pay you more than what they charge

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Here where you see me, with my 52 years behind me, I am one of those who can tell—young people, don’t be scared—that I lived in a time when we children returned “the helmets.” My parents bought glass bottles (beer, wine, soda) for which they paid a “deposit” for those containers. When they consumed them, our parents sent us children to return them. You would go down to the neighborhood “bodega” – that’s what they called it in my house – and that man, I still remember his face, would take the bottles, place them in plastic boxes (clinc, clink) and give you a few pesetas for them that you would then give to your parents. They paid you to recycle. And that idea is coming back strongly now. Recycling what is a gerund. The problem of packaging recycling is not technological. The solutions have been around for decades. The problem is human behavior. Getting millions of people to change a shopping routine as ingrained as ours requires more than just an advertisement on TV that encourages us to recycle because it’s good for the environment. BonÀrea has been testing a solution to the problem for two years in Tarragona and Guissonaand data from their pilot project suggests that they may have found the key to solving the problem. The 50 cent margin trick. He ReturnA system It works in a really simple way: the customer pays 0.45 euros as a deposit when purchasing a meat tray, and receives 0.50 euros when returning it. Five cents difference in favor of the consumer. It’s a small detail, but not accidental, because you don’t get back exactly what you put in, but rather you get a reward for returning that container. There is a big psychological difference between “getting yours back” and “making money by returning it”, and the data confirms this: the return rate is 60% and more than 72,000 single-use trays have been returned in this pilot phase. Reusable trays. The objective is to completely change the economic equation. A single-use container has a production, transportation and waste management cost that must be amortized in a single use. A tray like those from BonÀrea and its RetornA program, which aims to be reused 50 times, distributes that cost over fifty cycles, which in theory (in theory, hopefully in practice) allows the final price of the product to be adjusted. It is the difference between the traditional “make, use, throw away” model and a more “circular” one in which the packaging has a residual value. A great idea, but not for everyone.. The problem with packaging return and recycling systems like this is logistical. Someone has to collect the containers, clean them with sanitary guarantees and then reintroduce them into the company’s operating cycle. BonÀrea can do it because it controls the entire chain, from production to sale, without intermediaries. You can apply traceability to each tray, guarantee its cleanliness and manage that recycling without depending on third parties. In a conventional distribution chain in which external suppliers intervene, things become significantly complicated if one wants to achieve the same efficiency. The debate over SDDR systems. In Spain we take time living with a problem in the Deposit, Return and Return Systems (SDDRwhich would be something like “incentivized recycling”) for beverage containers, for example. In countries like Germany or Nordic countries They have been applying these systems for decades with return rates greater than 90%. The beverage industry has been resisting the implementation of something like this for years because they would be the ones who would have to finance the system and bottlers have been investing in these “one-way” distribution chains for decades. The solution adopted in Spain has been to opt for recycling in containers as an alternative, but the results in terms of a real circular economy are significantly worse. The BonÀrea experiment shows that when there is a clear economic incentive and a controlled logistics chain, things work. RetornA is going to expand. The pilot project has gone so well that starting in the second quarter of 2026, RetornA will be extended to all 460 BonÀrea stores in Catalonia. The total investment will exceed 10 million euros, and has the support of the Waste Agency of Catalonia. The company is in fact expanding the products that use the system, starting with chicken fillet and gradually adding other references. The next step will be to extend it to the rest of its stores throughout Spain, where it has more than 600 establishments. But. There is a question that remains unanswered. What BonÀrea has demonstrated with its pilot is that the system works when the consumer has a direct economic incentive, the logistics platform is integrated and controlled by the company and that operating cycle is relatively short. What’s not clear is whether that 60% rate will be maintained when the system scales to 460 stores and millions of transactions, or whether it will eventually erode with day-to-day friction. We will see if those five cents manage to win the battle that recycling has been losing for decades. Image | Joana Costa | BonÀrea In Xataka | We have been recycling the garbage we produce for decades. Experts say it has been of no use.

