Month: April 2026

the “cannibalization” of energy

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Spain has held an indisputable title for years: it is the European leader in the signing of green light ‘mega contracts’ for large companies. However, this gold medal hides a dark side, a true paradox of “dying of success.” While the continent suffers the blow of the very high costs of fossil fuels due to the conflict in the Middle East, the avalanche of solar panels in our country is bursting the market from within. According to the data provided The Newspaperthe prices of these long-term agreements (known as PPAs) have fallen by 13.5% at the start of 2026 alone. The megawatt hour (MWh) stands at around 32 euros, marking historical lows and being cheaper even than in the worst moments of the economic stoppage due to the pandemic. The ghost that walks through the sector. The word that resonates in the offices of the energy sector is “cannibalization.” The immense solar capacity installed in the country generates a traffic jam: in the central hours of the day, when the sun shines at its maximum splendor, all producers pour their energy at the same time. This brutal excess of supply compared to demand causes prices to sink. The chaos is evident if we look at the figures. Five Days points out that in the first quarter of the year Almost 130 hours have been recorded with negative prices. This is destroying the value of PV projects on paper. According to the same newspaper, the price of a photovoltaic megawatt “ready to build” has plummeted from the 150,000 euros it cost four years ago to less than 30,000 euros. For large corporations, contracts are being signed at “knockdown” prices of between 15 and 20 euros. From promoter bankruptcy to national shield. The business is no longer a bed of roses. As explained in Five Daysthe drama for the promoters is that there are almost 53 gigawatts of solar energy with connection permits granted that “are not producing.” That is, there is more power paralyzed or waiting than what is currently installed and operating (52 GW). Faced with this panorama, and with interest rates skyrocketed by geopolitical instability, banks have turned off the financing tap. Those who entered the renewable “boom” late and without financial muscle are now facing bankruptcy. But here comes the paradox. The promoter’s drama is the country’s lifeline. While the European energy bill has increased by 24 billion euros due to the crisis in the Middle East, Spain’s strong renewable generation sank the wholesale price by 20% in March. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, took advantage of this “green pragmatism” against the “dogmatism of fossil fuels”, ensuring that the ultimate goal is for Spain to offer its industry “the cheapest electricity in the world.” So what’s going to happen now? The sector is forced to mutate. The analysts consulted by Five Days They are blunt: photovoltaics alone are no longer of interest. The future lies in hybridizing plants with wind energy or, as he also points out The Newspaperinstall large batteries (BESS systems) to store that cheap midday energy and sell it at night. Meanwhile, in a troubled river, fishermen gain. With small and medium-sized developers drowned, large Asian investors and long-term funds are taking out their checkbook to buy projects at bargain prices. For their part, buyers and sellers are introducing new clauses in contracts to protect themselves against unforeseen fluctuations in the market. The European contrast: Brussels asks to accelerate. While Spain deals with its own solar crisis, Europe is desperate to accelerate its transition to escape foreign dependence. The European Commission has just presented your plan AccelerateEUwhich aims to provide immediate relief to consumers and accelerate clean deployment. Brussels’ emergency recipes include tax cuts on electricity, reducing the price of public transport and prohibiting supply cuts to the most vulnerable families. In addition, the EU requires maximizing existing renewable infrastructure and improving the network. On a national level, Sánchez has committed to the sector that connection to the network “will not be the obstacle” to developments. Tame the turbines. Spain has won the solar installation race by far, but now faces a painful maturity crisis. The great technical and economic problem is no longer how to generate clean energy, but what to do with it so as not to destroy the very market that supports it. In the current and turbulent global geopolitical scenario, the dilemma posed by the Executive is unappealable: either we choose “turbines, or turbulence”. Spain’s immediate challenge is no longer just to plant more panels, but to tame those turbines so that they stop devouring each other. Image | Photo by Derek Sutton on Unsplash Xataka | Germany is building Europe’s largest system of artificial lakes thanks to something: abandoned coal mines

