Month: May 2026

why the great battle of mobile cameras is in size and not in megapixels

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How difficult can it be? know if the camera of one mobile phone is better than that of another. An example as a riddle, let’s see if you can see, at a glance, which camera is better. They are the two main cameras of two different phones: 50 megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture and one-inch size. 3.2 µm pixels and OIS stabilization. 200 megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture and 1/1.4 inch size. 0.56 µm pixels and OIS stabilization. Since a large number always attracts attention, a first glance could tell us that the camera with 200 megapixels is better than the one with 50 megapixels. Is that so? Well, not in this case, since the top camera (which corresponds to a Xiaomi 17 Ultra) It’s much better than the one below (from a Redmi Note 15 Pro+). That is something we could know from the size of the sensor and the pixels, which is exactly what we are going to explain in this article. A camera with more megapixels is not necessarily better Cameras are increasingly a claim by manufacturers when it comes to selling mobile phones. This is nothing new, since we have been seeing different races between them for years: first they were to offer more megapixels and then, to have a greater number of cameras. As we have seen in the example above, even cheap phones already have sensors with 200 megapixels. But, Does that mean the camera is better? In order to answer this question, we are going to explain what a megapixel is. A megapixel (also called ‘MP’ or ‘mpx’ on mobile devices) is equivalent to one million pixels and is an element that is not used to measure the quality of a sensor or an image, but its resolution. In short, the higher the number of megapixels, the larger the image size will be. This is very useful because it allows you to take large photographs and later make a digital crop to have an enlarged image. It is a very interesting solution for mobile phones that do not have a telephoto sensor (like the iPhone 17efor example), but it is not a factor that will determine the quality of the photograph. I understand this, now let’s talk about a key concept in photography: light. The more light a camera captures, the better the image quality and the less noise it will have. This is where pixel size comes in: the larger they are, the more light they are able to collect. What’s happening? That you cannot fit a huge number of megapixels into a small sensor because, in that case, each pixel receives less light. That is exactly the opposite of what we are looking for in photography, but it is a problem that is diluted if the sensor is larger. Why is sensor size so important? If the camera sensor is larger, the pixel and megapixel size will be larger. so they will capture more light. In fact, this is another detail that we can see in the example cameras that we used at the beginning of the article, since they tell us the size of their pixels measured in micrometers (or µm). The larger these are, the more light they will capture. Precisely based on this, manufacturers use a technique called ‘Pixel Binning’. Explained very simply, it is a process by which pixels join adjacent ones, thus forming larger pixels (and therefore, capable of capturing more light). There the number of megapixels (and therefore the resolution) is reduced in exchange for gaining more light. At this point, the question may arise in our mind as to why manufacturers don’t introduce larger sensors in phones. The answer, if we ignore the cost of these, is that you not only have to mount them: they have to be placed on the mobile so that it can take advantage of them 100%. And that takes up a lot of space on a device that seeks to be (relatively) thin. And where is the size of a sensor most noticeable? Well when we go to take a photo and there is little light. These large sensors offer more natural results at night and when lighting is poor, all without the need for overly aggressive software processing. It also performs very well with the contrast between dark and brightly lit areas, in addition to achieving a natural blur effect without having to resort to Portrait mode (or what is usually called ‘bokeh). How can I find out the size of a camera sensor? Sensor size is expressed in inches, usually as a fraction: for example, 1/1.95″. The smaller that fraction (closer to 1), the larger the sensor. A 1/1.3″ sensor is larger than a 1/1.95″ sensor. Megapixels are easy to sell because they are a large number and easy to compare in a store. Sensor size is harder to communicate, harder to manufacture, and harder to make profitable in the mid-range. That’s why manufacturers highlight it when they have it and omit it when they don’t.. Now you know which column to look at. Two mobile phones with one-inch sensors In recent months we have been seeing mobile phones with very good photographic sections and the vast majority of them (if not all) have one-inch sensors. It is true that we have mobile phones with an outstanding photographic section that barely have a sensor like this, like the Vivo X300 Ultra (main camera sensor measures 1/1.12 inch), he Vivo X300 Pro (1/1.28 inch) or the OPPO X9 Ultra (also 1/1.12 inch). There are many aspects that come into play when talking about mobile photography. and not all of them are physical (the processor and software also have a lot to say). Now, we have two good examples with one-inch sensors that we are going to see right below. Xiaomi 17 Ultra We have used it as an example because the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is one of the best cameras we have seen on mobile phones … Read more

