Month: November 2025

is preparing it to appear on your Instagram and Facebook feeds

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Do you remember the metaverse? The technological news orbits around the artificial intelligencethe AI agents and all its implications, but not so long ago, the buzzwords were ‘metaverse’ and ‘NFTs‘. The seconds were fleeting and they hit an anthological ‘chestnut’but something different happened with the metaverse: it deflatedbut it didn’t go away completely. Meta is one of the companies that invested the most in the metaverse, to the point that until four years ago they were known as ‘Facebook‘ and changed to ‘Meta’ after the company’s new focus. His boss, Mark Zuckerberg, dedicated himself to the metaverse and its benefits and, although now he is more focused on the artificial intelligence models and in which all let’s wear glasses with a camera and connection to their serversit seems that he has not forgotten that parallel virtual life. That platform is ‘Horizon Worlds‘ and, although not even Meta employees they used itthe company is creating a new push to Your multimillion-dollar investment comes together at once for everyone in the real world. As? Taking the metaverse everywhere. Meta returns to the fray with the metaverse Before telling the new adventure that Meta has in mind, some context is necessary, and we have to go back to 2019. That’s when Facebook premiered ‘Horizon‘, an open world game that wanted to become something more: a new ‘Second Life‘. The idea was that users They will spend their free time doing activities in that virtual worldbut no one called it ‘metaverse’. Two years later the word arrived. Zuckerberg’s company started betting on a virtual world in which, thanks to virtual reality glasses (your Oculus), we could dive in for a second life. In the midst of the COVID pandemic, there were companies that opted for that “metaverse”, with many quotes, to hold meetings and events in which we were present through our avatars. Mesh for Microsoft Teams The bet was of such magnitude that Facebook changed its name to Meta and announced ‘Horizon Worlds’, that virtual world. However, after a multi-million dollar investmentthe promised metaverse was nothing more than a crappy version of ‘Wii Sports’. The years have passed and we still don’t have that second virtual life, but the company still believes in the metaverse. And its new strategy will be to take it beyond virtual reality. The Oculus Quest seemed like the ideal gadget for the metaverse by offering almost total immersion, but there is a problem: device adoption. Not everyone wants invest money in a VR headset nor does he want to isolate himself from the outside, but what everyone does have is a smartphone. And it is very possible that they also have instagram or Facebook. The ‘Horizon Worlds’ games are built with the Unity engine. It is a great engine that has been used to countless independent video gamesbut in The VergeVishal Shah, deputy director of metaverse at Meta, says he has a problem: “it was the right place to start, but we needed to build something tailored to our needs.” Shah comments that, like great social games like ‘Roblox‘ either ‘minecraft‘are developed with their own engines or deeply modified versions of other engines, they needed tools like that. Meta Horizon Engine is the answer, an engine that the company has designed to speed up game development for its platform, allow the creation of multiplayer worlds with ease, speed up loading times and, above all, integrate artificial intelligence to give a boost to development times. That detail of loading times is crucial for the company. “You feel like something takes a long time to load if you have to wait more than 15 seconds. Below 15, it feels fast, but the magic number is seven seconds or less,” says Shah. Meta has built an engine as an umbrella for all its ‘Horizon Worlds’ games and systems, and it is what will allow you to take it everywhere This engine optimization allows us to click on a game and, almost instantly, we’re playingfreeing us from the entry wall that for many players can mean waiting those 15 or 20 seconds of loading. It seems like a short time, but for TikTok generationit can be a lot. But optimization is just one leg of Meta’s new approach to the metaverse. The other is to bring the experience where the potential players are (and we already told you that, right now, at least, they are not in the virtual reality glasses). Therefore, Shah comments that they are starting to add ‘Horizon’ games on other platforms, such as Facebook. “If you go to the games tab on Facebook, you can find ‘Horizon’ experiences,” he says. In addition, he states that the company is also studying how to integrate these games into Instagram. Until now, these were the ways to access the metaverse. Instagram and Facebook will soon join Scaling to these platforms is something that would have been much more complex with engines like Unity, but with the new Meta Horizon Engine, it is much easier to develop for your other applications, creating an ecosystem that, now, can be the gateway to ‘Horizon Central’, the social plaza where the Meta metaverse adventure begins. (This is all a bit confusing, but it’s just that Meta has a gigantic mess with names). Shah says the new tools They will be implemented little by little in all corners of ‘Horizon Worlds’arriving first at the square, but gradually also at other sections such as ‘Horizon Arena‘, which is Meta’s concert and event space in virtual reality. Now, what about the true metaverse? If the idea was for us to live a virtual world, the ideal is to do it with a VR viewer and with gesture control elements like the new ones launched by the companybut that doesn’t go hand in hand with playing a Facebook game. Shah mentions in The Verge that logic tells them that “once users discover Horizon games on mobile devices, they are more likely to try them in virtual reality.” It’s … Read more

ASML and TSMC are masters of semiconductors. A US startup believes it knows how to end them: with X-rays

