Month: December 2025

we are getting baptized and getting married less and less

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In the midst of a discussion about whether or not religiosity is recovering ground in Spain, with Hakuna moving crowdsRosalía wearing nun’s attire and ‘The Sundays’ triumphing at the box officethe Church has found itself in cold water. His 2024 yearbook shows that fewer and fewer people resort to their sacraments. They all fall: baptisms, first communions, confirmations and weddings. Only the anointings of the sick remain more or less stable. The question is… What does that mean? What do the figures say? They show a clear decline in the sacraments. This is reflected at least the last yearbook of the Spanish Episcopal Confederation (CEE), presented this week and which includes data for 2024. Throughout that year the Church counted 146,370 baptisms, 154,677 first communions, 103,535 confirmations and 31,462 weddings. They represent, respectively, falls of 3.97%, 4.86%, 3.37% and 6.08% when compared with the data from the 2023 yearbook. Only anointings of the sick and baptisms among adults give the Catholic Church a break. The former remained practically stable, with 26,013 sacraments dispensed, only 0.41% less than the previous year. As for the latter, they represent the only truly positive indicator for the Church. In 2024, priests officiated 13,323 baptisms for people over seven years of age, significantly above the 11,835 registered a year earlier. What if you look further? The drop is even more pronounced. Just a decade ago, in 2014, the EEC counted 240,282 baptisms, 244,2525 communions, 116,787 confirmations and 52,495 marriages. Once again, the only sacrament that is growing is that of the anointing of the sick: in 2014, 23,624 were registered, almost 2,500 less than last year. If we look back to 2007, first documented exercise by the Spanish Episcopal Confederation on its website, the setback is greater. For reference, more than twice as many baptisms were carried out that year as in 2024. And what does the Church say? They relate the decline to the “natural movement of the population” in Spain and the “social and demographic change” that has been recorded for some time. “Last week the INE updated its data. Spain has gained 1.2 million single people in the last three years and only 105,000 married people. In the end this can also, logically, be reflected in the sacraments received in our country”, comments Ester Martínfrom the EEC Transparency Office. The Confederation of Bishops focuses on another aspect, the “upward trend” of adults who choose to be baptized. “They make a full incorporation into the Church and their degree of commitment and responsibility is assumed to be greater, since it is born from a personal conviction and in a sociocultural context where there is no longer a cultural faith in which all children are baptized,” reflect the general secretary of the organization, Francisco César García. Sacrament 2007 2010 2014 2023 2024 Baptisms 325,271 349,820 240,282 152,426 146,370 Baptisms for people over 7 years old – – – 11,835 13,323 First Communion 256,587 280,654 244,252 162,580 154,677 Confirmation 96,766 100,006 116,787 107,153 103,535 Marriages 113,187 74,289 52,495 33,500 31,462 anointing of the sick – – 23,624 26,120 26,013 What is the backdrop? When analyzing CEE data, it is good to handle some keys. For example, the Spanish population is at record levels, with 49.5 million of inhabitants. That was at least the ‘photo’ at the end of the third quarter of the year, when Spain registered an annual increase in population of around 474,400 people. Another key is what this increase is due to, which the INE basically relates to the arrival of immigrants, a phenomenon that coincides with the expansion of evangelism in the country. Another key is the one that García mentioned: we Spaniards have changed. Have fewer childrenwe become parents much later and in general we also get married less, whether before a Christian altar or in a court. Although the last INE data show that the married population is still the majority among adults, it has been stagnant for some time. On the contrary, single people are growing (and not a little), now numbering 14.5 million people in our country. In parallel, new trends emerge that, although they are a minority, in a certain way displace the traditional sacraments, such as civil baptisms. Why is it important? Because of the context. The data from the Episcopal Confederation comes at an interesting time: after the success of Hakuna, ‘If you’re not there’ and ‘Los Domingos’ and with Rosalía dressing as a nun and speaking openly about his spirituality, a question has been raised: Is Spain embracing the Catholic faith again? Is there a change in sensitivity detected in Generation Z? The latest CEE yearbook is not the only report that invites caution. It was recently disclosed a study from the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation which shows that young people are indeed more spiritual than the average in the country, but not more Christian and they are certainly far from the orthodoxy of Rome. They believe in the existence of the soul, but less than a third (29%) consider themselves Catholic and are particularly open to astrology or clairvoyance. In June Funcas launched another report which does not invite optimism either: although the majority of Spaniards identify as Catholics (55%), their percentage is far from what they reached in the 70s (90%). Added to this is an increase in agnostics, indifferent and atheists and a clear advance in secularization among young people. Does the yearbook say anything else? Yes. Beyond the sacraments (vital for their role in the Christian liturgy), the latest data from the EEC leave some positive readings for the Church. For example, the number of practitioners who regularly attend mass remained stable around 8.3 million (0.3% more than in 2023). Regarding the economic section, the faithful contributed about 400 million euros through collections, parish fees… a figure to which is added 326 million collected through the X in the income tax return. Image | Josh Applegate (Unsplash) In Xataka | The most atheist countries on the planet are … Read more

