Month: August 2025

Silicon Valley prefers to buy herself rather than invest in the future

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Great American technology They swim in money in cash but to a large extent they are preferring to spend it repurchase their own actions rather than invest. How the mechanism works. A shares is simple: the company uses its cash to buy its own market shares and withdraws them. If a company has 1,000 million shares and repurchase 100 million, there are 900 million. The trick is in arithmetic. If the benefits are the same but there are fewer actions, the benefit per action Go up. A company that earned 10,000 million with 1,000 million shares showed 10 dollars of benefit per share. With 900 million shows $ 11.11. The metric goes up even if the company has not improved at all. Executives charge on actions on actions. Your compensation increases. The funds see the value of their portfolios without waiting for years to mature real investments. The company avoids the risk of investing in projects that can fail .. It is capitalism without capitalism: financial returns without real value creation. Why is it important. The further reason towards the tendency to an increasing repurchase of actions can be inferred: fear. The American political climate has become especially complex for large industrial investments. Bureaucracy, regulations. It is safer to return money to shareholders than to risk building something real. Meta tried to expand his campus in Menlo Park next to a plan to create affordable homes and He crashed into years of bureaucracy. The project has been in pause for some time. Amazon He left his plan to open a second headquarters in New York for the strong political protests that unleashed his announcement. Intel has been trying to open factories. And seeing how China ends them in a couple of years. The financial refuge. Act repurchases have become the bunker where technological ones hide their cash. In 2025 They will exceed the billion dollarshistorical record. Warren Buffett himself, nothing suspicious of anti -capitalist, has once said that Many repurchases are “stupid”. Explained that they benefit more than paid executives in Stock Options (Actions options) than long -term shareholders. The context. The repurchases They were illegal in the United States until 1982when under the presidency of Ronald Reagan they were authorized. Until then they considered a form of market manipulation. They are now the main way to give back shareholders. They exceed traditional dividends. A Study of the Roosevelt Institute of 2018 He showed that S&P 500 companies then spent 94% of their benefits on repurchases and dividends, leaving barely margin for productive investment. And now what. In the United States, some Democratic senators proposed a couple of years ago a 4% tax on repurchase programs to discourage them. What came from the hand of Biden It was 1% that has not had a great effect. For Europe, which depends technologically on the United States, this trend is worrying. If Silicon Valley prefers financial engineering to real, vulnerability against Chinese advance increases. In Xataka | The agreement with the US seemed to pave the way to Nvidia in China. Now is the Asian giant who begins to close the door Outstanding image | Roberto Júnior

Five offers to take advantage of Mediamarkt campaigns and El Corte Inglés, today August 17

