Month: September 2025

An Andalusian Aena. And seriously

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“Aena should end her monopoly in Spain and head towards a model similar to the British where airports of the same territory compete with each other.” It is easy to guess who those words are. Indeed, its owner is Michael O’Leary but it is more difficult to succeed with the date. Now, Balearic Islands and Andalusia begin to slide that it is perhaps a good idea. They have a proposal: end Aena’s monopoly. Competence. As we said, the previous words are from O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair. But it is not part of its last pressure measure to justify its march of some Spanish airports. These statements already made them in 2017. Obviously, His opinion has not changed since then. What has changed is the position of some voices within Spain, to which we are much less accustomed. These have come from the Balearic Islands and Andalusia who propose a new model: they want to manage their airports and, thus, plant competition to Aena who is the one who carries the singing voice throughout the country. Andalusia. “We are not very happy with how Aena is maintaining our airports. We are thinking whether to make a co -management agreement or enter the shareholding of a company that could develop an Andalusian Aena.” With these words, Arturo Bernal, Tourism Councilor of the Junta de Andalucía, his position regarding Aena’s work in his region to questions from questions from The confidential. Balearics. The position of the Balearic Islands is the same. Marga Prohens, president of the Balearic Islands, has already defended her position with An initiative not law. The intention is that there is a co -management between Aena and the regional government. One of the reasons indicated is that the works that are being carried out at Son Sant Joan are “quite inefficient”, in Prohens’s words. How does Aena work? Aena is the Spanish airport management company. It has so many aerodromes under its umbrella (46 airports and two helipuertos) that right now is the company that manages the most spaces of this type in the world. Its shareholders are 51% public and 49% private since the Law 8/2014 will let private shareholders into the company. Since then, Aena is still in charge of maintaining Spanish airports in the best state and, of course, making them attractive to airlines. Hence, for example, the rates to operate at regional airports are much lower than those in Madrid, Barcelona … or Balearic Islands, whose airfield are San Joan is the third most important in our country. Solidarity. In the article of The confidentialwhat the unions and defenders of the AENA model defend is that the company allows smaller airports to remain open despite the fact that, together, they are deficit for their low volume of flights. With its benefits, Madrid or Barcelona help Santiago de Compostela remain open and, despite Ryanair’s departure, new companies remain attractive to occupy this space. However, they emphasize that 49% private capital is pressing everything possible so that investments in deficit airports is the minimum possible with the aim of maximizing benefits. For CCOO, the ideal solution is simple: 100% public capital. And they emphasize: “Aena worked much better because all the benefits reverted in improvements in the network. The company generated more income to the state of what it needed to invest in airports. Now we have vulture funds in the shareholding.” Compete? What they support from the Balearic Islands and Andalusia is the same as O’Leary: the best model is that airports compete with each other. For the CEO of Ryanair, the ideal is that the airports of the same space fight to offer the most attractive offer to the company. What they want from the autonomous communities is to enter the management so that their airports are more attractive to those of other regions and have more benefits to their coffers. A few days ago, Maurici Lucena, president of Aena, He published a letter Regarding Ryanair’s threats to continue taking flights from the Spanish territory. It defended that Spain has one of the most competitive rates of the European environment, thanks to a very demanding regulation, which, among other factors, induces high operational efficiency of the company. “ On the other hand, the demand for Balearic Islands and Andalusia also coincide the announcement by the government that will invest 12,888 million euros in Spanish airports. Of course, of these investments it has only been pointed out that “9,991 million euros correspond to regulated investments, while the rest will go to unregulated actions (associated with commercial activity)”, without offering more specific details or more specific interventions. Are there airports that are not from Aena? Yes, in total there are four airports in Spain that are not managed by AENA: Castellón, Ciudad Real, Teruel and Lleida. In addition, that of Andorra-La Seu d’Urgell is also managed by Catalonia. The results are disparate. Castellón has not stopped accumulating lost Since it was launched. Its construction was a cost of 158 million euros. Ciudad Real also does not give benefits but, in this case, Its management is completely private. Teruel has specialized in its position as an industrial airfield. A hole has been created on the international map for its spaces of maintenance and repair of aircraft. Lleida is an environment used by airlines for pilot formation. Among other companies, here they operate Air France, Vueling and Volotea. Finally, that of Andorra-La Seu d’Urgell yes operates with commercial flights. However, the sum of both has not reported any year of benefits Since regional reins were taken in 2014. Photo | Pop9000 on Wikimedia In Xataka | Ryanair’s march has left regional airports: 240,000 passengers less and 70% less in one of them