Some people believe that sleeping on your side or stomach creates “sleep wrinkles” on your face. It’s exactly the opposite

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The Internet is full of golden rules for have ‘eternal youth’this being the holy grail that many would like to have in their hands right now. Among these pieces of advice, there are several that can be quite annoying, such as that you should not sleep leaning on the side that is wrinkled. But… how true is this? The benefits of sleeping well. The sleeping position is essential to have a good rest. Because sleeping on your stomach is not the same as sleeping on your left side. In the first case, the cervical spine can suffer a lot and in the second the hated gastric reflux. can be seen reduced. But now it comes into play that sleeping on one side or the other can cause more wrinkles on the face due to the hated gravity that generates a mechanical effect that causes the face to fall and wrinkles to appear. But science disagrees on this one and puts the blame more on biology with cortisol and collagen. The myth of ‘Sleep Wrinkles’. The theory seems logical: if you spend 8 hours squishing your face into a pillow, that mechanical compression should leave a mark. There is often talk of “sleep wrinkles” (sleep wrinkles), which, unlike expression lines, caused by smiling or frowning, would be caused by having your face against the pillow. It is something that some experts defend like those of The Aesthetic Society, which suggest that sleeping on your stomach or side favors the appearance of vertical lines due to this chronic pressure. Other opinions. The clinical evidence It is quite limited in this casesince many of the statements that defend this myth come from the field of cosmetic surgery and with very limited groups of people. There are even articles that suggest that there is no clear relationship between sleeping in a certain way and having more wrinkles. The consensus right now is that sleeping on your back could theoretically reduce the formation of compression lines. But obsessing over this is not the best, since if having this position is uncomfortable and the quality of sleep decreases, then the biological weight it will entail will have a great impact on wrinkles. The real threat. This is where science stops being speculative and becomes blunt. If there is something that ages your skin, it is not the pillow, It’s sleep deprivation. When you get little sleep, the body enters a state of physiological stress, raising levels of the hated cortisol, the stress hormone. And elevated cortisol is the great enemy of our skin’s youth. This is because it can inhibit the cells that make collagen (the scaffolding of the skin), making the skin less elastic and increases metalloproteinases. This word, so long, is nothing more than an enzyme that breaks down that fundamental collagen that we have in our skin and that keeps it firm. If we do not produce it or destroy it, the wrinkles will appear there. With data. A key clinical study presented in ScienceDaily showed strong results: People with chronic poor sleep quality showed clinical signs of accelerated aging with fine wrinkles, uneven pigmentation, and sagging. But the most important thing is that if UV radiation from sunlight was also added to all these factors, the skin’s recovery would get worse. And this is where the need to have sun protection when going outside came in. Images | Katelyn G Isabella Fischer In Xataka | There is a ‘good’ fat that hides a secret to aging better and being in shape. All that remains is to get the pill

The big problem with putting solar panels on crops is shade. The University of Jaén has found a solution

