Month: April 2026

There have been three times that PS5 has increased in price. These reconditioned ones with a 24-month warranty are the best alternative to spend less

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We told you a few weeks ago: PlayStation 5 has increased in price (again). The cheapest version of the console now starts at 599.99 euros, a price that is high and even more so if we take into account that it came out at 399.99 euros back in 2020. In what scenario does that leave those of us who want to renew the console? Well, in a complicated one, but in which there are alternatives to renew console for less money. We have an example in Back Market: we can get a PS5 Digital from 480 euros. PlayStation 5 Slim Digital The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A PlayStation 5 at a good price and with a 24-month warranty PlayStation 5 arrived almost 6 years ago in two different versions: without reader for 399.99 euros and with reader for 499.99 euros. If it had happened like in other generations of consoles, the normal thing at this point is that we could buy a PS5 in stores at a much lower price. However, paradigm shift: Now the same console costs 200 euros more. In a year where we will have great releases like ‘Marvel’s Wolverine‘or the more than expected’Grand Theft Auto 6‘, There are many people looking for a PlayStation 5. It is true that offers come out from time to time, but with the new prices that these consoles have, it will be difficult to see a good deal. That’s where these Back Market consoles come in. This store has expertly refurbished devices at very tempting prices. That is the case of the PlayStation 5 Digital, available right now for 480 euros. What do you want with a reader? You also have it available for 515 euros. The best thing is that, in addition, they are devices that They have a 24-month warranty and 30 days free trial. Other refurbished consoles that may interest you We have focused on these two models, but Back Market also has a section dedicated only to consoles. As a summary, we leave you some below: 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 | Alexandre Schrammel on UnsplashPlayStation In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: these are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone had told me I needed these plugins too.

While everyone was looking at the Middle East, North Korea has had time to do what Iran has not been able to: go nuclear.

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It happened a few years ago, when in the midst of increasing tensions with North Korea, the Japanese government came to send alerts to millions of mobile phones through the J-Alert system when it detected the overflight of a missile, causing unusual scenes in which trains stopped and citizens took refuge in stations without knowing exactly what was happening. That reaction, almost automatic and difficult to imagine in peacetime, left a clear image of the extent to which certain global balances can be strained without warning. The regime that did not fall. I told a few days ago in an extensive special report the wall street journal the story of the surprising source of North Korea’s enduring power, a nation that has survived the demise of the Soviet Union and the transformation of China because it ceased to be just a communist state and became something more resilient: a closed ideological structurehereditary and almost religious. There it is impossible not to start with the Kim dynasty that managed to consolidate a system in which power is not only exercised, but also believed, internalized and transmitted as a faith. That model, built from Kim Il Sung and perfected by his successors, has made it possible to maintain extraordinary internal cohesion even in conditions of extreme isolation. While other regimes eroded as they opened up to the world or collapsed under external pressure, Pyongyang consolidated a base of control much deeperdifficult to dismantle from the outside. From ideology to state religion. I remembered the Journal that the core of that system is not only political, but also symbolic and emotional, with elements that clearly recall an organized religion. The Juche ideology It progressively replaced classical Marxism, incorporating rituals, symbols and an almost messianic narrative around the leader. The omnipresence of Kim Il Sung, his conversion in “eternal president” and dynastic continuity have generated a structure of loyalty that goes beyond political obedience. This model, influenced indirectly through Christianity that once dominated Pyongyang, allowed the construction of a system where loyalty to the leader is perceived as an absolute truth, something that largely explains its stability and capacity for resistance. The silent military leap. On that internal basis, North Korea has developed a pretty clear strategy: to arm oneself militarily until one becomes practically untouchablealthough no one knows exactly how much of it is true. Today it is recognized that it has intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reach US territory and has reinforced its arsenal with increasingly sophisticated systems. Not only that. The recent tests, just a few days ago from their new destroyer, with high-precision cruise and anti-ship missiles, they clearly show that it is no longer just a matter of accumulating weapons, but of integrating them into a modern military architecture, with rapid response capacity and systems resistant to interference. In fact, accelerated construction of new warships It aims at a transition from isolated platforms towards a structured naval force, which expands its projection capacity and complicates any containment scenario. Nuclear expansion in full noise. I told it this week Guardian through internal analyzes held by the UN nuclear watchdog. While much of the international attention was focused on the conflicts in the Middle EastNorth Korea has been taking advantage of this context to advance its nuclear program without restraint. As? Activity at key facilities such as Yongbyon has intensifiedwith new reactors, reprocessing plants and possible undeclared facilities to enrich uranium. The agency’s estimates point to dozens of warheads already operational and a growing capacity to produce enough material to between ten and twenty weapons additional each year. In other words, this rhythm, sustained over time, indicates that the objective is not only basic deterrence, but rather reaching a volume that guarantees the survival of the regime in the face of any attempt at forced change. The power that Iran has not consolidated. The key difference here is that North Korea has achieved what other countries in similar situations have achieved (call it Iran) have not been able to: convert their nuclear program into a fully integrated tool in their survival strategy. While other powers under international pressure have seen limited or braked its development, Pyongyang has moved closer to a point of no returnone where its capacity is broad enough to deter any intervention. In this context, it is possible that the real change is no longer just quantitative, but strategic: because when it reaches a surplus of nuclear capacity, the risk will cease to be solely regional and will have global implications, opening the door, at the very least, to new proliferation dynamics. Image | DPRK In Xataka | The US has activated plan B before Iran knocks down its last radar: disarm South Korea against the North’s new nuclear “toy” In Xataka | If the question is what has North Korea achieved in the last four years, the answer is simple: an unimaginable arsenal

