Month: November 2025

create a reserve capital

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Tokyo is the capital of Japan. That’s been the case since quite a while. Yeah the debate which two of the country’s main parties have embarked on comes to fruition, the Japanese institutional reality could nevertheless undergo a radical change: Tokyo would be joined by a ‘backup capital’a city that would take over if necessary. The goal: decentralize the nation… and ensure that Japan won’t be knocked out if a natural disaster or emergency hits Tokyo. What has happened? That Japan has opened a debate that affects its economy, population, politics and above all the territorial and power balance of the country. Your goal: decide if you should have a “backup capital”a secondary capital that helps decentralize administrations and encourage economic development beyond Tokyo. It may sound strange, but one of its purposes is to assume government functions in case Tokyo suffers a disaster. Where does the debate come from? The local press began to talk about the matter even before the Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin (JIP) reached a coalition agreement. In fact, in September The Japan Times counted as it was among the “key” issues that the opposition wanted to discuss with the leader of the LDP, Sanae Takaichi. Since then it has remained on the table, with an agreement between both formations to advance their development next year and a open debate about what the creation of a backup capital would mean. Why a ‘substitute’ capital? For several reasons. One of the main ones is to prevent the Government from being paralyzed in the event that a natural disaster (or any other emergency) hits Tokyo, although that is only one of its purposes. In the background is the desire to correct the excessive political, economic and demographic concentration that Japan suffers from. “We must aspire to a country that avoids excessive concentration in Tokyo and is not too dependent on it, a place that is an economic zone that can counteract Tokyo and serve as a backup capital in times of crisis,” claims Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the JIP. Is it that important? Over the last few months, both ideas have been emphasized: the advantages that a secondary capital would have economically, politically and to decentralize the country and also to prevent Japan from being paralyzed in the event of a disaster. “The main importance of the concept of reserve capital lies in the dispersion of disaster risk and is a fundamental issue for national crisis management,” highlights Seitaro Hattori, governor of Fukuoka. In fact, Hattori focuses so much attention on that aspect (that the secondary capital can take a step forward in case of emergency) that he advocates locating it in a place where the risk of a large earthquake in the Pacific that affects Tokyo also punishes the secondary capital is minimized. “Fukuoka is a major city with a low disaster risk, as is Kitakyushu.” And what city do we choose? That’s the big question. There are those who fear that the true purpose of JIP is to merge the districts of the city of Osaka to give them a format similar to that of Tokyo, a change that would pave the way for it to become the secondary capital of the country. Reserve capital status would bring relevant advantages, such as tax exemptions. Right now in Osaka the metropolitan government assumes the provision of certain services, such as water supply, firefighters or urban planning. More local tasks, such as garbage collection, social services or education, depend on the districts. The JIP has been wanting to adapt Osaka to a model more similar to that of Tokyo for some time, claiming its benefits. Without success. Are there more names? Yes. Other names have also been mentioned in the national press, such as Sapporo or Fukuoka. “If we were to imagine an earthquake in the Nankai Trench, the city of Fukuoka, on the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan, would be the least at risk of simultaneous damage. In terms of response capacity, Fukuoka is a suitable location,” claims Takashima. Images | Louie Martinez (Unsplash) In Xataka | Japan keeps setting tourism records, so it has an idea: charge three times as much to leave the country

The microprocessor that advanced the Intel 4004 was not in a computer, but in a secret place: an F-14