in DeepMind they use Claude, the rest of Google engineers want to and cannot

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Things are hectic at Google. In recent months, some DeepMind engineers have had access to Claude Code and Anthropic models, but in many other parts of the company this tool, which is currently considered the best on the market, has been banned. This has caused strong internal tensions in the company, and is also a sign of something worrying: Google’s AI cannot compete with Anthropic’s at the moment. what has happened. Steve Yegge is a software industry veteran who worked for years at Google. Last week posted a viral tweet in which he explained that after speaking with a current manager, he was concerned about the adoption of AI tools in this company. “The bottom line is that Google engineers have about the same adoption of AI as John Deere, the tractor company,” he said. Or what is the same: one of the most cutting-edge technology companies in the world was being anything but cutting-edge in its use of AI. Demis Hassabis gets angry (and a lot). Recent Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis, head of DeepMind, criticized Yegge’s tweet and told him to stop spreading nonsense. “This publication is totally false and is simply clickbait,” he said. Yegge returns to the fray. The engineer spoke in the following days with more current Google employees and discovered more things that he told in another long tweet. According to their conversations, the internal adoption of AI at Google follows a conventional pattern: 20% reject it, 60% use it in a basic way, and 20% take advantage of it intensively. Either you let me use Claude Code or I’m out of here.. But there was something else: some engineers are prohibited from using Claude Code because it is a competing product, but the vast majority do not have access to those tools because the company wants them to use Google’s tools — that is, the Gemini models in Gemini CLI, its alternative to Claude Code. According to Yeggewhen they tried to force DeepMind engineers to stop using Claude Code and Anthropic models, they refused to stop using the tool and threatened to leave the company. Internal sources of the company confirmed the data published by Yegge in a published news on Business Insider. Sergey Brin gets going. This week, The Information public that Sergey Brin has sent an internal memo to DeepMind engineers and researchers and confirms what was already being said. “To win the final sprint, we must urgently close the gap in agentic execution and turn our models into world-class developers,” the Google co-founder wrote. According to this data, an “assault team” has been created with the direct participation of Brin himself and DeepMind’s CTO, Koray Kavukcuoglu. That statement makes it clear that Gemini is below Claude in capabilities, because otherwise there would be no talk of “closing the gap.” Google and fragmentation. It’s not just that Claude Opus and Claude Code are now better than Gemini and Gemini CLI. Es que además esto ha dejado claro que en empresas tan grandes como Google la fragmentación operativa puede llegar a ser un problema grave. That some can use something that others cannot, and that worse tools are forced just because they are their own, can end up generating internal tensions, as has happened. That is what Google now seems to want to remedy so that all its employees row together. Another victory for Anthropic. All this controversy does nothing but favor Anthopic, which has managed to take the lead in this race – rather marathon – of AI. That the engineers at the prestigious DeepMind prefer their AI platform to Google’s own is an unequivocal sign that today Anthropic is ahead for AI experts. Image | Alex Dudar In Xataka | The tech industry is spending billions of dollars on GPUs for AI. 95% are inactive

We finally know when their 1.2 and 1.3 nm chips will arrive

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TSMC has revealed which photolithography will be ready for large-scale chip manufacturing over the next three years. The largest producer of semiconductors of the planet has made its itinerary official just a few hours ago during its North American Technology Symposium, which was held yesterday in Santa Clara (USA). And the technologies it has presented put an unappealable reality on the table: this Taiwanese company is determined to continue leading the integrated circuit manufacturing industry. To achieve this in 2029, it will have the A12 and A13 integration technologies ready for large-scale production, which are nothing more than derivatives of its A14 photolithography. From a commercial point of view these will be TSMC’s first 1.2 and 1.3 nm technologies, although it is important that users do not overlook that nanometers no longer faithfully reflect the length of the logic gates or another physical parameter, such as the distance between the transistors. Each chip manufacturer handles them very freely, which prevents users from directly comparing the lithographs they try to “sell” us. The disconnection between the nomenclature and the physical reality of integrated circuits is now almost absolute, but nanometers are still useful to identify the degree of development of each photolithography within the portfolio of each semiconductor manufacturer. Having said this, it is worth investigating what TSMC is preparing. A technical feat: A12 and A13 without using ASML’s High-NA machines Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s deputy chief operating officer, has clarified something very important: “I am amazed by our R&D team. They continue to find ways to drive technological development without using ASML UVE High-NA equipment. Someday we may have to use them, but right now we can continue to reap the benefits of current EUV technology without moving to High-NA which, as we all know, is extremely expensive.” That’s impressive. TSMC is going to continue developing very competitive lithography over the next three years without resorting to High-NA machines. The A13 lithography will be the result of the refinement of the A14 In the slide that we publish below these lines we can see that in 2028 TSMC’s most advanced lithographic node for the consumer market will be the A14, which will use GAA transistors (Gate-All-Around) second generation. Mass production of consumer chips with A13 lithography will start in 2029 and will take A14 integration technology as its base platform. This simply means that the A13 lithography will be the result of the refinement of the A14. According to TSMC, the A13 integration technology is an optical optimization of the A14, which in practice will allow it to achieve a 6% higher transistor density while maintaining compatibility between the two. On the other hand, N2U lithography will arrive in 2028, which is also aimed at the consumer market. It will be an extension of the N2 platform (2 nm) and will deliver performance, again according to TSMC forecasts, between 3% and 4% higher than N2P, as well as consumption between 8% and 10% lower. Finally, A12 lithography will arrive in 2029 with the A13, although it will be mainly intended for chips for data centers. It will use, like A13, second generation GAA transistors and NanoFlex Pro technology. The latter will allow IC designers to use fast cells for the critical parts of the GPU that need speed, and dense or efficient cells for the rest, thus optimizing the chip area down to the last millimeter. NanoFlex Pro is one of the innovations with which TSMC seeks to protect its technological leadership with the purpose that its chip customers for artificial intelligence (AI), such as Nvidia, AMD or Cerebras, continue to turn to it and not to Samsung or Intel. Image | TSMC More information | TSMC | Tom’s Hardware In Xataka | Japan wants to end the Netherlands’ leadership in lithography equipment. This is your plan to get it

