Microchips are integral to almost everything we do - they keep planes in the sky and cars on the roads, they are the brains of almost every modern device we use. It is microchips that mean we can walk around with smart watches more powerful than computers that took up whole rooms just a few decades ago. But what would happen if we suddenly couldn't get hold of new chips? This is a question that has worried experts and legislators around the world for a while. And it is no longer a hypothetical thought experiment. It’s now a real issue.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young delves into why the world could be running out of microchips – and what it means for us all.