Renfe makes its position in the workshop war clear to Iryo and the CNMC

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The Iryo-Renfe soap opera continues. Every day that passes we have a new chapter, a new exchange of statements, new figures on the table. And with each passing day, Iryo continues to find the door to the workshops closed. Although the CNMC obliges them, Renfe is clear: “they have no obligation.” The (pen)last chapter. It is the one that brings us the response from Renfe. And it is that, to questions from Xatakathe company tells us that the obligation imposed by the CNMC to open its workshops to Iryo has a “disproportionate impact” and there is a “technical impossibility.” The company assures that “adapting the workshops to the regime that the CNMC wants to impose” would take them a year. For now, the company has kept the Italian company’s workshops closed. And although Renfe clearly feels harmed, the company assures us that “we are studying how to do it (open the workshops) to carry out the CNMC’s decision, as it could not be otherwise.” Heavy or light. That’s the question. And since the liberalization of Spanish roads began, Renfe already knew that it would have to leave its workshops to Ouigo and Iryo to carry out light maintenance work. That is, routine checks of little significance. The problem is that these “light maintenance” operations are not clearly specified even in the Directive 2012/34/EU nor in the standard EN 15380-4:2021. This friction is what has led Renfe to deny passage to Iryo since it considers that in the proposed operations part of the train must be dismantled and that falls into the category of heavy maintenance. It must be remembered that Renfe already encountered this problem a few months ago. The Spanish company reported that Ouigo was carrying out heavy maintenance work at its facilities and that it had not previously reported this. Something that was proven, according to the company itself, by documents provided by the French company. The CNMC, on that occasion, also sided with Ouigo, forcing Renfe to lend its facilities for unforeseen interventions. Is it that big of a deal? Well, obviously, the versions differ here. No, it’s not that big a deal: Iryo is clear that the operations to be carried out in the Renfe workshops would not involve many problems. They assure that they would only occupy 7% of the infrastructure and that, since maintenance is scheduled weeks in advance, it is all a matter of organization. Yes, of course it is a big deal: Renfe, on the contrary, assures that these maintenance tasks seriously affect its schedule. They say that space is already operating at almost full capacity, that the impact of Iryo would be 10% of the infrastructure and that it would force them to withdraw 1.2 million seats from the offer because there would be no room to maintain their own trains. More than one million of these seats correspond to the lines in which it is handled as a Public Service Obligation (OSP) and this would result in a drop of 60 million euros in income. The CNMC is clear. The problem for Renfe is that the CNMC is clear about it and is on Iryo’s side. The regulator has already received a complaint that Renfe did not allow the Italian company to enter its workshops and issued a resolution forcing Renfe. This resolution was appealed before the National Court, which has decided to force Renfe to make way for Iryo in their workshops as a precautionary measure but with the notice that it will study the case in particular. The sticking point is that Iryo would need to send its trains to Rome for scheduled maintenance. That would force them, they say, to stop providing service with the trains involved for two months, a compelling reason for the CNMC despite the fact that In France Iryo was forced to take its trains to Italy despite the cessation of activity and despite the fact that the company announced that I would set up some workshops in Spain for these cases but nothing is known about them. Those are the cards that, for the moment, are on the table. Photo | Sergioorozco96 and Renfe In Xataka | There is a fight between the railway operators to get the best drivers and Renfe is winning it

