Month: November 2025

The overhaul of 6,000 Airbus A320 aircraft is a disturbing reminder that our technology is at the mercy of the Sun

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Airports around the world have once again plunged into chaos of red screens and canceled flights. Airbus and EASA They have ordered an unprecedented technical stoppage of 6,000 A320 aircraft to apply a patch that prevents “data corruption in the ELAC computer.” Behind this technicality lies a disturbing reminder that all of our digital technology is at the mercy of the Sun. The more advanced, miniaturized and efficient our infrastructure is, the more vulnerable it becomes to space weather. Anatomy of a “bit flip”. On October 30, a JetBlue Airbus A320 covering the route between Cancun and Newark made a sudden downward pitch without the pilots commanding it. A manufacturer inquiry revealed that the culprit had been a high-energy particle: a neutron generated by the interaction of the solar wind with the atmosphere that impacted a memory cell of the ELAC (Elevator Aileron Computer) computer with enough energy to change the voltage of a microscopic transistor from 0 to 1. This phenomenon known as a “bit flip” caused the L104 version of the Airbus software to interpret that the plane was in a dangerous situation (such as a stall). The computer did what it was programmed to do: “save” the plane by lowering the nose to gain speed. But the problem was not the hardware itself, but rather the software logic, which in this version does not have the necessary immunity to discard corrupt data. Hence, it does not affect all aircraft, and the solution is to apply a patch. The price of Moore’s law. 30 years ago, transistors were macroscopic bricks that required a lot of energy to alter. Today, microprocessors in airplanes (as well as those in cars and cell phones) have transistors on the nanometer scale. They are so sensitive that a minor solar storm, like the one on October 30, which was classified as G1, has the potential to wreak havoc that we previously only expected from catastrophic solar stormslike the Carrington event. It is the price that we pay for Moore’s law– As transistors become smaller and operate at lower voltages, less power is required to disturb their state. A precedent called Qantas 72. While the JetBlue Flight 1230 case has ended up affecting an unusual number of aircraft, industry veterans have had a déjà vu. In 2008, Qantas Flight 72 (an Airbus A330) experienced a similar nightmare over the Indian Ocean. The plane abruptly lowered its nose twice without warning, throwing passengers against the cabin roof. The Australian ATSB investigation concluded that one of the aircraft’s inertial reference units had been hit by cosmic rays, causing it to take an angle of attack of 50 degrees. The difference is that today we have thousands more planes in the sky, more dependent on automation, and operating under a 25 Solar Cycle which is proving to be more active than anticipated. Beyond airplanes. The Sun had already sent us a warning about its new maximum in 2022, when SpaceX lost 38 of 49 Starlink satellites just released. Not due to electronic failures, but thermodynamic ones. A solar storm increased the density of air in the Earth’s atmosphere, slowing satellites in low orbit until they fell. It was a minor storm, but enough to cost millions of dollars. The satellites are more exposed to solar radiation and are especially sensitive to geomagnetic storms. On Halloween night 2003, the Sun played trick-or-treating, causing a 30-hour crash in the FAA’s WAAS system, which is vital to GPS landing accuracy. If that were to happen today, with the current reliance on GNSS for everything (from Uber to banking transactions), the impact would be incalculable. Will there be another Carrington event? The most disturbing thing about the technical report on the A320 is that the triggering event was a level G1 geomagnetic storm, classified as minor. The scale goes up to G5, classified as extreme. In 1859, the Carrington Event fried telegraph networks around the world. If a storm of that magnitude hit the Earth today, we wouldn’t be talking about updating the software of 6,000 airplanes. We would be talking about the possible loss of entire GPS constellations, massive physical damage to the electrical grid and a paralysis of global transportation for weeks or months. We’ve built a civilization on extremely fragile silicon scaffolding, and our host star has a bad temper. Hence, space meteorology has ceased to be a scientific curiosity and has become a first-rate mission to predict solar storms and prepare satellites, astronauts and electrical infrastructure on the ground for any possibility. Today was a software patch, tomorrow we may need to rethink how we harden all of our technology. Image | ESA, Airbus In Xataka | Airbus has launched an urgent alert for the A320, the most delivered aircraft in the world: “operational interruptions” are looming

One of the most relevant actors in ‘Back to the Future’ fell so badly that we never got to see his face: it was a mask