Four days (or more) of unlimited data is a huge price

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Nobody likes to be left without Internet, but much less when we are traveling. If you don’t want to use roaming or public WiFi, you can always buy a SIM card at the destination, although this can be a hassle and not cheap. The solution? A eSIM installed on your mobile and you forget about problems. You have a very good option with eSimFLAG: if we use the code ‘XATAKA’ we will get three days free contracting at least four days of unlimited data. eSimFLAG – 4 days of unlimited data The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Unlimited data in more than 170 different destinations This promo is quite interesting if we plan to travel soon, such as next Easter. The code that we indicated above is already active and will be until next April 17so we have plenty of time to use it. For example, if right now we contract seven days of unlimited data in Japan and use the code ‘XATAKA’, it will only cost us 15.60 euros (outside of the promo, 27.30 euros). So with all destinations. Why choose an eSIM instead of a conventional SIM? In line with what we told you above, the key is in comfort. It installs in just a few minutes on your mobile, without having to use the typical spike that comes in the boxes. In addition, you install it once and forget it, so if you travel again in the future and use eSimFLAG you will not have to install it again. Another important point is the peace of mind that an eSIM provides in this type of case. Since you are paying for unlimited data, You will not have any scare in the form of a kilometer bill as could happen if you use your company’s roaming. And, if you set it up at home before leaving, you’ll already have Internet once you get off the plane. eSimFLAG offers its service in more than 170 countries, so it is very useful. Having unlimited data, We can continue using WhatsApp or Google Maps at our destinationmaking the trip a much more comfortable and simple experience. And if you do it at a reduced price with this promo, all the better. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | eSimFLAG In Xataka | eSIM in Spain: all operators, compatible devices, prices and conditions (2026) In Xataka | eSIM or virtual SIM: what it is, what advantages it has and what is its compatibility in Spain

drill a well 40 kilometers deep offshore

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Paper supports everything. A business breakfast on a sunny patio on the California coast, too. In this way, between cups of coffee, croissants and toast with jam that come and go, in 1957 a group of scientists from the picturesque American Miscellaneous Society (AMSOC) when two of them, the geologist Harry Hess and the oceanographer Walter Munkdecided to launch a research proposal: open a huge hole in the Earth. And huge is not an exaggeration. What Hess and Munk proposed was to drill a kilometer well that would allow reaching and extracting a sample of what is known as Mohorovičić discontinuitythe limit between the Earth’s crust and the mantle, a strip located at a depth between 25 and 40 kilometers on the continents and 5 to 10 km if the ocean floor is taken as a reference. What’s more, once they were digging, they could even obtain a sample of the planet’s own mantle. “It sounded so simple and logical” The idea sounded delirious, but it was 1957, the space race gained strength and with Cold war As a backdrop, the US looked with interest at any project that would allow it to demonstrate its scientific power to the USSR. Besides, as Willard Bascom would recognizefrom AMSOC, the proposal seemed most reasonable when listened to with a hot coffee in hand, among colleagues and letting yourself be caressed by the morning sun on the Pacific coast. “The project sounded so simple and logical at a business breakfast on a sunny patio,” I wrote some time later about that peculiar brainstorming. Whether or not it turned out to be simple—which, spoiler: no, it wasn’t—the idea came to fruition. Its promoters knew how to take advantage of the strong winds of international rivalry and revealed how much the Russians were advancing in the field of science and how they looked with interest at Mohorovičić’s exploration of discontinuity. 57 was the year of the launch of the Sputnik Soviet, so the strategy worked and the drilling project ended up gaining the backing of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a government agency created seven years earlier. They named the adventure Mohole Projectcombination of “Moho”, the abbreviation of Mohorovičić, and “hole”, hole, in English. Short Simple. Easy to handle and understand. Everything that was not going to be the scientific challenge itself. “Where do we get the money?” It was not, however, the only question that scientists had to resolve. Another, equally or even more crucial, was “Where to drill?” The answer was a very specific location in the Pacific, near Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Mexico. And there was a good reason for that. If the efforts were focused on the ocean floor, the team would have to drill significantly fewer meters of the Earth’s crust, a non-negligible advantage when the target is kilometers deep. The various problems The problem, of course, is that this requires operating from a boat, in the middle of the ocean, among the waves, and deploying the drilling equipment over more than 3,000 m of depth. “It’s like trying to work on the Earth’s surface from a helicopter, half a mile up,” explains to Vox geologist Donna Blackman. Today, with the Japanese ship Chikyu opening record wells, an international fleet that includes modern drilling vessels such as the Noble Globetrotter I—the one at the top of this article, built twelve years ago—and researchers reaching marks of 8,023 meters underwater, the challenge may sound less impressive, but in the 1950s it was. Oil companies had not yet embarked on drilling in such deep waters and undertaking an undertaking like the one proposed by AMSOC required first answering a series of technical questions: How to keep the ship stationary in the middle of the ocean to deploy the drilling equipment? Dropping anchors was not very practical given the enormous distance at which the seabed was located, so the final solution was to use a propeller system. They had to apply the same ingenuity to solve other equally or more difficult questions: How to deploy the pipeline at such low levels and between strong currents? How to drill with the depth required to reach Moho? And once these challenges are solved, how do we get the samples up to the ship? With a plan drawn up, in 1961 the scientists set sail aboard the ship CUSS I heading to Guadalupe Island to deploy what was supposed to be the first phase of Project Mohole. The technicians drilled half a dozen wells in total, the deepest of 183 meters and at an underwater depth of 3,600 m. The machinery penetrated 13 m into the basalt of the upper oceanic crust. That was very, very far from 6,000 meters necessary to reach Moho and the mantle, but it was quite a feat which even led President John F. Kennedy to cable the National Academy of Sciences to celebrate what he considered to be “a remarkable achievement, a historic milestone.” However, neither Kennedy’s good words, nor the promise of the company, nor the ability he had demonstrated to overcome technical challenges helped the Mohole Project go much further. In 1961, the Mohole project started, with the aim of drilling through Earth’s crust to the mantle. John Steinbeck (yes, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1yr later) was on the ship & I’ve just found his amazing (genuine joy plus snark) article: https://t.co/CPEB7mCf9q pic.twitter.com/DymGw2ta4o — Helen Czerski (@helenczerski) December 21, 2021 Drilling holes in the ocean floor was expensive and in 1966 the US Congress decided that it was not interesting to continue paying for it. Add to that bureaucratic errors, the dissolution of AMSOC in 1964 and differences between the members of the team about what the next steps should be and you will have the epitaph of a project that, nevertheless, is remembered as a special chapter in 20th century science and served to demonstrate the interesting possibilities of drilling the ocean floor. The Mohole Project It didn’t mark the end … Read more

