Month: December 2025

Three high-end mobile phones at knockdown prices, the Asus Xbox is now on sale and more, Bargain Hunting before Christmas

by

There is less than a week left until Christmas arrives and many stores have launched numerous campaigns and offers focused on this holiday. In the new Bargain Hunting of the week we are going to review the best deals on mobile phones, consoles, headphones and more that we have seen all week and that, of course, are still available. Asus Rog Xbox Ally by 499 eurosthe consolidated PC of the two brands is now available on sale. Google Pixel 10 by 764.15 eurosa very reasonable price for one of the two best Google phones. AirPods 4 by 149 eurosthe same (official) price as headphones without noise cancellation. nintendo switch 2 by 469 eurosthe console pack that includes the Super Mario video game. Ring Indoor Camera 2 by 24.99 eurosAmazon’s indoor surveillance camera at half price. Asus Rog Xbox Ally Last October the Asus Rog Xbox Ally It arrived in stores in style considering that we are talking about a very interesting collaboration in order to play video games on a consolidated PC. By 499 euros (before 599 euros), it is a fairly complete device: processor Ryzen Z2 from AMD, 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and IPS anti-glare screen 7 inches with 120 Hz refresh rate. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel 10 If there are some mobile phones that have received a huge number of offers in recent weeks, they are those from Google. MediaMarkt right now has them with a double of discounts through a direct discount and the coupon “MM15GOOGLEPIXEL“, which must be entered before processing the purchase. The Google Pixel 10 Pro is the one that has the best quality-price ratio at the cost 764.15 euros instead of 1,079 euros. However, the rest of the mobile phones have also received very good discounts. If you want to take a look at them, these are their prices: Google Pixel 10 Pro (128GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links AirPods 4 If you are looking for good Bluetooth headphones, especially TWS, be careful because the AirPods 4 have fallen to 149 euros (before 199 euros) at PcComponentes. We are talking about the same price – in this official case – as the same headphones without noise cancellation. This model sold by PcComponentes does comes with active noise cancellationin addition to a good battery and spatial audio and conversation detection. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 Most of the offers that the nintendo switch 2 They have landed directly on AliExpress with Asian and some Spanish versions. Other stores like Amazon have also been lowering the price and right now you find one of the best: the Nintendo Switch 2 along with ‘Mario Kart World’ stays for 469 euros (previously 509 euros), the same price (again official) that the console had without a game when it was launched. And we talk about Nintendo’s most expensive video game. Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Ring Indoor Camera 2 If you are traveling during Christmas or any time afterward, it is good to have a good surveillance camera. The Ring Indoor Camera 2 Right now it is half price on Amazon, since it has dropped to 24.99 euros (before 49.99 euros). It is an indoor camera that has two-way communication, is compatible with Alexa, offers HD resolution and can be placed on the stand or on a wall. Ring Indoor Camera 2nd Gen 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 | Asus, Google, Apple, Nintendo, Amazon In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2025), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best wireless headphones. Which one to buy and 21 models from 15 euros to 470 euros

Europe has finally approved how to help Ukraine. The great paradox is that the most unexpected vote has been imposed: that of Russia

