Month: March 2026

The dead accumulate because they cannot be cremated.

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As missiles continue to fall in the Middle East, their shock wave has suffocated 600 million people in Southeast Asia due to a lethal crisis: lack of fuel. The problem, as collected The New York Timesis an abysmal reserve gap. While rich neighbors like Japan or South Korea have accumulated crude oil for more than 200 days, countries like Vietnam or Indonesia survive with just enough for just three weeks. Thailand, for its part, resists with a margin of only two months. With this time bomb on the table, logistical collapse was not a possibility; It was just a matter of time. The butterfly effect. In the midst of this energy shock, the most unusual and heartbreaking impact is being experienced in the temples of Thailand. An investigative report from South China Morning Post (SCMP) alert that diesel shortage is threatening sacred funeral ceremonies in this majority Buddhist country. In local tradition, cremation, which follows several nights of singing, requires ovens connected to tall chimneys. The smoke they release is a ritual that, according to their beliefs, helps guide spirits to heaven. Today, those furnaces are going out. At Wat Saman Rattanaram, a famous temple about 80 kilometers east of Bangkok, abbot Phra Ratchwachiraprachanart confessed to the Asian newspaper that the suspension of cremations is imminent. “In more than 50 years, I have never seen anything like it,” he lamented. The temple only has about 200 liters of diesel left, the equivalent of two cremations, which is its weekly average. The problem is worsened by the rationing imposed on the streets. Another temple in the northeast of the country has already had to suspend their funeral services because local gas stations refused to allow them to fill plastic drums with fuel. The collapse of economic arteries. While the temples suffer, panic takes over the streets. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul declared to the agency Xinhua that the country does not face a real shortage of imports, but rather a crisis of public anxiety. The fear of shortages has caused panic buying, shooting up daily fuel consumption from the usual 60-67 million liters to an exorbitant 84 million. The consequences of this panic are palpable. A survey by the Thai Ministry of Energy cited by him SCMP revealed that, of 1,500 gas stations inspected, 10% had closed due to lack of supply and almost 70% reported critical levels. A logistical bottleneck. This whole situation is being reflected in the markets, where sellers cannot get fresh fruits because truckers refuse to make long trips, like the route from Pathum Thani to Chiang Maifor fear of being stranded on the road with an empty tank. And the suffocation extends beyond Thai borders. The figures of The New York Times reflect that in Laos, more than 40% of gas stations have had to close; in Cambodia, almost a third. In Thailand, fishermen like Wittaya Lekdee have their shrimp boat moored in port because the price of naval fuel has skyrocketed by 75%. In the Philippines, the situation is identical: fishermen who previously owned their boats are now looking for work in other cities to pay the rent, unable to meet the costs of diesel. Desperate measures. Governments operate in emergency mode, taking drastic decisions to try to stop the bleeding. According to ReutersThailand is trying to keep a diesel price cap at 33 baht ($1.02) per liter, but its Oil Fund is already running up a deficit of more than 12 billion baht. In a geopolitical shift brought about by necessity, the country is negotiating the purchase of crude oil from Russia, while receiving emergency shipments from Angola and the United States. Energy saving has become a state policy. How the coverage details Guardian, In Thailand, officials have been ordered to stop wearing ties and wear short-sleeved shirts so they can raise the air conditioning to 26-27°C, in addition to suspending trips abroad. Indonesia is accelerating a program to blend conventional diesel with 50% palm oil-based biodiesel. For its part, the Philippine government has implemented four-day work weeks for many civil servants and is providing cash subsidies of 5,000 pesos to bus drivers. jeepneys (local public transport). However, drivers like Elmer Carrascal They explain to the British media that this money only lasts a few days, while their daily income has fallen from 1,000 to 400 pesos, an amount insufficient even to buy rice. The invisible collateral damage. The shock wave of high oil prices has touched unexpected sectors. The Straits Times warns of an imminent crisis in the Thai health system: ambulances in 39 provinces are suffering from lack of fuel. With 14,213 emergency vehicles requiring around 71,065 liters per day, the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (NIEM) has had to turn to Facebook to beg gas stations to reserve between 50 and 100 liters exclusively to save lives. In provinces like Kalasin, municipal ambulances can no longer operate. The agricultural and industrial sector is also dying. The report of The New York Times exposes how In Vietnam the cost of fertilizers for coffee cooperatives has risen almost 30% in two weeks. In Thailand, pet food packaging manufacturers are facing a 40% increase in the cost of plastic pellets. In Myanmar, under a military regime that has imposed alternate-day driving, citizens like Tin Hlaing Moe have been fined 30,000 kyat ($7.50) simply for using their car on a prohibited day to take their heart attack mother to the hospital. Sometimes, the shortage leaves images that border on the surreal: in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya, a camp has informed the British newspaper that its elephants now have to walk five kilometers a day to go to work, since there is no diesel for the trucks that used to transport them. The final price of a foreign war. The Strait of Hormuz is more than 5,000 kilometers from Bangkok, Manila or Hanoi. However, the blockage of its waters has demonstrated the extreme fragility of the globalized world. What is discussed in international … Read more

