Month: February 2026

Iberia is going to charge up to 140 euros extra for checking in irregular luggage. Now we just need to know what “irregular luggage” is.

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Since January 28, Iberia has already an additional charge applies for checking in irregularly shaped luggage. What do you mean by irregular luggage? It’s a good question. From Iberia they assure that everything that is soft bags, plastic packages, round or oval packages and any non-rigid packaging that could interfere with the airport’s automatic systems, are susceptible to a surcharge. But it is worth qualifying. Irregular luggage. The airline define Irregular baggage is any package whose shape, material or dimensions may create problems in airport baggage handling systems, as indicated in its official statement. This includes duffel bags, oversized soft backpacks, plastic-wrapped packages, or any object that is not the typical rectangular shape of a hard suitcase. The company assures that this type of luggage blocks automated conveyor belts and complicates stacking in aircraft holds. Just like share In La Voz de Galicia, airlines argue that the handling of non-regular packages represents one of their biggest logistical problems, since the automated systems are designed specifically for rectangular suitcases and these objects can get caught in the sensors or prevent the passage of the rest of the checked luggage. Route Domestic flights (except Canary Islands) Canary Islands / Europe / Africa America/Asia By route (origin-destination) €35/$45/£35 €60 / $75 / £55 €125 / $150 / £110 Connecting flights €40/$50/£35 €70 / $80 / £65 €140/$165/£125 How much does the new rate cost? The amount varies depending on the route and whether the flight includes connections. On domestic flights within the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, the charge is 35 euros each way. For destinations such as the Canary Islands, Europe or Africa, it amounts to 60 euros. On intercontinental routes to America or Asia, the rate reaches 125 euros. If the trip includes connections, these amounts rise to 40, 70 and 140 euros respectively. Iberia clarifies that this charge is added to the price of the luggage, although if the ticket already includes a checked bag, only the additional amount will be paid. Fees apply regardless of whether the passenger has already paid for checked baggage. How it works in practice. According to they count From Iberia, the airline staff will assess each case at the special baggage check-in counter and decide whether or not to accept the bag. Furthermore, it warns that in exceptional situations the luggage may not travel on the same flight as the passenger and may be transported in a special hold or on a later flight. The airline recommends using rectangular or proportioned rigid suitcases to avoid these extra charges and incidents. Differences with special luggage. This new rate is independent of the charges that Iberia already applied for special luggage such as musical instruments, sports equipment or bicycles, which have their own rates. Golf equipment, skis, fishing rods, skates or rackets cost between 30 and 40 euros if booked online, and between 60 and 66 euros if purchased at the airport. Bicycles cost between 65 and 72 euros on domestic flights, while surfboards range from 70 to 77 euros. Musical instruments are the most expensive, with rates ranging between 150 and 330 euros depending on the duration of the flight, and can only be arranged directly at the airports. Cover image | Miguel Angel Sanz In Xataka | Flying in “Business” class is the new trend among low-cost airlines. In all except one: Ryanair

More and more athletes are drinking pickle juice to avoid cramps. This is what nutritional science says

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For a few days now, there has been no other topic of conversation in the world of elite sports: athletes like Carlos Alcaraz or Tadej Pogačar have exchanged the most advanced isotonic drinks in the world for something much simpler and pedestrian: pickle brine. When we talk about elite sport, the line that separates brilliant ideas, absurd fashions and the most delusional superstitions is very finite. So we’ve asked ourselves… Does all this make sense? But let’s explain it well. In endurance and high-performance sports, the idea of ​​always carrying “pickle juice” (the brine from pickles) or other products inspired by it has become popular to “cut off cramps when they have already started.” And it makes sense that it has caught on. To begin with, because cramps associated with exercise are one of the most frustrating things there is. Furthermore, for years, we have missed the mark: we thought they were a product of dehydration and lack of salts, but everything seems to indicate that They are something much more multifactorial than it seemed. In fact, everything seems to indicate that the main problem has more to do with altered neuromuscular control than anything else. And in this context pickles arrive. Because yes we have evidence (somewhat limited, it’s true) which shows that brining works. Although not because of what we usually believe: researchers realized that the mechanism works too quickly for it to be a matter of electrolyte replacement. There is simply no time for physiology to do its job. So? The truth is that the mechanism in question is still mysterious. It seems that the hypothesis stronger right now is that these liquids play with the oropharyngeal reflex: a very acidic/irritant/aggressive taste could stimulate certain receptors and, as a consequence, trigger a neurological reaction that resets and adjusts neuromuscular control. And this is important because, if so, they do not replace (strictly speaking) to isotonic drinks if they are necessary. At least, not in the short term. Does it make sense? On a purely scientific level, I think the most reasonable thing to do is to think that we have some evidence to suggest that it works in some people. However, let’s not fool ourselves: to date we have no evidence that it is more effective than the traditional approach (mechanical measures such as stretching or load change). In this sense, it is worth remembering that superstition plays a key role in elite sport. Superstition? What superstition? Thanks to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Kinesio tapes became popular. Some brightly colored ribbons that say they can be used for almost everything but whose effects are not proven at all. At the 2016 Rio games, the boom was taken by cupping. As I argued then, athletes are tremendously superstitious beings. A lot. And they are because it works for them.. From the eightieswe know that sports rituals have a positive impact on their execution. And, curiously, increasing ‘perceived self-efficacy’ It is usually related to increasing effectiveness in actual execution. Ultimately, what studies tell us is that these rituals “helped strengthen feelings of control and confidence that were otherwise lacking” in times of great stress. It doesn’t matter if they are lucky underwear or a lump of brine: they are things that function beyond their physiological plausibility. The problem, as always, is another. Whether we like it or not, athletes are role models for the general public. With these fads, they are spreading pseudoscience beliefs in society and generating business in companies with few scruples. Something, in itself, much more dangerous than drinking pickle juice. Image | Ketut Subiyanto In Xataka | Why are the best athletes in the world getting bruises on their skin?

