Month: December 2025

When nuclear energy orbited the Earth. The day a Soviet satellite with a reactor fell in Canada and unleashed a crisis

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In the late 1970s, the idea that a nuclear reactor could fall from space ceased to be science fiction and became a real problem on the table of several governments. A Soviet satellite with a reactor on board It had lost control and was heading towards the Earth’s atmosphere, without anyone being able to specify where its remains would end up or what consequences the impact would have. In the midst of the Cold War, secrecy and urgency marked decisions. From there, questions arose that remain uncomfortable today: what was a nuclear reactor doing in orbit, why that risk was accepted, and what happens when technology escapes the script. As CBC points outOn January 24, 1978, the Soviet satellite Kosmos-954 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere after weeks of tracking by American radars. No one knew with certainty where he would fall or in what state his remains would reach the ground. Eventually, fragments of the device were scattered over a vast region of northern Canada, from the Northwest Territories to areas that are now part of Nunavut and northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. What began as an orbital control problem suddenly became an international emergency with scientific, diplomatic and health implications. The day the Cold War left radioactive remains over Canada Kosmos-954 was neither a scientific satellite nor an isolated experimental mission, but one more piece of a Soviet military system designed to monitor the oceans. It was part of the US-A series, designed to locate large ships, especially American aircraft carriers, using radar. To power this system, which is very demanding in terms of energy consumption, the Soviet Union resorted to a compact nuclear reactor, a solution that allowed operate for long periods without depending on solar panels. That technical choice explains why the satellite had fissile material on board and why its loss generated so much concern. The technological heart of Kosmos-954 was a BES-5 reactor, known as “Buk”, developed specifically for Soviet military satellites. This type of reactor used uranium-235 and was designed to power the US-A system radar for the life of the satellite. The BBC estimates that 31 devices were launched with BES-5 for this family of satellites, and places the use of reactors in space until the end of the 1980s, with launches that continued until 1988. That history was not a clean line, according to the BBC: there were previous failures and accidents, including serious problems in one of the first flights in 1970 and the fall of another reactor into the Pacific Ocean after a launcher failure in 1973, in addition to the plan security plan contemplated moving the core into a waste orbit to prevent its return to Earth. Arctic Operational Histories explains that The signs that something was wrong came weeks before re-entry. Tracking systems detected that Kosmos-954 was progressively losing altitude, an anomaly that indicated a serious failure in its orbital control. The United States began to follow its trajectory with special attentionaware that the satellite had a nuclear reactor on board. The big unknown was not only when it would fall, but whether the Soviet security system would manage to separate the core and send it to a safe orbit before the device entered the atmosphere. When it was confirmed that the debris had fallen on Canadian territory, the problem took on a completely new dimension. Authorities knew the fragments were scattered over a vast, largely remote, snow-covered region, making any quick assessment difficult. The first measurements detected radiation in some points, although without a clear map of the contamination. Faced with this uncertainty, Canada had to quickly decide how to protect the population and how to locate potentially hazardous materials in an extreme environment. To confront an unprecedented situation, Canada turned to international cooperation. Operation Morning Light mobilized Canadian and American military personnel, scientists and technicians, many of them from units specialized in nuclear emergencies. From improvised bases in the north, flights equipped with sensors capable of detecting radiation from the air were organized. Each anomalous signal led to more detailed inspections, in a race against time marked by extreme cold and lack of infrastructure. As the search continued, it became clear that the contamination was more complex than expected. Not only visible fragments of the satellite appeared, but also much smaller radioactive particles, difficult to detect and remove. This forced the teams to take extreme precautions expand tracking areas. At the same time, delicate communication work began with the northern communities, who wanted to know what real risks existed for health, water and the fauna on which they depended. As the weeks passed, the operation narrowed its objectives. The official Morning Light phase lasted 84 days, although CBC describes the search effort as extending through most of 1978 and the search covering an area of ​​124,000 square kilometers. In this process, 66 kilograms of remains were recovered and Canada considered the immediate threat to the population and the environment contained. The economic cost was raised and Ottawa claimed 6.1 million dollars from the Soviet Union, which in 1981 agreed to pay half, opening an unusual diplomatic process for an incident of this type. The case of Kosmos-954 was not closed with the removal of the remains from the ground. In the months since, the incident reached international forums and fueled an uncomfortable debate about the use of nuclear power in space. Several countries demanded greater security guarantees and more transparency in programs that, until then, had been developed under strong secrecy. The episode served to reinforce the idea that space accidents do not understand borders and that their consequences could directly affect third countries. Images | Arctic Operational Histories In Xataka | Mars is left with one less line of coverage: NASA loses contact with its key orbital repeater

The plan has always been to destroy the International Space Station in 2030. Someone thinks we can do something else

