Month: October 2025

Millions of Spaniards consume benzodiazepines to sleep at night. They do not know that it is an poisoned candy

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On July 13, 2010, two days after Spain won the World Cup in South Africa, a Facebook user He putas the name of a group of that social network a phrase for history as a title of a group of that social network: “I am Spanish, what do you want me to win?” He talked about sports, of course. But if I had to choose a non-sports land to beat almost any other nationality, I would have (sadly) clear: The consumption of benzodiazepines. And if we talk about sleeping medications, I would bet on Lorazepam. A medication … paradoxical. Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine of intermediate action. In general terms, it works in the brain as a specific agonist of most subtypes of the Gabaa receiver. That is what makes it act as anxiolytic, sedative, muscle, anticonvulsive and amnesic. But, generalized (and even if the lormatazepan is better), it is prescribed to sleep. Why does it help to sleep? This medication facilitates Conciliation (helps to fall asleep), increases the total sleep time (in the first shots – therefore, treatments of more than four weeks are not recommended) and reduces night awakenings. It is, as it is easy to see, a resource very helpful to a problem increasingly widespread. And why is it ‘paradogical’? Because those ‘benefits’ have costs. To start, leave hangover. Being an intermediate action drug, it can leave some drowsiness or stunning after awakening. But that is little. The worst thing is that it modifies sleep architecture. In essence, the deep sleep phase and the ReM phase tend to reduce. That makes the sleep more continuous and less repairing. As The Uxoa Olaizola Pharmaceutical“Maybe you sleep, but your brain is not resting.” As if that were not enough, you can create addiction. This is better known and, in fact, it is one of the problems with the benzos. About 10% of the Spanish population has consumed them without a recipe, and 7.2% do so daily. We have a problem and it is quite serious. “75% of Spaniards wake up at least once At night, and 3 out of 10 directly affirm that they suffer from insomnia. “And, eye, the scientific evidence available tells us that we tend to think that we sleep better than we really do. Reality, surely, is much worse. And he will go more; With all its consequences. Lack of sleep is related to immunological problems, Metabolic, Cardiovascular emotional and cognitive; With disorders such as diabetes or of the obesity. Not just that sleeping little causes us to be more tired and irritablebut Raise our stress levels And it makes us Assume more risks And make more wrong. Hopefully not to mistake on this. Image | Shane | Roberto Sorin In Xataka | Science has been trying to find out what is the best time to go to sleep. And it is already close to an answer

What has been shot is the rest of the bill

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The receipt of natural gas becomes more expensive with the arrival of autumn. On October 1, a new upload of the natural gas receipt entered into force. The last resort rate (TUR) is scanned on average 13.2% in homes and between 12% and 20.1% in neighborhood communities, According to the resolution published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The climb occurs in full start of the heating season, an especially sensitive moment for families that depend on gas to heat their homes. More increases? Each quarter, the Ministry for Ecological Transition always updates the TUR. The mechanism is automatic: if the cost of the raw material varies more than 2%, the rate is updated. And this October, the combination of three factors has been decisive: Seasonal gas: each fall is incorporated into the calculation because in winter the demand increases. Only that component causes the cost of the raw material to shoot 24.9% compared to July. International markets: Actually, base gas has reduced 6.5% thanks to the Brent drop Already a stronger euro against the dollar. But that respite has been buried by seasonal surcharge. The tolls and regulated charges: that finance transport and distribution. According to the OCUthis year they have risen strongly, especially in the fixed term of the invoice, which in some cases has shot up to 43%. In summary, although in the part of the international markets there has not been a disruptive change, the regulated adjustments and the entrance of the winter gas have ended up pushing the upward rate. How much do I have to pay for gas? The answer depends on how much each home consumes. The regulated rate (TUR) is divided into sections according to the annual use, which allows to easily identify what rate corresponds to each case: Tur1: up to 5,000 kWh/year. They are normally homes that only use cooking gas or for the hot sanitary water. In this section, the fixed is € 3.93/month and the variable in € 0.045/kWh. Tur2: Up to 15,000 kWh/year. It is the most common rate in families that use gas for both hot water and heating. Here the fixed rises to € 8.11/month and the variable to € 0.043/kWh. Tur3: Up to 50,000 kWh/year. It is applied in large homes with intensive heating or in small businesses. The fixed is € 18.82/month and the variable drops to € 0.039/kWh. In more practical data, According to the OCUan average home with 9,000 kWh a year goes from 553 to 619 euros per year, that is, 66 euros more in a single quarter. On the other hand, in neighboring communities there are special rates (Tur4 to Tur11), ranging from 50,000 kWh to very high consumption. Here the increases are higher: from 12% to 20.1%. Tur4 rises 15%, Tur7 19.2%and Tur11 20.1%. The hardest blow will be received by those who use the gas for heating, since the fixed term is paid every month although it is not consumed. Even so, the OCU emphasize that the Tur It is still cheaper than many free market rates, where some customers even pay twice. Beyond the invoice. The increase in gas does not affect only the families that use it for heating or hot water. It also conditions the electrical system. After the blackout of April 28, Red Eléctrica reinforced the use of combined gas cycles to give stability to the network. And what was born as an emergency measure has become the new normality: when solar and wind generation falls, The support continues to put the gas. This explains a paradox: Spain produces more renewable energy than ever, but not being able to store it sufficiently, gas enters to meet demand and ends marking prices. In other words: although the electricity and the gas invoice are different, the role of gas in the system makes both connected. There will be more changes in the future. And we already count it in Xatakabetween 2028 and 2032 eight million gas counters will be replaced. The new ones will be intelligent, will allow real -time readings and reduce fraud, but they will also cost more: the rent will go from € 0.58 to € 1.10/month, about 6 euros more a year for each home. The government defends that, in the long term, it will be saved on consumption and emissions, but in the short term it will be another rise in the invoice. The look set in January 2026. When the rates will be checked again. Everything will depend on the contribution of the gas, the euro against the dollar and the regulated tolls. But the context does not invite optimism, since the EU has extended the obligation to store 90% of the gas, which maintains pressure on demand. In addition, the Spanish electrical system will continue to need gas as supportat least until 2026, because there is not enough storage or intelligent networks. Finally, investments in digitalization and modernization (Accountants, batteries, micro -redes) will bring more fixed costs for consumers. In short, the gas will remain a volatile terrain and, although the regulated rate continues to be the most competitive, it is not a safe refuge. The increase in this October recalls that energy continues to mark the pulse of the family economy and that, until there is a system capable of storing and taking better advantage of renewables, gas will continue to dictate the rules of the game and invoice. Image | Freepik Xataka | Natural gas has become essential in the AI ​​era, and this chart exposes countries with the largest reserves