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In search of fulfilling the decarbonization goalswe are filling the field with solar panels. Giants like China can do it combining other activities well, but in the case of smaller countries, things change. Spain is an examplewith a field irrigated by crops that is also being plagued by panels. Now, a research team from the University of Jaén has found the key to continue deploying solar panels without interfering with crops. A panel with minimal shading that does not compromise its energy generation. The agrovoltaics. Different reports have pointed out how the temperature will increase by 1.5 to 3.2 degrees If we continue the same as until now. For this reason, the European Union marked the milestone of 30% of its energy comes from renewables by 2030 to, in 2050, achieve climate neutrality. Wind is important, but what almost all countries are embracing is photovoltaics. The price of the plates has fallen to the ground thanks to the China overproduction and it has begun to be deployed massively. The problem is what we mentioned: it takes up a lot of space, which opens a direct conflict with the farmland. There, agrovoltaics is becoming established as a solution to place panels that do not interfere with the cycle of some crops, and mixes with beekeeping and the livestock. But if we want to continue expanding photovoltaics, panels that provide less shade are needed. Panels and photosynthesis. That is where the solution devised by the University of Jaén comes into play. In a study Published in Science Direct, researchers detail a technology that allows a panel to efficiently generate electricity, while allowing crops to receive enough light to perform their optimal photosynthesis cycle. To do this, the team has taken into account two technical parameters: the average visible transmittance and the average photosynthetic transmittance. In practice, they indicate the amount of light useful to the plants that reaches them after passing through the panel, and they point out that different studies estimate that, for most crops, the minimum value should be around 60%. In that spectrum, plants produce normally. Status of the “transparent” panels“The photovoltaic industry has been working on this for some time. There are two approaches: Non-wavelength selective panels: They are those that absorb a large part of the solar spectrum and achieve transparency by reducing the color of the material or leaving gaps between the cells. With them, transparency is not adequate. Wavelength Selective Panels: They are those that absorb, above all, ultraviolet and near-infrared radiation, but allow a large part of the visible light to pass through. It is what the plants need and, in this case, the transparency of the panels is greater and more suitable for crops. RearCPVbif. In the two groups the industry is testing very different technologies, from polycrystalline silicon to organic cells and color-sensitized panels, but the Spanish team’s approach is somewhat different. The semi-transparent photovoltaic modules They are the STPVs, but what is proposed by the University of Jaén is a system called RearCPVbif, or “Bifacial Rear Concentrator Photovoltaic.” Unlike conventional semi-transparent designs, this technology concentrates and redirects reflected light towards the back of the bifacial cells, generating an increase in electrical production without reducing optical transparency, which is what allows light to reach the plants. It is an STPV, but with rear optical concentrators. In statements to PV-MagazineÁlvaro Varela-Albacete, co-author of the research, points out that STPV technology is being underused and that, with these rear concentrators, there is “a substantial increase” in energy generation without compromising optical transparency. “And how much is the transparency factor? 60%, according to the study, so it would be suitable for most horticultural crops. Next steps. In the study they also mention that they have taken into account that a crucial aspect for agricultural viability is thermal behavior, indicating that, in their tests, the cell temperature was below 70 degrees. This is important so that the panels do not create a “greenhouse” that affects crop patterns. And most importantly: this technology has already attracted attention. Numerous promising studies are published throughout the year, but their application is not always clear. In the case of this ReadCPVbif technology, the co-author of the study, Eduardo Fernández, points out that they are already engaging in conversations with different organizations to accelerate the development of the technology. Now, the route hour includes an evaluation of the benefits for crop growth, with different test campaigns on real crops. In any case, it aims to be a particularly relevant technology in the intensive horticulture that occurs in regions of Spain such as Almería, where apart from the sea of ​​plastic, also the photovoltaic sea is rising. If the two things can be combined, it would be a great step for both sectors. Images | University of Jaen, Σ64 In Xataka | Almería has been Europe’s great “sea of ​​plastic” for years. Now it wants to be another sea: that of solar panels