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The International Space Station this that falls. It has been orbiting the Earth since 1998 and was completed in 2011. The plan was to retire it in 2024, but the accounts did not work out and, in 2021, the NASA administrator set a definitive date: 2030. The question is whether it will last that long because a few months ago we already said that members of NASA expressed concern about the accumulation of problems technicians who were accelerating the decline of a seriously aging facility. air leaks, cracks in different modulesabsence of spare parts for critical systems and lack of budget to propose a solution It would be assumed that the Different agencies have been putting patches on for years. NASA has already commissioned SpaceX the development of a ship that would tow it to the space graveyard of the Pacific, but… is there no other solution for the 450-ton, $150 billion station? The answer is yes. At least, that’s what Greg Vialle, founder of a startup called Lunexus Space that is committed to recycling the International Space Station, thinks. Turning the International Space Station into a mine In the middle of last year, NASA had clear that he Point Nemoa remote location in the Pacific, 2,700 kilometers from the nearest pile of dirt, would be the station’s cemetery. There was only one thing I could avoid the dismantling: that ROSCOSMOS, the Russian space agency, refused to abandon the ship. Russia soon changed its mind by commenting that its cosmonauts were passing more time repairing equipment than conducting experiments. Come on, no matter how much they wanted to “annoy” NASA at a geopolitically unstable point, it didn’t work out for them. Everything was aimed at the disappearance of the current ISS, but there are those who have something to say. Lunexus Space is a startup focused on the development of industrial infrastructure in low orbit that reuse structures and space junk to facilitate the construction of goods directly in the lower atmosphere. The goal is to develop a kind of circular economy in low orbit by taking advantage of the tons of material already in space, eliminating the need to re-launch them from Earth. In Space Newsthe CEO of the company has developed an article in which he explains his plan to “avoid wasteful expenses.” Vialle affirms that the ISS has 430 tons of high-quality aluminum, titanium and other materials valuable for future space missions. He estimates the value of the material at $1.5 billion, which would be lost to the ocean floor if NASA’s plan goes ahead. And it also points out the almost 1 billion that NASA will spend on the vehicle that tows the station to its resting point. “It is a fiscally irresponsible plan that loses a strategic resource and a golden opportunity.” What he proposes is “a common sense alternative”: converting old infrastructure into raw materials for new construction. Their calculations highlight that launching a kilogram of material into space costs $3,500, but if they take materials from the ISS, the costs would drop entirely. And, faced with the 1,000 million dollars of the plan to sink it, Vialle suggests that Its recycling process could be carried out for about 300 million dollars to which an equivalent government loan would have to be added to launch the necessary infrastructure, appealing to significant savings for taxpayers while preserving valuable resources. American leadership, of course “How can we wait prospect, mine, refine and transport in deep space if we cannot extract the many tons of cataloged and space-grade materials that are already beginning to manage low Earth orbit?” Vialle appeals. But of course, there is a B side to this plan: Strengthen America’s Space Leadership. By receiving the ISS, the CEO believes that the seeds of “a new industry in space led by the United States will be sown, ensuring our economic and strategic leadership over competitors like China.” China too He has been planning his own station for years. And he compares the move to American manufacturing policy to prepare for the Second World War, japanese strategy in the 1970s that established the country as a technological miracle or Taiwan’s position with TSMC and chip manufacturing. His idea is for the United States to invest in resource management technologies in space, something that is taking its first steps and that, if it reaches a solid program, will make “the nation dominate the future of commerce and defense in orbit.” It is evident that Vialle has known what sticks to play in a moment as sensitive as the current one and, although in his letter he urges Congress to influence NASA’s decision to ‘deorbit’ the International Space Station, the space agency has already detailed that, after a session to evaluate the possibility of reusing the main components of the station, they did not receive any proposals of interest from the industry. On the other hand, the European Space Agency already pointed out that recycling in orbit was “a real challenge” and it was not clear whether the resources used to capture and process waste in space would be profitable. Either way, time is of the essence. We will see what happens with the ‘Recycle the ISS’ movement, but there are four years left and, as more and more voices point out, something must be decided because the installation is on its last legs. In Xataka | Decathlon has just made its way beyond sport: it will reach space with a prototype spacesuit for the ESA