The main work of the creator of ‘Doom’ remains to explain how demons exist ‘doom’

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John Romero’s enthusiasm is contagious: we agree that his main work, although he continues to devote himself to programming, is essentially to explain the ‘Doom‘. And it does it great. Romero is not only very aware of the essentials for the history of the piece he created with the rest of Software idbut he knows perfectly why, today, he is still the favorite video game of many fans. And he told us with hairs and signs in the Comic-with Malagawhere he came to explain what, in his opinion, the essential bases of the DNA of the FPS genre were. The original ‘doom’ is considered today a technical feat for many reasons that Romero himself was in charge of getting ourselves meticulously, but from the first minute, he made it clear what in ID knew that he had to have the game to shine above his competitors and his venerable predecessors: an infernal speed. He tells us that “we needed to design new techniques to create light and dark in a 3D world. And how to do it with very high frame speeds, which was the biggest obstacle: try to do it very fast” To get at that speed First they had to invent a new way of making 3D: “For a time ‘doom’ looked like what we had done in Wolfenstein 3D, because we mentally still there, doing things as they were done before us.” And how were things done before? “Wolfenstein’s walls were 90 degrees completely illuminated. But in ‘Doom’ there were stairs, dark corridors, immense open spaces, lots of monsters, and nobody had never seen anything like that before. We had no references. So we could only create, test, invent and try to improve it little by little.” Everything points to amounts of demential work, and Romero confirms it: “And the speed was not everything. The sound, the multiplayer (‘doom’ was the first in high speed, and with different ways, cooperative and Deathmatch), allowing people to modify the game and change it. And, well, all these things happened in a single game. And on top of that we wanted to launch it for Christmas. “A real madness, but he does not doubt a second to remember that schedule and design it” was very fun. “ History matters There is a very widespread topic, which is that ‘doom’ has no history, and indeed, the argument is of a minimum density, but That does not mean that he does not strive to convey an atmosphere and a narrative. “There was a general history,” Romero tells us, “for which we inspire ourselves in D&D. I always try to make games different from everything that players have experienced before: with ‘Wolfenstein 3D’, no one had faced Nazis like that. In the ‘Castle Wolfenstein’ ‘on which we rely, 11 years before, you had to camouflage yourself as Nazi. And if not, you were detained without the possibility of response. And we said: ‘Let’s put in this game a frontal confrontation with the Nazis’ “ And that philosophy translates into ‘doom’: “We could not have a science fiction game in which we only kill aliens, because that was what was expected. What could we do to be different? The idea of ​​’Doom’ emerged from the ‘Dungoons & Dragons’ campaign to which we had been playing for years and that ended because the demons multiplied they multiplied with everyone What existed. And they adding elements to the mixture: “We were inspired by the movie ‘Aliens’ in the space marines and Fast action, that tension, suspense and terror of having so many things moving around youwanting to kill you. And then evil for black humor, shotgun, chainsaw and attitude. “Finally, it is time to ask for an impossible. We ask Romero to make a total summary of ‘doom’, of his influence and impact. Why do we keep talking about the game decades later? “We can divide its influence into two branches: technical and cultural,” he says. “Technically, we boost the industry towards the 3D. When things have been successful for a long time, it is not easy to overcome them. And in the eighties, the lateral displacement games had been very popular and a lot of personalized hardware was created to manage this genre, such as the Super Nintendo or the friend.” Thus, “Domestic computers and consoles wore incredible dedicated chips. A lot of work was invested in R&D to manufacture these things. And huge companies, multimillionaire companies, launched these things to the market. But we think: “We are going to go to 3D, people are tired.” But there were no graphics cards, so we had to try to make my best with what we had. Technology at full speed Another important technical aspect in ‘Doom’ is the integration of the multiplayer in the game: “Today the game that does not carry multiplayer is rare, but then the strange was incorporated. Our intention was not only to take it, but to integrate it into everything we had already created for the individual mode. We put that multiplayer mode during the last three months of the game development, when we thought” shit And we schedule it in a hurry. And culturally, how did ‘doom’ mark the environment? Romero lists some details (“Heavy metal had never been heard in a commercial game”), but stays with two aspects that certainly changed everything definitively. On the one hand, ID launched instructions to freely modify the game, which generated a community around it: “We launched the game in 1993, and In 1997 we published all source codesyou could take the game and do everything you would like with him, without consulting us. Moreover, we get involved in the community and that helped it grow out of control. “ And that was from the same concept of the game: “We created it thinking that people could change the game at will, so that it was modifiable, and we published all the data explaining how to modify the levels and others. So, … Read more