that people install one in the garden

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Data centers have become the new cell towers: no one wants to live near one, not even if they offer money to build one. There are compelling reasons, such as pollution or what electricity bill prices skyrocket. In this context, a San Francisco startup has had an idea that can be crazy or genius: convert people’s homes into data centers. The idea. SPAN is a San Francisco startup that sells home electrical solutions, such as smart electrical panels or vehicle chargers. His new idea is called XFRAa “distributed data center solution” that installs an NVIDIA GPU node directly into homes. That is, instead of having a giant building full of GPUs, they distribute them in small panels throughout entire neighborhoods. These nodes, which have a design reminiscent of a larger air conditioner, contain 16 NVIDIA RTX PRO 600 Blackwell GPUs, 3TB of memory, and liquid cooling. In statements to Ars Technicathe company’s vice president said that “Data centers are noisy, unsightly and often drive up local electricity bills. This is quiet, discreet and makes energy more affordable for the provider and the community.” Image: SPAN Everyone wins. According to SPAN, their solution is a win-win for both hyperscalers and owners. AI companies are able to increase their capacity more immediately, avoiding the long lead times of large data centers. Meanwhile, owners who install one of these nodes will have discounts and even not pay anything for their electricity and internet bill. Electricity increases are one of the arguments of those who reject data centers, so this may increase their attractiveness for owners. Qlanes of the future. SPAN already has a pilot program underway to test its invention in 100 homes this year. The intention is to begin installing XFRA nodes in newly built homes, although they also consider the option of installing them in existing homes, in addition to offering more powerful nodes for commercial clients. The company’s plans are to install 80,000 XFRA nodes throughout the United States, which would achieve 1 gigawatt of distributed power at a much lower construction cost. Of course, it would not serve to replace traditional data centers used to train AI models, but this computing capacity would be oriented towards other uses such as inference, cloud gaming or content streaming. Context. The AI ​​boom requires a lot of computing power and companies started to build mega data centers like there is no tomorrow. They soon realized the problem: there is no power for so many chips. What has followed is an electrical network that does not support so many data centersthe skyrocketing electricity billthe technologies using nuclear energy and one strong opposition from the community. All of this is making building and launching a data center a process that can take years, That is if they don’t end up being cancelled. Maybe it’s not so far-fetched. The energy problem has led technology companies to consider take data centers to spacewhere energy is unlimited, or submerge them in the sea to cool them. The options are on the table, although there are already those who warn that They are a chimera and we still do not have the necessary technology. In this sense, the idea of ​​SPAN is presented as a much more realistic option, although seeing the rejection that data centers are arousing among citizens, it is not clear that it will be well received. Image | Xataka, with ChatGPT In Xataka | Quietly, Aragón is becoming a data center “powerhouse”: now it has taken a crucial step

