Month: February 2026

With the consumer segment drowning, Samsung is the first to manufacture HBM4 memory. And it will be for NVIDIA, of course

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Samsung is one of the names of this February. They are expected to present the Galaxy S26but they have something on the table that will be a shock not only to their coffers, but to the engine of the South Korean economy. We refer to high bandwidth memories because, in the midst of the RAM and SSD crisisSamsung is prepared to mass produce the HBM4 memories. And it will be for the AI, How could it not be any other way?. In short. The South Korean company has not confirmed it, but recent reports published by Reuters and local sources such as Korea JoongAng Daily They point out that Samsung will begin mass manufacturing HBM4 memory chips starting next week. It will be the first of the three companies that dominate the production of memory chips (the others are the South Korean SK Hynix and the American Micron, the which is gone from the RAM consumption) in starting to manufacture in large quantities these fundamental memories for the artificial intelligence. HBM4. This type of memory, as its name suggests, has enormous bandwidth. This is crucial for GPU needs and while NVIDIA has remained faithful to GDDR memory for its graphics cardsAMD did flirt with the stacked technology of the HBM chips for their Vega GPUs. However, it is not a technology for consumption, not because its performance is inadequate, but because it is too expensive. Making HBM memory is more expensive than making traditional DRAM chips, but the advantages are there. With HBM4, for example, the density of stacked chips allows Double the bandwidth of the previous generation. This is key to transmitting more data per second, but they also consume up to 40% less energy than HBM3 memories. NVIDIA. The most interested is, as we have said on previous occasionsNVIDIA. And if NVIDIA benefits, practically the entire leading artificial intelligence industry will take advantage of it because its chips are what are currently moving the industry. It is estimated that Samsung memories will go to NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin acceleration systems In fact, it has been reported that Jensen Huang himself has urged to accelerate and increase the production of these chips. Well, Huang has asked the entire semiconductor industry to manufacture components for his cards. let’s get the batteriesit is not something that concerns only Samsung. Spearhead. According to a Korea KoongAng Daily source, “Samsung has the world’s largest production capacity and broadest product line. It has demonstrated a recovery in its technological competitiveness by becoming the first to mass produce the highest-performance HBM4 memory.” Because, in this field, its main competitor, the neighboring SK Hynix, is expected to begin mass manufacturing its response between March or April, enough time ahead for Samsung to begin sending its memory to NVIDIA. And, here, Samsung’s great advantage is that it does not depend on TSMC: it has its own foundry and the HBM4 modules are based on 4 nanometer photolithography. Looking to the future. SK Hynix’s delay is not because they have rested on their laurels: they are the ones who they lead the way in the previous generation thanks to the HBM3E memory, but due to their schedule and they did not need it, they started developing the new generation later than Samsung. But of course, although HBM is the standard in current AI systems, we have already said that they are expensive chips and, in addition, they heat up a lot, requiring dissipation equipment to match. And that’s where companies are combining HBM4 memory production with a new generation of DRAM memory. The idea is to find a way for this memory – slower, but cheaper and ‘fresh’ – to compete in bandwidth with the HBM. Samsung and SK Hynix are in it, but they will have to compete against someone who didn’t play in this league: an Intel that does not arrive alonebut from the hand of the Japanese giant SoftBank. In short: Samsung has decided to get back on its feet when it comes to manufacturing muscle. And most important of all, all the companies that make memory modules remain focused on one thing: they make hardware for artificial intelligence while components such as RAM and SSD consumption they have the prices through the stratosphere. Images | Maxence Pira, Choi Kwang-moNVIDIA logo (edited) In Xataka | Huawei has kept its promise: it has found a way to boost China’s competitiveness in AI compared to the US

an 11-meter-long “ghost jellyfish”