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We are used to thinking that the history of microprocessors begins with the Intel 4004. Even those who are not experts have it associated with it as the first big chip that inaugurated the era of personal computing. But that is not the only possible story. There was another design, less known and outside the commercial circuits, that began operating before the 4004 reached the market. It did not appear on a computer or calculatorbut in a F-14 Tomcatand for almost thirty years it was invisible to the public. What that plane had inside was a processor designed to do something that no commercial chip did at that time: automatically calculate speed, altitude or wing position while the pilot maneuvered. That system, known as MP944, had been in service since 1970, when the 4004 had not yet been introduced. Its context was completely different from that of Intel, because it was not designed for the market or to be licensed, but rather to fulfill a requirement of the military program marked by the tensions of the Cold War. A secret microprocessor in the bowels of an F-14 The novelty was not only that it made calculations, but that it did so automatically and digitally, something unusual in on-board systems from the late sixties. The MP944 processed sensor readingsapplied aerodynamic equations and provided data that influenced the behavior of the plane, reducing the pilot’s workload. It was not a passive assistant, but a module capable of interpreting those readings and providing results fast enough to be integrated into actual flight control. That is why it was considered a technology ahead of its time. The declassified documents in the nineties show that the MP944 combined advanced MOS technology with a 20-bit parallel architecture capable of executing pipeline calculations, something unusual for its time. Its frequency was 375 kHz and it could process specific mathematical operations efficiently enough to be integrated into real flight systems. According to the figures collected in Holt’s work and in the subsequent review by Tom’s Hardware, this performance placed the MP944 clearly ahead of the 4004 in number of instructions executed, although it was never intended as a general-purpose commercial chip. They were two different approaches: one for a military aircraft, the other for a commercial device. When Holt’s work came to light decades later, He argued that the MP944 should be considered the first microprocessoreven though it was not on a single chip nor had it been marketed. Intel engineers, such as Ted Hoff and Federico Faggin, disagreed and argued that 4004 was the first in integrating all the essential functions of a CPU in a single piece of silicon and with general use. Russell Fish, a former Motorola engineer, reviewed the MP944 documentation and described it as an advanced microprocessor for its time, while Richard Belgard saw it as an overly specific system, designed only to keep an airplane in flight. Holt maintained that the reason no one knew about MP944 for years was because his work had been classified and subject to military restrictions. He said he spent decades requesting the release of the documents and was only able to do so when, in 1997, he won the support of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren for the Navy to authorize their publication. With the documentation now available, the Navy qualified that version and maintained that Holt’s work had not actually been classified, but that what was missing was the company’s authorization to release the records. Garrett AiResearch admitted that they were no longer clear about what had happened, because the people who managed the case had left the company. When the information became available, Russell Fish claimed that MP944 was so advanced for its time that, had it been known, could have accelerated the development of the sector by up to five years. The creators of the 4004, such as Federico Faggin and Stan Mazor, openly disagreed and pointed out that the merit of the commercial microprocessor was to integrate all the essential elements on a single chip and make it viable for multiple applications. Richard Belgard qualified this position: he recognized the technical value of the MP944, but saw it as a system designed for a single purpose, without the capacity to open its own market. The debate about which was the first microprocessor is not resolved with a date, but with a definition. The 4004 was the first to hit the market as a commercial, integrated and programmable chip, and that merit explains its place in manuals. The MP944, on the other hand, previously demonstrated that it was possible to process data digitally and feed control systems in real time, even if it was done while locked in an airplane and outside of public space. One opened an industry; the other anticipated capabilities. Both represented different ways of understanding what a microprocessor could be. Images | DVIDS (1, 2, 3) | Thomas Nguyen In Xataka | The United States wants to be sovereign in AI. AMD’s new supercomputers will be part of the plan

It is one thing to support the US, quite another to defend Taiwan

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The latest diplomatic outbreak between China and Japan It does not seem to arise from an isolated gesture, but from a profound change in Tokyo’s strategic perception of the Taiwan Strait and Japan’s increasingly central role within the regional security architecture. The problem now is that China has forced it to make clear a position that until now it had found in the ambiguity the perfect setting. An archipelago between two fires. The statement of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, suggesting that a Chinese blockade or attack on the island could constitute a situation existential threat for Japan, it immediately upset the fine balance of strategic ambiguity that Tokyo had maintained for years. His comment put into official words for the first time something that Japanese security teams were discussing privately. for decades: that, in certain circumstances, Japan could be forced to act alongside the United States in a war scenario around Taiwan, not to defend the island as such, but to preserve the sea routes, energy supplies and American bases that guarantee the survival of Japan itself. That nuance, normally invisible to the general public, is what triggered the Beijing reactionwhich interpreted the statement not as a technical analysis, but like a hint that Japan could intervene militarily in an area that China considers strictly internal. The clash and diplomacy. Beijing’s response was immediate and forcefuldeploying a full range of instruments of pressure designed to punish, intimidate and isolate Tokyo. China issued warnings to students and tourists to They will avoid Japan alleging alleged security risks, suspended diplomatic meetings, delayed film premieres, patrols intensified of its Coast Guard in disputed waters and raised the tone of the propaganda discourse, recalling the war of the past to underline its current military superiority. The intention was clear: send a message internal and external that any questioning of his stance on Taiwan will carry an immediate cost. However, the virulence of the reaction generated a double effect. On the one hand, it fueled a growing sense in Japanese society that China systematically uses economic and diplomatic punishment to shape the behavior of others. On the other hand, it reinforced within the Japanese Government the idea that Chinese pressure is not going to decrease and that the only viable response is through strengthen alliances military and preparation for real contingencies. Sanae Takaichi And more. The division of Japanese public opinion reflects this tension: approximately half of society believes that Japan should intervene in a scenario of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and the other half fear that any involvement would plunge the country into a catastrophic conflict. Meanwhile, the Chinese state machinery intensifies a warning message which, far from universally intimidating, is prompting growing accusations of diplomatic harassment by Tokyo and calls to further strengthen deterrence. The United States has conducted multiple tests of the Typhon system, which includes four trailer-mounted launchers and support equipment capable of firing Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles. USA and the military board. In this context of escalation, the sudden withdrawal by the United States of the system of Typhon missiles temporarily deployed at the Iwakuni base adds an extra layer to the puzzle. Its initial presence, capable of launching Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles with a range sufficient to hit critical targets in eastern China, had unleashed worry in Beijing and Moscow, which interpreted its deployment as a preview of a network of US land-based missiles in the Indo-Pacific after the end of the INF treaty. The official goal was to conduct rapid transition testing in the event of war, but it also represented a explicit demonstration that Japan is a key piece in the US containment strategy. His withdrawal, just when China intensifies retaliation against Tokyo, does not reduce tension: it shows the flexibility with which Washington repositions its pieces and its intention to keep Beijing in permanent uncertainty. Japan, in turn, finds itself increasingly at the center of a strategic dilemma: it depends on American security umbrella for its survival, but the price of that dependence is that any crisis in the Taiwan Strait automatically becomes a Japanese domestic matter. The strategic ambiguity. The episode has shaken the guiding principle of security policies in East Asia: the strategic ambiguity. The United States avoids explicitly compromising its reaction to a Chinese attack so as not to offer certainty to Beijing or Taipei, while Japan had tried to align its position without standing out. Takaichi’s words break that ambiguity, even though he later insisted that they did not imply a doctrinal change. In doing so, they reveal the evolution of a country that has left behind the absolute caution of the post-war and that, faced with the real possibility of a high-intensity conflict in its neighborhood, begins to assume that its security can no longer be separated of a possible war over Taiwan. For Beijing, this transformation It’s disturbing: a more assertive Japan, more integrated into the US military framework and more willing to act preventively modifies the strategic equation in the entire region. For Tokyo, on the other hand, the current crisis illustrates precisely why trying to ease tensions with China does not avoid its pressureand why maintaining decision-making capacity and room for maneuver involves reinforcing its autonomy and military cooperation. The fragile balance. Taken together, the sequence reflects a turning point. China wants deter Japan through immediate punishment, and Japan wants deter China showing that it will not be intimidated, as the United States adjusts discreetly his presenceremembering that its military power will be decisive in any scenario. For its part, Taiwan becomes the axis around which the stability of Northeast Asia revolves. The result is a more tense, more transparent and dangerous balance than in previous years. A balance in which the words of a prime minister, the oversized reaction of a neighboring power and the apparently technical movement of a missile system they intertwine to reveal an uncomfortable truth: that the region is moving towards a stage where a misinterpreted gesture has the potential to … Read more