We had been believing that dark matter existed. A new study believes that we were wrong

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For decades, cosmology has been sustained on a pillar as fundamental as mysterious: The dark matter. The invisible glue that, according to the standard model, keeps galaxies together and prevents the stars from being fired by centrifugal force.Represents 27% of the universebut it has a problem: nobody has seen or detected it. It only trusts that it will be there. But now A published study in Galaxies This conception of the concept has changed. The study. Research led by the physicist Rajendra P. Gupta From the University of Ottawa proposes an idea as elegant as radical: what if dark matter does not really exist? According to his work, this ghost component could actually be an ‘illusion’, a side effect caused by something we were assumed: that the fundamental constants of nature are ‘constant’. The importance. To understand the magnitude of this proposal you must first remember the origin of the problem. Specifically, we have to go to the 70s, where astronomer Vera Rubin noticed that the stars at the edges of the galaxies revolved at the same speed those of the center. This completely challenged Newton’s laws, something that is as if a person sitting on the outer edge spinning at the same speed as a sitting near the axis. Physically, it should be triggered. The solution that the scientific community adopted was the existence of a “dark matter”, an invisible mass that generates the extra gravity necessary to maintain cohesive galaxy. This concept became the cornerstone of the cosmological model known as ΛCDM (Lamda-Cold Dark Matter). This model works incredibly well to explain the large -scale universe, but after searches with ultrasensitive detectors and experiments in the LHC We have not found a single particle of dark matter. It has always ‘detected’ indirectly through its gravitational effect on visible objects. The proposal. This is where Gupta’s idea enters. Its model, called CCC + TL (Covarying Couplening Constants + Tirad Light), is based on two different ideas. The first one is the so -called ‘Covriant coupling constants’ (CCC). In this case, the model suggests that the fundamental constants of physics, such as the speed of light (c) or the universal gravitation constant (G), are not fixed. Instead, they evolve and change as the universe expands. This is not a completely new idea (the physicist Paul Dirac already flirted with her), but Gupta integrates it into a complete cosmological model. The second idea raised in the investigation is that of ‘tired light’. A concept that arrives directly from the old hypothesis of ‘tired light’, which postulates that light loses energy throughout its trip through the cosmos. In this case, the Gupta model suggests that the redness of the light of the distant galaxies is not only due to the expansion of the universe but to a combination of both effects. Although the “tired light” as the only explanation, has been widely refuted, its inclusion in this hybrid model is key to its calculations. New terms. Once these two new ideas are taken into account, it is time to modify Einstein’s field equations with these variable constants, the GUPTA model makes new mathematical terms appear. This is something that the author has baptized as “α-material” and “α-energy.” And this is where it is true magic: these terms, which are not a physical substance but an effect of the evolution of the laws of physics, generate the extra gravitational attraction that until now we attributed to dark matter. Dark matter would not be something to find, but a mathematical mirage. It is tested. Something to keep in mind is that theories can be very well written and look very good on paper, but logically they have to demonstrate. For this, Gupta used the SPARC database, a high quality catalog with the rotation curves of 175 galaxies. The method used was the reverse to the traditional. Instead of adding dark matter to justify rotation curves, Gupta took the curves observed and used its model to “subtract” the effect of “α-material”. The result should be the rotation curve generated only by visible (barionic) matter. Something that has wanted to materialize in a graphic taking as an example the NGC3198 galaxy. In this image, the blue line (VO) is the rotation speed observed in the galaxy. The points line (VB) is the speed that should have if only the visible matter existed, according to the estimates of SPARC and the discontinuous line (VBX) is the prediction of visible matter calculated by the GUPTA model. The similarity between the prediction of its model and the estimation of barionic matter is remarkable. Something that the author repeated for several galaxies with promising results to give a very forceful conclusion. A new paradigm. If the CCC+TL model is correct, its implications are huge. Not only would it eliminate the need for dark matter, but, according to the author, it could also explain dark energy and other cosmological enigmas, such as why the first galaxies Observed by James Webb They seem more mature than they should. You have to be cautious. This is, for now, a “proof of concept” as the author himself points out. This means that it is using simplifications, such as treating galaxies as perfect spheres, something that is far from reality in the universe. In addition, its dependence on “tired light” is a friction point with conventional cosmology. Models such as this should demonstrate that they can explain with the same precision as λCDM Key observations such as microwave background radiation or the accelerated expansion of the universe. A new advance. But what is clear with this research is that the scientific community is exploring alternatives, especially when the predominant model presents fissures, such as the absence of a direct proof of dark matter. The Gupta model is, for now, a fascinating possibility. A reminder that in science, the most entrenched truths can be questioned and that the solution to the greatest mysteries of the universe might not be to find something new, but in … Read more

