Month: March 2026

Google’s Pixel 10 Pro drops in price again and has just reached its minimum in this store

by

Within high-end mobile phones, the Google Pixel 10 Pro is one of the undisputed leaders. If you have been thinking about buying it for a while, now is a good time to do it. On Amazon, it has just reached its minimum price and you can get it for 749 euros. Google Pixel 10 Pro – 128GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google’s most Pro mobile now at a minimum price He Google Pixel 10 Pro is (along with the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL) the best mobile of the brand and it is perfect, thanks to its 6.3 inch screenperfect for those who want a smartphone that can be easily held in one hand. In addition, this screen offers a 120 Hz refresh rate and a good level of brightness, so you can see it in perfect conditions, even in sunlight. Internally, the processor it mounts is the Google Tensor G5accompanied by 16 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. Its battery lasts for more than a day and supports fast charging at 30 W wired and wireless at 15 W. In addition, it comes with pure Android operating system with guaranteed updates for seven years. One of its strong points is the photography section. On the front, it incorporates a selfie camera with a more than decent 42 MP while the rear camera incorporates a 50 MP main sensor, 48 MP wide angle and a 48 MP 5x telephoto. Likewise, the Pixel camera app is another of its great assets, since it offers very good results. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: offer for the google pixel 10 today ✅ THE BEST Your processor: The Tensor G5 is much more efficient and heats up less than previous models, as well as offering more stable performance in heavier tasks. The 3,300 nits: The Google Pixel 10 Pro’s display is one of the brightest on the market in 2026 and is visible even in direct sunlight. ❌ THE WORST The design is continuous… In this sense, the Pixel 10 Pro is almost identical to the Google Pixel 9 Pro, being even somewhat thicker and heavier. Base storage… In the middle of 2026, the fact that the base model starts at 128 GB is somewhat stingy, especially if we are talking about a Pro mobile that records in 8K. 💡 BUY IT IF… You come from a Pixel 7 or 8, since the jump in battery and efficiency is brutal, something that you will not notice if you come from the previous model. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… If you are eager for fast charging, this mobile phone will fall short, since it is still anchored in a 30 W wired charging. While other mobile phones charge to 100% in 20 minutes, the Pixel needs more than an hour. The best accessories for this Google Pixel 10 Pro Pixelsnap Case for Google Pixel 10 Pro The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel Buds 2a – Wireless earbuds 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 | Álex Alcolea (Xataka) and Google In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

YouTube has already eaten Disney

by

In 2025, YouTube generated about $62 billion in revenue and surpassed Disney as the world’s largest entertainment company by revenue. It did so without a single film studio, without decades-old franchises behind it, and without making contracts with any of its main content creators. The model that made it possible has been being built in silence for twenty years. The figures. These 62 billion dollars exceed for the first time the media segment of The Walt Disney Company, which generated 60.9 billion excluding its theme parks and experiences, that is, we are talking strictly about the audiovisual sector (Disney parks and resorts contributed around 9 billion additional dollars to the group). The comparison measures the content and media distribution business, where it competes with YouTube. And in that area there is no longer any doubt who is in charge. Advertising, first notice. It was clear that the surprise. YouTube earned $40.4 billion in advertising alone during 2025, more than Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery combined, whose combined advertising revenue amounted to 37.8 billion. A year earlier, in 2024, that same combination of studios still surpassed YouTube in advertising: 41.8 billion compared to 36.1 billion. The rest of YouTube’s income comes from subscriptions: YouTube TV has around 10 million subscribers, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music have approximately 107 million according to the studies cited. These are lines of business that did not exist before or were marginal, and that now represent about 22 billion dollars annually. The secret of low risk. The important question is not how much YouTube earns but how it earns it. Disney maintains studios, pays salaries to directors, actors and scriptwriters, finances productions with budgets that in franchises such as Marvel or ‘Avatar’ frequently exceed $200 million in revenue per film, but assumes the risk that this investment will not be recovered at the box office. YouTube doesn’t do any of that. Not even hiring its creators. Although that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deliver. The YouTube Partner Program, launched in 2007, established that the platform shares 55% of the advertising revenue generated by each video with the creator who produces it. The creator provides the content, the risk and the work. YouTube provides the infrastructure, distribution and monetization system. In total, the platform has paid more than $100 billion to creators, record labels and media partners throughout its history, according to YouTube itself. It is, in terms of costs, a structure that traditional studies can hardly replicate. Hearing, second notice. The 2025 revenue is not the first time YouTube has surpassed Disney in something relevant. On the audience front, the gap opened earlier. YouTube, according to the studies cited, captured 12.5% ​​of the total television consumption time in the United States, overtaking Disney, Fox and Netflix. The figure includes consumption on connected televisions, a rapidly growing segment and that has transformed YouTube from a mobile platform to a regular presence in the living room. The great risk. The great creators of the platform are those who have their own studios, production teams and budgets that rival those of conventional television. They have been, in practice, media companies for years. The externalization of risk that has put YouTube in first position has a reverse: the platform’s income depends on millions of people who, at any time, can migrate to another environment or stop producing, without contractual obligations. Disney can lose money due to a movie’s failure at the box office. YouTube, in theory, can take a significant blow to its ecosystem. Disadvantages of outsourcing everything. Featured image | Xataka In Xataka | YouTube’s lawyers are clear that “YouTube is not a social network.” The future of the platform depends on it