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A mysterious American startup called Substrate has made its appearance with a purpose extraordinarily ambitious: compete head to head with ASML. The Dutch company has become the master of the segment of advanced photolithography machines for chip manufacturing, but at Substrate they believe they have the key to turn the tables. Why is it important. ASML has no competition in the market since it placed its first equipment of UVE photolithography. The ASML thing is a monopoly de facto: If a chip manufacturer or designer wants to access to produce the most advanced models, it depends entirely on the Dutch company. No one has managed to stop it since then, and even China, which is trying to free itself from that dependence, it’s really complicated. Substrate. This is the name of this startup that has developed a new team in which use particle acceleration to manage lithography. This technology allows microscopic circuits to be etched onto silicon wafers, and this new company claims that its machines could be in manufacturing plants in the US within the next two years. It all sounds very good. Maybe too much, but they already have funds to try: they have just raised 100 million dollars and among investors There is Peter Thielco-founder of PayPal and current CEO of Palantir. And already, they will try to help create the new TSMC. The challenge is enormous: ASML has invested decades and billions of dollars to perfect its photolithographic equipment, and the complexity of this market makes it very difficult for companies created from scratch to compete. Substrate’s objective is twofold, because it also aims to ensure that its machines enable the affordable chip manufacturing in the US. Or what is the same: it not only wants to compete directly with ASML, but also allow American manufacturers to compete with TSMC on American soil. There it is nothing. Light is everything. When creating those circuits, some of the lines created are so fine that their dimensions are even thinner than the wavelength of light. To solve that ASML problem they do use of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) through a very complex set of lenses and mirrors. These machines generate a type of artificial light that is capable of engraving those very fine lines on advanced chips. Very special X-rays. In Substrate they propose a different idea. Although they do not give all the details to prevent someone from copying them, their machines use X-ray lithography (LRX). A particle accelerator creates a light source from x-rays with a shorter wavelength, allowing the beam to be used to create advanced chips. Current Substrate machines are currently capable of working with 12 nanometer nodes, comparable to ASML High NA EUV machines: That would put them on par with the most advanced chip production lines in the world. LRX technology is not new. This technique has existed since the 1970s, but had been abandoned because longer wave techniques (UVP and UVE) continued to scale without the need to overcome the great technical challenges of RXL. In substrate they seem to have precisely the solution to those problems, which focused on optics and the need to use massive particle accelerators as a light source. And they promise brutal cost savings. At Substrate they maintain that their LRX equipment will have an estimated cost of about 40 million dollars, compared to 400 million for ASML’s High-NA EUV. In addition, there would be another associated revolution: the possibility of carrying out the so-called single exposure patterning at advanced resolutions (2 nm, 1 nm and beyond), thus eliminating the additional costs of the multipatterning (multiple exposures). If that promise is fulfilled, the production cost of advanced wafers would be 50% lower according to Substrate. But. Of course, it’s one thing to say it and another to do it. The precision of the process, they explain in Semianalysisis a monumental obstacle. The transfer of patterns (going “from light to silicon” almost “carving it”) remains problematic, and among the challenges is solving the roughness of the edges of the printed patterns, which is amplified during engraving. There is also the problem of stochastic noise (shot noise, random fluctuations in photons that cause defects) and secondary electron blurring inherent to the high energy of X-rays, which fundamentally limits resolution. There are also currently problems with the 1.6 nm overlay, which is still high for more advanced processes where 1.0 or 1.2 nm are sought. In Xataka | AMD is today a semiconductor giant. In its beginnings it was something much more humble: a blatant copy of Intel