A supermarket chain is expanding and selling more than ever in the Mercadona fiefdom: Masymas

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Mercadona dominates the sector of food in Spain, but this control is especially robust in the Valencian Community, where splits its roots the company directed by Juan Roig. There the chain monopolizes more than 30% of the entire business, above the average share it has in the country as a whole. Although with such data it would be logical to think that the rest of the competitors have little room to expand their sales in that fiefdom, a family chain has insisted on prove the opposite. Its name: Masymas Supermarkets. Despite the competition from Mercadona, the chain, with stores spread throughout the Valencian Community and Murcia, is achieving increase your turnover. One figure: 440.3 million. 2025 has not been a bad year for the Masymas supermarkets managed by Juan Fornés SA. At least according to the figures presented by the company itself, which just revealed which in 2025 reached a turnover of 440.3 million euros (sales with VAT). Although other key indicators are missing (such as the result), at first it seems like good data on two counts: it means 4.3% more than the previous year and consolidates the increase in income that the chain has been registering for years. According to your balancein 2021 it had a turnover of 321.2 million, a figure that rose to 360.6 million in 2022 and has continued to grow since then. In five years the increase has been 22%. A percentage: 3%. It is not the only positive indicator left by the chain directed by Fornés. Your sales grew by 3% in volume and the company boasts of having invested 15 million between renovations and the opening of two new points of sale, one in Dénia (Alicante) and another in Las Torres de Cotillas (Murcia). Its loyalty program has also reached 227,000 homes. Regarding its sales network, the chain manages 115 super distributed throughout the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia, 45 of them under the Masymas basic brand. This year it plans to open two more establishments in Calpe and Sueca. In total, the company has a staff of 2,763 people200 more than in 2020. Why is it important? Beyond the interest that these data may have for the chain’s clients, Masymas’ balance sheet leaves an interesting reading for the sector: the super regionals continue to find holes to expand. Even in a scenario as complex as the great fiefdom of Mercadona. Although Juan Roig’s company leads the sector in market share at a national level, this dominance is especially intense in Alicante, Castellón, Valencia, Murcia and Albacete. A recent study from Worldpanel by Numerator shows that its footprint there reaches 33.6%, above the 27% share nationally. The complete “photo”. Masymas has not revealed its market share, but the analysis from Worldpanel by Numerator suggests that he doesn’t have it easy. In the Levant as a whole, the second best positioned chain is Consum (16.8%), followed by Carrefour (7.9%), Lidl (5.2%) and Family Cash (2.9%). In any case, these percentages must be handled carefully: Worldpanel studies a broader area than Masymas covers, focusing on the Valencian and Murcian coasts. When studying the case of Masymas, another characteristic that the company itself reports must be taken into account. on your website: The brand actually belongs to a company owned by four different companies. One focuses on Asturias and León. Another in Alicante and Valencia. A stubborn one in Córdoba and Jaén. And the fourth, Juan Fornés SA, in Castellón, Valencia, Alicante and Murcia. It was the latter that has disclosed your 2025 billing data. The push of the regional. The case of Masymas connects with a larger phenomenon that goes beyond the Levant: the push of regional supermarket chains. Although in recent years Mercadona has achieved dominate the sector (both in value share and percentage of buyers) and that they are forced to compete with multinationals the size of Grupo Carrefour, Lidl, Aldi or Alcampo, regional companies are holding their own. Worldpanel by Numerator estimates that after growing 0.4 percentage points (pp), its share reached 18.5% in 2025. The data shows “symptoms of deceleration”, as the consulting firm points out, but it is still significant. In fact Masymas is not the only one that is growing. The Galician Froiz has also done it and months ago The Country revealed that Consum, based in Valencia, aims in the same address. How is it possible? This resilience is partly explained by its territorial penetration, customer loyalty, the sale of local products and direct treatment. While Mercadona wants to bet Because of the fish already cut and packaged in trays, in many regional supermarkets it is still possible to find a stall with fresh goods and a fishmonger with whom to deal in person. The same happens with fruit, vegetables, meat or sausages, which for some analysts They turn super regional stores into successors to neighborhood stores. White label and cooked food. There is another important detail in Masymas’ strategy. The chain boasts so much of its “own brands”focused on food, home, cosmetics and pet care, as well as its “Kitchen Section”, which it has implemented in thirty stores. The signature promotes it as a space with prepared dishes, such as chicken, rice, lasagna or noodles. Both bets are very similar to the strategy that Mercadona has deployed in recent years, although the two chains are still very far apart in billing. Masymas has gone from 440 million euros in 2025, but the signing of Roig has touched the 39.8 billion. And that in Spain, without its Portugal stores. Images | Masymas Supermarkets 1 and 2 In Xataka | Years ago we feared that an “apocalypse” would sweep through shopping centers. In Spain, exactly the opposite is happening.

