Month: March 2026

China already has two chip manufacturers with 7nm technology. This is very bad news for the US and its allies.

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SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp), the largest Chinese semiconductor manufacturer, has the capacity to produce 7nm chips from 2023. At the beginning of September of that year this company shook up the integrated circuit industry by demonstrating that it had been able to manufacture these semiconductors despite not having access to UVE photolithography equipment (extreme ultraviolet) produced by the Dutch company ASML. These highly sophisticated machines are necessary to manufacture cutting-edge chipsand ASML cannot sell them to its Chinese customers because the US, which controls some of the patents used by this equipment, prohibits it. Still, in 2023 SMIC and Huawei worked hand in hand to manufacture 7nm ICs without using ASML’s EUU machines. Of course, they used deep ultraviolet (UVP) equipment that this company from the Netherlands also produces. UVP machines are not as advanced as UVE machines, but with proper refinements they can be used to manufacture cutting-edge integrated circuits. And now China has two semiconductor manufacturers capable of producing 7nm chips. As we have just seen, one of them is SMIC, and the other, according to Reutersis Hua Hong Semiconductor, the country’s second largest integrated circuit producer. The shadow of ‘multiple patterning’ is very long Hua Hong Semiconductor’s division specializing in third-party chip manufacturing is called Huali Microelectronics, and, again according to Reutersis preparing to start production of 7nm integrated circuits at its Shanghai plant. The sources that have revealed this information assure that Huawei has collaborated with Huali Microelectronics on this project, which invites us to reach two reasonable conclusions. It is very likely that with the help of Huawei, Huali has developed ‘multiple patterning’ techniques The first is that Huali’s 7nm lithography will most likely play an essential role in GPU production capacity for artificial intelligence (AI) from both Huawei and other Chinese companies. And the second conclusion is actually a plausible hypothesis. And, like SMIC, Huali does not have access to ASML SVU equipment. For this reason, it is very likely that with the help of Huawei it has developed security techniques. multiple patterning to be able to manufacture 7nm chips with the UVP machines in its possession. A priori, UVP machines are suitable for manufacturing semiconductors up to 10 nm. And with EUVs it is possible to exceed 3 nm. However, by refining the processes involved in transferring the pattern to the wafer and turning to multiple patterning It is possible to go beyond these integration technologies. This technique broadly consists of transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. It may have an upward impact on the cost of chips and a downward impact on production capacity, but it works. Either way, Huali Microelectronics is going to face the same challenges that SMIC has dealt with for the last three years: the multiple patterning seriously limits the number of viable chips per wafer that is possible to manufacture. And, therefore, it increases its cost. Still, it is very important for Chinese AI chip designers to have access to two companies capable of producing their designs with advanced photolithography technology. And for Hua Hong Semiconductor it is crucial to have the ability to manufacture, thanks to Huali, cutting-edge integrated circuits and not just 22 nm or larger (this is the most advanced photolithography it had so far). Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Reuters In Xataka | TSMC is already the highest-earning chipmaker on the planet. It has beaten two semiconductor giants