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A dark red creature, without stinging tentacles but with fleshy arms that extend like theater curtains, sailing silently in the absolute darkness. This, which can be quite scary, This is exactly what a scientific expedition has found in the Argentine Sea: a specimen of Stygiomedusa giganteaa jellyfish which has surprised by its large size when compared to that of a school bus. Hard to see. The Stygiomedusa gigantea It does not receive the nickname “ghost jellyfish” on a whim, since, despite its large size, the truth is that It is very difficult to find because of how elusive it is. To give us an idea, since the first specimen was described in 1910, hardly any have been officially recorded. about 130 sightings throughout the planet for more than a century. This makes this sighting that was made by the expedition ‘Lives in extremes‘ be really striking, although what has mattered is the quality and detail of the data obtained. How it was done. The scientific team, aboard the R/V Falkor research vessel, used the SuBastian ROVa remotely operated vehicle capable of descending to abyssal depths and transmitting 4K video. It was this robot that captured the jellyfish on the Argentine continental slope that has left many with their mouths open. The images point to a huge size of 11 meters when it has its ‘arms’ extended, which makes it comparable to a school bus. But also, unlike other jellyfish, the Stygiomedusa It does not sting, since it does not have poisonous tentacles. What it does have are four massive oral arms that it uses to catch prey and bring it to its mouth. Its color. Its reddish-brownish tone makes it practically invisible in the depths, where the red light of the solar spectrum is the first to be absorbed by water. To the eyes of other deep-sea animals, this jellyfish is effectively black and invisible, which makes it very easy to find food. Beyond the jellyfish. Although it has received practically all the attention due to its large size, the true scientific “treasure” of the expedition could be on the seabed. And the researchers from CONICET and the University of Buenos Aires were not only looking for pelagic fauna, but They wanted to map and study the underwater canyons, like the Colorado-Rawson canyon. And there, the SuBastian ROV’s sonar and cameras found something unexpected: the largest cold-water coral reef known to date in the region. Its characteristics. It is nothing less, since we are talking about an ecosystem dominated by the species Bathelia candida, a scleractinian coral that forms complex three-dimensional structures. The data indicates that one of its patches covers 0.4 square kilometers and extends the known distribution range for this species some 600 kilometers to the south. This is a vital discovery, because this coral acts as an “ecosystem engineer”, providing shelter, breeding and feeding grounds for an immense variety of fauna, including fish of commercial interest. Use of technology. The ship that has given rise to all these discoveries has traveled more than 3,000 kilometers from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego, carrying out a systematic sweep of the ocean floor. To do this, they have used robots like the SuBastian, which allows marine biologists to do something that traditional trawl nets could not: observe the behavior of species in their natural habitat without harming them. This type of mission reminds us of a recurring maxim in modern oceanography: we know better the surface of Mars than the bottom of our own oceans. Finds like this giant jellyfish or new coral reefs are not just curiosities; They are key pieces to understanding how to protect biodiversity in a rapidly changing ocean. Images | Schmidt Ocean Institute In Xataka | Thousands of people are hooked on the most popular streaming of the moment: seeing rare fish 3,900 meters under the sea