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Both Mediamarkt and El Corte Inglés have launched several campaigns focused on technological devices with limited dates: Samsung Days They end tomorrow and Smart Days They end today, so in this article we have gathered five offers to take advantage of the discounts of the two stores. Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro by 1,299 eurosa Top computer that had never been so cheap in Mediamarkt. Huawei Watch Fit 4 by 143.10 eurosan excellent watch that comes along with some gift headphones. Samsung Galaxy A36 5g by 331.74 euros When registering in Mediamarkt, a mobile with an excellent value for money. LG Gram by 898.99 eurosa laptop with a good battery. Samsung Galaxy Watch7 by 179 eurosa quite interesting clock for the price it has. Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro So far, Mediamarkt had not launched such a big discount on the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Proa brand Top computer that has a good configuration and that, with the offer, remains for 1,299 euros instead of 1,613 euros. It comes with one 14 -inch touch screen which offers a resolution WQXGA+, its processor is the Intel Evo Edition Core Ultra 5, has 1 TB of internal storage (SSD) and 16 GB of RAM, includes Windows 11 Home and offers artificial intelligence functions through COPILOT+. * Some price may have changed from the last review Huawei Watch Fit 4 The English Court has been launching various offers in the pack of the Huawei Watch Fit 4 which includes huawei frebuds headphones is 2 gift, and this time he has it with one of his best discounts that leaves him for 143.10 euros. The clock rides an excellent 1.82 inches AMOLED screen and includes a pair of side buttons (one is a rotating crown). It incorporates many sports modes, its panel offers a Maximum 2,000 nits shine And it comes with several sensors to monitor physical activity. Huawei Watch Fit 4 + Huawei Freebuds Se 2 * Some price may have changed from the last review Samsung Galaxy A36 5g He Samsung Galaxy A36 5g It is one of the brand’s mobiles with the best value for money, especially considering that it is on offer in Mediamarkt by 331.74 euros (When registering in the store). This big phone has a 6.7 -inch Super AMOLED screen, incorporates the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor, it has 256 GB of internal storage and 8 GB of RAM. In addition, it has a 5,000 mAh battery that supports fast charge of 45w And it comes with IP67 certification With resistance to water and dust. Samsung Galaxy A36 5G (8 GB, 256 GB) * Some price may have changed from the last review LG Gram If Samsung’s computer does not convince you, much eye with the LG Gram of this year that El Corte Inglés has an offer for 898.99 euros instead of 1,349 euros. Mounted a 16-inch pnalla, incorporates the Intel Core i5-1334U processor, has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of internal storage, also comes with Windows 11 Home Pre-Installed and its battery offers a Theoretical autonomy of up to 23.5 hours (in practice, there are about seven or eight hours). * Some price may have changed from the last review Samsung Galaxy Watch7 Among Samsung’s smart watches, right now there is one that stands out above others for their value for money: the Samsung Galaxy Watch7since Mediamarkt has it for 179 euros in its 40 mm configuration. It is a smartwatch that comes with Wearos operating systemhas 32 GB of storage, is resistant to both water and dust and has several sensors to monitor physical activity. Samsung Galaxy Watch7 (BT, 40 mm) * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | Mediamarkt, El Corte Inglés y Buyadicción (header), Samsung, Huawei, LG In Xataka | Best laptops in quality price. Which to buy depending on the use and eight recommended models In Xataka | The best smartwatch (2025): their analysis and videos are here

The most self -sufficient countries on the planet at the food level, gathered in a surprising graphic

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Humanity has eaten what it played For thousands of years. With globalizationhe has started eating what he wants and that, together with the population increase, It has consequences. Not being able to meet the demand of some foods, Import is a necessity. But it turns out that there is a unique country in the world, a completely self -sufficient one if we talk about food. Guyana The All-Star of Self-sufficiency. In the upper graph, prepared by Visual Capitalistwe can see the 50 most self -sufficient countries in the world at the food level. It reflects seven food groups: Fruit. Vegetables. Legumes. Starchy foods such as flours or rice. Meat. Fish. Dairy. And the only country that not only complies, but exceeds the production of what its population of each of these groups needs is Guyana. It is a small country of about 815,000 inhabitants located in northern South America that has shot your GDP These last years. Partly, thanks to discovery Of great oil reserves in 2015, but before that boom, their agricultural and mining industry were the ones that pulled the car. Closing the podium. So much that it is, as we say, the only one that produces its own food in all groups, highlighting in one that does not usually highlight: starchy foods. Closing the podium, we must look at Asia. Vietnam and China are two other countries that meet in six of the seven groups. The common strong point is the production of meat and fish (Meritory in the case of China, but At the expense of half -world folders). The weak is that of dairy products. It is common in Asia, with cases as dramatic as Indonesia, Thailand, Tonga, Laos or Philippines, which satisfy 0% of their dairy consumption with the national product. To the tail … On the other side of the balance we have Armenia, Thailand and Greece. The three countries are in the group of those that meet in the production of four categories (where the vast majority of countries are found), but with low percentages in general in almost all groups and a total dependence on dairy and vegetables in the case of Thailand, starchy and, curiously, fish in the case of Greece and legumes and fish in the case of Armenia. Europe and the fruits that come through those who come out. Taking an eye on the panorama of the member countries of the European Union (Greece is an example), we see that some falter, others stand out. And vice versa. The north, for example, does not get along with the Fruit culturesomething that does stand out in the countries of the South. The key in this case is the Single market Agricultural that allows food products to circulate freely between member countries, without regulatory tariffs or barriers. More than 70% of EU’s food products is carried out between member countries, being something that ensures balance and supply even in cases of local productive problems. In Xataka | The size of the submerged economy of all countries in the world, exposed in this developer map