a low emissions zone for yachts

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There’s something counterintuitive about seeing a superyacht moored in a luxury port under the Mediterranean sun, and thinking it’s doing nothing. Actually, yes it is doing it: is polluting…and a lot. Monaco has just taken a step towards making this have consequences, with a measure that is very reminiscent of something we already know in cities: low-emission zones, but adapted for yachts. ​The Yacht Club of Monaco, through the Superyacht Eco Association (SEA Index), has announced the first air quality certification specific to superyachts. It is not exactly a Low Emissions Zone like the one restricts car access pollutants to the center of Madrid or Barcelona, ​​but something more similar to an environmental label: the yachts that pollute the least get better conditions and benefits exclusive in the Monegasque marina. Those who pollute the most are left without them. ​The invisible problem For years, the debate about the environmental footprint of superyachts focused almost exclusively on the CO₂ these luxury vessels generate during the miles sailed. However, the biggest problem is not so much the pollution emitted when they are traveling on the high seas, but when they are moored in port. A superyacht of more than 76 meters in length moored in port can consume up to 2,000 liters of diesel per day only to maintain air conditioning and the onboard systems while docked, with an electrical demand of 255 kW at anchor and 238 kW docked dedicated solely to auxiliary services: air conditioning, kitchens, spas, swimming pools, lighting or the boat’s stabilizers do not turn off when the boat stops moving. Furthermore, if they did not do so, the salt from the sea would quickly damage the noble woodsfabrics and skins that decorate its interior, causing an even bigger bill. keep going the generators to keep all of this running while the yacht is in port is approximately equivalent to air conditioning consumption of more than 100 homes medium-sized operating at the same time, all to provide service to a single boat 24 hours. ​An environmental label for yachts. In the cities, the DGT label determine if your car can circulate through certain areas at certain times, during pollution episodes, or they allow you to park at a discount. In the ports attached to the SEA Index, the certification fulfills a similar function: yachts with three stars or more have access to exclusive benefits at the Yacht Club of Monaco and in the associated ports of the Mediterranean. The difference is that, in this case, the yacht is not prohibited from entering the marina, but rather those who pollute the least are rewarded with benefits. ​As specified in the statement Upon presentation, the system scores each yacht from one to five stars by evaluating the nitrogen oxide and ultrafine suspended particles generated by each yacht, and then grouping them into a single final rating. Three stars represent the standard level of a medium modern yacht, while four or five stars are reserved for vessels with more advanced technologies and more sustainable engines. Why are ports part of the problem? The initiative makes a lot of sense if you look at what is happening in the ports of the Mediterranean. In Marseille, sea vessels became the main source of pollution of the city in 2020, representing 53% of the total, ahead of car traffic. According to a report of Transport & Environmentcruises in European ports increased their polluting emissions by 18% in 2022 compared to 2019, with Barcelona the most polluted port of the continent that year. These gases and particles directly affect residents, port workers and anyone who lives near a marina. As pointed out Pierre-Charles Maria of AtmoSud: “Air quality is not just an environmental concern; it is a fundamental public health issue. It is not just about staying ahead of regulations, but about improving air quality in coastal areas for the benefit of residents, mariners and ecosystems.” In Xataka | The difficult part has not been building an 80-meter, $200 million yacht. It has been taken to the sea without destroying it Image | Unsplash (Zoe Jackson)

I spent 8 hours a day watching porn to train the AI. Today he leads the workers union that fights against that

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Spend a workday tagging porn there’s nothing fun about it. Content moderators They have been denouncing terrible working conditions for years and now The same thing is happening with data labeling to train AI. In 404media They tell the story of Michael Geoffrey, a Kenyan who spent months working for two AI companies, until they completely destroyed his mental health. The jobs. Michael stayed in front of his computer for eight hours watching porn, describing what was happening in the images in great detail. It was no affiliation, but rather he worked for a data labeling company that then used all those descriptions to train AI models. When the day was over, his second job awaited him at a sexual AI chatbot company. In this job, Michael had to maintain sexual conversations with users, adopting whatever role was necessary each time; I had to pretend to be a man, a woman, straight, homosexual… and of course adapt to the context in each conversation. Behind the AI. Although they have the last name IA, in reality These sexbots have a lot of human work behind them. That is, when someone talks to their girlfriend or boyfriend AIyou may be talking to a real person. Michael wrote his testimony and said that he had to fake intimate connections with anonymous users. Their interactions were then used to train the AI. In the case of data labeling, workers are exposed to all types of content, some extremely violent. For example, for AI to be able to detect content of sexual abuse and violence, these workers must see thousands of images of abuse and extreme violence, and all for ridiculous salaries. In a Time reportthey said that one of these companies paid between 1.3 and 2 dollars net per hour. The consequences. After several months on the job, Michael suffered from insomnia, stress and began to have problems having sexual relations. He tells 404media that “there came a point where my body no longer responded. When I saw someone naked, I didn’t even feel anything.” Endless hours, exposure to very unpleasant content and very low salaries. Some claim that it is like a form of modern slavery. The companies behind. One of them is Sama, a San Francisco-based company that defines itself as “the perfect example of ethical AI.” It’s the company that paid 2 dollars an hour. Another company that has also been at the center of the controversy is Remotasks, a Scale AI subsidiaryone of the largest labeling companies. It was founded by Alexandr Wang, current head of AI at Meta. By Remotasks it is said that he pays late and often not the amount that was originally promised. These and other similar companies They are outsourced by OpenAIGoogle, Meta and more to train your AI models. The workers organize. Currently, Michael is the secretary of the Data Labelers Association of Kenyaan organization that wants to give voice and make visible the work of these underpaid and invisible workers. Other organizations have also been created such as African Content Moderators and Tech Workers who demand better working conditions and resources to care for the mental health of workers. In Xataka | People Blaming ChatGPT for Causing Delusions and Suicides: What’s Really Happening with AI and Mental Health Image | Data Labelers Association

what it is, what it is for, prices and how you can get one to use in your projects