The consequence has also reached payrolls, according to Levante

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We live in a world where cyberattacks have a growing impact on everyday life. It’s no longer just about data leaks capable of compromising privacy or fueling new waves of cyber scams. Nor only from rescheduled flights because the systems of an airport or an airline they have been committed. Cybersecurity incidents can also, indirectly, delay something as basic as collecting a payroll. This is what the employees of a Spanish agricultural company would have recently experienced. The cyber attack. Levante-EMV points out that Agriconsathe Valencian company responsible for the juices and preserves of the same name, suffered a computer intrusion at the beginning of last week. Official details are scarce, but the incident would have altered the company’s normal operations for several days. Subsequently, activity would have been restored normally, which suggests a relatively quick response capacity on the part of the actors involved, including an external company whose specific role has not been specified. Delay in payrolls. Agriconsa workers found themselves in an unusual situation this February. Instead of receiving their payslips on the scheduled date, the payment arrived late. Sources consulted by the aforementioned newspaper assure that the cyberattack caused a “total blockage of the computers.” As a direct consequence, essential processes such as order management, sending invoices or paying payrolls were temporarily affected. What they say from the company. Levante-EMV collects statements from José Juan Felici, director of the company in Algemesí. According to the manager, “the external company” that collaborates with them reacted quickly and allowed normality to be recovered progressively. Felici acknowledges that it took them “a couple of days to recover,” but maintains that the problem is now completely resolved, while regretting the inconvenience derived from the cybersecurity incident. One of the most revealing elements of his words is that the external company in charge of the systems carries out updates and implements improvements. Even so, the company ended up suffering from the attack. This highlights that even organizations that invest in protection can become victims of malicious actors whose primary motivation is often to obtain illicit financial gain. Ransomware attack? In an incident of these characteristics, one of the first hypotheses usually points to the participation of a ransomware group. This is what the sources consulted by Levante-EMV suggest, who maintain that the release of the systems depended on the payment of a ransom. Felici, however, denied to that medium that he had received any financial demand to restore the equipment, although he did confirm the existence of the computer incident. Companies, in the spotlight. Companies continue to be one of the priority targets of cybercriminalslargely due to the possibility of obtaining a payment in exchange for unlocking previously encrypted systems. In some cases, preventive measures are insufficient and even backups may be compromised. In others, restoration is possible without having to give in to the attackers’ demands, which shows the diversity of scenarios that can occur after an attack of this type. From Xataka we have contacted Agriconsa to obtain more information about what happened and we will update this article as soon as we receive a response. Images | Google Maps | freepik In Xataka | How to know if your passwords have been leaked on the Internet

We have been dreaming of stopping aging for centuries. The question is if we are finally achieving it: Crossover 1×37

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Myths such as that of the fountain of eternal youth have helped human beings through the ages. let’s dream of not aging and living forever. Reality is still cruel: Although life expectancy has increased, we age without seeming to slow it down. But there are those who argue that there may be. In this episode we have spoken with Dr. José Hernández, longevity expert and founder of a clinic specialized in Age Reversal, to understand what aging really is, why it is considered a disease today, and what technologies could allow us to go back biologically. In this debate we talk about information theory and epigenetic damage, cellular reprogramming, or how there are already large companies —and some billionaires— investing significantly in this. In fact, the most advanced science is accompanied by methods that seem much more effective not so much in slowing down aging but in ensuring that our physical condition is much better when this process affects us: Physical exercise is an absolute pillar of longevityassures this expert. Of course there are other factors that influence – diet and genetics, of course, do – but we are dealing with a question that has opened numerous avenues of research, some of which are promising. Who knows what can happen. On YouTube | Crossover In Xataka | Don’t tell me your age, tell me your grip strength: how simple gestures tell us how well we are aging

“studying humanities will be more important than ever”

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When a student finds himself at the doors of the PAU (University Access Test) and considers what studies to start If you want to dedicate yourself to the development of AI, you will likely opt for computer engineering or a STEM career. In a way it would be the right decision and proof of this is the high job placement rates that, year after year, mark technical engineering. However, according to Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic, the humanities are the key to future of work with AI. To program Claude is already there. Less machine, more human. In a recent interview granted to ABC NewsDaniela Amodei, a graduate in Literature from the University of California in Santa Cruz and sister of the co-founder of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, argues that “studying the humanities is going to be more important than ever.” His argument is based on the same discourse that other AI executives such as Jensen Huang have been supporting for some time: “our job is to create computer technology so that no one needs to program.” Huang said. at a conference in 2024. “A lot of these models are actually very good at STEM, right? But I think this idea that there are things that make us unique as humans, understanding ourselves, understanding history, understanding what motivates us, that’s always going to be really important.” That is, what Amodei considers to be really valuable in the future They are not people who know how to programbut rather teach AI models to think like a human. At Anthropic they are already on that path. The president of Anthropic assured that at the time of hire new employeesalready prioritize profiles of “great communicators, who have an excellent emotional quotient and people skills, who are kind, compassionate and curious and want to help others.” For the directive, “the things that make us human will become much more important instead of much less important.” In fact, Amodei does not see the future of work as a scenario of human vs AIbut of humans plus AI. “The combination of humans and AI creates more meaningful, more challenging, more interesting and highly productive jobs,” stressed the president of Anthropic, “And I believe it will also open the door to greater access and opportunities for many people,” she added. The harsh labor reality in Spain. The job placement rate of the humanities branch in Spain paints a very different picture. According to data According to the BBVA Foundation and the Ivie, 77.6% of young university students obtain a job according to their degree. Students who study computer and software engineering obtain an average employability rate of 89.4%. Instead, according to the report ‘The employability of young people in Spain 2025’ from the Knowledge and Development Foundation (CYD), the branch of Arts and Humanities are the ones that offer the fewest professional opportunities with an average affiliation rate of 63.5%. A complicated present. Amodei foresees a very different future in which AI will liberate the technical to enhance the human. But the truth is that currently graduates in Arts and Humanities are the ones with the lowest salaries. Only 36.4% of graduates in humanities branches exceeds 1,500 euros per monthcompared to engineering companies that charge an average of 2,900 euros gross per year. In Xataka | Finding a job had always been a good way to escape poverty: in Spain it is no longer true Image | Anthropic, Unsplash (Tai Bui)