It is a giant incubator for resistant bacteria

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The west of Almería is world famous for a colossal structure that can be seen from space itselfas is the ‘sea of ​​plastic’. Thousands of hectares of greenhouses that act as a true agricultural engine for all of Europe, which has a microenvironmental B side that science has just seen when analyzing everything that is on top of this amount of plastics. And the problem is not only visual pollution or the amount of microplastics that can end up in the sea, but the microscopic stowaways that travel in them. The microbiological world. As two recent investigations led by scientists from the Autonomous University of Madrid have pointed out, it has been seen that abandoned plastics They are not simple inert garbage; They are perfect vehicles for the development and spread of pathogens. And we are not talking about just any pathogens, but about bacteria that have inside them resistance genes very powerful against antibiotics. A topic that we have talked about on numerous occasions due to the problem it poses for public health and the challenge of searching for new medications to eliminate the bacteria that threaten our health. The first study. Published in 2025 and with a very clear objective ahead: to analyze the plastic samples that were collected in three key points of El Ejido. These points specifically were the interior of a greenhouse, a waste dumping area and the Punta Entinas-Sabinar nature reserve. When investigating the collected plastics, what they could see was a complex biological community, what science calls the “plastisphere“By analyzing biofilms, which are the layers of microorganisms attached to plastic, the researchers identified no less than 295 genes of antibiotic resistance commonly used, such as tetracyclines, macrolides and beta-lactams. The most alarming fact. Having a bacteria resistant to our main pharmacological weapons is honestly worrying, but the real fear comes when the team detects 52 mobile genetic elements. This means that bacteria use plastic as a meeting point where resistance mechanisms are shared among them, making a bacteria that can be destroyed with amoxicillin become resistant when in this contact. It’s literally like trading cards are being exchanged. How they arrive. These bacteria end up on top of the plastics, forming a biofilm precisely due to hazardous water and fertilizers that sometimes contain traces of antibiotics and microorganisms that end up colonizing these canvases. And the reality is that when a microorganism does not stop being in contact with an antibiotic, it eventually develops the mechanisms to block its effect. The second study. If these plastics were left locked in a room, the truth is that they would not cause any problems, but science has put figures on the worrying mobility of this waste. Here science documents how agricultural polymers escape from intensive exploitation and disperse through the soil, water, air and even the fauna of the area. On the nearby coast, the team collected 1,397 plastic fragments, analytically confirming that their composition exactly matches the materials used in local agriculture. And the worst of all is that in all these fragments that ended up elsewhere, associated pathogenic microorganisms were detected. Global health. The WHO itself points out that antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats for global public health. Until now, the focus was on hospitals and drug abuse in intensive livestock farming, but now these Spanish researchers have detected a new front on which action should be taken. And it is no wonder, since plastics are acting as reservoirs of resistant bacteria, which not only incubate superbacteria, but can also be transported by wind and water, which are responsible for spreading them throughout protected natural areas, aquatic ecosystems and food chains. Images | Roger Casas-Alatriste CDC In Xataka | Faced with the need to look for weapons against superbacteria, science has opted to send viruses into space

