Month: June 2026

They both believe that time proves them right.

by

The US and China have signed a technological truce. However, as Chris Miller, the author of ‘The Chip War’in your newsletterthey have not signed peace at all. What they have agreed is a strategic pause in which both powers believe that time is on their side. Each one has their own theory of how they will win the game. And these theories are radically different, as can be expected in the current confrontation scenario. The Administration led by Donald Trump has made an important concession: has allowed Nvidia to deliver its second chip to some of its Chinese customers for artificial intelligence (AI) more powerful, the GPU H200. Their most advanced hardware is still subject to strict restrictions. However, this maneuver does not reflect any type of generosity: selling the H200 generates income for Nvidia and its allies, while the truly strategic chips (Blackwell and Vera Rubin) remain, in theory, out of Beijing’s reach. The Trump administration’s logic is this: if AI is going to be the engine of the economy and geopolitical power for decades to come, the US only needs to maintain its advantage on the technological frontier long enough for that advantage to become structural. At the base of its strategy lies the conviction that the general artificial intelligence (AGI) will transform the world irreversibly. The truce gives it time to consolidate that advantage and for its AI models to prove their economic value before China can catch up. The structural fragility of the truce The way in which the Chinese Government is reading the current situation is very different. When Chinese leaders talk about “major changes unseen in a century,” they mean a rebalancing of the industrial world order, not a revolution in language patterns. The most eloquent proof is the one that Chris Miller points out: If Xi Jinping was genuinely worried about running out of computing power, he would have accepted the H200 GPUs that Trump is so keen to sell him. And he hasn’t. Behind the scenes each party sharpens its knives for a new wave of supply chain conflicts China is playing with a different logic. Xi Jinping has warned to provincial governments that they should not treat AI as an uncontrolled spending race: “When developing new quality productive forces we should not rush or launch all at once (…) China must not abandon the old for the new. New technologies must be integrated into existing sectors.” This is not skepticism about AI. In fact, the Chinese leader has described it as an “epoch technology” comparable to the Industrial Revolution or the birth of the Internet. What he defends is a clear prioritization: first the industrial bases, then the digital superstructure. The inherent problem with a truce in which both sides believe they will win is that it is inherently unstable. Neither side has confused the technological truce with peace. China has continued to ship some rare earths to the US, while Washington has postponed several previously delayed restrictions looming over Chinese chipmakers. Still, behind the scenes each party is sharpening its knives for a new wave of supply chain conflicts. China’s current industrial push spans semiconductors, AI, biotechnology and batteries, and is focused on capital-intensive and relatively job-poor sectors. This strategy suggests that the Chinese government is willing to accept certain internal social costs in exchange for accumulating strategic capacity. The US, for its part, is betting that this capability will become irrelevant if AI rewrites the rules of the game before China can deploy it. Both bets are coherent. Both can be wrong. And that, more than any tariff agreement, is what makes this truce so provisional. Image | Gage Skidmore | Wikipedia More information | Chris Miller In Xataka | The condemnation that afflicts China: after decades of manufacturing a competitive desktop processor, it is six years behind

The Raspberry Pi 5 are so expensive that buying two with 16 GB of RAM costs the same as a MacBook Neo