it’s if it’s cheaper

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In 2019 to a young researcher called François Chollet It occurred to him to create a benchmark for AI. The idea was strange to say the least, because in 2019 there was practically nothing with which to test that benchmark. Chollet actually anticipated the futurebecause there were still three years before ChatGPT appeared and the AI ​​fever began. Later, more and more synthetic benchmarks would arrive to measure the performance of AIs, but ARC-AGI was a different benchmark. While in many other benchmarks the model’s memorization capacity is crucial, here the AI’s abstract thinking and generalization capacity was tested. The problems proposed in ARC-AGI and its successor, ARC-AGI 2, consist largely of visual puzzles that are relatively easy to solve by humans, but which until now They were almost impossible for machines. In the last two years, however, we have seen how AI models were improving in abstract understanding and generalization, and little by little they solved more and more ARC-AGI puzzles. The problem? They spent a fortune to do it. And that’s where GPT-5.2 comes in. AI can solve almost everything. The question is how much does it cost to do it? Last year o3-preview managed to solve 87% of ARC-AGI 1. The milestone was so striking that even those responsible for the benchmark They published an announcement about it. To achieve this, yes, o3-preview executed 100 tasks with a total cost of $456,000: each one cost $4,560. Source: ARC-AGI Prize GPT-5.2, the latest version of OpenAI’s foundational AI model, was released yesterday. Its performance in other benchmarks was exceptional, but what really stands out is how it performed in ARC-AGI 1. Not because it managed to solve 90.5% of the problems with GPT-5.2 Pro (X-High), no, but because of how much each task cost. The figure: $11.65 per task. 390 times less that a year ago. In fact an even cheaper version, GPT-5.2 (X-High) achieved 86.2% at a cost of only $0.96 per task. Hallucinatory. ARC-AGI 2 remains a challenge for most models, but GPT-5.2 has taken another leap of exceptional quality. Source: ARC-AGI Prize. Chollet and his team knew that the AI ​​would end up passing their ARC-AGI test sooner or later, so in March 2025 They published ARC-AGI 2, the second version of their benchmark, to make it even more difficult for machines. This test is still a real challenge for most models, which until now had only solved 38% of the problems in the best of cases (Claude Opus 4.5). GPT-5.2 has managed to resolve almost 55%. It’s a colossal leap. And again, at a truly astonishing cost of $15.72 per task. The trend is clear: AI is not only getting better, but it is getting cheaper and cheaper. That’s good news for everyone, because it balances the already clear perception that scaling doesn’t work as much as it did in the past. The jumps in performance are not so striking – although these tests with ARC-AGI dismantle that argument – but the jumps in cost are. The AI ​​race seems to have reached a turning point. The real question is not whether AI will solve a problem, but how much it will cost to solve it. And the evolution of GPT-5.2 seems to clearly demonstrate something crucial: that AI is increasingly solving more things at a lower price. That is also something critical for an OpenAI that is in a delicate economic situation. Now that we’re more of a plateau in terms of performance gains, becoming cheaper and more efficient is key for the future of the company. And it seems that GPT-5.2, as well as a response to Gemini 3 Pro, is a clear step in that direction. In Xataka | There is a race in which Anthropic is winning over OpenAI: that of being profitable

Five original devices and accessories to give to a techie for Christmas

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What gift this time for Christmas? Many times we run out of ideas, so it is always good to receive a little help. If you are still missing some (or some) gifts to buy for a technology lover, in this article we are going to review five original ideas to hit the nail on the head. Muse M-132 WM by 39.66 euros when added to cart, a portable cassette player. elago W6 by 15.99 eurosan accessory to “convert” an Apple Watch into an iPod. Elgato Stream Deck Neo by 69.99 eurosan accessory that serves both for gaming and productivity. Cup warmer by 20.98 eurosan ideal device for coffee or tea lovers. Unitree Go2 Air by 2,595 eurosa robot dog with artificial intelligence functions. Muse M-132 WM Perhaps the new generations don’t know it or find it strange, but those of us who already had gray hair used cassette tapes to listen to music. If the person you want to give a gift to has some tapes collecting dust and you want to liven them up, El Corte Inglés has this portable player Muse M-132 WM by 39.66 euros. This is a Private Sale offer, so to see this price you must first register in the store and add the player to the cart. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links elago W6 Continuing with old devices, iPods were very useful devices, but unfortunately they were forgotten after many years accompanying us listening to music. It’s not an iPod, but if the person you have to give the gift to has an Apple Watch, the elago W6 allows you to “turn” it into the Apple music device to recharge the watch. yes really This is a portable charger which, according to the brand, is compatible with all Apple Watch series. Its price in this case is 15.99 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Elgato Stream Deck Neo He Elgato Stream Deck Neo It is an accessory that is more oriented towards gaming and broadcasting, but the truth is that, as we already mentioned in Xatakait’s also perfect for productivity. By 69.99 euroswe are talking about an accessory with eight LCD keys that allows set shortcuts, switch apps and much more. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Cup warmer There are few things like having a good, warm coffee in the middle of winter. To prevent it from cooling, a cup warmer like Accwork’s, which also costs only 20.98 euros. It has three temperature settings (maximum up to 85 ºC) to maintain the temperature of the coffee or tea, turns off automatically If we go 10 minutes without placing the cup, it has memory functions depending on the type of cup and has a timer. Accwork Mug Warmer The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Unitree Go2 Air If you feel (very) generous and want to give him a gift techie to someone who has been extremely good this year, MediaMarkt has on offer the Unitree Go2 Aira quadruped robot (or robot dog) that includes a battery, is capable of carrying objects weighing up to 10 kg (7 kg is recommended at most), incorporates 12 joint motors, 3D LIDAR sensors and intelligent detection and avoidance. Its autonomy is one to two hours and its price is 2,595 euros. 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 | Muse, elago, Elgato, Accwork, Unitree In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2025), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best sports watches with GPS. Which one to buy and most recommended models from 199 euros to 749 euros