the most radioactive point in Chernobyl

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Under reactor 4 of the infamous Chernobyl plant horror is hidden. A huge mass of corium, a kind of already solidified radioactive lava, known as “elephant foot” because of its wrinkled shape. For years it has been known as the most radioactive point in Chernobyland therefore one of the most dangerous in the world. It turns out that there is another one even worse, its name is “The China Syndrome.” The chorio did not stop at the elephant’s foot First of all, let’s see what corio is. The Spanish Nuclear Society defines it as a “mass, melted or solidified, formed by nuclear fuel, structural or control materials and reaction products thereof, which is produced by the total or partial meltdown of the core of a reactor, as a consequence of an accident with loss of cooling.” While still burning, the Chernobyl chorium reached temperatures of 2,600 degrees, more than twice as much as volcanic lava which is usually between 850 and 1,200 degrees. After the accident, corium accumulated in room 305/2, which is located just below reactor 4. From here, some flowed to the east, which is where the famous “elephant’s foot” is located. This formation was discovered in 1986, about eight months after the accident, and the radiation it emitted at that time was 10,000 roentgens per hour. To put it in context, according to the United States nuclear commissionbetween 400 and 500 roentgen per hour are lethal for 50% of the population. The radiation of the elephant’s foot has decreased radically over the years. There is no data on current radiation, but in 1996 the radiation specialist Artur Korneyev took a selfie with her and he survived that exhibition for a long time, finally dying in 2022 at the age of 73. The corium is the red mass seen at the bottom. Image: Shredmash But the chorio did not stop there, it continued descending and went through the ground of this room. He continued to advance through the cooling piping system and came out through the steam ducts. This enormous mass is what among some Chernobyl fans It is known as “The China Syndrome”. China Syndrome It is a huge chorio mass that extends through the corridors of the steam distribution system. According to a fan who posted the story on Redditin 1997 the most radioactive part of this mass emitted 3,460 roentgens per hour, while the elephant’s foot emitted only about 700 roentgens at that time. We have not found data about current measurements, but we have references that indicate that the mass is much larger than the so-called elephant’s foot. The Reddit user ppitm He was the first to call this mass of corium this way and the name has become popular since then. But why that name? It is a concept that was coined by William K. Ergena German theoretical physicist and later popularized by Ralph Lapp, a physicist participating in the Manhattan Project, who mentioned it in an article about nuclear plumbing. ‘The China Syndrome’ It is a hyperbolic idea, as a warning, about what could happen if a nuclear reactor melts down and the resulting material ends up burning the concrete that contains it. The name comes from the idea (obviously exaggerated) that this mass could continue advancing for years, cross the Earth and end up in China. To better understand this exaggeration, it must be taken into account that Ergen’s report was published in 1967, when no fusion accident had yet occurred in a reactor. His prediction was that, in the worst case, a high-temperature mass would form that would sink into the earth and increase in size for approximately two years, potentially reaching 30 meters in diameter and that would persist for a decade. Thank goodness he was wrong. Cover image | Chernobyl ChernobylFacebook In Xataka | We already have the world’s first fast neutron nuclear reactor. We are going to use it for AI data centers

start a purge if it reaches 9.5 million inhabitants

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The idea of ​​drastically limiting immigration to Switzerland is neither a recent anomaly nor a passing eccentricity, but the reemergence of a fear deeply rooted in its political and social history, visible already in the seventies with the initiatives of James Schwarzenbach and the concept from Uberfremdung. That’s why the last idea is not surprising, although it is scary. The fear that returns in cycles. Last year I remembered it in a great report of the Vanguard. That climate of identity anguish of the 1970s, fueled by the rapid economic growth and the massive arrival of foreign workers, left a lasting mark: the conviction that the State had to actively protect the demographic and moral composition of the country, an obsession that never completely disappeared and that reappears strongly in moments of pressure or perceived saturation. From immigration to the population limit. The current proposal goes a step beyond the classic debates on quotas or visas and directly proposes a kind of dystopia: a population cap total, set at around 10 million inhabitants, with a first alert threshold in the 9.5 million. In practice, this approach turns immigration into a variable to cut almost automatically if the country continues to grow, without distinguishing between refugees, skilled workers or highly paid managers, and opens the door to a policy that prioritizes the total number of residents over economic or humanitarian needs. Caught up in their own success. The background of the initiative is a paradox that is difficult to resolve: Switzerland is one of the countries more prosperous in the world, with a dynamic economy, global companies and salaries much higher than those of its neighbors, and precisely that success has made it a magnet for immigration. He population growth of the last decade, driven almost entirely by arrival of foreignershas fueled the perception that the quality of life deteriorates through of skyrocketing rentssaturated infrastructure and congested public transportation, although these same immigrants support key sectors of the labor market. The staggered “purge.” Thus we arrive at an approach without half measures. The plan promoted by the Swiss People’s Party introduces a progressive logic which is more reminiscent of an emergency switch than a classic immigration policy. Yeah is overcome that threshold of 9.5 millionthe first restrictions would fall about asylum seekers and family reunification. Not only that. If 10 million are reached, Switzerland would withdraw from international treaties considered “population boosters” (as the proposal states) and, as a last resort, it would abandon the free movement agreement with the European Union, a move that would have profound consequences on residence rights of millions of Europeans and about the Swiss access to the single market. The clash with reality. A good part of the business community and the large economic lobbies warn that this strategy would have a high costfrom a shortage of hundreds of thousands of workers to an accelerated aging of society and a loss of competitiveness structural. Although defenders of the initiative they promise compensation In the form of lower rents and less pressure on the welfare state, the absence of detailed studies and the weight of trade with the EU raise fears that the cure is more harmful than the disease. Discomfort amplifier. Unlike other European countries, Switzerland channels this type of tensions through referendums frequent, which allows latent concerns to quickly become concrete political proposals, no matter how Orwellian that they seem This characteristic explains why ideas that in other places would remain in the media debate, or even that, end up being voted on there, but it also makes the country in a laboratory where it measures the extent to which a society is willing to sacrifice growth and openness in the name of identity, control and perceived stability. Europe watches. Many media outlets in the country have gone one step furtheranticipating the activation of the plan and projecting what it would mean for the old continent. A rhetoric that tells that the Swiss debate anticipate discussions that already appear in other countries, where immigration continues to gain political weight while the traditional parties try to contain the extreme right through cordons sanitaire that do not always reduce their appeal. The Swiss experience points to a disturbing approach, to say the least: that ignoring or disqualifying discomfort does not eliminate it, and that the question is not so much whether there should be immigration, but at what pace and on what scale. In that sense, the possibility of a demographic “purge” Switzerland is not just a national decision, but a warning sign about the direction some European democracies could take if they fail to reconcile prosperity, social cohesion and political legitimacy. Image | Ruth Georgiev, IToldYa In Xataka | Switzerland has been a refuge for great fortunes for decades. Now he is debating taxing heirs In Xataka | Millionaires are changing their countries of residence in 2024. These are their new destinations explained in a graphic