by

If today you decide to buy a Raspberry Pi 5 with 16 GB of RAM, we have bad news: its price in the Adafruit store is 350 dollars. In Spanish stores like Raspipc.es the price with VAT is 313.03 euros. It is an absolutely absurd price for a miniPC with these characteristics, but the memory crisis has made us live in a world of crazy prices and absolutely strange situations. For example, what we propose here: For the price of two Raspberry Pi 5 with 16 GB of RAM you can buy a MacBook Neo. Or almost. In Spain, the price of the MacBook Neo is 699 euros. In the US it is $599 without taxes, so that comparison certainly holds true there, because although it depends on the state in which you buy it, the final price is around $650. Less than two of those Adafruit Raspberry Pi 5s cost. What is happening is amazing but very real: Raspberry Pi 5 are really striking miniPCs that anyone can use even as a desktop PC and offer surprising possibilities. But in the comparison with the MacBook Neo (or even with 700 euro Windows laptops) they lose by a landslide. And in the MacBook Neo we have a much more “rounded” laptop as a product for the vast majority of users. Not only because it has a laptop with an enviable construction with its screen, keyboard and trackpad. It is true that the unified memory is 8 GB (the RPi 5 with 8 GB costs $200), but we are looking at a much more capable computer in terms of performance. Source: GeekBench. In GeekBench 6 the 16 GB RPi 5 gets 899 points in single-core and 2,144 points in multi-core. The Apple A18 Pro from the MacBook Neo gets 3,566 points in single-core and 8,646 in multi-core: It is four times more powerful in this synthetic benchmark. It’s all a reality check. What happened to the $25 computer promise? Just two months ago Eben Upton, creator of the Raspberry Pi, announced the launch of a new Raspberry Pi 4 with 3 GB of RAM. Under other circumstances this launch would have been strange, especially considering that the Raspberry Pi 5 is available for almost two years and the original Raspberry Pi 4 were launched, attention, in 2019. Pre-pandemic. That announcement, however, made a lot of sense because the memory crisis has caused the prices of all types of devices to increase extraordinary. Upton himself revealed that the price of the LPDDR4 RAM memory modules used in the Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 had multiplied by seven. Hence the launch of an “affordable” version that at the time had a price tag of $83.75. The rest of the Raspberry Pi models, however, were impacted by the memory crisis and the creator of these devices announced significant price increases for all of them. Everything has meant that the company has had to betray its original objective more than ever. That $25 computer that was going to conquer the world soon made it clear that it was going to do so, but with many sacrifices: its original performance was poor, and you actually had to spend more money to use it with a monitor, mouse and keyboard (in addition to the SD/microSD, the necessary cables and the power adapter). Over time we saw how the Raspberry Pi became a much more rounded and capable product both in its original version and in others such as the fantastic RPi 400/500. But in doing so inevitably the price also increased: in November 2022 we complained about the lack of stock and that its price It was no longer 35 euros like the original, but triple. The firm, however, has always tried to maintain that spirit with which it was born, and in August 2024 it launched its Raspberry Pi 5 with 2 GB for $50. Today this model can be found at about 70 euros in Spanish stores, but of course, those 2 GB are not enough for that price. The memory crisis has harmed the entire market, but it has hit especially hard with these small miniPCs. The Raspberry Pi cannot compete in price/performance with more complete devices, but They continue and will continue to be a fantastic alternative in educational environments and, of course, in the industrial field in which the RPi in its Compute Module format have managed to become in all a reference. In Xataka | Raspberry Pi has risen like a rocket in the stock market for a simple reason: to use AI you don’t need a machine

Mexico has turned the opening of the World Cup into its greatest showcase. A wave of protests threatens to turn him against him