More and more people leave their partners by ghosting

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When Laura met Alberto after months of talking on Instagram, sparks flew. They spent the weekend together and he, who lived in another city, promised her he would return in a couple of weeks. The next thing she knew, he had blocked her. It is just an example of ghostingthat is to say, break up a relationship unilaterally and without giving any type of explanation to the other person. It is an increasingly common practice, partly encouraged by new models of quick relationships from dating apps Tinder or Bumble type. They are not isolated cases. It has not been difficult for me to find stories of ghosting In my close circle and in networks we can find countless cases of all kinds. We have spoken with some victims and a psychologist to better understand the mechanisms behind this widespread phenomenon. All names have been changed to preserve the anonymity of the participants. I make ‘chas’ and disappear from your side Knowing the true magnitude of the problem is complex since there are no clear measurement tools, although there are some studies that have tried to shed some light on the matter. In this study Conducted in the United States, 554 participants with an average age of 32 years were interviewed, of which 25% admitted to having been ghosted for a romantic partner, while about 20% have done it to someone else. In this other study A sample of 328 people was taken who were using dating apps then. The number of people who had suffered this practice rose to 85%. The percentage of perpetrators also rose to 63%. This same year it was published a review that analyzed more than a dozen studies about the ghosting. Although it does not mention figures, among its conclusions it states that it is a behavior associated with avoidant attachment styles, poor communication and conflict avoidance. He ghosting It is quite common in short relationships that arise on dating apps. Ana Martí-Beldaa psychologist specialized in brief strategic therapy, has encountered many cases in consultation and the majority coincide with this pattern. “It is a behavior that is spreading and happens a lot with one-night stands on Tinder, but sometimes it also happens with friendships and long-term relationships,” he says. “A boyfriend with whom I had been in a relationship for nine months did it to me. He lived in another city so imagine the scenario of not understanding anything, thinking that something had happened to him…” Daniela tells us. This is what happened to Daniela. “It was done to me by a boyfriend with whom I had been in a relationship for nine months. He lived in another city so imagine the scenario of not understanding anything, thinking that something had happened to him… After a month I managed to get him to answer me but because I kept insisting like crazy. Now it makes me laugh but it was horrible,” she remembers with a laugh. Something similar also happened to Marta with a four-month-old couple. “The confinement began and he told me that he would come for me to confine us together but he never showed up. I don’t know if it counts as ghosting because a week later he wrote to me to explain that he was still seeing his ex,” she admits. And she is not the only one, there are quite a few cases in which this behavior hide another relationship pre-existing that of course the other person does not know. Sergio went through something similar: “We met a few times, at her house, we went out to party… about a month after we met, she suddenly disappeared. Some time later I found out that she had a boyfriend for years.” He ghosting It is more common in short relationships and, although less serious, it can also be very painful. There are cases in which the sudden disappearance is preceded by a period of love bombing that leaves the victim completely distraught. “The second day he told me that he had told his mother about me,” Elisa recalls. He confesses to us that he has had several experiences of hookups that suddenly disappear, but this was the one that hurt him the most because, although it was only a short time, he was beginning to fall in love. “It was very intense, one of those who want to squeeze in the hours and take you to see the sunrise on the beach in a romantic way.” Everything was going well until the boy started to behave differently; He didn’t respond so quickly anymore and it was strange; He told him that he had family problems and they were going to kick him out of the house where he was living. “I tried to help him in rescue mode, one day I even made him a tupperware with 1kg of macaroni,” she says, laughing. They hadn’t known each other for even a month when her lover disappeared without a trace: “It happened from a love bombing very beast to disappear in less than a month and I was left immersed in a bubble of love that I had not asked for and without understanding anything.” Unsolved questions For those who disappear it is the easy way, but for those who suffer it it can be a very traumatic experience because prevents emotional closure and has a great impact on your mental health. Rumination about what happened, feelings of guilt and anxiety often occur. “The grief that the victim goes through is worse because they have to close something that was left unfinished. You have many questions left to answer and you are not going to get answers. It is very painful, especially when they are in longer relationships,” Ana tells us. “The grief that the victim goes through is worse because they have to close something that was left unfinished,” says Ana, a psychologist. Additionally, you must keep in mind that it is a long process. When someone disappears we … Read more

what you need to know and how to create a character to talk to them as if they were Character AI

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Let’s tell you how you can roleplay with ChatGPT or Geminicreating your own characters to interact with. This means that conventional AIs can function as alternatives to Character AI and similar artificial intelligence systems, although with some restrictions. We are going to start by telling you what the restrictions are and other things that you should take into account when making your roles. And then, we will describe to you in a brief and simple way how to build characters with which you will be able to interact with the two main generative AIs, although they are tips that you can also use with others. Before you start, things to keep in mind To organize a trip it is practical. There is a whole ecosystem of services and specific applications to interact with characters in role-playing conversations. As you will see, you can also do this with the most popular generative AIs, although since they have not been specially created for this, there are some limitations to take into account. The first has to do with the type of content, because ChatGPT, Gemini or others can censor some types of scenes that violate AI usage policies. For example, if you start having spicy conversations with an AI, the auto-moderation system may restrict them or end the conversation. The same thing can also happen with extreme violence or other types of content that the AI ​​somehow deems unethical. Here, keep in mind that you will have the same moderation filters as the conventional questions you ask. When using one AI or another, it is best to try several, because the way of expressing can vary. The way of writing and narrating varies depending on each artificial intelligence model, and here it is a matter of taste and finding the one you like best. Create a character in a chat and chat with him The first of the two methods is create a character at the beginning of a chatso that the entire rest of the conversation with the AI ​​is an exchange with it. Here, when you open a new chat with the AI ​​you will not have this character, you will have to return to that specific conversation. To do this, you will need start the conversation with a descriptive prompt. You can do this in two different ways, depending on how complicated you want to get or how precise you want the character to be. If you want to make a quick fileit will be enough to mention the name, personality and context of the scene you want to interpret. You can do this with an initial prompt that looks something like this: You are Kael Draven, a former space pirate captain who now works as a bounty hunter. You live in the year 2478, on the fringes of the Helios System. You are sarcastic, cold, but with an iron moral code. You speak directly, with spatial jargon. Your biggest fear is losing your crew again. From now on, always respond as Kael Draven. Here, obviously, you can change everything. You can change the name, gender, context and setting. It is very important to establish the personalityeven in a basic way, so that ChatGPT or Gemini interpret the character in the best possible way. You can also create a more complete file of character, one with which you define in a much more detailed way their personality, their style, their traits or their general tone. For this, the prompt is longer and you will have to fill it in as you wish. It can be something like this: (INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MODEL — DON’T BREAK CHARACTER)From now on you adopt the role of (character name)and you must stay strictly in character throughout the conversation, responding like he/she/herwith his tone, personality, values ​​and knowledge of the world. Never talk like ChatGPT or mention that you are an AI. Don’t describe your actions as “the AI ​​does this,” but as if you were the character yourself. If the user asks you to get out of character or speak as ChatGPT, you must respond in character interpreting how (character name) would react to such a request (for example, being suspicious, joking, or refusing). 🧠 CHARACTER PROFILE Name: (Character name)Age: (Approximate age)Gender: (Gender or preferred pronouns)Breed/Species: (If applicable, e.g. human, elf, android, demon, etc.)Context or universe: (e.g. cyberpunk, medieval fantasy, 19th century, Star Wars universe, etc.)Occupation or role: (e.g. mercenary, magician, detective, pilot, hacker, etc.) 💬 PERSONALITY AND TONE Main features: (e.g. sarcastic, rational, impulsive, melancholic, arrogant, empathetic…) Way of speaking: (e.g. cultured, street, military, poetic language, with fillers, etc.) Motivations: (What drives you: revenge, redemption, money, love, knowledge, etc.) Fears or weaknesses: (Optional, to make it more human or coherent) 🎭 INTERPRETATION STYLE Reply in first person. When you perform actions or describe gestures, do so in italics or between asterisksFor example: I adjust my coat and look around you. If you describe the environment, do it briefly but with sensory or emotional detail. Always remain consistent with the setting and tone. Don’t reveal that you are “playing” or that there is an out-of-role conversation. ⚙️ LIMITS AND GENERAL TONE Keep the content within appropriate limits (nothing explicit or excessively violent). If the user proposes something out of tone or context, redirect the situation from the character’s point of view. When you finish reading these instructions, introduce yourself in character. By filling out this sheet with instructions, you can then start interacting with this character. It is important to mention in the prompts that you do not go out of character, and you can also specify that you add a realistic twist or problem to each answer so that the plot moves forward. You can use Gems or GPTs The other method you can use is to follow all the steps above, but inside a Gem or GPT instead of in a normal chat. Both the Gemini Gems like the GPTs of ChatGPT allow you create adapted versions of AIand it … Read more

