Month: February 2026

Telefónica is already selling its minicenters to compete in the era of real time

by

For years they have told us that the future of artificial intelligence lies inincreasingly larger data centersmore powerful and more demanding in energy consumption. And it’s true that computing muscle matters. But there is an equally determining factor that is talked about much less: distance. In the era of real time, it’s not just how much you process that matters, but where you do it. Every millisecond that data takes to travel can disrupt the ability to react instantly. This nuance, apparently technical, is beginning to become a strategic issue for Spanish companies. Telefónica’s bet. The company has activated the commercialization of its edge computing services for B2B clients in five Spanish cities, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and A Coruña, as part of a broader deployment that includes 17 nodes in this initial phase. This means that companies and administrations can now hire these processing and storage capacities close to the point where the data is generated. Closer data. Edge computing involves processing information where it is generated, rather than constantly sending it to distant data centers. As Microsoft explainsis about moving computing and storage capacity to peripheral network locations, such as factories, stores, offices or distributed infrastructures. In practice, local devices and servers analyze and filter data on site and only send what is relevant to central systems. The goal is to reduce latency, alleviate network traffic and enable real-time responses, complementing rather than replacing traditional cloud. The deployment. Telefónica’s Edge Plan plans to reach 17 nodes in this first phase throughout this year. According to the company, 12 infrastructures are already deployed: to the five with active B2B services, other nodes are added in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Valladolid, Terrassa and Mérida. This same year, the incorporation of Zaragoza, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gijón, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Santiago de Compostela is planned. Many of these facilities are located in old copper plants converted into Edge centers, adapted to availability and security requirements. Basic and Smart. Telefónica does not sell “edge” in the abstract, but rather two concrete ways of using it. The first is Basic Edge, a stable layer that brings computing capacity closer to the territory and focuses on data control and compliance with national, regional or local regulatory frameworks. Each node acts as an availability zone, allowing applications to be deployed with additional guarantees of continuity and resilience. The second is Smart Edge, which introduces dynamism: selection of the most appropriate node at all times, creation of instances on demand and operation with FTTH or 5G SA connectivity depending on the scenario. Beyond physical infrastructure. Telefónica integrates computing capacity with GPUs into its portfolio for artificial intelligence loads, available as a service and deployed in Edge nodes. This allows companies and institutions to run high-performance models without purchasing their own hardware and maintaining processing within the defined regional environment. The company also mentions the incorporation of RAG agents and capabilities to adapt models to specific contexts. Overall, the strategy seeks to bring AI closer to data under criteria of sovereignty and regulatory compliance. When the millisecond rules. An example helps to dimension the scope of this architecture. Telefónica developed with CAF a pilot that combines Edge and 5G Stand Alone for the railway sector, providing artificial vision solutions that process data close to the asset instead of depending on centralized infrastructure. According to the company, this approach avoids installing processing nodes in each car and keeps responsiveness at levels compatible with real-time operations. Images | Xataka with Gemini 3 Pro In Xataka | We had suspicions, but Sam Altman has confirmed it: AI is just an excuse to fire

to use AI you don’t need a machine

by

When we think about artificial intelligence we usually imagine two very clear paths: paying a monthly subscription to a large chatbot in the cloud or setting up a powerful computer capable of running local models, with all its limitations. That is the mental photo that many of us have. However, what is happening these days with Raspberry Pi forces us to qualify that idea. According to Reutersits shares have recently registered a rise of up to 43% in parallel with the interest in OpenClawan AI agent that does not require very expensive equipment to get started. And that’s where the really interesting thing begins. The OpenClaw effect. Before going into the technical detail, it is worth clarifying what we are talking about. OpenClaw is not a typical chatbot, but an AI agent, that is, a system capable of executing actions on its own, from launching scripts to interacting with external services. The idea that is circulating is that, if autonomous agents become popular, many users could end up resorting to these physical devices, as also reported by Bloomberg. The key is that, in these types of configurations, the large model usually runs on cloud servers and the local device acts as a coordinator: calling APIs, keeping the session active and executing tasks in the user’s environment. Although there are also configurations that allow small models to be run locally using tools such as Ollama or llama.cpp, with models like a Pi 4 or 5 with enough RAM. Isolate the risk. Beyond the enthusiasm, the conversation has also revolved around security. From Raspberry they explain that giving deep system access to an agent can pose a real risk, precisely because it can interact with local files and services, and even browse websites or fill out forms. This coincides with warnings from experts who consider that these algorithms are not without dangers. This is where the idea of ​​a dedicated device makes sense: using a Raspberry Pi as a separate environment allows you to contain possible failures and maintain a certain distance. skeptical voices. In The Register they point out that the idea of ​​using a Raspberry Pi for OpenClaw “does not make sense” and they emphasize that the historical appeal of the device was its low price, something that, according to the media, has been eroded with the rise in memory costs. He cites as an example that an advanced model of Raspberry Pi 5 with 16 GB can exceed $200, which increases costs for those who want to make this type of investment. We have to wait to see if the movement that the market has just anticipated will finally become a reality. Images | Raspberry Pi In Xataka | AI agents have indeed changed work and the economy forever. But for now only in one sector: programming