The “Rider Law” aspired to improve the delivery of Spain. In the sector there are those who believe it has served the opposite

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Bit (Or very little) today has to do with today’s delivery sector, before the government approved the Legislative change that forced that Thousands of dealers stop being autonomous to swell the template of the platforms with which they operate. The known as ‘Rider Law’ He has marked the last years of the sector and has left a deep mark on both the service and in the hospitality. So deep, in fact, that in the middle of 2025 there are still voices that They question their effectiveness And they warn that it is harming Riders, websites, restaurants and customers. A “lose-lose ‘by quadruple”, They regret. What happened? That despite the over four years that have elapsed since its approval in Spain, The impact that he has had the measure at the community level and that his guidelines have been pending little by little Among companies, the ‘Rider Law’ still does not get rid of the controversy. A quick search arrives on Google to find news more or less recent than They question their effectsbut perhaps who has summarized its impact on the sector is Alejandro Hermo, CEO of the Hamburgueserías chain Goiko. Recently the manager, a voice with A certain weight In the guild, He exhibited on LinkedIn The blow that (in his opinion) is advising him the legislative change: “Delivery has been very complicated for a few months, impacting customers and restaurants.” What exactly has he said? More or less, that any past time was better. “We have gone from having a delivery system that worked as a clock, giving good service to customers and restaurants, to have a rigid, expensive and inefficient system that makes it almost impossible to cover with enough riders the peak hours, causing the restaurants to appear without service available or/and that the orders are late (if they arrive),” he laments in Your post The Goiko CEO. Is there more? Yes. Hermo assume that adapting to “such a drastic model” will require a certain “time”, but is also convinced that the service will never recover its “previous level.” “What is happening after the forced change of a model of autonomous Riders to 100% hired Riders is a ‘Lose-Lose’ by quadruple,” insists the manager before exposing why, in his opinion, the law harms both the distributors and the platforms, the restaurants and the clients themselves. Hermo warns that, when reconverting in wage earners, the first (the Riders) have seen how they diminished their income and the freedom to self -manage. Moreover, the manager is convinced that the change has “hindered” that they can access the most occasional the most occasional riders, those who only accepted orders to complete their economy, such as students. As for platforms such as Glovo or Justeat, Hermo warns that the increase in operational costs has subtracted flexibility to cover the ‘peak hours’. How does restaurants affect? In 2023, during An interview With the EFE agency, the businessman already warned that although the ‘Rider Law’ focuses mainly on platforms and hoteliers are only “a secondary actor”, in the long run they would end up being affected. Now confirm it. “Restaurants lose business and profitability,” summarizes its publication of LinkedIn, in which it slides that the legislative change has resulted for them in a less flexible and more expensive delivery service. “Thinking about our sector, we cannot afford at this time another torpedo in the flotation line of the restoration,” he remarks. The consequences for customers are from their obvious point of view: a less efficient delivery. “The service worsens because there are fewer restaurants available, it takes longer and reaches a worse condition. And it will eventually be more expensive per order to pay the model change party.” What does it propose? That platforms, distributors and administration “feel and be heard” to find a consensual exit. “The solution is not white or black, there must be intermediate points that approach the demands of both parties and serve as inspiration for other countries.” For Hermo the Delivery is only One more example of the new business model that do not have to be guided by the inherited guidelines of the twentieth century. “With their pros and cons, but they are less flexible than today is demanded.” Is it the only one to complain? No. And that’s why his reflection is even more interesting. Beyond the debate that accompanied the approval and entry into force of the ‘Rider Law’, in 2021, the discussion around the pros and cons of the measure have been maintained over the last four years. In August The newspaper asked To the spokeswoman for the RidersxDerechos Trade Union Platform, Núria Soto, if the collective is better today at work level than a five years. His answer was clear: “Yes, although it depends on who you ask.” “Riders have more rights, but also less income. And those without work permission who distributed renting accounts have been excluded from regularizations and have lost their source of income,” Soto warned. There are deeders that are even more blunt And they regret that the ‘Rider Law’ has sunk them even more in the “precariousness” that promised to free them. They have even been published academic studies that confirm how legislative change has had some unwanted effects, such as worsening of salaries or destruction of employment. Why that complaint now? The law is 2021, but it makes sense that the sector continues to pronounce today. After all, a good part of the Riders They were still not hired until not so long. This year however Glovo gave A key step by deciding that all their distributors become salaried. The decision was made after a few complex years, marked by large fines and The scrutiny of the authorities, and not without suspicion. “We will hire 20,000 workers, but they will gain less than as self -employed,” He warned in February Your CEO. According to The newspaperin August almost 70% of the packages that were distributed in Spain they did it through a delivery man with … Read more