by

Europe has finally closed an agreement to guarantee financing for Ukraine for the next two years through a loan of 90,000 million of euros backed by the common budget of the Union, a decision taken after more than 16 hours of negotiations in Brussels and under explicit pressure to avoid a financial collapse of kyiv at the beginning of 2026. In the background, a crystal clear idea: Russia has imposed its “vote”. The lifeguard and a pulse. The pact comes at a particularly delicate moment, with the United States and Russia advancing conversations parallels about a possible end to the war and with Trump publicly urging Ukraine to accept a quick agreement. For European leaders, the loan is not just an economic instrument, but a way to reaffirm that the EU wants and needs to have its own voice in any outcome of the most serious conflict experienced on the continent in the last eight decades. The political message is clear: Europe cannot stand by while others decide the future of Ukraine and, by extension, its own security. The failure of the ideal plan. For months, Brussels’ preferred option was to use the fences of 210,000 million euros in Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe as collateral for a large “reparations” loan for Ukraine, a formula that made it possible to finance the war effort and the functioning of the Ukrainian state without directly resorting to European taxpayers’ money. The idea was powerful, both economically as symbolically: that Russia would pay, at least indirectly, for the destruction caused by its invasion. However, the plan fell apart at the last moment, a victim of the legal, financial and political risks involved in touching that capital, above all and as we told yesterdayfor a handful of countries. Russia, in fact, has already initiated legal action denouncing an illegal confiscation, and fear of economic or judicial reprisals grew as the decisive summit approached. Bucha and the passing of the war A pragmatic agreement. Faced with the impossibility of closing ranks around the use of frozen assets, France and Italy led a more pragmatic alternative: use the common EU budget to issue debt on the markets and channel the funds to Ukraine. The result is a two year loan which guarantees immediate liquidity to kyiv, although it is more expensive and less scalable than the original option. To achieve consensus, a complex political architecture was also accepted: Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will not assume obligations direct financial measures, a key condition to avoid an internal blockage. Still, the agreement was presented as a minimal but necessary victory. Ukraine gets the money it needs to survive and Europe avoids a picture of total paralysis at a critical moment. The resilience narrative. From kyiv, Zelenskiy celebrated the agreement as a real reinforcement of Ukrainian resilience, underscoring both the arrival of funds and the fact that Russian assets remain tied up. For the Ukrainian president, the combination it is essential: short-term financial security and sustained strategic pressure on Moscow. Zelenskiy had defended the use of frozen assets until the last moment, appealing to moral, legal and historical justice criteria, but he accepted the compromise. like a lesser evil facing the existential risk of running out of resources. The EU, for its part, insists that Ukraine will only have to repay the loan when Russia pays reparationsa formula that keeps the narrative of Russian responsibility alive without yet crossing the line of direct confiscation. Belgium and type C accounts. It we explained yesterday. In the background of the agreement there was a key actor: Belgium. Most of the Russian money frozen in Europe is there, guarded through critical financial infrastructure like Euroclear and linked to mechanisms such as called type C accountsdesigned precisely to immobilize assets without transferring ownership. Brussels demanded “unlimited” guarantees against possible Russian demands and retaliation, a level of protection that the rest of the partners were not willing to assume. The final result, although presented as a European commitment, essentially coincides with what was best for Moscow: that its sovereign capital not be confiscated or used as direct collateral. Russia loses access to the money, but retains the fundamental principle that these funds remain formally its own, avoiding a far-reaching legal precedent. If you also want, indirectly, Europe has chosen the safest path for itself and, at the same time, the least disruptive for the Kremlin. Europe and its limitations. So things are, the agreement leaves an ambivalent feeling. On the one hand, it shows that the EU is capable of mobilizing massive resources to support Ukraine and prevent its financial collapse in the middle of the war. On the other hand, it exposes again structural limitations of the European project when it comes to quick and risky decisions in foreign policy and security. The plan based on Russian assets promised to be more forceful and transformative, and the loan backed by the common budget is more conservativeslower and more politically comfortable. In a context in which Washington presses for an agreement and Russia hopes to buy time, Europe has chosen legal stability and internal cohesion over a direct financial confrontation with Moscow. Ukraine thus receives the oxygen it needs. The strategic pulse, however, is far from resolved. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | Ukraine’s biggest problem is not Russia. There are three European countries trapped in a perverse mechanism: type C accounts In Xataka | A Soviet missile is destroying Ukraine’s helicopters. The paradox is that it is not from Russia: it comes from the West

The great Christmas revolution in Spain is not the millions of LED lights: it is the rise of "Good afternoon" and "New Year’s Eve"