Despite drought and climate change, Andalusia is today greener than in the 90s. It is not as positive as it seems

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A few months ago we count that Spain was getting greener. We did not refer to renewablesbut to the spectacular effects of a spring Exceptionally rainy that He moved the ghosts of the past. The problem was what would happen after those rains and If the drought would call back to the door. Now we are in a totally different scenario: heat waves and, Like every summer of recent years, The fight against fires. In spite of everything, and to climate change, NASA shows that Andalusia is today more “green” than in the 90s. And it is not to be too excited. Short. Spain is a country with drastic microclimal changes on which the flora depends. In the south of the peninsula, they are the Mediterranean forests Those who occupy 26% of Andalusia and the conditions of much of the soil have made pines and holm oaks are the dominant speciesS, since they adapt well to areas without plant cover. Andalusia is a good study scenario because climate change clearly draws its effects, such as upward temperature, decline rains and increased aridity. And, as we see in Physa team of researchers has published in Ecological Indicators How these forests have responded during the last 30 years. Tools. For the analysis, the researchers used more than 5,000 satellite images captured between 1994 and 2021 obtained Thanks to Landsat 5 and Landsat 7NASA. In total, they analyzed 2,358 plots that compared with data from Google Earth Engine and created an “greenery” index measured by Ndvi. They are the acronym of ‘Standardized Difference Vegetation Index ”, a way of quantifying, through satellite images or remote sensors, how much living vegetation there is in an area. In short, it is something that indicates the amount and vigor of the vegetation, being a tool widely used in studies of agriculture, natural resources management or those associated with climate change. Black squares represent 2,358 farms analyzed. In the most dependent areas of agriculture, the effects are much more limited What do we see. In general, except red eucalyptus, all species have shown an increase in this NDVI value, something that points to sustained revergeration. In trees such as holm oaks, cork oaks and pines, the maximum moment of activity is concentrated in the soft winter months, falling in the summers. And the chestnut, which is the only deciduous species of the study, operates on the contrary. The Effects of climate change And aridity have a decisive role in these cycles, extending the activity period of the Carrasco pine and the resin in the driest places and shortening that of other pine species, such as the wild, and that of the wild olive tree. Between 1994 and 2005, the growth of these species was evident, and followed its course from 2005 to 2021, although at a more moderate speed. ¿Because? The result is that, the green territory is now greener and the conclusion is that many species have maintained or increased its green coverage. There are several explanations, and very diverse. Carrasco or Encina pine are designed to support heat and droughtwhich allows them to remain active when other species lower the activity. Here the policies of natural reforestation and regeneration have played a role, as well as global factors such as the increase in Atmospheric co₂ that would act as fertilizer. There are also factors directly related to human activity, such as a progressive abandonment of farmland in certain areas that has favored the natural regeneration of the forest, as well as changes in land use, such as the decrease in livestock pressure that reduces the degradation of the undergrowth. We have also influenced the contrary, as with a cork oak, which we extract cork periodically, limiting the regeneration of the tree. Nuances. The study is very useful to see the current situation of the Andalusian Mediterranean forest, but also to observe which are the most resilient species and those that best adapt to changing conditions and a rampant aridity. And the conclusion of the study is that things are not going well, but due to that resilience of some species and, despite the continuous increase in annual average temperatures, most species did not demonstrate a relationship between phenological metrics and that temperature increase. And, perhaps, the most important thing is that the greenest does not equals a healthier vegetation, since various factors (natural and human) intervene and we see that this revergence is nothing uniform, with a south and this drier in which the vegetation is hardly growing. But well, as researchers point out, see what species are more resistant and adapt better is something that allows you to find the best options for adequate reforestation policies, Not how we are doing in many places in Europe. Before we talked about that rainy spring that moved the ghost of drought and that summer was returning to reality. And the Recent restrictions in Galicia They are a sad sign of this. Image | José Sánchez Rodríguez and Rafael Palomo López In Xataka | Spain has been dismissing its forest firefighters in winter for years. Fire show that it may not be a good idea