spring will be hell for allergy sufferers

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Spring is just around the corner, and although for some it is good news for being able to start making plans outside the home more frequently, for allergy sufferers it is very bad news. Recent meteorology and the climate crisis have been simmering a scenario that experts already classified as extreme and that causes diagnosed allergy sufferers (and even those who are not) to start showing symptoms early. The experts. The Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology itself has given the alarm voicesince the spring that we are about to begin is shaping up to be one of the most intense and harsh in memory for those allergic to pollen in Spain. And it is not that this year there is “a lot of pollen”, but what is happening is that the behavior of the plants is changing completely. The combination of very intense winter rains with very mild temperatures has generated an “explosive cocktail” that is already beginning to show its first symptoms. The pollen map. To understand the magnitude of the problem, you have to look at the figures from the SEAIC, which uses meteorological, hydrological and aeropolinic sampling data to draw up its annual forecast. This year, the south and the center of the peninsula bear the brunt, with ground zero in Extremadura, where forecasts point to skyrocketing ranges of between 10,000 and 12,000 grams per cubic meter in both provinces. In the case of AndalusiaWe must highlight Seville, where very high concentrations of 6000-8000 grams per square meter are expected, while in Jaén, the fact that it stands out for its wonderful olive trees means that it also faces “intense” levels. The center and north of the peninsula. MadridToledo and the rest of Castilla-La Mancha will range between moderate and high levels, easily exceeding the thresholds that trigger the most serious and annoying symptoms. But the good news is that the north of the peninsula, the Mediterranean coast and the Canary Islands will, in principle, register mild or moderate levels. The perfect storm. Historically, allergy temperatures followed a fairly predictable biological clock, but not anymore. The abundant rainfall that has drenched the peninsula during the winter months has left the land in optimal conditions. The plants, especially grasses and olive trees, have grown strongly, developing deep roots and dense crowns. Added to this is the second ingredient of the perfect storm: premature heat. The mild temperatures have caused pollination to come forward, and as the vice president of the SEAIC explains, the environment is increasingly “more hostile” for patients. Pollinosis is no longer an exclusive problem in May and June, but rather begins much earlier and ends later. Much more allergy. If we look at the trend that has been followed in recent years in this time of allergy, we can see that 2026 is fulfilling the trend that has been set in previous years, so we are talking about a new normal. A recent study from the University of Córdoba confirmed specifically, the pollen season in Spain has lengthened by about 25 days since the 1990s. The increase in temperatures and desertification are not only stretching the allergy calendar, but are introducing new allergenic species such as amaranths, in areas where they did not proliferate before. And other factors. Experts point out that the quality of the pollen is something that is also having a lot of influence this season. To understand it, we look at the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which acts as a fertilizer for plants, which causes them, in addition to producing more pollen, to also express more proteins that are detected by our immune system, generating a greater response that gives us the classic allergy symptoms. Added to this is also the atmospheric pollution that weakens the respiratory mucous membranes and makes it easier for pollen to penetrate deeper into our lungs. Take action as soon as possible. With all this data, you have to start taking the treatment (when recommended by the doctor) when these dates are approaching and not wait until you start to feel the infernal itch in your nose or eyes. Besides, consult official sources pollen levels and wearing a mask at times of higher concentration of pollen to which one is sensitive is the most recommended today. Images | Brittany Colette In Xataka | It’s normal to make fun of the sudden matcha tea craze, but there is someone who does take it seriously: science