by

Don’t look for them in the RAE dictionary because academics have not yet found a place for them there, but over the last few years two words have been making their way into the national Christmas lexicon: “good afternoon and new year’s afternoon”. Just like Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the canonical celebrations they have begun to complement. Actually both terms are self-explanatory: good afternoon and old afternoon They are nothing other than lateness (a phenomenon upward) transferred to the festivities of December 24 and 31. It’s that simple, that effective. The formula has caught on to such an extent in recent years that it has gone from being a diffuse and spontaneous phenomenon to a settled reality that moves thousands of peopleis organized with weeks in advancehas the institutional endorsement of the town councils and gives an extra boost to the coffers of the hoteliers. New times, new traditions. Christmas is (almost by definition) synonymous with tradition, but that doesn’t mean it’s immutable. On the contrary. Over the last few years, the holidays have been enriched with new habits that, through repetition, have already become established in Spanish ‘Christmas lore’: lighting parties of the lights, the fights between city councils to erect XXL luminous trees, the ‘pre-grapes’ and of course the good afternoon and old afternoon. New celebrations that take over from others that falter. ¿Good afternoon and old afternoon? Exact. Two expanding trends that are practically self-explanatory. The good afternoon and old afternoon They are nothing other than the adaptation of the late to the two big Christmas events: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The party no longer starts at night, with a copious dinner. It begins at noon and in the afternoon, with celebrations that usually leave homes and move to public spaces such as restaurants, bars, streets and squares. It is not about replacing the family dinner on the 24th or the one that precedes the 12 bells on the 31st, but rather about rethinking the celebration with friends and family, adjusting their schedules to bring them forward towards the afternoon (even at noon) in a ‘challenge’ to the traditional dinners that go on forever and the old party favors. A proven success. It may seem simple, but it works. If you open Google and type “New Year’s Eve” You will basically find two things: announcements from town councils that inform about their celebrations (the list is extensive: Petrer, Cartagena, Torremolinos, Boadilla del Monte, Two Sisters, Fuenlabrada…) and articles of regional newspapers that they count how the “previews” of December 24 and especially December 31 have gained popularity over the years. “It’s like reliving a day of the Pilar Festival in the middle of Christmas. A terrifying vermouth, but with wonderful billing,” explained last year to the newspaper ‘Heraldo’ a hotelier from Zaragoza who told how the good afternoon and old afternoon They have carved out a niche for themselves in December. There is nothing written about how to celebrate them, but the most common thing is that the afternoons start in the hours before dinner, even around noon (about one or even a little before), and continue for hours, until eight. In Xataka Nougat has always been the most popular and democratic sweet at Christmas. Now it’s becoming a luxury Searching for the causes. that the old afternoon is gaining strength precisely now and not eight, ten or eleven years ago is no coincidence. Although it is not easy to determine the reasons that explain why a trend succeeds, the truth is that the boom in Christmas “previews” is preceded by factors that have paved the way for it. The first (obvious) is the expansion of late in Spain. Whether causality or not, as the population pyramid of the country is thinning at the base and widening in the age group between 30 and 50, evening leisure has been gaining weight. That is, venues willing to offer experiences similar to those at night parties, only at an afternoon time that prevents the client from staying up late or waking up the next morning exhausted and hungover. The legacy of COVID. Another factor that helps understand the success of the good afternoon either old afternoon It’s the pandemic. COVID not only forced us to spend weeks confined at home, it also (and perhaps because of that) rediscovered the pleasure of going out and enjoying the streets and terraces, which is precisely where they are celebrated the afternoons of December 24 and 31. This is how hoteliers explained it to them in 2024. The Digital Confidential in an article in which it was stated that attendance at the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve previews shot up by 25% in just two years. {“videoId”:”x80zm7f”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”How your TOWN or CITY has changed in 40 years: this is the NEW GOOGLE EARTH feature”, “tag”:””, “duration”:”135″} Is there more? Yes. To all of the above, other equally important keys can be added, such as families being less willing to spend hours between stoves or the increase in ordered dishes to restaurants. If we enjoy more leisure on the afternoons of the 24th and 31st, it is simply because we organize ourselves differently on those days and we are less tied to the kitchens. Another key is the advantages to organize midday and afternoon plans instead of long dinners, especially if there are children involved. How icing is it the bet what have they done not a few town councils by the evening parties, especially in small towns where the afternoon has become an opportunity to celebrate (in community and with music) Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. Images | Gijón City Council, Fuenlabrada City Council In Xataka |It has always been said that the King of Spain plays Gordo with the number 00000. There is a part of truth and part of a lie (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 = … Read more