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Let’s explain to you what is it and how to get a Claude API. This is essential code to be able to link your production models. artificial intelligence when developing an app or creating a workflow that includes them. Because if you want a project or application to use Claudem’s AI, you will need this key to link it to the AI. We are going to start this article by explaining what it is and what it is for. API by Claude, trying to make sure anyone can understand the concept. And then, we’ll tell you step by step how you can get yours, as well as their prices. What is the Claude API and what is it for? Claude is the name of Anthropic’s AI chat. It is like the complete car, and underneath it can use different artificial intelligence models, such as Opus 4.6 or Haiku 4.5. These models improve with new versions from time to time, and they are what make Claude work. Each of these AI models occupies many terras, and therefore, if you want to link it to an external application or project you will not be able to install it on your server. Instead, what you will do is connect your project to one of these models, build a bridge between your application and Claude, and the key that opens the doors of that bridge is the API. An API is a unique key that is used to connect an app and an external service. In this case, the API serves to connect other applications with Claude, or rather, the artificial intelligence model that powers it. The idea would be that when you write something to the bot that you have connected with an API, this bot sends the message to the AI, and that when the AI ​​generates the response it reaches the bot and it can show it to me. And since the bot and the AI ​​are on different servers, possibly in different countries, I’m going to need a bridge. And this bridge is the API. Claude’s API is paid. You pay for each token consumedwithout a fixed monthly fee. First you will have to buy credit packsand then these will be spent as you use the API. When you make a request, depending on the processing it requires and the task involved, you will spend these tokens or tokens, and when you run out you will have to buy more. But in exchange, what you have is the possibility of use Claude in your projects to create your own chatbot or assistant, to automate tasks, to analyze texts, videos or audio and make transcriptions and summary, generate code, and ultimately for whatever you need. You will have the AI ​​within the application, but not natively, but you will have connected both. Token types and API prices The price of Claude APIs depends on several things. For a start, It depends on the model you want to use.. If you are going to use the most powerful model it will be more expensive, since it is a model that consumes more resources. Meanwhile, the lighter models will have lower prices. There are two types of tokenthe input ones (Input) and the output ones (Output). Input tokens are the consumption of the text that you send to the model with a prompt. And the output is the response it generates. The price of the tokens is per million of them. As for the price, it depends on whether you use a full or lighter model. This is a table with prices of current flagship models. You will also be able to generate APIs for older models, which will have cheaper prices. Model Input (by MTok) Output (by MTok) Claude Opus 4.6 5 dollars 25 dollars Claude Opus 4.5 5 dollars 25 dollars Claude Opus 4.1 15 dollars 75 dollars Claude Sonnet 4.6 3 dollars 15 dollars Claude Sonnet 4.5 3 dollars 15 dollars Claude Haiku 4.5 1 dollar 5 dollars How to get your Claude API To get your Claude API, you have to go to the developer console website. To do this, go to platform.claude.com and use the email you have registered with to use normal Claude. The first time you do it you will have to choose that you want it for individual use, although you can also do it for business use. On the main screen of the website, you have to click on the option Get API Key. This will take you to the section, which you can also access with the left column, clicking on the section API keys of the section Manage. This will take you to your APIs screen, where you will see the ones you have created. To create a new one, press the button Create Key that will appear to you. This will take you to the create API window. In it, you can link it to a project that you have created with the option Create in Workspace. You will also have to give it a unique name that identifies it from the others. And that’s it. This will create the API code that you will have to use to link the model. Now you can use it, and go to section billing to configure the payment method and purchase the first tokens. In Xataka Basics | What is Claude Cowork, how it works, and what things you can do with this AI assistant on your computer