A Brazilian has shown that having Internet in mid-flight is possible with Starlink. It has also shown that it is a real danger

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If the Internet does not reach the plane, let the plane reach the Internet. One of the Azul Linhas Aereas travelers must have thought something like this, who along with another hundred passengers began to discount the first minutes of their flight. A flight that began on the ground but has not yet ended. And our protagonist tried to connect to the Internet during takeoff using a Starlink antenna and a battery that far exceeded the maximum allowed capacity. The flight has landed but is not over. And the company is now investigating what happened. On Instagram. It’s where the Azul Linhas Aereas traveler has published his invention with the following text: “Who hasn’t suffered the frustration of getting on a four-hour flight and not having Internet? When you get on the plane and the WiFi doesn’t work… Your problems are over.” The video briefly shows how the passenger places the Starlink antenna on the window and hooks it to the window blind. From it, a cable hooks up to a large battery stored in the pocket of the front seat. Click on the image to go to the original post What is Starlink? Starlink is a internet service through satellite connection designed by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company. The system is simple, with thousands of satellites orbiting around the earth, the service seeks to ensure that a small antenna can provide Internet to anyone anywhere in the world, no matter how remote it may be. To do this, the customer mounts the antenna and points it towards the sky. From there a signal arrives that is interpreted by a router included in the pack to, in turn, multiply the signal so that we can connect to the network. Its latency is high compared to fiber optics, so it is not a system to compete with home connections, it is designed to provide Internet to areas without 4G or 5G coverage. And does it work on a plane? Of course, the operation is exactly the same as if we placed the antenna on the ground. In this case, what the airline passenger did was put the antenna in the window pointing outside to improve signal reception. For the rest, it works exactly the same as if we contracted Starlink to have Internet at home. In fact, Starlink service is being offered to airlines. And although it has been the trigger between the latest tantrum between Elon Musk and Michael O’Leary (CEO of Ryanair), the truth is that Starlink will be offered this year on Iberia, British Airways or Vueling flights. And the first tests with United Airlines They were already very satisfactory. Starlink improves what is already known because, although a plane also connects via satellite to offer Internet on its flights, the bandwidths that customers demand and its applications are increasing, which has been reducing the speed of data transfer that each device on board can enjoy. But it’s a danger. However, what this passenger has done is a real danger that is being investigated by the airline. In the Brazilian State Post Office They explain that the Starlink antenna was powered by a 60,000 mAh portable battery. Its 222 Wh capacity is far from the 100 Wh maximum that can be carried on board a plane according to Brazilian aviation regulators. Large power banks can be a danger on board, so Aeronautical authorities limit them in size and number. And it is that batteries can self-combust if a thermal leak occurs, which may be caused by overheating or a blow that results in a short circuit. The problem is already huge if we are on land But it can be much more serious if the plane is fully operational because lithium ion batteries are very difficult to turn off and, in addition, they release gases that are harmful to our health. That is why the size of the battery is limited and if an incident occurs, it is manageable by the crew. Photo | Wikimedia and Fallon Micheal In Xataka | Airlines are beginning to regulate and restrict the use of power banks on airplanes: South Korea leads the way