While cars are becoming more expensive in Europe, they are only going down in China. The Government has had to take measures

by

Despite how they are sweeping brands outside of Chinain its domestic market there is voracious competition among all car manufacturers, which has led to an uncontrolled discount trend. For this reason, China’s market regulator has published a draft of guidelines to regulate prices in the automobile industry, seeking to stop the destructive price war that has shaken the sector in recent years. The country’s major manufacturers, including BYD, Xpeng, Great Wall Motors, Chery and BAIC, have publicly expressed their support for these new rules. The origin of the problem. According to data Cited by Wang Xia, chairman of the Automobile Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, more than 200 vehicle models recorded price reductions in the domestic market during 2024. In May, the situation worsened even more when leading manufacturers applied massive discounts that exceeded 50,000 yuan (about 6,300 euros), while some vehicles were sold for as little as 30,000 yuan. This spiral of cuts has forced some small manufacturers to leave the market and has deteriorated the profitability of the sector. What the guidelines propose. The document from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), published on December 12 and open to public consultation until the 22nd of this month, establish clear requirements for both manufacturers and dealers. Manufacturers must set prices based on production costs and market conditions, respecting the price autonomy of distributors. On the other hand, according to the document, selling below the production cost with the aim of eliminating competitors or achieving a monopoly position is prohibited, as well as price-fixing agreements between manufacturers. Dealers, for their part, must show complete and transparent prices, without false price references or misleading discounts. The reaction of the industry. BYD, the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, issued an official statement committing to follow the guidelines and optimize their internal price management systems. Xpeng, Nio and other manufacturers released similar statements supporting both the pricing guidelines and other complementary regulations on financing that facilitates the change of vehicle by reducing penalties for early loan repayment. Between the lines. The word “involution” has appeared more than once and twice in China’s hectic domestic vehicle market. Therefore, the Government wants to confront this idea with this new series of price regulations. The authorities They had already tried to stop the price war in June, when they summoned the CEOs of the major electric vehicle manufacturers to warn them about the abusive cuts. However, prices continued to fall: according to account Bloomberg with data collected by China Auto Market, BYD’s average transaction price fell from 116,200 yuan in June to 108,100 yuan in October. The transition aims to be complicated, since according to Bloomberg, there is a persistent weakness in demand, especially in luxury combustion vehicles. The middle account In addition, there are already manufacturers adapting these measures, offering more equipment for the same price or selling large SUVs at the price of smaller models. And now what. Following the public consultation period, which ends on December 22, the guidelines are expected to be formalized and play a key role. November already showed signs of stabilization, with 19 models with price cuts compared to 26 the previous year, according to ChinaEVHome. It remains to be seen if these regulations end up alleviating two of the most serious problems of this industry in China: excess productive capacity and weak demand. Cover image | BYD In Xataka | When the United States handed over its entire electrical grid to Chinese devices it seemed like a good idea. Now you have a problem

Windows is destroying even the cleanest and most minimalist thing it had because of AI: Notepad

by

For a long time, Windows Notepad was a program frozen in time. It received specific adjustments, such as font compatibility, status bar, zoom or new encoding options, but deep down it was still the same as always, the one that many of us return to precisely because of what it doesn’t have. A type of software that stands out more for its simplicity than for everything it could offer. After all, when you need something more complete, there are always alternatives, free or paid. However, for some reason, Microsoft has decided that the time has come to transform Notepad into something much more ambitious. And for some of its users, this leap forward is experienced more as a renunciation of its essence than as a real improvement. AI integrated into Notepad. It is not entirely clear why it would make sense to incorporate artificial intelligence functions in this program. If we are going to write an email, it is normal to do so in its corresponding application or web service. And if we want to write a text with a little more depth, within the Microsoft ecosystem the usual thing is to open Word. Still, Microsoft recently announced that Notepad would have three integrated AI tools. Write, to generate text. Rewrite, to rewrite existing content. And Summarize, to summarize texts. To these is now added a new feature called Streaming results for AI text features. No, it has nothing to do with streaming platforms. This is an experimental feature that sends chunks of information continuously, rather than waiting for the entire response to be ready. Something similar to watching live content instead of downloading it completely before starting. Until now, when we used Notepad’s AI functions, such as Write, Rewrite or Summarize, the system processed the request and displayed the final result in one go. With this change, content begins to be generated and displayed on the screen immediately after clicking, making the first fragments of text appear almost instantly. The tables also arrive. Again, if the idea is to work with tables, we will most likely use an application designed specifically for this. But Microsoft believes that Notepad should also cover that ground, and that is why it is already testing this function among users of the Windows Insider program. “Now you can easily insert tables into your document to structure your notes,” the company explains. AI everywhere. What happens with Notepad is not an isolated case, but a fairly clear reflection of Microsoft’s strategy with artificial intelligence, which involves integrating it into practically everything. Your productivity applications already incorporate AI across the board, from Word and Excel to PowerPoint and OneNote, within Microsoft 365. The same is true for your business software, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365. And the list continues to grow. AI is also present in Windows 11, in Microsoft Edge and, of course, in Microsoft Bing. What path should you follow? The underlying question is which path Microsoft should follow from here. The expansion of Copilot It fully fits into its strategy at a time when artificial intelligence has become the great axis of technological discourse. There will be users who celebrate these new features and others who receive them with much less enthusiasm. Images | Microsoft In Xataka | Gemini 3 Flash has surpassed GPT-5.2 Extra High in several benchmarks: Google has just changed the rules of the lightweight model