OPPO Find N6 – Features, price and technical sheet

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This year is going to be one of the most important in the folding mobiles. If everything indicates that Apple will present the iPhone Foldthe rest of the brands are not lagging behind: from Motorola with its recent Motorola Razr Fold to the Honor Magic V6. And the one that concerns me, the OPPO Find N6, a mobile that I have been testing for two weeks and that I loved for an aspect that perfectly sums up its character: does not require sacrifices despite being foldable. The phone has just been presented worldwide and comes with a drawback for Europeans: OPPO is not going to distribute it here. And it’s a shame, because I think the Find N6 is the favorite for the throne of Fold-type mobiles. Above all for a characteristic that underlines the absence of sacrifices that I mentioned: his wrinkle is almost imperceptible. OPPO Find N6 technical sheet OPPO Find N6 OUTDOOR SCREEN Exterior: 6.62-inch LTPO OLED Panel Resolution of 2,616 x 1,140 pixels LTPO refresh rate 1-120 Hz 1,800 nits maximum brightness 3,600 nits peak brightness indoor screen 8.12 inch LTPO OLED Panel Resolution of 2,480 x 2,248 pixels LTPO refresh rate 1-120 Hz 1,800 nits maximum brightness 2,500 nits peak brightness DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT Folded: 159.87 x 74.12 x 8.93 mm Unfolded: 159.87 x 145.58 x 4.21 mm 225 grams PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 RAM 16 GB LPDDR5X STORAGE 512GB UFS 4.1 FRONT CAMERA Exterior and interior: 20 MP, f/2.4 REAR CAMERA Main: Samsung ISOCELL HP5, 200 MP, f/1.8, OIS Wide angle: Samsung ISOCELL JN5, 50 MP, f/2.0 Periscopic telephoto: Samsung ISOCELL JN5,50 MP, f/2.7, OIS Multispectral True Color camera, f/2.4 BATTERY 6,000 mAh 80W fast wired charging 50W wireless charging OPERATING SYSTEM Android 16 ColorOS 16 CONNECTIVITY 5G Dual Nano-SIM and eSIM NetworkBoost S1 Chip GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC USB 3.1 OTHERS Side fingerprint reader IP56, IP58 and IP59 certification Zero-Feel Crease Hinge Dual stereo speakers PRICE Unspecified A foldable screen without the worst of folding screens OPPO highlighted zero wrinkles (“Zero Crease”) several times in the presentation of its foldable. The mobile has been developed with a new titanium hinge with a drop-by-drop printed polymer finish that stabilizes the flexible panel in the folding line to smooth its surface. These are the sales pitch and the technical specification. I had to check it. I have tested several folding phones and I know that the wrinkle is something that is already present on the phone even during unboxing. Although it has not yet been used, the small valley through which the fold runs is visible to sight and touch. It then deepens as the phone is used. When I opened the OPPO Find N6 I was surprised to find a practically smooth central surface. The wrinkle was not zerobut the lightest I had ever tried. And it has remained that way during these two weeks: the engineering work carried out by OPPO is impressive. The crest does not disappear completely, the “Zero Crease” thing is somewhat exaggerated. Without being able to ignore the obvious: the wrinkle is almost imperceptible, both to sight and to the touch. The wrinkle is minimally noticeable when you run your finger along the center line. When holding the phone straight there is no visible defectyes a small vertical mark when looking at the screen from the sides. The light creates a slight distortion, but not much more. It doesn’t even affect the content being played. It is very difficult to distinguish the wrinkle from the fold. From the front you can’t even see I have tested most Fold and Flip type foldables, I used the Honor Magic V6 – another of the phones that boasts a minimal folding brand -, and I can say without a doubt that the OPPO Find N6 takes the lead. trophy for best folding panel for its almost missing crest. It represents an improvement in use. It’s not a dramatic improvement, but it is notable. To the touch it is not very noticeable either. The hinge built by OPPO with a titanium base provides an extra addition to the reduction of the fold line: allows you to put the screen at almost any angle. The deployment is firm, offers resistance and does not lose position. Not everything is a screen: power counts The OPPO Find N6 has an 8.12-inch folding panel that not only reduces wrinkles to almost an anecdote, it also allows it to be viewed in all types of conditions, including outdoors. In addition, the body is as thin as it is solid: once folded it looks like an ordinary mobile phone. I have used it as such. Within the sheets of only 4.21 mm, OPPO has snuck the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The Find N6 is well served in performance, on par with the best of this year. Without experiencing excess temperature, neither playing nor charging the phone. Because what a battery: 6,000 mAh carbon silicon They go away after two days with moderate use. Even when regularly displaying the mobile phone, with the extra energy consumption that a panel twice as large implies. It is very comfortable to use, somewhat complicated to unfold (it is so compact that it makes it difficult to put your fingers in to open the phone), it comes with the software updated to Android 16 and ColorOS 16, does not miss the opportunity to show off AI (with its dedicated button) and even includes a practical infrared emitter to use the OPPO Find N6 as an improvised remote control. The fact that it is a folding mobile phone does not detract from its capabilities, but rather adds to it. A very solid photographic set OPPO maintains the round-shaped photographic module and the collaboration with Hasselblad of the Find N5. The combination is still a triple camera, although now we have a fourth as support for color calibration in shots. This … Read more

Millions invested in AI graphical improvements so people say it looks like an Instagram beauty filter

