ability

China has the ability to stop the construction of new AI data centers. It is a nightmare for the US

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During the last two years The Chinese government has fought The US sanctions and its allies resorting to a strategy that has proven to be very effective. China controls the production and processing of several critical minerals For semiconductor industries, renewable energies or electric car, among other sectors, which has led to the administration led by Xi Jinping to regulate its export in a very strict way. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: Scandio and Disposio. However, there is a much less exotic chemical element than those I just mentioned the one that is barely talking. China also controls it and is using it to put the US against the strings. Bismuth is a fundamental metal for the global technology industry Although it is not monopolizing as many headlines in international media as rare earths, bismuth (BI) is an essential chemical element not only for the integrated circuit industry, but for the entire global technology sector. It is a whitish, crystalline and relatively fragile metal that acquires a pinkaceous tone when coming into contact with the air. It shares some physicochemical properties with lead and tin, but it has a distinctive characteristic that has helped it be erected as the essential metal that is: it is much less toxic than other heavy metals, such as lead. However, this is not at all its only quality. In addition, it is the most diamagnetic metal, so when introducing it into a magnetic field it is repelled very weakly. On the other hand, its electrical resistance is high and its thermal conductivity is very low. Interestingly, the only metal that has even smaller thermal conductivity is mercury. And its melting point is relatively low (about 271.3 ° C), while Its boiling point touches the 2,000 ° C. Finally, the bismuth has another very unusual property among the metals that are worth not overlooking: when it solidifies it expands. The bismuth is an essential metal thanks to its intervention in welds and the tuning of thermoelectric materials If we had to stay with only two characteristics of all that we just reviewed the chosen ones would be their low toxicity index and their ability to expand when solidified. In fact, these properties largely justify their use in industries that have a strategic role for many countries, such as chips, consumer electronics, renewable energy or electric car. Although it participates in a wide range of applications, the bismuth is an essential metal thanks to its intervention in the welds and the tuning of thermoelectric materials. For many decades the metal usually used in welds was lead, but it has an important problem: it is very toxic. Gradually this metal has been displaced by the alloys of bismuth and tin, which are much less toxic, and, in addition, They have a very low melting point. In fact, these alloys have a leading role in the manufacture of flexible substrates, printed circuit plates and all kinds of electronic components. On the other hand, thermoelectric materials allow generating electricity taking advantage of temperature and vice versa differences, so they are very important in the development of efficient cooling systems. China is currently the largest world producer in bismuth. In fact, control between 80 and 84% of the supply of this metal, so the global distribution chain is in your hands. Only in 2024 this Asian country produced 13,000 metric tons of this chemical element, while outside the borders of China, only 3,000 more tons were refined. This essentially absolute control has led to the Chinese government to drastically restrict Bismuth export with the purpose of responding to the sanctions of their rivals. In the US, some technology companies are already against the ropes because their bismuth reserves are running out. And it is not precisely unimportant companies. Google, Amazon and Nvidia are three of the US companies that Chinese bismuth urgently need In order to sustain the construction of your new data centers for applications of artificial intelligence (AI), so They have asked the US government that he reaches an agreement with his Chinese counterpart. Otherwise the development of AI in the country led by Donald Trump will be compromised. In this area, as we have just seen, China has the pan well grabbed by the handle. More information | China / Business Inside In Xataka | The two most important chip companies in China have a problem: the 5 Nm have been choked

China is about to have the ability to make 5 Nm chips, although it faces a difficult solution problem

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SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp), the largest Chinese semiconductor manufacturer has been working on the development of Your own 5 nm photolithography. In early February 2024 the newspaper Financial Times He said he had access to two experts in the integrated circuit industry who defended that this company was finalizing the refinement of their semiconductor manufacturing processes in their machines deep ultraviolet lithography (UVP). Its purpose was to have the necessary technology to make 5 Nm chips massively before the end of 2024, although it did not succeed. If its 5 Nm chips had already been successful in this project, the first Huawei devices or any other SMIC client equipped with this type of integrated circuits would have even seen the market. Be that as it seems, now, this technology is ready. The challenge facing SMIC is the performance by wafer According to Dr. Kiman expert in the manufacture of integrated circuits who has worked in Samsung and who currently investigates for TSMC in the US, SMIC is about to start the production of 5 Nm chips. It is perfectly credible because, as we have just seen, we know with certainty that this company has been working on this technology for several years. And, in addition, Dr. Kim is a reliable source. However, this expert has pointed out something crucial that we should not overlook: the performance per wafer that SMIC has currently achieved in its 5 Nm nodes is less than 30%. An incipient integration technology usually moves in the orbit of 50% performance per wafer When semiconductor manufacturers produce a chip wafer, some of those nuclei do not work properly. It is normal. When they launch a new lithographic node, their performance by wafer usually has a margin of broad improvement, but little by little, as engineers refine their integration processes, This parameter improves. A mature lithography can deliver to integrated circuit manufacturers a very high performance, but an incipient technology usually moves in the orbit of 50% performance, so only half of the chips produced work correctly. The problem is that for an integration technology to be profitable from an economic point of view, its performance by wafer has to be At least 70%. And, as we have just seen, Dr. Kim argues that the SMIC 5 NM node is below 30%. It is objectively a very poor performance, but we know what this low figure explains: the technique used by this manufacturer to produce these semiconductors. It is known as Multiple patterningand SMIC has used it for more than a year and a half to make 7 NM chips for Huawei and other customers. This strategy consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. It works, but is responsible for wafer performance is clearly improvable. SMIC engineers have been forced to resort to Multiple patterning because The US and Netherlands sanctions They prevent Asml from selling their extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment to their Chinese customers, which are the ideal to make chips of 7 nm or less. With the UVP machines that SMIC has, it will be very difficult for wafer performance to be optimal, so in all 5 Nm integrated circuits they will be scarce and expensive. The definitive solution to this problem for SMIC, Huawei and the other Chinese companies that are dedicated to semiconductors inevitably goes through developing their own UVE lithography teams. They are in it. Image | SMIC More information | Dr. Kim In Xataka | The US has declared the total war on Huawei: he does not want him to sell his chips for the most advanced outside of China