Adobe presents itself as a champion of creators in the age of AI. Lawsuit alleges he used copyrighted books

by

Adobe has built part of its artificial intelligence strategy on a very recognizable banner: protecting creators in a time of profound change. While other technology companies accumulated criticism for the origin of their data, the company presented itself as a responsible alternative. That position is now facing a lawsuit which focuses on the training of one of its models and the use of copyrighted works. The case is not an anomaly, but rather a reflection of a question that the industry has not yet been able to clearly answer. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of California and takes the form of a proposed class action. An author named Elizabeth Lyon accuses Adobe of using copyrighted books, including her own, to train the company’s AI models, with SlimLM at the center of the case, without permission. According to judicial documentation, these works would have been part of the training process of systems designed to respond to human instructions. Lyon claims to be acting on behalf of other rights holders who would find themselves in a similar situation. The great debate about data that trains AI To understand why this type of litigation is repeated with increasing frequency, it is worth taking a moment to look at how current artificial intelligence works. Beyond the visible applications, from chatbots to image generators, there are underlying models that act as the core of the system and learn from huge volumes of data. Generally speaking, more data can improve performance, although it is not the only factor. The problem appears when the key question arises about the origin of that information and the conditions under which it has been used. The model indicated in the lawsuit is not Firefly, Adobe’s best-known creative system, but SlimLMa family of smaller language models designed for specific tasks. These models are designed to assist users with document-related functions, especially on mobile devices. It is not an AI aimed at large-scale creative generation, but rather a system that operates in the background. That difference is relevant because it shows that the debate over training data is not limited to the most visible applications. According to the lawsuit, the conflict would not be in SlimLM as a final product, but in the data used during its training phase. Adobe has explained that these models were pre-trained with SlimPajama-627Ba open source data set published by Cerebras in June 2023. The court brief maintains that SlimPajama derives from RedPajama, another dataset widely used in the industry, and which in turn incorporates Books3, a massive collection of copyrighted books. That chain is the one that, according to the plaintiff, would have allowed the inclusion of works without authorization. Until now, Adobe’s public narrative on artificial intelligence has been primarily articulated around Fireflya product clearly identified with respect for creators and the use of licensed content. The company has defended that these models were trained with licensed content, such as Adobe Stock, and public domain material, and has accompanied that message with compensation programs for Adobe Stock contributors. The demand, however, is not directed at that visible front, but, as we say, at SlimLM, a more discreet model, integrated into assistance tasks and without a direct commercial presence. This separation is key to understanding the real scope of the case. The proceedings against Adobe are framed in a broader context of litigation in the United States related to the training of AI models. In recent years, authors and other rights holders have taken to court technology companies like OpenAIor Anthropicwith lawsuits alleging the use of protected works without authorization. Some of these processes are still open and others have ended in million-dollar agreements. This scenario explains why each new case is interpreted as another step in the legal delimitation of the use of data in artificial intelligence. For now, the case is in an initial phase and leaves many unknowns open. The plaintiff requests a unspecified financial compensation and raises the action on behalf of other potentially affected parties, while Adobe did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. It will be the judicial process that determines whether the lawsuit is successful, is filed or results in an agreement. Beyond its specific outcome, the litigation once again puts the focus on an issue that remains unresolved: how to balance the advancement of AI with the rights of those who create the content from which it learns. Images | Rubaitul Azad | Adobe In Xataka | Gemini 3 Flash has surpassed GPT-5.2 Extra High in several benchmarks: Google has just changed the rules of the lightweight model