why drinking a Diet Coke in the middle of 2026 is an impossible mission

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Any consumer who has recently walked through the soft drinks aisle in a supermarket will have come across a particular scenario: the word “light” (or “diet”, depending on the country) is conspicuous by its absence. Instead, a tide of “zero label” cans and bottles dominate the shelves. Everything indicates that the iconic Diet Coke is in the doldrums. However, it is enough to look at social networks to discover a little resistance. Among young people of Generation Z, this drink has not only not disappeared, but has become a true object of desire and a lifeline against work stress. And to make matters worse, in the middle of 2026, opening one of these cans has become almost a miracle due to a geopolitical and logistical crisis that is suffocating the world. What is really happening with the Diet Coke? The rise of “Zero” At the beginning of this decade, the industry left the word “diet” for dead. “No Gen Z person wants to be on a diet these days,” sentenced in 2021 Greg LyonsCEO of PepsiCo, illustrating what seemed like a definitive change in mentality throughout the industry. Corporations assumed that young people associated the term with strict regimes or deprivation, while the designation “zero” offered a much cleaner profile. As a result, The Coca-Cola Company has put all its financial muscle behind its Zero variant. The financial data they confirm it: during the third quarter of 2025, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar experienced an impressive 14% growth. In contrast, the Diet Coke (either Diet Coke) barely expanded 2%, driven almost exclusively by demand in North America. On a technical level, the difference between the two is not a myth. As detailed in the German media RNDthe Diet Coke Original has a slightly different flavor than classic due to its specific blend of artificial sweeteners (aspartame and acesulfame K) and flavorings. The Coca-Cola Zeroon the contrary, was formulated years later with the explicit objective of imitating the brand’s original flavor as closely as possible, attracting an audience that was fleeing the stigma of “regime” products. Welcome to the “Fridge Cigarette” But Internet culture has its own rules, and corporations don’t always dictate trends. Far from dying like a drink for the generation boomerthe Diet Coke experienced a brutal organic resurgence from 2023. It all started with viral trends that invited you to “marinate” the can in the refrigerator for days to enhance its bubbles, and reached its peak when superstars like Dua Lipa showed on TikTok how they mixed the drink with pickle juice and jalapenos. This fervor led to a new concept that has taken the internet by storm: the fridge cigarette (or “refrigerator cigarette”). Young people have adopted the act of opening a can of Diet Coke cold like the modern equivalent of going out for a cigarette. For Generation Z, the metallic sound when opening the ring emulates the spark of a lighter. It’s not about nicotine, but about the ritual: a perfect excuse to get up from your desk, get away from the screen and claim a little break in the midst of modern hyperproductivity. It is an act of self-care disguised as rebellion. The company, of course, was quick to notice. Sue Lynne Cha, vice president of marketing at Coca-Cola, recognized this rebirth among young people, leading the brand to invest heavily in this renewed popularity. They launched campaigns very focused on Generation Z, such as “Love language” and “Know The Signs”, the latter narrated by comedian Kristen Wiig, encouraging workers to take a #DietCokeBreak. To sustain this momentum, the company injected an additional $18 million into advertising in 2024 alone. The “Black Swan” of 2026 Just when the Diet Coke crowned as the status symbol of work breaks, geopolitical reality dealt it a lethal blow. Right now, the world is facing an unprecedented raw materials crisis. The Third Gulf War has blocked the main sea routes of the Middle East, a region that concentrates almost 9% of the global aluminum supply. This bottleneck has generated a deficit of two million tons, skyrocketing prices and forcing European smelters to declare “force majeure” situations. How does this affect the “refrigerator cigarette”? Directly on the waterline. No aluminum, no cans. The shortage is so severe that in regions like India—where Diet Coke sold exclusively in this format—the drink has almost completely disappeared. According to FortuneIndian entrepreneurs have capitalized on this drought by organizing clandestine themed parties where admission is charged and coveted cans are raffled off, turning the Diet Coke in a true luxury item. This desperation is not trivial in a country where, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research, almost 10% of the adult population is diabetic and depends on sugar-free options to indulge. An effervescent mixture Added to this cocktail of logistical scarcity and network fanaticism is the eternal debate about health. Historically, cola drinks have been in the medical spotlight. Specialized portals such as WebMD and Medical News Today They constantly warn about the risks associated with these soft drinks, linking them to insulin resistance, increased visceral fat and even arguing that the dopamine spike they generate in the brain is comparable to that of highly addictive substances. With the version lightthe focus is on its sweeteners. a study published in Cell Metabolism suggests that aspartame could be harmful to cardiovascular health in mice, although the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other experts have remained skeptical of this methodology, reaffirming that normal doses are safe. And what do new consumers say about this intersection of medical accusations? Which doesn’t matter exactly the same to them. Unlike the millennials Obsessed with wellness, Generation Z embraces this drink with an almost nihilistic attitude, driven in part by a 2000s nostalgia that has resurrected old aesthetic standards. As Andrea Hernandez, founder of the newsletter, explained Snaxshot, to The New York Timesthe mentality is: “Oh, aspartame is terrible for you… I absolutely don’t care.” It is an affordable vice, a small transgression in a world full … Read more

Marvel just gave 48 minutes of unfiltered violence to its most extreme character and you can watch it today on Disney+