France and Morocco have allied to flood Europe with green ammonia. And compete directly with Spain

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In December 2022, in full energy crisis and with the intention of stop depending on gas and oil from Russia, Spain, Portugal and France joined To define the H2Med green hydrogen corridor. The idea was to start producing green hydrogen for electricity generation, something that Spain can contribute thanks to its reserves and Great surplus of renewable. In April 2024, Europe approved the two axes planned in Spainbut a few months later, France reached a parallel agreement with Morocco. This is the Chbika project, and is as ambitious as controversial. Chbika. Europa presumes being a Power in renewablessomething that has been revealed in recent months, but also wants import a huge amount of energy directly from Africa. According to Europe, it is “essential to meet the objectives of the European green pact And to reinforce energy security ”, and within these agreements is the signed between France and Morocco. In October 2024, taking advantage of the visit of the French president Emmanuel Macron to Morocco, and with the presence of King Mohammed VI, an ambitious plan for the industrial production of green hydrogen and ammonia was signed. Goals. This project is driven For a European consortium formed by TE H2, a Joint-Venture of the French groups Total Energies and Eren, but also with the Danes Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and AP Moller Capital. Their goals are: Build wind and solar infrastructure on land with 1 GW capacity. Green hydrogen production using the electrolysis technique thanks to Desalinated seawater. Use hydrogen to get 200,000 tons of annual green ammonia, mainly for the European market. Green ammonia. Apart from green hydrogen, which is used to generate electricity, the Green ammonia It is a compound formed by nitrogen and hydrogen that is achieved by electrolysis that uses renewable energies. The traditional process to achieve ammonia implies natural gas, so the use of renewables in the process makes it a process without CO₂ emissions. The main use of ammonia is as agricultural fertilizer, but it can also be used as a hydrogen bearer. It has a high energy density and is easier to transport than hydrogen (not needing cooling as extreme as H2), which makes it an energy vector to export hydrogen at long distances. In search of treasure. This agreement seeks not only to strengthen cooperation between Europe and Africa in energy matters, but also consolidates the position of Morocco as a key supplier of clean energy to the European Union. And it is aligned with the Repowereu program that intends to import 10 million tons of green hydrogen before 2030. Although the pact was signed in autumn last year, a few weeks ago the confirmation of land rights in which the plant will be built and advances in technical and legal agreements that settle the bases of the operations that will come below were made. Controversy. Now, the Chbika project is not exempt from controversy. On the one hand, it has been indicated as a Moroccan maneuver to strengthen its position in green hydrogen within Europe, competing directly against Spain. On the other hand, part of the territory destined for the project, in the Guelmim-Oed Noun region, is considered by agencies such as the UN as border or superimposed with areas of the Western Saharaoccupied by Morocco. Activist organizations They denounce that many of these energy projects in Morocco are building On occupied Saharawi territoriesand what is it about *Greenwashing operations* Through clean energy while they continue to oppress the Saharawi people. Spanish plans. Meanwhile … What does Spain do? Well, some of its companies, such as acting or cepsa, They have also signed with Morocco. The objective of the African country is that renewables represent 52% of their installed capacity for 2030 and green hydrogen is a means to achieve it. And, for this, a Moroccan government committee selected five consortiums to develop six green hydrogen projects with the intention of producing ammonia, steel and industrial fuel. Problem? Apart from the competition with Spanish projects, they will be developed in the aforementioned Guelmim-Oed Noun, as well as in Dakhla-Rio de Oro and LaAyoune-Sakia el Hamra, also occupied territories, which can increase diplomatic tensions With Spain and the Sahara. Image | Topsoe Xataka | The price of gas has already reached 2022 levels. Now the European industry depends on one thing: that the cold does not return

China has a huge youth unemployment problem. So much, that some people pretend that they work