His plan to avoid it is to use AI

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I throw a question into the air: what would you say is the main problem with trains in Spain? There will be those who say that unpunctualityother people who complain about the price and also about those stations in emptied Spain where the train stopped passing a long time ago. It could be worse: it could be elephants being run over. It may sound like an exotic excuse, but it is a reality that affects a giant like India: between 2019 and 2024 alone, 81 wild elephants died on trains throughout the Asian country, according to official figures of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). One of the most notorious was in December 2025, when the Rajdhani Express ran over a herd of about 100 elephants, causing seven deaths and an injured calf. Five cars and the locomotive derailed and fortunately, there were no human victims, as reported by CNN. So they have a plan to avoid it: a very technological one that involves using artificial intelligence. The plan. In fact, the problem is so serious that a few days ago they had a conference titled “Policy Implementation for Minimizing Elephant Mortalities on Railway Tracks” (something like Implementing policies to minimize elephant mortality on railway tracks). It consists of an early warning system with AI and uses a network of 12 cameras mounted on towers equipped with thermal and motion detection technology. Thus, when an elephant is less than 100 meters from the tracks, the system automatically alerts forestry and railway personnel, so that the train can reduce speed, thus allowing the animals to cross safely. They have already tested it in Madukkarai, Tamil Nadu. Why is it important. Because it is the first time that automated detection replaces the old human factor at a critical point: a train driver cannot see an elephant at night on a curve, but this system can. In addition, it can raise alarms with enough time to act and avoid disaster. Thus, it turns late detection into real prevention Context. Elephants in India die so much from railway accidents that It is already the second cause of unnatural mortalityonly ahead of electrocution and ahead of poaching or poisoning. and India houses approximately more than 60% of the world population of Asian elephants. However, habitat fragmentation and the expansion of railway infrastructure in elephant areas have caused an increase in mortality of these pachyderms, especially in states such as Assam, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand. How are they going to do it?. To address the increasing increase in wildlife mortality on railway tracks, the (MoEFCC) along with the Wildlife Institute of India and the Ministry of Railways have identified hot spots for two animals that are National Animal Heritage: 110 sensitive stretches in elephant-inhabited areas and 17 stretches in tiger-inhabited areas. There are many sections and a lot of distance: 3,452.4 km, of which they prioritized 77 sections that comprise 1,965.2 kilometers. Among the package of measures there are others without AI such as ramps, bridges, underpasses or fences that can fulfill the function of avoiding accidents and facilitating safe passage. They have one more technological tool, called “Intrusion Detection System (IDS) based on Distributed Acoustic System (DAS)” with acoustic sensors that Indian Railways has deployed on 141 kilometers of the Northeast Frontier Railway to detect the presence of elephants on the tracks, generating alerts for train drivers, station masters and control centers. The East Coast Railway of India will adopt this system soon. AI has already arrived on the Indian railway. In fact, India has already incorporated artificial intelligence systems to improve safety and maintenance. The measures include the TRI-Netra system, which combines optical, infrared and radar cameras with AI to help drivers in conditions of reduced visibility, and the MVIS systems, capable of detecting loose or damaged components in moving trains. In Xataka | There are roads in India that suddenly turn red: the reason is to save you from running over a tiger In Xataka | AI is bringing back into fashion something that we thought was only for geeks: the command line Cover | Kishore V and Sean Foster

almost a kilometer to climb 242 meters

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I lived in Bilbao for a year and I remember perfectly the little walk to go up to Solokoetxe. When I was living in Madrid, getting from Arganzuela to Sol or taking a walk along the Rastro involved going up a pretty steep hill. Even in my Pamplona, ​​to go from Txantrea or Rotxapea to the old style you have to exercise your legs. But there are hills and hills and there are cities where they are simply at another level. This is the case of Wushan, in Chongqing (China). And if in Pamplona we solve it with elevators, in China they don’t mess around (literally): they just inaugurate the longest escalator in the world, one with which to shorten a journey from an hour to just 20 minutes. The project. The staircase is called Shénnǚ Dà Fūtī, something like “The Great Escalator of the Goddess” and runs along the vertical axis of the Avenue of the Goddess (Shennü Avenue), for 905 meters in length to overcome a difference in level of 242.14 meters, the equivalent of an 80-story skyscraper. As can be seen in the images, it is not a single flight of stairs, but a network made up of 21 escalators, eight elevators, four moving walkways, two pedestrian bridges and two overpasses, all connected to overcome the urban slope of the center of Wushan. Why is it important. The construction of this megainfrastructure has several relevant plans, the most direct being the improvement of access for those who live or travel through the area by solving an access problem. Likewise, it represents a vertical urban planning model different from the classic one of demolishing and flattening. On the other hand, it is evidently an engineering milestone that shows the technical power of China, its application to the improvement of urban infrastructure and also breaks records: there is no other urban system of these characteristics, surpassing that of Central Hillside Escalator Link from Hong Kong (800 meters and 135 meters of altitude difference). It has only been in operation for a few weeks and is already one of its most recognizable structures. Huang Wei, chief project designer of China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group explains that “Our goal was for the infrastructure itself to become a destination. It’s not just a way to get from point A to point B, but to make it part of the experience of the city.” Context. Chongqing It is a directly administered Chinese municipality as large as many European states (more than 30 million inhabitants). Its eponymous capital is not called “Mountain City” by chance: it is built on and around a series of steep hills at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing. But this rugged geography is not exclusive to the center: it permeates the entire territory. In Wushan, a town in the northeastern corner of the municipality nestled in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze, the Gaotang neighborhood suffered the consequences of the topography in an extreme way: getting from there to the rest of the town meant a journey of almost an hour winding along steep slopes, which in practice meant isolation. It is right there where the staircase has been built. The Gatang neighborhood in Wushan, seen from Google Maps in relief Why a ladder? The idea of ​​​​building vertical transportation for Wushan dates back to 2002when a new urban area was completed, but at that time there was a shortage of funds and technical limitations. The idea came back on the table in 2022 and was seriously considered by authorities. As details the project’s chief designer “the key question was what type of transportation system best suited a mountainous city like Wushan.” After considering other options such as cable cars or trains, they chose this system by weighing factors such as capacity, safety, life cycle costs, adaptability to steep slopes and visual impact. Engineering challenges. We have already seen that the great escalator of the Goddess runs through densely populated urban neighborhoods, highways and pipelines. According to Huang, modular design is key to adapting to the fragmented terrain and integrating into what is already built. According to the construction managerZhang Jie, the escalator ascends a slope with an average inclination of 40 degrees, and some sections exceed 60 degrees. In these conditions, operating with heavy machinery becomes complicated. A very touristy staircase. Set up an infrastructure like this at a reasonable price (in the testing phase it is free, but then the intention is charge a fee) to cross Wuhan on foot sounds good, but the intention of turning it into a tourist attraction has been present since its conception. In fact, there are parts with transparent glass facades to reduce the visual volume and have new panoramic views and there are points with lighting installations, turning the staircase into a kind of snake that moves between hills. In addition to, of course, facilitating movement through leisure places. In Xataka | 125 kilometers of water separate 140 million inhabitants. China is going to solve it with a mega railway tunnel In Xataka | Where you see a mountain, China sees a pile: it is building a 2,100 MW mega hydroelectric plant in Tibet Cover | China News Service YouTube