the last one caused a big change in their way of living

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For ten years, in Kibali National Park (Uganda), a silent and brutal war was fought. Its protagonists were not humans, but the community of Ngogo chimpanzees largest known, which maintained a constant conflict with its neighbors until they ended up exterminating them to keep their territory. Now science has wanted to find biological meaning in this, and it has succeeded. Something natural. From the outside, this conflict can be seen as something very bloody, like the one we see between humans themselves to dominate a specific territory. But science believed that there was something more behind it, and in the end it has been seen that these wars They are more natural than we think within nature itself. And it gives us a concrete idea of ​​how the minds of these animals work. The PNAS scientific journal just found the biological logic behind this massacre, and has not hesitated to confirm that we are facing an evolutionary strategy very profitable. After the victory, the females in the winning group not only doubled their fertility, but infant mortality plummeted. A spoil of war. The investigation, led by Brian Wood and veteran anthropologist John Mitani, puts numbers to this brutality. And in this lapse of time the Ngogo expanded their domains by 22% at the cost of eliminating the neighbors who were occupying it in that case. But just like humans, we often create wars. to get more resourcesanimals seem to do something similar. This territorial expansion brought with it a great abundance of food resources that completely transformed the demographics of the group. To get an idea, the researchers in this case compared data from the three years before the conquest with those from the three years after. In this case it was seen that before the victory there were only 15 births in the group, while after the victory there were 37 new offspring. And it is not something random, since it is the first time that cooperative killing between groups has been linked to “territorial gain and greater reproductive success.” The biological sense. But beyond the fact that more chimpanzees are born in this environment, it has also been seen that much more survive. And in the chimpanzee population, infant mortality is really high because they suffer from serious malnutrition at the beginning of their lives, as well as diseases or infanticide. The data is quite clear. Before winning the war, 41% of the offspring died before they were three years old. After annexing neighboring territory and eliminating border threats, that figure radically dropped to 8%. Because? The equation is quite simple: more food in the environment, less competition and greater security as there are not so many enemy incursions that kill their young. Josep Call, a primatologist at the University of St Andrews, defines it as “biological rationality”. It is not a moral decision, it is pure natural selection: the genes of those who successfully apply this violence are much more likely to perpetuate themselves. Death patrols. A question that we can ask ourselves in this case is how an animal with these characteristics can be organized to go to war. And although we may think that they do it without thinking about it first, the reality is that they organize very well calculated border patrols in their territory. Upon reaching the border, these animals completely change their behavior, as they become much quieter to maintain stealth, with a strategy that is quite similar to what we can see in a human military exercise. The moment they encounter a rival group, if they are outnumbered they know that they will not be able to win and the smartest thing to do is to retreat. But if the situation is contrary, it will be attacked without mercy. Attacks include hitting, biting and dismembering. It is a coordinated violence that, in the case of the Ngogo, was favored by an unusual demographic factor: they had a disproportionate number of males, which allowed them to form patrol “squads” that were more lethal than those of their neighbors who did not have this advantage. War? Although the parallel with human conflicts is inevitable, scientists prefer the term “intergroup violence.” The reasons that exist to defend this difference are that among chimpanzees there is no ideology, but rather they do it exclusively out of biological necessity, such as having food or providing for the smallest members of the community. And the truth is that annihilating the neighbors is one of the smartest ways to achieve this. Images | Satya deep In Xataka | These researchers are not only convinced that chimpanzees can talk, but that we have proof since 1962