You feel like going to Sri Lanka because you saw it on Instagram. The problem is that the person who recommended it to you was an AI

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The image is familiar. A young woman smiles from a beach with turquoise waters. In the following publication, he appears walking along a cobblestone street in Marrakech. Below, he poses at a luxury hotel in the Maldives. The skin is perfect, the body responds to the prevailing canons and the text accompanies with inspirational phrases about traveling, discovering cultures and “living in the moment.” Nothing seems out of place. Until you discover the reality. That traveler has not flown, she has not walked those streets or tried the food she recommends. It doesn’t exist. She is an influencer generated by artificial intelligence and is part of a phenomenon that is growing quietly: the normalization of artificial profiles that influence the real decisions of millions of people. A silent, but massive boom. In the last two years, Instagram and other social networks have been filled with virtual influencers: characters created with generative AI who pretend to be real people and publish travel content, lifestyle or fashion, the best known case in Spain is Aitana Lopez. Some indicate it more or less clearly in their biography; others do so ambiguously or almost invisibly. However, what is interesting here is how the examples multiply in the tourism sector. Sena Z has been presented as “the first travel and hospitality influencer created with AI”, It’s a collaboration between the luxury group Cenizaro Hotels & Resorts and the technology firm Bracai. Sena publishes cultural recommendations, messages about sustainability and photographs from exotic destinations. Another notable case is Emma, ​​the official influencer and chatbot of the German National Tourism Office. Emma not only publish content on Instagrambut answers questions in more than 20 languages ​​from the official website of the organization. As explained from the entity to the Washington Postits creation is part of a strategy to “stay at the forefront of digital innovation.” Other profiles are added to these profiles, such as Radhika, Emily Pellegrinior corporate avatars like Samathe Qatar Airways virtual stewardess who appears both on the airline’s website and on social networks, publishing as if she were living real experiences. These are not isolated experiments. As detailed by The New York Timesairlines, tourist offices and brands are increasingly turning to these avatars because they are cheaper, faster and completely controllable. An AI influencer does not get sick, does not get tired, does not age and does not generate personal controversies. Inexperienced influencers. The question is inevitable: what happens when the experience is not real? Just look through these profiles to see it: they recommend destinations, restaurants and cultures that they have not experienced. Even so, they generate engagementaccumulate thousands of likes and comments, and influence travel decisions. From the brands’ point of view, the appeal is evident. According to data collected by the New York mediacreating an advanced avatar can cost between $5,000 and $15,000, compared to traditional campaigns that easily exceed six figures. In addition, content can be produced without travel, without filming equipment and without negotiating with human talent. However, for real creators, the impact is already being felt. Human influencers cited by the same medium explain that brands are reducing payments, eliminating extras and offering less advantageous collaborations. AI thus becomes a new direct competition within the creative economy, a sector valued at more than 200 billion dollars globally. Is someone regulating it? While Technology advances quickly, regulation tries to catch up. Going home, in Europe, the clearest answer comes through the Artificial Intelligence Regulations (AI Act). Article 50, which will come into force in August 2026establishes transparency obligations for providers and users of AI systems. Among them: Report when a person interacts with an AI system. Mark content generated or manipulated by AI (text, image, audio or video) in detectable format. Force deepfakes and AI-generated texts that report on matters of public interest to be declared, unless there is human editorial review. The European Commission has already started the preparation of a Code of Good Practices for the marking and labeling of content generated by AI, with the participation of experts, platforms and civil society. The goal is to facilitate compliance before the law is fully applicable. However, many virtual profiles do not clearly indicate either their artificial nature or their commercial links, leaving the user in a field of ambiguity. Unreal bodies, algorithmic authority. Beyond destination promotion, most AI influencers share common traits: eternal youth, slim bodies, perfect skin and a total absence of imperfections. This phenomenon coincides with the return of Y2K aesthetics and extreme thinness on social networks, a trend that has been linked to a decline in body diversity. The most notable case was due to advertising campaigns with models generated by AI, like Guess in Vogue. Mental health experts warned that constant exposure to unreal bodies can aggravate self-esteem problems and increase risk of eating disorders. The difference, they point out, is key: while traditional retouching started from a real body, AI creates bodies that have never existedimpossible to achieve even in theory. This logic has been taken to the extreme with phenomena such as the Miss IA pageantwhere artificially generated models compete showing bodies without pores, without age and without history. According to plastic surgeonsmore and more patients come to consultation with images created by AI asking for impossible interventions and pointing out the risk of frustration, obsession and psychological damage. The underlying problem: we no longer know what is real. All of this occurs in a broader context: a crisis of visual confidence. As my colleague in Xataka has analyzedthe massive generation of hyperrealistic images has broken a chain that for centuries seemed solid: if something was seen, it had probably existed. Today, that presumption has disappeared. Seeing is no longer equivalent to knowing. In this new scenario, we not only doubt whether an influencer has really traveled, but also whether the image itself corresponds to something that happened. The consequence is a permanent suspicion that affects memory, attention and the way we relate to digital reality. The technical solution—seals, metadata, … Read more