South Korea overtakes China as ASML’s largest market. Sanctions are already changing the world

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In the first quarter of 2026, South Korea has accounted for 45% of ASML salesthe Dutch manufacturer of lithography machinery without which no advanced chip exists. China, which until now led the same ranking with 36%, has fallen to 19%. The order of the semiconductor world has been inverted in the duration of a ‘Q’. Why is it important. ASML is the only company on the planet capable of manufacturing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machinesessential to produce chips less than 7 nanometers. Whoever controls access to ASML controls, to a large extent, which countries can manufacture elite semiconductors. That is why the figures for the first quarter of 2026 are not just another balance sheet but a way to understand the geopolitical map in real time. Or at least with “only” three weeks of latency. In figures: South Korea: 45% of ASML sales in Q1 2026 (up from 22% in the previous quarter). China: 19% (up from 36%). Taiwan: 23% (up from 13%). ASML’s total net sales in the quarter: €8.8 billion. Net profit: 2,760 million euros (+17% year-on-year). Sales forecast for 2026, revised upwards: between 36,000 and 40,000 million euros. The context. The United States has been building a sanctions architecture for years designed to disconnect China from access to advanced semiconductor technology. ASML, a Dutch company but with technology whose development has also involved American and British partners, stopped selling its EUV machines to China years ago. In 2023 added restrictions on more advanced DUV/UVP systems. What the first quarter data show is that this fence already has measurable effects on real sales flows. Between the lines. South Korea’s jump is not explained only by the Chinese fall. Samsung and SK Hynix They are in full race to build high-end memory capacity (the type of chip that powers AI data centers), and both companies have accelerated their orders for EUV machines. SK Hynix has committed nearly 12 trillion won (about 8.2 billion euros) in EUV lithography equipment for its Cheongju and Yongin factories. And Samsung, for its part, has placed a bulk order for approximately 20 EUV machines as part of a larger purchase of 70 systems for its P5 plant in Pyeongtaek. The underlying message is that the demand for AI is already sold in advance. According to ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet, customers in the memory segment have already exhausted their capacity for the entire year. Supply will not meet demand in the foreseeable future and prices continue to skyrocket. Main loser? China, without access to EUV, has been using older DUV systems for years and multiple exposure techniques to approach the 7 nanometer nodes. This translates into chips that are more expensive to produce and have lower yields. Companies like SMIC, ChangXin or Yangtze Memory Technologies operate under increasing financial pressure: the more exposures you need to compensate for the absence of EUV, the worse the production economics. The big question. Can China build its own ASML? There are prototypes in development and the ambition to achieve mass production of EUVs before 2030 is public and no one hides it. That doesn’t mean we can take it for granted: neither Nikon nor Canonwho have dominated lithography for decades, have managed to develop EUV systems. ASML is where it is because it spent years working to achieve it, and it also did so with a very well-coordinated ecosystem: Carl Zeiss optics, specialized laser technology, thousands of components from suppliers around the world… Replicating that from scratch, under sanctions, in less than five years, is a titanic task even for a country of 1.4 billion inhabitants and an excessive ambition. Yes, but. The restrictions, in fact, have not sunk China, but have forced it to adapt. SMIC produces 7 nanometer chips using alternative techniques, although at higher cost and on a smaller scale. The pace of state investment in semiconductors has not slowed down. And the fact that several engineers who have worked at ASML have ended up in Chinese projects has raised alarms on the other side of the Pacific. China has built its current position on a long-term mindset. The sanctions close the shortest path, but that does not mean that other paths do not exist. In Xataka | China prepares a 2nm AI chip to end NVIDIA’s dominance. Your problem is how you are going to manufacture it Featured image | ASML