they are gentrifying in reverse

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A curious phenomenon has been quietly repeated in recent years in the wealthy neighborhoods of the northwest of Madrid, where large mansions located on plots valued at millions of euros are a regular part of the landscape. It involves the replacement of these large single-family mansions with private complexes made up of smaller single-family houses, built in the space previously occupied by large mansions. At the urban level there does not seem to be a big change. However, as the councilor of the Socialist Municipal Group of Madrid Antonio Giraldo in your X profileit is an unprecedented gentrification process that is silently being implemented in the richest neighborhoods of the capital. Same space, more population. As Giraldo explains in your threadeach of these operations occurs within a perfectly legal framework since it does not require any action to reorganize the territory or reclassify the land use since it continues to be a single plot and contains single-family homes. The type does not change, just change the number. To make the miracle of loaves and fishes possible in a real estate version, it is enough to enable a private street that provides access to the new single-family houses within the plot. The only difference is that, instead of having a single construction in the form of a huge mansion occupied by a single family, the space is redistributed into several smaller single-family homes, occupied by separate families. No complex legal requirements. Since there is only a rearrangement of space within the plot. the only requirement that marks the General Urban Planning Plan of Madrid is to present a detailed study to the city council. As in reality no regulations are being breached because the nature of the homes to be built is not being changed, in reality the procedure remains almost an informative formalism. However, what is actually being achieved is to increase the density of the resident population because, instead of having a single-family home of 1,000 m2 in which one family lives, there are now five single-family houses of 200 m2 with five families occupying the same space. Rich, but not so rich. The gentrification of wealthy central neighborhoods in the capital is already a reality. The traditional inhabitants of neighborhoods like Salamanca already they are being forced to move to other more remote areas due to the increase in the price of luxury housing in those neighborhoods driven by the arrival of US millionaires and Latin America. This has made the luxury residential neighborhoods on the outskirts, traditionally inhabited by the ultra-rich who had built their mansions in a quiet neighborhood with few inhabitants, become the new destination for these new neighbors who are not rich enough to buy a mansion, but are equally well-off. The density problem. The big problem of increase density of a residential area is that the infrastructures were not designed for this change. Precisely for this reason it is not allowed to build floor blocks on them. The residential neighborhoods of Madrid and the majority of large cities in Spain have narrower streets, less parking capacity and public transport networks sized for use by a small volume of people. If suddenly the population multiplies by five, services become strained and life in those neighborhoods is no longer as calm and relaxed as it used to be. Streets with more traffic and traffic jams, insufficient public transport frequencies, insufficient health infrastructure and school places, etc. “Inverted” gentrification. While usually the arrival of new neighbors of high purchasing power raised the price of housing to the point of making it inaccessible to its inhabitants, in the residential neighborhoods with high purchasing power of Madrid the reverse process is taking place. Real estate developers are putting pressure on the owners of large mansions to demolish them and build smaller, more profitable luxury homes for millionaires who cannot afford to buy a 1,000 m2 home in that area, but can afford to buy a 200 m2 home and share space with four other neighbors. It doesn’t work in Barcelona. In the upper area of ​​Barcelona, ​​with a layout of huge plots on which enormous mansions were built, an attempt has been made to apply the same model of replacing large mansions with luxury houses, but smaller. However, the urban policy of the city of Barcelona does not interpret in the same way that practice. For the Catalan council, the change does not simply represent a rearrangement of the built volumes as happens in Madrid, but rather they take into account the impact of the modification on the neighborhood and recognize “the need to maintain the character of a consolidated neighborhood.” In Xataka | If you don’t have the money to buy a house, there are several towns in rural Spain that have something to offer you Image | Unsplash (Fabian Wiktor, Alim)