The US is preparing for what comes next

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If something is becoming clear these days, it is that very few kilometers of sea can condition everything the world economy. There are strategic passages through which a large part of the global oil circulates nearby, and when one of those points is blocked, the impact quickly spreads to markets, transportation and the price (and bill) of energy across the planet. A trap retreat. It we count a few days ago. In the midst of a conflict in which the Strait of Hormuz is practically closed and under constant threat, the United States took a striking decision: withdraw two of its three main specialized mine warfare vessels from the area and send them thousands of kilometers, first to Malaysia and now arrived in Singapore. These units are not accessory, but key to any attempt to reopen the sea route. Its absence in the immediate scenario breaks with the usual logic of concentrating capacities where the crisis develops and forces us to seek an explanation on another level. Possibly for this reason, the movement is not what it may seem at first glance. The real value. I remembered this week the wall street journal in a report that naval mines are one of the most effective tools to block maritime traffic, especially in a narrow point like Hormuz. They do not require large deployments, are difficult to detect and can keep a route closed for long periods. Cleaning them is, therefore, a slow, technical and risky process that requires very specific means. The ships of the Independence classwith their unmanned systems, helicopters and advanced sensors, represent precisely that capability. Without them, any operation to restore oil tanker transit becomes much more complex. View from the USS Tulsa upon arrival at Changi Naval Base Shortage at the most critical moment. The problem from the side of the United States is that it reaches this phase cwith limited resources. For years it has reduced its fleet of traditional minesweepers, retiring units without their replacements being available. fully deployed or tested in combat. New solutions based on drones and autonomous systems exist, but their number is small and their effectiveness in a real environment has yet to be demonstrated. In parallel, Iran has shown that it can sow mines and combine that threat with missiles, drones and attacks on ships, making the strait an especially difficult environment to operate in. Plan B. In this context, the analysts recalled by TWZ that the movement of these ships out of the conflict zone suggests a very different priority: preserve demining capacity in the face of a possible further deterioration of the current situation. The idea would be simple. Keep them away from attack range avoids the risk of losing hard-to-replace assets at a time when they are already scarce. In other words, it is a way to ensure that, when the time comes to reopen the strait, these very fundamental means remain available and operational. File image of an Avenger-class minehunter during an exercise Reopen, not just fight. Because the closure of Hormuz is not just a military problem, but economic. How have we been countinga significant part of the world’s oil and gas circulates through this route, and its prolonged blockage has immediate effects in prices, supplies and logistics chains. It happens that reopening it does not depend only on escorting ships, but on guaranteeing that the canal is threat free persistent like mines. This phase, slower and less visible, can be decisive in normalizing maritime traffic. The strategic signal. Precisely for this reason, the fact that these ships are now more than 6,000 kilometers of the conflict does not indicate that they have ceased to be relevant, but rather the opposite. Their value lies in the fact that they are necessary and fundamental for the next stage, not so much for the current one. Instead of using them in the most dangerous environment, the United States seems to choose to keep them intact for a time when their use will be essential. The evolution of the conflict. If you also want, the decision fits with a two-stage planning: first, manage the phase direct confrontation. And then, ensure the reopening of critical routes. He minesweeper movement It points out that Washington is not only focused on the immediate development of the war, but also on avoiding a prolonged blockade that would have global consequences. In that sense, more than a withdrawal, the current position of the minesweepers is an indication of how the end of the conflict is being planned and the conditions necessary to stabilize it… if that is possible. Image | USN In Xataka | If there was any “red line” left, Iran has decided to cross it just where it hurts the world economy the most: in Qatar In Xataka | Russia is not sending troops or weapons to Iran: it is sending something much more important to take down the US