The RAM memory crisis seemed to have its months numbered. Micron has a completely different perspective

by

They say that there is never a bad time to do something you really want and that, many times, the only thing that stops us is finding the right excuse not to start. That idea can work in many areas, but today it doesn’t fit very well if what you have in mind is build your own PC. At least not without assuming that the current context clearly works against it. We are witnessing firsthand how the so-called “memory crisis” is pushing upand notably, the prices of NAND memories, key in SSD units, and of the DRAM used in computers and laptops. We have more and more reasons to be patient, because an actor as relevant as Micron already warns that the challenges for the sector will persist for quite some time. The memory crisis is still far from resolved The company has put a date on the table and it is not what many expected. In its communication of resultsSanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron, spoke of “tight conditions” in DRAM and NAND and said that they are expected to “persist through and beyond 2026“In other words, if today we are already seeing how memory is becoming more expensive, Micron is warning that it does not point to a clear return to normality in 2026. That nuance matters, because it changes the horizon of anyone who is thinking about building or upgrading a PC in the short term. There are numbers that help to understand why this phenomenon does not remain a simple market swing. The firm once again reported record revenues of $13.64 billion in the last quarter, compared to $8.71 billion in the same period of the previous year, driven by the push for AI. That does not mean that there is excess product in all segments, because capacity and industrial priorities do not adjust to the pace of demand. Micron says it expects to increase its DRAM and NAND shipments by 20% next year, but acknowledges that boost isn’t enough to catch up. To understand why the domestic market is more exposed, it is worth looking at the photo of the factory. Micron is pushing its business toward HBMa memory designed for high-performance systems in data centers, and that has an opportunity cost. It is a technology that uses three times more silicon wafers than conventional DRAM, which means that, with the same capacity base, fewer units can be produced for the rest of the segments. It is not that consumption memory disappears, it is that it has less priority. Micron is pushing its business toward HBM. The first consequence is already being noticed by those of us who look at prices to build or expand a PC. Memory is what is becoming more expensive and the effect is seen, for example, in DDR5 kits. From there, the tension begins to filter through the rest of the chain, not only due to price, but also due to availability. The decision with Crucial also fits into this shift in priorities. Micron will stop selling consumer products under that brandwhich means one less player in this market, and greater pressure for those who are still in the race in the domestic sector. If Micron makes one thing clear with its roadmap, it is that standardization is not around the corner. The company is accelerating investment and capacity, but with a calendar that moves in yearsnot in weeks, and that forces us to look at 2026 with another face. For those who are thinking about buying or building a PC, the prudent reading is simple: it is advisable to assume that memory will continue to be a sensitive component, both in terms of price and availability, for a good period of time. Images | Micron | Samsung In Xataka | RAM is so expensive that smartphone manufacturers already have a plan: return to phones with 4 GB of RAM

They found a cube-shaped skull in Tamaulipas and thought it was a migrant. Science has turned history upside down