My name is Tama, I am a station chief in Japan and 3,000 people have come to my funeral. Ah, I’m a cat

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It is only 14.3 kilometers of line but it is key for the residents of Wakayama and Kinokawa, the towns that connect the Kishigawa Line located south of Osaka. Right now, on the train you can find locals going here and there but, above all, there are tourists. They are not just any tourists, for that we have to go a few kilometers higher where we will find them taking photos with the famous Glico Man of Dotonbori. Here we will find tourists interested in two of the most deeply rooted hobbies in Japan: trains and cats. A formula that can be explosive, capable of recovering a train line by itself, attracting local tourism and positioning two small towns on the map of those seeking a different experience in one of the most extravagant countries in the world. Because here, the trains arrive dressed as cats and the station masters are… indeed, cats. My name is Tama and I am the boss of this station The Kishigawa Line was born at the beginning of the 20th century. The objective was to unite three sanctuaries and make it easier for those who made the pilgrimage there to get around. Nichizengu Shrine, Kamayama Shrine and Itakiso Shrine linked by a train line, count in Japanism. The line remained in operation for decades and in the 1960s the Nankai company took over its operation. But time moved on and large cities became a black hole that absorbed and absorbed workers. Cities grew first with Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Then with accelerated development that made Japan the most technologically advanced country in the world. And at the same pace as they conquered the world market with electronic devices at rock-bottom prices, cities grew at the same pace. Workers were needed for all types of tasks. the book Tokyo, Ueno station It explains very well how workers left their hometown and disappeared for years, unable to spare a handful of days to return to their place of origin. That depopulation little by little it was killing the Kishigawa line. The use of it fell so much that in 2006, Nankai decided to close it, unable to make the service profitable. And in the 2000s, the passengers had fallen in half compared to a decade ago. The solution came from the local governments through which the line passed, who took charge of the land and infrastructure, leaving a new company in charge of its operation and maintenance. The only problem is that no one wanted to take charge of a line of just 14.3 kilometers with a debt of more than five million dollars. At that time, local governments came knocking on the door of Okayama Dentetsu, a company that had already achieved some success with other similar public-private collaborations. Hand in hand with this new company, Wakayama Electric Railway was created, the company that was going to take charge of the Kishigawa Line. That day, a cat would forever change the future of the line. After the reopening event, at the Kishi station, a woman asked if a cat that was barely two months old could stay at the station since she couldn’t find a home. Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Okayama Dentetsu and, by extension, of Wakayama Electric Railwaynot only welcomed her at the station, he also gave her a job in a clear show of trust. Tama, which was the cat’s name, was now another worker on the new line. The rise was meteoric because in 2007, just a few months later, Tama was appointed Station Master. And he saved the line. Attracted by the news, tourists multiplied. More and more passengers approached the Kishigawa Line to meet the cat who, in uniform, guarded the station. Attracted by the supposed good luck of the new worker, more and more people came to take photos with her. The success was such that from the less than two million passengers who took the line before 2005, 2.3 million passengers were reached in less than a decade later, they explain in Japanism. Office of Tama, station manager The Tamaden was Japan’s first theme train Aware of the popularity of their new worker, Wakayama Electric Railway wanted to take advantage of Tama’s potential even more and in 2009 they inaugurated the Tamaden, the first cat-themed train, dressed with cat ears and whiskers, as well as numerous caricatures of the cat herself. Inside there is specific decoration with cat motifssuch as the upholstery or the fabric of the seat cushions. It’s not the only thing. Handles, lamps, curtains, footprints on the floor… everything is reminiscent of the cat world. By the way, the upholstery is brown with the characteristic color of the cat Tama. In fact, everything that surrounds this line lives for and to remember the figure of Tama. Kishi Station now has cat ears and eyes clearly visible from its exterior. There Tama had her own office, as she earned stripes in the company. His impact was key to resurrecting the line. Unfortunately, in June 2015, at the age of 16, Tama passed away. The affection of its neighbors was seen in the following days when the governor of the prefecture to which the train line belongs issued a statement. And, above all, when… 3,000 people attended his funeral. Tama was replaced by Nitama. It was logical if we take into account that Nitama was a station manager at another of the stops on the line and replaced Tama during her days off. That is to say, Nitama received painful recognition from Wakayama Electric Railway. One of those promotions you never want. The cat Nitama also worked with dedication. In fact, the president of the company that operates the train line noted at the end of 2025 that “it worked diligently and provided irreplaceable comfort. Nitama, please monitor the Wakayama Electric Railway from the sky,” in words reported by Independent. And Nitama died last November 2025. Until then, this new station chief could be seen every … Read more