The return to the Moon is delayed again and now helium is to blame

by

If at this point someone tells you that NASA has delayed the mission again Artemis IIthe most logical thing is to think that they are playing a joke on you, since the list of accumulated postponements begins to border on comedy. And the last one is not for less, since after announcing that the last tests had been a success, hours later we knew that the mission scheduled in the window that opened on March 6 has been postponed again and the rocket returns to its ‘garage’. The new culprit. If one of the great enemies was hydrogen, which already forced delay the first date that we had for 2026, now the focus has been on helium. And, after the second general test with fuel that we saw last fridayengineers have detected a new technical problem in the propulsion system of the SLS superrocket. Specifically, it is an interruption in the flow of helium in the intermediate cryogenic stage. AND it’s not a minor mattersince this gas is absolutely essential to purge the engines and pressurize the cryogenic fuel tanks in order to ensure mission safety. And although everything worked well in the previous tests, during the post-test the system said “enough.” To the starting box. As confirmed by NASA itself on its official blog this February 21, as well as Jared Isaacman, current administrator of the agency, via Xthe team is evaluating the situation, but the decision has already been made: rollback. Repairs cannot be done outdoors on the launch pad, forcing the behemoth SLS to be returned to its garage, technically known as the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The possible causes of this failure range from a blocked filter to a failure in the umbilical interface or the check valve, which are technical ghosts that are dangerously reminiscent of the problems that already tortured Artemis I in 2022 and that generated a situation of constant delays that took away all the seriousness of the mission. The new window. With March completely off the calendar, everything points to April, if it resolves quickly enough and passes the next general test. Although, given what we have seen, fixing one problem causes a completely different problem to arise, so saying a date is real nonsense. The chronology. Making a list of all the critical points in the mission that was to put four humans back into lunar orbit is almost a titanic and memory challenge, but we are going to illustrate it to make clear the context of delays that we have seen in this mission that has been going on for years. It all starts in November 2024, which was the original launch date. Throughout 2024, the mission was scheduled from September 2025 to April 2026 after discovering severe damage in the heat shield of the Orion capsule during Artemis I. In March 2025, a little light was seen when it was pointed out that the mission could be brought forward until February 2026. January 2026: a winter storm delay transfer to the launch pad. February 2, 2026: the first dress rehearsal is aborted with 5 minutes left due to a hydrogen leak liquid. February 21, 2026: After fixing the leak, the second rehearsal is a success and announces the date of March 6 with great fanfare… and in the end the helium fails, throwing March overboard. Doubts about the future. The bad experience with Artemis I and II already makes us doubt everything that NASA has planned in the future. Artemis III is the next major space project that aims to land at the south pole of the Moon and for man to set foot on lunar soil again. A mission that has already been delayed until 2027 in order to further perfect the capsule and the suits space. But the real focus is on Mars with the goal of humans setting foot on the red planet for the first time. A much more complex mission as it involves a much greater distance and a mission time that requires the astronauts to travel for many more days, with all the security implications that this entails. China. The great competitor of the United States in this space race, which has a great political component behind it. And while NASA turns its calendars into wet paper, on the other side of the world the Chinese space program follows a methodical rhythm, opaque in its crises, but at the moment relentless in its dates. Right now the goal is to put taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030, and although the United States there is still room for temporary advantagethe image contrast is brutal: while the SLS suffocates between hydrogen leaks and helium failures under the spotlights around the planet, the Chinese space agency (CNSA) continues to chain millimeter successes with its Chang’e robotic missions. Images | POT In Xataka | Two Spanish space giants have joined forces to take 5G defense satellites into space: PLD Space and Sateliot