While in the US there is a civil war over military AI, a European one has sneaked into the French Armed Forces: Mistral

by

One of the big topics of conversation in recent weeks is the civil war in the United States. between two of the AI ​​giants and the Government itself. To sum up, Anthropic gave in his artificial intelligence Claude to the Pentagon to integrate it into all its systems along with Palantir. It is estimated that it has been a key tool for capture Nicolás Madurobut also to attack Iranbut since the US wanted to go further and Anthropic refused, OpenAI took its place. It is a very strange situation because the result could be that The US blacklists Anthropic as if it were Huawei. It would be the first time they have done that to an American company and it is something that tells us two things. The first is that governments need big technology companies and their tools. The second is that technology companies also have a lot to gain. And, while all that noise is happening in the United States, in Europe another AI company has ‘sneaked’ into its country’s security systems. We refer to a Mistral that, without making noisehas been building its portfolio of contacts in European defense systems for some time. A local AI for the security of Europe With all the spotlights pointing to ChatGPT, Claude and Chinese equivalents such as DeepSeekothers have been carving out a niche for themselves. Almost without a sound, and overnight, a French company called Mistral was building multilingual models that rivaled the American alternatives that captured all eyes. Founded in June 2023, Mistral will soon converted in the French technological jewel, but also in the Europe’s AI gem. Its managers, engineers who came from Google (deepmind) and Meta, managed to attract the attention of NVIDIA, ASML, Samsung, IBM, Salesforce or a Microsoft that invested 15 million euros and incorporated Mistral models into Azure. Mistral’s policy is to release the code of its models so that anyone can analyze, use and adapt it. According to them, it is something that will accelerate innovation and, without the muscle of the American giants, their approach is to a large model with other smaller and specialized ones. At the beginning of this year, the bombshell arrived. The Ministry of the Armed Forces of France arrive to an agreement with Mistral AI to integrate the company’s models, software and services in public entities related to the ministry. For example, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Office of Aerospace Studies and Research, the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy and, also, the Armed Forces. It is the Ministry of Defense Artificial Intelligence Agency that will supervise all operations, but the idea is to “deploy Mistral tools in France’s infrastructure, ensuring full control over data and critical technologies.” From the Government, it was noted that, with these new tools, they can prepare the Armed Forces for the challenges of the future. However, the fact that Mistral is the Defense model in France may matter little to us… unless we take two things into account. The first: shortly after this agreement became known, public information on how Mistral is seeking Defense contracts outside France. They are getting more and more into this path, signing agreements with Helsinga German defense startup, and Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral, argued that its AI models will be “instrumental in the development of a new generation of defense systems.” Here comes the second thing to take into account. Mensch himself commented that these tools “will ensure Europe’s strategic advantage on the global stage”. This is important because Europe is now at a point where it has realized that the partners and allies of the past may not be the same as those of the future. European sovereignty At the user level we see movements like those of independence from American technologiesbut at a political level, Mistral responds to that search for European sovereignty. Instead of leaving your Defense-related systems in the hands of a foreign company, these agreements mean that it is a European company that is on the inside. And, in the end, this is not just about AI. In recent months we are seeing how Europe is moving to have a more powerful voice in terms of semiconductors, computing for artificial intelligence and even in the new space race. For a long time it has been said that others innovate and Europe legislates, but the current situation It has caused Europe to continue legislating while doing everything else. Images | Mistral AI, Amio Cajander In Xataka | The United States wants to be “sovereign” on a technological level. The problem is that everything it builds depends on other countries