Zara dressed Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl. That says much more about Zara’s plans than about Bad Bunny

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On the grass of Levi’s Stadium, at halftime of the Super Bowl, the Puerto Rican artist made history Bad Bunny. At an event where ads cost $16 million a minute, he didn’t appear dressed in Gucci or Dior or Versace. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio “materialized” with a total look creamy white, almost angelic. A monochrome suit designed to float rather than step on, visually blending with the lime lines of the field. The big surprise was not only aesthetic but also corporate: behind that sobriety was Zarathe flagship brand of Inditex. It was a movement of contrasts. Just a week before, the singer had swept the Grammys with a spectacular design Schiaparelli haute couture. Going from the most exclusive Parisian craftsmanship to retail Arteixo’s overall performance in just seven days is not an accident, but rather a declaration of intent in the most expensive setting on the planet. The architecture of an “anti-luxury” look What we saw on stage was not off-the-shelf clothing, but a designer piece bespoke (custom made). The initial outfit consisted of pleated pants, a shirt, a tie, and a key piece: a padded sports-inspired t-shirt (linebacker) that evoked the protections of American football. All in a sober and calculated, stylized cream tone by his regular collaboratorsStorm Pablo and Marvin Douglas Linares. The design evolved in real time. Midway through the performance, Bad Bunny transformed his silhouette by adding a double-breasted double-breasted blazer in the same hue, elevating the sporty tone to classic sartorial elegance. However, so that no one forgets that sobriety is an aesthetic choice and not an economic necessity, the Puerto Rican maintained a single nod to status superstar on your wrist: an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch. A piece of yellow gold 18 carat with a malachite dial that served as a silent reminder: the suit may be democratic, but Bad Bunny’s time is money. Zara’s choice stood out even more due to the contrast with her companions on stage. While he wore the mark of high street par excellence, Lady Gaga appeared with a design from the Luar brand and a brooch representing the flor de maga (the national flower of Puerto Rico), maintaining the dialogue between fashion and cultural identity. This movement represents an alliance where both parties gain cultural capital, but from opposite directions: Zara seeks to rise towards luxury and Bad Bunny seeks to “come down to earth” towards authenticity. According to experts consulted in Guardianlike Professor Andrew Groves of the University of Westminster, seeing a Zara suit on a Super Bowl stage is a statement about the “power shift” (power-shifting). The suit projects authoritybut that authority comes from Bad Bunny’s cultural position, not the seal of a luxury house. It’s a way of saying that style doesn’t lie in price, but in narrative. Furthermore, there was an undeniable language connection. Being the first artist to perform at halftime entirely in Spanish, challenging the Anglo-Saxon hegemony of the event, the choice of a global brand of Hispanic origin came full circle. As they pointed out from the Vigo Lighthouse“Zara is Spanish, as is its music”, the shared language functioning here as a tool for mass projection in the American market, beyond the complex historical legacies. Fast Couture and the commercial counterpoint For Zara, this is the culmination of a strategic shift. The brand issued a statement highlighting that “artistic vision” was prioritized and clarifying a crucial point: this outfit will not be made available for sale. By renouncing the immediate mass sale of the product, Zara positions itself as a creator of culture and visual narrative, moving away from the image of a seller of quick copies. They have preferred the prestige of having been there to the immediate cash benefit. However, the commercial machinery did not stop completely. Here lies the genius of the strategy: while Zara capitalized on the immaterial prestigethe tangible business was at the feet. The sneakers that completed the set were not from Inditex, but rather the BadBo 1.0his most personal collaboration with Adidas. Unlike the unaffordable tailored suit, these did go on sale just 24 hours after the show for about 160 euros. The artist achieved the perfect balance: narrative exclusivity for clothing, mass consumption for footwear. Benito’s clothing functioned as a canvas for encrypted messages that the internet attempted to decode in real time. On the one hand, the padded T-shirt read the artist’s maternal surname, “OCASIO”, along with the number 64. Speculation soared: Was it the year of birth of his mother, Lysaurie? A reference to the victims of Hurricane Maria? A nod to a Billboard music record? Finally, the most intimate answer was given Complex Magazine: The number was a tribute to his late uncle, who wore that number during his time as an American football player. Bad Bunny turned a sports shirt into a family love letter. On the other hand, white as a political response. The color cream/white It wasn’t accidental either. Colorimetry experts They point out that this tone conveys transparency, purity and leadership (“I have nothing to hide”). This visual message gains strength after his speech at the Grammys, where he protested against ICE (Immigration Service) stating: “We are not savages, we are humans.” Wearing angelic white in front of millions of spectators visually counteracts the narrative of danger associated with Latino immigration in certain political discourses. Marta Ortega’s plans To understand why Zara invests resources in dressing a superstar without then selling the clothes, you have to look your recent business strategy. Inditex, under the presidency of Marta Ortega, is trying to distance Zara from the stigma of fast fashion to bring it closer to fast couture or “affordable luxury.” A clear example is the recent reopening of its store in Barcelona, ​​designed by the Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen with an aesthetic of boutique deluxe. Zara no longer wants to compete only on price with Shein or Primark; wants to compete in image and experience with luxury brands, maintaining affordable prices. Dressing Bad … Read more