AI is just an excuse to fire

by

For months, layoffs at big tech have been justified under the umbrella of AI as if it were the great devourer of jobs. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, assures that these companies have used AI as a scapegoat to carry out unpopular cuts which have nothing to do with, in fact, anything to do with the actual use or implementation of this technology. This trick, known as “AI washing“ or AI laundering, has allowed companies to make up workforce adjustments to readjust to a new market situation after overhiring during the pandemic and save costs, while at the same time imbuing themselves with a technological innovation patina. The perfect excuse. In an interview for the American network CNBC On the occasion of the India IA Impact Summit, Sam Altman attacked those who were using AI as a pretext to fire their staff. However, the founder of OpenAI described a two-pronged scenario: on the one hand, there are companies that rely on the AI ​​narrative to justify unpopular cuts. “I don’t know what the exact percentage is, but there’s a bit of ‘AI washing’ where people blame AI for layoffs they would do anyway.” However, the manager also recognized that the arrival of AI was indeed displacing some profiles due to the automation of certain administrative tasks, although he justified this displacement as part of the natural technological evolution.​ “We will find new types of jobs, as we do with each technological revolution.” Altman acknowledges that “the real impact of AI on employment in the coming years will begin to be palpable,” but he does not believe that the current impact of AI on the labor market is so severe as to be the direct cause of the hundreds of thousands of layoffs which were executed in 2025. The data does not fit the narrative. A study of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) revealed that almost 90% of the 6,000 managers of companies from the US, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia who participated stated that AI has not affected employment in the three years after the launch of ChatGPT. Other report Prepared by The Budget Lab at Yale University, it analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics until November 2025 and found no significant variations in unemployment in the occupations most exposed to the impact of AI. Martha Gimbel, co-director of the laboratory that prepared the report, assured to Fortune that “No matter what perspective you look at the data, at this very moment it doesn’t look like there are any major macroeconomic effects here.” According to the report data of the Challenger, Gray & Christmas labor platform, in 2025 were attributed directly to the AI ​​some 54,836 layoffs, out of a total of 1,206,374 layoffs in the US during 2025. This implies that the AI ​​was really behind 0.045% of the total of all layoffs for the year. The threat is real. Although AI is not the real reason behind the current layoffs, its impact on the labor market in the coming years is undeniable. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, stated a few days ago to Business Insider that “half of office jobs could disappear in the next five years.” Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of the Klarna payment platform, which has already dispensed with part of its staff to implement AI customer service agents, spoke along the same lines. in an interview. The manager assured that by 2030 his company will be able to do without 30% of the 3,000 employees who currently make up the payment platform’s workforce. On the other hand, as how he published he Financial Timesthe data are already beginning to show the first effects of the increase in productivity derived from technological investment with a relative drop of 13% in the employment of junior workers in positions highly exposed to AI. Don’t call it AI, call it dropping ballast. However, the incipient arrival of AI in the coming years does not justify that the layoffs that have been carried out throughout 2025 are as a direct effect of AI or because an AI has replaced the worker. In a statementAmazon linked the dismissal of 16,000 employees to AI, saying it would need “fewer people for some jobs done today.” Days later, at a conference with investors, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy disassociated the layoffs from AI, stating that “The announcement we made a few days ago didn’t have a real financial boost, it’s not even driven by AI, at least not right now. It’s a cultural issue.” Microsoft and other companies have followed the same pattern of justification for dismissals making excuses for AI, when in reality AI is not implemented enough in companies to be a reason for dismissal in rounds of tens of thousands of employees. Call it business strategy, but don’t blame AI. In Xataka | “The world is in danger”: Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry Image | Wikipedia