“If you want to win, you have to make sacrifices”

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Eric Schmidt, who led Google for a decade in the early 2000s, has returned to The load against teleworking. In an interview in The podcast All-inthe veteran executive stressed the requirement to compete against China if workers in the US maintain flexible work policies and conciliation. His argument is based on the tendency of many Chinese companies, which are governed under The 996 system (Days from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, six days a week). This practice was declared illegal in the Asian country in 2021, although Schmidt says that “everyone continues to do so.” Against teleworking. Schmidt holds That working from home is especially harmful to young professionals, however qualified they are. According to his experience in Sun Microsystems, where he became director of Technology, much of his learning simply came from being present in the office and listening to discussions among more experienced classmates. “How is that recreated in this new model?” He wondered in reference to remote work. For Schmidt, winning in the technological sector requires “making sacrifices”, and teleworking does not fit that equation. “If you are going to be in technology and want to win, you will have to make concessions,” he said. It is not the first time that charges against Google. The manager had previously criticized his former company for his labor flexibility policies. At a conference at Stanford last year He affirmed that “Google decided that conciliation, get out of work soon and work from home was more important than winning”, adding that “the reason why the Startups They work is because people work as convicted. ” Although he subsequently retracted those statements, since a spokesman indicated that “he had expressed himself badly and regrets his mistake,” it is clear that his recent comments show that he maintains his background position. The University even eliminated the video from YouTube after it went viral. The reality of 996 crosses the Pacific. Although China officially prohibited 996 days, Schmidt insists that all Chinese technology companies continue to apply them. And this obsession with work It is also arriving at Silicon Valley. According to several US media, more and more Startupsespecially those focused on artificial intelligence, they expect their employees work 72 hours per week. Google too He turned back. After implementing work policies from home during the pandemic, Google has reversed the trend, as well as many other technological companies, and now requires some remote employees Go to the office three days a week. Even Sergey Brin, co -founder of the company, Indian To the teams that work in Gemini that are in the office “at least” every working day, suggesting that 60 hours per week represent “the optimal point of productivity”, according to reported The New York Times. China’s work culture. Beyond the debate about work hours, the former director express His concern for the different priorities between both powers in artificial intelligence. While many US companies are obsessed with achieving general artificial intelligence (AGI), China focuses on developing AI for everyday usesuch as practical applications and robots. Schmidt attributes this difference to the hardware limitations of the Asian country and its capital markets, but considers that this more pragmatic strategy should be ‘reason for concern for the United States’. Cover image | All-in podcast In Xataka | The MIT has studied the impact of AI on companies. Its conclusion: only 5% of the time changes some really