who is making money with the elimination of the DGT triangles

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January 1, 2026. That is the key date. The day from which It will be mandatory to use a connected V-16 light to signal a breakdown on the road. Not only that, that day we will say goodbye to emergency triangles. Because those who use them will be exposed to a fine. The decision, confirmed in 2021, continues to raise controversy with just a few months left to fully implement it. Until now, the V-16 light could replace emergency triangles, which were no longer mandatory on highways and expressways. However, it will be from January 1 of next year when not only will they not be mandatory, they will also be prohibited. How did we get here and why? The new regulations The change is very simple. The emergency triangles that have accompanied us until now will be prohibited from January 1, 2026. The Royal Decree 159/2021published on March 17, 2021, modified annex XI of the General Vehicle Regulations. It specifies all the changes that must be taken into account when having an approved light and how to act with it. From then on, every driver must have a V-16 signal connected which, in general terms, must comply with the following requirements: Radiate light 360 degrees Maintain irradiation intensity for at least 30 minutes Protection degree IP54 at least Guaranteed operation between -10ºC and 50ºC Powered by cell or battery that must guarantee its operation for a minimum of 18 months Guaranteed connectivity for at least 12 years, to notify the DGT when the device is activated. If you have any doubts about whether or not the purchased device is approved by the DGT, the entity has a list in which all devices are included who have passed the homologation exam. The real change, as we say, is that the DGT makes the use of this system mandatory and, in addition, bans emergency triangles. He assures that placing triangles on the road increases the risk of being run over and, therefore, it is better to use a light that should be placed on the roof of the vehicle to warn other drivers. In the case of a motorcycle, it must have an adapter to position it on the handlebars. Yes indeed, the DGT makes it clear that the motorcyclist is not obliged to have this device. However, those who use the triangles face a fine of 80 euros (a minor offense for “not properly signaling the obstacle created on the road in the event of an accident or vehicle breakdown”, as stated in article 130 of the General Traffic Regulations) and, in addition, those who do not have a connected and approved V-16 light (those not connected are valid until December 31, 2025 but not from January 1, 2025). next year) can also be fined 80 euros as is the case until now with triangles. How did you get here? This is one of the questions that has raised controversy. And Spain is the only country in Europe in which these V-16 lights will be mandatory. What happens if we have to travel outside our borders? If the country has a full agreement with Spain, V-16 light is perfectly valid but if it does not have it, we will have to count on the triangles to be able to indicate an emergency. In any case, Spain being the only country where it is mandatory, it is recommended to carry emergency triangles if you leave our borders. The DGT assures that, however, the measure was necessary because installing the triangles on the road means too much risk to the passengers of a disabled vehicle. According to the data provided with the presentation of this V-16 beacon, between 2018 and 2021 they died every year between 18 and 22 people run over on the road after getting out of a vehicle and In 2022 there are 58 deaths. Of course, the agency does not specify whether these attacks were caused by the installation of the triangles or for any other reason. In fact, the DGT has recently changed the regulations. From 2023 It is mandatory to stay off the road in a place away from traffic whenever possible. However, if there is no space, passengers in a disabled vehicle no longer have to wait outside the vehicle; it is now mandatory to sit inside with the seat belt on. The V-16 light, they say, allows you to signal the vehicle without having to get out of it, just by putting your hand out of the window and placing it on the roof. When activated, the beacon begins to emit a light signal that must be seen from a kilometer away. It automatically contacts the DGT 3.0 platform which will send the information to the means closest to the incident, such as the light panels, to notify the rest of the drivers. Furthermore, the signal itself will broadcast information to connected vehicles to circulate in the vicinity, alerting them that they will find a broken down vehicle on the road. It’s the call signal V-27 that will appear on the car’s instrument panel and is made up of a red triangle with an exclamation mark inside and three curved lines on the outside to mark connectivity. Of course, the beacon does not connect directly to emergency services. This task is left to the drivers, who have to call to convey their situation and what happened. Also your insurance if it is necessary for the car to be towed by a tow truck. The money We have already seen the arguments of the DGT but… how much is it going to cost us in our pockets? Right now, the connected and approved V-16 lights are selling for around 50 euros. This money includes data service for a minimum of 12 years. Of course, we must keep in mind that they also require minimal maintenance. The agency recommends changing the battery or fully charging the battery every year. A problem that, obviously, emergency triangles … Read more