Doomsday’ are released at the same time and Hollywood already wants to sell us a new Barbenheimer. But it’s not the same

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Warner Bros. and Disney are going to release their two big bets of the year (‘Dune: Part Three’ and ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘) on the same date: December 18, 2026. The industry has not seen something like this for years. In fact, we haven’t seen it since the Barbenheimer phenomenon, and the question is whether its effect at the box office can be repeated… when the two films share exactly the same audience. Dunesday, or whatever you want to call it. The two most powerful Hollywood studios, two of the most popular franchises in recent years, a single date. The industry already has a nickname for the event: “Dunesday“. But the fact that both coincide on that date does not respond to an agreed strategy. ‘Dune: Part Three’ arrived first in the pre-Christmas gap. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ was initially scheduled for May 2025, but postponements derived from the strikes of actors and scriptwriters pushed it to where it is now, from where it is unlikely to move since on websites, networks and others there is a countdown in motion until the inevitable premiere. The Barbenheimer precedent. Summer 2023 was left for the annals thanks to the coincidence of two very different films, ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, on the same weekend in July. The combined weekend exceeded $300 million in the US alonebecoming the fourth best in historyonly behind the three opening weekends of ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. Different audiences, even different motivations for going to the movies, but a curious, almost miraculous real possibility of doing a very rare double program on the same day. Why Dunesday is different. ‘Dune: Part Three’ and ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ don’t work like that. Both target similar viewers: devotees of science fiction and big-budget action, with a predominantly male base (this is important). Significantly or coincidentally, both feature Florence Pugh in their casts, which illustrates the extent to which they are not identical films, but do have their roots in a shared territory of blockbuster Hollywood. The idea of ​​Dunesday, as Variety says, is not to propose two different and complementary plans, but to fill the respectable with a giant dose of similar things. Why don’t they wiggle. That neither film wants to move from that date has a concrete explanation, prior to the invention of Dunesday: there are not many good gaps in that part of the year. Sony releases ‘Jumanji 3’ on December 11, a week early. Further back, the first weekend of December is usually a black hole at the box office (families are shopping, not in theaters), and Thanksgiving is traditionally occupied by Disney’s animated bet, because it is a more family-friendly box office weekend. December 18 is the best date available for two films that need a strong start. What if it works? If the experiment works, the combined box office could be among the best weekends in history. In any case, here we find the usual problem: that July 2023 generated a social phenomenon (costumes, double sessions planned weeks before, debates on networks, friendly rivalry between the actors of the films, who encouraged people to go to both) that was organized outside the industry. “Dunesday” arrives much more in advance and with a slight air of a commercial montage. That’s not going to make the films click, of course, but the truth is that we are dealing with phenomena with nuances that go in opposite directions. In Xataka | The reality of Spanish cinema: ‘Torrente’ has brought more people to theaters this weekend than any film since 2019