Some Swedish scientists decided to drug salmon with cocaine and then release them. It happened just what was expected

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There is more than just fish and algae in the world’s rivers. More or less diluted amounts of chemicalsincluding pesticides, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs. He checked it a few years ago a team from King’s College that, after taking samples in various parts of the county of Suffolk, in England, found cocaine and ketamine residues. Researchers have long known that wildlife is exposed to these compounds, but one question remained: How do drugs affect them in their natural environment? To find out in Sweden have drugged to dozens of salmon. Drugging salmon? That’s how it is. It sounds strange, but it is exactly what a group of scientists from Griffith University, the Zoological Society of London and the Max Planck Institute, among other organizations, have done. They basically took 105 salmon (salmo salar) from a fish farm, they divided them into several groups and added implants that supplied them with drugs. Then they released them. More or less as in the famous case of Cocaine Bearbut in a planned way. How did they do it? 35 of those salmon were implanted with a special device that slowly released coca into their bodies. A similar system was incorporated into others, although modified to provide benzoylecgoninethe main metabolite of cocaine. The third group did not receive any substance to act as a control. Once prepared, the salmon, all young specimens, were released into Lake Vätternsouth of Sweden. For eight weeks the researchers dedicated themselves to finding out how each group behaved. The specimens in the experiment wore a special tracking device, so (with the help of sensors installed around the lake) scientists could follow their trail and calculate how far they swam. And what did they find out? That the drugged salmon behaved very differently from the ‘sober’ ones. Especially those who received benzoylecgonine. After releasing the fish on the southwest bank of the Vättern, the researchers found that the salmon exposed to coca swam on average five more kilometers than the ‘clean’ ones, a considerable difference that falls short, however, when the specimens to which the metabolite was supplied are analyzed. They swam almost 14 km more, which led them to enter the northern area of ​​the lake. “The team found that fish exposed to benzoylecgonine swam up to 1.9 times farther per week than those not exposed and dispersed up to 12.3 km farther,” duck Griffith University. The agency also clarifies that the changes “became more evident” as the days passed, which shows that exposure to coca alters the behavior of fauna. Why is it important? Let the drugged salmon swim more kilometers and cover more space than others without ‘doping’ is more important than it may seem. These behavioral changes influence aspects such as what places the fish occupy, where they feed or the risks they face. More kilometers also translates into greater physical effort, which forces the salmon to look for more sources of nutrition to recover energy. “Where fish go determines what they eat, what eats them, and how populations are structured,” comment Dr. Marcus Michelangeli. “If pollution is driving these patterns, it has the potential to affect ecosystems in ways we are only beginning to understand.” But that was already known, right? Yes. And no. We knew that aquatic fauna is exposed to the drugs that we consume. The 2019 study in Suffolk and others, such as the made in 2016 in Puget (Washington), during which researchers detected traces of Prozac, Lipitor and cocaine in the body of salomes. We also knew that these substances alter the behavior of wildlife. In fact, scientists they already checked how water fleas exposed to coca swim faster or crabs are more reckless. The really interesting thing about the study carried out in Sweden is that it has allowed us to go one step further: to leave the laboratories, which were the isolated space in which these types of experiments had been carried out until now, and carry out research in natural environments and the same conditions that fauna is found. It hasn’t been easy. Although the team guarantees that the entire experiment has been done in safe conditions for the ecosystem and humans. Obtain all necessary permits, they confess researchers, it was “a tedious process.” And what to do now? Dr. Jack Brand, from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, recognize that more studies are needed to fully understand the consequences of pollution in rivers, lakes and seas. It is an important issue, among other reasons because the substance that has most altered salmon is benzoylecgonine, which has a special impact. “It was the metabolite, which we know is found in higher concentrations in nature, that had a much more profound effect on the behavior and movement of the fish,” warns in statements to Guardian. “This suggests that if we perform evaluations without including compounds such as these metabolites and their derivatives, we could be overlooking an important part of the environmental risks to which we expose these animals.” Images | Colin Davis (Unsplash), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Flickr) and Scazon (Flickr) In Xataka | In 2001, a yacht took refuge on a remote island in the Atlantic. Days later its inhabitants breaded fish with coca

