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Dawei Wang

Two large hands descend over a microchip which is enlarged to look like a piece of land. One hand represents China and the other the US. Each hand is placing a building on the microchip to claim that piece of land. Around these two hands, many other buildings have already been placed.

The science behind semiconductors: where STEM meets politics

Semiconductors aren’t something you might think about very often, but you might’ve heard
about them in the news. Recently, there’s been a flash of news articles about the
semiconductors from Taiwan, and how the U.S. and China both want their hands on them. But
what are semiconductors, and what makes them so valuable that countries will fight over them?