an amphibious assault ship to revolutionize its naval capabilities

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On September 3, Beijing was transformed into a catwalk. Not focused on fashion, but on weapons. In one of the most impressive military parades in memory, the Asian giant celebrated the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Second World War with an unprecedented deployment of weapons. Was some things that were savedand that’s where it comes into play his naval strategy. Because he famous Fujian It is not the only new generation ship from China. They have another known as the Type 076 which is already doing tests. And it represents an unprecedented technological leap in the Chinese naval industry. Type 076 Sichuan. If ‘Type 076’ is the class, ‘Sichuan’ is the name they have given to the country’s 51st hull. It is the first ship of this class that, on November 16, completed his first tests of sea after setting sail from the Shanghai shipyard. We have told it on several occasions: the Type 076 impresses with its scale. It is a ship that displaces about 40,000 tons, has a length of about 260 meters, a beam of between 45 and 52 meters and has a deck of about 13,500 square meters, just over two football fields. Those dimensions are considerably larger than those of its predecessor and comparable to the Charles de Gaullethe nuclear aircraft carrier that is the pride of France. Versatility. What stands out most is not its size so that it is not an aircraft carrier: what really stands out is that China has developed a ship that can carry out any type of mission. We are talking about an amphibious assault platform, which implies that it combines traditional landing capabilities with the possibility of performing tasks typical of a light aircraft carrier. That is why its deck is so large: it is designed to house helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and, in addition, it has a deck prepared to house and deploy both landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Its human capacity is 1,000 marines. Electromagnetic catapult. For years, China depended on old Soviet heritage ships, but if Fujian marked a milestone Being the first aircraft carrier developed in-house, the Type 076 also marks a before and after by having the latest technology that the army has developed. To start, it has a electromagnetic catapult system like the one The United States has developed for your latest generation aircraft carrier and like the one Fujian has. It is a technology that will become the new standard for this type of boat, and the comparison with the Fujian is relevant because the catapult of the Type 076 It is the same length as its older brother: about 100-130 meters. This allows the Type 076 to launch conventional fixed-wing aircraft. Other amphibious assault ships can accommodate aircraft, but these must have systems V/STOL vertical or short takeoff. The new Chinese ship does not have this limitation. and electrification. But the catapult is not the only new thing: the propulsion system is fully electric. This is the first for the People’s Liberation Army Navy and the system combines two 21 MW gas turbines with six 6 MW diesel generators. Altogether, it provides about 78 MW of total power. The electrical system is responsible for powering the motors and propulsion, with a rapid delivery of energy, but it is also responsible for the high-power “pulses” such as those needed by the electromagnetic catapult. The use of this gas turbine system offers considerable advantages compared to traditional diesel, such as faster starting, the aforementioned power delivery, a reduction in vibrations, more flexibility and a lower underwater acoustic signature. Fujian deck Armament. Regardless of their transport capacity, assault ships have integrated defenses. It is not so much about carrying out attacks, but rather preventing it from being sunk, for which it has: Three surface-to-air missile launchers short range to intercept aircraft. Three Type 1130 systems with 11 30 mm cannons which provide defense against missiles and low-altitude aircraft. Four decoy launchers which consist of 24 tubes capable of deploying flares and other elements to confuse radars. Sensors similar to those installed in Fujian. These are, as we say, defensive elements, so the Sichuan will continue to depend on auxiliary ships for long-range attacks. But as we are seeing, and at an accelerated pace, it is not a problem for today’s China. Add and continue. During their three-day mission, operators tested the ship’s propulsion system, electrical systems and other key aspects that, according to reportsmet the expected standards. As we say, it is a milestone in Chinese naval modernization by merging traditional amphibious transport and aircraft carrier capabilities. It is like a category in itself and one more example that China is very serious about its maritime conquest. They are giving leaps and bounds in modernizing and expanding its fleetwith three aircraft carriers under its belt and a fourth that is estimated to have nuclear propulsion, as well as ships of other categories that fulfill two missions. On the one hand, that of national protection, but on the other, it is one more message in a territorial dispute scenario in it South and East China Sea that not only has Taiwan in its sights: also islands of Japan that China considers its property. And, of course, Japan is also responding accordingly in what has become an escalation of tension that the other giant of the seas does not want to miss: the United States. Image | 中国新闻社CHINESE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE In Xataka | The plan of one hundred million dead: this is how Japan intended to resist in World War II