Silence is no longer a right, it is a privilege

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Last year I left almost 300 dogs in some AirPods Pro. The only reason I didn’t settle for the regular ones was the noise cancellation. I didn’t buy listening to music better. I bought not to listen. On the subway I see people with 15 euro headphones that must filter as much as a shower curtain. The noise of the carriage, the street musicians, the loud tiktoks of the abnormal next door who wants to make them sound. All that is for those who cannot afford to delete it.. Years ago I worked in the kitchen of a fast food chain. Eight hours of voiceovers, irons hissing, fryers bubbling, customers screaming. Then came my first apartment in Madrid, the one I could afford: I could hear which channel my neighbor was watching with complete clarity. I better not even talk about his occasional pinches. The noise always accompanied me. That noise was a reminder of my place. There was a time when noise was synonymous with power. A roaring V8, the keys of a typewriter, a landline breaking the silence of a living room. Today the noise is no longer impressive. It is imposed. The engines, the construction sites, the garbage trucks, the unscrupulous subway and home neighbors carry it with you. Silence, on the other hand, is what you have to earn. Cities have been divided into acoustic layers. Near airports, apartments are worth less. Next to a highway, rents go down because the windows shake. In neighborhoods with perpetual construction, passing ambulances and glass containers emptying at one in the morning live those who cannot leave. Those who can pay for triple glazing, good insulation, acoustic studies prior to purchase and doors that weigh as much as a car. At airports, VIP lounges are not VIP because they have faster WiFi, but because you don’t have to deal with the noise and hustle and bustle. And on the AVE, the silent wagon It doesn’t cost more money, but there is only one. Silence is what is most scarce. Because we’re not just talking about decibels. We talk about being able to choose. To be objective, my gray-haired neighbor didn’t make that much noise. What was unbearable was the imposition: I couldn’t stop listening to it, even when I really didn’t feel like it. I paid to live there and yet I couldn’t demand silence. With AirPods I bought something else: the ability to decide what enters my world for a while and what doesn’t. That is true modern luxury. Status is no longer displayed with loud cars or jingling clocks. It is exhibited, or rather, hidden, with silence. Live without being interrupted, without vibrationswithout foreign voices passing through walls that are too thin. Being able to close the world whenever you feel like it. My AirPods do not filter noise. They filter reality. And that capacity, today, costs money. In Xataka | There was a day when getting on a plane was beautiful, comfortable and aspirational. Today the majority already hates him Featured image | omid armin

Hispasat wanted to be the “Spanish Starlink” and connect rural Spain. It has failed miserably