the movie x Lush! Only for Xtra members

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Time is running out to participate in the fourth exclusive draw for subscribers of Xataka Xtra! This prize is a very complete pack of bathroom products from the ‘collectionSuper Mario Galaxy: the movie‘ x Lush valued at around 150 euros and yes, you still have time to choose to take it home. Giveaway will end tomorrow, April 24, at 9:00 Spanish peninsular timeand the winner will be revealed the same day at 11:00. This will be notified by email and will be announced both in the original article as in the exclusive Discord server, to which you also have access with your subscription. How to participate in the giveaway As we indicated previously, this giveaway is reserved for community members Xataka Xtra. If you are already part of it, you simply have to access your member area and make sure you have the correct box checked, as shown in the image above. If you haven’t done so yet, you can quickly access from this link. Make sure you check that box to automatically participate in the exclusive Xataka Xtra draws | Image: Xataka By activating the box you will automatically participate not only in this draw, but in all those to come. If you still do not enjoy the advantages of Xataka Xtra, for only 30 euros a year you can get not only access to raffles, but to Discord serverto The Officeto monthly meetingsstill growing catalog of exclusive discounts on digital servicesetc. The winner will be chosen at random from all participating subscribers, along with two alternates. If the winner does not respond within the period indicated in the legal bases, the first substitute will be contacted, and if he/she does not respond either, the second will be contacted. Winning a giveaway does not exclude you from participating in the following ones. You can consult the complete legal bases here. In Xataka | Subscribe now to Xataka Xtra