nutrition remains unclear and we continue to improvise

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In the new Frankenstein of Guillermo del Toro there is a silent detail that is repeated: Victor Frankenstein—played by Oscar Isaac—drinks milk. As a child, as an adult, at family dinners, even at a solemn moment when you are presented with a bottle of milk as if it were wine. In Gothic language, this gesture symbolizes innocence, purity, duality. But beyond the metaphor, something draws attention: that silent debate that touches our daily lives. Victor drinks milk without hesitation. Us, not so much. Whole? Semi? Skimmed? Because, unlike in movies, in the real world not even science is clear about what milk we should be drinking. Welcome to the dairy maze. An everyday food in an impossible debate. The debate is not trivial. We are talking about a food that is consumed daily, that is part of official recommendations, that is linked to cardiovascular risk and that even enters school programs. If one reviews the most cited studies, the sensation is peculiar: it is as if science described three parallel realities about the same food. In a recent large Norwegian study Those who drank more whole milk had a 7% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. However, another study, published in Science Direct within the CARDIA studyfound just the opposite: those who drank more whole milk had a 24% lower risk of arterial calcification, an early marker of coronary heart disease. Yes, one study says “more risk” and another says “less risk.” It is not a typo. The confusion continues. A 2016 clinical trial showed that a blood pressure-lowering diet worked just as well using full-fat dairy as it did with low-fat dairy. And the studies on weight do not provide clarity either: the 2020 meta-studies, together with previous studies, agree that whole milk It is not more fattening than the skimmed one, despite having more calories. In fact, the Framingham Heart Study, published in Nature, relate greater dairy consumption —including yogurt—with less weight gain and long-term waist. So what are we left with? The magic—and misleading—word: “neutral.” Into this chaos comes Harvard to launch another narrative twist. According to its researchers, dairy products appear to be “neutral” for cardiovascular health. That is, they do not increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, but they do not reduce it either, when compared to the average diet. Now, Harvard adds a key nuance: “neutral” does not mean “healthy.” It only indicates that dairy products are as unhealthy as the rest of the common foods in the Western diet, such as refined cereals, soft drinks or processed meats. If instead of comparing them with these, we compare them with vegetable proteins (nuts, soy, legumes), the balance clearly leans towards the vegetable options, with less cardiovascular risk and lower mortality. So the scientific picture, for now, is anything but clear. Why so much contradiction? The mess is not accidental. Science does not contradict itself for the sake of it; It does this because the studies measure different things and compare foods that are not equivalent. For example, both in harvard as Washington Post They explain that many studies that conclude that dairy products are “neutral” compare them with very unhealthy foods: sugary soft drinks, processed meats, products with refined flour… It is easy to “look healthy” when the rival is an industrial sausage. But if the rival is nuts or soybeans, the results change radically. Another factor is the call dairy matrix. Cheese, for example, has saturated fats, yes, but also bacteria, proteins, vitamins and polar lipids that can modify how the body absorbs that fat. Whole milk contains compounds whose function we still don’t fully understand: some studies suggest that they may reduce inflammation or decrease intestinal absorption of cholesterol. This complexity means that the same nutrient—saturated fat—does not behave the same in dairy products as it does in meat. In addition, the genetic variant must be taken into account. The ability to digest lactose varies depending on the population. In northern Europe only 5% are intolerant; in Asia, up to 95% are. This implies that the same food can have very different digestive, metabolic and inflammatory effects depending on the person. One last detail of nothing. Most studies are observational, not experimental. That is, they detect associations, not causes. If people who drink skim milk usually do so because they want to control their weight, their level of exercise, their overall diet, or their risk factors also influence the results. And vice versa. Sometimes, more than studying milk, what is studied is the lifestyle of those who drink it. This battle is the milk. In Spain there is also a small shift taking place. After decades in which skimmed milk was the almost mandatory option for anyone who wanted to “take care of themselves”, whole milk has begun to regain prestige. Nutritionists and disseminators they have been pointing out for months something that was previously overlooked: that dairy fat not only provides flavor, but also satiety and fat-soluble vitamins such as A and D, which are lost when the fat is eliminated and then attempted to be reintroduced artificially. As explained by nutritionists cited by Infosalus“whole milk retains all its properties,” while skimmed milk may be more difficult to digest for some people. At the same time, the skim deflates. One could talk about “end of caloric fundamentalism”: that stage when we thought that removing fat was always synonymous with health. Experts now warn that reducing fat does not always compensate if, in return, we lose satiety or end up adding other more caloric or sugary foods to “fill” hunger. Not everything comes from the cow. Meanwhile, plant-based drinks continue their rise, but with important nuances. Mayo Clinic remember that most They have less protein, may include added sugars and, unless fortified, do not match the calcium naturally present in cow’s milk. Soy is the only one that comes close nutritionally, but even so, calcium absorption is lower due to the presence of phytates. Taken together, all sources … Read more

After years of searching, I have finally found the perfect Weather app for Android. And he just received superpowers