Nuclear fever goes faster than centrals

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Uranium, for years relegated to a corner of the raw material market, Live a rebirth. His prices have shot themselves and investors chase him with enthusiasm, convinced that nuclear energy will be key in an electrified world. As Jennifer Hughes said in the Financial Times: “Investors in Uranium and scientists should have much in common: both seek great benefits from a small starting point.” However, this financial euphoria collides with an awkward reality: nuclear power plants are not built to the necessary rhythm and bottlenecks are huge. A small and overwhelmed market. The spot price is around 76 dollars per pound, After having exceeded $ 100 at the beginning of 2024. Much of this increase is explained by a small market: most uranium is sold under long -term contracts and the immediate market space is very narrow. At the same time, governments accumulate strategic reserves. In the podcast Stock Movers Bloomberg They detailed that The US Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, wants to strengthen national inventories to reduce Russia dependence, which provides a room of enriched uranium that feeds the 94 US reactors. The result is clear: more uranium is purchased than the centrals can consume today, a sign that the geopolitical and financial appetite goes ahead of the real capacity. A spark that lights nuclear fever. Why this boom? The explanation is in global electrification. According to Bank of America analysts, by the end of this decade the world consumption of electricity will increase to 30%driven by the electrification of transport and the rise of AI data centers. According to the International Energy Agencythe data centers already consume about 415 twh per year – 1.5% of global electricity – and their weight will continue to grow with the expansion of AI. In fact, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, among others need abundant, reliable and carbon free energy to support their operations. Hence, technology companies have taken an unusual step: Bet on nuclear. The turn of many countries. Nuclear energy has returned strongly, even in countries that had a firm predisposition to the closure. Germany He stopped his nuclear blackout plan and Belgium made the same decision. Indonesia, despite its wealth in coal, included nuclear in An energy investment plan of 235,000 million dollars. And the United States He has decided to quadruple nuclear capacity recycling uranium. Today there are about 440 reactors in operation in the worldwhich contribute about 10% of global electricity and are the second low carbon energy source after hydroelectric. The wall of reality: the deadlines. Political promises collide with industrial limitations. The projects are usually expensive and slow, with deadlines that do not fit with the climatic urgency. To this are added concerns about radioactive waste and fear of accidents such as Fukushima, Although even Japan is willing to return. In fact, in the US, only three reactors have been built in the last quarter of a century, two of them with exorbitant costs and significant delays. Today there is no plant under construction and to meet the objectives of Washington it would be necessary to initiate the works of 20 medium -sized reactors every year, According to Morgan Stanley calculations. Even China, famous for its speed When he decides to investit takes between five and ten years to design, approve and complete a new plant. Russia, the bottleneck of the nuclear cycle. The big problem is in the phase of the nuclear cycle that converts the mineral into useful fuel. There, Russia is the dominant actor. Although countries such as Australia (28%of world reserves), Kazakhstan (13%) and Canada (10%) large uranium deposits concentrateonly Russia Master the enrichment on a global scale. Canada emerges as an alternative. With mines in the Athabasca basin, the country not only extracts but can also enrich uranium, which makes it a “safe and reliable” supplier. His new mine, operated by Nexgen, could move to Kazakhstan as the world leader of production in the next decade. For its part, this last country accelerate your own nuclear plans. Kazakhstan has among his plans to build his first central in ülken, with financial support from Russia but technological alliances with France and South Korea, in an attempt to reduce the dependence of the Kremlin. Expectations ahead of reality. Uranium has gone from being a forgotten resource to become a central file of the energy and geopolitical board. Prices reflect it and investors bet strongly. But nuclear infrastructure slowly advance, the dependence of Russia in the fuel cycle continues to weigh and social resistances remain alive. As the energy expert warns in its columnwho invest in Uranium expect “too much, too soon.” The true nuclear energy boom, if it arrives, will take much more than a rebound in contributions. Image | Freepik Xataka | The largest nuclear fusion project on the planet has survived the setbacks. This is the date on which Iter should be ready