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China and the European Union have one thing in common: the youth unemployment rate. 14.5% of young Chinese have no job, while in the European Union the figure is slightly higher, 14.7%. The difference, of course, is that about 448 million people live in the European Union, while in China there are more 1,400 million inhabitants. Not finding work feels bad to anyone, but in China both family and social pressure is huge. It is a very competitive market and the young man is expected to find work, do everything possible to find it: training, studiespractices, Temporary workswhatever. Not working or worse, not looking for work, has a negative impact on social perception. In that context, the emergence of a phenomenon of the most peculiar makes sense: pay for pretending you work. Image | Marc Mueller China and work. When a student graduates, what is expected of him is to work, be useful and not depend on the family. It is possible that this is not immediately possible. Some students can opt for a “Deliberate transition“(慢就业), that is, take a while while they form and explore options actively; others can do a postgraduate (考研) or study oppositions (考公); and others, access a temporary job, support the family business, etc., while looking for something more stable. It is expected, in short, that the job search is active and proactive. Not doing so has negative effects on social perception. Depending on parents without being contributing or looking for anything (啃老, we could literally translate it as “bite the old” or more Castilianized, being a Nini) is something that is frowned upon. But situations are not always conducive and, given social pressure, it may be easier to pretend than you work while looking for work than giving explanations. Image | Xataka Work looking for work. Given this complex social and labor situation, companies have emerged in some areas of China that rent a place to go to work when you have no job. One of them is intend to work Company, which for 3.5 euros per day allows access to a false office with computers, Internet access, meeting rooms, etc. Like a Coworkingmore or less. These companies are announced on social networks such as Xiaohongshu. And what to go? There are several reasons. BBC echoes From the testimony of Shui Zhou, a 30 -year -old person who goes to the “office” every day to do networking, train his discipline and, in some way, relax his parents. Right now he is taking the opportunity to improve his skills with AI. Others such as Xiaowen Tang, a newly graduated, 23 years old, pointed out because their university has a kind of unwritten rule: if you do not send your contract or proof that you are doing practices a year after graduate, they do not give you the diploma. He pointed to the company, took a photo of the office and used it as proof. Workers in a smartphones factory | Image: Xataka Another cantonous girl, whose identity remains in anonymity, left her job in 2024 due to the pressure of the financial world, explains to The country. He pointed to a false office because he does not dare to tell his family the truth. He started going to coffee shops, but for 400 yuan monthly he can go to a lie office to spend the day while looking for work. A shell. “To pretend that it works is a shelter that young people find for themselves, creating a slight distance with respect to the majority society and giving themselves a little space,” Dr. Biao Xiang, director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany in Germany, tells the BBC. The same thinks the owner of Pretend to Work Company, a 30 -year -old boy who affirms that “what I sell is not a job, but the dignity of not being a useless person.” As reported, 40% of its customers are recent graduates who need to try their tutors who are doing practices. Some also go to flee from family pressure. Others are autonomous or digital nomads that understand this space as a coworking. The Middle Ages is 30 years. The other face of the currency. Pandemia made a mella in youth employment in China, which in 2023, after years of employability record, was estimated at 46.5% According to Zhang DandanProfessor of Economics at the University of Beijing. So disastrous was the situation that Statistics were stopped. The country faces 14.5% youth unemployment, a figure that probably grows When the 12.2 million new graduates Try to enter the market. The pressure to get a job is such that, in recent years, a movement that pursues the opposite has emerged. Instead of being ambitious, reaching the extreme and doing work the central axis of life that Once the day 996 proposed (and Now it seems to be changing), The 躺平 movement, literally “lie down”, promotes the opposite: criticism of extreme competition, work just to fulfill, lead a slower rhythm of life, enjoy a little more even if that implies a work of less relevance or a lower salary. It is in China what we knew here as the Silent resignation. Cover image | Marc Mueller In Xataka | This worker promised them happy combining three jobs, until he made an error and in a matter of hours was unemployed