unite the Internet under the same cause

by

A macaque Japanese man abandoned by his mother at the Ichikawa Zoo receives a stuffed orangutan from Ikea. From that point, we have witnessed a new example of the power of the internet to exalt the emotional and the absurd: the global stock of the doll runs out, the shares of the Swedish brand skyrocket and a $30 million cryptocurrency is born. The Punch story is an instruction manual for success in the era of the attention economy. Who is Punch? Punch was born on July 26, 2025 at the Botanical Zoo in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo. Its mother was a first-time female who gave birth during a heat wave and showed no caring response toward the calf. The zoo chose to raise the animal manually, separated from the group, something that left it without the physical contact essential for the social development of these animals. Dolls. At the first signs of anxiety and isolation, the caregivers made a practical decision: to give him a stuffed orangutan from Ikea, the Djungelskog model, covered in synthetic fur and with very long limbs, ideal for Punch to hug and carry. Apparentlythe monkey adopted the toy as a maternal substitute: he carried it with him everywhere, protected himself with it when he was scared, and rarely let it out of his sight. It was not a strange decision on the part of the zoo, on the contrary: in macaques, physical contact is a need as basic as food (studies on the subject They date back to 1958) Return home. In January 2026, the process of gradual reintegration of Punch into “Monkey Mountain”, the enclosure where his peers live, began. The first months they were difficult: The other macaques rejected him when he tried to get closer. A video widely circulated a few days ago on social networks seemed to demonstrate the rejection: an adult dragged Punch across the floor, which aroused the immediate empathy of millions of people. The zoo had to clarify that the behavior was part of the natural socialization process, not sustained aggression. Later, one of his caregivers would confirm that the animal had begun to receive grooming from an adult in the group, an unequivocal sign of acceptance in the social hierarchy of Japanese macaques. Two booms. The phenomenon of Punch going viral has had two successive explosions. One in early February, when an X user shared a Punch video playing with his stuffed animal. Another in the middle, when it was seen the video of the alleged assault. Preonto began to spread this latest video, which reached 30 million views. Punch fan-art sprouted and the hashtag #がんばれパンチ (something like #AguantaPunch, which was translated and circulated in English) was born. The zoo statements in Xexplaining that the adult was acting as a mother to another offspring, not as a mere aggressor, asking the audience to interpret the situation as part of the natural socialization process, further amplified the scope of the story. Shortly after, a summary video of the entire process with the structure ‘How it started / How it’s going’ and which finally showed how Punch was accepted, it achieved more than three million views in a single day. Teddy theme. The Djungelskog plush has been in the Ikea catalog for years. It costs 16.99 euros in Spain, measures 36 centimeters and its name literally means “jungle forest” in Swedish. Until February 2026, it was just another article among the thousands in the children’s section of the chain. In less than a week, stocks have been sold out in Japan, the United States and South Korea without the company having to invest a single euro in advertising. Resale exploded until reaching 350 dollars. Illustration by chimiwangillustration Ikea has seen a unique opportunity to get some publicity without too much investment. On February 17, Petra Färe, president and director of sustainability at Ikea Japan, personally visited the Ichikawa Zoo to deliver 33 stuffed animals and material for the children’s area. In addition, it adapted the name of the product on its platforms, now having the description “Punch’s comfort orangutan.” An artificially irreplicable advertising bombshell. And a cryptocurrency. On February 7, 2026, when Punch videos began to become popular, someone launched a token called $PUNCH on Solana’s Pump.fun platform. The launch price was practically zero. In just fifteen daysthe token rose more than 80,000%, reaching an all-time high of $0.04847. The market capitalization was close to $30 million and the daily trading volume exceeded $20 million at peak activity, placing $PUNCH as the the asset with the highest daily profit on CoinGecko. A bombshell that of course is already fading after the corresponding speculative explosion (“the token bubble map was ‘too perfect’ to be organic”, one analyst said). Another momentary internet fever that should warn us about how memes have worked for some time now: emotional outburst, spontaneous growth and fever of those involved to get something out of the phenomenon. Nothing new under the sun, but along the way we have seen some beautiful videos of a macaque hugging a stuffed animal. Something is something. In Xataka | The challenge of moral limits in the case of the 132 human and monkey cell embryos: human organs in exchange for more animal experiments