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Nvidia presented DLSS 5 at GTC 2026 as the greatest graphical advance that video games have experienced since the ray tracing. The reaction has been almost unanimous: the gaming community and industry professionals themselves have described it as a “slop AI filter.” The rejection has been so frontal and almost unanimous that Nvidia has had to come out to clarify how the technology works and what control developers really have over these visual improvements. What is DLSS 5. DLSS technology was born in 2019 as an intelligent upscaling system: the GPU renders at lower resolution and the AI ​​reconstructs each frame up to 4K with minimal quality penalty. With each iteration (DLSS 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5) the goal remained the same, but DLSS 5 breaks that logic. According to Nvidia’s own announcementwe are looking at a real-time neural rendering model that analyzes the color and motion vectors of each frame and generates lighting and photorealistic-looking materials on them. The system recognizes the semantics of the scene (skin, hair, fabrics, metals) and applies its own interpretation of how those elements should look under real physical lighting. Jensen Huang defined it with a phrase that well summarizes the ambition of this new iteration: “Twenty-five years after Nvidia invented the shader programmable, we are reinventing computer graphics.” Digital Foundrywhich had access to the technology before the announcement (and which has been heavily criticized for its glowing coverage), called it “the most amazing I’ve seen in my time at Digital Foundry” and pointed to genuinely notable improvements in environments from ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ or ‘Oblivion Remastered’. The faces, Juan, the faces. The problem is that the official demo video included sequences from ‘Resident Evil Requiem’, ‘Starfield’, ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ and ‘EA Sports FC’, and in all of them the system visibly altered the characters’ faces. The protagonist of ‘Requiem’, Grace Ashcroft, has been the most widespread example: more pronounced cheekbones, fuller lips and uniform skin tone. According to Kotakuthe effect seems to apply a TikTok beauty filter on characters with an artistic intention other than physical attractiveness, as is the case with Ashcroft. Another example is that of the ‘Starfield’ characters, which are not very detailed in themselves, and which gain facial resolution but lose all aesthetic coherence with the original design. In ‘Hogwarts Legacy‘, an old woman with gently modeled wrinkles begins to show off a deeply cracked face completely alien to what was seen in the game. Therefore, the dreaded term ‘AI slop‘ appeared on social networks in a matter of minutes. He Nvidia GeForce on X announcement post was buried by negative replies, which accumulated favs and RTs in much greater quantity than the original post. Also the comments of the Digital Foundry video They were almost unanimously negative. The answer. Given the volume of criticism, Nvidia published a statement on YouTube clarifying how the system works. According to the companydevelopers have complete artistic control over DLSS 5: they can adjust the intensity of the effect, the color grading and mask specific areas where they do not want the AI ​​to act (the company calls it “controllability”). The company also clarified that the technology is not a filter applied on top of the image, but rather takes the color and motion vectors of the game to generate its output, “anchored to the source 3D content.” Bethesda, one of the most active studios in the initial support (Todd Howard had appeared in the presentation video praising the results in ‘Starfield’) posted hours later a more nuanced response on the studio’s official account. There they stated that “our art teams will adjust the lighting and final effect to look the way we consider best for each game. Everything will be under the control of our artists and will be completely optional for players.” Two ways of looking at it. The disparity in reactions reflects two legitimate ways of evaluating the same technology. What a good part of the community and numerous media outlets have criticized is that the modifications make the characters more realistic but different from how they were designed by the game’s art team. For example, concept artist Jeff Talbot said that: “In each shot the artistic direction was removed to add meaningless ‘details’ (…) This is a garbage AI filter.” Poor optimization. a few weeks ago There began to be talk that the proliferation of tools of upscaling and AI has reduced the pressure on studios to optimize their games: when DLSS or FSR can more than compensate for performance issues, the incentives to polish the native engine disappear. There is already someone he says it bluntly: Some studios design their games from the beginning assuming that the upscaling It will fix what’s broken, rather than using it as a further improvement on an already solid foundation. With DLSS 5 that takes a qualitative leap, and the risk is not only aesthetic: it is work-related and creative. And then there’s an additional detail: the GTC demo required two GeForce RTX 5090s running in parallel (one to render the game, another to run the DLSS 5 neural model). Nvidia claims that the final launch, scheduled for fall 2026, will work with a single card, but the magnitude of the hardware raised questions about the actual requirements. If studios start designing with DLSS 5 as a safety net, what version of the game will the player without that GPU receive? Real video games. There is something that Nvidia seems to have not taken into account: people like video games because they look like video games. Imperfection has a human touch that is part of the product’s identity. Grace Ashcroft works as a character in ‘Requiem’ precisely because her appearance reflects exhaustion and vulnerability. DLSS 5’s AI makes it something that has been described as the result of applying Nvidia’s system to a character whose aesthetic is not designed to be photorealistic. The problem isn’t just that the result is aesthetically questionable: it’s that the entire premise is wrong. Nvidia assumes that “more … Read more