The startup that capitalizes our fear of an invisible enemy

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The places where we can find microplastics grow as time passes. We have already detected them in Testicles, lettuce, at seathe breast milk either even in the air. Taking advantage of this growing concern for this pollutant, there is a London company that is selling an ‘innovative’ therapy: clean the blood of microplastics in exchange for a payment of 11,500 euros the session. It is not yet known if microplastics are in the blood. Today, microplastics have been found in many parts of our body, but the fact that they are circulating in the blood is something that today is not serious for our health. Although companies have seen the opportunity to create a great business around health and this pollutant. A luxury treatment in the heart of London. In the prestigious Harley Street, known for its private clinics and its wealthy clientele, between 10 and 15 people a week they sit on a comfortable armchair to undergo the treatment of the company Clarify Clinics. The procedure, which lasts about two hours, resembles a dialysis session. Although previously we have to pay 9,750 pounds, which would be around 11,500 euros. Something that the big stars pay such as Orlando Bloom. A cannula extract the patient’s blood and introduces it into a machine that separates the plasma from red blood cells. This plasma passes through a filter designed to catch microplastics and other pollutants such as perfluoroalized and polyfluoralized substances. Once the blood is ‘clean’, the plasma is recombine with blood cells and reintroduced into the body. So comfortable that you can work during therapy. In his attempt to attract more and more patients, CEO of Clarify Clinic points out that it is a “very comfortable” technique According to Wired. So comfortable is that he acknowledges that patients make calls, gather by zoom or even watch a movie while their blood is cleaned. Indicated for patients with nonspecific symptoms. According to the company itself, customers who go to their clinic share chronic fatigue or ‘mental fog’. Although the clinic also promotes its treatments for people who take medications to lose weight such as Ozempic, couples seeking to conceive or those concerned about dementia. The result is always the same: they come out as new. Science is not clear. The scientific community has shown that microplastics are literally surrounding us. But there is no evidence of its effects on the body. WHO itselfin a report published in 2019, he concluded that there is still not enough evidence to determine if they suppose a risk to human health. We do not know if they are safe, but we also do not know the risks they could raise to create specific therapies to ‘detoxify ourselves’. If we go to the website of this clinicthe truth is that available from a section called ‘Science’. But upon entering it offers many data, but few references (if not any) of research that speak of the effects on the health of microplastics. They are limited to what we know: their presence in numerous places. But, on the other hand, they point out that they eliminate all the effects of this pollutant. More research is still needed. Although some studies have found worrying correlations, causality remains very elusive. A 2022 review associated microplastics with damage to human cells in the laboratory, but did not examine health results in living people. More recently, In a study Published in the prestigious magazine New England He found that people with microplastics in the fatty plaque of their carotid arteries had a higher risk of heart attack and cardiovascular accident. However, the study was observational and could not prove that microplastics will cause That greatest risk. There could be other factors: patients with microplastics in their arteries were also more likely to be men, smokers and to have pre -existing cardiovascular diseases. A anecdotal -based therapy. Although the evidence is very small, the CEO of Clarify Clinics sells its therapy as a miraculous thanks to the effects it has on its patients. It points to the fact that higher levels of energy or better sleep are reported, and even herself monitors her dream with The oura ring And he assures that after the treatment, his sleep score has not dropped from 90, when before 70 was a good result for her. Biohacking for rich: a booming trend. Microplastic blood cleaning joins a growing list of high -coastal treatments and with doubtful scientific evidence. From the injections of stem cells in Bahamasuntil Receive a child’s plasma injection To stay young. And in many cases these treatments have a common goal: to stay young. And for this there are many people who They can invest millions of dollars in therapies. Our obsession with this objective makes even investigations are pointing to medications that reverse human agingalthough without thinking about the consequences you have. Images | Flyd Ozkan Guner In Xataka | Telling what worries the AI was just the first step: there are already bots that are passed through collegiate psychiatrists

