications.

Continue reading “How Taiwan’s tiny chips are quietly shaping US geopolitics” | >