The Madrid-Barcelona AVE will reach a peak speed of 350 km/h. And it will do so thanks to new sleepers of Spanish design

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While in China they are already thinking about trains that reach 4,000 km/hIn Spain we are looking for an AVE that reaches 350 km/h that could be reached without problems if it were not for one detail: the tracks. And for something much more specific: the sleepers. The solution is a new design called “aerotraviesa” that will increase the speed of the BIRD. The problem is that theory is one thing, and practice another. a physical problem. Spain plays in the high speed major league and, in it, Renfe opera four types of trains. The Alvia and Avant reach 250 km/h. The Avlo and the AVE reach 300 km/h. However, the machines are prepared to reach higher speeds, the aforementioned 350 km/h. The problem is in physics. When a train exceeds a certain speed, 300 km/h, a phenomenon called ‘ballast flight’ occurs. This implies that the underside of the train generates turbulence that creates areas of low pressure on the track. This causes the passage of the train to vibrate the stones, the ballast, lifting them and causing them to collide against the underside of the train or settle on the tracks and sleepers themselves. Furthermore, at more than 300 km/h, the possible bumps on the journey increase. Air traverses. That’s where a new sleeper design comes into play that the company itself Adif presented a few years ago. Instead of a flat crossbar, a traditional rectangle, the central part of it has a more rounded design. Adif affirms This modifies the velocity field on the ballast in the area between the sleepers, minimizing the presence of ballast particles, and the key points are: Reduces 21% of the aerodynamic load in the space immediately above the ballast bed. The design allows increasing the distance between the ballast level and the upper face of the sleeper. It has no higher manufacturing or handling costs (they are still molds). And most importantly: the aerodynamic load generated by a train at 330 km/h on a track with current sleepers is equivalent to that generated by the same train at 370 km/h, but with aero sleepers. AV350 Plan. In short, the aerocrossers improve the aerodynamic performance of the infrastructure and there is another important fact: their use allows an increase of 12% in the operating speed of the train. And it is not just theory, since Spain wants to start installing overhead traverses to improve the speed of the AVE. A few weeks ago, Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, advertisement that the Madrid-Barcelona line will be the first to have these overhead traverses. The result? Reach the maximum speed of the original design of the infrastructure, which is 350 km/h. Currently, the AVE reaches those 300 km/h due to the physical limitations mentioned above. This will allow us to go from the two hours and 37 minutes of the AVE that currently takes the least time to less than two hours. Puente highlighted that the design of the aerocrosses is pioneer in the world. The Polytechnic University of Madrid, Adif and SENER constituted a consortium to develop this technology and obtained the patent in March 2014, achieving international protection in Europe, Saudi Arabia and the United States. There are countries that have faced the ballast problem in other ways, Germany covering the ballast with concrete, for example. Arching an eyebrow. Increasing the speed of the train by changing the sleepers sounds great. The problem is that there are some aspects to consider. On the one hand, the cost-benefit debate not only because of what the investment will mean in changing all the sleepers, but also because of the maintenance of certain train materials that will suffer more than now. Driving at 350 km/h exponentially increases the wear of both the wheels and the catenary, regardless of whether the ballast causes no damage to the train, or causes less. On the other hand, not only the sleepers come into play, but also the own land. A bump at 300 km/h can be annoying, at 350 km/h it can be something more. Or two. And, beyond whether it is worth the investment to gain half an hour or what will happen with those possible technical problems, the big question is what happens with the rest of Spain. It is estimated that the Madrid-Barcelona section in which these air crossings begin to be applied will take about two years to complete. At a rate of 800 sleepers changed per day and 1,666 sleepers per kilometer, the work is of great magnitude. And it is clear that it is a congested route and that it is seeing a boom in the number of travelers, but while that line is reinforced, the connection with other parts of the peninsula remains neglectedlike the train to Soria, Teruel or the perennial case of Extremadura. Images | Xataka, Adif In Xataka | AVLO’s departure from Madrid-Barcelona seemed like another problem for Renfe. He has left us an unexpected winner

China activated a renewable “Marshall Plan” in 2011. It is achieving more than just decarbonizing the planet