AI enters clinics to tell you its real potential

by

For years, freezing eggs meant also freezing an unknown. Women who opted for vitrification as a strategy to preserve their fertility knew how many oocytes they stored, but not what real potential they had. The estimate depended almost exclusively on age and population statistics. There wasn’t much else. That’s starting to change. Artificial intelligence has begun to be used in reproductive medicine not only to optimize technical processes, but also to offer patients more precise predictive information about their real chances of becoming mothers in the future from their own vitrified eggs. From visual intuition to algorithmic precision. Before the introduction of AI, the quality of an oocyte could hardly be objectively assessed. According to Dr. Marcos Meseguer, Global Director of Embryology Researchin an interview for Xatakathe assessment depended on general morphological criteria and the embryologist’s subjective impression, often based on whether the egg “looked pretty or ugly.” There were no solid quantitative standards or models capable of estimating the biological competence of the oocyte. The prediction was extremely limited, almost equivalent to chance. The technological leap has not been incremental, but qualitative. “We have gone from having practically no prognostic tools to having models with real prediction capacity,” Meseguer details. Today, algorithms are introducing a layer of quantitative analysis that transforms that scenario. More in depth. The change is not minor. As Meseguer explains to us, AI allows us to analyze thousands of images of oocytes whose subsequent clinical results are known—if they formed an embryo, if they reached a blastocyst—and learn patterns associated with reproductive success. The algorithm always evaluates the same parameters in a standardized way. This systematization eliminates variability between observers and converts a subjective assessment into an objective and reproducible evaluation. In other words, for the first time a probabilistic estimate can be offered based on data and not just general statistics by age. It’s not magic: measure better, don’t see more. It is important to clarify what exactly AI does and what it does not do. The algorithm does not detect hidden genetic abnormalities nor does it replace tests such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis. As the specialist clarifies, the genetic analysis is not performed on the oocyte, but on the embryo after fertilization. The AI ​​applied to the oocyte analyzes the same images that the embryologist sees, but in a quantitative way. It accurately measures parameters such as oocyte diameter, the thickness of the zona pellucida or certain characteristics of the cytoplasm. “The difference is not seeing more, but measuring better and in a standardized way,” says Marcos Meseguer. Furthermore, the oocyte is not evaluated dynamically, as is the case with the embryo, but rather statically. It is not about choosing an “ideal candidate”—all mature oocytes are used in assisted reproduction—but rather about stratifying their biological potential and offering probabilistic estimates of competence. More information, but no guarantees. This advance does not imply that laboratories “select” only the best oocytes. All mature oocytes (metaphase II) continue to be used. The difference is in the stratification of their biological potential. In fertility preservation—women who vitrify eggs for use years later—this information takes on special relevance. Instead of basing expectations solely on age, personalized data derived from algorithmic analysis can be incorporated. However, caution is key. Age continues to be the most determining prognostic factor. AI does not modify biology or compensate for physiological limitations. It is a support tool, not a miracle solution, warns the expert. What it does achieve is reduce uncertainty. And in a field marked by emotional stress and complex decision-making, having quantified and objective information can change the clinical conversation. A global trend towards automation. The incorporation of artificial intelligence is part of a broader transformation of fertility laboratories. A recent example picks it up The New York Times from a study published in Nature Medicine. The work analyzes a microfluidic device called OvaReadycapable of recovering eggs that the conventional method did not detect after follicular aspiration. In the study, the device analyzed follicular fluid that had already been examined manually. In more than half of the patients, additional oocytes were found that were going to be discarded. The birth of a girl was even documented from one of those recovered oocytes. Although this technology is not exactly a predictive system like image analysis algorithms, it illustrates a clear trend: laboratories are incorporating automated tools that standardize processes and reduce exclusive dependence on human judgment. Experts quoted by the American newspaper highlightHowever, larger studies are still needed to confirm that these additional eggs consistently increase the live birth rate. The real impact: better managing the “biological clock”? Technological enthusiasm, however, has boundaries. “AI is a tool to support diagnosis and decision-making, not a miracle solution,” says the specialist in the interview. It can optimize decisions and reduce variability, but it cannot modify the intrinsic quality of gametes or alter biological limitations. In other words, it improves the information available, but does not change the biology. The next step. Development does not stop at the oocyte evaluation. According to the embryologist, the next big leap will be the progressive optimization of ovarian stimulation protocols through predictive models that integrate clinical, hormonal and previous response data. More than “absolute customization”, it will be a continuous improvement in precision. Reproductive medicine is moving toward increasingly data-driven decisions. In economic terms, technological incorporation may initially entail a higher cost, but in the medium and long term it could reduce failed cycles and make the system more cost-effective. Freezing eggs without freezing uncertainty. Vitrification will continue to be a bet with a margin of uncertainty. No algorithm can promise a future pregnancy. But it can offer a more refined estimate of the biological potential of those frozen eggs. For years, fertility preservation was a decision supported by general statistics. Today it is also beginning to rely on personalized predictive models. Artificial intelligence does not eliminate the passage of time or guarantee motherhood. But it does introduce something new to a discipline historically marked by probability: … Read more