The language. The translation reaches the heart of their chats

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We have all lived the frustration of not understanding with someone for a simple language. It can be on a trip, in a working group with colleagues from other countries or even in a conversation with family members abroad. In that field where words fail, WhatsApp has decided to take another step: Integrate translation directly in your chats to reduce that friction. With more than 3,000 million users Distributed by more than 180 countries, WhatsApp connects to very diverse communities. The new translation function is presented as a real communication response with less barriers. How it works. The process to translate is direct and does not require leaving the chat. Simply hold a message and choose the “Translate” option. The application will show the text in the selected language and save the downloaded packages to use them in the future. The function is available in individual conversations, groups and also in the updates of the channels, which expands its reach beyond private exchanges. Languages ​​and deployment. The new function begins to gradually arrive at Android and iPhone users. In the case of Android, the start is limited to six languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian and Arab. In iOS, on the other hand, the fan is broader: more than 19 languages ​​from the beginning, supported by Apple’s infrastructure. Android self -translation. In addition to the manual option, Android users will have an additional function: automatically translate all incoming messages of a concrete conversation. Once activated, any text received in another language will be displayed in the language chosen by default. It is an option designed for those who maintain continuous exchanges in another language, avoiding having to translate a message by message. Privacy on the device. The deployment of the function is accompanied by a key nuance: translation does not abandon your mobile. According to WhatsApp, the entire process occurs in local and the company has no visibility on the texts that become another language. The measure responds to the need to preserve privacy in a service where users share sensitive information, respecting the security framework provided by end -to -end encryption. What does not translate. The new tool is not universal: there are contents that are left out. WhatsApp details that locations, documents, contacts, stickers or gif cannot be translated. In addition, as we have said, to use the function it is necessary to previously download the language packages and have sufficient storage space. Integrated translation is not limited to travel scenarios. It can be useful for merchants who serve tourists and need to understand orders instantly. In the workplace, teams distributed in several countries can maintain the rhythm of their conversations without depending on external translators. Even in the daily life of multicultural neighborhoods, the function adds fluidity. Until now, the alternative was going to copy the message and take it to an external translator, or use the translation functions of the mobile system. Both options solve the problem, but add intermediate steps that break the immediacy of the chat. WhatsApp’s bet is that everything happens in the same place where the conversation has already elapsed. Images | Mariia Shalabaieva | WhatsApp In Xataka | Send files among all my devices was a roll. Then I found this free application, Open Source and Multiplatform

China has just tested the Fujian with three different aircraft. Electromagnetic catapult is no longer theory, it is practical

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The cover of an aircraft carrier has always been a tension scenario: each takeoff is a millimeter choreography that combines steel and noise. For more than six decades, that scene was dominated by steam. Now, with him Fujianthat script is also written with electricity. We do not talk about an experiment behind closed doors, but of a public demonstration on deck with several different aircraft, the type of test that records that the electromagnetic catapult is operating in real conditions. The demonstration was not accidental. Coincided with the acts by the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the War against Japan and World War IIwhere prominence also passed through the sea. According to the Ministry of Defensethe Fujian served as a platform for three different models: the J-15T and J-35 and the KJ-600 early alert plane. The three performed cares assisted by catapult and land cable landings, marking a new chapter in their preparation. What was tested. According to Xinhuathe training phase served to check the interaction between the electromagnetic catapult, the braking system and different types of aircraft. The Navy explained that the exercises confirmed the “good compatibility” of the teams and that the Fujian already has the capacity of “full initial deck.” In practice it means that you can organize launch and recovery operations sequenced, preparing the land for a broader integration of its embarked wing. From steam to electromagnetism: For a long time, the steam catapults marked the take -off routine on the aircraft carriers. The EMALS American system introduced a paradigm shift: instead of pressure steam, it uses accumulated electric power and converted into a launch force. It is already installed in the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), first aircraft carrier to incorporate it. The US Navy ensures that It offers greater acceleration control, less wear on airplanes and cover and ability to boost light drones to heavy fighters. The transition reduces maintenance and opens the operational range. Three aircraft, three mission. The J-15T is the evolution of a veteran naval hunting, adapted to operate with catapults. Its role is to ensure the continuity of the aviation embarked while more advanced models arrive. The J-35, on the other hand, represents the jump to the fifth generation: a furtive hunt with greater scope and modern sensors. The KJ-600 trio completes, an early alert plane designed to expand the combat group and coordinate operations to hundreds of kilometers. Where is the Fujian today. The aircraft carrier began its sea tests in May 2024 and, since then, it has followed a progressive calendar. Systems and stability check settings have been made, while rehearsing cover operations. The latest exercises show that the ship has an initial capacity to operate with different aircraft, but has not yet reached the level of full operability required by an aeronaval group in long -range missions. Only two with Catapult EM. To date, only two armed ones have managed to integrate electromagnetic catapults into service aircraft carriers. As we point out above, the United States operates electromagnetic catapults in the Gerald R. Ford and China class has demonstrated its operation in the Fujian. These experiences place both armed in a high technological category, while the rest of the countries continue to use steam systems or lack catapults. It is a milestone that reflects the investment and industrial development scale necessary to get here. What changes on deck. Electromagnetic catapult opens a range of possibilities that were previously more limited. It allows drones or light aircraft with the same security as a great tonnage, and does so with less vibration and mechanical stress. For the crew, the work environment is quieter and less hot. In practice, it means that the aircraft carriers can sustain a greater number of daily exits with less maintenance between operations. Of the test at the service. The maneuvers carried out this month do not yet equate to have a fully operational aircraft carrier. The Fujian is still in an early phase: he needs to accumulate many more hours of sea and certify maneuvers in diverse conditions before being able to hold a embedded wing in the campaign. The Ministry of Defense speaks of a milestone, but also recognizes that it is missing. The transition from the demonstration to real capacity will be gradual and will depend on how systems respond in more demanding scenarios. The Fujian has gone from being a project wrapped in speculation to an aircraft carrier that shows on deck how its electromagnetic catapult works. The achieved this month is a visible milestone, although still partial. China thus enters a small club in which each electric takeoff is much more than a technical gesture: it is a declaration of intentions. The future will say how long it takes to convert these maneuvers into the routine of a fleet capable of operating with continuity on the high seas. Images | Ministry of National Defense (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) | In Xataka | For years the Airbus A380 symbolized European power against Boeing. Today it survives as a colossus without the kingdom