Building data centers in the Middle East seemed like a great deal. Until Iran arrived

by

A few days ago we said that Iran had attacked two data centers in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain. It is the first deliberate attack on a data center and proof that it has become critical infrastructure at the level of power plants. The question is who thought it was a good idea to build data centers in one of the most unstable areas on the planet. A plan that comes from afar. In a trip to Saudi Arabia last yearTrump was accompanied by an entourage of technological leaders among whom were Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman or Sundar Pichai among others. At this meeting, massive investments were announced in the region with the construction of a massive data center complex. However, although it has been strengthened by this administration, the previous one was the one that started the path. In September 2024, Biden met with the leader of the Emirates to seek a strategic alliance that would allow them to develop their AI ecosystem. The reason. What has led technology companies to build in the Middle East is evident: saving. They count in Financial Times that the Gulf countries offered very interesting incentives, such as subsidies and cheaper energy. Furthermore, in this way all the problems they are having at home with the electrical gridpermits and resistance from many communities. The business seemed good. The map of AI in the Middle East. Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the countries with the most data centers, with 57 and 61 facilities respectively, according to Data Center Map. Of all of them, many are from American companies. Amazon alone has nine in the area, including those in the Emirates, Bahrain and also Saudi Arabia. Microsoft has data centers in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and is building one in Saudi Arabia. Oracle, OpenAI and other partners are building a mega data center in Abu Dhabi which they expect to reach 5GW. The damage. Although the Middle East has gained presence on the map of big tech data centers, the concentration of infrastructure is still ridiculous compared to that of the United States itself, which has more than 4,000 installations. All in all, build a data center It’s not exactly cheap. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, said a few months ago that Each gigawatt costs about $50 billion.. The irony. The same leaders who posed for a photo with Trump on that trip now see how their infrastructure is threatened and suffering the consequences of the conflict caused by the president himself. The idea of ​​investing in so much digital infrastructure in an unstable area was not such a good idea. The war against Iran It looks like it’s going to get longer. and nothing prevents Tehran from continuing to attack energy and technological facilities in the region. They were looking to reduce costs and it may end up being expensive, although seeing the projected capex for this yearthey can afford it. Image | Data Center Map (edited) In Xataka | The US is beginning to realize something worrying: AI data centers are skyrocketing its electricity bill