a walk through Beijing, Ebro, Chery and the silent streets

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This is the third time in two years that I have visited China. The first time was for visit OnePlus and OPPO headquarters in Guandong. The second, for get into the kitchen at the Honor factory and headquarters in Shenzhen. Now I do it for something totally different and that’s why I would like to do something different. I tell you. On this occasion I accompanied Ebro, yes, the car company of the Chery group, to the Beijing Motor Show and the Chery headquarters in Wuhu. And I do it for a reason: cars, historically, have not been my greatest passion, but now, at almost 32 years of age and with a view to starting a family, I am thinking about changing cars and I know China has a lot to say about this.. In Córdoba, my city, everything always arrives late. I mean, relatively recently they opened the first bowling place. açaito give you an idea. That’s why I know that something is changing, because every time I take my car, a small Seat Ibiza, I see cars from brands on the road that I didn’t see two years ago: Omoda, Jaecoo, Ebro, MG and BYD, mainly. Understanding his success requires understanding the context of his native country. and, to do this, there is nothing better than coming to it and experiencing it first-hand. And that’s why I propose something to you. Ebro S900 PHEV | Image: Ebro I propose that we live this together through a kind of daily blog in which I will tell you what I have seen, what I have learned and what things have caught my attention. Not from the perspective of an engine expert, but from the curious point of view of someone who knows that A new car is part of your next stage in life and you can’t stop seeing how Chinese brands are becoming more and more popular. Together we will visit the Beijing Motor Show, we will tour the streets of the Chinese capital, we will travel to Wuhu and we will see what and how is cooked in the bowels of Chery. That’s why I think the first thing is to put ourselves in context. At the group level, Chery takes bronze in the Chinese market, only behind BYD and Geely. Only in 2025, the firm sold 2,860,393 cars exactly, which is said soon. Chery, in turn, has several brands and subsidiaries such as Chery Automobile (where we find Chery New Energy and Fulwin), Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas, Zongheng, Luxeed (along with Huawei), Exeed, Jetour, Karry, iCar, Rely, Soueast and the Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture. Its most famous products are, without a doubt, the Tiggo and the Arizo. Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas (arrives in Spain this year) and Exlantix (in China it is Exeed and will arrive in Spain next year) are the brands that the company uses to boost your export strategy. Ebro, for his part, It is a joint venture established in 2024 between Chery and Ebro EV. Roughly speaking, this partnership allows Chery to assemble vehicles at the former Nissan plant in Barcelona and distribute them in Spain and Portugal under the (revived) Ebro brand. It’s a little more complex, but let’s stick with that idea. Tiggo 9 | Image: Xataka Actually, Ebro cars use Omoda platforms | Jaecoo (with some adjustments, for example in the suspension) and these, in turn, are the exported versions of the Tiggo. He Omoda 9 SHS It is, clearly, a Tiggo 9. Why so much branding? Because so they can attack different market segments with specific models and strategieshas no more. It is exactly the same thing that other Chinese groups such as Geely do, which has Geely, a large part of Volvo and Polestar, almost half of Proton Holdings, Zeekr or Lynk&Co, to name just a few. Aito M7, the electric SUV owned by Huawei | Image: Xataka Having said that and having that context, the first thing that has caught my attention in the short time I have been in China is how ubiquitous local brands are. I’ve seen endless BYD, Xpeng, Leapmotor, Nio, BAIC and ArcFox. I have even had the chance to see a couple of Xiaomi SU7s. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes or Audi, because there are, but it gives me the impression that they have a more luxury component. From the models I have seen, I get the feeling that European cars still have a certain premium aroma here. Toyota, Hyundai and Honda are also relatively common, but the omnipresence of local brands is evident. One of the few Chery that we have seen in Beijing Something that stands out in Beijing, where I am right now, is that you hardly see Chery cars. There are, a priori, three reasons: Chery​ is a great exporteris a Chinese brand whose power is not in China (despite being one of the best-selling brands), but in the international market. It makes sense, since abroad there is much, much, much less competition than in the local market and, above all, in the big capitals. We are in Beijing, a Tier 1 city. There is more capital and users are looking for higher-end/premium products, which explains the greater presence of Tesla, European, electric brands such as Nio or Arcfox and, above all, BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industry Holding). BAIC is a local brand and all taxis are BAIC. Arcfox is BAIC’s premium electric range. The registration system. Buying a car in Beijing is not about going to the dealership and that’s it. To avoid pollution, the government established a points and lottery system to obtain permission to buy a car. Gasoline cars go by lottery and the chances are tiny, 0.1%. New Energy cars (electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, etc.) are on a waiting list. It is long, very long, but unlike the lottery, it is safe. If you want a car in Beijing, the easiest thing is to buy an electric one and there … Read more

The US has just freed eight women that Iran was going to execute. The problem is that Iran says they were generated by AI