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If the question is how many weather apps do we have available on Android, the answer is “yes”. This is great because we have a lot to choose from, the problem is precisely that: there are so many that finding the one that is perfect for me seemed like a utopia. I finally found it and To my surprise, it’s from Google. Its problem, and because of how long it took me to discover it, is that it is a bit hidden. The weather app that Google doesn’t want you to use I’m not talking about the classic Google weather app that comes pre-installed on many Androids, but about the other Google weather app, one that It is only on the Google Pixel and what I discovered thanks to my colleagues from Xataka Android. The app is called ‘Pixel Weather’ or, in Spanish, ‘Pixel Weather’. It premiered with the Pixel 9 in 2024 and remains exclusive to Google mobile phones. That means that if you try to install it from the Play Storeit will tell you that “none of your devices are compatible.” But don’t despair, you can have it on any Android thanks to the installation via APK. However, remember that there are risks and download it only on reference portals like APKMirror. An exquisite and very functional design Pixel Weather has the design you would expect from a Pixel-only app. I really like the Material You interface because it is very clean and clear; Even in apps with many features like this one, it makes all the elements look super clear and conveys a feeling of simplicity. The interface is beautiful On the home screen we have the very large temperature and below it the different blocks with information such as the hourly forecast or the forecast up to 10 days. Below we have more information, all with a design reminiscent of a panel of widgets of different sizes. The good thing about Pixel Weather and why it has conquered me is because It is completely customizable. Do you prefer to have higher wind speeds? No problem, just hold down on the block you want to move and drag it to the new position. The only thing you won’t be able to move is the hourly forecast, which always remains fixed at the top, but everything else can be moved freely. We can move all the blocks as if we were arranging the home screen icons. Sliding down we have more widgets with different designs, such as the UV index one that is shaped like a sun or the humidity percentage widget that simulates being full of water. I also like it because at first glance it seems like a very simple app, but in reality it has much more information; By clicking on each of these widgets we obtain the hourly forecast about the specific data we are consulting, such as wind speed or relative humidity. The two widgets available talking about widgetsthe app offers us two to add to the home screen. The smallest one only has the temperature and an icon of the weather status, while the large one gives us the hourly forecast and more details such as the thermal sensation. I especially like the small widget for its oval design. Now with the best Google model That the app is very beautiful and functional is very good, but if the data it offers is not accurate, it is not of much use. This is not the case with Pixel Weather, in the time I have been using it it has been correct in its rain forecasts with quite a bit of accuracy regarding the time, but it has also been a few days ago. Google DeepMind announced that they have integrated WeatherNext 2his AI weather prediction model more advanced. According to DeepMind, WeatherNext 2 generates forecasts up to eight times faster than the previous model and its accuracy is better in 99.9% of variables. The innovation is that it uses an FGN or ‘functional generative network’ that injects noise into the model to achieve forecasts that are physically realistic. They have also integrated it into Google search, Gemini and will soon be in Maps. Images | Amparo Babiloni, Xataka In Xataka | The most beautiful, exciting and hopeful thing about November has come out of England and it is a weather forecast

register foreigners for hundreds of euros

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Madrid said goodbye to 2024 with a record historical. According to the INE census published a year ago, the community exceeded one million residents born in Latin America. Only the Spanish-speaking foreigners arriving from another side of the Atlantic Ocean added 1,038,671 people. If the rest of the nationalities are added to that figure, the number of foreigners increases until it amounts to something more than 16% of the region’s population, a large part of which is also concentrated in the capital. Behind these figures (and the difficulties that many foreigners encounter when they want to register) there are those who have seen a real bargain: registering immigrants in their homes even if they do not reside there. They do it (of course) in exchange for hundreds either thousands of euroswithout taking into account that it is not legal. Where do I register? Such a question is the one that thousands of immigrants recently arrived in Spain ask each year. The answer is not always simple. At first it is not unusual for them to stay temporarily with families or friends and when they want to look for their own home they find themselves with a handicap (apart from skyrocketing prices): not all landlords are willing to allow them to register. One arrives quick search on advertising networks or platforms to find apartments for rent that make clear that guideline: “Registration is not possible.” Others allow it, but as long as The stay lasts a minimum of months. Why is it important? Because although it may seem like a bureaucratic formality, registration is a key procedure for immigrants. For a start the law requires itwhich makes it clear that any resident in Spain has to register in the municipality in which they live. If that were not enough in itself, the census is the first step that any migrant who wants to build a future in the country must take: without a registry there is no Foreigner Identity Card (TIE) and procedures such as managing the health card or sending children to school become complicated. “The register is the way that people in an irregular administrative situation have to demonstrate the time they have been in the country. To obtain social roots, the residence permit, one of the requirements is to prove that they have been in Spain for three years,” clarifies to ABC Daniela Montes, from the Information, Guidance and Support Office for the Social Integration of the Migrant Population of the Madrid City Council. “Without a registry they can’t do it.” What is the solution? The networks. Or at least that’s where many immigrants end up. Faced with the situation of looking for a house in which to register, many opt for the simplest thing: go to social networks or online advertising platforms and ask openly. Again comes a quick search to confirm it. If you type “registration Madrid” in Milanuncios, one of the first results is that of a person looking for a “room with registration” in exchange for 350 euros. There are not only ads like this on the Internet. There are also people who do exactly the opposite: offer registrations. What exactly do they offer? a few days ago The Country public an extensive report in which it showed screenshots from Milanuncios and Facebook in which municipal census services are offered (openly, without half measures). “We do registration. For people who have just arrived or need a registration to process papers, we do it for them,” read a Milanuncios post, now deleted. Other posts posted on networks are still active after several months. “Registration in central Madrid, there are places for those who need to register, without advances and in person,” reads one of them. Is it really a business? It seems so. In 2023 a reporter from ABC responded to one of his advertisements, located by Wallapop, and ended up contacting a man who offered to register immigrants who had recently landed in Spain at his home. His gesture had little altruism. In exchange he asked for 150 euros. Not an isolated case. There are those who claim 50 or even 300 euros. Another advertiser you spoke to ABC He demanded 3,000 euros in exchange for a 12-month registration. “I will go with you to the city hall and register you at my home, giving permission. Here you will receive fines, summonses, and that is not free.” Its role is key because for registration it is necessary to have a contract signed by the owner of the home, proof of rent payment, invoices or deeds. Is it that common? There is no official data that allows us to answer this question, but the issue has been on the table for some time, as evidenced by social networks and newspaper archives. The Country has touched on the topic recentlybut last year RTVE did it, two ago ABC…Proof that the practice is not something anecdotal is the testimony of Mateo, a 28-year-old Colombian who, upon arriving in Madrid with his partner and pet, encountered the problem of where to register. His landlord refused to give him the documents he needed to process his census legally, so he went to Facebook, where he contacted people who offered registration. The first attempt went wrong. The reason? When he arrived at the municipal window where he had to present the form, he found that the apartment in which he was going to register included more than 70 census people. Why is it a problem? Beyond the obvious ethical and moral problem (those who sell censuses ultimately take advantage of vulnerable people), the law casts many shadows on this practice. Registration is a procedure mandatory and free and the regulations make it clear that people must register at the address where they reside, not another where they only appear at an administrative level. As if that were not enough, the Immigration Law clarifies in its article 53 that “consenting to the registration in the registry by the owner of … Read more