The special effects of 2025 are worse than those of 2010. And part of the blame lies with us viewers

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When James Cameron released ‘Avatar’ in 2009, the film industry contemplated what seemed the future of visual effects. The film set a technical standard that, paradoxically, today’s cinema not only has not surpassed, but often does not even reach. The problem is not technological: software tools have advanced exponentially since then. But the industry has evolved in a way that everything looks worse than before. The sooner, the better. It is not necessary to go to the undisputed peak of the digital image that represented Cameron’s movie. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ featured Davy Jones and his beard of tentacles, one of the best live-action CGI integrations ever seen. ‘Interstellar’ featured the participation of astrophysicist Kip Thorne for their spatial sequences. It is enough to compare the photorealistic texture of Na’vi or Jones with the plasticized finishes of Marvel or DC to see that something fundamental has changed in the way of producing special effects. The common denominator in all of them was time. In this analysis about the visual effects crisisit is explained that the productions of that decade had post-production calendars that ranged between 18 and 24 months. ‘Avatar’ He had two full years for the effects phase. Its consequences have started from comparable times. The spectacular images in ‘Inception’ of the city folding in on itself, another milestone of the era, took months of planning. Luxuries that are practically unthinkable today. Increasingly. The problem is the quantity. The latest studies indicate that while a commercial film from 2010 contained approximately 600 shots with visual effects, current productions usually exceed 3,000 shots. This 400% increase has not been accompanied by proportional budgets or calendars. Quite the opposite: hasty effects, poorly worked compositions and a digital homogenization that detracts from the personality of the images. Tremendous expectations In your situation analysisTreehouse Detective explains the case of the prequel to ‘The Thing’, which in 2011 remade John Carpenter’s 1982 classic. The special effects team Studio ADI, led by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., built physical creatures with animatronics and prosthetics over several months of pre-production. After test screenings, Universal Pictures made a decision that Gillis would rate how devastating: Almost all practical work was replaced by CGI in post-production. Audiences expected to see digital effects in a science fiction horror film and considered practical effects “old-fashioned.” Paradigm shift. This case illustrates a profound cultural shift in expectations. During the 2010s, CGI went from being an exceptional tool for what was thought unattainable with practical effects to becoming the standard. The irony is that the greatness of films like ‘Alien’ or ‘Jurassic Park’ (where CGI was mixed with practical effects) was built precisely on the tangibility of their creatures. But the industry, and with it the audience, developed a dependence on digital finishing that is associated with prestige and quality, regardless of whether the final result can be improved with traditional effects. The economy of effects. The proliferation of streaming platforms has radically reconfigured the economics of special effects. Films produced directly for Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+ operate with significantly lower budgets than productions destined for cinemas, while the public maintains their visual expectations. This impossible equation has put pressure on the entire FX production chain. The era of auctions. The contract awarding system has evolved towards an auction model that prioritizes cost and speed over quality. The studios put projects into competition between multiple effects companies. The one who offers to complete the job in less time and for less money gets the contract. This process creates a competitive spiral in which small studios accept unsustainable conditions in the hope of maintaining their position in the market. Studies that close. It is a system that sometimes has extreme consequences. ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ case: after the public’s rejection of the character’s original design, Paramount ordered a complete redesign. Moving Picture Company, the studio responsible for the effects, had to redo hundreds of shots without a deadline extension or significant additional budget. The studio closed its Vancouver headquarters shortly after, with multiple sources indicating that the project had contributed significantly to their financial problems. It is not an isolated case: Rhythm & Hues, winner of the Oscar for the effects of ‘Life of Pi’ in 2013, declared bankruptcy weeks before the awards ceremony. The company had agreed to complete the job at a loss to maintain its reputation, a pattern that media outlets such as VFX Voice have documented. Visual effects artists and technicians frequently operate in crunch to meet deadlines that were unfeasible from the beginning. The lower union rate In the visual effects sector, unlike other technical departments in film, it leaves these professionals without protection against abusive working conditions. The causes. The deterioration in the quality of the special effects does not respond to a single cause, but to pressures from two opposite directions. Movie studios have optimized their production structures to maximize profit margins, outsourcing visual effects work to companies competing in a wild race. The public has developed inflexible expectations about the omnipresence of CGI, rejecting alternatives. As technology advances, the time and money available to apply it decreases. Just compare budgets: ‘Avatar’ operated on a total budget of $237 million, of which a substantial portion was allocated specifically to technological development and visual effects over several years. Meanwhile, an MCU production distributes a similar budget among multiple items (salaries, marketing) while compressing post-production calendars to just six or eight months to meet immovable release dates, established years in advance. In Xataka | Either CGI designers get their act together or our televisions will continue to put their movies on the ropes