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Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher (or The Punisher if you’re an old-school comic reader), hasn’t had his own series for seven years. Since Netflix canceled ‘The Punisher’ in 2019, the character has survived on the margins of the MCU until ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ rescued him in 2025. Now Marvel has opted for a different format with him in ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’. It is not a series or a movie, but 48 minutes of a borderline antihero, co-directed by Jon Bernthal himself and with a level of violence that Disney+ never allowed before. ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’ comes with the “Marvel Television Special Presentation” label, a format that the studio premiered in October 2022 with ‘The curse of the werewolf‘. The format is a kind of laboratory: projects of between 45 and 60 minutes that function as self-contained stories without the pressure of sustaining a series for several weeks. Both ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ and the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special worked as cult pieces, and with Punisher, Marvel has taken the experiment to the extreme, because its adult rating is the first on the platform for a Marvel Studios project. Here we will see how an unexpected force drags Frank Castle back into battle. The Punisher believes he has eliminated the Gnucci crime family, the last link to his family’s murderers, and the surviving matriarch, Ma Gnucci, comes to him not to negotiate but to settle scores. The first half of the episode focuses on visions that haunt Castle; the second is a real-time action sequence inside an apartment building reminiscent of ‘The Raid’. The idea for the series arose during the filming of the first season of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’. Bernthal asked the director for permission to develop something centered on Frank Castle. The two had previously collaborated, and that gave Disney confidence to have Bernthal co-write the script and serve as executive producer. Shot on real locations in Queens and Brooklyn, the photography is by Robert Elswit (Oscar winner for ‘Wells of Ambition’), a firm that visually elevates this bet far above a typical television film. In Xataka | 12 premieres this week on Netflix, including the return of one of the platform’s most successful franchises

The energy jets from black holes are so powerful that they can reshape entire galaxies and now we know how to measure it

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It is always said that black holes They gobble up everything that comes close to themfrom matter to light. However, this is not entirely true. In some cases, there is a fraction of particles and energy that, instead of falling inside, does the opposite. It is ejected in the form of jets, known as jets. Although there are some hypotheses about this, the reason why this occurs is not completely known. What is known is that these jets are so powerful that they can even influence the evolution of galaxies. The problem is that it is known that they are very powerful, but not how powerful. Until now, no one had been able to directly measure the power of these jets. However, an international team of scientists has achieved measuring these jets around a specific black hole, thereby opening up a very interesting range of possibilities. The data. These scientists have studied the Cygnus X-1 systemcomposed of a black hole and a blue supergiant star orbiting each other. Using a very novel method, they have discovered that the energy of the jets leaving the black hole is equivalent to that of 1,000 suns. They have also observed that they move through space at a speed of 540 million kilometers per hour and that 10% of the energy that is initially formed in the fall towards the black hole is converted into jets. The background. Until now, no one knew how to measure the power of a black hole’s jets. The only thing that was done was to measure the scars they left in space using calorimetric methods. When freed, they can leave in their wake hot spots and holes in the intergalactic medium. However, As explained in an article by Interesting Engineeringthis is something like wanting to measure the power of an engine by observing the treads of the car’s tires. The important thing is to directly analyze the machinery. And that is precisely what has been achieved now. Indirect measures. In systems formed by a black hole and a star, the black hole feed little by little gas surrounding the star. As it approaches it, the gas begins to rotate faster and faster, generating a lot of heat and energy. Part of that energy does not fall into the black hole, but instead jump outward, forming the jets. In turn, the star releases very intense flows of particles, which give rise to what is known as stellar winds. Those stellar winds can interact with the jets and bend them. And there is the key. The jets cannot be measured as such, but the resistance they offer to being bent by stellar winds can be measured. For example, we can know how strong a person is by analyzing his or her ability to beat someone whose strength we do know in an arm wrestling match. Trajectory changes. The overall trajectory of the jets depends on the momentum flux of both the jets themselves and the winds. Since the momentum flow of the wind can be calculated, it is enough to analyze the trajectory to solve the unknown. The data can also be further refined with a series of computer simulations. The result is a fairly rough estimate of the power of the jets. There are limitations. The biggest limitation of this study is that only one black hole has been analyzed. The procedure would have to be repeated with more jets in more black holes to check if there is a trend and, therefore, if the method is valid. Galactic evolution. Since jets from larger black holes can significantly affect galactic evolution, this method could be very useful to better understand how galaxies form. That is why it is important to move on to the second step and check if the method is reproducible, especially with larger black holes. Image| A supermassive black hole ejects a jet of plasma 3,000 light years long, traveling at almost the speed of light. NASA artist concept In Xataka | We thought that the heart of the Milky Way was an immense black hole. Mathematics has changed this idea for us