What is really the best ‘first computer’ for less than 300 euros?

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Let’s take a practical example, which coincides with my case from a few years ago: we enter university and we need a computer, so we go to a store and see the prices. Our budget is 300 euros, but there is a lot to choose from and we don’t have much of an idea: Windows or ChromeOS? How are they different? You may base yourself on the size of the computer to have something more manageable and in the end you end up with a bad purchase (as happened to me), or you may prioritize another section that you are not really going to take advantage of, so today we are going to explain the key points of these two operating systems, as well as commenting on which cases (because there are) it is better to opt for a tablet. Choose a Windows computer Windows is one of the most widespread operating systems, so you can usually find it on computers sold in stores. It is quite useful for a wide variety of cases, especially in relation to the compatibility of applications such as those in the Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Office), which is only available to install on Windows, although the web version can be used on other operating systems. While it is true that, for example, to play video games it is the favorite choice of users due to the performance that the most expensive computers usually offer, if we have a budget of 300 euros it may be the worst choice we can make. Because? Many of the computers under 300 euros will come with very fair processors, such as the Intel Celeron. Continuing with the university example, it’s not that you won’t be able to use it, it’s that in a short time you will have a computer that works much worse than when you bought it. It is also worth mentioning that Windows is a very complete operating system that incorporates functions and applications for a wide variety of uses. Many of them start in the background, even if we do not use them, which consume requirements of the computer itself and can lead to worse performance. Especially if the computer comes with the latest versions, such as Windows 11 Home or Windows 11 Pro. Although there are not that many computers, some of them come with Windows 11Swhich aims to offer better performance at the cost of being more limited, such as the obligation to use Microsoft Edge or only allowing applications to be downloaded through the Microsoft Store. This means that if, for example, you want to install Chrome or Zoom outside of the Store, you will not be able to do so without exiting S mode. Choose a computer with ChromeOS ChromeOS is an operating system created by Google which is usually found in inexpensive computers called Chromebookso its appearance is quite similar to what we find in Chrome, the web browser. It is aimed primarily at environments in which good performance is required when browsing the Internet or writing text. While it is true that over time compatibility with applications has expanded with options such as access to Google Play or the execution of apps based on GNU/Linux, it is below the compatibility we find in Windows. However, for its intended use, this should not be a problem. Furthermore, one of the advantages that ChromeOS has over other operating systems such as Windows is that It’s “lighter”. It doesn’t have as many features, so if we compare two computers with the same components, the one with ChromeOS installed will have better performance. As a tip, you may be much more familiar with Windows and might be hesitant to make the jump to ChromeOS. If you already have a computer at home, laptop or desktop, you can use ChromeOS Flex to see what the operating system is like and thus do your homework about what you can find on the computer you want to buy. If you really don’t know what the performance of a Windows computer will be like, the idea is clear: a computer with ChromeOS may be more useful to you, because as it is an operating system that requires fewer resources, it will perform well, both at the beginning and over time. Choose a tablet If I want a computer, Why would I choose a tablet? You may be asking yourself this question, and it is normal. For years, tablets have served as a complement to a mobile phone, to watch multimedia content or play a video game. But currently we can find powerful models that can be very useful when studying. Over the years we have seen increasingly powerful tablets arrive that in many cases even come with their own keyboards. And we cannot ignore that most tablets, at least with a price limit of 300 euros, can be smaller than laptops. If you value portability a lot, that it does not take up much space in your backpack and that it weighs little, this option may be attractive to you. The main thing here is that If you are going to buy a tablet that includes a keyboard, that at least works correctly. To give another example of my own, a while ago I bought a tablet that included a keyboard, but the response time was so long that it is totally inadvisable to use it, especially if it is to take notes. Of course, you have to know that since it is a tablet, you will only be able to connect external accessories (such as a keyboard or mouse) through its Bluetooth connectivity, unless you have a USB-C adapter at home or want to buy, although it is more advisable to go for the former. The good and the bad of the three options, face to face Windows chrome os tablet THE GOOD 🟢 Good app compatibility and a greater variety of computers. Better overall performance and good app compatibility. More compact and lighter weight. … Read more

