I think RAM shortages would be the least of our problems…
Assuming China takes TSMC in one piece (unlikely without internal sabotage in the best case scenario), it would still probably take years before it produces another high end GPU or CPU.
We would probably be stuck with the existing inventory of equipment for a long time…
I am surprised we consider TSMC like a natural resource: isn't it really a combination of know-how and build-out according to that know-how? If smarts leave the country, perhaps this moves with them.
The risk with China taking over Taiwan is that they mostly expedite their own production research by a couple of years.
It kinda does resemble a natural resource though. The machines and technology in use at TSMC are so insanely complex, that there isn't a single person on earth who knows everything about how it works. TSMC functions only because of all of the pieces of the puzzle being together in the right place and arranged in just the right way. It's a very fragile balance that keeps it all running, and a major disruption could mean we get thrown back by a decade in chip-making technology.
What you say is absolutely true, and is a serious problem—but the way our system operates does not allow us to correct for it.
Anyone trying to spin up a competitor to TSMC would have to first overcome a significant financial hurdle: the capital investment to build all the industrial equipment needed for fabrication.
Then they'd have to convince institutions to choose them over TSMC when they're unproven, and likely objectively worse than TSMC, given that they would not have its decades of experience and process optimization.
This would be mitigated somewhat if our institutions had common-sense rules in place requiring multiple vendors for every part of their supply chain—note, not just "multiple bids, leading to picking a single vendor" but "multiple vendors actively supplying them at all times". But our system prioritizes efficiency over resiliency.
A wealthy nation-state with a sufficiently motivated voter base could certainly build up a meaningful competitor to TSMC over the course of, say, a decade or two (or three...). But it would require sustained investment at all levels—and not just investment in the simple financial sense; it requires people investing their time in education and research. Dedicating their lives to making the best chips in the world. And the only reason that would work is that it defies our system, and chooses to invest in plants that won't be finished for years, and then pay for chips that they know are inferior in quality, because they're our chips, and paying for them when they're lower quality is the only way to get them to be the best chips in the world.
> A wealthy nation-state with a sufficiently motivated voter base could certainly build up a meaningful competitor to TSMC over the course of, say, a decade or two (or three...).
> I am surprised we consider TSMC like a natural resource: isn't it really a combination of know-how and build-out according to that know-how?
Have you seen how many states and countries look enviously at Silicon Valley’s tech companies, China’s manufacturing dominance, or London’s financial sector and try to replicate them?
Turns out it’s way harder than you’d expect.
Hell, Intel can’t match TSMC despite decades of expertise, much greater fame, and regulators happy to change the law and hand out tens of billions in subsidies.
Does China need to take Taiwan? American protection of the island seems to be a waning concern. I could see that being a peaceful event now. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj94y87k2ljo
Isn't the main showstopper issue to solve for brain implants is scarring response or something similar? That is when body responds to the implant and surrounds electrodes with some sort of tissue reducing its effectiveness. Has Neuralink made any advancements in that area?
They can remap the electrodes to find ones that work. Also the thing seems relatively easy to replace and brain implants go. It's a bit early to say how much use they'll get.
Yes, they cloned some minions to downvote biologic reality.. Posted the same questions. Got nil response. If they had a break through, you could see it at the patent search.
I've done something similar but it was only a 7 segment display showing how much I ran. It sat on a shelf and it was pretty fun to watch number go up every time I came back to my apartment after a run.
To make everything really simple I scraped my public profile directly from esp8266 controller (so there's no need for extra steps of setting up Strava app to gain access to the API). Worked relatively well.
Yup. And the other (green/teal?) typewriter has a spacebar on the edge, same colour as the typewriter body. Ends of it sometimes visible between fingers, it's also used.
My father got it after an injured looking/unusually behaving cat scratched him up. Cat ran away - so it was impossible to test for rabies. 4 shoulder injections - no drama, no noticeable side effects other than maybe sore shoulder.
I remember reading that these tests only worked like 40% of the time in cases that later proved to be positive posthumously.
Tests for viruses usually either measure the immune response (which rabies doesn't trigger) or try to catch the virus RNA/DNA in a sample, but that requires the virus to be present in that specific sample. Rabies is extremely stealthy, it's not necessarily present in either urine or saliva, so these tests effectively are either "positive" or "unknown". Even if you take sample of nerve tissue you may not hit the infected piece because it spreads very slowly and non-uniformly.
Not from Russia, but nearby.. It was very common - kinda wild east and nobody cared. As soon our telecom started providing DSL - we (neighbourhood kids) got a commercial DSL into my apartment and shared it between 2 five story apartment buildings. Our set up was tiny and not very reliable. Some local networks like this grew and became almost proper internet providers. But they continued this gray practice of pulling cables in the air, between buildings. They'd also do other sketchy stuff like installing hubs/switches into electrical boxes and tapping supply from the building. We learned about it when a technician from a provider like this dropped a screwdriver on live wires and knocked out power for half of the building.
Basic flight instruments almost always have a backup. In case of F-35 there's a small square screen in centre console which shows attitude indicator and flight parameters. Needless to say, if main screens are out you are turning around and looking for the nearest airport.
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