The neighbors have made the City Council demolish it

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In the English town of Dewsbury, near Leeds, a businessman from the rest sector called Amir Azam decided completely transform a plot where there was already a modest house in a neighborhood of low and quiet family homes to build a brick and cement mastodon who put all his neighbors on a war foot until a judge has taken letters in the matter: “permanently withdraw the house, including the base and the foundations.” That is, throw down a millionaire investment. Family house to CasePlón. The millionaire bought the property in 2021 for about 275,000 euros and, after requesting permission to expand the small house he had already built, finally chose to demolish it completely and build a new one instead. The problem is that, instead of a family house of a plant, such as that of the rest of the neighborhood, The millionaire lifted in his place A CASEPLÓN Three floors, with brick walls more than 16 meters long and two additional buildings in the garden. A reform that was out of hand. The result was a residential complex of exorbitant proportions that broke with the visual harmony of the neighborhood. The neighbors denounced for three years the impact on the aesthetics of the neighborhood, claiming that the dimensions of the house and its oppressive design affected the adjoining houses, which they found a brick wall in front of their windows overnight. “We have small discreet bungalows here and suddenly this huge monstrous mansion appears,” They declared Some neighbors to the British Dailymail. Azam requested in 2023 a retrospective planning permit to the City Council, when the work was already finished by the residents on a war. However, the City Council rejected its application and urban planning officials declared that the mansion had an “oppressive, opaque and dominant” impact on the rest of the houses and that it does not “integrate comprehensively” into the dead end in which it was located. Fatal outcome for the millionaire. Finally, and after three years of litigation with local and neighbors, from the urban planning inspection it was decided that the only possible solution was the total demolition of the property. “The new house has a similar surface in terms of wide to the previous housing, but as it now has a two -waters front, its general volume and mass seem much greater. As a result, it seems incongruous next to the other more modest homes in the dead end. As its depth extends much further back, it creates a large side wall extension, which further aggravates its voluminous appearance,” The decision was ratified by the Urban Planning Inspector, which concluded that the construction was incompatible with the character of the environment and caused the quality of life of the residents and gave Amir Azam six months to “permanently withdraw the house, including the base and the foundations.” Demolition and restitution costs could exceed 100,000 euros, expenses that the solo businessman must face. Asked by the British press, Azam said he did not know the resolution and avoided making public statements about the ruling. It is not an isolated case. Such and as he collected the one of Dailymailthis is not the first time that a local millionaire builds a mansion with all the permits in order and then regret it. This happened with a couple of Cambridgeshire, north of London, who claimed that he was going to build a horsepower clinic, but actually raised a mansion valued in more than 1 million pounds. Once built, a judge also ordered to demolish that it was an illegal construction that was not adjusted to what had been planned in their permits. In the United States, Mohamed Hadid, real estate entrepreneur and father of beautiful and Gigi Hadid models, started in Bel Air the work of a colossal mansion of 2,800 square meters that never obtained the necessary permits. After years of litigation, justice He ordered his demolition for breaching a long list of urban and security regulations. The demolition of the structure, half -building, finally began in 2022 after a media and judicial process Very sound. A global phenomenon that also affects Spain. In Spain there have also been similar cases. In the exclusive Cala Llap, in Andratx (Mallorca), 12 luxury homes were built that exceeded 1.3 million euros each. Such and as he collected Eldiario.esthese homes were declared illegal and finally demolished By court order, which caused many of its owners to lose their millionaire investments. In Xataka | The “Off Market” has been the great secret of the millionaires: thus they have bought and sold their mansions without a trace Image | Unspash (Darran Shen)