Renfe withdrew the avlo-barcelona avlo forced. And now prices are in the clouds

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Prices have risen 40% in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor. It is the conclusion they arrive in Trainline, a company that looks for the best prices and schedules when we want to travel by train. The departure of the Avlo de Renfe trains is pressing the upward market and the average of the ticket is already above 70 euros. The exit. The news arrived at the end of August and is underway since September 8: Renfe only offers bird service Between Madrid and Barcelona. The company took out its Avril trains, which offers the service Low Cost of his classic high speed trips. The movement came after Renfe suffered various pressures related to Failures in those Talgo S106 that made the Avlo route in said corridor. This summer, one of those trains cracked and despite the company’s attempts by hide the problem and manage the crisis with a low profile, Finally ended up withdrawing them. Prices shoot. Since then, Trainline, which adds the prices of the operators so that the user finds the prices and schedules that suck him, ensures that the average price is now 40% more expensive than a year ago. They assure that now, The average ticket price To move between Madrid and Barcelona exceeds 80 euros. The data is motivated by the AVLO output and the use of variable prices that are adjusted based on the demand. With an operator Low Cost Less, these tickets are now absorbed by AVE and the starting price already increases. That explains, according to The avant -garde That the cheapest ticket is already at 50 euros and reach up to 150 euros on a Sunday afternoon. Expensive, but not so much. The Madrid-Barcelona corridor has long been experiencing a price increase. Although in the first Compasses ouigo and Iro, they lowered the train prices, it was expected that little by little they will rise over the months and years. More in a corridor that in the second four -month period of the year moved to 3,944,879 passengers and has a very high occupation rate, According to CNMC data. This agency publishes a report every three months with the performance of Spanish high -speed companies. The most recent refers to Q2 and does not collect, therefore, the current increases, but it does notice that the average price of the tickets had already been 63.14 euros, with a 15.3% increase over the same period last year. That increase was marked, without any doubt, by a generalized price increase between the low cost. Ouigo rose 18.7% and Iroo 22.5%. For his part, Avlo was the one that less took care of the three, with a rise of 14.5%. The same but more expensive. In the absence of knowing a more complete photograph (which will not come to the next year when the CNMC publishes the September data this year and the last quarter), what is clear is that Avlo’s departure has meant very bad news for the passenger. On average, Avlo tickets were the cheapest seconds on the market in the second quarter, with a price of 51.95 euros. The jump to the bird is important since the average of these tickets reaches 73.91 euros. But, in addition, the increase in prices will be substantial because Avlo moved 14.7% of all travelers who moved between Madrid and Barcelona. That means that almost 580,000 runner travelers have to get a place in some more saturated ouigo and Iro or, on the contrary, assume the cost of traveling in AVE. What can we expect? However, Pedro García, responsible for Trainline in Europe, says that “as a whole, it is still cheaper than before liberalization, although leaving customers without a low -cost option directly affects the price of tickets”, in words collected by The avant -garde. However, we must bear in mind that if the tickets have been more expensive in the corridor since Renfe faced competition, it is because the demand rewards it. The occupation rate in Madrid-Barcelona is so high that it justifies a slow but constant rise. And a good example of the good health that Renfe enjoys in the corridor is that Ouigo derived trains that he had in operation in Madrid-Barcelona to the Andalusian corridor because he believes that he can be more competitive there. This last corridor seems more sensitive to the price where the differences between AVE and the Low Cost They are narrower and the cost for travelers are settled. Photo | Xataka and Logan Armostrong In Xataka | Renfe has proposed to improve once and for all vicinity. And Madrid will take a pinch of 400 million euros