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At the beginning of 2023 the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation launched the UNICO Rural Demand program with a clear objective: connect 1.3 million homes and companies in rural Spain to the internet thanks to Hispasat’s satellite internet services. Two and a half years later the project has proven to be an absolute failure. The question, of course, is why. The promise. Everything seemed fantastic in that project. The idea: offer a 100 Mbps connection at a price of 35 euros per month in those areas where there was no access to networks of at least 50 Mbps. To achieve this, satellite connections from Hispasat were chosen, and the project had a budget of 76.3 million in aid. From objectives to realities. The objective was for the entire population of Spain to have access to 100 Mbps networks in 2025, and this program wanted solve this challenge for rural areas in which there was no access to lines of more than 50 Mbps. According to government estimates, the project would cover up to 1.3 million homes, but after all this time we have known the number of installations: 11,486. It is a spectacular failure. Problems from the beginning. The Government awarded Hispasat —recently purchased by Indra— this contract to provide the wholesale service. 42 companies would be in charge of distribution and installation, but as soon as the project began, there was a big problem. Eurona, which was theoretically going to be the main installer of the service (65% of the registrations would be its own), entered bankruptcy proceedings and sold his assets in Spain Serenae. Telecos did not help. The large operators have not been especially proactive, they say in five daysand they have preferred to promote their fiber or rural 5G solutions even if that meant longer waits for users. The profitability for the operators was very limited, and is estimated at around 75 euros per registration. Telefónica, which should have been the main protagonist of the project, has barely accounted for 10% of the registrations, and curiously small local companies such as Celver, Gesico or Bluetel have doubled that share. Starlink is a lot of Starlink. Added to all this is the offer of the Starlink service, which is technologically very superior and also with a more attractive price. For 29 euros per month it is possible to access speeds of up to 300 Mbps and, above all, latencies of between 25 and 40 ms thanks to its constellation of Low Orbit (LEO) satellites at an altitude of 550 km. Hispasat satellites are geostationary, they orbit at 36,000 km high and this causes latencies much higher than about 600 ms, which means that videoconferences or online games cannot be held reliably in good conditions. And now what. The failure has been so resounding that Hispasat has had to return 22 million euros of the total public aid. Of those 76.3 million that came from European Next Generation funds, 36 million were destined to finance the registration costs (installation, antenna, equipment, etc.). The remaining 40.3 million were theoretically invested in the marketing of a service that registered 128,120 eligibility consultations, of which 75,733 met and only the aforementioned 11,486 were executed. The figures are absolutely terrible. Spain emptied, Spain poorly connected. This fiasco adds to that of other programs such as subsidies UNICO 5G Active Networks who have also had to face very serious obstacles. In March, the call 2024 of said program with aid worth 161.3 million euros to continue extending 5G infrastructure in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants. According to the Government of Spainthis project will allow 326,000 people in small towns to have access to these networks. The funds will also be used to expand 5G coverage across 6,800 km of the road network. In Xataka | SpaceX changed the space economy. Now he wants to do the same with the cost of satellites

Google is serious about putting data centers in space. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos rub hands

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While there are municipalities debating whether to let big technology companies install data centers in their domainsGoogle wants a strike further: taking the data centers to space. Google. The company revealed its intentions a few weeks ago and your Suncatcher project wants to install two prototype satellites before 2027. Curiously, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are more than delighted with the idea of ​​their rival. Suncatcher Project. Push the capabilities of the artificial intelligence requires that we train it and, for this, they are necessary huge data centers with spectacular computing power. The problem is that the energy needs of these facilities They are astronomical, becoming resource sinksmaking oil companies set aside their renewable energy plans and even raising the opening of “private” nuclear power plants. Suncatcher couldn’t have a more appropriate name. In space, without the influence of the atmosphere, solar panels They capture the light spectrum in a different way, enough to feed those data centers that seem insatiable, and what Google proposes is to build constellations of dozens or hundreds of satellites that orbit in formation at about 650 kilometers high. Each of them would be armed with Trillium TPU (processors specifically designed for AI calculations) and would be connected to each other via laser optical links. Pichai puts the topic anywhere. Although 2027 is the key date, it is evident that Google is very interested in airing its plans because it is a sign of both technological power and an invitation for interested entities to invest in the process – and a way to continue inflating everything around AI-. And the person who is practicing this speech the most is the company’s CEO himself: Sundar Pichai. Since we learned of Google’s plans, Pichai has spoken of the topic in every interview he has given. It does not tell anything new beyond that hope of having TPUs in space in 2027 and the ambition that in a decade extraterrestrial data centers will be the norm. Musk and Bezos: competition, but allies. And if Google is interested in selling its narrative, those who are also interested are two of its most direct competitors: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Both Musk with several of his companies and Bezos with Amazon Web Services are in the race for data centers and artificial intelligence. They have some of the largest on the planet, but they also have something that the rest of the competitors don’t: ability to launch things into space. Musk with SpaceX and Bezos with Blue Origin have the tools to put satellites into orbit, charging for each kilo they launch into space. And it is there, the more credible it seems that the future of computing is in low Earth orbit, the more economic and political sense they will make. SpaceX as Blue Origin. Both are Google’s competition, but also the option for Google to achieve its objective. And, ultimately, we keep seeing rival companies renting their services from each other. Data center fever in space. The truth is that, at first, it sounds like a crazy plan to build these extraterrestrial data centers, but from the most pragmatic point of view (removing logistics and the money that both development and each launch will cost from the equation), it is a plan that makes sense. In space, a panel can perform up to eight times more than on the Earth’s surface, in addition to generating electricity continuously by not depending on day/night cycles. It is something that would eliminate the need for huge batteries, but also for complex water-based cooling systems. And, as we said, Google is not alone in this. Currently, there is a fever for space data centers with big technology companies in the spotlight: Considerable challenges. Now, Google itself comment It will not be easy to carry out this strategy. On the one hand, the costs. The company claims that prices may fall several thousand dollars per kilo to just $200/kg by mid-2030 if the industry consolidates. They note that, in that case, the price of launching and operating a space data center could be comparable to the energy costs for an equivalent terrestrial data center. Another difficulty will be maintaining a close orbit between the satellites. They would have to be within 100-200 meters of each other for optical links to be viable. And most importantly: radiation tolerance by the TPUs. Google has been experimenting with this for years, but they must test the effects of radiation on sensitive components such as the HBM memory. Surely astronomers They will be delighted with this strategysame as with starlink. Image | THAT In Xataka | We are launching more things into space than ever before. And the next problem is already on the table: how to pollute less