In the middle of Valentine’s week, strawberries have reached figures never seen before in half of Europe. The problem is not love, it is Spain

by

Hearts, chocolate, bouquets of flowers and pink decorations everywhere: Valentine’s week is synonymous with many things, but above all with crazy prices. What was not expected in half of Europe is that strawberries were going to rise so much. And when I say ‘so much’, it’s ‘so much’. What happened to the strawberries? The peak in demand is predictable: every year, coinciding with Valentine’s week, the demand for strawberries skyrockets. And, furthermore, it is a very inelastic demand: since it is a “special” day, people continue buying them “almost” independently of the price. That has not changed in 2026: what has changed is that the supply has suffered a huge shock. A shock called Spain and Portugal: And more specifically its meteorology. If the frosts of a few years ago caused the shortage of red peppers throughout the European continentthe historic rainfall in recent months has reduced strawberry production, its quality and shelf life to almost historic lows. To give us an idea of ​​the collapse: in Huelva, production has fallen by half compared to 2025. And despite efforts to catch up, production is 38% below from that of the 24/25 campaign. This has meant that strawberries are arriving in the Netherlands at 5.83 per kilo and in France at 6.44. The problem naked. In this case, the problem is that Europe depends completely on Huelva and, in recent decades, it has not been able to do anything to avoid it. Huelva producers have demonstrated an impressive capacity to produce with very high quality at very low prices. That (and the constant rise in production) has meant that no one can build a parallel agribusiness. The problem is that the climate becomes increasingly volatile, the ‘security’ of the Andalusian countryside decreases. and this episode has only confirmed it. What’s behind the story. So what is hidden behind the strawberries at seven euros per kilo in a market in Alicante is the story of the loss of hegemony of one of the most solid and refined economic pillars in southern Europe. That is to say, while strawberries are on their way to becoming an ‘ultra-luxury’ product, Andalusia’s competitive advantage is fading. Are a giant with feet of clay. Image | Alba Otero In Xataka | Spain’s problem with its supermarkets: Huelva strawberries are now cheaper in Germany

Not even the judge who granted him this wish even knows if this is possible.