How to use it to know if the declaration you make in 2026 will pay or return

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We are going to explain to you what the 2025 Income Simulator is and how it works, which will help you know if the declaration you are going to make in 2026 will pay or return. According to the Income calendar 2025the campaign to regulate the last fiscal year will begin next April 8, and you can now begin to prepare for what is to come. We will start this article by explaining what exactly this simulator is, so that you understand what you can expect from it. And then, we will explain step by step how you can use it to obtain your simulation. You should know that you fill in the simulator data on your own, so it is a good idea to look your tax details to know what to put. What is the Income simulator Every year we have to file the Income Tax return to regulate our accounts from the last fiscal year, and this may result in you having to pay money to the Treasury or having them pay you compensation. This result depends on some variants, and this simulator allows you write your data and know a final result to get an idea of ​​how the statement will come out. It is a non-binding simulatorwhich means that you can do all the tests you want with it. You can enter real or false data, and the result does not affect the draft of the Income that will be generated in a few days. The Treasury will also not know or take into account what you write. It is simply a website where you can experiment and see how the results vary. In fact, you will not even have to identify yourself as a citizen on the website, which means that none of the written data is added to any type of profile. But this also has a negative side, and that is that The data that the Treasury has about you will not be loaded because you are not going to use your citizen account. This means that you will have to add them by hand. As we have told you, you can access your tax data and use it to fill it out. Another thing to keep in mind is that the simulator is not something that you need to use if you don’t want to, it is simply a tool that you have at your disposal in case you need it or have questions. How to use the 2025 Income simulator To use the simulator, you have to enter the website with all the tools of the Income campaign. The address is headquarters.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/irpf/gestiones-irpf.htmland in it you have to click on the option Rent Web Open Simulator that will appear in the box Simulator, Stock Portfolio and other Services. If you don’t see the option, you can also enter directly through this link. And once inside the website, you have to choose create a new declaration or load an already created one. If this is the first time you use the simulator, create a new one. The simulator will then allow you to save the drafts you generate on your computer to load them whenever you want and resume work. When you start a new one, you will enter the identification data page. In it, you must write your personal information, that of your spouse if you have one, and that of your children or disabled elderly people in your care. After filling it out, you must click on the button Accept that you have at the bottom. By accepting you will go to a page with the mock draft and all its fields blank. Now it will be your turn fill everything by hand clicking on each field to enter its corresponding section and write the numbers. There will be pencil icons to indicate sections that you fill out by hand, while others are filled in automatically based on the data you have entered. And you’ll be on your way. From now on, what you have to do is fill out all the information in the declarationand then you can see the results. Above, you will also have the options of Validate and Keepand if you save them you can reopen it later whenever you want with the loading option at the beginning. In Xataka Basics | Who does not have to file the 2025 Income Tax return: minimum income and other conditions for 2026