Bad Bunny deleted his Instagram after the Super Bowl. Everything is part of a larger project

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On Sunday, February 8, 2026, Bad Bunny starred in an unprecedented milestone in Super Bowl history by becoming the first solo Latin artist to star. the concert-show during the intermissionin a performance almost entirely in Spanish that reached more than 100 million viewers. Just hours later, the Puerto Rican artist deleted all of his content on Instagramleaving their more than 51 million followers in front of a completely empty profile. The avalanche of speculation has been immediate. What was seen? Bad Bunny’s approximately 13-minute concert turned the intermission into a visual love letter to Puerto Rico. The artist started walking through sugar cane fields, crossed a Puerto Rican street fair and incorporated La Casita, the iconic traditional Puerto Rican pink house that has become a distinctive element of his concerts. The fluidity of the camera, the variety of topics included, the surprise appearances of Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, or guests such as Pedro Pascal or Jessica Alba stood out. The irony of the scenario. The choice of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, as the setting for the largest celebration of Latino culture in the history of the Super Bowl takes on an ironic dimension in the context of 2026: California is going through one of the most intense episodes of immigration enforcement in decades. Immigration arrests in San Diego they shot up 1,500% compared to the previous year. For this reason, the political context surrounding the performance was especially tense. In October 2025, when the action was announced, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared on a conservative podcast that ICE would be “everywhere” at the Super Bowl and that “only law-abiding Americans who love this country should attend.” The Trump administration had intensified raids in Californian cities while the Puerto Rican artist publicly expressed his fear that “the damn ICE could be outside” his concerts, which is why he canceled several on the US mainland and focused on his residence. Bad Bunny closed his performance with a bright sign that read “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Beyond music. ‘‘I should have taken more photos’, the artist’s latest album, has been described as “a cry of resistance” for Puerto Ricans everywhere: it is about preserving a culture in danger of disappearing. It was recorded entirely in Puerto Rico with collaborators exclusively from there. The 13-minute short film that accompanied the release of the album explores themes of loss, displacement and the fading of cultural identity. The project’s mascot is an endangered toad. And songs like ‘What Happened to Hawaii’ address issues like gentrification. This political charge is not new in the artist’s career. In July 2019, interrupted his European tour to return to Puerto Rico and join the massive protests demanding the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. In 2020, made visible on ‘The Tonight Show’ the murder of Alexa, a Puerto Rican trans woman. The Super Bowl performance was not an isolated event but the continuation of a narrative meticulously constructed across multiple platforms. The visual coherence (La Casita, the flags, the aesthetics) are the constant reminder that each performance is a chapter of the same project: pan-Latin representation in times of adversity. The strategy continues. The emptying of Bad Bunny’s Instagram profile just hours after his performance at the Super Bowl is not a break with his communication strategy, but rather its confirmation. In 2022, before the release of ‘A summer without you’, used the same tactic to generate expectation. That album would become the most successful Spanish album in history. In 2023 repeated the procedure after their world tour, announcing a period of hiatus. The difference in 2026 lies in the political context surrounding the gesture. While previous wipes functioned primarily as a prelude to new musical releases, this one comes on the heels of the most politicized performance of his career, which has included criticism of trump and threats from Secretary Noem. Unlike similar maneuvers that they already did Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, with this Bad Bunny continues with the construction of his transmedia project, whose next step is a world tour that will take the message to Australia, Japan or Spain, among other destinations. Each platform (the album, the stage, social networks) becomes a chapter in a story about Latin identity that transcends the merely commercial. In Xataka | Spotify killed the record and the industry pivoted to concerts. Netflix killed cinema and the industry was left with a “space crisis”