Spain and Portugal have “free” energy right now. If we do not share it with Europe it is due to only one reason: France

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While the Iberian Peninsula registers a surplus of unprecedented renewable energy at bargain prices, the rest of the continent continues to be suffocated by triple-digit bills. In the middle of these two realities a wall rises, not of stone, but of political and nuclear interests: France. The northern neighbor acts as a plug that prevents cheap energy from the south from flowing north, protecting its atomic industry at the expense of European consumers’ pockets. Two Europes disconnected. The data from February 11 are a blow to the table of European integration. According to the records of OMIE and ESIOSthe average daily market price in Spain has plummeted to €4.23/MWh, with hours in which producers have had to pay for injecting energy (negative prices of -€0.42/MWh). The situation in Portugal is even more extreme: the megawatt hour is paid at €0.34, that is, practically free. However, it is enough to cross the Pyrenees for reality to change drastically. The price map ESIOS turns central and northern Europe red: Germany pays electricity at €100.62/MWh, Belgium at €72.04/MWh and the Netherlands at €88.70/MWh. France, strategically located in the middle, enjoys a comfortable price of €13.61/MWh, benefiting from buying cheaply from the south without missing out on the flow to its northern neighbors. This disparity perfectly visualizes the concept of “energy island”: a peninsula overflowing with resources that does not have enough bridges to share them. The great uncoupling of February. What we are experiencing these first two weeks of February is what experts call a “total decoupling.” According to the analysis of Aleasoft Energy Forecastingthe arrival of several Atlantic storms has triggered wind and hydroelectric generation on the peninsula. By adding the solar contribution, the supply has far exceeded the internal demand. The Iberian market (MIBEL) has seen how their prices They fell by 43% in Spain and a staggering 74% in Portugal in just one week, reaching daily averages of €0.54/MWh, values ​​that had not been seen since April 2024. Meanwhile, the Energy Charts graphs show that Germany has continued with prices oscillating above €100/MWh for much of January and early February, still depending on non-renewable sources. The drama of throwing away energy. Having cheap electricity seems like excellent news for the domestic consumer, but it hides a serious systemic inefficiency. As there are not enough cables to export this surplus to a Europe thirsty for cheap energy, Spain is forced to carry out curtailment (technical discharges). As we have already explained in Xatakawe are literally throwing away around 7% of clean energy because it “does not fit” into the grid and has no outlet. This scenario causes zero prices that, paradoxically, can ruin renewable investors, who need profitability to continue deploying parks. Furthermore, the situation has uncovered the seams of the Spanish internal network. The network is administratively “collapsed”: the CNMC has had to delay until May 2026 the publication of the capacity maps because, under the new security criteria, 90% of the network nodes appear saturated. Only 12% of connection requests are being approved, which means that we have the energy, but the cables are missing to bring it to new industries and homes. The French nuclear “bunker”. If there is excess energy in the south and lack in the north, why not build an electric highway? The answer has its own name: nuclear protectionism. President Emmanuel Macron has declared that interconnections They are a “false debate”arguing that Spain’s problem is a “100% renewable model that its own network does not support.” However, the data refute the Elysée story. As expert Joaquín Coronado explainsSpain is not 100% renewable (it closed 2025 at 55.5%) and, in fact, it was Spain that came to the rescue of France in 2022 and 2025, exporting electricity through its combined cycles when the French nuclear park failed due to corrosion and heat problems. The reality, according to the CEO of RedeiaRoberto García Merino, is that the blockade “is not technical, it is pure geostrategy.” France needs to make profitable a pharaonic investment of 300,000 million euros in its nuclear park and fears that the massive entry of Spanish solar energy, much cheaper, will sink the prices and competitiveness of its reactors. Therefore, Paris has explicitly excluded of its 2025-2035 network plan the key interconnection projects for Aragon and Navarra, keeping the Iberian Peninsula as an island with only 2.8% interconnection, very far from the European objective of 15%. Any solution on the table? Brussels’ patience is running out. The European Commission has already issued an ultimatum to Francegiving him a period of nine months to unblock the situation and present a political declaration of commitment. Meanwhile, the only project that advancesalthough slow, is the submarine cable through the Bay of Biscay. Redeia confirmed that the laying campaigns will begin this summer of 2026, with an eye on its entry into operation by 2028. An unsustainable contradiction. Within the European Union, it is happening that while one member country desperately seeks energy autonomy and competitive prices for its industry, it allows another of its key partners to keep the door to the south closed. Spain could be Europe’s green battery, but without export capacity, that wealth is diluted in negative prices and technical waste. Everything happens while France acts as a strict customs officer that protects its atoms, preventing the European Union from truly being an energy union. Image | freepik Xataka | The great electrical jam in Spain: we have plenty of electricity, but there are no cables to build houses and invest more