by

LaLiga has obtained that a court in Córdoba order NordVPN and ProtonVPN to block certain IPs associated with the broadcast of football matches without authorization. The situation, which has intensified over the last few years, and which has led to malfunction of many websites every time there is a match, it has even led to the services of VPN are involved in this crossroads. The problem is that no one knows entirely if that is technically possible, not even the judge who signed the resolution. What exactly happened. The Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba recently issued several orders granting LaLiga and Telefónica precautionary measures “unheard of”, that is, without the affected companies being able to defend themselves. The recipients are two of the most popular VPNs on the market: NordVPN and ProtonVPN. The order requires them to immediately implement mechanisms so that certain IP addresses, in which, according to LaLiga, “illegal broadcasting of protected audiovisual content” were found to be inaccessible from Spain. Because it is important. Until now, LaLiga’s battles against those websites or organizations that broadcast football without authorization were fought involving teleoperators and broadcast providers. services like Cloudflarewith the goal of blocking those IP addresses in which it was confirmed that LaLiga content had been broadcast without authorization. Bringing VPN providers into that equation means that the pursuit of those IP addresses jumped to a whole new level. The reasoning The judge’s opinion is that these companies are “technological intermediaries within the scope of European Digital Services regulations” and, therefore, have the obligation to prevent infringements from being committed through their infrastructures. LaLiga further argues that these VPNs not only facilitate access to blocked content, but even “actively advertise that ability.” The technical trap. Blocking a specific IP is relatively simple for a traditional operator. But asking a VPN to block only “illegal” traffic associated with an IP, without touching the rest of the traffic passing through its servers, is a completely different problem. The magistrate responsible for the resolution, Antonio Fuentes Bujalance, recognized in a publication on LinkedIn that the order only requires action “in the sole and exclusive case that it is technically possible to make this discrimination between legal and illegal traffic by the VPN provider without affecting in any way everything that does not have to do with illegal soccer streaming traffic.” “Whether or not it is technically possible will be seen, but if it is not, the order is only to do it if possible,” he added in the publication. What it means in practice. In other words, what the judge meant is that, if NordVPN or ProtonVPN determine that they cannot make this traffic discrimination without compromising the service of their users, the resolution ceases to have effect. This opens up room for maneuver for both companies, although it also raises the question of who evaluates and certifies whether this technical separation is possible or not. How VPNs have reacted. ProtonVPN counted to Xataka Móvil that he was not aware of any ongoing proceedings before the news broke, and that any order issued without due notification to the affected parties would be, in his opinion, “invalid from a procedural point of view.” NordVPN, for its part, Indian that he had not received the judicial documents either, so he could not comment in detail. Although the company maintained that “domain blocks are ineffective in combating piracy” since these blocks can be “easily bypassed using subdomains.” Furthermore, NordVPN said that these types of measures “mainly affect reputable paid VPNs, leaving free VPN services practically intact,” which are used precisely by those who do not want to pay for content. And now what. Everything indicates that the issue is still quite far from being resolved. What has become clear is that LaLiga has opened a new front in its particular fight against those who broadcast matches without consent, and is going to use every possible legal instrument to make their requests possible. Cover image | Peter Lagson and own assembly In Xataka | You will only be able to get to the World Cup stadiums in the USA and Mexico by car. And they are going to charge you 300 dollars to park it

The European Commission did not like how Spain has imposed the V16 beacon. That has potential consequences.

by

The V16 beacon has generated all a wave of criticismboth because of its obligation, and because their capabilities and legislation around it. In this last aspect, the European Commission has confirmed that Spain did not follow the mandatory notification procedure before imposing the connected beacon. From here, the consequences can range from a formal infringement procedure to Spanish courts refusing to apply the rule. It is mandatory, but Brussels has a different opinion. Since January 1, 2026, drivers in Spain are required to carry a V16 beacon connected that, in the event of a breakdown or accident, allows the DGT to geolocate the vehicle. Just like account the executive vice-president of the European Commission, Stéphane Séjourné, in response to the parliamentary question of the PP MEP Dolors Montserrat, this obligation was established by two royal decrees: the 159/2021 and the 1030/2022. The problem is that, according to Séjourné, neither of them was communicated to Brussels before their adoption, something that European legislation expressly requires. Why does that matter? There is a European directive, 2015/1535which obliges Member States to notify the European Commission of any draft technical regulation before approving it. The objective is that both the Commission and the rest of the EU countries can analyze it and detect if it could cause problems for trade or contradict community law. If a State does so, it has a waiting period of three months before being able to adopt the standard. And Séjourné suggests that Spain would have skipped this step entirely. What the Commission has said. The executive vice president of the European Commission confirmed in its response expressly that the Spanish royal decrees “have not been notified in accordance with the procedure of Directive (EU) 2015/1535”. Furthermore, it also warns that, if a Member State fails to comply with this obligation, the Commission “may open a formal infringement procedure under the article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU”. lJudges may not apply the rule. Beyond the sanctions that the alleged infringement may entail, the Commission recalls that the Court of Justice of the EU has already established in its jurisprudence that “national courts must refuse to apply technical regulations that have not been properly notified.” In other words: if you as a Spanish driver They fine you for not carrying the V16 beacon You could, in theory, challenge that sanction by alleging precisely this failure to notify. Minterior market Brussels also warns of another aspect. As the use of danger signaling devices is not harmonized at the European level, each State can regulate according to its traffic regulations. But when very specific technical requirements are imposed on what that device must be like, as is the case with the beacon and its mandatory connectivity, Séjourné warns that this can “become a restriction on free trade within the internal market”, something that would violate article 34 of the TFEU. And now what. The issue, like many others in the country, has become another debate of political colors. Montserrat has demanded the Government to “immediately clarify this situation and act with transparency.” In the absence of knowing more details about it, it seems that we will have to wait to find out if the beacon may end up causing more problems than necessary. Cover image | Guillaume Perigois and DGT In Xataka | The RAM crisis has put the future of smartphones, consoles and computers in check. And the cars are not going to escape either