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For decades, millions of viewers remembered George McFly as one of the most beloved characters from ‘Back to the Future’with his nervous gestures, his strange shyness and that peculiar way of inhabiting the screen. But what almost no one imagined is that, when the saga returned to the cinema, what we saw was no longer exactly him. Or, at least, not in the way we all thought. An impossible artist. Crispin Glover He burst into popular culture playing George McFly with a performance that made the character one of the most recognizable souls. from ‘Back to the Future’. His performance, at once clumsy, intense and physically expressive, became an essential counterpoint to Marty’s dynamism and Doc Brown’s eccentricity. However, behind that iconic role, Glover was already a unique artistobsessed by the limits of narrative, by art as an act of critical thinking and by the need to escape from the corporate machinery that, in his opinion, turned cinema into an instrument of ideological complacency. The fame that the film brought him did not bring him closer to Hollywood: it pushed him away from hertowards a life of his own projects, marginal filmographies, performative tours and experimental books that he himself read on stage in front of his followers. That mix of massive success and countercultural sensitivity would end up leading, a few years later, to one of the legal conflicts most influential in the history of commercial cinema. The ideological disagreement. Glover never hid his discomfort with the final message of the first film. It bothered him that the climax was an economic reward: a family becoming a symbol of the triumphant middle class, a new car as an emblem of happiness and a moral that, according to himhe unequivocally associated money with life success. He was barely twenty years old, but he was already openly questioning an element that he considered propaganda. For him, the real prize should have been emotional reconciliation between the parents, not wealth. That conversation with director Robert Zemeckis, who according to Glover It led to notable anger from the director, marking a point of friction that would later be amplified when negotiations for the sequel began. Silent war. The actor felt that he had done a decisive job in the first delivery and expected treatment equivalent to that of his colleagues. The studio, on the other hand, perceived his comments as an artistic and personal challenge. The financial offers reflected this rupture: figures much lower than the rest of the cast and, according to Glover, a deliberate feeling of punishment, especially seeing that the script from ‘Back to the Future II’ It included scenes in which George McFly appeared hanging upside down, a physically uncomfortable position that he interpreted as a hostile gesture. By then, the aesthetic tension had already been transformed into a contractual and human tension. Plot Twist: The mask. When negotiations failed, Universal did not opt ​​for the usual solution of replacing the actor and continuing as normal. No, he did something much more aggressive: used a mold Glover’s facial created for the first film and placed on a different actor, Jeffrey Weissmanadding prosthetics, makeup, hairpieces and a meticulous imitation of her voice and gestures. It was, in practice, putting an interpreter to play Crispin Glover playing George McFly. Weissman, initially informed that it would be a simple photographic double, discovered during filming that they were asking him to replicate a foreign personality, not a character. It was even called “Crispin” on the set, and even heard jokes from Steven Spielberg about a supposed “million” that Glover would have demanded. One more thing. Many scenes relegated him to the background, carefully out of focus, or showed him face down to make recognition difficult. The rest was composed by mixing Glover’s real shots with Weissman’s new shots to create the illusion of continuity. For the public it worked: millions of viewers thought that Glover had participated in the sequel. For Glover, that was an outrage: his identity, his interpretive essence, had been used without consent to support a multimillion-dollar production. George Mcfly (with Weissman inside) A historic litigation. In 1990 Glover filed a lawsuit that, without looking for it, became one of the first early warnings about the risks of digital recreation, impersonation through visual effects and image rights in the era of technological manipulation. He argued that Universal had used his face, his voice and his acting style without permission, hiding behind the idea that they were only prolonging the existence of the George McFly character. His lawyer, Doug Kari, built a strategy that sought to demonstrate that it was not about perpetuating the character, but about appropriating Glover’s artistic identity. He wanted to depose Spielberg, Zemeckis, Gale and Michael J. Fox, in addition to accessing the studio’s accounting books. What happened? That the case did not go to trial: the judge encouraged both parties to reach an agreement, one that was finally closed by about $760,000. Consequences. But the psychological, industrial and legal impact was enormous. The SAG-AFTRA union was forced to review your rules. Hollywood began to debate to what extent a performance belongs to an actor and whether a studio can, without consent, reconstruct it for new installments. Years later, every time there was talk of digitally resurrecting a deceased performer, Glover’s name reappeared as a warning. In a way, his case anticipated current debates about deepfakes, avatars generated by AI and digital replicas hyperrealistic. Personal consequences. The process left no one unscathed. Glover managed clear your name and establish a red line in the industry, but the experience marked him deeply. He refused to attend conventions or photo sessions related to the saga because, according to himthat would be supporting a lie: that he had participated in those sequels and that Weissman’s artificial interpretation belonged to him. He also suffered for years from the emotional burden of fans attributing to his work gestures or moments that he never interpreted, even receiving criticism for what he did. … Read more

After the fried potato or “moon tread” nougat, comes the only possible conclusion of the industry: nougat for dogs