China and the US have focused on the race for humanoid robots. Now China is clear about which ones make money: dogs

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It is difficult to talk about all the open fronts that China and the United States have. The technological war covers everything and, if there is a race for artificial intelligencethere is one just as fierce in the field of robotics. The two powers are focusing on the humanoid robots to put them in factories or in customer service, but the market is talking and it turns out that they prefer dogs. Robot dogs, specifically. In short. Right now, China is the summit of robotics. Not only because of how advanced their robots are, but because they are already putting them to work. work in factories, stores either museums. They are not theory, they are practice due to government support and, above all, because the components to make a robot are manufactured… in China. This advantage is something that no other country has and that is essential (let them tell the eTSMC’s 60 minutes strategy in Taiwan). There is multitude of robotics startups and, although the humanoids are the most striking, the robodogs are the ones that make money. In an article by SCMP They explain how quadruped robots are preferred by robotics companies because they are becoming business drivers. AgiBot is one of those companies, and has just expanded its robot portfolio with the creation of a subsidiary -AgiQuad- focused exclusively on quadruped models. Their justification is that they consider that it is what is going to boost the robotics business and they do not want their robodog to live “in the shadow of a humanoid robot.” That is, instead of launching under the same brand a humanoid robot and a quadruped one and that customers have to choose (and compare), they prefer to ensure that each branch of the business operates a different type of robot. Projection. AguQuad plans to become a 500 million yuan (about $73 million) business by this year, scaling to 10 billion yuan by 2030 with 300,000 annual robot shipments. At the moment, they say that they have everything sold and that they continue producing units because they are completely out of stock in the warehouse. And they are not the only ones. Other companies like Amap or the giant Alibaba They want to get into this robot fight to stand up to Unitreebut in the field of four-legged robots. Speaking of the dancing queen, it is estimated that Unitree’s quadruped robot division generated 490 million yuan in revenue in the first three months of 2025 alone. That is, in just three months, it generated as much as what AgiQuad expects to generate this year. Already Deep Robotics He is also doing well in this field. Deployment. According to IDC analyses, the quadruped robot market generated $180 million in 2024 and is expected to generate $700 million this year. The estimate is that the segment will reach 50,000 million yuan, about 7,329 million dollars. And the question is… where are these robots going? Many go to exhibitions and fairs in which the robotic muscle of Chinese startups is shown, but there are others that are already operating on the ground. China wants ‘civilian’ quadruped robots, like assistance for blind peoplebut there is also deploying units among firefighters and, as we said a few days ago, within the Chinese army with support, reconnaissance and attack units. The race doesn’t stop. This scenario makes sense if we take into account several details. The first is the most practical: quadruped robots have years of analysis behind them and have already proven to be very useful in various scenarios. the chinese army He’s not the only one who has them. and, for example, in the United States they are beginning to be deployed in data center surveillance tasks. And the second reason is because those years of research and development have led to them becoming increasingly cheaper to produce, allowing their manufacturing to scale and leaving more margins for manufacturers. Prices are also falling and it is easier for different actors to integrate them into their workforce. Precisely for this reason, quadruped robots can be a viable commercial product for those same companies that continue to push the development and commercialization of humanoid robots. The Unitree itself that we talked about before just started to sell its R1 model through AliExpress with a planned launch for the United States, Japan or the United Arab Emirates. Price? $8,200, but you start somewhere. In Xataka | China will bring together more than 300 humanoid robots in a half marathon. The goal goes beyond running