ASML CEO knows the whole world depends on her

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The European Union has announced the inauguration of a new research center dedicated to the development and manufacturing of semiconductors. The project, called NanoIC, wants to become one of the fundamental pillars of the European Chips Act program. 2.5 billion euros on the table. The total budget is 2.5 billion euros, of which 700 million come from EU funds. Another 700 million will come from regional and national governments, and the rest will put ASML on the table and other industrial partners. What is Imec. In reality the project is an expansion of the Imec facilities at its headquarters in Leuven, near Brussels. This body does not manufacture commercial chips, but is the “laboratory” in which rival companies such as Intel, Samsung or TSMC collaborate to define the chips of the future. clean rooms. This is a new clean room (“cleanroom“) of 2,000 square meters which will among other things house ASML’s new next-generation High NA EUV scanner which is expected to arrive in mid-March. The total area of ​​Imec’s clean rooms amounts to 12,000 square meters and the company claims that this makes it a central part of the Chips Act strategy. Imec will soon build another 4,000 square meter clean room on the aforementioned Leuven campus. Everyone loves ASML. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet highlighted the leading role that your company has managed to achieve thanks to its semiconductor manufacturing machines, the only ones in the world capable of producing the most advanced chips today. As he said, these are the machines “that everyone would like to have.” China sighs (for now). He is right: today the US is a key trade ally but does not have comparable technology of its own, and China has been trying to develop extreme ultraviolet machines for some time. but for now he is still behind in that race. Obviously Europe depends on the US and China in many other areas, but ASML is certainly a clear technological asset for European interests. Inverse dependency. The vice president of the European Commission, Henna Virkkunen, indicated in a interview with Politico that “it is true that we have some of the key technologies, such as ASML, that everyone is dependent on globally.” He explained, of course, that the EU has no plans to turn that into a weapon for potential negotiations, “but it is important to realize that we have those strengths that others do not have.” Changing the story. These statements undoubtedly seek to counteract the idea that Europe depends totally on American technology, demonstrating that the old continent also has its own levers to negotiate. Digital sovereignty. The EU is expected to prepare a second Chips Act which should be presented at the end of March and which would clearly differ from the first. Instead of an emergency response to a project that will turn Europe into a competitive region at a technological level. But. The initiative is striking, but it also has important challenges. We are looking at a research center and that means that its size and budget cannot be compared with those investments in data centers made by large US technology companies. But in addition to that parameter there is another even more relevant one: that of talent. Europe must train and attract enough engineers to operate these centers and develop that work there and not in companies or centers that compete in other regions, including of course the US and China. In Xataka | We already know what the chips that will arrive until 2039 will be like. The machine that will allow them to be manufactured is close

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