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There was a time when if you went to the supermarket to buy nougat you could choose between soft and hard, chocolate, toasted yolk, almonds or maybe (if you were lucky) caramel. The offer was more or less limited, as was the ability of the nougat makers to surprise us. Not today. In recent years the sector has launched experiment with flavors as unexpected as ham, potatoes, wine or mojito, between a long (lengthy) etc. of flavors and textures. Now that spiral of experimentation has led one of the best-known companies in Spain to go one step further and sell nougat for pets. Nougat for dogs? Nougats for dogs. That is the bet that just launched Confectionary Holdingthe company behind such well-known Christmas dessert brands as 1880, Doña Jimena or El Lobo. In the midst of fever nougat experimentation (a phenomenon that dates back several years) the firm has decided to go one step further and take risks in a different way. Their bet is not only looking for new flavors or textures, but also for a different audience than usual: pets. Hence, its catalog has just expanded with a line of Polvorones and Nougats made specifically for dogs. The sweets can be consulted now at the web from El Lobo, where 85 gram nougat tablets are sold for 4.99 euros, the same price as the 120 g box of Polvorones. And what are they like? The company has launched three products. Two varieties of nougat crunchymade with coconut or carrot, and some arrozrones based on rice. In all three cases, the company insists that the snacks are cooked with natural ingredients, do not include added sugars and (in the case of nougat) are designed with a crunchy texture designed precisely for dogs. Efe precise that they only include a small amount of honey and that the packages specify the amount that each dog can ingest, depending on its size. But… Why? Because, says Rubén LópezCEO of Confectionary Holding, during Christmas “we get together with friends and relatives and the pets are part of the family.” The idea is simple: transfer the experience of parties and Christmas sweets to the pet market, a niche that other companies in the sector have been exploring for some time. The Wolf may have just tried his luck now (marketing started in October), but there are specialized companies that already sell panettones for dogs, wet food cans for cats decorated with Christmas designs or special nougats for pets. The striking thing is that one of the most popular traditional nougat manufacturers in Spain is now exploring this line of business. How have you done it? The idea, López emphasizes, is that the consumption experience is “as humane as possible”. For this purpose, the company has resorted to a very recognizable format: 80 g tablets, pre-cut and which can be purchased both in pet stores and in supermarkets. Previously, the company had to spend two years developing the product, between studies and formulations, together with veterinarians. He has also had to do pedagogy in the sector. Recently José Manuel Sirvent, president of the Confectionary Holding group, recognized that the throwing of the nougat pet friendly It has been one of the most complicated decisions he has made throughout his career. The other was to dedicate itself to the manufacture of private labels. “It’s not very orthodox,” admits the manager about the new pet treat. So unconventional is it, in fact, that Sirvent confesses that the decision has not been liked by part of the traditional sector of Jijona. Does it make sense? S. There are two ways to look at El Lobo’s bet. One is the innovation that the nougat sector is experiencing, which has led manufacturers to explore new flavors and ways to expand their market with an eye on a more select clientele. In recent years this has led him to sell nougats that incorporate such curious ingredients as black beer, plankton, fried potatoes, ham, pine, popcorn or strawberries with gin. The bet doesn’t seem to have gone wrong. With the rising prices of cocoa and eggs as a backdrop, in recent months manufacturers have shared data that suggests an increase in turnover, in line with the rest of the sector. What data? In July the Spanish Sweets Association (Produlce) published a report which reveals that in 2024 all categories of the sector experienced growth in terms of consumption. In its balance sheet, chocolate and cocoa lead the segments (2,106 million euros), followed by cookies (1,428 million), pastries and pastries (€1,310M), baking (€954M), candies and chewing gum (€809M) and nougat and marzipan (€290M). At the beginning of the year, the nougat sector with designation of origin (DO) in Spain, Jijona and Agramunt, also revealed that its sales volume had increased 12% in 2023led by Sanchis Mira and Torrons Vicens. And beyond the nougat sector? That is the other big key. Spain is increasingly a country of pets (even more than babies) and that places the pet food and care sector in a privileged position. Both in our country and in others. According to the Grand View Horizon platform, the global pet care market will exceed the 236.1 billion of dollars thanks to a compound annual growth rate of 5.1%. There are those who believe that the sum will be elderly thanks to the trend of “humanizing” pets. In Spain, the industry dedicated to feeding pets had a turnover of something in 2024 more than 2 billion of euros, 5% more than in 2023. The largest volume of business (around 790 million euros) was generated by sales focused on dogs, which is precisely the niche on which El Lobo has now focused to sell its nougat for pets. Images | Baptist Standaert (Unsplash), DAP, Anfaac and The Wolf In Xataka | We knew that Suchard nougat had become more expensive since 2020, but we did not suspect how much. The reason: redflation

We have a problem with cardboard recycling. In the United Kingdom they believe that the solution is to use it in a power plant