The Castor project was the great idea of ​​Spain to self -ability. Now you are selling it by pieces

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Spain always has pursued concern around natural gas. More than 15 years ago its main sources were Algeria and Russia, but not to be energy dependent, the State promoted the Castor project. This initiative It arose as a possible response to face these challenges and reduce the vulnerability of the Spanish nation in the face of possible energy crises. However, a study confirmed That the gas injection of the year 2012 caused the earthquakes of Castellón, so a year later the Minister of Industry at that time ordered its closure. Now the current government has decided to sell it in parts. A little context. THE CASTOR PROJECT It was promoted by the Zapatero government and continued under the Rajoy Executive, being the ACS construction company, controlled by Florentino Pérez, responsible for the execution. The infrastructure was managed by the Concessionaire Escal Ugs, an ACS subsidiary. All this, He explains it Chronologically a citizen association that has denounced the case. How was it going to be? The Castor project consisted of an underwater natural gas warehouse located off the coast of Castellón, designed to store gas in an underwater deposit about 1,700 meters deep. It had the capacity to store approximately 1.9 BCM (billions of cubic meters) of gas and consisted of a marine platform, a gas pipeline of 30.3 kilometers in length, and a land plant in Vinaròs. And the problems came … Just for the earthquakes, was it closed? No, like Eldiario.es explained The initiative had a few challenges from the beginning. The reasons were different, such as their profitability, their environmental impact and the fact that it did not turn out to be as necessary as it had initially raised, given The great capacity of the regasifying of gas in Spain. Given this situation, the project was tried to sell in search of some type of economic solution. However, they did not find a solution to the problem, so finally the ACS company He abandoned it and the dismantling process began. A decade of the castor’s fiasco. Ten years later, the Castor project remains a clear example of billionaire failure. The submarine gas warehouse that ACS built In front of the coast of Castellón and Tarragona, it only operated in tests and never reached its full functionality. The result is known: an unusable infrastructure and a billionaire hole that has ended up paying the taxpayer, accompanied by a waterfall of judicial litigation without those responsible for being identified. Definitive closure. As They have advanced Different media, the third vice president and minister for ecological transition and demographic challenge, Sara Aagesen, has confirmed that the dismantling of the underwater warehouse will begin in May after the sealing of the thirteen underwater wells. In addition, what can be recovered from the project will be sold to reduce losses, which are encrypted by about 260 million euros. Why that figure? It all starts during the Rajoy government in 2014, which It was approved Express compensation of 1,350 million euros for the construction company ACS through a Royal Decree-Law. However, this compensation, which should be paid for 30 years through the gas bill, was declared unconstitutional in 2017, which paralyzed payments to financial entities. Finally, the State had to borrow to compensate the bank. The litigation began. During those years, the facilities have cost more than 100 million euros for more than 11 years, when the Concessionaire Escal Ugs resigned from the project. However, the National Court has forced ESPS, the company controlled by ACS, to return 209.7 million euros in “financial compensation” that charged between 2014 and 2017, after the judgment of the Constitutional Court that annulled the payments. However, it remains to be seen if the company will comply with this obligation, since Escal Ugs entered into a creditors’ contest In 2019. As for the criminal derivative, in 2021 the Castellón audience acquitted on step Already its directors of a crime against the environment and natural resources, a fact that underlines the lack of responsible for the Fiasco. A classic example of loss socialization. The Castor project is an example of “socialization of losses”, where the consequences of failure fell on the taxpayer, while financial entities, which had advanced money in exchange for charging it with interest for 30 years, were compensated by the State. Despite the controversies, the ACS company benefited from this compensation, despite the fact that its president, Florentino Pérez, declared that the project was a “misfortune” For his company, which represented only 1% of the ACS billing. A great legislative error. So it was indicated by the Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority (Airef)as one of the most expensive in the energy sector, concentrating more than half of the compensation paid by the State in recent years. This case has evidenced the need to carry out more rigorous studies on the technical, economic and environmental viability of the projects, especially when they involve geological risks or impacts in local communities. In addition, it has evidenced the importance of greater transparency in decision -making and public fund management. Image | Zarateman and Albertodv Xataka | 2025 is the beginning of the end for gas boilers in Spain. European regulations have started its long withdrawal

