Stefan Laser

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 07:09:20 +0200

On the atomic level, etching #semiconductors is a violent, explosive process. I recommend this China Talk pod with an expert who explains chemical use in fabs. Also nuts: purity levels reaching “particles per trillion.”

Clean room life.

www.chinatalk.media/p/the-che…

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 20:30:28 +0200

“Das System läuft weitgehend unbemerkt von der Öffentlichkeit.”

Der Spiegel zu “Unglück made in Germany”, denn tausende junge Vietnamesen kommen jährlich nach Deutschland, um eine Ausbildung zu beginnen. Dabei geraten sie oft in die Hände dubioser Vermittler."

#Migration

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:50:51 +0200

Exploring the biggest construction site in Europe: ESMC Dresden, a Taiwanese-German #chip joint venture.

More water diverted? There’s enough for all, we learn. More housing? That’s for the market to tackle. Energy needs? Complex. Workers on site? Many from eastern Europe. Fascinating

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 17:56:52 +0200

Die Robotron-Kantine in #Dresden: offene Räume start Abriss. Einst Informationstechnologie, dann Klub, dann lange nuischt. Die heutige Kunstausstellung offenbart, wie die ostdeutsche Gesellschaft immer schon Alternativen gedacht hat

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:25:52 +0200

Back with the Taiwanese colleagues to explore the #semiconductor industry, now in #Dresden. We started with vanished #chip histories, moved to promised silicon futures and will now venture out – a lovely explorative “walkshop.”

I opened with a talk on lost futures in Magdeburg (#Intel).

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:03:12 +0200

ngl, I read a research report of mine from a few years ago, my #train study, and I feel like a treasure hunter.

It’s a mix of digital methods including code work (1 M tweets!), creative quali methods (podcast ethnography meets og interviews), and the prose has been smoothened by a proof write. 🫂

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 09:55:58 +0200

Die #Bahn stoppt, weil der Zugfunk ausfällt. Zuletzt hat ein Vortrag beim CCC genau davor gewarnt.

GSM ist nicht ganz die random person aus Nebraska (xkcd), aber es ist eine infrastrukturelle Abhängigkeit, die dank Unterfinanzierung der #DB links liegen bleibt.

Heise: www.heise.de/news/37C3…

Playing with the Format of Predictions

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:15:42 +0200

The Elon Musks of the world abuse #sf, #AI companies push eerie next-word predictors into our lives, and prediction markets accelerate corruption.

So…, how about reclaiming the format of predictions? As critical thinkers? Can it work?

Welcome to our Predictions project:

www.matteringpress.org/books/pre…

We assembled a wonderful collective of writers, from STS scholars to poets. Read the pieces and check out our introduction to get a sense of our thought process; it has been quite a ride.

Thanks to Mél, Edward, Hollis, the folks at Mattering Press, and, most importantly, the crowd of predictors who have been part of the process. In a few weeks, we will follow up with a second volume and an even wider collective that has shaped this project.

Collectively troubling timescapes is one of the sweetest aspects of thinking through predictions.

“We invite you to engage with Predictions as openings: opportunities to read generously and wander thoughtfully. To let go of extractivist habits of reading; to resist the pull to mine for definitive conclusions. Instead, we invite you to trace the threads that resonate with you, even if they fray at the edges.”

Rethinking reading and writing in academia is a key task, a helpful intervention. Related contributions are zines, a sci-fi story about overcoming excessive data infrastructures in the university, a speculative dictionary discussing virtuality, among other things.

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:45:00 +0200

Policy thriller im #Hanoi: to ban or not to ban fossil-fuel powered vehicles? The party of the people aggressively pushed a low-emission goal. Consumers were blamed for pollution. Suddenly, everything’s postponed. 🪄

vietnamnews.vn/society/1…

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:48:24 +0200

Our #waste in motion research workshop in Bochum is finished, and I’m ready for the weekend after organizing this humble gathering. 1 digital humanities workshop, 2 post-mining excursions, 3 international guests, and relentless fun and appreciation.

Waste lives on. Stay tuned. But for now, 😴

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:15:21 +0200

Listen to in-depth investigation into the growing industry of green technologies and the environmental, social, and political consequences of the mining it requires. – Join us today, 6pm, at the German Mining Museum. Or virtually.

This, again, will be a blast 👐

Link to the event: rustlab.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/lecture-b…

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:16:16 +0200

Join us now at 5:30 pm at the RUSTlab (online) lecture, Pat Brodie will discuss the book “From Bog to Cloud”, aka why the heck are there so many #datacenters in #Ireland??

The event: rustlab.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/lecture-b…

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:45:29 +0200

It’s waste week. As part of the campus mining walk I did during our DFG waste network meeting, we had a super lucky surprise meetup with a Fraunhofer project: next to the uni #datacenter, they are drilling into an abandoned mine to store heat from the nearby technical center (and data center), and the exploration was happening while we were they. We got a tour!!!