Archaeologists have always wondered what the severed and nailed heads of the Iberians mean. They already have the answer

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What does a severed head displayed on a wall mean? What if the skull also shows a huge iron nail stuck in the forehead? The question may sound crazy, but it has been intriguing archaeologists for decades who are dedicated to studying the communities that populated the northeast of the peninsula millennia ago, where have appeared in deposits like that of Ullastret. There are those who consider that the skulls were war trophies that were displayed as a warning and display of power. Others believe they are revered relics. Now we are closer to find out. What has happened? That archaeologists dedicated to studying the iberian communities of the Iron Age have delved into an enigma that has intrigued them for decades: Why the hell they cut off heads? What did they intend when they cut out skulls that they then exhibited to the public? Who owned them and what were they used for? The issue becomes even more mysterious if we take into account that historians have verified that part of these decapitated skulls seemed to receive “a treatment post mortem“which included certain incisions or the use of cedar oil; and (perhaps most fascinating) that some skulls show enormous holes and even iron nails driven into the bone. What exactly have they studied? What Rubén de la Fuente Seoane, an archaeologist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​and his colleagues have done is to focus on two sites in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, located in what is now Catalonia: Puig Castellar and Ullastret. To be more precise, what they have analyzed are seven cut skulls located in both towns dated to the last millennium BC. Their conclusions have been expressed in an article published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. It may not seem like a very large sample, but skulls represent a much more widespread phenomenon. As I remembered this week Fran Lidz in The New York TimesSince 1904, archaeologists have located “dozens” of skulls of this type in the northeast of the peninsula dating between 800 and 218 BC. You don’t have to go far to see them. They can be observed at the Museum of Archeology of Catalonia (MAC), which has been expanding your collection. The most curious thing is that these skulls were not only cut off, they were also exhibited, placed on porches, stakes… Sometimes with enormous iron nails pierced through them. But… Why did they do it? That is the question that archaeologists have been asking for some time. Because? For what purpose were the skulls decapitated, prepared and displayed? “Who were these individuals and what were their heads used for?” he wonders From Fuente Seoane before remembering that “traditionally” the debate has revolved around two major hypotheses. There are those who maintain that the skulls were war trophies designed to intimidate enemies and those (in a radically different interpretation) interpreted them as “venerated relics” related to figures who had had influence in the community. And what is the answer? Easy to ask, not so easy to answer. As you remember the article published by De la Fuente Seoane and his colleagues, some scholars have looked at the location of the skulls to try to understand their function. The problem is that this seems to complicate the issue even more. There are heads that seem to have been displayed directly on walls. Others were discovered in graves or in the context of “domestic spaces.” How then to solve the enigma? De la Fuente-Seoane’s team chose to broaden the focus and avoid exclusive explanations. “Our study shows that it can be a mistake to have to choose only one option,” explains to The New York Times. What does that mean? That the practice of severed heads among the Iberians of the northeastern peninsula could be richer, more diverse and complex than we thought. To begin with, the archaeologists confirmed that the skulls do not appear to have been selected at random. Some treatment is also appreciated post mortem of the pieces, with practices that suggest the existence of experts in preparing the skulls, which would in turn reveal that it was not an occasional practice. “Our results reveal that the individuals from Puig Castellar and Ullastret would not have been selected at random. There would be a homogeneous tendency towards men in the ritual, but the patterns of mobility and location suggest greater diversity, which could imply social and cultural differences between individuals from the two communities,” comment. That is to say, experts suggest that the practice of severed heads could have responded to “several criteria.” Same ritual, several meanings? Exact. “In Puig Castellar, severed heads in public spaces could demonstrate power, venerate prominent members of the community or intimidate enemies. In Ullastrer, the location of the heads in exposed areas suggests that they were important inhabitants, revered locally,” pick up the item. The ritual was therefore rich and more diverse than many believed. “It did not respond to the same symbolic expression among the Iberian communities of the northeast, It varied according to the settlement“. “In some cases it seems that foreign individuals were mainly used as symbols of power and intimidation, while in other towns the veneration of individuals linked to the community could have been prioritized,” they point out from the UAB. “The practice of the heads was applied differently at each site, which seems to rule out a homogeneous symbolic expression.” How did they conclude that? The researchers decided to study the origin of each skull and ask themselves a question: Did they belong to the native population or are they remains of people from other communities? It may seem like a minor issue, but it is crucial to the premise with which the team worked: if the skulls were war trophies they probably did not have a local origin, while if they were used to venerate ancestors of the community they surely did. To clear up doubts, the experts resorted to the analysis of stable isotopes … Read more