Netflix makes more money than ever and its shares fall 9%. The explanation is that Netflix is ​​the new mainstream

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Reed Hastings founded Netflix 29 years ago with an idea as simple as it was revolutionary: charge a fixed fee in exchange for access to content on demand and without interruptions, in a digital version of the video store by mail in which the company took its first steps. This Thursday, as the company posted solid quarterly results that still disappointed Wall Street, it was announced that Hastings will step down from the board of directors in June. The man who built Netflix is ​​leaving now that the platform is no longer what he envisioned. The results. The results for the first quarter of 2026 are, in absolute terms, notables. They reached 12.25 billion dollars, 16% more than in the same period of the previous year, meeting what the company itself had projected and slightly exceeding the average expectations of analysts. Net profit grew 82% to $5.23 billion. It is a spectacular percentage, yes, but that earnings per share of $1.23 includes the $2.8 billion break-up fee Frustrated deal with Warner Bros. Discoverywhich inflates the accounting result. Without it, the number would have been more modest. And that’s why shares fell 9% on Wall Street. Fall in the stock market. The main reason for this stock market crash was not the data for the quarter, but the outlook for the second. Netflix projects 13% growth in revenue for Q2, to about $12.6 billion, when the Wall Street consensus was closer to $13.1 billion. The difference is small in relative terms, but enough to remind us that investors have been accustomed for years to Netflix far exceeding its forecasts. Goodbye Hastings… The company has also announced that Reed Hastings, co-founder and until now president of the councilwill not stand for reelection when his term expires at the shareholders meeting on June 4, 2026. This ends 29 years with the company which he himself co-founded. Hastings had already given a step back in January 2023when he left the co-CEO position in the hands of Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. His definitive departure from the board, the company explained, responds to his desire to focus on philanthropy and other projects. During the call to analysts after the presentation of results, Sarandos had to respond to whether Hastings’ departure had any relationship with the failure of the operation with Warner Bros. Discovery. Sarandos stated that “I’m sorry to anyone who seeks palace intrigue. Reed was a great defender of that agreement.” …hello to the announcements. Hastings was for years one of the most visible skeptics within the company regarding the use of streaming advertising. In 2022, when Netflix first lost subscribersdeclared to be “against the complexity of advertisements.” Four years later, the advertising business has become one of the structural pillars of the company. The company works with more than 4,000 advertisers, 70% more than the previous year, and the advertising-supported plan already accounts for more than 60% of new registrations in the 12 countries where it is available, according to data from Netflix itself. The projection of advertising revenue for 2026 is 3,000 million dollars, double the 1.5 billion generated in 2025. It is paradoxical that the platform that has been seen as an evolutionary step of traditional television, without its inconveniences (among which, without a doubt, is advertising), now competes directly with YouTube and linear television for brand advertisements. What’s more: Netflix has migrated its advertising technology to its own platform, leaving behind dependence on Microsoft, and programmatic purchasing It is already close to 50% of its advertising business not tied to events. The paradox. That is, everything in these results points to a great paradox. The company itself recognizes which represents less than 5% of the share global television, but projected annual revenues of between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion place it among the largest media companies on the planet. And meanwhile, its shares fall 9%. There is an explanation for all of this. For years, Netflix was a company of exponential growth, the type of asset that technology funds love: skyrocketing subscriber metrics, unstoppable geographic expansion, its own content that accumulated prestige and audience… Now it is something else: the mainstreamprofitable and predictable, with several monetization levers (subscription, advertising, live sports, gaming) and a business model that is no longer surprising, but widely imitated. A solid company, with a dominant position and prospects for growing profitability, but at a calm pace, in the medium term. It is certainly not the Netflix that Hastings built. In Xataka | Netflix is ​​desperate to find the next franchise that will make it gold. The problem is that he can’t find it.