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Every day, millions of cardboard boxes leave our homes heading to the blue container. They are the last link in an accelerated consumption cycle in online commerce. However, this material, so everyday that we don’t even look at it twice, could be on the verge of an unexpected second life: becoming fuel to generate electricity on a large scale. A residue that enters the energy map. A team of engineers from Nottingham University has shown for the first time that used cardboard can be used as an effective source of biomass in power plants. The investigation, published in the journal Biomass and Bioenergycompares cardboard with a common reference for industrial biomass: eucalyptus. The engineers didn’t just watch the cardboard burn. They crushed it, studied its shape, broke down its chemistry and analyzed how it reacted to heat and what type of carbon it left behind. They even developed their own method—based on thermogravimetric analysis—to measure exactly how much calcium carbonate each sample contains. This component, common in printed cardboard, gives rigidity to the material but also conditions its behavior when burning. Thanks to this procedure, they can predict which type of cardboard will work well in an industrial boiler and which could cause problems. The science behind cardboard that burns “better.” The study did not stop at theories. He tested the combustion of cardboard in two types of systems equivalent to those used in power plants: Drop Tube Furnace: Simulates the rapid combustion of pulverized biomass.Here, the researchers observed that cardboard particles develop chars (the carbonaceous remains that remain after the first combustion phase) highly reactive, with a predominance of fine and porous structures that favor a burnout accelerated. Muffle Furnace: Simulates fluidized bed or grate systems. Even with longer residence times, the paperboard maintained its excellent combustion profile. In addition, the size and shape of the particles were characterized through an analysis with more than one million particles per sample; The tendency of cardboard to form “spongy aggregates” during grinding was observed—a challenge for its industrial handling—and characteristics such as sphericity and aspect ratio were correlated, something that could improve future combustion models. As the academic study explains, this detailed analysis allows predicting combustion efficiency and designing industrial strategies to integrate cardboard into the fuel flow. The result was very favorable. Thanks to this experiment, the engineers managed to demonstrate that cardboard has less carbon (38%) than eucalyptus (46.7%) and its calorific value is also lower (15.9–16.5 MJ/kg versus 21 MJ/kg). However, its chars are finer, porous and reactive, which accelerates combustion; In addition, it contains much more ash (8.9–10.6%, compared to 0.6% for eucalyptus), a critical aspect for boilers. What remains to be resolved? Although the technical potential is evident, the study makes it clear that cardboard is not ready to enter the boilers of a power plant tomorrow. There are three fundamental challenges that must be addressed: Management and processing problems. When ground, cardboard does not behave like wood: it forms spongy lumps of very low density that make internal transport difficult, complicate the continuous feeding of boilers and can increase the risk of blockages and accumulations. The study warns that it will be essential to adapt the grinding and feeding systems to guarantee a stable and safe flow. The behavior of calcium. Cardboard contains very high levels of CaCO₃, especially when printed. This calcium can behave in different ways depending on the temperature and type of boiler. In certain cases it raises the fusion temperature of the ashes – which is positive -; In others it can favor the formation of slag or alter the quality of the fuel. The study recommends analyzing the behavior of cardboard according to the type of plant, because not all technologies tolerate these variations in the same way. Large-scale industrial validation. Laboratory tests are promising, but the decisive step is missing: testing the cardboard in real operating conditions. According to the researchers, the industry will have to carry out tests on different technologies in boilers, evaluate emissions, study the accumulation and composition of ash and check their compatibility with existing biomass mixtures. Only then can it be determined whether the cardboard can be safely and stably integrated into the mix of biomass. An everyday material with an unexpected future. Cardboard protects pizzas, televisions, books and appliances. We recycle it without thinking too much about it. But this research from Nottingham suggests that this everyday waste could become another piece of the energy transition, helping to diversify fuels and take advantage of an abundant and local resource. Today we see it as garbage. Tomorrow it could help produce electricity. The spark has already been lit: now we need to know if the industry wants – and can – convert it into real energy. Image | Unsplash and Geograph Xataka | Selling smoke is now a business in Soria: it purifies it and sells it as CO2 to make soft drinks

The hundreds of black dots on train and car windows are not a whim: they are a shield called ‘frits’