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Between 1948 and 1952, United States destination 13.3 billion dollars at the time to rebuild Western Europe after the Second World War. This strategy was called the ‘Marshall Plan’. China has its own Marshall Plan, one focused on accelerating the development of ‘green’ technologies on a global scale. And it is redrawing the energy map of developing countries. The Green Marshall Plan. It is estimated that, since 2011, China has invested a whopping $227 billion in more than 450 new energy manufacturing projects. Of that amount, around 88% are concentrated from 2022, which shows an impressive acceleration in its roadmap. BRI. One of the centerpieces of the Xi Jinping government’s foreign policy is the Belt and Road Initiative, or “Belt and Road Initiative“The idea was to create a new concept of international relations based on free trade that took the ancient Silk Road as a model (something that China has taken up). Much of this investment in green energy is going to the countries that are part of the BRI, and only in 2024 will China invested 11.8 billion dollars in green energy. In the first six months of 2025, investment was 9.7 billion, which shows another acceleration in the expansion of its green policy beyond its borders. Overproduction as a lever of change. And, if the question is “why,” the answer is “because they can.” Although China continues to extract coal yqwants to become an oil powerhas also strongly supported the renewable energy sector. So much so that they have achieved an overwhelming manufacturing advantage compared to the West. HE esteem that China produces 80% of the world’s solar panels, 75% of lithium batteries and 70% of wind turbines. They have such strong internal competition that their companies have had to create a kind of OPEC to avoid stepping on each other. And, of course, this enormous production has collapsed the market: solar panels have rock-bottom priceshave crushed Western competition and these low prices allow developing countries or countries that want to change their energy model to do so at a lower cost than a few years ago. Proper names. In 2024, China exported technologies related to renewables (panels, turbines, batteries and electric vehicles) worth 177 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 5% of its total exports. Being the factory of the worldit’s outrageous. But of that figure, 72 billion were allocated to developing countries. And not only because those countries are buying from China, but because China is investing, directly, in them. An example is Ethiopia. In 2024, they banned the importation of new gasoline cars with the aim of betting on new energy ones. But at the same time, between 2011 and 2018, China invested 4 billion in the Ethiopian energy sector, with multiple wind farms or the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. This year, another 500 million dollars have ended up in solar manufacturing plants: Chinese companies are establishing themselves in those countries. Another example is Moroccowith battery factories from chinese manufacturers to feed electric cars. In general, China is moving through Africa supporting this energy transition of countries traditionally very dependent on fossil fuels, but they are not leaving empty-handed: they are also building infrastructures that allow them to exploit mines of critical materials, a fundamental leg of the Chinese technological business and geopolitics. China’s ‘Great Solar Wall’ in 2017 And in December 2024 Brazil, like China. HE esteem that 90% of the solar panels installed in Africa are Chinese, and they are also expanding throughout Latin America. On the one hand, with influence: they build infrastructure and are becoming a key player in the railway rebirth of South America. On the other hand, they are installing factories in several countries. And there Brazil has moved very intelligently. The country increased tariffs on all automobile imports to force something that China itself did years ago when Western manufacturers wanted to enter the country: to open factories in its territory. BYD or Great Wall Motors are setting up plants in Brazil. Strange bedfellows. And then there is India. Diplomatic relations between both countries are not at their best and, in fact, India is taking advantage of any excuse to remind China that they also have military muscle. However, on the other side of those tensions, we find a country that is experiencing explosive growth in renewable capacitygoing from 190 GW installed to almost 500 GW projected by 2030. And what is making that change possible is the cmassive purchase of renewable technologies to China. India buys 17% of the solar cells that China exports, which creates a brutal technological dependency, as well as a dilemma: they need green energy with immediate availability, but they also want to develop their own industrial capabilities. And this overproduction in China, with such low prices, makes the goal of national manufacturing less attractive. Taking the role of the US. And, precisely, it was during the COP30 held a few days ago in Brazil, where China’s role was highlighted. In a report by The New York Times point out how, in the Paris Agreement, rich countries relied on poorer ones to begin taking measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In some cases, it remained a simple promise while developing countries claimed their right to industrialization, something for which they have been using fossil fuels. China has seen the gap and thanks to cheap renewables, these developing countries can continue their industrialization in a more environmentally friendly way. And we go back to what we did before: China presenting itself as a pillar of global stability in an event in which the United States has not made an appearance. And while Europe and the US analyze what to do, China continues to expand its influence. Images | POT, Korea Aerospace Research Institute In Xataka | China is the largest power in renewables. Now you have a problem: what to do with all those used turbines and plates

‘Avatar 3’ is going to be a movie so disproportionately expensive that it runs the risk of destroying and losing money