Idaho has been embroiled in a debate over a flag ban. And he has the ikurriña in his sights

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An unexpected protagonist has slipped into the (convulsive) public debate in the US: the ikurriña. glancingly and for those hazards of history that raise eyebrows, the flag of Euskadi has become a headache for the legislators of the country led by Trump. To be more precise, the controversy has jumped in boise (the capital of Idaho), where a active diaspora which explains why the city has its own Basque ‘neighborhood’, Basque Block. There you can find traditional bars, a museum… and ikurriñas. Now, in full debate Regarding which flags can or cannot be raised on their masts, there are those who believe that red, green and white banners have no place. What has happened? That Idaho has plunged into a nasty fight about what flags they can fly in their streets, at least from public buildings. So far, nothing strange in a nation whose public debate (already tense) is taking place pending a key date: November 3House of Representatives election day. What is striking is the drift that this discussion has taken and how it has ended up focusing the focus on the ikurriñas. Question of flags. To understand it, you must first understand the convoluted political board of Boise. On one side we have its mayor, the Democrat Lauren McLean. In the other Ted HillRepublican MP from Idaho. Some time ago the first, McLean, earned the anger of Hill and the rest of the conservative bench by keeping the LGTBIQ+ flag hanging on the façade of City Hall beyond the Pride Month‘Pride Month’. That decision I didn’t like it in Donald Trump’s party, which began to legislate so that only official emblems can be hoisted. At least in public buildings. The measure went ahead and the issue seemed to be settled. At least for a while. Wasn’t it like that? No. McLaren was not willing to give in. In a clever twist, Boise declared the LGTBIQ+ flag official in the city, continuing to fly it without violating Republican law. Was the fight over at that point? No. Hill reacted by launching the legislative machinery so that the only flags ‘able’ on the Government’s flagpoles are those prior to 2023, the year in which Boise assumed the rainbow banner as its own. What does all this have to do with Euskadi? Initially the republican norm included certain exceptions (flags other than the Stars and Stripes that could be displayed on public buildings), but as time went by, their proposal became more rigid. And that affected one of Boise’s most popular groups: the Basque diaspora. As strange as it may sound, in the city of Ada County it is not only possible to see flags of the USA, the state of Idaho or LGTBIQ+. It is also not unusual to find ikurriñas waving in the wind. Why’s that? Although Bouse is thousands of kilometers from Euskadi, it hosts an active Basque community whose history can go back to the 19th century, when a group of Biscayan emigrants decided to find a life in the United States. The passage of time (and generations) did not erase its identity and today in Boise, recognizes the Hispanic Council itselfit is possible to find “an entire block dedicated to Basque culture”, with restaurants, frontons, a museum and even an education center. The greatest emblem of the diaspora in Idaho (with permission from the ikurriña) is the Jaialdia festival that moves thousands of people and which in 2025 even had a visit of Lehendakari Imanol Pradales. On festival days it is even easier to come across the Basque flag. “It flies during Jaialdi, when the Basque delegation comes to our state and we honor that deep heritage in Idaho. To me, it is a very appropriate way, reason and occasion to fly the autonomous flag of the Basque community. I wonder how it is different from flying the flag of another country for a special occasion,” I questioned recently Democratic Representative Anne Haws. And the storm broke out. The ikurriña was not the trigger for the controversy over the Idaho flags, but over the months it has ended up becoming (almost suddenly) one of its main protagonists. To understand it, we must review the legislative debates around the new rule, in which Hill did not hesitate to explain why his party wants to restrict the use of the Basque flag. The problem has not been so much the veto itself, but rather its confusing (and thorny) argument. The Republican alleged that the ikurriña is not officially “recognized”, it is “a revolutionary flag”, he related it to ETA and even stated that it is “illegal” to fly it in Spain. “It would be crossing the line, and then the Palestinian flag would have to be allowed too,” Hill concluded. A few days ago, fellow Republican Bret Crane tried to tone downalthough without getting out of the puddle. During a public intervention he acknowledged that in the future some formula could be found that would allow the ikurriña to be hoisted, but he did not renounce the substance of the republican message. In fact, he asked his colleagues if they should also allow “Muslim or similar flags” that represent “people who have also had difficulties in Idaho.” What is the situation now? There are two fronts, the administrative and the political. In the first, the new rule (House Bill 561) continues to advance. On Tuesday the newspaper Idaho Capital Sun echoed how a group of opponents waved LGTBIQ+ flags in the Boise Capitol in the middle of the debate on the measure, which goes gradually overcoming its processing. Once completed, the prosecutor will be able to enforce the veto on unofficial flags and those who ignore it will risk a considerable fine: 2,000 dollars a day for every ‘wrong’ banner hung from a public building. “The right to wave it”. In the political field, the debate about flags has crossed the pond to reach this side of the Atlantic. The president of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, has … Read more