Meta wants to warn us before it’s too late

by

Social networks and messaging applications have become one of the favorite places for scammers to look for victims. It’s not a coincidence. They are platforms that we trust, where we interact with known people and where many decisions are made quickly, almost without thinking. In that scenario, a seemingly normal message, link, or request may be the first step in a scam. Goal has decided reinforce their alert systems with new tools that seek to detect suspicious signals and warn the user before it is too late. When someone tries to link your WhatsApp without you knowing. One of the novelties announced by Meta affects a fraud technique with which scammers try to link the victim’s WhatsApp account to another device. According to the company, they can try to convince the user to share their phone number and then the pairing code that appears on WhatsApp, or even ask them to scan a QR code under a false pretext. With the new alerts, the application will display warnings when it detects signs of suspicious behavior in these types of requests and will indicate where the request comes from so that the user can stop and reconsider the action before accepting it. Suspicious friend requests. Another of the functions that Meta is testing focuses on Facebook and such an everyday gesture as accepting a friend request. The platform tests warnings when it detects signs that may point to suspicious activity on an account. These signs include, for example, profiles with very few friends in common with the user or accounts that indicate a location in another country in their profile. The goal of these alerts is not to decide for the user, but rather to provide them with additional context before accepting the request, blocking it, or simply ignoring it. Messenger also receives news. Meta will expand its advanced scam detection system within this application to more countries this month. In this case, the focus is on the content of the conversation itself: when a chat with a new contact presents patterns associated with common fraud, the platform can show a warning to the user. The company mentions as an example messages that include suspicious job offers. At that point, the system can ask the user if they want to share recent messages for an AI-based tool to analyze and, if it detects signs of deception, offer additional information and suggest actions such as blocking or reporting the account. Beyond the visible notices. The firm led by Mark Zuckerberg explains that these in-app alerts are only part of its strategy against scams. In parallel, the company is strengthening its automatic detection systems with tools based on artificial intelligence capable of analyzing multiple signals at the same time, such as the text of a publication, the images used or the context in which the content appears. These systems seek to identify more complex patterns, such as accounts that impersonate celebrities, public figures or well-known brands, as well as links that redirect to pages designed to imitate legitimate sites. The figures. According to the company, during 2025 it removed more than 159 million scam-related ads worldwide for violating its policies. Of that total, around 92% were removed before any users reported them, suggesting that automatic detection systems were already acting before the fraud spread. Meta also points out that it took down 10.9 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to scam centers and participated in an international operation that allowed the deactivation of more than 150,000 accounts associated with criminal networks in Southeast Asia. Images | Aman Pal | Goal In Xataka | China has turned OpenClaw into a viral phenomenon. And then it has prohibited its officials from using it

Apple Music will come to the app to offer the next step

by

TikTok has become more than just a platform for short videos: for millions of people it is the place where they discover new music. Songs that appear in “Para ti” can go from being a viral fragment to becoming a global hit in a matter of hours. That role as a great musical showcase has redefined how songs are released and promoted in the industry. Apple Music seems to have taken note of that dynamic and is now committed to going one step beyond discovery. The novelty. “Play Full Song” seeks to shorten the journey between the moment someone discovers a song on TikTok and the moment they decide to listen to it in its entirety. From now on, Apple Music subscribers will see a dedicated button on their “For You” or sound details page, from which they can open an Apple Music player to listen to the full track. By tapping it, the user can play the track and continue listening to recommendations within the service. TikTok also adds that users will be able to save songs in “Your Music” and add them directly to their Apple Music lists. An agreement that goes through Apple Music. Although the button appears within TikTok, the complete playback is not done on the social network itself. The function uses MusicKit, Apple’s technology that allows you to integrate your catalog into other applications, so the song is played in Apple Music and listens are counted in that service. The important detail is that the integration is linked only to Apple Music. According to TechCrunchother streaming services, including Spotify, do not currently have an equivalent option to listen to full songs from TikTok. This integration does not appear in a vacuum. TikTok has been incorporating tools designed to connect the virality of its videos with streaming platforms for some time. One of them is “Add to music app”, a function that allows you to save songs discovered on TikTok directly to music services to listen to later. In parallel, the company has also explored other paths, such as its attempt to launch its own streaming service, an initiative that ended up closing. Since then, the strategy seems to focus on reinforcing its role as a discovery point that connects with other platforms. Music is also heard in community. The announcement also includes a feature called “Listening Party,” designed to bring artists and fans together for a shared listening session. During these sessions, fans can listen to songs in real time while interacting with each other and the artist themselves. TikTok describes the initiative as a new social way to experience music within the platform. Together, these tools aim at the same objective: reinforcing TikTok’s role as a meeting point between musical discovery, reproduction and direct relationship between artists and audience. Images | TikTok In Xataka | Netflix spends 17 billion on producing content and YouTube does it for free. And that’s why YouTube is winning the game