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‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is already, as has happened with all previous installments of the franchise, one of the most anticipated films of the year. Each new installment breaks box office records, and yet James Cameron’s statements are more pessimistic each year about the continuity of the series. Are you sure that ‘Avatar’ is as good a deal as it seems? We snooped into his finances. The paradox. ‘Avatar: Fire and Ashes’ arrives wrapped in an economic paradox: its production budget exceeds 400 million dollarsa figure that places it among the most expensive films ever filmed. And yet, its own director is not clear if the business is worth it. Cameron has been unusually frank about his franchise’s finances and he put the question bluntly: “Will we make money on Avatar 3? Surely some. But the real question is what kind of profit margin there will be, if any, and whether that will be enough of an incentive to continue in this universe.” The wild mathematics of break-even. The arithmetic of ‘Fire and Ashes’ defies standard Hollywood logic. With 400 million in production expenses and a marketing budget that analysts place between 100 and 175 million, it would need to exceed $1 billion at the box office simply to break even or break evenaccording to the more or less assumed industry rule that a film must gross 2.5 times its production budget to be profitable. The case of ‘The sense of water’. The previous installment of ‘Avatar’ gives us some previous lessons on the subject. The sequel cost more than $1 billion in total costs: $400 million in production, another $400 in global marketing, $300 million in shares for Cameron and producer Jon Landau, plus cast salaries, residuals and general expenses. Cameron was not exaggerating when declared that ‘Avatar 2’ was “the worst business case in the history of cinema” and that it needed to become “the third or fourth highest-grossing film of all time” simply to not lose money. The film fulfilled that apocalyptic objective: raised 2,320 million and finally generated 531.7 million net profit. But that deceptively solid figure hides a crucial detail: The studios do not receive all the money from the box office. Movie theaters take approximately 50% of US domestic revenue, 40% from international markets, and up to 75% in China. That is, of those 2.32 billion, Disney actually received just over 1 billion. The rest stayed at the box office. The crisis of inflated budgets. ‘Avatar’ is one of the most visible symptoms of a disease that affects all of Hollywood. The industry has a systemic problem of out-of-control budgets, which affects such well-known films as ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘ ($490 million), ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ (584 million) or ‘Mission: Impossible – Deadly Sentence: Part One’ (400 million). A analysis of the causes It leads us to multiple factors that explain this phenomenon: inflation has increased the value of the dollar by 15% since 2020, making all aspects of production more expensive. But in addition, streaming platforms altered the economy of stars, accustoming them to higher initial charges, demands that they later transfer to traditional productions. And there is also a visual effects arms race: franchises like superheroes try to surpass each other in spectacularity, and infect the rest of the blockbusters. For this reason they are films that “might not make money even with objectively decent box offices.” The unique case of ‘Avatar’. James Cameron invests in developing pioneering technology that then benefits the entire industry: the underwater motion capture that Cameron and Weta FX took a year and a half to perfect for ‘The Sense of Water’, now reduce costs for the sequels being already invented. But the budget escalation is relentless: ‘Avatar’ cost between 237-280 million, ‘Avatar 2’ between 350-460 million and ‘Avatar 3’ exceeds 400 million. The franchise is a guarantee of box office success, but the profit margins are worryingly narrow. In Xataka | Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ was going to be a flop. Until a trailer that broke several Hollywood rules changed the narrative

Columbus introduced the pineapple to Europe in 1496. 200 years later the English went crazy

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When the gun is drawn it is to shoot, the one who takes it out to show it is a parguela. That always made me more amused than necessary. phrase of one of Callejeros’ ‘caughts’ on public roads, and I always associated it with what we buy for status. If we are what we have, we show what we have to demonstrate our position. And in 17th century England, what the richest people took out for a walk to show off their power was… a pineapple. The Blackberry phones back in the dayto the just like watchesjewelry, cars or yachts, are status symbols. They are elements that we use to show the social level in which we find ourselves. Up to a Labubu would go into this example, and if these symbols have something in common, it is that they are expensive. In the case of the pineapple, the fruit was introduced to Europe in 1496 with a single specimen of a pineapple. And this exotic fruit did not hit hard in Spain, but in an England that experienced a real “piñamania”. From the pineapple fever… It was on his second transatlantic voyage when the explorer in the service of the Spanish crown returned with the pineapple. In the Guadeloupe island He found the fruit and took back to Spain a large quantity of this “pina de Indes”, or fruit of the “pine of the Indians”. He offered it to the Catholic Monarchs and it seems that… they liked it. So much so that, according to the historian Peter Martyr d’Anghierathe king “preferred it over everything else.” It was what was needed for the subjects will embrace the fruit with open arms. It is a mystery how and when pineapple was introduced to England, but it is believed that, in the mid-17th century, Charles II of England held a feast at which pineapple was the exotic dish. And more important than its flavor, was that the pineapple, being unknown in the Old Continent, was not associated with any cultural reference. If the apple was the forbidden fruit, the pineapple was a blank canvas. In an article by BBC We can read how Lauren O’Hagan, from the School of English, Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University, explains that this allowed the pineapple to be given a mythical quality: it was the symbolic manifestation of the divine right of the king. There it is nothing, but it is still easy to identify thanks to the “crown” of the pineapple and the golden color of the exterior and, above all, the interior. This earned him the nickname “King Pine,” and the royals wasted no time in doing what they did best: turning something unattainable to the people into something more than separated them from the plebs. King Charles II commissioned a portrait of himself being entertained with a pineapple, the ornamentation of palaces and mansions began to adopt the pineapple as a structural ornament. Drawings, tapestries, more paintings, tableware, furniture ornamentation, medals and… this: Dunmore Pineapple It was exotic, but there was also an interest in starting to cultivate it in Europe, and that was possible in the mid-17th century. Heated greenhouses They allowed us to replicate the tropical climate (more or less) to start growing pineapples. And you would think that the more pineapples on the market, the lower their value will be, right? Well, the opposite happened. Since these greenhouses were very expensive, and growing the first pineapples was not an easy task, the fruit was seen as a investment. It took years to flower in a very expensive facility and, furthermore, it was possible that a large part of the harvest was lost for different reasons. There were more, yes, but since the upper classes were the only ones who could afford a pineapple and were aware of its value… they were not going to eat it. And thus began the climax of this story: pineapple rental. The wealthiest, who could spend 80 pounds on one (tight to inflation, between 12,000 and 16,000 pounds), they were not going to eat a piece of fruit worth 20,000 euros, so they used it as ornamentation. Since they last several days without going overboard, they organized events in which they had the pine cones as if they were vases (or LEGO figures), clearly visible to the guests. When it started to get soft, they ate it. And what did those who had money, but couldn’t afford a pineapple, do? Rent it. This is how a parallel business emerged. to satisfy that demand. Shark mentality of those businessmen who thought about the business of renting pineapples to the wealthy classes, but not much. It was considered shameful to be caught leaving a pineapple rental store (it would be admitting social defeat), and the absurdity reached limits like seeing people walking around holding a pineapple. The equivalent of going out into the street with a ‘Luisvi‘ bragging about ‘Luisvi’. But soon the gentrifiers’ worst nightmare would occur: globalization. …to the democratization of the pineapple The progress In transportation, with steamships that began to make more frequent trips between Great Britain and the colonies where pineapples grew wild, pineapples began to be stored in warehouses, along with other goods. Soon, the pineapple invaded the market, and if before only the upper classes could afford a pineapple, now the working class could also delight in its flavor. O’Hagan recounts that “at the time, the pineapple-eating working class was used as a visual metaphor for the problem of progress in satirical prints.” If everyone could eat pineapple, It wasn’t special anymore.. Suddenly, the image of pineapple as a prohibitive fruit fell away, like “I liked Nirvana before it became mainstream.” They were sold in carts on the streets, even cheaper than potatoes, and when a way was devised to fit a pineapple in a can, the fruit definitively lost its appeal for the wealthiest. There was only one thing left to remember that glorious past: art, tableware … Read more