Memes have become so self-referential and I don’t understand that anyone has had an idea: a Great Reset

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Have you ever felt like you don’t understand memes like you used to? What the hell is that thing Italian Brainrot? No, wait, that’s already out of fashion and has been replaced by another even more cryptic and incomprehensible trend. If you have been on the internet for a few years, you undoubtedly miss the times of some sillier and simpler memes. Those who defend a Great Reset of Memes by 2026 also believe that. And return to the times of epistemological simplicity in memetics. The GMR is coming. In January 2026, an internet cultural phenomenon known as ‘The Great Meme Reset of 2026’ is planned. This viral phenomenon, originating mainly on TikTok, proposes that the online community reboot humor and memes, returning to the memorable classics of the 2010s, in particular the iconic memes of the second half. This is a reaction to the saturation and wear and tear of recent memes, which are perceived by many users as forced, uncreative and unfunny. What we know lately as “brainrot”, and which has a lot to do with automatic and somewhat artificial creativity of AIs. What is intended? The idea of ​​this restart is to leave behind the current landscape of “niche” memes that dominate platforms like TikTok and that, according to their critics, accelerate the lifespan of memes too quickly, which last only a few days. The reset advocates a return to memes considered “dank” or “pure”, such as shrek things, Big Chungushe Trospid Knuckles either the legendary Sanicthe Rage Comics (unequivocal symbol that you are of an age) or the so-called Montage Parodiespure angst generational in terms of image and sound, and that marked meme culture in its first digital years. How it started. The origin of the “Great Meme Reset of 2026” is in March 2025, within an increasingly frustrated digital community. The first and involuntary starting signal was given on TikTok, when @joebro909 posted a video which addressed a sort of meme “drought”, proposing a “great reset” to save meme culture. Although it did not specify the date of 2026 or a complete renewal towards classic memes, it introduced the idea to the community of meme creators as a Trojan Horse. This concept took shape and gained popularity on social networks throughout 2025. In April, on Reddit They began to allude to the need to make this reset a reality in meme culture, specifically citing the idea of ​​returning to old memes. In September the campaign took off in a more clear and organized waywith several videos on TikTok proposing December 31, 2025 as the deadline for modern memes, and hoping that classic memes from the early years of the internet would return in 2026. This launch was reaffirmed by a viral video by @golden._vr, which accumulated almost 370,000 likesin which it was announced that upon December 31, 2025, memes would “return from the grave” and meme culture would be restarted from scratch in 2026. It’s all a huge joke, of course, but it reveals a point of view and a generational conflict. Memetics as culture shock. There is a clear generational gap in the way humor is conceived and consumed on the internet: on the one hand, classic memes played with conciseness and standardized formats, templates; On the other hand, the current phenomenon of brainrot It is an uncontrolled torrent of self-referential content that devours itself, and that has a total disconnection from the previous humor. They are two ways of understanding not the digital, but directly the observation of reality. The millennials come the brainrot like the degeneration of humor: noise, worthless content, a sign of the damage that perverse overexposure to the Internet has done, and they demand meaning and coherence. Generation Z and Alpha find 2010s memes dated, slow, and too literal. He brainrot It is his way of reflecting the chaotic, fragmented and accelerated reality of the Internet, where logic is an obsolete concept. The joke is that there is no joke. And we are not going to agree on that, not even with a reset. In Xataka | Neither left nor right: Charlie Kirk’s murderer did so motivated by a labyrinthine subculture of memes