Mistral is the AI ​​that is playing its cards best. Because it is taking advantage of the fever for European technological sovereignty

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To the cheetah being silent, Mistral grows like foam. The French artificial intelligence startup claims that its revenue has multiplied by 20 over the past year, and they have achieved it with a particularly striking and effective strategy: defending and promoting European technological sovereignty. what has happened. Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral, explains in Financial Times that its latest annualized revenue rate — which estimates annual revenue based on last month’s revenue — was above $400 million. A year ago that rate was only 20 million a year. Or what is the same: he has multiplied it by 20. This works. The startup based in Paris hasn’t stopped to grow since its beginnings and last year already was valued at 12,000 million euros. That figure may soon become obsolete, because the company is on track to surpass $1 billion in annual recurring revenue by the end of the year if it continues this growth. Between their alliances more striking is the one who signed with ASML in September 2025: that was when the Dutch company invested 1.3 billion euros in it. It is not making too much noise, but it continues to grow with a key component. Companies in power. Mistral is rapidly expanding the number of large enterprise clients it works with. Right now it has more than 100, and although it is not especially popular among end users – who tend to choose models from Big Tech companies in the US – the option for these European companies is increasingly clear. If they want not to depend on infrastructure and control outside Europe, they now have Mistral as a great alternative. New data centers. The firm announced this Wednesday that it will invest 1.2 billion euros in a new data center in Sweden. It is the first center of its kind that the company will build outside of France, and Mensch explained that “We are diversifying and distributing our capacity throughout Europe.” That data center will be created in collaboration with EcoDataCenter, and is expected to be operational in 2027. The choice of Sweden was easy according to Mensch, who noted that it was very attractive because the energy there was “low in carbon emissions and relatively cheap.” Partners and clients deep inside but also outside the EU. Although Mistral is postulated as the great reference in terms of this “European AI”, it also has Microsoft and NVIDIA as investors. In fact its ambition is global, but the fact of being the only major European developer of foundational LLMs It has put it in the spotlight of all European companies that seek independence from partners from the US or China. ASML, Total Energies, HSBC and governments such as France, Germany and Greece already use Mistral’s services, and 60% of their revenue comes from Europe. A perfect speech for these times. The CEO of Mistral is clear about the strategy and has arrived at the right time to apply that strategy that defends European sovereignty: “Europe has realized that its dependence on American digital services was excessive and is now at a critical point. We give them (European companies) an advantage because we provide them with models, software and computing capacity completely independent of American players.” Data centers must be from European companies. Mensch also talked about all those data centers than Big Tech will create in Europe and, of course, in Spain: “It is important that we realize that it is not so useful (for States) to deploy computing resources if you only create data centers for US hyperscalers“. Or what is the same: having AI data centers from companies like Microsoft, Google or Amazon in Europe serves the interests of these companies much more than European interests. In Xataka | Europe has begun to become technologically and militarily independent from the United States. First stop: replace Starlink

Spain has started its most ambitious defense program. It is not a tank or a drone, it is the brain to control Europe’s troops

