Post #768635

Iran just smashed major gas facilities in Qatar. What does this have to do with chips? Helium. On Earth Helium floats up into space and is lost. However it is produced in the core and mantle by decaying uranium and thorium which release helium nuclei. This gas gets trapped in pockets which often also contain natural gas. However this helium is contaminated with natural gas, Argon (from Potassium 40 decay) and such. It has to be purified to 99.999999% for chip fabs. 30% world helium comes through the strait of Hormuz. The super pure stuff is made nearby so it can be sold to Asian fabs. Machinery for this is specialized, not easily replaceable. Expansive RAM? No, it will become unobtanium, along with any other kind of chip. CPU, GPU, SSD, microcontrollers are going to get hard to get in a few months. Trump and his clownish cabinate put zero thought into this and todays world is gonna reel with what is coming.