The latest publishing sensation is a 410-page billet that talks about something very specific: how to overcome the apocalypse

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Another manual for preparationists in case it happens to us the final blackout? Well, not exactly: the recently published in Spanish ‘The Book: The definitive guide to rebuilding civilization’, by the Hungry Minds collective, is much, much more than that: an illustrated encyclopedia that recounts the crucial discoveries that have taken place throughout our history. But it’s not just an instruction book. What is ‘The Book’. Above all, an imposing tome that rejects any pretension of portability: it weighs more than two kilos and its dimensions (approximately 24 x 35 centimeters) make it a a museum piece rather than a table read. 410 pages containing more than 700 original illustrations and now Duomo Editions (who have already faced “difficult” books such as ‘The Ship of Theseus’ or ‘House of Leaves’) publishes in Spain fully translated. There are 23 thematic chapters that make up a progressive itinerary: from basic survival knowledge (obtaining water, lighting a fire, identifying edible plants) to complex conquests such as navigation, aviation, cultural festivals or psychotherapy. How it was born. In December 2020, while the world was still navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic, a collective of artists launched a seemingly far-fetched proposal on Kickstarter: creating a visual encyclopedia to rebuild human civilization after an apocalyptic collapse. The answer exceeded expectations with more than 21,000 patrons and $2.3 million raised: it was the third most successful publishing project in the history of the platform. crowdfunding. Since then, nearly 300,000 copies have been sold worldwide, going far beyond its initial niche of illustrated books. Some precedent. The question of how to reactivate civilization after a cataclysm is not new. British astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell published ‘Open in the Event of an Apocalypse’ in 2014, a manual that became a best-selleralthough it adopted a technical and textual approach, explaining chemical processes and physical principles. The Long Now Foundationa foundation led by Brian Eno and dedicated to promoting thought on a civilizational scale, in a time frame of 10,000 years and as a counterweight to the current accelerated culture, incorporated the work into the ‘Manual for Civilization’ project. Hungry Minds offers a radically different approach. Where Dartnell provides practical instructions, the collective creates a visual artifact that evokes medieval codices. The genesis occurred during the 2020 confinementwhen those responsible asked themselves: if everything stopped, what essential knowledge deserves to be preserved? With the incorporation of Artur Stelmakh, an expert in crowdfunding campaigns, they transformed that philosophical concern into a viable editorial project. Who are Hungry Minds? A decentralized creative studio without physical headquarters: its members (artists, illustrators, scientists and historians) work from different corners of the planet. Illustrator Lev Kaplan, an advertising veteran, took on the art direction of the book and spent months refining each illustration. The initial team was joined by university professors who were experts in specific disciplines, as well as writers, editors and proofreaders who verified the precision of each data. The result fuses historical references ranging from the mysterious Voynich Manuscript from the 15th century (considered the most enigmatic codex in the world) while the conceptual classification draws on the ‘Summa Technologiae’ of the Polish Stanisław Lem. The object-book market. As the entertainment industry migrates towards digital formats (streaming, downloadable files, ebooks), large-format illustrated books exhibit a certain paradoxical health. According to data collected by The Booksellersales of large-format artistic monographs experienced an increase of 70% in the British market, defying the general trend in the sector. In the United States, a similar phenomenon was experienced: Independent bookstores increased their orders for travel titles by 23%, design by 20% and art by 12%, always referring to large formats. This phenomenon responds to a demand that digital files do not satisfy: the tactile and visual experience of the book. He crowdfunding is partly to blame, democratizing editorial projects that traditional publishers would consider unviable. ‘The Book’ was originally published this way, without the backing of a major company, and in fact, Hungry Minds took the experience further, expanding the book’s concept with an experiential pop-up in Manhattan, transforming the book into an immersive installation. In Xataka | A new movement has emerged in the US: ordinary people with AR-15 rifles preparing for a social collapse

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