Yu-Tzu Chiu

After a half-century hiatus, thorium has returned to the front lines of nuclear power research as a source of fuel. In 2025, China plans to start building a demonstration thorium-based molten-salt reactor in the Gobi Desert. The 10-megawatt reactor project, managed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), is scheduled to be operational by 2030, according to an environmental-impact report released by the Academy in October. The project follows a

4 min read Taiwan is making a push for AI leadership, backed by projects by companies including FoxConn. Bing-Jhen Hong/iStock Already positioned at the center of the global semiconductor industry, Taiwan now wants to make itself a hub for innovation in advanced artificial intelligence. The island nation’s new leadership, in place since May 2024, has taken a number of steps to help the country take better advantage of the AI that its chips enable. The