Argentina has been resisting with its own for years and is now modernizing it

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In Latin America, the development of own tanks has been more the exception than the norm. Most countries have historically chosen to import already consolidated platforms, which leaves any attempt to build a local armored industry in the background. In this context, Argentina occupies a unique place: not only did it design its own battle tank, the Argentine Medium Tank (TAM)but he managed to produce it and incorporate it into his Army. Decades later, that same system is still in service and going through a new stage of modernization. From the original TAM to 2C-A2. The Medium Argentine Tank was born at the end of the 1970s as a response to the need to have its own system that was up to the international standards of the time. Its design represented a leap for the Army at the time, aligned with the means used by other military forces. With the passage of time and technological evolution, that starting point became outdated, which prompted the development of the 2C-A2 version to adapt it to the demands of current combat. The news. The jump to the 2C-A2 standard is not limited to a superficial update, but rather responds to a deep review of the system. The process has included improvements to the turret, cannon, night vision and computerized fire control systems, with the aim of increasing precision and combat effectiveness. Added to this is the incorporation of technology that allows it to operate in adverse conditions, such as smoke, fog or night scenarios, along with work on the chassis to maintain the coherence of the whole. As we can see, the modernized version maintains the base of the vehicle, but incorporates relevant improvements in its features and systems. According to the Army Expo filehas a 720 horsepower diesel engine, capable of reaching 75 km/h and a range of 550 kilometers. Its main armament remains a 105 mm cannon, accompanied by a 7.62 mm FN MAG machine gun, with a crew of four. The first complete squad. December 20, 2024 marked a turning point with the delivery of ten units of the TAM modernized to the 2C-A2 standard. According to the Argentine Government, these vehicles were incorporated into Army facilities in Boulogne, in the province of Buenos Aires, which made it possible to complete the first squadron equipped with this version. With this step, the system stopped being just a project in development to become an operational capability within the force, this being the only delivery confirmed in available sources. A project that is consolidated. Beyond that milestone, the most recent sources point to a continuity phase of the program during 2026. According to Military Zonethe Argentine Army maintains the TAM 2C-A2 as one of its main lines of modernization, with ongoing work and planning to sustain the pace of advance. It is not about new announcements, but rather about consolidating what has already been started. Among the elements that define this stage are: The program continues in development and has an assigned budget, as indicated by the director of the General Directorate of Materials in March 2026. There is already a complete operational squadron and work is being done to complete a second The modernization combines the tower update with the recovery of the chassis It is projected to extend the useful life of the system between 20 and 30 years The approach is based on “cores of modernity” that can then be progressively expanded More than modernizing. The program is not limited to updating the vehicle, but involves broader work in terms of sustainment and autonomy. According to an interview collected by Zona Militarone of the objectives is to master the entire logistics and maintenance cycle, reducing external dependency. This includes work in Army facilities itself, where both modernizations and subsequent support are carried out. Other projects. The Argentine case is not the only attempt in the region, but it is one of the few that went to the end. Brazil, for example, developed the EE-T1 Osóriothrough the Engesa company, a combat tank that stood out in tests and came to compete with Western models. However, the project failed to make the jump to mass production and ended up being cancelled. This difference is key to understanding the regional map: it is not enough to design a tank, the true turning point is to be able to mass-produce it and integrate it into an operational force. Argentina’s position in the regional panorama. In a context in which few countries managed to sustain their own projects of this type, keeping a system in service and taking it to a new phase of modernization makes a clear difference. The TAM 2C-A2 not only represents a technical update, but also the extension of an industrial and military project that has managed to remain operational for decades, something unusual in the region. Images | Argentine Army (1, 2, 3, 4) In Xataka | We believed that everything happened because of the new fighters. The F-16 has been in the air for 50 years and continues to sell like hotcakes

France was moving its aircraft carrier without revealing its location. Until a runner on board uploaded an activity to Strava