by

Modern archeology has just thrown us one of those pieces of the puzzle that forces us to rewrite, in part, what we knew about different ancient cultures of northern Mesoamerica. Something obligatory, since a team from the National Institute of Anthropology and History has identified a find in Tamaulipas that is as unusual as it is fascinating: a skull with an intentional deformation in the shape of a “cube”. “Parallelepiped” deformation. The discovery took place in the archaeological zone of Balcón de Montezuma, in the Sierra Madre Oriental. As detailed in the official INAH bulletinthe remains belong to an adult man over forty years old who lived during the Classic period between 400 and 900 AD Although the most surprising thing may seem given the curious deformation of the skull, for anthropologists the real news was in a modification of the “erect tabular” type. in its “parallelepiped” variant. How did it come to this? To have a skull with this peculiar shape, it is suggested that the ancient settlers of that area had to use wood compression devices such as slats. These would be applied to the back of the head (the occipital bone) and the forehead to restrict the natural growth of bones from childhood. Because it is precisely when they are malleable to adjust them to what you were looking for. Who was it? This is where hypotheses begin to emerge. Anthropologists point out that this type of deformation is more typical of the Mesoamerican southeast. But these bones have been found in the northern area. So the question was clear: Was this man a foreigner who came to the north? The answer, thanks to the analyzes of strontium isotopesit’s a resounding no. The conclusion that has been reached is that the bones belonged to a local man who was born and raised in the Sierra Madre Occidental area. And this is something that changes the narrative completely: we are not facing a migrant, but rather evidence of cultural adoption. Because. The fact that a local inhabitant decided (or his parents decided for him when they were very young) that the skull had to be modified with a technique that involved two splints makes sense. The hypotheses initially point to the membership in a local eliteand this modification could be a distinctive sign to indicate that they were in a higher stratum than the rest of the inhabitants. But it is also something that can suggest a cultural connection, since there was a great flow of ideas and aesthetic fashions that was much more fluid than previously thought between different cities in the area. That is why it may be that having a skull like this was an indication of beauty or it was simply ‘viral’ at that time. Its importance. Until now, archeology had recorded cranial deformations in the area, but they were generally more inclined backwards. The appearance of this more elongated upward shape is something that had not been recorded before in this area. This is something that a priori will help discard the old idea that the northern areas were culturally isolated. On the contrary, this “cubic skull” is physical proof that the northern border of Mesoamerica was fully integrated into the ritual and aesthetic dynamics of the rest of the subcontinent. Images | Chelms Varthoumlien In Xataka | If Spain believes it has a problem with droughts, it is because it does not know what led the Mayans to collapse: 150 extreme years

The Earth has been providing heat for millions of years and now Google wants it for something very different from heating

by

The race for artificial intelligence is no longer fought only in laboratories or chip factories. It is moving towards much more basic and, at the same time, more critical terrain: electricity. At a time when data centers are increasing their energy consumption and the electrical grid is beginning to show signs of saturation, an American geothermal startup has just closed one of the largest financing rounds in the sector. It is called Fervo Energy, it has raised $462 million and, among its investors, is Google. It is not just another financial movement. It is a clear sign of where big technology companies are looking to sustain their ambitions with artificial intelligence. First commercial project. The company has closed this financing in a Series E – one of the last phases of private investment before a possible IPO – aimed not at research, but at the deployment of large-scale energy infrastructure. The round, led by B Capital as lead investor, will serve to accelerate the construction of Cape Station, its geothermal plant in Utah, and advance the development of other projects. In other words, moving from technology demonstration to commercial production of firm electricity for the grid. In addition, the round has aroused the interest of a broad group of industrial, financial and technological investors. Among the new names are AllianceBernstein, Mitsui, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and, especially significantly, Google. As reported by TechCrunchFervo has raised nearly $500 million in equity and debt in the last year alone, reflecting an unusual investment appetite for a technology that for decades was considered marginal. The Google entry. Fervo is not just a climate bet or an impact investment: it is a direct energy supplier for data centers. The company already maintains an agreement with Google to supply geothermal electricity to its facilities, something that turns the technology company into a client and investor at the same time. This move fits with a broader trend. The big tech companies they have stopped trusting only in the traditional electricity market. The explosion of generative AI has multiplied the demand for continuous, stable and emission-free energy, a profile that neither solar nor wind power alone can guarantee without massive battery backup. On the other hand, geothermal energy offers firm electricity 24 hours a day. How does the Fervo bet work? Fervo’s key It’s in your technology of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Unlike traditional geothermal energy – which depends on natural hot aquifers – Fervo drills hot rock, injects water and creates artificial reservoirs that allow steam to be generated in a controlled manner. A direct adaptation of hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling techniques developed over decades by the oil and gas industry. It is no coincidence: many Fervo engineers come from that sector. The flagship project is Cape Station, located in Beaver County, Utah. According to the company’s planswill begin supplying 100 megawatts in 2026 and will reach 500 megawatts in 2028. One of the key factors is speed, as the company has drastically reduced the drilling time for its wells: from about a month in its first projects to a current average of about 15 days. As Sarah Jewett, senior vice president of strategy, explained, to TechCrunchapproximately half of the cost of a well depends on drilling time. Reducing it is synonymous with economic viability. AI as the engine of the new energy map. The rise of Fervo cannot be understood without the pressure that artificial intelligence puts on energy infrastructure. According to the International Energy Agencythe electrical consumption of data centers could double before 2030. An analysis by the Rhodium Group goes further and estimates that advanced geothermal could cover up to two thirds of new energy demand of these centers in the United States. Google is not alone in this race. The company is simultaneously exploring the reopening of nuclear plantsthe development of small modular reactors (SMR) and even experimental projects as solar-powered orbiting data centers. The logic is the same in all cases: ensure its own, stable, long-term electricity supply. In the words of the CEO of FervoTim Latimer: “There is a huge appetite to understand how the history of electricity demand is going to be resolved.” The answer, increasingly, lies in energy sources that previously seemed secondary. A sector that matters again. For years, geothermal energy was relegated to wind and solar energy. Today, United States live a true renaissance of the sector. The combination of new technologies, private capital, institutional support and demand from Big Tech is changing the landscape. Fervo is considered a pioneer within this new ecosystem. According to TechCrunchthe company is focused for now on the western United States, where the hot rock is closer to the surface, but does not rule out expanding to other states or abroad when its technology is even more optimized. The subsoil as a competitive advantage. While artificial intelligence is presented as the most ethereal technology of our time, its expansion depends on something deeply physical: constant, cheap and clean megawatts. In this context, Fervo represents more than just an energy startup: one more—but key—piece in the new infrastructure that supports the digital age. Google didn’t get here by chance. He has been exploring all possible avenues for some time to ensure stable power for his AI. And in that strategy of not closing any doors, while some look to the sky, others – like Fervo – look underground, kilometers underground, where the planet’s heat is beginning to emerge as one of the most solid responses. Image | FervoEnergy and freepik Xataka | The United States may win the AI ​​race, but its problem is different: China is winning all the others