See exclusively a masterful movie lesson that lasts six hours

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Fast, think a current actor to whom you could hang the Sambenito of “too much passion for his.” Tom Cruise, right? He makes his own risk stounts, co -produces everything he stars in, he actively intervenes in the creation and design of multiple aspects of his films … already the one that is neglected, plugs you a master class on video of six hours about “how a movie is made.” Friends forever. Apparently, Glen Powell, co -star of ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘It’s now Very friend of Tom Cruise. There is nothing strange: the aura that this actor gives Sydney Sweeney) It has a lot to do with the one Cruise owned when it was something younger. It is in this context when it arose, In the middle of an interviewRevelation: When Intimas with Cruise, he sends you to school. A designed by the superstar itself. Six master class hours. Cruise sent Powell to a Los Angeles cinema who had emptied only for his friend, and there the surprised actor met a masterful film class: how the movies work, how they are made, all the knowledge and experience that Cruise had accumulated in decades of profession at six hours. At first, Poiwell believed that he was going to see a projection for several people and that he was one more guest. But he found himself alone in the room. Pure Tom. It is complicated to imagine something more Tom Cruise than a six -hour video of the star, to the cloths of youth enthusiasm, telling you all about the cinema. Thing that he can do, because as Powell says, “in what I feel that we are twin souls is that he is obsessed with the movies. That was our way of communicating in the set. The uncle knew all the departments, he could interact without problems with everyone, be kind and respectful, and communicate his vision.” Therefore, according to Powell, the video consisted of Cruise looking at the camera, showing the utillería of a filming and saying things like “Do we all agree that this is what a camera is? This is the difference between a movie camera and a digital camera …” And of tip, aviation. But that’s not all, that six hours give for a long way. For some reason, Cruise thinks that piloting planes is essential to make movies, and the video includes a good part of his knowledge as a pilot. Again according to Powell: “The funniest part is the one that is about flying, it is as if I had mounted a whole flight school. So literally, he says in the video: ‘Ok, this is what a plane is. This is how things fly. This is how air pressure works …’” Bumper with Tom. This enthusiasm for the cinema is unheard of, but it is the image that Cruise has been elaborating little by little, chiseling a very peculiar public image. His extraordinary discipline, ethics of work and physical capacity, which allow him risky action scenes without double or tricks, surprise his more than 60 years. Train seven days a week and exceeds physical and mental limits at each premierehas done more than 500 parachute jumps And authenticity is An absolute challenge for him. With someone like that, absolutely unusual in the industry, recording a six -hour video with everything you know about cinema is a joke. In Xataka | The new ‘mission movie: impossible’ is practically science fiction. And explain why the franchise is still alive

It is to “eat” your bacteria

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Every time you go to the beach or walk under an intense sun, the skin starts a complex chain of reactions on its surface. You can think automatically In vitamin D and in the burnsbut at the microscopic level a fascinating ‘battle’ is fought where bacteria that cover the skin have a leading role. And what they do is surprising: literally, they “eat” one of the most negative effects of the sun, altering the way our body responds to it. The sun is a threat to the immune system. To understand this story, you must first know that the sun does not only bronze. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) acts as a powerful ‘switch’ for the immune system. When UV rays affect the skin, it converts a very abundant molecule called urocanic acid In its ‘twin’, cis-urocanic acid. This new molecule, the CIS-UA, has a very clear mission: to be a powerful Immunosuppressive. It is as if it disarms the ‘defenses’ in the skin so that they do not react to the presence of the sun. As a positive point, it allows us to use the UV light phototherapy to calm inflammatory diseases such as dermatitis. But it also has a negative point, since not having the defenses ‘on alert’ can hinder the elimination of sun damaged cells that in the long term they can in the long term evolve to skin cancer. Bacteria again demonstrate their importance. A published study by the magazine Journal of Investigative Dermatology It has given light to why the immunosuppressive effect of CIS-UA in a real environment was not always as powerful as expected in the laboratory. The answer to this dilemma was in the billions of microorganisms that inhabit the skin: the Microbioma. In a series of animal experiments, the researchers saw that when exposing the skin to UC radiation, the population of certain bacteria (especially the Staphylococcus epidermidis) He shot. And it wasn’t a coincidence. This bacterium It has an enzyme of the catalase type that functions as a perfect ‘crusher’ to eliminate the CIS-UA. In essence, while the sun produces this immunosuppressive molecule, the bacteria of our skin use it as a source of food, limiting its amount and, therefore, its effect on our defenses. They demonstrated it by eliminating bacteria. To give more validity to the theory presented, the researchers disinfected the skin of the mice to eliminate their microbiome. When exposing them to UV light, the immunosuppressive effect shot. Without bacteria that end the CIS-UA, the molecule could continue ‘silence’ to the skin defenses and give rise to having a greater probability of cancer. But when they only left the bacteria on the skin Staphylococcus epidermidis The defenses were not depressed. This was a great proof that the bacteria and its enzyme were responsible for regulating the effect of the sun on the skin. A door to sun’s sun’s sun. These discoveries are not only to satisfy scientific curiosity, but opens the door to new medical and cosmetic applications. For patients with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis, a simple step such as disinfecting the skin before applying UV light therapy can greatly enhance its effectiveness by suppressing skin defenses. For the day to day, we are interested in otherwise: limit immunosuppression to maintain active defenses in the skin against the damage that prolonged exposure to the sun can do. The creams of the future could not only block UV rays, but also include ‘probiotics’ or ingredients that feed these beneficial bacteria. We would be in this way by promoting our natural defenses instead of depending solely chemicals. Although for now the sun cream is still essential. Bacteria are one of us. Although bacteria are almost always related to a pathology, the reality is that There are about 100 billion microorganisms in the body (ten times more than cells). And the reality is that they do important functions such as in the human microbiota, whose alteration has been related With serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s wave depression. Now we see a new beneficial function of the bacteria that live with us, and that are more allied than enemies. That is why the investigation is pointing out that A healthier chocolate must focus on probiotics or that one of the most famous diets such as intermittent fasting It has positive effects In our health, But also negative. This makes your research right now in the priority of numerous groups and very diverse disciplines. Images | CDC Morgan Alley In Xataka | Science has solved one of the strangest mysteries of the human species: the people who do not like music