If the oil apocalypse becomes a reality, Spain has known for years how long it can last: 92 days

by

Faced with the logistical blockage of Hormuz that threatens to drown the global economy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has decided to press the red button. The organization has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history: about 400 million barrels. To put it in context, this figure is more than double the 182 million barrels that were injected into the market in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Spain, as a member of the IEA, will not be left out. How to collect Europe Pressthe vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has confirmed our country’s support for this plan. If the proposal is approved unanimously, Spain will contribute to the market the equivalent of about 12 or 12.5 days of its national consumption. The Spanish bunker. All this movement leads us to the big question: how much margin does Spain really have if the situation becomes entrenched? Legally, there is a global obligation to maintain minimum security stocks equivalent to 92 days of sales or computable consumption. According to calculations of The CountryAdding all the capacities, the country has about 105 days of autonomy. This safety mattress works through a mixed system: The Corporation of Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (CORES) must maintain 42 of those dayswhile the remaining 50 days are maintained directly by the industry. Currently, CORES custody more than 5.4 million cubic meters of stocks. It’s not just crude oil. To be truly useful in a crisis, CORES reserves are composed by 54.4% diesel, 29.2% crude oil and 6.0% kerosene. stocks They are strategically distributed by Spanish geography. The Levante area accounts for 44.8% of the total, followed by the central area with 19.2% and the northern area with 17.7%. The objective of these reserves is not to replace normal long-term supply, but to inject fuel into the market to stop sudden price increases and buy vital time to reorganize logistics and trade routes. We can’t relax. Just because we have a margin of three months does not mean that we are invulnerable. Spain is a country with almost absolute foreign energy dependence. In 2024, national oil consumption was 1,322,492 barrels per daybut own production barely reached 76,947 barrels. Our net crude oil imports represent more than 100% of our consumption. Furthermore, our economy she is addicted to black goldespecially to move. The transport sector is responsible for 71.1% of the final consumption of petroleum products in Spain, with diesel/diesel being the undisputed king, accounting for 61.1% of that consumption. The Iranian asphyxiation has a crack. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have activated a logistical “antidote” capable of rescuing up to 7 million barrels per day. The main asset is East-West Pipelinean oil pipeline connecting eastern Saudi fields with the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The machinery is already in motion, there is already an “army” of at least 25 supertankers sailing towards Yanbu to load this crude oil. Adding to this effort is the United Arab Emirates pipeline, which provides up to 2 million additional barrels directly to the Gulf of Oman. The refinery factor. But the macroeconomy hits a wall, Saudi oil pipelines transport crude oil, not diesel. As analyst Arne Lohmann Rasmussen warns, the real danger is the deficit of distillates. If Europe does not have enough refineries to process that oil in time, the desert pipelines are of no use. This is where the CORES bunker win the game. The 54.4% of already refined diesel that Spain stores is the only thing that guarantees that the trucks do not stop. In short, the Saudi “antidote” prevents total collapse, but our reserves buy the 100 days of peace necessary to avoid seeing the pump in the clouds. If diplomacy fails, not even the bunker will avoid the historic scare. Image | Volgotanker Xataka | The price of oil has plummeted overnight. The one at the gasoline pumps will remain the same