Alsa has gone ahead of Iryo and Ouigo with a radically different proposal

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Alsa, one of the most important companies in the transportation of passengers (if not the most important) is getting back on the tracks. The company, beyond buses, has a lesser-known business that also goes on wheels but off the road. They are their tourist trains. And now the CNMC gives it the go-ahead to operate yet another service. There is no competition. It’s what the CNMC has concluded about the new Alsa tourist train and the possibility of it competing with Renfe on its new Galician route. For regulators, Alsa’s new business “does not affect the economic balance of Renfe’s public service contract.” It is concluded that although Renfe provides services in the same place or to reach the same locations, both proposals “do not compete with each other” since Alsa trains will only be available in summer and are “between three and seven times more expensive” than Renfe trains. For now, Alsa has indicated in its documentation that the tickets will have a price of 17.28 euros while Renfe public services range between 2.51 euros and 5.40 euros. New historic train. During the summer months, Alsa will put into service a new historic train on two Galician routes that will have the following route: Orense – Barra de Miño – Os Peares – San Estevo de Sil – Canaval – Monforte de Lemos Monforte de Lemos – San Coludio-Quiroga – Montefurado – A Rúa-Petín The train, for which specific schedules and details are not yet known, is known as Galaico Expreso and Alsa Rail, the subsidiary that operates its trains, took it out last April from Galician Railway Museum (Muferga), based in Monforte de Lemos. The train was towed by an Alsa machine to pass the exam in Renfe workshops. They explain in The Voice of Galicia that the material consists of two first-class apartment cars, one with restaurant service and a generator van. This last car is property of the museum and the others were donated by Adif with the condition that they be used for tourist services. The Galaico Express. This train that is being reviewed in the Renfe workshops is, as we have seen, a historic one in our country. At the beginning of the last decade, an attempt was made to resume a tourist service with a walk through the Ribeira Sacra that you can see in this link but its use was discontinued in 2011. In his previous attempt To offer this tourist service, the line only made two stops between Ourense and Monforte de Lemos and had a maximum of 200 passengers. Furthermore, they explain in Vigo Lighthousewas an opportunity to revitalize local tourism since train tickets were sold with additional packs to buy or eat at associated businesses. It’s not the first. By no means is this Galician train the first tourist experience in Spain that takes you back to the past aboard trains operated by Alsa. The company has different offers and packs available with trains of all types for prices starting below 20 euros. This is the case of the one known as Blue Train to link Zaragoza and Logroño through the Ebro valley and the 80’s trainwith which you can travel between Madrid and Cáceres and from Cáceres to Valencia de Alcántara. It also has a round trip train to San Lorenzo del Escorial from Madrid known as the Philip II Train and the Train of the Three Wise Men in Madrid and Zaragoza. Other type of tourism. As we said, these tourist train offers in Spain are affordable and are perfect for spending a day with the family. However, there is another type of tourism that has found a rich source in Spanish historic trains. Specifically, luxury tourism. Probably, The most famous case is that of the Transcantábricowhich departs from Santiago de Compostela to reach San Sebastián (with bus routes) and prices that start above 2,000 euros but can reach 10,000 depending on the room. But the latter is not the only one nor the most expensive. Renfe has its Al-Andalus availablewhich in seven days passes through large Andalusian, Extremaduran and Castilian cities such as Cádiz, Seville, Córdoba, Cáceres and Toledo, before arriving in Madrid. Its price, from 5,000 to 14,000 euros. And also operated by Renfe you can get on the Costa Verde Express or the La Robla Expreso. Of course, prepare thousands of euros. Photo | Muferga In Xataka | The AVE to Galicia has achieved what seemed impossible in a Santiago-Madrid: airlines that throw in the towel

A man is making a fortune selling Yu-Gi-Oh cards he found in the trash. Or that’s what he says