His marines are sleeping on the ground in the middle of the war with Iran

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To give us an idea, a nuclear aircraft carrier can generate enough electricity to supply a small city and house thousands of people for months without touching land. Inside there are everything from bakeries to hospitals, but also systems that work tirelessly and that, if they failcan completely alter life on board. For example, a small fire can turn into a nightmare. The limit of a super aircraft carrier. He USS Gerald R. Ford, the nuclear aircraft carrier more advanced and expensive from the United States, is designed to operate as a floating city capable of sustaining continuous air operations for months. Its prolonged deployment, which already breaks record numbers after almost ten months at sea, also reflects the increasing operating pressure in the war with Iran. This extreme pace has led the ship to chain missions with hardly any margin for maintenance, accumulating wear and tear on both its systems and its crew. Which reveals a minor fire. The incident that triggered it all began in a seemingly secondary place: the ship’s laundry. According to the new york timesa failure in a dryer or the accumulation of waste caused a fire that spread and forced an intervention that has already lasted more than 30 hours. In a closed, highly flammable environment like an aircraft carrier, even these everyday incidents become critical threats. The fact that it was contained without affecting key systems demonstrates the preparation of the crew, but also demonstrates the delicate operational balance in these floating masses. Hundreds on the ground. It turns out that the most shocking consequence has not been technical, but human, because more than 600 marines and crew members they have lost their beds after the fire. Since then, most are sleeping on the floor or on improvised tables, all in the middle of an active military operation in the war with Iran. If you like, the image of the troops sleeping on the ground breaks with the idea of ​​technological invulnerability and shows everyday reality of sustained combat. A failure in an auxiliary system ends up directly affecting the rest, morale and operational capacity of hundreds of troops. Fatigue, wear and tear and the invisible limit. The episode fits into a broader context of accumulated fatigue after months of continuous deployment. In fact, the Times reported that previous problems in basic systems such as healthcare or deferred maintenance already pointed to progressive wear. many experts warn that these failures usually appear first in everyday services, not so much in combat systems. When these incidents begin to chain together, they usually indicate that both the crew and the ship’s structure are being pushed to the limit. The fragility of the “giants of the sea”. The truth is that the history of aircraft carriers has been full of episodes that show that even these platforms can be compromised in critical situations: in 1967, a rocket accidentally fired caused a brutal fire. on the USS Forrestal against Vietnam, causing 134 deaths and forcing security protocols to be rethought. Two years later, in 1969, the USS Enterprise suffered another explosion on deck due to the detonation of ammunition exposed to the heat of the reactors, with 27 deaths and serious damage. In the new millennium, in 2008, the USS George Washington was out of service for months after a fire caused by a simple poorly extinguished cigarette which caused million-dollar losses, and more recently, in 2020, the USS Bonhomme Richard burned for days in San Diego until it became unusable and was permanently removed, all due to a fire that showed failures in the supervision and initial response. Cases widely documented which reflect that beyond their military power, aircraft carriers remain extremely vulnerable environments where small errors or incidents can quickly escalate into large-scale crises. The paradox of modern war. Be that as it may, the Ford case reveals a key contradiction: the fact that one of the most advanced war machines on the planet can launch planes relentlessly, but also remains dependent on thousands of human routines and basic systems that cannot fail. If you like, modern warfare not only requires technological power, but also sustained resistance. And it is precisely in these everyday details where the problems begin to appear. cracks of a prolonged effort. Image | US Navy In Xataka | The US has asked all its allies in Hormuz for help. The answer he received was anticipated by Spain before anyone else: “no” In Xataka | The world is desperately asking Ukraine for its antidote to the Shahed. And Ukraine has decided to keep them for its war

The number one enemy of the Spanish mountain is called climate change. And we have data to prove it.