by

Welcome the inauguration A World Cup is always a guarantee of something: visibility. There are few ‘showcases’ comparable to being the city in which the ball of a FIFA tournament begins to roll, something that will happen tonight (peninsular time) in Mexico City. What is not so clear is what the rest of the planet will see through that showcase: the Government hopes to offer a great sports festival, but there is seven protests summoned that threaten to spoil the day and leave a very different image. The World Cup ball is not the only one that rolls. And the day came. If you like sports (and if you don’t, too) it is likely that you had March 11 marked in red on your calendar. Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, this afternoon, at 9:00 p.m. peninsular time, the teams of Mexico and South Africa will play the opening match of the 2026 Soccer World Cup. They will do so in the Azteca stadium from Mexico City, after an opening ceremony in which several artists will participate and which will experience its climax when Shakira and Burna Boy perform the song of the World Cup, ‘Dai dai’. More than football. The normal thing on a day like today is that the host country of the World Cup dedicates itself to talking basically about football. Mexico knows it well, which has experience in the matter: this will be the third time in which it hosts the World Cup tournament, something it already did in 1970 and 1986. Today, however, the Mexican authorities (especially those in CDMX) are awaiting something else: half a dozen calls of protests that will start from different points of the city towards the vicinity of the stadium where athletes, authorities and fans will meet. What protests? The diary The Universal speaks of at least seven calls confirmed and organized by groups of transporters, health workers, peasant associations and pensioners who basically want to take advantage of two things: the media attention generated by the World Cup and the Government’s interest in avoiding any conflict that tarnishes the FIFA tournament. There are two mobilized groups that stand out above the rest due to the exposure they have achieved in recent weeks. The first are the ‘seeking mothers’that they cry out for justice for your missing relatives. The second, the teachersorganized in the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and who have been demanding labor improvements for some time. Although the Executive has tried until the last moment reach an agreement with them to deactivate today’s protests, both parties (Education and CNTE) remain very distant. Claudia Sheibaum’s team does has been luckier with the farmers, who also threatened to mobilize. @lajornadaonline Hours before the soccer festival begins, the pain of the families of missing people is manifested in Mexico City. Collectives of searching mothers walk towards the Mexico City stadium, but the capital police prevented them from passing through Tlalpan. ♬ original sound – lajornadaonline – lajornadaonline “They want to provoke us”. The conflict does not catch the Government by surprise. The CNTE it takes months showing its discomfort and its relationship with the Sheinbaum Government has been strained in recent weeks, which has even led some of its members to break into the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Education. The most critical episode occurred a few days agowhen a teacher lost an eye after being hit by a rubber bullet while participating in a march. Incidents like this are the ones that now, a few hours before the start of the World Cup, the Government wants to avoid at all costs. “There are groups that want to provoke us, and they are not necessarily teachers. In other words, what they are looking for is repression, I say it clearly. What they are looking for is that before the opening of the World Cup the international note is: ‘The Government of Mexico represses teachers’. That is what they are looking for, but they are not going to have it,” Sheinbaum assured on Monday. The scenario is not simple. Both the president and the Government of CDMX assure that will respect the right to protest, but at the same time they are taking measures to shield the Azteca and prevent the protests from altering the World Cup agenda. “National Security Facility”. The Secretary of Government of CDM, César Cravioto, it was very clear about it on Tuesday: the capital’s stadium, he warned, “is already a national security facility.” Hence, access controls and protection have been reinforced. “They will have to understand that in less than 48 hours the World Cup will open here, in the stadium, and we have to protect it.” Cravioto insisted also that fans are “guaranteed” access to the Azteca, although he asked them to arrive “early” to avoid “complications.” ABC assures that there are professionals (journalists, stadium workers, sponsors…) who are already considering heading to the area at seven in the morning, six hours before the opening match starts. The focus is not only on the Azteca. The Secretariat of Citizen Security has also deployed a special device on the perimeter of the Mexico City International Airport to anticipate the arrival of CNTE protesters. Of laws and pensions. In the background is the clash between the Executive and the teachers represented by the CNTE, who on May 1, Labor Day, presented a document with their requests to the Government. In general lines propose eliminating the ISSSTE law of 2007, changes in educational reforms, recovering a solidarity pension system for teachers and a salary improvement. For now, and despite the eight-hour meeting held in extremison the eve of the World Cup, there has been no agreement with the Government, which maintains that the change in pensions would skyrocket its cost. The teachers’ protests will match today with those of the ‘seeking mothers’, who have been demanding that the Executive not forget the tens of thousands of people with unknown whereabouts that Mexico accumulates. Before, the group has … Read more