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Spain built its land defense looking outward, integrating into foreign programs and adapting doctrines from when the tank symbolized power, deterrence and industrial sovereignty. From joining NATO in 1982 to the missions in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army was accumulating operational experience, but always with one constant: the key technology came from outside. Today, the debate no longer revolves around how many vehicles you have, but rather What role do you want to play? now that the war changes again. From cannon to code. The Ukrainian experience has finished burying the idea of ​​the battle tank as an isolated and self-sufficient platform, pushing Spain to rethink its land doctrine from the roots. Instead of investing in more armor and weight, the Ministry of Defense has opted for a conceptual leap: prioritizing information, connectivity and speed of decision as key factors of survival in a “transparent” battlefield, saturated with sensors, drones and smart munitions. In that context PAMOV is bornnot as a new tank or a combat drone, but as the nervous system that must govern all those that come after. PAMOV, the brain. The Superior Ground Combat System program, awarded to Indraseeks to define the digital architecture of the future Spanish armored combat beyond 2040. We are talking about an initial investment around the 45 million euros and a strong R&D component, one whose objective is not yet to manufacture platforms, but design and mature subsystems that will allow the integration of manned and unmanned vehicles, sensors, weapons and command and control into a single cooperative tactical network. The tank, therefore, stops being the physical center of combat and becomes just another node within a distributed “system of systems.” INDRA The tactical cloud. One of the pillars of PAMOV is the creation of a combat tactical cloud capable of fusing in real time information from on-board sensors, aerial and ground drones and external sources. As? Through artificial intelligencethe system detects, classifies and prioritizes threats, reducing crew cognitive overload and accelerating decision-making in high-pressure environments. The 360 degree visionsupported by AI and augmented reality, allows you to “see through” the armor and regain freedom of maneuver against the proliferation of drones and loitering munitions. Less tons, more platforms. Plus: the lessons of Ukraine have highlighted the limits of the continued growth in weight of battle tanks, some already close to 80 tons, with enormous logistics costs and restrictions of mobility. In this sense, Indra’s approach is committed to distribute capabilities between multiple lighter platforms, many of them unmanned, that operate in tandem with the main tank. Here are names that are common today in the Ukrainian war, such as UGVs and UASwho would advance ahead “taking on the most exposed missions and acting as extenders of ISTAR capability“, in addition to (obviously) reducing human risks. Modularity and weapons of tomorrow. The PAMOV is conceived as an open architecturemodular and scalable, one capable of being integrated into different present and future vehicles. This allows on paper to progressively incorporate new technologies, from advanced active protection systems to directed energy weapons and, in more distant phases, even future hypersonic systems without having to redesign the entire platform. Hence, it is emphasized that the key is not in the specific weapon, but in the system being able to govern, coordinate and exploit it within the tactical network at the right time. Technological sovereignty. The concept is going to be repeated more and more in the old continent. In the case of Spain, with a 95% of national developments and the participation of SMEs, startups, universities and technology centers spread across several autonomous communities, PAMOV is presented as a strategic commitment for the country. As we remembered yesterday, the nation seeks to stop being just a simple buyer or late integrator to become technology provider criticism in European programs like MARS and, in the long term, the MGCSseeking to be on par with France and Germany. The final objective is that the Spanish contribution to the European car of the future is not only steel, but intelligence that governs it. Another way to fight. Finally, and if you will, beyond technology, the impact of PAMOV points above all to doctrinal. For the Army it means moving from individual platforms to cooperative networkschange the way we command, train and operate, and prepare for high-intensity scenarios with fewer personnel and greater dependence on software. From that perspective, the future Spanish battle tank will not be defined by its caliber or its weight, but by its capacity. to connect systemsdominate the information and decide faster than the opponent. Image | Rheinmetall Defense, Oscar in the middleIndra In Xataka | Spain has been a weapons exporting power for decades. Now he has made a decision: keep them In Xataka | Ukraine has found what it needed in an unexpected ally. Spain had the missing piece against the shahed drones

What is Claude Cowork, how it works, and what things you can do with this AI assistant on your computer