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In 2024, they burned 47,700 hectares. In 2025, 340,000 were exceeded. And honestly, the reasons are manyalmost too many. Well, Marco Turco, from the University of Murcia, just demonstrated something that we already sensed: at a global level, the days of extreme fire risk They have increased 65% since 1980. That’s 12 more days a year. And, if that were not enough, the Mediterranean region is where lthe signs are clearer. What does all this mean? In general terms, this means that although the causes of the fires remain human (in Spain between 80 and 95% of firesin fact; the intentional ones there are many less), climate change has a lot to do with its spread. Increasingly. Why is it interesting? Because this study is the first to apply formal climate fingerprinting techniques on a global scale to fire risk. That is, that figure of 11.66 more days of extreme risk in 44 years is achieved with the most advanced methodology that we have at our disposal. And if the global data is bad, the Mediterranean data (where the days have doubled in these almost five decades) they are horrifying. But it’s not all bad news. After all, as Turco points outdespite the increase in risk, the burned area has not increased proportionally. And the reason, according to him, is the improvement of the means of extinction. However, “when extreme conditions coincide with ignition, the resulting fires are more virulent and extensive.” Why is it news now? Besides because the article has just been published in Science Advances, because the precedent of 2025 (a rainy spring and a terrible summer) It resonates a lot with what we have in 2026. We don’t even have to remember that we are talking about a handful of months with truly incredible accumulated rainfall and that is generating an amount of material in the field that can easily be end up turning Spain black. Because the core of Turco’s work is that the conditions that allow fire to spread and become a big fire They are stronger than ever. Furthermore, human exposure to these types of fires is increasing: according to recent work in Cataloniabetween 42 and 138% for each area burned since 1992. The great debate of the future. As we have repeated on several occasions, there is no debate about the effect of climate change on increasing the risk of fire. The work is summarized in how much, how and where. Therefore, the central debate is another: what. What we do with the cards that nature is dealing us. And the truth is that there is a lot to cut: whether to bet on extinction or preventionif investing more in the landscape management or begin to integrate the entire territory into urban planning schemes more ambitious and extensive. Etc, etc, etc. The debate is endless and we are always late. Because what is clear thanks to Turco is that the distance that separates the spark from the megafire is increasingly shorter. Image | Mikhail Serdyukov In Xataka | In Ourense there are towns that fear running out of water in the middle of the rainy season. The reason: the hangover from forest fires

Tuk tuks have become the symbol of the excesses of tourism in Madrid. There are those who are already asking to ban them

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If the City Hall data are correct, last year Madrid received a little more 11 million of tourists. A very intense flow of visitors left billions of euros in the capital, also giving wings to an industry that is looking for new ways to expand. His mark has been visible for a long time in the real estate sector through vacation rentals, but it is increasingly also visible on the street thanks to a figure who has been gaining prominence: tuk tuks. Their fleet has expanded so much, so quickly and so uncontrollably that they have slipped into the center of the municipal debate. And there is already someone wants to ban them. What has happened? Tourism is a huge economic engine. Madrid knows this well, estimating that last year foreign visitors left close to 17.9 billion euros11% more than in 2024. This enormous flow of income irrigates accommodation, hospitality, commerce and transportation, but also encourages new businesses, such as tours aboard tuk tuks. In Spain they are relatively common. They began to become popular around 2016. In a matter of a decade, however, their number has skyrocketed exponentially. In 2023 there was talk of around 50 vehiclesthe SER assures that they are already a hundred and just a year ago the Madrid City Council revealed that he was aware of at least six companies with tuk tuks. What’s more, in 2024 mobility agents reported “901 vehicles.” The problem is not only its accelerated increase, it is also the impact that they have in the city. What impact do they have? In words According to the Consistory, the increase in these light three-wheeled vehicles (with motor or pedal) causes “increasing congestion problems” in certain areas of the center frequented by tourists. The reason? The City Council talks about its accumulation in hot spots where they hope to attract customers, such as the San Miguel Market or the Royal Palace, sometimes ignoring the signs installed precisely to keep them away. The result is an increase in complaints from neighbors, merchants, tour guides and taxi drivers, who have already demanded a solution to what consider a clear case of “intrusion and unfair competition.” You don’t have to search the media to find them. There are those who have made evident their discomfort on the networks. Why’s that? “The accumulation of what are known as tuk tuks at certain points generates traffic problems, but also congestion at different stops that have been improvised as parking spaces for collecting tourists,” the City Council acknowledged a year ago, coinciding with the start of a surveillance campaign precisely to prevent irregular parking. The SER assures that in one week they imposed 148 sanctions. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What to do then? Improve local regulations. That is what at least the City Council has proposed, which in January acknowledged that it was working on a regulation that would allow the tuk tuk challenge to be faced more clearly. The advertisement he did it during Fitur the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who also launched a notice to navigators: as long as the City Council does not adopt a new rule, urban mobility agents will continue to sanction. “We will continue to pursue a phenomenon that harms not only the image of the city, but also its own functioning. I don’t think it does any good for tourism either when things are not done properly,” insisted. This is not the first time that the local government has spoken out on the issue. Nor does it speak of a new regulation. In the past the Almeida team has already warned that tuk tuks must circulate respecting the regulations, which means stopping parking at points such as the Royal Palace or the San Miguel market. Debate settled? Not at all. Proof that the controversy is still alive in Madrid is that these days it has been revived again with proposals (and reproaches) crossed between the municipal government and the opposition. The reason? Which institution has the power to solve the problem. Madrid Current inform that the head of the Mobility area, Borja Carabante, has demanded that the central government modify the General Traffic Regulations to solve the problem. The PSOE however insist in that it must be the Consistory that acts via ordinance. What do they propose? The socialists have presented an amendment to the new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, raising arguments to veto this type of vehicle on the streets, including the use they make of sidewalks and other pedestrian areas or the competition they exercise over other transportation services that are regulated and are required to meet requirements. Its approach goes beyond that maintained by the Council, which works to “regulate and order”. Although in other countries they have been circulating for years and also operate in more localities from Spaintuk tuks are situated in a complicated regulatory framework, such as recognized last year the Tourism area of ​​the Madrid City Council to The Spanish. He approach The starting point is simple: tuk tuks can circulate through the city, but they cannot bypass the bullfighting regulations and, therefore, occupy spaces where they now usually park to hunt tourists. Images | Madrid City Council and Caesar (Flickr) In Xataka | In its accelerated touristification, Madrid began to convert commercial premises into paid bathrooms. It turned out as expected