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Sometimes, an image can trigger unexpected consequences in international politics. During the Kosovo war, at the end of the nineties, a photograph released no clear context on alleged civilian victims provoked immediate reactions from governments and international organizations before their true origin could be verified. That episode left a lesson that is still valid: in high-tension scenarios, the impact of a story can be as fast as the difficulty to check if it’s true. Two versions for the same photos. The episode begins two days ago with Donald Trump asking through your social network Iran to stop the execution of eight women arrested after the protests, he also does so by publishing the image of the eight women, an anomalous situation that, coincidence or not, in a matter of hours takes a radical turn when Trump himself goes on to affirm who has achieved it. According to their version, some would be released and others would receive light sentences, presenting it as a gesture of good will before the alleged new negotiations. The problem: that from the beginning there is no verifiable data clear about their identities or their judicial situation, which leaves the story supported by information that is, at the very least, incomplete. Iran not only denies it, it dismantles the story. The Iranian response could not be more direct: There were no planned executions. They assure that some of the women were already free and that the rest, if convicted, would only face prison sentences. In addition, they accuse Trump of relying on false information and trying to build political success without a real basis. The shock quickly moves from the facts to the credibility of the person telling them. The leap into confusion. The situation escalates towards complete surrealism when Iranian official channels of their different embassies go one step further and affirm that part of the images released would have been generated with artificial intelligence. At that point, the discussion stops being whether they were going to be executed or not, and begins to question whether some of the protagonists exist as they have been presented, or if they simply exist. This change introduces such a crazy level of uncertainty and propaganda that it makes it very difficult to verify how much of the story is real. A real context that does not disappear. Be that as it may, and despite the confusion, the environment in which it occurs is documented. I remembered the Times newspaper that, after the protests in Iran, there are thousands of detainees and reports of unfair trials. In fact, there are human rights organizations that executions have been reported recent events and the use of the death penalty as a pressure tool. This means that, although this specific case is doubtful, the underlying problem is still relevant. Propaganda faster than facts. In any case, what we see is not new in a war, far from it. Throughout recent conflicts, several stories have shown how narrative can prevail over verification. For example, during the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the testimony of a young woman known as “Nayirah,” who reported alleged crimes in hospitals, influenced international public opinion before it was learned that he was linked to a public relations campaign. In the 2003 Iraq war, claims about weapons of mass destruction marked strategic decisions no conclusive evidenceand in the Ukraine conflict, narratives such as of the “Ghost of kyiv” or some viral videos spread on networks became popular quickly before to be qualified or denied. In all cases, the pattern repeats itself: in war environments, political and emotional urgency accelerates the spread of stories that can influence real decisions long before their veracity is confirmed. Strategic tension that sets the pace. Of course, all of this occurs while continuing the pressure in the Strait of Hormuz, with attacks on ships and blockade of ports despite the ceasefire. Iran has conditioned any progress on lifting that blockade, while the United States maintains it as a pressure tool. And in that context, the episode of the eight women It is not isolated: it is an essential part of a scenario where the political narrative and the situation on the ground always advance in parallel. Image | Trump Social, Nara In Xataka | Europe has gotten down to work on one of its biggest geopolitical challenges: opening Hormuz without help from the US In Xataka | Iran has 300 internal reports where it models the war against the US. They are all based on the same thing: Ukraine

They are entering their “peak”