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Traveling by car or train means looking around the windows. You probably don’t just look at the landscape, but at all the vehicle interior elementsthe closest being the edge of those windows. A common element on the train and on the car window is a black border with a curious pattern of dots that become smaller as the rows increase. It is not paint or an aesthetic element, but something that fulfills a crucial technical function to protect the integrity of the glass. They are called ‘frit band‘ either ‘frits‘, and it is one of the most important passive safety elements that these vehicles have. The Science of Car Window Blackheads Although it seems like it, these dots are not paint: they are ceramics baked at very high temperatures, which fuses with glass during manufacturing of the same. He process It is most curious, since first the still hot black ceramic paste is applied to the edges of the glass, and then it is baked together with the glass in the tempering and bending process. In Xataka In 2001, Renault launched a car ahead of its time: it was a miserable failure that now has another chance It is a structural element of glass and this process involves a permanent bond that does not wear over time. The dot pattern motif, known as “gradient matrix”it is not a whim either, but a solution to something that could spontaneously break the car window. Black glass absorbs much more heat than clear glass, and this is something you can easily check on a sunny day: the black band will be hotter than the rest of the glass. When the temperature is extreme, and on trips where the moon can being hit by small stonesif there were an abrupt temperature transition between the black border and the transparent area, stress points would be created that could cause cracks. That’s why they pulled out that gradient that works like a processor heatsink: creates a thermal transition zone which distributes heat more evenly. It is something that provides protection to the glass, but they serve something else: to help the bond between the chassis and the glass. On the perimeter of the crystals there is glue that joins the elements, and the ‘frits’ have a rougher texture that allows a better adhesion from glass to chassis. Also, being black, they protect the glue against ultraviolet rays, maximizing its durability and the security of the union of the components. A detail from Jeep, which introduced an Easter egg in these frits In the end, what might seem like a simple aesthetic element fulfills an important safety function. In the train, this adhesion and thermal dissipation, and in the car, added to the above, greater resistance of the moon to shocks. In some cars it has been used to place a nod, and the fact that they are circles and not another geometric element has an aesthetic part, but also functional because it makes us overlook them while driving. It is one more example of all that everyday technology that surrounds us and that perhaps we always wonder if it would have some function, but once that initial curiosity passes, we forget to look. Images | Jeep, Abil Saputra In Xataka |Cars have become gigantic. The problem is that our parking spaces do not (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news The hundreds of black dots on train and car windows are not a whim: they are a shield called ‘frits’ was originally published in Xataka by Alejandro Alcolea .

In the midst of a race towards immortality, China believes it has found a way for us to live 150 years: with grapes

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Aging is the objective that a good part of society has right now with different diets to look younger, ‘anti-aging’ treatments or even cocktails that promise this (although our biology has a fairly clear limit). Now, China is targeting a biotechnology company that affirms be developing a pill capable of prolonging human life to 150 years. A simple grape. A priori it seems that it has nothing to do with human aging, but we are quite wrong. The Shenzhen biotechnology company claims to have identified in its seeds a compound called procyyanidin C1 (PCC1) which achieves the effect that many want and has a great antioxidant effect. Zombie cells. To understand how this supposed miracle compound works, we must first talk about the enemy of aging: senescence cellular. As time goes by, some of our cells stop dividing, but they do not die. They remain in a state of limbo, accumulating in the tissues and secreting inflammatory substances that damage neighboring cells that are not so lazy and continue dividing. These cells that do not want to die is what known as ‘zombie cells’ because in the end there are quite a few parallels. As. Once taken into account, this is where PCC1 comes into play, which is nothing more than a natural flavonoid. Where the interesting begins is in a key study published in Nature Metabolism where it is pointed out that PCC1 acts as a senolytic agent. This means that it has a fairly important selective capacity to act on the cells that are bothering us the most. Specifically, at low doses, PCC1 inhibits the toxic substances emitted by zombie cells, but at high doses it kills them without harming healthy cells. And up to this point everything is quite solid, since it has been scientifically proven. There are ‘buts’. The scientific basis that the Chinese laboratory uses for its claims comes almost exclusively from animal models to whom this substance was applied. In this way, the researchers achieved several things by applying PCC1 on old mice: Reduce the load of senescent cells in vital organs. Reverse motor dysfunctions, making the mouse have more strength and better balance. Increase life expectancy between 9 and 60%. The big ‘but’ we found is that it has only been tested on mice and not on humans. And given this we can ask ourselves something quite simple: why are we skeptical about the claim of 150 years in humans? There are several reasons to be so. The first of them is that saying that because a mouse lives 60% longer, a human will live 60% longer is also a biological fallacy. The metabolism of mice and humans is not similar at all, and that is why there are drugs that, although they have worked in a mouse, have failed in humans. we are not equal with the mice. That’s why we don’t age in the same way. Although it is true that humans have senescent cells that are related to aging, we are much more complex. Aging involves genomic instability, telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, and stem cell exhaustion. That is why cleaning the ‘zombie cells’ could improve health in old agebut it is unlikely that on its own it will make us exceed the current biological limit of our species. This is also added to the fact that to date there are no published clinical trials that support the safety and effectiveness of using this compound in the human body. That is why, in conclusion, we can conclude that PCC1 is a very important finding to identify a door to therapies that make us age better. But talking about extending life to 150 years undoubtedly presents many doubts, since surely this ‘Chinese pill’ will not make us immortal overnight. Images | Maja Petric Daniel Franco In Xataka | Not all brain cells age at the same time: we have found a “hot spot” of aging