I’m generating absurd memes where I am the protagonist and I can’t stop

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Openai is not a gray company. When he presented Sora’s first version, it seemed that the video associated with Chatgpt was going to change everything, but the reduced model that ended up arriving at users 10 months later was a complete fiasco. Now have launched Sora 2 without prior notice And, well, I can’t stop. It is totally addictive. It has a metic potential that far exceeds The launch of Nano-Banana de Googleand that reminds the Studio Ghibli phenomenon of Chatgpt, which makes me think that, this time, OpenAi had everything coldly calculated. You have to have effort to get to Sora 2 In the absence of API to get access to the model in third -party tools (Freepik claims to be in it), The only way to create videos with Sora 2 is through Sora, a new OpenAi social network that works like Tiktokbut with videos generated by artificial intelligence itself. Sora is only available, for the moment, In the United States and Canadaso the first thing I had to do to access is to install a VPN. After choosing a username (or importing the one I already had in the old Sora), uploading a profile picture and putting on a bio, I could finally start generating videos with nine seconds sound, in panoramic or vertical format. Not so fast. Sora’s web version is missing several functions, including the most popular of all: create a “cameo” with your face and your voice to become the protagonist of your own videos or to appear in the videos of others. To configure that option you have to download the Sora app, which is now exclusive for iPhone, and is only available in the United States and Canada app store. So I had to install a VPN in iOS, create an Apple account in the United States, associate the new account to the app store and download Sora. Once inside, I found a very familiar interface. A Feed of recommended content, another to see the publications in chronological order and another to see only what you follow. In addition to creating your own content, answering comments, etc. As a novelty, he has an option to tell the AI ​​in what “Mood” you are: what kind of content you want to see. Openai has given in the nail with the “cameos” Anyone who has generated images and videos with AI in recent years knows that models tend to change your face. Nor are they very good to maintain the same face in different scenes. Until recently, the solution was the Loras: Train a model with your photos (technically, refine an already trained model) to generate videos with your face. But Loras are a complex and expensive solution, which has resulted in new techniques to improve the consistency of image models. Flux Kontext of the German company Black Forest Labs or Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Nano-Banana of Google are paradigmatic examples that have pushed the entire sector to improve their consistency. And now Sora cameos arrive. When you open Sora’s application for the first time, you can directly configure your cameo with the phone camera, reading some numbers that appear on the screen and turning the head in the addresses indicated by the app. The recording is used to generate videos with your face and your voice in the context you can think of. There is A huge guide OpenAi to improve your cameos, but the most important point is to be in a well -lit room. With the recording enough for the results to be convincing, but you can add personalized instructions in a text box: I am smiling, I am serious, I am fat, I am skinny, etc. The most important thing is to select who will be able to use your cameo to make videos: only you, only the people to whom you have approved access, all your friends or all users. Sam Altman, the OpenAi CEO, has a public cameo that carries Sora’s initial success. Almost all the videos that have been viralized have Altman as the protagonist. Sora’s first great meme are uncomfortable videos of Sam desperate because they give her more servers: Sam Altman stealing graphics cards in a target, Sam Altman asking for donations, Sam Altman screaming at the Nvidia headquarters that need more GPUS. He Presentation video Sora 2 included OpenAi engineers flying over dragons or riding giant ducks. The same generation of Sora can have several cameos, so one of the star functions could end up being mixed with celebrities. The problem is to find celebrities willing to give your image that way. In one of my videos, Ijustine tells me How fine the iPhone Air and Sam Altman replies that “it is a respectable size, I would say.” The videos take a few minutes to generate. You can do several at the same time (up to 100 a day) and then publish or leave them in drafts. More similar to I came than Tiktok or Instagram Sora is first and foremost an poisoned dart against goal. The queen of social networks has not only been fishing Openai engineers with her astronomical salaries, but just a week ago she had just launched her own social network of self -generated content: “Vibes.” With a more creative or artistic approach that Sora, Vibes has been described by the less flattering comments as a “Ai Slop” landfill, garbage content generated with AI. Sora is still, in large part, garbage generated with AI. But the feeling I have while I do Scroll It is to have returned to the times of Vine, the precursor of Tiktok that was bought by Twitter and then close. An amalgam of scathing sketches and anonymous moments with the innocence of a time in which the short video did not monetize nor competed for your attention against millions and millions and millions of other vertical videos. For now, people are in Sora to pass it well. And to put Sam Altman in trouble. … Read more

Some fishermen have found a drone of Ukraine loaded with explosives. The problem is where: in Türkiye