This is how the Asian jungle of Stallone’s classic became

by

In 1985, ‘Rambo: Cornered II’ transported audiences to the jungles of Vietnam with devastating realism. But what the viewer took to be the Vietnamese jungle were the banks of the Coyuca Lagoon, the slopes surrounding the El Salto waterfall and the hangars of the Military Air Base No. 7 in Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco. All in the state of Guerrero. And the interior scenes, the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City. What happened. The production initially considered filming in Thailand, a destination with the most appropriate geography and vegetation density to recreate Vietnam, but the plan did not prosper. Producer Andy Vajna attributed the change to logistical and economic considerations (filming in Mexico was significantly cheaper and operationally less complex), although Stallone even mentioned in an interview that what made it unviable were the insects, something that Vajna denied. Whatever the real reason, filming began in August 1984 in the surroundings of Acapulco. She’s not the only one. The practice of using Mexico as a substitute for Asia was not unique to this production. For example, in 1987 ‘Predator’ was filmed in Palenque, Chiapas; and several Reagan-era films resorted to the same device. Mexico offered dense rainforest, real military structures available for filming, and a technical industry already consolidated around the Churubusco Studiosoperational since 1945 and still active today in the Coyoacán mayor’s office of Mexico City. Where was it. That the viewer did not notice the deception speaks well of the localization work. Each of the outdoor settings was chosen for its ability to suggest a remote and hostile landscape, and they were these: The El Salto Waterfallin the Valle del Río community, municipality of Coyuca de Benítez, more than two thousand meters above sea level. It was a practically virgin place, which made filming a lot easier. There Rambo ascends among rocks brandishing his bow. A specialist died in the waterfall. The Coyuca de Benítez Lagoon and the area known as “The Jungle” in Pie de la Cuesta served for the scenes in which Rambo sails towards his objective. He Omitlan Bridgein Tierra Colorada (municipality of Juan R. Escudero), was the scene of the destruction of three jeeps with explosive arrows, perhaps the most remembered action sequence of the film. The Military Air Base No. 7 of Pie de la Cuesta. Their hangars appear as the base from which the mission departs. The Mexican military themselves acted as extras and the real equipment of the installation served as props. To “Vietnamize” the Mexican landscape, rice fields, quarries and a giant Buddha statue made of gold-painted polystyrene were built. The consequences. The then Federal Directorate of Security (DFS) prepared detailed reports on the filming, later declassified and revised. In 1984, union leaders, the General Directorate of Radio, Television and Cinematography (RTC) and representatives of the Ministry of the Interior met to resolve a filming interruption caused by union demands. Filming later resumed, creating employment for approximately 500 people in the port. Four decades after filming, the Guerrero locations are still open to the public. El Salto Waterfall receives visitors and is known, even today, as Rambo’s waterfall. In Xataka | The special effects of 2025 are worse than those of 2010. And part of the blame lies with us viewers

Meta just launched managed accounts for tweens

by

WhatsApp is part of the daily lives of millions of people and, in many homes, also part of family communication. The company itself has been presenting it for some time as a common tool to talk to parents, notify that someone has arrived home or coordinate day-to-day activities. However, The platform establishes that its use is intended for people over 13 years of age.. Now Meta has decided introduce a new modality designed precisely for that terrain. The novelty. What was announced by Meta consists of introducing a new type of account within WhatsApp designed for preteens. Instead of creating a conventional profile, the minor uses an account managed by a parent or guardian that is linked to that of the adult from the moment of configuration. This allows the person responsible to monitor certain aspects of app usage, such as who can send messages, which group invitations can be accepted, or what privacy settings apply to the account. A more limited experience from the beginning. The managed account does not replicate all the usual WhatsApp functions, but rather reduces the service to the essentials. In this format, the preteen can use the application to send messages or make calls, but some of the tools that the platform has incorporated in recent years are excluded. Among them are channels, the possibility of sharing location or integration with Meta AI. The adult is in control. As we say, these managed accounts not only limit functions, they also change who makes certain decisions within the application. Once the minor’s account is linked to that of the father, mother or guardian, that person begins to manage various aspects of the use of WhatsApp. You can decide which contacts are authorized to communicate with the account, which group invitations can be accepted, and review message requests from unknown numbers. Additionally, privacy settings are protected by a parental PIN, meaning only the responsible adult can access and modify them. privacy. Although managed accounts introduce new controls for adults, WhatsApp ensures that the platform’s privacy system remains intact. Messages and calls remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so only people participating in the conversation can access their content. Step by step activation. To launch one of these managed accounts, the process begins on the child’s phone and also requires the parent or guardian’s device. WhatsApp also indicates that both devices must have the most recent version of the application and that the person managing the account must be over 18 years of age. The adult must download WhatsApp to the preteen’s phone and choose the option to create a managed account during the setup process. Download WhatsApp on the minor’s mobile Choose the option to create an account managed by a parent or guardian Register and verify the minor’s phone number Enter date of birth and confirm age Scan the QR code with the adult’s mobile phone to link the accounts Verify that the adult is of legal age Create a six-digit parental PIN to protect settings Finish setup on the child’s device The Spanish context adds another layer. In Spain, the debate about minors’ access to certain digital platforms has been ongoing for some time. At the beginning of 2026, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced the intention to ban access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age as part of a future regulation aimed at reinforcing digital protection at those ages. In this framework, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or YouTube appear in the debate, while WhatsApp would be left out as it is considered a messaging service and not a social network. The new function seems designed to respond to a familiar use of messaging that the company itself assumes exists. Instead of ignoring it, Meta proposes a model in which this access occurs with more limits and with the direct supervision of a responsible adult. The result is a more limited version of WhatsApp, focused on basic communication and with additional controls over contacts, groups and privacy settings. In this way, the company tries to fit the use of the application by preteens within a more controlled environment. AvailabilityWhatsApp has only confirmed that these accounts will begin to roll out gradually in the coming months. That calendar leaves open an important question in regions like the European Union. In the European Region, On April 11, 2024, the company lowered the minimum age of use from 16 to 13 years to harmonize it with the rest of the world. However, the sources consulted do not yet detail how this new modality administered for minors below that threshold will be articulated in Europe or what scope it will actually have in those markets. Images | WhatsApp In Xataka | You’ve been ‘user84721’ for years. A study just showed that AI can know who you are in minutes