The CEO that wants a 50% unemployment rate

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At this point no one doubts that the adoption of Teleworking during pandemic as the only possible method for companies were kept afloatmarked a turning point. Global movements such as Great resignation wave Silent resignation They empowered employees in front of their employers. For its part, companies and managers They discovered that they did not have so much negotiation power as they thought of a work context with a great demand for talent. The subsequent hardening in the Policies back to offices He revealed that companies sought to recover their positions of power at all costs, even when those positions They involved a high cost. First of all that veiled movement, only a millionaire dared to reveal what I really thought. Controversial statements. Tim Gurner is the founder and CEO of Gurner Group, a successful Australian real estate company dedicated luxury real estate. In an intervention in a financial forum on real estate, the businessman did not hesitate a few years ago to pour hard words about the Employee Empowerment. “Employees feel that the company is very lucky to have them, and not vice versa. We have to end that attitude, and that has to get through damage to the economy,” said the entrepreneur to, immediately, add “we need to see how unemployment increases to 40% or 50% and see how the economy suffers to remind people that they work for companies, not the other way around.” Questionable salary climb. One of the employer’s arguments for the alleged empowerment of employees are The high salarieswhich have not stopped uploading since 2020. According to data from the Study of remuneration trends and salary increases of 2024 Prepared by KPMG, in 2023 an average salary rise of 3.5% was estimated below the annual inflation rate. The study reflects that in 2023, 90% of companies agreed 5% salary increases to compensate for the Loss of purchasing power of its employees. That is, a reasonable increase taking into account the global inflationary economic context. The same report indicates that the segment that has received more salary increases are intermediate positions and managerial positions with increases between 3.7 and 3.9%. Good offspring. The Australian businessman did not settle for attacking the salaries, he also justified the mass layoffs as a tool to recover negotiation power over employees. “Governments around the world are trying to raise unemployment rates to recover a kind of normality and we will see it. I think all companies are seeing it and I think this is what the massive dismissals are driving. People may not be talking about it, but companies continue to say goodbye to employees and it is being seen how arrogance is reduced in the labor market and must continue because that will balance costs.” Bad dynamics. The balance of dismissals in the technological field has been catastrophic in recent years. According to data From the Trueup Technological Employment Platform, 430,000 were registered in 2023, while in 2024 it was reduced to 239,000 layoffs. Estimates for 2025 is that the year closes with 201,000 layoffs. Most of them, in the United States, but also involved in other markets such as Europe or Tim Gurner’s native Australia. High unemployment. Such a number of layoffs left in some Unemployment rates In 2023 of 3.8%, to stabilize at 4.3% for 2024. Although the millionaire of Gurner Group thinks about it, the mass dismissals have not had an impact on the unemployment rate because the talent scarcity has facilitated its relocation in other companies immediately. Is the return to the office a sample of power? Large companies usually make their decisions based on founded studies and forecastsso surprises the vehemence with which some companies They have faced the return to the office, hiding in a fall in productivity that Studies have not been able to agree or in a strategic positioning for face the development of AI. The decision seems to go against the interests of companies, who face higher costs for offices rental and the discontent staff. This discontent does cause a fall in productivity by falling into Silence situations and even dismissals. Given the lack of real data offered by companies, the controversial Australian CEO dared to give a theory of powers of powers: “This would be a systemic change with which employees will feel that it is they who must feel extremely fortunate to be in companies and not vice versa. So it is a dynamic that must change and we have to end that attitude.” The return to the office for a real estate entrepreneur. Beyond the opinions of each one, Tim Gurner’s point of view can be very conditioned by the delicate Real estate sector situation Before the refusal of the employees to return to the offices. According to official dataTeleworking in the US has left between 20% and 25% of empty offices. Beyond being a labor problem in itself, Not returning to offices is a serious real estate problem in which the main investment funds in the world They have invested more 1.2 billion dollars And its value does not stop falling, so The great bank is already moving card To minimize losses. Rectifying is wise. Beyond the controversy that the statements of the real estate millionaire raised, days after the businessman recognized that they were totally out of place at such a delicate moment for many employees who were losing their jobs. In a publication in Your LinkedIn profilethe millionaire apologized for the lack of empathy and sensitivity for those who had lost their jobs or were about to lose them, recognizing that it is a very serious situation for the employee that suffers it and for its close environment. In Xataka | In their great return to offices, technological ones have a surprise for their employees: they will be smaller In Xataka | Amazon has finished his adventure with teleworking: he will return to the office in January and leave the intermediate charges in the pillory Image | LinkedIn (Tim Gurner), Pexels (Cameron … Read more

The United States needs nuclear energy for AI and already knows where to find it: in dismantled atomic bombs