The “military” returns, this time voluntary

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In Varces-Alliéres-et-Rissetbefore the troops, with a solemn tone and a large French flag behind. President Enmanuel Macron took care of the staging on Thursday to make a particularly delicate announcement: the return of military service. The famous ‘military’ will return in 2026 as a ten-month voluntary benefit aimed primarily at boys and girls between 18 and 19 years old, although from the Elysée it is not hidden that, if circumstances demanded it, Parliament could give the green light “exceptional” to mandatory recruitment. France it is not the first country European Union that is moving in that direction while looking askance at the “threat” of an emboldened Russia in Ukraine. The military arrives (with nuances). France will activate a new ‘military’although with nuances. During an act held at an infantry base near Grenoble, Macron announced on Thursday that in mid-206 the country will launch a “military service” that will be implemented gradually. It will be voluntary, it is designed for young people aged 18 and 19 and will last 10 months. During this period, recruits will receive a pay of between 900 and 1,000 euros per month, in addition to maintenance, accommodation and a discount for train travel. Also the promise that they will be deployed only in the “national territory”. One figure: 3,000. This is the number of young people that France hopes to mobilize in the first stage of its new military, although the idea is that this number will grow gradually: from the initial 3,000 it would rise to 10,000 in 2030 and, “depending on the threat”, to 50,000 in 2035. Once they finish their training, the recruits will have to decide whether to return to civilian life, join the reserves or pursue a career in the armed forces, which would allow the country to gain military muscle. Right now France has some 200,000 troops active military and 47,000 reservists. The objective, clarify Guardianis that these figures will increase to 210,000 and 80,000 by 2030. Achieving this will not come cheap for the country. There are those who point out that the plan will cost around 2 billion eurosan expense that the president considers “a necessary effort”. They look at the 90s. Macron’s announcement comes after the failure of the Universal National Service (SNU), introduced years ago, and almost three decades after the end of the mandatory military service in France. The Government abolished it in 1996, during the time of Jacques Chirac and at a time when the end of the USSR and the Cold War made it “unnecessary”, in words by Macron. The truth is that the idea of ​​recovering some kind of military service has been kicking during the last few years in the country, although it has gained relevance since 2022, with the war in Ukraine. “A threat”. “France cannot sit idly by,” claims Macron, who insists the new plan is “inspired by the practices of our European partners at a time when all our European allies are moving forward in response to a threat that weighs on us all.” His announcement comes after General Fabien Mandon, head of the French armed forces, generated stir by ensuring that France lacks “strength of character to accept suffering to protect what we are” and “accept the loss of its children.” “We must dispel any confusing notions that suggest we are sending our young people to Ukraine,” rushed to clarify Macron. Why now? Words and details matter, but above all, context matters. Macron’s announcement comes in a scenario marked by three major factors. The first, key, are the tensions between Europe and Russia, with the war in Ukraine at the center of the board. The second, the doubts thrown at the time by Trump about the US role in NATO. For decades one of the keys to European security was precisely Washington’s defense guarantee. The third factor, crucial and directly related to the previous one, is the increase in military spending on the continent, driven from within NATO itself. The objective on the table in fact is to allocate to defense 5% of GDP. Beyond France. That France is betting on the military (even if it is a voluntary one, lasting only 10 months and with the commitment that the participants will be deployed only on national missions) is news in itself, but it is even more so if it is put into the European context. Paris is not the first to move in that direction. Germany want to activate a voluntary service, Belgium is sending thousands of letters to their teenagers to enlist, Denmark has begun to recruit women and Lithuania or Latvia They have already made similar decisions. In France Macron has public opinion in his favor. Surveys like is disclosed by the BBC show that the majority of citizens are in favor of voluntary military service. To be more precise, an Elabe survey concluded that 73% of the country views him favorably. The group in which the optional ‘military’ generates the most suspicion is that of young people between 25 and 34 years old (directly affected), but even among them the support is majority, 60%. What has generated less consensus in the country is the salary announced by the Executive for volunteer soldiers, between 900 and 1,000 euros per month, a figure that, criticizes Rebellious Franceis “well below the minimum wage.” Images | Lucas Lemoine (Unsplash) and Elysium In Xataka | Germany has wondered how it might respond to an invasion. And he has found the answer in Taiwan: underground