It took them two minutes to hack the EU app for minors. It’s not as serious as it seems

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In the middle of the week, the EU announced that he already had his tool ready to verify age on the internet. It put on the table a solution to prove identity when accessing online services, and finally unify a control method for minors. In just 48 hours someone has already hacked the application, but there is a trick. what has happened. Paul Moorecybersecurity consultant, shows in X the vulnerabilities of the app that the European Union promised to have ready. Specifically, the app asks us to create a PIN of four to six digits to protect our identity. A pin in theory encrypted and saved in a file. Moore has discovered that, at least in the version of the app that he has been able to test, the encryption PIN can be deleted from the file and the previously configured profile can be entered. In other words, you just need to delete a line of code to access the data. What is the error. The app, despite the fact that the EU indicates that it was already ready, currently does not encrypt this PIN. Nor are the credentials linked to a specific PIN so that, if someone tries to change or delete it, our data cannot be accessed. He also points out that, at least right now, the app trusts too much data to an editable file. If an attacker accesses it, it is quite easy for them to bypass the app’s layers of protection and use someone else’s identity. It ends by showing how the obligation to use biometrics is a boolean variable (true or false), modifiable by changing “false” and “true” in the editable file. Why is there a trick. There is a distance from saying to doing, and the European Union has launched a triple by ensuring that its app “is now ready.” The version to which the consultant has had access is not the final one, it is a demo version in which the security layers have not yet been added. Beyond being minor bugs, they are structural errors that should not even be present in an initial version. The controversy arises when Ursula von der Leyen assures that the app is “technically ready”, presents it at a press conference, and hours later it is learned that it is still in the testing phase. Why is it important. Despite being a pre-production version, the hack helps us get an idea of ​​the app’s operation and interface, as well as the possible limitations it may have at the security level. In fact, it would not be the first time that an app from the EU or the Spanish administration has had serious security incidents. On January 30 of this year, the European Commission detected signs that its mobile device management platform (in which it stores data on its employees) had been compromisedand Radar COVID was born in Spain without complying with the RGPD. What has tipped us off. The initial version of the age verification app shows us a simple interface in which, after entering the PIN, we have three verification methods. Through our ID By passport Using a QR code The app has four sections: welcome, consent, security (PIN) and verification. The app developers will be responsible for integrating this European solution into their apps and, despite Von der Leyen’s fervor, there is still no date for its arrival. In Xataka | Is it time to end anonymity? The arguments for and against the pillar on which the internet has been built

If you have been excited because your city will see the August eclipse at 95%, we have something to tell you