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At the beginning of September he turned on a flame that has not yet turned off. In the War of Ukraine we had seen drones throwing drones To tear down other drones, drone swarms stopping and prisoners To recruits, even drones acting practically on your own Thanks to the AI. But never that a drone lost the course and ended up arriving as far as Estonia. That is why what has happened now is unusual: they have arrived in Türkiye. An unexpected finding. The discovery of a Ukrainian naval drone Magura Loaded with explosives in front of the Turkish town of çarşıbaşı, 1,500 km from kyiv territory, it has highlighted both the scope of these weapons and the collateral risks of its employment. The artifact was towed by local fishermen to the port, which had to close while displacing artifiers to neutralize it. It was a Magura V5 modeleasily identifiable for its electrooptic turret and satellite antennas, but without the additions of some recent prototypes, such as FPV drone pitchers, machine guns or missile rails. The scene illustrates How these mills, initially conceived as naval kamikazes, can become dangerous drifting objects if they lose contact or fail their guidance systems. The evolution of magura. From his Appearance in 2022the Magura have gone from being simple suicidal boats to versatile platforms. Gur, Ukrainian military intelligence, has experienced aerial drone releasesautomatic armament and even With air-air missiles. In December 2024, a Magura V5 managed to demolish A MI-8 helicopter Russian with an adapted R-73, a world milestone in the use of naval drones. In May 2025, another V7 variant, equipped with two Sidewinder AIM-9he killed Two SU-30 Flanker fightersdemonstrating that a non -manned surface vehicle could deny airspace. These advances confirm that the border between naval, aerial and land war is blurred in the same modular system. Strategic impact We have counted before. The Ukrainian campaign with naval drones transformed maritime balance. After The attack on Sebastopol In October 2022, the USV forced Russia to retreat large units of its fleet, limit operations in the northwest of the Black Sea and assume a constant risk even in eastern ports. Despite not having a conventional navy, Ukraine has managed to contain one of the world’s greatest armed through drone swarms. This has had a direct strategic effect: Crimea, core of the Russian naval presence, has remained More isolated and vulnerableand Moscow has been forced to reinforce coastal defenses, disperse ships and display additional surveillance means. Captures, losses and a race. Not all magura reach their goals. Some have been recovered intact, such as the one found by Russia in Crimea In November 2023which opens the door to the analysis and the possible reverse engineering. The images of these captured specimens show the rapid evolution of the design, with improvements in optics, antennas and autonomy. The risk It is double: On the one hand, Russia can learn to interfere with your communications or copy technologies; On the other, propaganda uses these findings to show supposed Ukrainian weaknesses. The drone found in Türkiye, regardless of its characteristics, becomes a symbol of the limits of this new form of war: the sea can return these mills to unexpected places, with unpredictable consequences. The Naval War of the future. He Turkish episode confirms that naval drones have arrived To stay. Their low cost compared to a war ship, their ability to operate without crew and their flexibility to carry different weapons systems make them a decisive actor. The Ukrainian case demonstrates that a conventional nation can harass and condition a much higher adversary. At the same time, ask questions about International Maritime Securityneutrality of third countries and technological proliferation. If a fisherman can find an explosive drone in a Turkish port, the line between Combat and Civil Space front becomes increasingly dim, anticipating a future in which the seas will be the scene of wars Invisible Libradas by clear flag machines. Estonia was The first noticeand now they have arrived in Türkiye. Image | X In Xataka | Ukraine has invoked what Russia vetoed since the beginning of the war. And he told the US to tighten the button: Tomahawk In Xataka | An unusual plan is touring Europe: lift a wall that protects the entire continent, but instead of concrete, drones

Pre-cragpt voice attendees are dead. And Apple is the only one that has not yet gone to burial

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This week has happened unusual in the war of voice attendees: Amazon and Google have presented their new domestic devices the same day. Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 on the one hand. Google Nest Cam, Nest Doorbell, Google Speaker and the renewed Google Home app on the other. Why is it important. Calendar coincidence, yes, but above all shared emergency symptom. Because it is not just speakers with better serious or screens with more pixels. These are two technological giants, simultaneously burying their classic assistants – Alexa and Google Assistant – to replace them with conversational versions driven by large language models. The context. The rules changed in November 2022. Since Chatgpt demonstrated what a real conversation means with iausers have learned that there is something better than asking a speaker to put music or activate a timer. These basic functions have become invisible. The microwave of technology: it is there, it works, nobody thinks of it. What has happened. Alexa+ and Gemini for Home promise natural conversations, complex automation created in voice, cameras that understand context and not only detect movement. “Amazon has left a package at the entrance” instead of “activity has been detected.” Context, no events. Intention, not rigid commands. But that future is priced: ten dollars a month in the basic plan, twenty in the complete. The hardware is only the entrance door to a recurring income model. Between the lines. The inference costs of language models are huge and someone has to pay them. The AI ​​becomes the new market segmentator: with it your product is Premium, without it it is a relic of the past. These presentations arrive after years of stagnation. Alexa and Google Assistant had been doing the same thing: Music, alarms, time questions. The narrative has exhausted. Users have stopped imagining what else could these cylinders do and we have silently assumed that they are for what they are, in the same way we do not ask the oven that tells us jokes, because it is for something else. The big question. Who will pay twenty dollars a month to use a speaker that mainly serves to ask time and reproduce Playlists? The problem is no longer technical. It is perception. Amazon and Google need us to see them otherwise, to set a new habit. Meanwhile, Apple continues with the classic Siri. Limited, frustrating, stuck. Has integrated chatgpt as a crutch for certain consultations, but His real advance has stuck and delayed. And above all, it is created for iPhone, iPad and Mac … but not for Homepod. At least for now. In summary. Expectations have already changed. Anyone who has used Chatgpt knows what a real conversation with AI means. Back to Siri after that feels like going back fifteen years. Pre-cragpt voice attendees are dead. Amazon and Google have certified their death this week. They have gone to the burial and have begun to build another tool. The question is no longer whether Apple will present your answer. It is yes, when you finally do it, someone will continue to wait for it. Or if we will be to other things. Outstanding image | Amazon, Google, Xataka In Xataka | For years TV spoke to us. Now AI wants us to talk to him

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