On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits on the fringe of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the primary signal of development on what may turn into the most important semiconductor manufacturing facility in america.
The CHIPS and Science Act, handed final yr with bipartisan congressional help, was extensively seen by business leaders and politicians as a method to safe provide chains, and make america aggressive once more in semiconductor chip manufacturing.Â
Now Syracuse is about to turn into an financial take a look at of whether or not, over the following a number of a long time, the aggressive authorities insurance policies—and the huge company investments they spur—can each enhance the nation’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize areas like upstate New York. And all of it begins with an astonishingly costly and complicated type of manufacturing unit referred to as a chip fab. Learn the total story.
—David Rotman
Inside a high-tech cement laboratory
Cement is a local weather nightmare. The fabric, which is mainly the glue that holds concrete collectively, accounts for about 8% of world emissions.
It requires super-high temperatures to make, which means you need to burn fossil fuels within the course of. Secondly, there are chemical reactions concerned in reworking minerals into working cement, and people launch carbon dioxide.Â