they went to the trouble of cashing ridiculous checks

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Have you ever wondered if Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos Or would Bill Gates bend down to pick up a coin from the ground? And for a 20 euro bill? Apparently that same question was asked in the 90s in the satirical magazine Spyso they decided to test the extent to which some of the most famous rich Americans cared about ridiculously small amounts of money, even when they already had enormous fortunes. Which It started as an inside joke. ended up becoming a real experiment with very specific figures and proper names that was published in said magazine in July 1990. Spy’s prank: ridiculous checks for millionaires To carry out the experiment, the magazine’s editors had to think about what would be the equivalent of taking the trouble to bend down to pick up a penny when you’re already a billionaire. The solution they found to carry it out was quite ingenious: send checks to the millionaires worth a few cents. Since each check was nominal, when the chosen millionaire cashed his check, the magazine’s editors received the charge and knew which millionaire had “bent down” for his coin. In this case, the effort is even less, since the millionaire in question has to go to a bank to cash the check, which is much more intentional than simply bending over while walking. As and as they remembered in Celebrity Networththe editors left no loose ends and Spy created a fictitious but legal company called National Refund Clearinghouse and opened a real bank account to use in the experiment. From that company all refund checks for small amounts of money would be sent to a list of very rich people. To avoid raising suspicions, a note would be sent along with each check explaining that it was a refund for an erroneous charge, something that in those years sounded routine and not at all suspicious for anyone used to handling many invoices. The first shipment was made with $1.11 checks addressed to 58 very famous billionaires at the time. Among them were names like Cher, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Douglas, Christopher Reeve, Martin Scorsese, Ralph Lauren, Rupert Murdock or the young heir to a real estate empire: Donald Trump. In a period of approximately two months, 26 of those 58 millionaires cashed the $1.11 check they had received. The remaining 32 millionaires simply ignored it completely, establishing a clear percentage from the start: around 44.8% of the recipients decided that $1.11 was well worth the effort to “bend” to collect it. The rest did not lift a finger for that amount. To no one’s surprise, Donald Trump was one of those who did not miss the slightest opportunity to get a little richerfalling in this first round: its price was $1.11. Putting more bait on the hook After the surprisingly good result of the first round of checks, Spy editors wanted to find out how much the combination of effort and reward could be played with. So they decided to send a new check to the 32 millionaires who hadn’t bothered to cash the first check. This time they doubled their bet by issuing checks worth two incredible dollars. The actor Richard Gere and the singer Carly Simon, along with four other celebrities ended up succumbing to the generous reward of the new consignment. Not happy with the percentage of millionaires and celebrities that the second round had collected, the editors of the satirical magazine decided to up their ante to an impressive $3.47. Only two millionaires fell into the new trap and cashed Spy’s generous check. Given the low success rate, it was clear that the maximum limit they were willing to cash had been reached and that they would have to raise the figure much higher to attract the attention of those who did not bother to cash the check. It was time to test to what extent the 26 millionaires who had cashed the $1.11 checks would be able to lower their reward level. Those 26 celebrities who had cashed the first check were sent a second one again. check worth 64 cents. The paper it was written on was more expensive than the amount of the check. Curiously, on that occasion only 13 millionaires decided to collect them, just 50% of the initial group. However, Spy still had one final trick: send a third check to those serial collectors who had cashed the $1.11 and the 64-cent checks. On this occasion, the amount of the check would be 13 cents of dollar. It wasn’t even worth the ink it was written with. money is money As expected, this time the percentage of collections plummeted. However, only two people collected the last amount. What surprised the Spy editors most were the names of these people: the frequent arms dealer of the jet set parties of Marbella of the 90s, Adnan Khashoggi, and Donald Trump, current president of the United States. At first glance, Spy’s experiment seems to remain an ingenious and brilliant joke by the magazine to the greatest fortunes of the 90s in the United States. However, what is really revealed is a psychological background in the relationship of some millionaires with regarding finances. Even if they are worth billions of dollars, they collect everything. No matter how insignificant the profits, money is money. In Xataka | The emir of Qatar travels in a private jet so big it helped upgrade Sardinia airport Image | Nano Banana, Flickr (Gage Skidmore), Unsplash (Joshua Hoehne)

This is where the TVs, cell phones and more that we return in El Corte Inglés go, a refurbished section with offers