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There is a deep-rooted stereotype among older people: the image of a grumpy old personrigid or disconnected from reality. But psychology has been accumulating evidence for decades that points in just the opposite direction. Aging is not only a biological process of wear and tear, but it is also a psychological refinement process. We are wrong. science itself points it out in different studies scientific studies done in recent years. Its conclusion is forceful in this sense: the age range from 60 to 70 years represents a “peak” of emotional well-being and social competence that younger generations, paradoxically, are losing. Maturation effect. Personality is not an immovable stone. According to the theory of the Big Fivewhich has the five great personality traits, the passage of time sculpts us for the better. Longitudinal studies where they followed the same group of people for a long time were able to see that from the age of 60 is where it occurs. a positive evolution in three different areas: Awareness: they become more responsible, organized and focused. Greater emotional stability: neuroticism It drops drastically from this moment on, and the emotional storms of youth give way to a calm that is not apathy, but regulation. Kindness increases as a tendency towards cooperation and altruism is also increased. Although logically there are always totally different cases. Because. Just like when the ripe fruit It starts to taste richer, the same thing seems to happen in people due to ‘natural ripening’. It’s not just that today’s adults are different, it’s that the human brain seems programmed to prioritize stability and social cohesion as we age. Boomer advantage. It’s not just that aging improves us ‘as standard’, it’s that current cohorts are aging ‘better’ than their predecessors. In this case we are talking about the comparison of people who They were born between 1946 and 1964 and those of the silent generation. There is a big difference depending on where you were born. Recent research suggests that those born between 1940 and 1950 are entering old age with an intrinsic capacity greater than that of previous generations. This includes not only physical vitality, but greater cognitive and psychological capacity. An exhaustive study on cohort differences in the Big Five has detected that, although maturation makes us calmer, boomers They maintain higher levels of extraversion and openness to experience than their parents had at the same age. That is to say: they are older, more sociable, more curious and with greater personal agency. Young people are losing. Maybe the most counterintuitive fact of recent years comes from Sapien Labs. In its reports on the mental state of the world, the Mental State of the Worldhave identified an alarming generation gap, but this time in favor of the elderly. While the mental health of young people aged 18 to 24 has deteriorated noticeably, those over 65 remain rock-solid in this regard. An important point in this case is the relational resiliencesince before the pandemic and even more so after, those over 70 years old showed ‘Social Self’ rates much higher than those of generation z. This way, they have a stronger self-image and rely less on external validation. Less dependency. Studies focused on people over 70 years of age They report feeling less external control over their lives than they did 20 years ago. They have internalized norms of autonomy and active aging that protect them psychologically. Recent cohorts over 70 report feeling less external control over their lives than those 20 years ago. They have internalized norms of autonomy and active aging that protect them psychologically. The peak of wisdom. Finally, there is the question of wisdom. Not in the mystical sense, but as a cognitive measure of performance. The ability to integrate facts with emotional values, what psychologists call “personal wisdom,” peaks in late old age. Studies with German samples have validated that this competence is an evolutionary advantage of age: the older brain is more efficient at managing complex social and emotional conflicts, something that no youthful “fluid intelligence” can easily replicate. This is an explanation of why our elders are great advisors on many issues. Images | micheile henderson In Xataka | Sleeping on your back to avoid “sleep wrinkles” sounds great. It serves exactly the opposite A version of this song was published on Xataka in 2025.

Carrefour is selling off (almost 50%) this 65-inch QLED TV with Dolby Vision & Atmos

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Despite being a couple of years old, this TV Hisense 65E79NQE It remains a very interesting purchase option for those looking for a QLED television without spending a fortune. Now, at Carrefour, it is extremely discounted and is now available for 329 euros. Furthermore, if you want to pay it in installments, you can do so in 10 installments of 32.90 euros with the Carrefour Pass card. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A good, pretty and very cheap TV The Hisense 65E79NQ is a television that attracts attention at first glance not only for its price, but also for its technical specifications. It offers us a screen 65 inch QLED with Direct LED backlighting and 4K resolution. Additionally, it is compatible with Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+. Its audio system is not something in which it stands out, since it has standard 20 W speakers (it will always be good for you to connect a sound bar to enhance this section) and they offer surround audio Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual:X. The operating system under which it works is VIDAA (own brand) and has a Screen Sharing function and is a TV compatible with Apple AirPlay 2so you can send it content directly from your iPhone or iPad. In terms of connectivity, it is a model that comes with WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, Ethernet LAN port, three HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB-A ports, optical digital audio output and 3.5 mm headphone jack. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: offer for the Hisense 65E79NQE smart TV today ✅ THE BEST Quantum Dot Technology (QLED): The colors are vibrant and much more accurate than a conventional LED. It supports almost everything: Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HLG. Connectivity: For the price it has, it is a TV with a wide connectivity section, which allows you to use dongles and other types of peripherals. ❌ THE WORST Oh, the operating system… Although it is now faster, VIDAA has a more limited catalog of apps than Google TV or Samsung. You might miss some very specific apps, although the main ones (YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+) are doing well. Maximum brightness content… In extremely bright rooms (with direct sun), reflections can be a bit annoying, as they do not reach the brightness levels of high-end MiniLED or OLED models. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for a large TV to watch series or movies with good color quality without having to spend the almost 1,000 euros that other traditional brands cost. At this price (329 euros), is a master purchase. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are a contrast purist or if you hate using a TV Box, VIDAA may not be your favorite operating system. Some sound bars that may interest you for this TV ULTIMEA 2.1 Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer The price could vary. We earn commission from these links LG S40T – Smart Sound Bar, 300W, 2.1 Channels 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 | Webedia and Hisense In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

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