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Let’s explain to you What is Claude Cowork and how does it work?one of the advanced tools of the artificial intelligence of Claude. It is an automation assistant for the computer, a kind of AI agent which you can ask to do tasks on your PC without you having to touch anything. Let’s start by explaining what it is so that you understand the concept. Then we will tell you how it works, to finish by giving you some examples of the things you can do with it. What is Claude Cowork Claude Cowork is basically a personal assistant with artificial intelligence Designed to work natively on your computer. This way, you can use Claude on your Windows or Mac PC to ask it to do things automatically. It has been designed above all to help you with the repetitive tasks you do in your daily life with files, folders and applications. Imagine being able to ask the AI ​​to do things like rename files in a folder, look for duplicates, or even give you summaries of the contents of these files. It is something similar to an AI Agent, but it is not exactly this. AI agents are capable of doing complex tasks for you, like booking a hotel. However, Claude Cowork is designed specifically for automate tasks with files and applicationsand manage the operating system of your local computer. So it doesn’t have as many features, but it does what it’s trained to do better. This tool is available in the Claude desktop appalthough only for paying users. This means that you always have it available. In addition to this, You can also give access to your browser to be able to ask it to do tasks on it or interact with web content, but for that you need to install the extension Claude in Chrome. How Claude Cowork works The way Claude Cowork works is very simple. You open the Claude application and go to the Cowork tab, and in there you ask him what you want him to do using natural language. When making the request, you will have to specify what you want, the folder where you want it done, and all the details you want. Here, you should think that you are asking a person for the task. If you want to change the name of the files in a folder, you will have to specify that you want to rename them, indicate what folder it is, and even the format, in case you want it to be “Year-Month-Name” or any other. Cowork has controlled access to your file systemso that you can decide and customize which elements you can touch and which ones you can’t. When you make a request you can even choose the folder where you want it to act. This tool will first process your text to understand what you want, and then will chain several actions to carry it out. It will be Claude’s own AI that will figure out the way he wants to do it, and if necessary because it doesn’t work, rectify it to do it another way. In the Claude app, within the Cowork section, you will be able to see step by step what it is doing this assistant. The AI ​​will ask you for permission on each piece of data, for example to rename files or connect to a tool, and you can always see the progress and stop it whenever you want. Lastly, you should know that you can use the connectors and extensions to link web services and applications on your computer and be able to do things in them. You can add your notes application, Spotify, or the messaging app among many others. But also web services such as Gmail, Google Drive, Notion, Trivago, WordPress, and many others. What you can do with Cowork The uses of this tool depend on many things, although there are a series of basic actions that you can know and that will save you a lot of time. They are the following: File management: Manage files in any folder, organizing downloads, renaming batches of files with specific patterns, moving documents between folders, finding and deleting duplicates, zipping and unzipping files, and more. Document processing: You can process various document types by extracting text from PDFs, converting files from one format to another, combining multiple documents into one, or extracting specific data from multiple files to create summaries. Automation of repetitive tasks: It can also help you automate tasks you do every day or week, such as preparing reports by putting together data from different files, creating folder structures for new projects, or making organized backups of certain files. Cleaning and maintenance: You can also ask it to do tasks like asking it to delete old files that you no longer need, clean up temporary folders, organize your photo or music library, or find large files that are taking up space. But these are just the basic features of Cowork, and you can get it to do many more things connecting it to cloud services, other applications, or installing the extension to use Chrome. To give an example, I have asked you to create a text file with the list of all the songs (more than 600) that I have in a certain playlist on my Spotify account. So Claude ran his Chrome extension, I could see it go to my Spotify account, I gave him permission to log in, he then looked for various ways to read the songs in the list (first a script and then using the mouse to scroll), and then he created the plain text document. In Xataka Basics | Claude: 23 functions and some tricks to get the most out of this artificial intelligence

After historic rains and floods in Andalusia and Extremadura, it is the turn of another region: the Mediterranean

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Right now, as I write these lines, Catalonia is closed hard due to strong gusts of wind. From 12 midnight to 8:00 p.m., all educational and sports activities and non-urgent health care are suspended. But it is not the only bad news that comes from the Mediterranean: the flow of the Júcar has been shot as it passes through Cuenca (that is, before any important tributary flows into it) and has already entered the red level. We are talking about an account that, discounting Tous (which is at 34% and is for security reasons), has all its reservoirs above 70% capacity. What is happening in the Mediterranean? Beyond the last storms. Yes, it is true: the reservoirs are in an unbeatable moment after the accumulated rains since January 1 exceed three times the normal value (for the average of the years 1991-2020). In fact, the water reserve has experienced the best week of growth since records began: in just seven days, the levels have grown by 10.1%. The problem is that reservoirs and aquifers are not the only places where water accumulates. Therefore, changing patterns is a poisoned gift. Let’s not fool ourselves, it’s still raining in many areas of the country. Less than the previous weeks, but it’s still raining. However, as explains Andrea Danta“the first day without widespread rain in Spain will come as a consequence of a progressive reorganization of atmospheric circulation that will begin at the end of this week and will be consolidated as of Sunday, February 15.” And that, paradoxically, will also have its problems. It’s time to think about the snow. And, when we talk about Júcar, for example, it is inevitable to remember that as of February 2026 the Iberian system () has exceptional thicknesses well above normal at this time. And that snow is going to melt (As will also happen with that of the Pyrenees). And, inevitably, it will end up in the Mediterranean. As is evident, there are many things to take into account: we do not know what will happen in the coming months and how long the thaw will last. But, a priori, problems with the current water situation are almost guaranteed. And that not only translates floods or flash floods. The problems go much further because they break the predictability and constancy of water flows and that affects ecosystems, agriculture and in hydroelectric production. But what is urgent is what is urgent. And the urgent thing is to control the river beds. Something that, in the short term, is increasingly difficult. That is why we are in the middle of a situation of active hydrological surveillance that goes far beyond the Guadalquivir and the Guadiana. In the Ebrothe Arga, Aragón, Gállego (left bank) and the Tirón and Najerilla (right bank) are especially monitored. Inside Cataloniathe upper reaches of the Segre, Llobregat and Ter are monitored. Neither in Júcar nor in Turia active notices that transcend Cuencabut the entry of new fronts and the melting of ice can generate many problems downstream. Image | Water Alternatives In Xataka | After a succession of historic storms, the question is obvious: is Spain becoming a rainy country?