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The rivalry between China and the United States is not only freed in markets or The tariffs. It is also played In the field of energy. And, in full rise of artificial intelligence, Donald Trump has decided that the way to ensure abundant and stable electricity for military bases, laboratories and data centers will be through nuclear energy. His plan is as ambitious as controversial. An explosive plan. The Trump administration has sought to quadruple the nuclear production of the country. To do this, the White House wants the new reactors not to depend solely on fresh uranium, but also on recycled fuel from radioactive waste and the military plutonium surplus dismantled eyelets. As Washington Post explainedit is an “national security imperative.” The idea is simple: guarantee a stable supply for the most sensitive infrastructure, from military bases to AI data centers, without depending on the electricity or imported fuels. The recycling now an ally. THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT has identified in its inventories All uranium and useful plutonium to reconvert it in fuel. Among them is the plutonium from dismantled weapons, one of the most dangerous materials on the planet. To make it possible, startups like oklo and curio They work in piroprocessinga method that introduces fuel bars spent on molten salts and uses electricity to separate the usable components. Unlike the chemical processes used in the past, these companies ensure that the technique is safer, more economical and less polluting. In addition, Oklo, backed by Sam Altman, founder of Openai, has announced an investment of almost 1.7 billion dollars in an advanced fuel center in Oak Ridge (Tennessee), the same land where uranium was enriched The Manhattan project Eight decades ago. Only the tip of the iceberg. A couple of months ago, in one of the executive orders signed by Trump forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) To complete any reactor license in 18 months, when until now the process could take more than a decade. The White House also ordered to rewrite the rules of radiation exposure, considered “excessively cautious.” The official statement issued in May established specific deadlines: The Army must operate a reactor at a national base before September 2028, and the energy department will have to inaugurate at least one advanced reactor in any of its facilities in 30 months to supply AI data centers. To this is added the release of 20 tons of Haleu (high -rehearsal low enrichment uranium) for new reactors and the intention of signing 20 international nuclear cooperation agreements in the current congress. The depth of the matter. Despite political and business enthusiasm, the scientific community contrasts with reality. Ross Matzkin-Bridger, exassor of the Department of Energy, He pointed out that it is “The same technologies that developed and rejected decades ago”, with the same background problems. The MIT physicist and former secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, It was more blunt: recycling plutonium of arms not only makes nuclear energy more expensive, but also “threatens to create material that can be used in pumps.” Along the same lines, Matthew Bunn, from Harvard, considers it unrealistic to think that public opinion accepts reprocessing plants that would also require their own waste deposit. And Frank von Hippel, from Princeton, recalled that the US has already abandoned civil recycling at the time of Jimmy Carter, after India used that technology To manufacture your first bomb. Not everything is warnings. For the White House, nuclear recycling is a strategic tool. The official statement insists that AI data centers and military facilities need “Dense energy sources, safe and resistant. ” Also, defenders such as Bradley Williams, from the National Laboratory of Idaho, They argue that using recycled plutonium It could become a need to guarantee sufficient fuel. And startups ensure that new processes include safeguards that prevent reuse of that material for military purposes. The weight of waste. The matter is even broader because the country already accumulates about 90,000 metric tons of fuel spent, stored in containers in active and dismantled plants, According to The Washington Post. Recycling part of that material would relieve a dilemma that has been resolved decades. Meanwhile, the private sector tries to position itself. Oklo signed a contract with Switchdata centers operator, to build modular reactors that contribute up to 12 GW before 2044. The company promises to open its first reactor, Aurorain 2027, although the agreement is not binding and the NRC rejected its previous application in 2022. The idea of ​​recycling is not unique. More countries have found in this method in a way to find a more source without depending on other countries as the case of Francewhich does so through subsidies and strict security measures. For its part, Japan accumulate delays and cost overruns In its Rokkash Plant, which has not yet produced fuels after decades of development. At the opposite end, United Kingdom decided to abandon the idea of ​​recycling. With about 140 tons of stored civil plutonium, he has chosen to immobilize him in a solid and stable way to bury him in a deep geological warehouse in Sellafield. Something similar occurs in Spain, which has reactivated his plan For a deep geological warehouse, planned for 2073, and in the meantime use containers such as Hi-Storm FW for intermediate storage. The contrast is evident: while some countries try to give new life to waste, others bury them forever. Everyone looks for the same: prevent nuclear legacy from becoming an eternal problem. Forecasts. The United States is committed to resuscitating old nuclear recycling technologies to sustain its energy safety and the AI ​​career. The defenders see it as a historical opportunity to reduce foreign dependence and give new use to forgotten materials. Critics fear that the same failures and risks of half a century are repeated. The experience invites prudence: the last reactors connected in the USA, In the Vogtle (Georgia) plantthey arrived seven years late and 17,000 million dollars of extra cost. Image | Oklo and Kelly Michals Xataka | 60 years … Read more