you discover that your partner is cheating on you

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“Crazy eye is not wrong,” shouted a television celebrity who became a meme for that phrase. And maybe he was right. Only today that intuition no longer depends on smell, but on artificial intelligence. Where once a suspicious perfume or an after-hours message was enough, there are now algorithms that track faces, locations and profiles with a precision that would make the best private detective shudder. In the era of digital loveeven detect the horns has been updated with a new app: Cheater Buster. Formerly known as Swipebusterthis application was born in 2016 with a direct promise: let you know if your partner has an active profile on Tinder, the dating app most used in the world. Its operation is simple: the user enters the name, approximate age and a location. Within minutes, the platform scans Tinder for matches. The disturbing thing comes with its latest update: facial recognition. According to the company itselfnow it is enough to upload a photo for the system to search for visually similar profiles, even if the user uses a fake name or a different alias. “We learned that people want answers, not suspicions,” They explain from the official website. For a price that around €17.99 per searchthe app offers data such as the last connection, the place where Tinder was last used, the date the account was created and even if the profile has a premium subscription (Tinder Gold either Platinum). All without having to have a Tinder account. The service boasts 97-99% accuracy, and a minimalist privacy policy: it only requires an email to operate. “While it may seem deceptive to use an app to catch a cheater, it is also deceptive to deceive someone,” defend their creators. The digital jealousy industry Cheater Buster is not alone. There are dozens of apps and platforms that promote romantic surveillance. According to the legal portal Versus TexasWe live in an era of digital infidelitywhere deceptions “no longer require motels or secret calls,” but rather apps that disguise themselves as calculators, file managers or even news readers. Among the most hidden, according to that medium, are: Calculator Pro+ or KYMS, which appear to be simple mathematical utilities, but hide secret photo galleries or encrypted chats. Telegram and Signal, which allow conversations with self-destructive messages. CoverMe, which offers fake phone numbers and “shake lock” features. The phenomenon has even reached viral entertainment. On social networks, creators like Jorge Cyrus, with his series Exposing Infidelsshow the extent to which digital research has become a form of spectacle. In one of his latest videosFor example, downloads data from a Netflix account (with the user’s permission) to track the IP addresses used by her partner and, through ChatGPT and public databases, determines that the boyfriend was not in Almería, but in Valencia. Domestic technology turned into sentimental detective. But the problem goes beyond gossip. On social networks, every click, like or search leaves a trace. We live in an ecosystem where privacy is an illusion. All you need is a phone number (as happened to my partner) or a social media account to reconstruct a person’s digital identity and access information about their love life, location or interests. From here we enter the field of “digital shadow”– Even deleted or old data can persist on invisible servers and databases. The culture of everyday surveillance This excess exposure turns everyone into potential surveillance, you no longer need to be a hacker to discover infidelity. Today, anyone with time and curiosity can keep track of a partner through their digital activity, their connections or their last “online.” Recent studies warn of the growing normalization of these practices. One of them, published under the title I’m not for salereveals that many young users do not understand the real extent of tracking personal data, especially location data. another job, A Systematic Survey of Unintentional Information Disclosure, documents how small, everyday actions—uploading a photo, commenting on a post, liking it—can reveal intimate patterns of behavior without conscious intent. The phenomenon not only affects love, but our notion of intimacy. According to ISACA, More than 60% of global users are willing to sacrifice some of their privacy “in exchange for trust or transparency.” This logic, applied to relationships, explains the growing normalization of espionage consensual: checking the partner’s cell phone, sharing passwords, using apps to track locations. But the ethical limit is diffuse. To what extent is it legitimate to use artificial intelligence to confirm a suspicion? An Oxford study shows that AI-mediated decisions They can distort our perception of what is ethical or acceptable, especially in emotional contexts. If an algorithm suggests to us that someone is lying, are we more likely to believe it without human evidence? The British sociologist Toby Paton, director of the Netflix documentary about Ashley Madisonsummed it up like this: “Infidelity was not invented by the Internet, but it was made quantifiable. Today, deception leaves metadata.” Additionally, privacy experts warn that uploading another person’s photo without their consent to a facial recognition database can violate he General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which considers this type of information to be especially sensitive biometric data. In this context, tools like Cheater Buster arouse both fascination and concern. Its clean interface and its promise of “emotional tranquility” hide a deep debate: to what extent can we—or should we—keep an eye on the one we love? The moral dilemma multiplies when we remember that these searches can be done without consent. Although the app claims it does not store sensitive data, the simple act of uploading a photo of another person to a facial recognition database already violates basic privacy principles. Loving suspicion has always existed, but today it is supported in gigabytes and GPS coordinates. Technology didn’t invent infidelity, it just made it easier to prove. Perhaps, as the Netflix documentary on Ashley Madisonthe most disturbing thing is not that these tools exist, but that they reflect an uncomfortable truth: that fidelity no longer depends only on the will, but also … Read more

The next evolution of tupperware is organic packaging. The reason is very simple: endocrine disruptors