wants to build a huge lake 2.8 kilometers long

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If you go to Google Maps and search for ‘Saudi Arabia’, you will find a large piece of land within the Arabian Peninsula. The word “earth” is not just a saying: the sand color predominates throughout its geography. Because Saudi Arabia is sand. Beneath that surface there are important and invaluable deposits of oil, natural gas and minerals that make any construction, even if it defies the rules of logic, profitability or common sense, possible. As a mega ski resort in the middle of the desert. EITHER water parks throughout the dry land. EITHER a Caribbean style resort. Have we already mentioned that there is no water in Saudi Arabia? That is not an obstacle to mounting an artificial lake high mountain with three dams. The most dystopian future is in NEOM and we already know that it’s very expensive. The project. It is called Trojena Lake and it will be a freshwater lake in the middle of the desert, at an altitude of 2,600 meters in the mountains of Tabuk, as a bucolic backdrop for its ski resort. According to the construction company, the reservoir will be the largest artificial body of water in the entire country, 2.8 kilometers long and 1.5 square kilometers in surface. To contain the water between the mountains, it will use a system with three dams and inside there will be an artificial island for recreational use. As if the above were not enough, the lake will not have a normal shape: on one side will be The Bow, a cantilever that will extend the surface of the lake beyond the front of the main dam, as if it were a kind of balcony overlooking the mountain. It will be shaped like the bow of a suspended ship and will house a luxury hotel, residential and entertainment areas. It is not a ship stranded in the middle of the mountain: it is an artificial lake with a view of the valley. WeBuild Why it is important. To begin with, because as we have already been able to glimpse in the main details of its construction, we are facing a challenging project from an engineering point of view: due to its size, the construction challenge of constructing the dams or excavating the rock and even the way of obtaining water. Or simply because it is in a hostile environment where it should not even exist (naturally). On the other hand, because it is a thermometer of the real state of NEOM, a project whose future seems increasingly uncertain after cuts and delays. Trojena Lake one of its most advanced and tangible projects: there is a contract of 4.7 billion dollars signed with a renowned Italian construction company, machinery in the mountains and real progress. And although its completion was scheduled for the end of 2026, there are already leaks from Saudi officials pointing to delays of three to four years. Render of the lake. NEOM Context. The economic engine of Saudi Arabia has been, for decades, oil. But black gold has an expiration date, so it takes time for the Middle Eastern country to diversify its economy. As? with his Vision 2030 plan to promote tourism, infrastructure and, ultimately, other ways to monetize. NEOM is their urban development megaproject, but it is not just any one: it is exuberant and ostentatious, an instrument of international reputation that seeks to attract investment, talent and tourism through a modern and futuristic image. In a nutshell: another Dubai (pre-conflict Dubai between the US, Israel and Iran). For now, influencers have already attracted. In figures. Here are some of the astronomical numerical data from Trojana Lake: An initial $4.7 billion contract signed with We Build in January 2024. A lake 2.8 kilometers long and 1.5 square kilometers in area. An excavation of 90,000 cubic meters of rock per week. Manpower: 10,000 people. Technical challenges. Many and large. To build the lake they will use three dams: the main one will be 145 meters high and 475 meters long and will be made of RCC concrete, like the second dam. The third, however, will be made of rock and will have a volume of 4.3 million cubic meters. The logistics are extreme as they are in the desert, with no pre-existing infrastructure, so everything is moved to that remote location. On the other hand, The Bow is a long-span cantilever suspended over an active reservoir, which combines complex structural engineering with continuous and permanent exposure to water loading. The icing on the cake is the water: WeBuild’s press release does not specify its origin and there are no rivers around it, which implies pumping, desalination or collection of aquifers. According to Arabian Gulf Business Insightthe water will come from an area near the Gulf of Aqaba, more than 200 kilometers away. But there are many more. Trojena Lake cannot be understood without the framework that surrounds it and here the list of problems that threaten NEOM and Saudi Arabia’s desire to diversify its economy by offering a futuristic image is revealed. The 2029 Winter Olympics were postponed indefinitelythe costs of the futuristic city have been shotthe delay of the specific project is an open secret within a general delay. Not only that, even there is talk of a rescaling of its size. And we have barely mentioned the elephant in the room: the war adds a new layer of difficulty, both directly (drone attacks have already reached Riyadh) and indirectly, with the blockage of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the uncertainty of energy trade and, in general, the disincentive for foreign capital investment in the face of instability. In Xataka | The Line and Trojena were the jewels of the new Saudi Arabia. They will also be the first to face reality: they are very expensive In Xataka | Saudi Arabia’s impossible bridge to join Africa and Asia: a 32-kilometer megastructure over the Red Sea Cover | NEOM