We’ve been telling ourselves for 100 years that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day.” The problem is that it is not true

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They’ve been hammering us with that slogan for so long that it should be true. That is, if from different speakers they proclaim that under no circumstances should we skip breakfast, it will be because it is lunch. most important of the day. But how we already pointed herethe studies on which they have relied to affirm this are conclusive. It also does not seem true that it is good to have breakfast to “start the day with energy”, nor that it reduces our appetite throughout the day. So who and why started proclaiming it? The history of breakfast is like many other social uses, something that has more to do with the roots of the context from which it came than with an innate need of our body to practice it. Several things came together between the 19th and 20th centuries so that breakfast became established as just another meal in Western societies. The first, the change of production model. Before, workers, mostly rural and dedicated to work in the fields, ate breakfast quickly whatever was out therelike last night’s leftovers. It wasn’t so much a meal as it was an appetizer. With the arrival of cities and the industrial revolution, work schedules were established. The workers, who spent the entire day working, saw the benefit of eating something before going to work. From 1822 onwards And here things started to get interesting. Progressively, the more money American workers were able to earn, they ate more meat. It was the star product to eat in the morning. They could prepare a meatloaf, a chicken or beef dish in the same way they would at lunch or dinner time. And all of this cooked with butter. The dyspepsia or indigestion became a public health problem on the level that obesity is now. The people of North America ate poorly, foods that were too heavy and altered their intestinal flow. People who needed to eat very well to go to work. The 19th century was also the time when western doctors They began to worry about nutritional health, germs and, later, vitamins. Thus, while the newspapers and magazines harshly criticized the problems caused by dyspepsiathe industry and the market naturally looked for a substitute. There came muesli and cereals, then minimally processed flour or corn that in many cases had to be soaked before consumption. The initial flavor and appearance of the cereals was that of military porridgebut they were attractive to a large part of the consumers: it seemed like a “health” productnot like those red meats that prevented good circulation. Furthermore, it was a food that I didn’t need to be preparedas easy as putting them together with a little milk so you can swallow them and go to work. Replacing big meals in the morning with a light product The health of the population improved, which is why many doctors and cereal merchants used this slogan to expand their consumption: breakfast is the most important meal of the dayand that is why you should take care of yourself early in the morning. Is practically the same idea of ​​health that whole grain houses continue to sell us so that we can lose weight. Corn flakes arrive Breakfast then began to be seen as the solution to all the problems. For the little ones, without a good breakfast they would not be able to reach their maximum level of effort at school. Also alcoholism It was caused by lack of food in the morning. According to certain prestigious doctors of the period, morning hunger encouraged the employee to begin to abuse the bottle until he became dependent on it. Some vendors went even further and talked about how their cereals They could cure malaria and appendicitis. Already then the cereal was promoted as “organic” foodAs we see today, some products are sold more expensive and not necessarily with better nutritional results. But the beneficial halo of the cereal remained and extended to the breakfast ritual, whether it was processed wheat, fruits or other foods. breakfast had come to stay. From the 19th and 20th centuries we move to the 21st century, when the saying, never sufficiently proven by science, has already been established as an immovable truth. Cereals have long been no longer tasteless porridge but small ones processed sugar balls in boxes with smiling animals that bill billions of dollars a year. And there is another agent that, for years, has been interested in making sure you remember that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” and, therefore, eat quite well: fast food chains. Some essays have pointed out how the marketing of companies like McDonalds or Starbucks is being much more aggressive in morning products such as McMuffins or cheesecakes than in foods at lunch or dinner time. According to them, the new big dispute is here. While many workers have already decided on their meal locations, there is an increase in people who is going to breakfast at chains outside the house. And how mornings are the time for routinehumans tend to choose one place or another to have our breakfast and not leave the pattern except in case of emergency. If McDonalds gets you to go to their establishment in the morning, in a way you are marrying them gastronomically. And, well, you know, it’s the first meal, so it’s okay if it’s a little excessive, you’ll burn it off throughout the day (this, as we already explained, it is not completely contrasted). Thus, from a creditable beginning in which citizens’ nutrition was improved, we have moved to a point where the industry has been adapting to our tastes and modifying our diet to the point of harming us all. Although, if we think about it, the phrase is still as true now as it was 300 years ago: “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” It is the most important. And the most discussed. In Xataka | We knew … Read more