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When it comes to collectible card games, the first one that comes to mind is ‘Magic: The Gathering’but he is not the only one. There are other highly sought-after games in the world of collecting such as Yu-Gi-Oh, the card game based on the Japanese manga of the same name and the protagonist of this crazy story. What has happened? They count in 404media that a Texas man claims to have found a stack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards in a dumpster, valued at almost $1 million. What at first seemed like a peculiar stroke of luck has unleashed a drama, with part of the community accusing him of having stolen them and his mother intervening to defend him. The beginning of the drama. In late March, several uncut sheets of Yu-Gi-Oh cards appeared on eBay, Facebook, and TikTok. It immediately attracted the attention of the community because it is very rare for these types of leaves to appear for sale. The usual thing when there is a printing error (for example, a color does not come out correctly or a plate is misaligned) is that those sheets are destroyed and in fact Konami, the company behind Yu-Gi-Oh, is very strict about this. They do give out sheets of 3×3 cards as prizes in some tournaments, but they do not allow their sale and in the past they have intervened when they have detected this type of products on online sales platforms. In total, the “stash” consists of more than 500,000 bulk letters and at least 400 uncut factory sheets, almost nothing. Suspicious. Besides the rarity of what he was selling, there were other factors that were highly suspicious. Instead of selling slowly and at high prices, it began to sell at prices well below its value and very visibly on different platforms. In the ads there were blurry photos with hundreds of sheets of ultra-rare letters, piled up like trash. Each of these sheets can cost thousands of dollars, so their value is enormous, and selling one sheet occasionally is one thing, selling hundreds set off all the alarms. Theft accusations. The seller, who claimed on Facebook to have already made “over $60,000 on these damn Yu-Gi-Oh! cards out of the trash,” had very erratic behavior: he posted ads with titles that didn’t match what he was selling, deleted posts, and posted strange comments. The case reached Uncut Sheet Collectors Facebook Groupwhere the majority agreed that the letters had to be stolen, something that did not please the seller, who commented insisting that he had found them in the trash, but no one believed him. Maternal intervention. “Well, let me ask you all: if you found the same thing that was found in the trash (the uncut sheets, the cards and so on), would you try to sell it or not?” said the seller’s mother in one of the posts in the Facebook group. In addition, he asked that a video compiling several advertisements published by his son be removed because it was exposing “his past history.” Until that point, no one had looked into the seller’s past, but the mother’s message caused a Streisand effect and they discovered that he had a criminal record for theft. What was missing. What if in the end he told the truth? It’s not entirely clear, but there are hints that the dumpster story could be true. The strongest one is that the mother owns a company in Dallas, which is where one of the factories is located. Cartamundi, company dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of collectible cards. Furthermore, some of the prints he sent were in very poor condition, which would be consistent with having found them in a container. In redditthe consensus is that they really came out of the trash and that the seller was inexperienced and was overwhelmed by the situation. The last thing known about the seller is that on May 4 he posted on Facebook that he was “back in business.”