The Navy mapped Cádiz by hand 230 years ago with sickening precision. Today it helps us to see how it has changed

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We tend to think of geography as a static canvas, unchanged by the passage of our short lives; however, when cartographic science It allows us to look into a window several centuries old, the reality is very different. And it is very different because the coast moves and changes, having in Spain a great example in the Bay of Cadizwhich has undergone a fascinating metamorphosis in recent centuries, and the secret to understanding it lies in a technical and scientific prodigy dated 1789. How it looks. We do not have (at the moment) a time machine to go back in our history, but we do have historical documents that do almost the same effect. One of the last analyzed has been the map of the port of Cádiz, a nautical chart which documents in obsessive detail what this region was like more than 230 years ago. A ‘Google Maps’. To understand the value of this document, you must travel to the period between 1783 and 1788. In the midst of the Enlightenment, the need to control the vital Atlantic routes required leaving behind approximate maps and embracing scientific rigor to be much more exact. Here was the brigadier of the Royal Navy Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel, then director of the Marine Guard Academies, who orchestrated the spectacular Maritime Atlas of Spain. The map of Cádiz, which is one of the 47 plates that make up this atlas, is a masterpiece of hydrographic engineering of the time. Outlined by the cartographer Felipe Bauzá and engraved by Fernando Selma, this 56.5 x 87 cm map mounted on canvas shows the cartography of the coast from Rota to the Sancti Petri river with a scale of 1:30,000. What makes it special. It is not only its aesthetics, but the data it contains by integrating precise toponyms, the exact location of the historic salt mines, military arsenals and even detailed bathymetric data mediated in “Castilian fathoms”. And with this basis, and after comparing it with the reality of the present, we can know how a piece of land has changed over time. The threat of sedimentation. Since 1726, the accumulation of sediments was a headache for maritime traffic in Cádiz as it is today. The cartographic comparison shows how the currents and the mouths of the rivers have been filling in parts of the bay, altering the natural draft and forcing the reconfiguration of port areas throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The historic salt flats. In 1789, the map shows a vast and intricate network of salt mines that dominated the landscape, a crucial economic driver at the time since the value of salt was very high. But this has remained in the past, since the urban expansion of municipalities like Puerto Real and industrialization has devoured these salt flats. The coastal profile. In this case, comparisons between the past and present show us how the coastline has advanced and receded. In this way, areas that were previously estuaries or marshes are now dry land or port infrastructure that we have reclaimed from the sea, demonstrating the intense mark that man leaves on the environment. Anyone can see it. Fortunately, this piece of technological history is no longer confined to inaccessible display cases, since the National Geographic Institute It is available for download in its map library with the aim that any researcher can access it and draw conclusions like the ones we see today. Images | Nerea Garcia IGN In Xataka | One of the most impressive bridges in Europe is in Cádiz, it has a removable section and the largest span in Spain

Taking money from a family member just before their death seemed like a great idea to avoid paying taxes. It wasn’t

