Taiwan's semiconductor dominance

What a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would look like

If China invaded Taiwan today, it would not be an easy task. This four-minute video explores the obstacles and opposition the Chinese military would face during an attack on the island. Distance, Taiwan's military spending and training, and weaponry designed to oppose an attack from the sea are all factors that would prevent an immediate win by China.

Why China wants Taiwan

Why does China want Taiwan? Money, power, nationalism, regional dominance, and a footstep toward further establishing their position as a superpower. This article explores all the angles of China's sudden push to reclaim/reunify with their neighbor across the strait. But an invasion might not be as easy as they suppose.

How TSMC, the world's biggest chip manufacturer, makes money

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has more than 500 clients across the world, but none are bigger or more consequential to its business than Apple. The iPhone maker accounts for 25% of TSMC's total revenue. TSMC controls more than 60% of the global market share in semiconductor manufacturing. Dive into the economics and outlook of this important company here.

Comparing military power: China and Taiwan

When it comes to power, China and Taiwan are predictably lopsided, though in some regards Taiwan may be able to hold its own. This site crunches the numbers for each country and compares them side by side. See what the totals are and what either side's military seems to be focused on.

Why everyone is racing to get rare earth minerals

Rare earth minerals are crucial for high-tech electronics and transitioning to new energy sources. China currently dominates rare earth processing capacity, but the US is seeking to increase its mineral production by using its geopolitical influence to strike international mineral agreements with nations like Ukraine.

Tracking the latest developments in the Taiwan Strait

China continues to express its desire to unify with Taiwan and prevent the island republic from any interaction with the United States of America. See the latest skirmishes and saber-rattlings on the part of the Chinese government in this detailed article that provides clear data visualizations of how China has encroached on Taiwan's air space and tested the waters, so to speak.

Semiconductor chips are electronic devices that store and process information

They can contain billions of microscopic switches on a chip smaller than a fingernail. An article provides a quick overview of how the devices work and how they’ve provided the backbone of the computer age.

Taiwan's economic history, analyzed

See how the global economic power evolved from the colonial period to today, including charts and graphs highlighting China's progress, especially in recent decades.

Shenzhen, China is known as the 'Silicon Valley of Hardware'

The "Silicon Valley of Hardware" is a major manufacturing hub. This WIRED documentary from 2016 does a deep dive into how this Chinese city's practice of copycat manufacturing alongside its innovative culture has made it China's own Silicon Valley.

China is producing many peptides or peptide components sold in the US

In Silicon Valley, in particular, peptides have taken off, and are often coming from China—even though many of the products are unproven for their purported uses.

As of 2025, the US and Qatar dominate global helium production

The US's 42.6% share includes helium imported from Canada and refined within the states. Geopolitical conflicts can cause supply disruptions that impact several advanced technologies, including semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace systems, and medical imaging.

Computex Taipei is Asia’s premier computing and hardware trade show

Held annually in Taiwan, Computex Taipei brings together global tech leaders to debut innovations in processors, GPUs, AI, and next-gen computing—making it a key event for the IT and hardware industry.

China doubled its nuclear stockpile between 2020 and 2025, with plans for further expansion

China's arsenal grew from an estimated 300 warheads in 2020 to approximately 600 in 2025—making it the world's third-largest nuclear power. The US Department of Defense projects that China will surpass 1,000 warheads by 2030.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

The global defense industry in one chart

The world's most valuable defense companies (for example, Lockheed Martin) make up much of the global defense industry. As of 2025, RTX led the pack with a roughly $183B market cap.

Learn how eight 'traitors' played an essential role in founding Silicon Valley

In the 1950s, William Shockley led the way in the semiconductor business. Everything changed in 1957, after eight of his engineers—whom he called the "Traitorous Eight"—left his company to start their own. Their company, named Fairchild Semiconductor, employed many future founders of major Silicon Valley companies. Today, the Traitorous Eight are considered among the founders of Silicon Valley.

NASA purchased about 60% of all integrated circuits from 1961 to 1965

The US government adopted the new technology to support the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer, which would help astronauts fly to the moon. This drove manufacturing up and costs down, setting the stage for the modern computing era.

Tech giants like SpaceX and Meta are increasingly behaving like sovereign powers

Companies now make unilateral decisions once reserved for nation-states, such as controlling satellite internet access in active war zones and influencing global information flows. Lawmakers and the international order are struggling to keep up with technological developments, let alone regulate them.

Congressional investigations identified an 'extremely high risk' of forced labor in Temu’s supply chain

Specifically, the accusations include concerns regarding products from the Xinjiang region of China, where forced labor and slavery are common.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

One Chinese businessman controls 70% of the fireworks entering the US

A warehouse explosion in 2008 forced all pyrotechnic shipments to travel through the Shanghai port under three special permits Ding Yan Zhong was given. Since then, he has established a near-monopoly over the global fireworks distribution chain, with logistics and shipping hubs in China and California. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

A trade war is an economic conflict where nations impose tariffs or other trade barriers on each other in retaliation for similar actions

The US-China trade war is one example. While they aim to protect domestic industries, they can lead to higher prices for consumers and strained international relations.

Discover what would happen in the US if the electric grid permanently went down

While the grid is designed with redundancies and to restart quickly in the event of an interruption, a long-term, widespread blackout would cut off most telecommunications, water, and sewage systems and cause supermarkets, which keep only about three days of inventory, to quickly empty. Without electricity and the transportation systems that rely on it, modern food production would also halt.

Nvidia's attempted Arm acquisition revealed its hopes of becoming the world's leading AI company

Though Nvidia's acquisition of Arm, another company that designs semiconductors, was ultimately quashed over antitrust concerns, the attempt offered insights into Nvidia's business strategy. Over time, Nvidia has increasingly focused on using its graphics cards to power machine learning, and its platform CUDA is dominant in the sector.

NATO leads cyber war games in Estonia

Estonia is host to one of the world’s largest annual interactive cybersecurity drills. Russia is always considered the main threat, but this year, the war in Ukraine has only added to the stakes.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor largely because it was running out of oil

This video traces how US-led sanctions and Japan’s near-total dependence on imported oil pushed Japanese leaders toward a high-risk plan: seize Southeast Asian oil fields and neutralize the American Pacific Fleet, hoping Washington would negotiate rather than fight.

Switzerland's currency is so strong that it could cause deflation

Economic instability in the United States in 2025 strongly benefited Switzerland, where the value of the franc relative to the dollar increased by about 12.7%. In response, the price of imports dramatically decreased, making goods overall much cheaper.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.