My concentration ability takes a long time. Working in a laptop almost 15 years ago has saved me

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Our care economy is broken. Completely. We are continuously bombarded by stimuli that come by many ways and the consequence is clear: We distracted ourselves with the flight of a fly. It is curious how this is causing a change not only in us, that we look for methods not to distract us, but in elements such as an entertainment industry that has changed its way of capturing our attention. There are two very clear examples of this. Music is one more or less obvious, with increasingly short songs (just a couple of minutes) and, some, with the chorus as the beginning of the theme. In addition, these choruses are also short to fit in the 15 seconds that you can share in an Instagram story. Another example is that of films, with trailers of a couple of minutes that begin with a trailer trailer itself. Here are an example of ‘TOP GUN MAVERICK‘, whose trailer starts with a five -second teaser with images that we will see below: Many more films make this, being a marketing resource that begs us to Let’s pay attention For two minutes. They seem to beg a “Please, pay attention to me, cool things come”. Due to that constant information bombardment, We seek to be productive when we are hyperstimulated And we read books, we learn from successful people, we put into practice supposedly infallible methods, we download applications and, sometimes, we spend more time looking for how to be productive That, really, being. I have to say that I have found a secret to Improve my productivity: Working on a computer that prevents me from opening more than three tabs at the same time. And – at least to me – it works. A hardware barrier If you are reading this it is because you have looked for ways to be more productive and not distract you. I have done it and I have installed everything on my computer, I have configured Ways not to bother the phone And even issues that restrict apps during work hours, but the meat is weak and the finger always tends to go open Bluesky or worse Instagram and Tiktok. One day it occurred to me that, if the software did not limit me, perhaps the hardware would. I went to the closet and took out of the box (I am one of those who keep the boxes of what he buys) My university laptop: a 2011 MacBook Pro. 16 GB of RAM A double -core i5 at a few 2.4 GHz and 13 inches of screen. Years ago I replaced his hard drive with a SSD and I was surprised to light after so many years. What did not work was the charger (nothing that does not solve Amazon and some 20 euros), so I configured it and came across the first problem: I was very outdated. Not only could he not update to a new operating system, but browsers such as Edge, Chrome or your own Safari They were insuffically slow. Nor could I install some applications that I use on a day -to -day basis, such as Notion, because they require a more recent version of the system, so I did with a Firefox Legacy and configured it so that Notion Be the default opening page. You will be wondering why I tell you this, and there I go: when I changed this laptop for a more recent one in 2017, something was already slow and having more than 4-5 tabs in a browser was unfeasible. Despite the 16 GB of RAM, the processor could not with so much without making the fan a turbine, without heating the chassis and without making the system on pull. Precisely, the reason that forced me to make the leap to Infame Macbook Pro with butterfly keyboardIt is the one that made me come back because I wanted, precisely, that. I explain: when I work on a website like Xataka, I do it with a lot of open eyelashes to search for sources. I have Telegram installed, YouTube Music, an image editor and Many times I open, almost by inertia, some social network Or youtube if I don’t feel inspired. With issues such as news or reports, having that overestimulation does not bother me because I know it is something that will take me for a while and then I will happen to something else, but the thing changes when I have an analysis or an opinion article. Does the screen divided there? Neither joke For this type of texts, the concentration is key. You have to turn your thoughts and structure them in a certain way. You cannot afford to get distracted because you lose your thread, and those distractions do not exist with a laptop from almost 15 years ago. If I have more than three tabs open at the same time, the Mac goes to the idle, so I only have notion, Perplexity (precisely to look for something and have many options in a single tab instead of many sources in many tabs) and YouTube Music. Web Telegram It is not an option, for example, and as soon as I have four tabs, the processor is already asking for rest. That with four Firefox tabs That technological barrier, almost physicalnot only does it exist because of how the Mac would go if I open more eyelashes: the screen also plays a paper. 13 inches are not bad and many current laptops have that diagonal, but here the resolution is 1280 x 800 pixels. Translation: scarce, much, so much that putting a game is not an option. Not having a high resolution, putting a split screen is unfeasible, which forces me to have a single screen I am writing, preventing you from having an eye in my text and another in a YouTube video, for example. As I said, it works for me and it is something that I have incorporated into my work routine. … Read more

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