A simple gene can send a divine punishment to the snails: turn them into “left -handed”

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It is estimated that Something more than 10% of the world population is left. Today, this does not usually involve greater inconveniences, but there are animals that have a more problematic asymmetry: snails. Left -handed snails. Most snails share the direction in which their snail draws its spiral characteristic that revolves in the direction of the clock needles. But there is a very small population of snails whose shells develop in reverse. The reason It seems to be In a small genetic variation. The snails that develop their shell symmetrically to the rest are usually called them as “left -handed snails”, but if we had to look for a more precise human analogue we tended to go to the condition to which which We call SITUS INVERSUS. People with this condition, also of genetic origin, develop one or more organs on the “incorrect” side, for example they can have the heart to the right and the liver to the left. This condition occurs in around one person in 10,000 and rarely generates disorders, but in the case of these mollusks, the investment of their snail can cause problems, for example, making it difficult to reproduce these animals. A vital gene. Understanding the genetics responsible for change in these animals is important since it can give us clues about the evolution that was modeling the different genera and gastropod species. According to Explain the team Responsible for discovering the main gene involved in this differentiation, throughout the evolution, these changes resulted in the appearance of new species, something striking when it comes to mutations that hinder reproduction. Laboratory snails. The team conducted its study with a variant of snails of the species Bradybaena Similaris. The variant has the characteristic of presenting a high prevalence of “left -handed” snails, almost half of the specimens are born with this characteristic. The team compared the genes of the mice born with shells that turned to either side. They discovered that the main difference was in a gene, Diaph, but not in the gene itself but in its expression. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Zoological Letters. Jeremy’s curious case. Perhaps the most famous snail to present this anomaly was a British snail nicknamed Jeremy in honor of politician Jeremy Corbyn, the leftist politician who was twice a candidate for prime minister in the United Kingdom. Jeremy was the protagonist of another investigation whose results postulated an alternative hypothesis to genetics based. The team responsible for the study concluded, after gathering numerous specimens such as Jeremy so that they could reproduce between them, that the change obeyed external forcesnot by genetic inheritance but for accidents in development. The study, Posted in 2020 In the magazine Biology Lettersreminds us that we will still have to investigate these mollusks, their genetics and their development, if we want to know exactly what phenomenon is behind this unique characteristic of a small amount of snails and, above all, of its implications. In Xataka | They identify the smallest land snail species: Round 0.5 mm high and its discoverers needed brushes and microscope Image | Angus Davison

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