Science now suggests that caffeine could be a “shield” against dementia

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For years, the debate about whether coffee is a hero or a villain for health has swung like a pendulum between one position and another. However, science has now given a good reason for the most coffee lovers to drink even more coffee. The reason is in a new study published in JAMA which has put evidence on the table that is difficult to ignore: moderate caffeine consumption not only keeps us alert today, but could be protecting our brain for tomorrow. The data. We talk about how this is evidence that is difficult to ignore precisely because it is not a one-time survey from a weekend, but rather a Harvard research team. analyzed more than 130,000 people for four decades. Specifically, the sample that has been handled in this case has been 131,821 participants, which included health personnel, and a follow-up of up to 43 years was carried out during the years 1980 and 2023. At the end of the study, 11,033 cases of incident dementia were documented, which is what had to begin to be studied. With your diet. Once all this information is available, researchers have had to begin to cross-reference the dietary intakewhich have been updated every four years, with medical histories. Here the primary objective was to look for a pattern that related something in the lives of patients with dementia to their illness. And the truth is that they saw a fairly clear pattern: those who consumed caffeinated coffee had a lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who barely ate it. Something that other studies in the past also pointed out. Neither little nor too much. Logically, the study does not suggest that we should start drinking coffee as if it were water, since the effects of caffeine in large quantities are very harmful to health. Science suggests in this case that the greatest benefit was observed in those who consumed approximately 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day. In concrete figures, it was seen that this consumption reduced the risk of having dementia by 18% and also showed in patients a lower prevalence of subjective cognitive impairment and better scores on objective memory tests. Drink more coffee. According to this specific study, the benefit stabilizes, meaning that it does not improve further, but it does not worsen drastically in this group of patients. But other meta-analyses suggest that with consumption of more than 4 or 5 cups, the benefits can be reversed and generate other problems. Caffeine is key. One of the most interesting findings is the chemical distinction that is made, since researchers separate people who drink caffeinated coffee and those who drink decaffeinated coffee. Here the results were quite clear: decaffeinated coffee consumption is not associated with a decreased risk of dementia or better cognitive performance. This suggests that the neuroprotective effect does not come only from the antioxidants or polyphenols of the bean (which are also in decaffeinated), but caffeine is the active agent main in this equation. The effect of tea. There is a large group of people who do not depend on caffeine to stay awake, but on the caffeine in tea. In this case, tea consumption showed coffee-like associationssince drinking 1 to 2 cups a day was also linked to a reduced risk of dementia and better cognitive function. This is something that reinforces the theory that caffeine and other compounds such as L-theanine play a protective role in our nervous system. Why does it work? Although in this case the study is not focused on telling us the reasons, the authors propose a series of biological mechanisms to understand it. The first of them is that caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brainwhich not only makes us more awake, but could reduce the accumulation of beta-amyloid, the protein associated with Alzheimer’s when it is in large quantities. In addition to this, caffeine is also believed to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines in the brain, mitigating neuroinflammation that precedes cognitive decline. And if we lacked reasons to defend caffeine, it is added that it improves insulin sensitivity and vascular function, two factors that, when they fail, open the door to dementia. The small print. Although variables such as tobacco, exercise and diet were adjusted for, it cannot be definitively proven that coffee causes brain protection. It may always be the case that people with early cognitive decline give up coffee because it makes them sick, but the researchers tried to control for this by excluding the first few years of follow-up. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that the participants were mostly health professionals with higher education, so the results could vary in populations with other lifestyles or genetics. Enjoy, but don’t force yourself. The person who already enjoys 2-3 cups of coffee a day has one more scientific reason to do so without guilt in this case, since it is in the “sweet spot” of neurological protection. But if there are people who do not like coffee or it makes them very nervous, there is no need to force it, since the quality of sleep and the exercise They remain the undisputed kings of brain health. Images | Fahmi Fakhrudin In Xataka | We believed that the early onset of dementia was due to genetic causes. we were wrong

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