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Putting on some sneakers, stretching your legs and running for miles and miles outdoors is not (a priori) a reprehensible habit. Quite the opposite. Neither is recording race data with a smartwatch and then publish them on Stravaan app that is used to share routes, times and performance data. All this, we insist, is “a priori” because things change if the person running is a Navy officer and his publication on Strava ends up revealing the near real-time location of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. That is what has happened in France. Trotting on the high seas. A few days ago the newspaper reporters Le Monde they found each other with something curious: a publication on Strava that showed someone running in circles in the middle of the Mediterranean, dozens of kilometers from the coasts of Turkey and Cyprus and hundreds from the Egyptian coast. The question was obvious… What the hell was a runner doing trotting like a top in the middle of the sea? A look at Copernicus. Over the last few years Le Monde has published various items in which he warns about how Strava can be used to reveal the position of ships and bodyguards, so the reporters had their suspicions about that publication in the Mediterranean. They didn’t last long. By using the Copernicus online viewer they checked that very close to the location registered by Strava the silhouette of one of the most important ships in France, the powerful aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, could be seen. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What had happened? That one of the officers mobilized alongside the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was better served by his runner than by the caution expected of a member of the French Navy. As reveals Le Mondethe Strava publication belongs to a young officer who on the morning of March 13, around 10:35 a.m., decided to jog around the deck of his ship. While he covered 7.23 kilometers in 35 minutes, the watch on his wrist recorded all the training data and then shared it on Strava. Once there, since their profile is public, anyone could see them. From his friends and gym colleagues to journalists in Paris. The problem is that with that small gesture he revealed the location of the Charles de Gaulle and its naval escort, which was then making its way towards the northwest of Cyprus. Something more than an oversight. We cannot know if the indiscreet runner was aboard the Charles de Gaulle or one of the ships that escorted him, but one thing is clear: his Strava account gives clues to more than just his sporting achievements. On February 14, the same officer posted another graph with data from a race off the Cotentin peninsula, also in the middle of the sea. Days later he ran in Copenhagen (probably after landing) and on March 13 he can already be located in the Mediterranean, just 100 km from the Turkish coast. A worrying snitch. It is not that the deployment of the Charles de Gaulle and the rest of the French ships was a secret. On March 3, Emmanuel Macron himself ordered publicly that they moved from the Baltic to the Mediterranean after the attack by Israel and the US on Iran and it is known that days later The aircraft carrier crossed Gibraltar escorted by the frigate Christopher Columbus. The problem is that the young officer’s publication on Strava reveals the movements of the convoy in detail and almost in real time, also revealing a worrying security breach in the Navy. Especially if you take into account that in recent weeks Iran has attacked French forces in the Middle East, leaving several wounded and one dead. “The appropriate measures”. The incident may seem more or less serious, but one thing is incontestable: Strava data allowed reporters from Le Monde accurately identify the location of the aircraft carrier and its accompanying frigate. The question that remains is… What if, instead of a newspaper, this same exercise had been done by other people with other interests? The General Staff of the Armed Forces has recognized that Strava’s publication “does not comply with current regulations” or the precautions that its staff must take at the digital level. Hence, it is proposed to adopt “appropriate measures.” But is it so worrying? Once again the problem is not only the race recorded on March 13 in the middle of the Mediterranean, but its context. This is not the first time Le Monde warns that Strava can become a breach for national security, depending on who, when and where uses it. The French newspaper has even coined the term “StravaLeaks”. Maybe it sounds excessive, but in 2025 He already warned that there were publications by French sailors that revealed the activity of nuclear submarines and months before, in November 2024, he revealed that Strava allowed thousands of Israeli soldiers to be identified. They are not isolated cases. The most dangerous oversights They were probably committed by the bodyguards of the presidents of France, the United States and Russia. By sharing their training data publicly, they left a trail that helped to partially anticipate the movements of the leaders they protected. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | Things have to be bad for the US to have made an unprecedented decision: extending the life of its dinosaur aircraft carrier

there is a clear reason behind

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The PlayStation 3 is already a console vintagewell, or almost. For an object to be considered vintage, it must have at least 20 yearswhich are what the PS3 is going to celebrate next November (insert meme about feeling old here). Well, despite its age, the PS3 has just received an update. Just don’t expect new features. 4.93. It is the version of the update that Sony has just released and for which you will need at least 200MB of free space. On the update pageSony simply says that “this software update improves system performance” – the same description as in the last three versions released. However, there is a warning that points to the real reason for the update: Please note that to play Blu-ray discs, your PS3 console requires a renewed Blu-ray player encryption key. Please update the PS3 system software to the latest version to renew the Blu-ray player encryption key. New key for the Blu-ray player. Although they do not say it explicitly, everything indicates that it is a renewal of the Blu-ray player’s encryption key. This is what Sony has been doing with the latest software updates. These encryption keys They are renewed every year or year and a half and you need to update if you want to play recently released Blu-ray movies. AACS. It stands for Advanced Access Content System, the anti-copy system that protects the content of Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs using a multi-layer encryption scheme. This scheme links the disk to the player and a set of cryptographic keys. As for the players, they are assigned a set of internal keys, but if any of them are leaked, the system can make them obsolete so that it cannot play new discs. Like any anti-copy system, it has been the subject of numerous attempts to violate it. In 2007, the decryption key leaked on the internet and the AACSLA organization tried to erase all traces, which caused a Streisand effect and caused thousands of users to republish it en masse. Later AACS 2.0 releasedan improved system that is much more complex to breach (but not impossible). Other updates. In addition to the PS3 update, Sony has also released updates for the PS4 and PS5. In the case of the PS4, version 13.50 promises improvements to the messaging system and the usability of some screens. More new features arrive for the PS5 with version 26.02-13.00.00, such as improvements in PSSR for the PS5 Pro, new emojis and more functions for the Welcome Center. In Xataka | The most viral retro console, removed from AliExpress. It is as toxic as it is illegal, according to the EU

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