prohibit using manure in winter

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So essential for life as problematic. Spain is a very clear example of this duality: the drought because lack of waterthe rains for days in a row because they make the reservoirs overflow and data centers they want to join that reality. If we go to the United States, water is also a problem, no because there is more or lessbut because it is contaminated. Guilty? Agricultural runoff. And there are already states prohibiting farms from fertilizing in winter. What’s happening. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, has classified the industrial agriculture as the main source of deterioration in water quality in rivers and aquifers in the country. There are several factors, but excess nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements from fertilizers and manure are leaking into large rivers, rural aquifers and coastal areas such as the Gulf of America Gulf of Mexico. They estimate that each year 12 million tons of nitrogen and another four million tons of phosphorus are applied in the form of fertilizers. There is another waste: manure on livestock farms. The problem? These products infiltrate the earth, reaching groundwater. In winter, no fertilizer. This is something that occurs throughout the year, but in winter something very curious happens: in areas where it snows or freezes, these nutrients and sediments do not infiltrate into the groundwater (which is already bad), but when the snow melts, they drag the harmful products into the rivers and lakes. It is something known as surface runoffand what causes an excess of nitrogen in rivers and lakes is the proliferation of algae and aquatic plants, which consume the oxygen in the water, resulting in hypoxic zones in which fauna cannot live. There are two alarming cases: Gulf of Mexico: Remnants of fertilizers used in the Great Corn Belt of the Midwest flow down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico, forming one of the largest dead zones on the planet. Midwest Rivers: In rainy years, nitrate concentrations have far exceeded what drinking water should have for dozens of days in a row. Consequences. But as we say, this also happens in aquifers, especially in private wells that are less monitored than those belonging to the public system. For example, a report from this year estimated that 90% of nitrate contamination in Wisconsin drinking water is due to that agricultural runoff. The study noted that 10% of the state’s private wells exceed the legal limit for nitrates. In intensively agricultural areas, the rate is 20 to 30%. And chronic exposure to these nitrates has been associated with cancer, pregnancy complications and even the “baby blue“, or childhood methemoglobinemia. That is to say: it is not just an environmental problem, it has escalated to something that affects public health. Reactive ban. And this has led some states to begin take cards in the matter. In direct response, states such as Michigan, Maryland, Ohio and Vermont have made various prohibitions on the use of fertilizers, manure and fertilizers in winter. Generally, they will begin in mid-December and will extend, depending on the state, until March 1 or April of next year. The restriction is unpopular among the agricultural sectors, but the problem is that it is a reactive measure and not a proactive one. That is to say: the damage has been done, what is sought is that it does not get worse. Change of agricultural model. At the federal level, however, the strategy is not direct regulation and prohibition, but rather incentivizing farmers to voluntarily adopt more sustainable practices. Departments like the USDA or NRCS are managing financial and technical assistance programs for farmers to optimize their crops, change practices or plant new crops of “coverage” that absorb excess nitrogen. In the end, it is complicated because the country has chosen one path, each state is facing the problem in a different way and agriculture/livestock are priority sectors in the United States for both own consumption and for export. And what does the EPA say? That fertilizers are applied in the right amount and at the correct time of year. And also that the animals graze away from streams. In Xataka | The US has a toxic well with tons of contaminated water. They are turning it into a gold mine for rare earths

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