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This summer we will have the first of the three eclipses that will make up in Spain the already known as the Iberian Trio. This will consist of two totals, in 2026 and 2027, and an annular one in 2028. For months, the places in which totality will be reached They have begun to organize all kinds of events to commemorate this phenomenon. Meanwhile, in the less fortunate points, where the Moon will not completely hide the Sun, we are left to look at what percentage of the sun will be obscured. If you have seen that in your city the eclipse will be 95%, you may have thought that that is already a lot. But the difference between that and the totality is abysmal. The Moon in the middle. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, Sun, and Moon align in such a way that the Moon completely obscures the Sun for some observers on Earth. The areas of the Earth where the complete phenomenon can be seen are within what is known as the strip of totality. It is basically that, a strip of the map in which the lucky points are included. In these places, begins to see little by little how the lunar disk hides the solar disk. Then, after a few seconds or minutes of totality, in which the occultation is complete, the reverse process occurs. The sun is gradually uncovering, revealing more and more light. During the time of totality, it becomes completely night. Bias is not the same. When an eclipse is partial, part of the occultation of the Sun is seen, but it is not completely visible. Those seconds or minutes of totality do not take place. It is usually calculated what will be the maximum percentage of the Sun that will be covered. That’s why we talk about eclipses of 80%, 90%, 95%, 99%… Logically, the higher that percentage, the better, but even if it is a very high percentage, the spectacle is not even close to that of a total solar eclipse. As if it were cloudy. The Sun is very bright. So much so that even a tiny uncovered fraction will be enough to illuminate the Earth. That’s why, as explained in Forbes University of Texas astronomer Angela Speckwhen the percentage is very high, the effect that we observers see is similar to that of a cloudy day. But that dusk does not occur during the day that has so fascinated humans throughout history. Weather conditions matter. In the same article of Forbesretired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak explained that weather conditions and pollution also greatly influence the visualization of these phenomena. “If you have a lot of scattered clouds and aerosol particles in the air, they will scatter the light into the shadow, making the eclipse brighter.” Instead, “if you have a very clear atmosphere without clouds or particles, then there is less scattering of the atmosphere and it is much darker in the shadow.” The lucky places. The strip of totality of the solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 goes from Greenland to the Balearic Islands. Therefore, there will be many places in the north of Spain in which that daytime dusk will be seen. Specifically, they will be the north of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, the north of Castilla y León and the Valencian Community, La Rioja, and a part of the Basque Country, Navarra, Madrid, Aragon, Catalonia and Castilla la Mancha. Of course, also almost all the Balearic Islands. Still, a partial eclipse is also a rare phenomenon worth watching. If you are not in the zone of totality, do not suffer, you will be able to see something wonderful. Image | POT In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

The discovery of a 14-month-old baby has proven the opposite

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Strange as it may seem, human childhood is an evolutionary oddity. And to understand it, you just have to see that, unlike other primates, Homo sapiens we take a long time to developmature and be independent outside the family niche. But… Are we the only ones who have this ‘bad’ evolution? To resolve this question, science has gone to see our evolutionary cousins, the neanderthalsto see if they were also in a hurry to grow or if they were developing in slow motion. How it has been seen. Today there is no time machine that allows us to go back to the moment when the Neanderthals took over the planet, but we can ‘see’ it through the remains that are found. Here specifically, science has analyzed the remains of Amud 7, a Neanderthal baby between 6 and 14 months old that has been found in Israel. A puzzle. The study of infant skeletons in the fossil record, the truth is that it is very complex, because baby bones are fragile, small and rarely survive the passage of time. However, the team led by researcher Ella Been has managed to analyze 111 bone elements from this infant found in the Amud cave. Here, when studying the skeleton, the researchers discovered that the bone development of Amud 7 was going at a pace that today would seem dizzying given how advanced it is. And their physiology already showed very clear Neanderthal affinities despite their young age, confirming that the morphological differences between our species and theirs were established practically from birth or even in the womb. A Spanish touch. To understand the magnitude of this discovery, we have to travel to our country, and specifically to the Asturian cave of El Sidrón. Here in 2017 the magazine Science published a great work on a 7.7-year-old Neanderthal boy named Sidrón J1. What they found in that young hominid blew our minds, since, although in most of its bones it matured at a similar rate to ours, your brain was still growing at an age when a child’s brain sapiens It has already reached its final volume. But in addition, the maturation of his thoracic vertebrae was curiously delayed. Its meaning. The combination of these two discoveries makes us realize that Neanderthal development was not simply a rapid version of human development, but a completely different physiological pattern. In this way, while in its first months the body grew at a frenetic pace to guarantee survival, organs as energetically expensive as the brain required a prolonged growth period. It makes sense. If we look at the time where these children grew up, the truth is that this rapid growth makes sense. At that time, survival was the most important thing, and staying small and highly dependent on other people, the truth is, did not mark good survival within the theory of evolution. Although there is a nuance. A study published in 2012 suggested that, from the third or fourth month of life, the growth in height of Neanderthals could slow down. The reason is nothing more than weaning and the metabolic stress of growing up in Eurasia. hostile and cold, exposed to a large number of diseases and with a great energy need to maintain themselves. Images | freepik In Xataka | The surprising thing is not that we have sequenced the DNA of a Neanderthal from 11,000 years ago: it is what it has revealed