We have been looking for the end of Neanderthals in weapons and climate for decades. A study proposes to look for it in the placenta

by

For decades, we have tried to explain why our species has persisted over time and Neanderthals don’t. We have blamed climate changeto competition for resources, to a supposed cognitive inferiority and even to the genetic assimilation. However, a new study suggests that the answer might not lie on the battlefield or in the weather, but in something much more intimate like the placenta. A new idea. In this case, science proposes a hypothesis controversial, since it suggests that Neanderthals could have become extinct, in part, due to genetic susceptibility extreme to preeclampsia. a disorder which is heard a lot today and which is nothing more than a hypertensive condition in pregnancy that can be lethal for both the mother and the fetuses. A price to pay. To understand the hypothesis, we must first understand the human “obstetric paradox”, since in our species we have an almost unique characteristic, which is deep hemochorial placentation. And it is something that may sound very bad, but it is actually necessary to feed a fetal brain as demanding as ours and that of Neanderthals. In this case, the placenta needs to aggressively invade the arteries of the uterus maternal to obtain maximum blood flow, although the problem is that it is something that carries a great risk. The possibilities. Faced with this invasion, the possibilities that open up are several. The first of them is that it works and that the fetus can develop its massive brain. But in the event that this fails, a great immunological and vascular reaction is unleashed in the mother, which is what we know as preeclampsia. This presents with severe hypertension, organ damage and risk of death for both the mother and the fetus. And it is a problem that today is quite significant among human pregnancies, but now science indicates that, although the Homo sapiens evolved a physiological “safety mechanism” to mitigate this impact, Neanderthals were not so lucky. A demographic winter. This study suggests that, as the Neanderthal brain grew, becoming larger than ours, its metabolic needs forced a increasingly aggressive placentation. The fact of penetrating further into the placenta significantly increases the risk of preeclampsia, and the problem is that Neanderthal women lacked the immune mechanism to tolerate this invasion. This is where researchers have created a scenario in which rates of preeclampsia and eclampsia in Neanderthals could have reached between 10% and 20% of all pregnanciescompared to much lower rates in preindustrial humans. The meaning. This scenario translates into logically devastating maternal and fetal mortality, and the direct consequence is that small and dispersed hunter-gatherer populations had a constant decline in reproductive success. And this is a much more effective death sentence than any war, since a sudden catastrophe is not necessary, but it is enough for more mothers and babies to die than are born over a few millennia for a species to end up disappearing. There is skepticism. Within the scientific world there are doubts about what is said in this study, since there is a lack of physical evidence to support this hypothesis. The first thing they point to is that there are no markers in the fossils that have been found that allow us to diagnose preeclampsia in a Neanderthal woman from 40,000 years ago. In addition to this, although we know genetic variants associated with the risk of preeclampsia in modern humans, such as genes linked to FLT1systematic screening of Neanderthal DNA has not yet been performed to confirm whether they possessed the “high-risk” variants or lacked the protective variants. Also like it. What makes this hypothesis attractive to biologists is that it fits with maternal-fetal conflict theory. As different previous reviews point out, pregnancy is not always a perfect cooperation, but rather a tense biological negotiation. In this case, the fetus “wants” more resources to survive, and the mother “wants” to limit that investment to survive and have future children. Preeclampsia is often the result of this conflict getting out of control, and so, if Neanderthals took the “big brain” strategy to the limit without developing the biological counterpart to protect the mother, their own reproductive biology could have become an evolutionary trap. Images | Nanne Tiggelman freestocks In Xataka | A mixture of 4,000 kilometers: we have the first detailed map of the coexistence between Neanderthals and Sapiens

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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