What happens to our brain when we pray or meditate, according to neuroscience

by

Joan of Arc listened to divine voices that guided her steps in battle. Saint Teresa of Jesus described mystical ecstasies that left her paralyzed. For centuries, these experiences have been framed exclusively in the realm of faith and dogma, but modern science has decided to look into the abyss of mysticism with a much more earthly tool: brain scans. It has its science. It is called neurotheology and it is a discipline that is beginning to emerge, although it is not free of controversy. Its objective is not to prove the existence of God as such, but to decipher the neural circuits that light up when humans try to communicate with him. The “neurons of God.” In his recent book “God’s neurons”biologist and researcher Diego Golombek proposes a fascinating hypothesis for the most mystical situations. They point out that many of the visions and extreme spiritual experiences that have been documented by figures who have gone down in history could be closely linked to neurological phenomena such as temporal lobe epilepsy. According to Golombek, these electrical storms in the brain activate regions linked to intense emotions and altered perceptions, creating an experience that the subject interprets as direct contact with divinity. Although the question here is whether there is a ‘God button’ in the brain or an area that is activated when we focus on our spirituality. The short answer here is no. What was known. For years there was speculation about the existence of a “brain module” exclusive to the divine, but classic studies, such as the one carried out in 2006 by neuroscientist Mario Beauregard with Carmelite nuns, refuted this idea. To demonstrate this, he introduced the nuns in fMRI machines and asked them to relive their deepest mystical experiences. Here the results demonstrated that there is no single “God zone” but rather that prayer mobilizes a complex and extensive network that includes the caudate nucleus, the insula and the parietal lobe. This is why God, neurologically speaking, is a team effort. The real impact. Beyond the debate about the origin of visions, neurotheology has found very fertile ground in psychiatry and mental health. Andrew B. Newberg, one of the world’s pioneers in this field and author of “Principles of Neurotheology”, has been documenting for decades how religious practices and meditation physically alter our gray matter. In recent studies from this same 2025, Newberg’s team has addressed the practical applications of neurotheology in integrative psychiatry. The findings are revealing, since people with a consistent religious or spiritual practice show significant correlations with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and greater general well-being. Because? When praying or meditating routinely, there is sustained activation in areas such as the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for attention and decision making, in addition to alterations in the insula, which suggests that these practices have a protective effect on mental health. For authors such as Newberg or Víctor Páramo Valero himself, these data reject purely materialist and reductionist explanations, since neuroscience does not deny God, but rather explains how our brain is equipped to process spirituality. There is controversy. Not everything in neurotheology is a bed of roses, since there are also many criticisms around. We have an example in the researcher Javier Bernácer, who warns about the danger of confusing correlation with causation. Thus, the fact that areas of the brain light up in a scanner while someone prays does not prove that prayer is the sole cause of that activation. He notes that much of today’s neuroimaging offers “anecdotes, not definitive evidence,” and calls for the discipline to adopt controlled trials to rule out cognitive biases. In Xataka | Three MIT physicists have reached a mathematical conclusion about God: if the universe is closed, there is no room for an external observer

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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