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Why should an additional tax be paid for receiving money in inheritance for which the deceased already paid taxes? Many people ask that question and They decide to jump into the mountains (prosecutor) trying a thousand and one tricks to avoid payment of the Donations and Inheritance Tax. The most common trick is to empty bank accounts of the family member before he or she dies. Spoiler: it goes wrong. A solved case by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid shows that this belief can be very expensive, and that the attempt to avoid the treasury can end up exactly where one wanted to avoid arriving: paying the Treasury even more than what they would have paid in the beginning. Money, what money? A woman was listed as the owner or authorized person on several of her sister’s bank accounts. In September 2017, this died without leaving a will. When the General Directorate of Taxes of the Community of Madrid began to investigate the case, it found that the deceased’s assets were much larger than what her sister wanted to make out. As of December 31, 2016, the three bank accounts of the deceased accumulated considerable balances: one with 9,217.08 euros, another with 51,216.58 euros and a third with 132,644.53 euros, in which the sister appeared directly as joint owner. In addition to these savings, the deceased had received 45,000 euros in April 2017 for the sale of her part of a property that she shared with her sister. By December 31, 2017, all the money in the accounts was gone. The Treasury calculated that the total money and assets that should have been declared in the inheritance amounted to 122,931.67 euros, to which was added the value of 50% of a property in Hoyo de Manzanares valued at 1,812.50 euros. ​No resignation possible. The sister responded to the first requests from the Treasury by assuring that the deceased had died without assets. Some time later he provided a notarial document of renunciation of inheritance dated September 29, 2020, more than three years after death occurred. His argument was that he did not know that his sister had assets, and that the only movements he had made in the deceased’s accounts were payment procedures for the residence where he received care his sister in her last month of life. The court that reviewed the case in the first instance initially agreed with him, considering that this payment could be interpreted as timely management. However, the Community of Madrid, in charge of collecting the tax, appealed and the TSJM resolved differently. Although in theory you can renounce an inheritance at any time during the process, doing so after having acted on the deceased’s assets has tax consequences that no notarial deed can erase. What does it mean to accept an inheritance without wanting to do so?. In Spain, you do not need to sign any paper to legally become an heir. The law includes in its article 999.3 the figure of tacit acceptance, which occurs when someone acts on the assets of a deceased as if they were already theirs, even if they have never confirmed acceptance of inheritance. Withdrawing money from your accounts, selling your property or simply managing your assets are examples of actions that, in the eyes of the law, are equivalent to saying “yes, I accept”, even if no paper has been signed.​​ The problem is that many people are not aware of this rule and believe that as long as they do not sign anything before a notary, they are safe. In reality, what matters is not what is signed, but what is done. The Supreme Court takes decades establishing that any act that unequivocally reveals that someone he is behaving like an heireven if informally or even unconsciously, has the same legal and fiscal effects as an express acceptance of the inheritance.​ What the law says about disappearing money. The TSJM applied the article 11.1.a of the Inheritance and Donation Tax Lawwhich establishes that the assets that would have belonged to the deceased up to one year before his death They are considered part of the inheritanceunless proven otherwise by solid evidence. Not only did the sister not provide any explanation as to what had happened to that money, but she did not even try throughout the entire process. The court also assessed that the deceased was admitted to a nursing home and was receiving special care, which made it highly unlikely that she would have been able to manage the withdrawal of the money from her accounts on her own. Given that the sister was the owner or authorized owner of all of them, the judges concluded that moving that money was equivalent, in the eyes of the law, to having accepted the inheritance. Pay the tax, but get rid of the fine. The TSJ of Madrid confirmed that the woman had to pay 26,217.11 euros as settlement of the Inheritance Tax for her sister’s inheritance. However, the judges annulled the fine of 17,999.73 euros that the Madrid treasury demanded, because the Community of Madrid failed to prove that the woman had acted with the deliberate intention of deceiving the treasury, something that the law requires before being able to impose a financial penalty of that type. In Xataka | The “Great Transfer of Wealth” is not only a thing for the rich: demographic change will concentrate wealth among the youngest Image | Pexels (cottonbro studio)

the best offers from MediaMarkt and El Corte Inglés in technology, today March 21