The wolf has been a huge hot political potato for years. In Asturias they will allow the hunters to dejize them

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In Spain there is a group that has been aware of the wolves. And they are not the zoologists, animalists, hunters or farmers. Even more so that they are politicians who have spent the last years discussing The legal status of the Canis lupusa delicate issue that has generated a deep debate. The last arrives from Asturias, where the Principality has taken A decision Radical: Allow hunters to shoot the wolves in certain community reserves. Not everyone believes it is legal. What happened? What Asturias will allow That hunters shoot Lobos during their beaters in certain areas of the Principality, those reserves in which there has been an increase in cattle attacks. The decision, which has already generated an intense debate and has encountered The frontal opposition of the animalists, directly connects with a series of legal changes that have gradually cracking the legal shielding of which the Canis lupus. What do Asturias want to do? Open the door to the hunters to participate in the reduction of the population of Lobos. As a “complementary control method”, the Ministry of Rural Affairs has decided that hunters of those regional reserves “in which a greater number of damage to cattle have been detected” can shoot wolves during hunts scheduled to capture other species. That is, it gives the green light to the hunters so that (if certain conditions are met) they can reduce them while looking for prey. “The goal is Clarifies the Principalitywhich has also asked that in the “most affected” hunting preserves the guards participate in the controls together with the natural environment agents. Why do you do it? To answer that question you have to go back several months, to April, when the Government of Asturias presented its annual “road map” (applicable until the end of March 2026) to “reduce damage to the primary sector and social conflict” related to the wolves. That is, its ‘Wolf Management Plan’an official document that among other things clarified how many catches of Canis lupus The Asturian authorities have authorized. In that document It was revealed that the minimum wolves are around 345 copies and, based on that, the Ministry of Rural Affairs has decided to give green light to “the extraction of a maximum of 53”. Even the maximum number of animals that would be “extracted” in each area of ​​the Principality was required, some guidelines were given on the periods to carry out “the controls” and it was clarified how they will be carried out. Among them, in addition to the beating made by the environmental agents of the Principality, It was already progressing that one of the options contemplated by the plan was to resort directly to the help of hunters in regional reserves. But the wolf was not protected? Throughout the last months the status of the wolf has changed considerably. And with him he has done his legal armor. In Spain the most relevant novelty It happened in March. During the processing of A law of food waste (yes, you have read well) Congress approved several amendments centered on the wolf. And among them there was a specific one that returned the species to the situation in which it was before 2021year in which the Canis lupus It had been added to the list of wild species with special protection (Lespre). In the practice that the wolf appeared in the Lespre valed the hunting of specimens north of the Duero, something that already happened south of the river. The decision of the Congress to take it out meant that the Peninsular North packs lost their armor, which in turn opened the door for the autonomous communities to decide on their hunt. The Principality itself I recognized Last April that launched its ‘Wolf Management Plan’ after the last changes in Lespre. It was not the only one. Cantabria did something similar. In fact rtpa It revealed This same week that the community has already “extracted” more than half of the wolves of the quota authorized for the 2025-2026 period, which translates into 25 copies of a total of 41. And why do you turn to the hunters? That is one of the keys to the controversy that has emerged in Asturias. The Principality explains that it has decided to allow hunters to shoot wolves while looking for other species in reserves for “Increase efficacy” of the plan, which provides for the “extraction” of a maximum of 53 wolves. There are those who have seen in that argument an alarm signal. “If the reason for involving hunters is the difficulty in reaching the number of dead wolves established in the quotas, perhaps the cause is not so much the lack of efficiency of the method to hunt them, but the shortage of wolves itself, something that seems that the Asturian government does not even value,” warns The Wolf Protection Fund, very critical of the new decision of the Principality. How many wolves are there? In spring the regional government calculated that the wolf is present in 83% of the Asturian territory, where some 45 herds inhabit between 360 and 405 animals. “Since 2001, the year in which 22 herds were registered, the population has shown a general growth trend, as well as the damages caused by livestock,” Concrete the Principality. To be more precise, remember that last year damage to 3,257 head of cattle and the cost of compensation grew to exceed the million and a half euros were confirmed. These figures are those that justified the control plan, although It is unknown How many wolves have fallen in the community today. Have there been reactions? Yes. And of different types. The Government insists in which his is a “balanced positioning” between the preservation of the species and the interests of farmers and ranchers, but the truth is that everything related to the legal framework of the wolf has been involved in a deep debate for months. The hunters They recognize Having received the last announcement from the … Read more

Alibaba is becoming the Ai Open Source sponator. Your family of Qwen models is putting the market above