A frantic race has begun between China and the US for Brazil’s rare earths. And Brazil only asks for one thing in return.

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After a diplomatic incident with Japan, China abruptly reduced its exports of rare earths, causing an immediate shock in industries around the world that depended on these materials to manufacture everything from magnets to advanced electronics. For weeks, companies and governments discovered the extent to which a seemingly invisible resource could become a lever of global power. A global race that is decided far from Washington and Beijing. This push for critical minerals has entered a new phase, with Brazil now converted on the board where the interests of the United States and China intersect. The reason? They both search ensure access to key rare earths for technology, defense and energy transition, but this time they are not negotiating on equal terms. Brazil, with one of the largest reserves in the world, has made it clear tons of common sense: that it does not want to repeat the historical role of simple exporter of raw materials, and is using that position to redefine the rules of the game. The US accelerates, but Brazil slows down. Washington has intensified its offensive with multi-million dollar investment proposalsbilateral agreements and formulas to guarantee direct supply to US companies. It has even started to secure rights on production through financing, trying to close the path to China in a supply chain that it considers strategic. However, this approach has been perceived in Brazil like too aggressivewhich has generated political resistance and has stopped agreements that, on paper, would benefit both parties. China is still in the game. Meanwhile, China has not disappeared from the board, but quite the opposite: is still the main global player in the processing of rare earths and maintains active commercial relations with Brazil. Exports to the Asian giant have grownand its industrial experience remains difficult to match in the short term. This puts Brazil in a unique position, where it can negotiate simultaneously with multiple powers without being forced to choose, at least for now. The Brazilian condition. This is where Brazil introduces its strategic turn: opening the door to foreign capital, there is no problem with that, but with a clear and unusual condition in this type of agreement. It is not enough to extract resources, but any partner must contribute to local technological development, processing within the country and job creation. In other words, Brazil demands to transform its mineral wealth in own industrial capacitybreaking with decades of dependence in which it exported raw materials and imported finished products. From exporter to industrial power. This change of focus is translating in concrete proposalssuch as the possible creation of a state company to manage critical minerals or a battery of laws aimed at strengthening national control over the sector. The idea is clear: go from selling resources to build the entire chain of value within the country, from extraction to manufacturing of key components. There is no doubt that it will not be a quick or easy process, but it marks an ambition that goes far beyond a simple commercial agreement. The real pulse: who accepts Brazil’s rules. In essence, the competition between the United States and China for Brazilian rare earths is no longer fought only in terms of investment or access, but in who is willing to accept the conditions that third parties imposein this case Brazil. Because the country is not saying “no” to anyone, but something more uncomfortable for the great powers: “yes, but on our terms.” And that introduces a new element in the geopolitics of resources, one where control no longer depends only on who needs the minerals and has the money, but on who has the capacity (and the will) to impose the rules of the game. For Brazil, a master move. Image | NZ Defense Force, YouTube In Xataka | China has just discovered the largest deposit of rare earths in the world. And he did it just when he needed it most. In Xataka | The world’s rare earth reserves, laid out in this graph showing the brutal dominance of a single country