Our Ruhr University campus is so strange, mining, post-mining, PCB, many things happening at once

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:54:22 +0200

Die drittmeisten #Millionäre der Welt, 12% mehr als im Vorjahr, sie steigern ihr Vermögen, trotz Stagnation. Wie machen das die Millionäre nur?, fragt die FAZ.

Und antwortet mit… Anlageempfehlungen. Nichts mit rechtlichen Tricks, Asset-Inflation, #Ungleichheit gar. Erfrischend ehrlicher Finanzteil

Semiconductor research in Taiwan and Vietnam

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:27:08 +0200

Happy to share that my article is live: enjoy some #semiconductor industry dynamics in #Vietnam and #Taiwan.

I draw on ethnographic fieldwork at industry fairs in Taipei and Hanoi to make sense of a global frenzy. Follow me on a trip.

This is just one contribution of my work in a data center research project, and it also hints at further research on the planetary entanglements of the semiconductor industry, some of which is being done in the German-Taiwanese collaboration on “Silicon Urbanism”.

Stay tuned for more contributions, a panel I co-organize at the EASST Review, a research project that’s in the pipeline. And reach out if you’re interesting in knowing things or exploring avenues for collab.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/…

Sat, 30 May 2026 13:10:21 +0200

Farmers in Hung Yen #Vietnam received land as compensation for family members killed in the American war.

#Trump parachutes in to build a golf course on these very premises. First act: clearing graves.

Better comply, or tariffs are to hit.

Graves, ffs., great-grantparents resting since 1967, dnd.

Wed, 27 May 2026 15:37:49 +0200

28 Sondervermögen und kein Ende. Sebastian Huhnholz erklärt im Mittelweg 36-Podcast, wie die #Schuldenbremse zum Final Boss wurde.

Spoiler: eine kleine Elite sichert ihren Wohlstand, Finanzpolitik wird der demokratischen Gestaltung entzogen. Plus: Nonaffektationsprinzip (epic info) und mehr.

Fri, 22 May 2026 08:49:47 +0200

Die #AfD wittert Alleinregierung. Die Lage der Nation fürchtet zurecht, dass die Juristenbesetzung der frühen 90er bald in Rente geht und Auserwählte nachrücken.

Well, “der Osten” kennt Übernahme: Wessis am Pult, Treuhand, private Windparks als Nachbarn… Siegmund verkauft Übernahme als Befreiung.

Thu, 21 May 2026 08:42:27 +0200

Pendelzeit ist Lounge-Zeit, Verspätung rocks (actually nice, ngl). #DB

Tageszeitung aufblättern. FAZ so, #KI und Drohnen, da geht mehr. “Zu viel KI-Skepsis können wir uns nicht leisten.” Wirtschaftliches Potenzial! Aber “das humanitäre Völkerrecht gilt”, klar.

Eine Schweindebatte

Mon, 18 May 2026 20:13:09 +0200

„West-Berlin wird am Mekong verteidigt." Diesen Gem hab ich für die Lehre ausgegraben. Das Seminar zu (Post-)Sozialismus an der #RUB ist eins meiner Favoriten dieses Sem.

Verflechtungen von #Ostdeutschland und #Vietnam: Da lässt sich Transformation wunderbar zusammendenken. Die Studis sind dabei.

Mon, 11 May 2026 09:41:22 +0200

The dirty chunks are back, baby: “Global coal imports in May are expected to be more than 464,000 tonnes, the third highest monthly coal imports on record.” FT.com

Well, #coal has never been in decline. We have never had a #transition.

archive.is/202605110…

Thu, 07 May 2026 06:23:48 +0200

#Deutschlandfunk bitte nun immer morgens mit elektro beasts, danke

Wed, 06 May 2026 14:38:57 +0200

The UAE’s ambassador to the US, son of an oil magnate, writes an op-ed for the FT. “Leaving Opec is not a commercial calculation alone; it is a responsibility.” UAE wants to be so much more.

A detector flags the piece as 100% AI slop. Ok?

archive.is/fO95N

Mon, 04 May 2026 19:23:45 +0200

Der Taiwancast hostet die Dresdener Wirtschaftsförderung – guter Pod mit diversen interessanten bits und pieces zur TSMC-Ansiedlung in #Dresden, und der Kollege und ich waren wohl zeitlgleich zur SEMICON-Messe in Taipei unterwegs. #Halbleiter

intaiwan.net/2026/05/0…

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 09:55:04 +0200

Join us TODAY for a fly book launch. “Staying with the Planet” is a sci-fi story about ecological troubles of our modern universities.

⏰ 2pm CET 📍 RUSTlab RUB, or Zoom: tinyurl.com/RUSTlab 👇Find more info about the event and book (open access, y’all!) on the RUSTlab website.