having babies in space

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China has just sent a very special shipment to the Tiangong, one that aims to find out the answer to whether humans will be able to reproduce in space. Because the great powers have embarked on adventure to colonize the Moon or Marsbut there is a fundamental question which is whether a human embryo can develop in zero gravity. The Chinese Academy of Sciences hopes the answer “is yes.” And that’s why they have sent a curious ‘Noah’s Ark’ to their space station. In short. This May 11, the State Laboratory of Stem Cells and Reproductive Biology post the ship Tianzhou-10 with a cell with embryos of zebrafish, mice and artificial humans. These human embryos are derived from stem cells that are now on their way to the Chinese Tiangong station. This is a facility that the Asian giant has plans to expand to be the great space laboratory once the International Space Station is dismantled, and this is a first step to see if humans can reproduce and develop in zero gravity. artificial humans. Before entering into the objectives, it is advisable to clarify what “artificial humans” is. As Chinese authorities point out, these human embryos are not complete organisms that can become babies. Simply put, these are structures made from stem cells that mimic the very early phases of human development. What has been sent to the Tiangong corresponds approximately to days 14 to 21 after fertilization, a crucial window because it is during which all organs begin to form and in which any anomaly can have a significant impact on human development. For five days, the station’s astronauts will monitor the status of the embryos. They will then freeze them and send them to Earth for analysis. Aim. It is not the first time that embryos have been sent to space. A few months ago we already said that China had sent a mouse so that it would have babies in the station that would later be analyzed to see if they came with any alteration. Nine were born and six survived, resulting in tremendous success because there were so many things that could go wrong. The goal is to see if we can survive away from the protection of the Earth’s atmosphere, and there are more things outside of zero gravity that could be an evolutionary barrier. For example, cosmic radiation, a shower of high-energy particles passing through us, can cause breaks in DNA, with unexpected and fatal consequences. On Earth, the atmosphere protects us, but without that shield, the exposure is much greater. What was deduced from the mouse research is that the cellular repair mechanisms of mammals are capable of compensating for this damage, at least in short-duration flights. That is why this mission is so special because they will spend a longer time in orbit and, furthermore, it is the first time that such a large sample system has been sent with lower vertebrates up to models of human embryos. Those responsible for the project point out that it is the first attempt in history to answer the question of whether humans can reproduce in space and, thanks to the data, work will be possible to develop technologies that mitigate possible adverse effects. Pawned. China is very focused on studying these effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on embryonic development and, apart from this experiment or that of the mouse, it already sent 6,000 mouse embryos on the SJ-10 satellite in 2016, demonstrating that mammals can complete the first phases of embryonic development. And in 2023, Japanese scientists They sent frozen mouse embryos to the ISS, where they were thawed and where it was concluded that these conditions did not significantly affect the formation of blastocysts. With foot on board. The Tianzhou-10 carries another load to carry out experiments such as ultra-thin solar cells or greenhouse gas sensors, but evidently the issue of embryos draws much more attention. And what it shows is that China is going full throttle in this new space race. A race in which space is being militarized, but also in which a new playing field is being defined for get unlimited energy that being able to send the Earth through laser ‘cannons’ and even the possibility of turn the moon into a mine space. In Xataka | Europe has grown tired of being NASA’s “supporting actor.” And that is why it is starting to work with China

Looking like a real miura in the gym is of no use if you do something afterwards: stuff yourself with chips

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Something that is already quite internalized among society, precisely, is that abusing food ultra-processed is closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems mainly due to the large presence of low quality fats. But although we think that this bad diet only translates into an increase in subcutaneous fat, medical technology has shown us that they are also filling our muscles with fat. A new study. This is precisely what a new study has pointed out. published in the magazine Radiology, which, Thanks to images obtained by magnetic resonance, researchers have discovered that the consumption of these products is related to an increase in intramuscular fat in the thighs. And it doesn’t matter how much we go to the gym for this. The evidence doesn’t lie. Much of nutritional studies are based on surveys and general measurements such as BMI or weight on the scale at certain times of the day. But here science has chosen to take an image to have completely objective data thanks to magnetic resonance imaging that objectively quantifies the internal composition of the muscle. The results. Here they could see that people who ate a higher proportion of ultra-processed foods had a significantly higher fraction of fat infiltrated into the thigh muscles. But most interesting of all is that, even after adjusting the results for total calorie intake, physical activity levels and other demographic variables. That is, it is not simply that people who eat ultra-processed foods eat more calories or exercise less, but there is something in the very nature of these foods, such as additives or the lack of fiber, which favors fat to be deposited directly between the muscle fibers. It’s clinical. This phenomenon of infiltration of adipose tissue into the muscle is clinically known as myosteatosis and, to visualize it, imagine the difference between a lean cut of meat and a marbled or fat-marbled steak. Why are we worried? Muscles are not only “motors” that allow us to move, but they are metabolically very active organs that are essential for regulating our blood glucose and even for the functioning of our brain. In this way, when fat infiltrates them, muscle quality plummets. And this is a big problem because logically we would begin to lose strength, sarcopenia would develop and there would be a risk of suffering a metabolic disease. Furthermore, in the context of this study, a poorer quality of the thigh muscles, especially the quadriceps, translates into greater overload of the knee joint and increases the chances of having knee osteoarthritis. There are nuances. As is usual, the researchers themselves point out that this is a cross-sectional analysis, so we do not have a “photograph” of the current moment and this means that there is no cause-effect relationship. That is, this study was done in older adults and people with previous illnesses, so these results cannot be generalized to the younger population and an independent study must be done with this sample to see exactly if a pizza from the supermarket can be too harmful. Images | senivpetro in Magnific In Xataka | Drinking coffee is not harmful, but for science there is a very clear limit that should not be exceeded

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