paint a road red

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There is nothing like installing a speed radar (or simply warning it) to make a driver take their foot off the accelerator. But there is a more effective method: painting the road. It has been proven that when we see colors, lines and shapes painted on the asphalt, drivers slow down. So in India they have not thought twice. That’s why they painted the road red. Because? Madhya Pradesh is known as “the Heart of India”. The region has been growing at a good pace for some time, especially supported by tourism that is attracted by its ruins, its temples and a truly striking nature. But this region is also famous for something else: tigers. And those tigers are the reason India is building “the first red road”. Or what is the same, two kilometers where the asphalt has been painted a striking red color with the aim of alerting drivers and reminding them that they are traveling through a space where tigers, one of the protected animals in the area, roam freely. Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve. A wildlife sanctuary. This is how they define the website from this reserve to the area in which the road we are talking about is located. An area of ​​about 2,339 km² where tigers but also bears, leopards and wild dogs roam. The problem is that the NH-45 highway also runs through that space, a road that connects Bhopal and Jabalpur, two cities with a total of more than four million people if their metropolitan areas are added. Click on the image to go to the original post A road painted red. One of the solutions devised has been to paint the road red to signal to drivers that they are passing through a particularly sensitive space. The road has been renovated to redirect animal traffic to 25 underpasses and 11 cameras control that they do not sneak onto the asphalt. However, one of the most effective measures is to paint the road with huge red squares. And although various measures can be taken to reduce speed on a road, painting the asphalt is one of the simplest in terms of effort and money invested. In Spain, the DGT is trying to paint some sections with a huge red line. In Catalonia (the DGT has no powers there), try the same with circles at the entrance to curves to warn motorists. And in the United States it has been proven that painting the streets is a good method to protect children and prevent accidents. Our brain. In this case, in addition to being painted, the squares also create a small noise in the tires to convey to the driver a greater obligation to take their foot off the accelerator. However, it’s just about tricking our brain. When a road is painted with squares of this type or a red line is added in the center, the perception we have as drivers is that the lane is narrower and, almost immediately, we lift our foot off the accelerator a little when we perceive that it is more unsafe to travel at the same speed than on an asphalt that has not been modified. It is, simply, a sensory illusion. Playing with the shapes and their sizes is enough for the driver to understand that something is happening there and that he should take his foot off the accelerator. In some Spanish cities like Madrid they have what are known as “dragon teeth” on streets with schools or hospitals to create the sensation that they are narrower and make drivers lift their feet. and it works. The most surprising thing is how something so simple delivers results. In Bloomberg pointed out a long time ago that the city of New York implemented Asphalt Art Initiativeto draw enormous murals at the most conflictive intersections in the city. After painting them, drivers began to pass more slowly and the number of serious injuries after a hit went from 50% to 37%. Something similar was used in a Beuné crossing (a town located near Angers, western France). There, his neighbors, tired of the town’s road being crossed as if it were a highway, decided to paint the ground. The result was immediate, the cars took their foot off the accelerator. Photo | Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve and Google Maps In Xataka | A huge red line: the DGT’s experimental measure in one of the most dangerous stretches in Spain

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