Intel is going to create processors with more than a trillion transistors in less than 10 years.

At the IEDM 2022 event, the company published nine research papers on future developments and plans. In particular, it describes new 2D materials for transistors, a new 3D packaging technology that will reduce the performance and power gap between chiplets and single-chip processors to an almost imperceptible range, and so on. There is also information about Intel’s plans to release processors with more than a trillion transistors by 2030.

Intel is betting heavily on a new 3D packaging technology for Quasi-Monolithic Chips (QMC). The bottom line is that QMC aims to offer almost the same performance as interconnects used in monolithic chips. QMC is known to be a new sub-3 micron pitch hybrid interconnect technology that results in a 10x increase in power efficiency and performance density compared to Intel designs presented at last year’s IEDM. The 10 micron step approach was described last year, and even that was already a 10x improvement over current technologies. That is, Intel, at least on paper, was able to achieve a 100-fold improvement in energy efficiency and density in just a few years. In addition, QMC also allows multiple chips to be stacked vertically on top of each other.

Interestingly, the rate of increase in the density of transistors in the foreseeable future, according to Intel’s plans, will approximately correspond to Moore’s law. At the same time, prices for semiconductor products will continue to grow.

Amid ongoing quarantine measures in China due to COVID-19, Apple has accelerated its plans to expand production outside the Middle Kingdom.

Now Apple is most interested in India and Vietnam, where the company already has production facilities, and hence established logistics. In addition, major Apple partners are located in Vietnam, including Luxshare and Inventec, who assemble AirPods and HomePods.

Of course, the diversification process will take a long time, because, firstly, the conditions in China are still unique in many ways, and secondly, Apple has a very developed network of manufacturing partners there, and first of all, Foxconn with its huge factories. But as a result, as expected, Apple will move up to 40% of production from China.

Recall that due to recent production shutdowns in China amid outbreaks of COVID-19, the Cupertino giant will release 15-20 million iPhone 14 less than planned, that is, it will lose an impressive amount.

While the United States has finally begun the first phase of the Artemis program, which is expected to return astronauts to the moon in 2025, China, according to recent data, plans to build a base on the moon at almost the same time.

As part of the current plans of the Celestial Empire, they want to create a base on our natural satellite by 2028. But this means that it will have to start building much earlier.

The station will be powered by a nuclear reactor.

We are currently developing a new system that uses nuclear energy to meet the long-term energy needs of the lunar station.

chief developer of China’s lunar exploration program Wu Weiren

What will be the Chinese lunar base is not yet clear, but no one has yet said that it will be an object intended for any long stay of people there. It is known that we are talking about a landing module, a kind of bunker, a lunar rover and an orbital station.

Previously, there was also information that the power of a nuclear installation to power such a base could reach 1 MW.

Earlier, the US also talked about placing a nuclear installation on the Moon by 2030. Thus, taking into account the accelerating race for the exploration of the Moon, in 10 years there really can be two bases there, albeit not yet designed for long-term residence of astronauts.