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The Chinese giant Alibaba has launched Officially QWEN3-OMNI, an open source artificial intelligence model that can process text, images, audio and video simultaneously. In fact, it is the first model that unifies these four modalities natively and does it completely free, something that none of its US competitors offers. Bet on the Free Code. While Openai and Google charge for using their most advanced multimodal models, Alibaba gives theirs under Apache 2.0 license. This means that any company can download it, modify it and use it commercially without any cost. This open source approach It is the trend that multiple Asian giants are adopting to cause global interest in their language models and that multiple developers around the world want to contribute to their evolution. It is part of China’s strategy to remain relevant in the AI ​​career. Image: Alibaba What can you do exactly. As points The company, QWEN3-OMNI simultaneously processes text in 119 languages, recognizes voice in 19 languages ​​and can speak in 10 different languages. Its “thinker-speaker” architecture separates the reasoning of the audio generation, promising real-time responses with latencies of just 234 milliseconds for audio and 547 milliseconds for video. Benchmarks. In 36 reference tests, QWEN3-OMNI exceeds open source models in 32 of them and establishes new general records in 22. In advanced mathematics (Aime25) obtains 65 points compared to 26.7 of GPT-4O. In writing tasks (Writingbench) 82.6 points, exceeding 75.5 GPT-4O points. While it is true that it is not being compared to Openai’s most avant-garde model to date (GPT-5), it is a real achievement what giants like Alibaba are doing with their free and open source models. Strategy. Alibaba is running a risky but intelligent play: democratize the multimodal AI to gain market share. “This could bring some changes to the panorama of the OMNI open source models,” explained The Qwen team. The announcement occurs just when Nvidia announces Investments of 100,000 million dollars in data centers for OpenAI, while Alibaba and the rest of Asian giants prefer to dispute technological leadership in AI from another angle. What does it mean. Great American technology have opted for proprietary models that generate direct income. Alibaba wants to change the rules by giving instant access to its technology to millions of developers. Even if they offer it for free, they are building an ecosystem that gives them competitive advantage In the long term. And now what. China is not the only one that launches free code models. OpenAi has GPT-Oss And Google has Gemma. Two options that developers have on hand to deploy their ideas, modify them, contribute to their evolution and others, although they are not the main approach of both companies. In the case of Alibaba models, Deepseek either Tencentthe idea does revolve around the open source, and the pulse does not tremble when offering their most powerful models for free (despite the fact that some more complete and specific options are reserved for special agreements). QWEN models A great reputation have been carved Throughout these last years, and this new evolution in his family marks a new ribbon for the rest of the companies, not only in efficiency, but in the deployment of this business model. Cover image | Alibaba and Growika In Xataka | Eight people. An hour of work. A budget dollar. 5,000 new podcasts thanks to AI

Do you know that hurricane that everyone speaks of? Well Aemet has just pronounced on Gabrielle

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In the last hours, Hurricane Gabrielle has reached category 4 in the middle of the Atlantic. That is, the countdown has begun: during the next few days, the cyclone will move to the east until Friday impacts with the Azores. Just after, the unknowns begin. Of those unknowns is what the weather information has been living in recent days. But now they begin to clear and, in fact, Aemet just said publicly That is on alert. And it is because, although as we said yesterday it is already clear that the Azores will take the worst part, the truth is that the scenarios in which the storm arrives at the peninsula are increasingly probable. Where is Gabrielle right now? Let’s start here. According to the latest notice of the National Hurricane Center in MiamiGabrielle is 2950 kilometers from the Azores. With sustained winds above the 220 km/h, the eye of the hurricane moves about 20 kilometers per hour to the northwest. And then? After passing through the Azores, Gabrielle “will stop being a hurricane.” Will suffer an extroatropical transition. That is to say “its intense wind field ceases to be located, exorbitant, circular, symmetrical and becomes expanding, becoming asymmetric and losing intensity.” That means that the Peninsula will approach the weekend as storm (something relatively common in autumn), but we do not know how, or when, or where exactly that transition will take place. What does all this mean? Well, right now, the most likely scenarios already give a discounted that Gabrielle He will approach “To our region, with high probabilities of suffering an extroatropical transition (transformation on storm) of high intensity.” And he will catch us almost by surprise. Because, although from Monday to Wednesday there will be a fresh atmosphere with showers, from Thursday we will enjoy a warm and stable atmosphere. It will be The summer of San MigueLy will be short (maybe very short). Just after: it is possible that the bad sea, the rains and the strong winds make an appearance in the west peninsular. Image | HNC In Xataka | The largest Hurricane of the Atlantic progresses slowly 16 kilometers per hour. The problem is your address: Spain

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