China has been building the Great Green Wall for 50 years. What I had not planned was to alter the rains

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The China’s forests are growing. It has nothing to do with a natural process, but with a meticulously followed strategy to contain the desert expansion and reforest the country with billions of trees. The consequence of this reforestation is not limited to having more trees and two studies have just shown the counterpart of massive ecological engineering. This is not good news: the continental hydrological cycle is being altered. The Green Wall. Of China’s deserts, the Gobi may be the best known, but the Taklamakan It is one of the most problematic. 85% of this 337,600 km² desert are dunes, which at certain times of the year generates sand storms that leave the surrounding towns without crops. And countries like the two Koreas or Japan too they suffered the effects of storms. Furthermore, it was growing, so in 1978, the country launched march the Refugio Tres Norte Forest Program. The strategy: a series of tree belts to contain the expansion of its largest deserts. The objective: to go from forest cover in the country of 5.05% in 1997 to almost 15%, and the idea is complete that belt by 2050 with a total of 4,500 kilometers long. At the moment, the Great Green Wall has completed the shield around Taklamakan with a belt of about 3,000 km, observing a decrease in sandstorms. Consequences in water. Apart from that desert, in others such as Ulanbuh, Korqin, Hunshandake, Maowusu and Kubuqi, tens of thousands of square kilometers of forest and pasture have been built. And, although the storms have decreased, different investigations are noticing a secondary effect: an alteration of the water cycle throughout the continent. Published in Earth’s Future, a study carried out by Chinese researchers shows how new vegetation has increased evapotranspiration in the region. Bottom line: More water is being pumped from the ground into the atmosphere, meaning winds are transporting water to regions like the Tibetan Plateau as rain while the monsoon regions of the northwest and east are suffering a decrease in its net water availability. Non-uniform redistribution. This greater green cover causes restored forests and grasslands to transpire more water than bare soil or traditional crops. This additional moisture It enters the atmosphere, which falls in other regions as rain. According to the study, the consequences at the national level were the following: Evapotranspiration increased by 1.71 mm/year. Precipitation also increased by 1.24 mm/year. Water availability (from aquifers and springs, for example) decreased by 0.46 mm/year. And, as we say, the process is not uniform because the water is moving from one area to another. Greening/conserving water. It is not the only study published on the subject, but it is one that coincides in time with another published in August of this year in which, after analyzing 1,046 hydrological stations and their data from the last 60 years, they discovered that the flow of the rivers decreased by more than 70%. Their conclusion is that it is not an effect of climate change, but of changes in the landscape caused by human intervention. It makes perfect sense: trees need water to grow, and that amount of new trees makes them act like a giant pump, reducing the amount of water that feeds the rivers. Thus, there is a tension between greening China and conserving its water, since once in the clouds, it precipitates air currents wherever you go. Implications. In the end, the researchers conclude that the strategy when managing water must be changed and that hydrographic plans must take into account both the land basins and the “air basin”, anticipating where the water evaporated by the forests will travel. Because the ambitious reforestation plan has 24 years left and the country has invested a lot in it directly – by planting trees – but also with policies that prohibit the felling of forests or with incentives for farmers to convert their croplands into pastures. And, well, the consequences not only have to do with water. That the Natural Forest Protection Program prohibited logging in primary forests provoked that Chinese loggers would ‘loot’ the Burmese forests. Something that adds to the conflict between both nations. Images | Siggy Nowak, Janwillemvanaalst, Kanenori In Xataka | In China they already have room for the first city with a vertical forest: a million plants and trees

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