Elon Musk says AGI will arrive in 2026. He said the same thing last year

by

Artificial general intelligence or AGI is the great goal that AI gurus keep mentioning. From Sam Altmanpassing through Zuckerberg and his superintelligence teameven of course Elon Musk. The problem is that they are already beginning to repeat themselves and this whole thing sounds more and more like a huge déjà vu. Today he doesn’t trust, tomorrow he does. Surely you have come across this nice sign in some of those authentic bars or shops. The AGI is starting to sound exactly the same. They count in Gizmodo that Elon Musk has set a date for the arrival of the long-awaited AGI: 2026. He recently said that Grok 5, which will be launched next year, had 10% chance of getting the AGI and it seems like he’s now upping his ante. During an xAI meeting, Musk stated that he is confident that the company’s ability to scale its computing power will help them achieve AI that surpasses human intelligence. Everything good, except because in 2024 he said that the AGI would arrive in 2025. He hype and the calm. What happened to Musk is further proof of the disconnect between the discourse of the “sellers” of AI and the experts who make AI. Altman, Musk and Zuckerberg start from the idea that the more AI scales (that is, the more investment is made), the sooner AGI will arrive. From there exorbitant investment in data centerssome the size of entire cities. On the other side we have AI researchers and developers, whose speech is much more realistic. Yann LeCun recently saidconsidered the godfather of AI, that the path to achieving AGI is not language models, but world models. Research also points in that direction and recently we talked about how language is not the same as intelligenceso the current path seems more like a dead end. Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI, has also spoken out, and in his opinion the AGI will arrive, but it will take at least another decade. Musk’s other predictions. According to Business Insiderin the meeting with xAI employees, Musk also talked about the construction of data centers in space, an idea with which several companies are flirting in view of the energy problem. Musk related this infrastructure to his plans to colonize Mars and pointed to the possibility that Tesla Optimus robots were the operators of these infrastructures. It hasn’t always been so optimistic. In 2017 issued a warning: “It is urgent to regulate artificial intelligence before it becomes a danger to humanity.” Maybe 2017 sounds very far away, but we don’t have to go that far back. In 2023 signed a letter with other personalities from the technological world in which he called for AI laboratories to pause model development for at least six months due to the immediate danger of a replacement of humanity. Today he believes that AGI is imminent and defends that AI will do everything for us and that “working will be optional.” Musk’s speech on AI has taken a radical turn, especially now that he has an AI company. What things. Image | Gage SkidmoreFlickr In Xataka | Implanting a chip in your hand to perform magic tricks sounded spectacular. Until you forgot your password

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.