“It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to be silent”

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Whether or not you are part of their legion of userssomething must be recognized about X, the old Twitter: it has become a gigantic social laboratory. Also definitive proof that it is often less difficult for people to open their mouths (or type) than to think beforehand about what we are going to use them for. It doesn’t matter that it’s the last game of the League, the war in Iran, a video of kittens or issues as sensitive as euthanasia: There will always be someone willing to take out their phone and share their opinion, even if that opinion has just been formed. Hence in this world verbose Ernest Hemingway resonates strongly: “It takes two years to learn to speak and 60 to learn to be silent.” Speak and be silent. The history of Philosophy (thus, with capital letters) is full of good ideas… and suggestive phrases of uncertain origin and dubious attribution. We have told it more times. A quick Google search arrives to find alleged statements by Marcus Aurelius, Da Vinci or Marie Curie (among a very long list of thinkers) whose authorship is impossible to confirm. Something similar happens with the sentence that concerns us today. We have been putting the phrase “It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to be silent” on Hemingway’s lips for decades when in reality it is impossible to know if he ever uttered it. In 2019 Quote Researcher tried to confirm it and came to three conclusions. First, it dates back to at least 1909, when Hemingway was still a boy from Illinois. Second, that it has been associated (with variants) with other intellectuals, including Mark Twain either Lydia Allen DeVilbiss. Third, it is very difficult to go beyond the two previous conclusions. The value of each word. In view of all the above, we might ask ourselves why pay attention to a proverb of diffuse authorship. The answer is simple. Perhaps we cannot confirm if it came from Hemmingway’s lips (or pen), but it certainly connects with the style of a novelist who was characterized by concise sentences and maximum economy of language. In the works of Hemingway every word counts. And that is also a valuable lesson if we think about the fact that humanity (or at least a large part of it) has never had it so easy when it comes to expressing its opinions and participating in public debate. The torrent of public opinion is so powerful that it has even overflowed and has been carried forward the 140 characters of Twitter. In defense of silence. If Hemingway’s supposed phrase has been captivating us for more than a century, it is not only because of its ironic point. To a large extent it also connects with an idea that has permeated philosophy since the time of Pythagoras, to whom another similar phrase is attributed: “Listen, you will be wise”. People express themselves naturally. It is part of our elemental baggage, which we develop during the first years of life along with other skills such as walking. The complicated thing, in fact, is to do the opposite: embrace silence. In silence you think, reflect and listen, tasks that often require active effort. “It takes sixty years to learn to be silent,” reminds us Hemingway sarcastically, implying that silence is a complex virtue that we must work on and takes a lifetime to master. Is it that important? Yes. Educated in a world in which from a very young age we are instilled that ‘he who remains silent grants’ it is easy to forget it, but silence is sometimes an art. To begin with, it requires self-control. It is not always easy to remain silent. As they comment our colleagues TrendsIt also requires discipline, tolerance and a certain dose of humility and generosity. Against polarization. In exchange, silence offers us other things. It leaves us more room for reflection, to form more informed opinions and, above all, to measure our words and avoid regrets. In the age of networks, the debate held from anonymity and with society increasingly polarizedalso helps to ask certain questions: Can I contribute something to the conversation? Am I sure of what I’m going to say or will I just contribute to generating noise? What repercussions might what I say have on others? The virtues of silence and contemplation have been defended by many thinkers throughout history, from Pythagoras to the Stoics (including Epictetus either Marcus Aurelius) to the great humanists of the Renaissance. Even neuroscience has endorsed the advantages of giving yourself some time before opening your mouth. I already said it Aristotle himself in another equally ingenious phrase: “The Wise Man never says everything he thinks, but he always thinks everything he says.” Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 Via | Trends In Xataka | “A place of joy with pain”: the phrase that summarizes the Aztec philosophy to be happier in this life

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