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What do stores do when we return a product? In El Corte Inglés, they are put on sale again under the reconditioned section which, for example, we can find online on their website. And many of them are on sale. Some have been used and others simply have damaged packaging, but are unsealed. In this article we are going to review some of the best deals that we can find right now. Samsung TQ65QN90CAT by 908.65 eurosa TV with Neo QLED technology in almost perfect condition. OnePlus 12 by 594.15 eurosa very interesting high-end mobile for its price. MacBook Air M2 by 849.15 eurosa brand new Apple computer. iPad Pro M2 by 594.15 eurosa powerful brand new Apple tablet. Samsung Galaxy A55 by 262.65 eurosa good Samsung mobile with a very reasonable price. Samsung TQ65QN90CAT In the refurbished area of ​​El Corte Inglés there are many televisions on offer with the most reasonable prices. One of them is the Samsung TQ65QN90CAT which right now costs 908.65 euros. This is a grade A refurbished TV with light use, no cosmetic damage and packaging in good condition. Incorporates a screen 65-inch Neo QLED and offers 4K resolution. It also offers a resolution of 120 Hz, is compatible with the format HDR10+your panel has anti-reflective treatment and has a three-year warranty. Samsung TQ65QN90CAT (Neo QLED, 65 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links OnePlus 12 It will not be the most current mobile phone on the market, but El Corte Inglés has the OnePlus 12 by 594.15 euros in its configuration of 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. It is grade A refurbished with light use, no cosmetic damage and packaging in good condition. If you prefer it in black, PcComponentes has it new even cheaper: 589 euros. It is a mobile phone that comes equipped with the processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Its screen is 6.82 inches and offers 2K resolution. We really liked the battery life, as well as its performance and the set of cameras. OnePlus 12 (16GB, 512GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links MacBook Air M2 On the other hand, if what you are looking for is a good Apple laptop that has a reasonable price, the MacBook Air M2 of 8 GB of unified memory and 512 GB of SSD is found by 849.15 euros. It is an ideal computer for working, but above all for studying. It is a Brand New Grade A refurbished device that is unsealed, but unused. Its packaging is slightly scratched. MacBook Air M2 (8GB, 512GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links iPad Pro M2 There are also some very interesting prices on tablets, as is the case of the iPad Pro M2 which is found by 594.15 euros. It is powerful thanks to the M2 chip, includes 128 GB of internal storage and its screen is a delight. In this case we are talking about a device Grade A Brand New unsealed, whose packaging is scratched. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy A55 Finally, if you are looking for a good, pretty and very cheap mobile phone, El Corte Inglés has the Samsung Galaxy A55 128 GB for a price of 262.65 euros. It is a mobile phone that has a finish that we liked, as well as its audio section and how well balanced it is in general. Of course, in this case it is a mobile grade B refurbished with light use, without cosmetic damage. Samsung Galaxy A55 (128GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | El Corte Inglés and Compradicción (header), Samsung, OnePlus, Apple In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2025), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs

After months without flying, the DGT’s Pegasus return to the skies. And they are already hunting offenders

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Since entering service in 2013, Pegasus helicopters have become one of the systems with which the DGT monitors the roads. Apart from controlling the speed of traffic, the cameras are so powerful that they allow them to distinguish whether we look at the cell phone while driving either we don’t wear the seatbelt. Due to maintenance and contract issues, the nine Pegasus they stopped flying for almost two months. 51 million euros later, they are back on the roads. AND they are already catching to drivers who circulate as if the highways were circuits. The Pegasus of the DGT return From September 1 to October 25, the nine Pegasus of the General Directorate of Traffic were grounded. They did so due to the expiration of the maintenance contract they had up to that point and, as no company interested in occupying that position for the maintenance of the helicopters had presented itself, the deadlines forced them to leave the service. Failing that, drones with similar capabilities were responsible for monitoring from the air, but a few weeks ago an agreement was reached to renew this maintenance, as well as an improvement in some components, such as recording systems. With everything in order, the DGT has as aim double annual flight hoursgoing from the 2,750 hours registered so far to 5,500. It is already bearing fruit. The video on these lines was caught on November 1, one of the key dates in mobility in Spain, and we can see how a driver without a seat belt reaches a peak of 217 kilometers per hour on a Malaga highway. The ‘prize’ is a 600 euro fine and six license points for going at that speed, as well as another 200 euros for going without a seat belt. He hasn’t been the only one caught doing 200 km/h recently. In total, The investment will be 51 million euros until 2028 for this road control from the air, but it could reach up to 80 million if the contract is extended for another 22 months. And you may be wondering how they work: They are helicopters Eurocopter AS-355 Ecureuil 2 and AS 350 armed with the MX-15 radar that detects speeding at 300 meters high and up to a kilometer away. They have GPS positioning to have exact coordinates. Using a laser rangefinder, they measure distances and record the position of the vehicle every three seconds. They also calculate the average speed of the vehicle. In the case of a violation, recording begins and the fine is sent electronically. Pegasus has shortcomings, such as it cannot record the license plate well in adverse conditions or at night, but The Mossos d’Esquadra have another lookout in the skies: Falcó. It operates in a similar way to the Pegasus, but with the advantage that it allows the license plate to be read both at night and in the rain. Precisely, one of the problems of the Pegasus is that some of its technologies have become outdated, but with the new maintenance and technological update plans, they want to catch up. But hey, in the end, the easiest way to avoid being hunted by these helicopters is to pay attention to both the signs and common sense. Images | DGT Magazine In Xataka | Very effective and practically undetectable: how the DGT’s “invisible radars” work

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