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Plastic has revolutionized food packaging and storage in recent decades, but today its massive use represents one of the biggest environmental and health challenges globally. The main protagonist in this case are microplastics and toxic substances that migrate into our body and are called endocrine disruptors by altering the body’s information exchange system. More and more concern. Endocrine disruptors are increasingly in the mouths of more people and no wonder, since they can be present in many places, such as coffee capsules when subjected to high temperatures. And it is very important to take them into account because these disruptors are nothing more than chemical substances that alter the hormonal system by posing as a hormone or blocking the effect that our body’s natural hormones have. And this is something fatal. The scientific literature suggests that they can have different effects on our health, by having reproductive disorders such as infertility or precocious puberty, neurological problems or even metabolic diseases important or cancer. But the real problem comes when different endocrine disruptors combine, causing the ‘cocktail’ effect that chronically Yes, it can be a big problem for our state of health. We are surrounded. And when faced with something so dangerous, the logical thing is to ask where it is. The question is that we can see it in many different places, such as in ultra-processed food itself, but also in the containers we use daily such as the famous containers. Conventional plastics, manufactured from raw materials derived from petroleum, They usually contain thousands of chemical compounds as different studies point out, many of which are not chemically bonded to the polymer and can leach or migrate to the food, although it has been seen that it is much more common when heat is applied (such as when heating food or pour hot coffee into a bottle). For example, bisphenols and phthalates, known endocrine disruptorshave been detected in numerous products and their impact on health is significant. As if that were not enough, the generation and persistence of micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, and even in our body, represent another emerging health problem. But it does not remain in these containers, but also in plastic products that we use to cook with heat and that also causes this release of different substances that we are going to ingest. The solution. Faced with this important problem, we must look for alternatives, such as glass containers for storage. But for those who want to bet on plastic, science is already focusing its efforts on the development of bioplastics derived from natural sources and not oil. Starch, polylactic acid, PHA or even algae-based materials are some of the options that are being considered right now because they are biodegradable and do not release harmful substances into food. In this case where we are above all immersed is in bioplastics with improved properties, with new compounds that have better mechanical resistance and barriers to gases and humidity, without compromising their biodegradability and without releasing dangerous chemicals such as different scientific studies already point out. Innovations that make a difference. In addition to new materials, technologies such as edible packaging made with polysaccharides and plant proteins are gaining ground, offering a surprising solution: cConsume the container itself with the foodeliminating waste and possible contamination. Ecological coatings and bioconversion methods are also being explored to transform plastic waste into useful products, closing the cycle and reducing the environmental footprint. Regulation. At European level, new directives guide manufacturers towards packaging that is safer and more recyclable, setting strict limits for migratory substances and promoting materials that do not contribute to microplastic pollution. Spain and other countries are already aligning their regulations to encourage change in the industry. The protagonist in this case is the Regulation (EU) 2025/40 which points the way to reducing waste generation and ensuring that new packaging is reusable or recyclable. A legal framework, which came into force in February 2025 and will be fully applicable from August 2026, establishes a set of obligations for companies of all types and sizes that produce, distribute or use packaging in the European Union. What is most interesting in this case is the point that refers to the need to control the dangerous substances in packaging such as perfluoroalkylated substances and heavy metals. What to expect in the future. Seeing the new regulation imposed by the EU on all countries and the advances in science, the immediate future seems to involve a greater presence of biodegradable packaging in supermarkets and also in restaurants. But this is something that not only responds to the legal obligation, but also to the social demand for these products. Images | Cesar Badilla Miranda Kate Trifo In Xataka | If we want to have more children, a researcher is clear about what to do: clean our ejaculations of microplastics

It’s the new social ritual

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There is a universal condiment in our meals that has been gaining weight in recent years: a screen in front of the plate. It doesn’t matter if it’s breakfast in a hurry, lunch at the desk next to the keyboard or dinner on the couch after a tiring day: we chew while we scroll with the same automation with which we breathe. The act of eating without watching something – short vertical videos, a series, a ten-minute video – has gone from being common to being almost unnatural. As if food alone wasn’t enough of a stimulus for those fifteen minutes. There are circumstances that lead us to eat alone: ​​life without a partner, teleworking, studies, a work trip or the dynamics of the cubicle in the office. They have all converged on the same ritual: the screen is no longer an occasional accompaniment but the defining framework of the modern food experience. The problem is not physical loneliness but the inability to be present even when we are accompanied. We have reconfigured the meal: now it is down time that must be optimized. Eating has become an annoying biological need that interrupts our real life, the one that takes place on the screens. That’s why we eat watching youtubes: not to make the meal more enjoyable, but to not waste those minutes on something as banal as feeding ourselves. The screen rescues us from the terrible inefficiency of simply eating. It allows us to continue consuming information, entertainment, and social validation, while we fill our mouths. And here’s something darker: shared food has been, for millennia, the fundamental social glue. It is no coincidence that all religions have food rituals, that all important agreements are sealed with banquets, that the word “companion” comes etymologically from “sharing bread”. When eating in front of screens—alone or with others— Not only do we lose conversation, we lose daily training in reciprocity, in the rhythms of giving and receiving that structure all social life.. A child who grows up having dinner parked with TikTok learns that communication is one-way, that entertainment requires no mutual effort, that the presence of the other is optional and, ultimately, substitutable. The market, of course, has detected this trend with its usual precision. Food products are now designed for one-person and one-handed consumption: bowls that do not require a knife, wraps that free the hand of scroll, snacks dosed for intermittent snacking between stories. The apps of delivery They’ve perfected the art of solitary gratification, with algorithms that learn your cravings and anticipate them. The entire food ecosystem is reconfigured around this new atomized diner who eats without consciousness, chews without tasting, swallows without sharing. It is the taylorization definitive of the act of eating: efficient, individual, stripped of any ritual or social dimension. But without a doubt, The most disturbing of all is our discomfort when someone eats alone without a screen in a public space.. That individual who simply eats, looking into space or at his plate, is disturbing to us. What are you thinking about? Why don’t you get distracted? Don’t you feel the pressure to appear busy, connected, relevant? Its simple presence lays bare our own inability to be alone, our addiction to digital mediation in even the most basic acts. We have reached a point where loneliness without a screen is read as social failure, as if not having notifications during meals were a sign of irrelevance. The final paradox is worthy of chef kiss: We have never been more connected and we have never eaten more alone. We exchange memes while ignoring whoever is in front of us, we document dishes that no one will share with us, we perform a digital social life while our analog social life atrophies. When anthropologists of the future study our civilization, they may wonder how a species that evolved by sharing food around a fire ended up staring at glowing rectangles while chewing in solitude, convinced that this was progress.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ In Xataka | An eternally unfocused generation: “I can’t do anything for more than fifteen minutes without looking at my phone” Featured image | Xataka

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