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After a very busy Spring Sale Festival in terms of the number of bargains, both MediaMarkt and El Corte Inglés have started two very powerful campaigns: The Great Renewal and Super Technopricesrespectively. Are there any good offers? Well, yes there are, so in this article we are going to review five of the best ones we have found. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 by 459 eurosthe console with a gift video game. Google Pixel 10a by 466.65 euros when registering in the store, the latest Google mobile with a more reasonable price. MacBook Air M4 by 899 eurosApple’s laptop with one of its best discounts to date. Sony WH-1000XM5 by 212.93 eurosheadphones with very good active noise cancellation. Hisense 98E7Q by 999 eurosa huge 98-inch television. nintendo switch 2 If you still don’t have the nintendo switch 2 and you are waiting for a good offer, MediaMarkt right now has it reduced by 459 euros with a discount of 10 euros. Nevertheless, gives you a video game to choose from between: Kirby Air Riders. Hades 2. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Banishment. Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. It is worth mentioning that this promotion can be used with the console itself (459 euros) or with the pack that includes Mario Kart World (499 euros). Nintendo Switch 2 + game of your choice The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel 10a Just a few weeks ago the Google Pixel 10a and it can finally be purchased at a discount after the introductory offer. If you register with MediaMarktits price goes from 549 euros to 466.65 euros. It is a good phone if you value compact size, but you also get a good photography section and a very good screen. Google Pixel 10a (128GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links MacBook Air M4 There are not a few offers that the MacBook Air M4 since its launch, and now we are facing one of the best. By 899 euroswe can have at home a lightweight laptop (1.24 kg) which incorporates Apple’s M4 processor. Its screen is 13 inches and it comes with a configuration of 16 GB of unified memory and 256 GB of internal storage. MacBook Air M4 (16GB, 256GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sony WH-1000XM5 They will not have the best price we have seen to date, but for 212.93 euros at El Corte Inglés the Sony WH-1000XM5 They are left with a very attractive discount (33% specifically). Have one of the best active cancellations we’ve tried So far, their battery lasts for many hours of use and they are quite comfortable. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Hisense 98E7Q We see more and more large televisions with more reasonable prices. But the Hisense 98E7Q model is “something else.” By 999 euroswe are talking about a smart TV that incorporates a 98 inch screenso it’s huge. Furthermore, although its size is the highlight, the good thing does not end there: it is compatible with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, its panel has QLED technology and it comes with the integrated Alexa voice assistant. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | MediaMarkt, El Corte Inglés and Compradicción (header), Nintendo, Google, Apple, Sony, Hisense In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs

The length of “a day” on all the planets in the Solar System, explained in a revealing video of just one minute

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The Universe is full of unknowns for humanity. What’s more, even data that we know ends up being questioned and reformulated, such as: the distances between planets in the solar system. In fact, as a millennial, when I was a child I learned all the planets at once and then I had to forget about Pluto. However, a reasonably solid and most interesting piece of information is How long is a day on a planet in the Solar System?information that on Earth is approximately 24 hours (23 hours and 56 minutes, specifically). This duration is due to the average time it takes our planet to complete a rotation on its own axis, although translation has an influence. Furthermore, it has evolved historically due to the gravitational pull of the Moon. Thus, and in general terms, we can establish that to estimate this duration, factors influence its radius, its orbit and also interactions with other celestial bodies. The reality is that we are facing a non-intuitive pattern with results that defy logic. To solve the question numerically, the popular science channel The Brain Maze has a great video the most agile and visual to clear our doubts with the figures in just one minute: Now we know how much, but it is even more interesting to understand why. As a summary, there are certain general rules that are met: paradoxically the largest planets are those that rotate the fastest and those closest to the Sun have suffered the effects of gravitational tides in such a way that they have slowed down to almost a stop. Although we already told you that there are quite a few anomalies. The counterintuitive pattern for determining how long a day is The Sun and the planets of the solar system. The sizes are to scale, but the distances are not. By Edits by Pepedavila. Source image on Commons edited by Farry, credited by original uploader to “Martin Kornmesser”, and later an anonymous edit re-credited it to “zaria mayers”. – Edit of File:Planets2008.jpg by Farry., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20584284 Giant planets have shorter days than the Earth and in short, they spin fast because they grew fast. When the Solar System formed, these early planets accumulated gas and dust with angular momentum. The gas giants captured so much material in a short time that they were able to preserve almost all of that original angular momentum. They go without brakes and it shows: it takes Jupiter less than 10 hours to make a complete revolution on itself, despite the fact that compared to Earth, it is more than 300 times its mass and 11 times larger. With Saturn this also applies, but for Uranus and Neptune the explanation is incomplete: the ice giants also spin fast for the same reason, but their history is much more eventful, either due to collisions or disturbances in the early days. On Mercury and Venus the days become eternal. The rocky planets close to the Sun found a brake in the tides. Mercury is so close to the star that its gravity has dissipated its original rotation over time. If you were on the surface of Mercury looking at the Sun, you would see it stop, move backwards, and move forward again: it is the effect of its elliptical orbit and its slow rotation, compared to its orbital speed. In fact, even has a double dawn in some parts of the planet. Venus is also slowed down by the sun’s gravity, but it also rotates in the opposite direction. Because? Good question, for you, for me and for science in general: it remains a mystery, although there are hypotheses. A curiosity to reinforce the rarities of Venus: a day lasts longer than its own year, it takes 243 Earth days to rotate on itself and only 225 to complete its orbit around the Sun. By the way, the fact that a day on Mars and on Earth lasts practically the same is, according to science, almost certainly a coincidence. This similarity and other factors have fueled for decades the idea that Mars is the ideal candidate to host life. In Xataka | We have been deceived by the distances of the Solar System: the closest neighbor to Neptune is Mercury In Xataka | The true size of all the planets in the Solar System, explained in a clarifying video

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