The world was tired of depending on TSMC to manufacture all its chips. This is what is causing Intel’s great resurrection

by

Who has seen you and who sees you, Intel. The legendary semiconductor firm seems to be leaving behind its painful journey through the desert, and the latest news points to a true resurrection. The signature has achieved a spectacular contract to manufacture three million Google TPUs, and Nvidia is also studying the possibility of use Intel 18A node for future multi-die GPU designs. This is spectacular news for the company. Promising future, at last. The agreement with Google’s cloud division is a huge boost for the chip manufacturing business (foundry) from Intel. This deal will see Intel produce millions of AI chips at its advanced 3-nanometer node. With it, the firm achieves a decisive step to compete with TSMC, which until now was the absolute reference for those who wanted to access advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes. There is another crucial geopolitical factor here: part of these chips will be produced in the US, which helps in the objective of not depending so much on Asian countries for this process. Flirting with Nvidia. But Nvidia also seems to be interested in Intel’s 18A photolithographic process. The company led by Jensen Huang is considering the use of this node for its future multi-die architectures for its GPUs. Nvidia has managed to become TSMC’s main customer, but this manufacturer cannot satisfy Nvidia’s demand, so this company is looking for plans B, and Intel is serving it one on a plate. The signature by the way, already bought 4% of Intel in September 2025, so it is the first interested in Intel doing well. The PowerVia revolution. There are two big technical arguments that are apparently convincing Google and Nvidia. The first, the transistors RibbonFET. The second, even more important, PowerVia technology. This system is a qualitative leap because it physically separates the power and signal lines from the transistors, which avoids bottlenecks and improves both performance and efficiency of the CPUs that use this technology. Chip sovereignty. This decision by Google and Nvidia’s plan respond in part to the pressures that the US government is doing—and boosting with its CHIPS Act— to recover technological sovereignty and avoid dependence on foreign countries. Both companies know that 90% of the planet’s advanced chips depend on that island called Taiwan, and taking advantage of Intel’s renewed capacity is a great opportunity for kill two birds with one stone. They reduce their dependence on TSMC, and comply with the demands of the US government. War makes strange allies. The current situation is unique, because it is causing companies that competed fiercely in the field of hardware (Intel and Nvidia) to now be forced to collaborate out of pure necessity. Intel needs clients of this type to demonstrate to investors that its division foundry can operate independently of its consumer processor or server division. And Google and Nvidia in turn need Intel to break manufacturing monopoly of semiconductors that TSMC had. Intel finally resurrects. The big winner of these agreements is Intel, which has gone through a really compromising stage but has for a year has not stopped growing. We can see it in its valuation on the stock market. A year ago its shares were trading at $20.68, and now they are trading at $107.04 and with these agreements that value may continue to improve. Good for Intel. Image | Intel In Xataka | Bill Gates has X-rayed Intel. And his diagnosis is overwhelmingly accurate.

Amazon forces its engineers to use AI and measures who uses it the most. The employee response: anti-AI memes

by

AI gurus keep selling us that this technology is going to change the world and? the AGI is about to fall. From the outside, everything is promises of automation and productivity, but from the inside the feeling is very different. Yesterday we learned that the engineers who are working on Google AI They don’t stop making fun of her on internal channels. Well, exactly the same thing is happening on Amazon. Sloppenheimer. It’s one of the memes that Amazon employees have shared in the Slack channel called #actual-aws-memes. In it they mock tools like Kiro (Amazon Web Services’ code platform), Claude Code, and the AI ​​agent Meshclaw. They tell it in 404mediawhere they have spoken with several company employees who wanted to remain anonymous. These employees admit that anti-AI memes started circulating quite some time ago (in late 2024), which is when the company started putting more pressure on them to adopt AI tools. Of course, although mockery of AI is very common, they assure that there is a variety of opinions on the matter. Kiro AI. It is the tool that receives the most ridicule. There are several memes that suggest Kiro is pretty mediocre, such as the one that includes the text “Kiro: I confirm I have the full picture” over an image of an iceberg with much of it underwater. Discontent with this tool reached such a point that Amazon closed Kirorank, an internal leaderboard that measured and rewarded employees’ use of Kiro. Amazon’s official version is that employees had already integrated AI into their daily lives and ranking was no longer necessary, but what really happened is that engineers started cheating. They automated absurd and totally useless tasks for the sake of climbing the rankings, adding to the company’s AI bill. Amazon is not the only one. As we said at the beginning, this anti-AI rebellion based on memes is not exclusive to Amazon, exactly the same thing is happening at Google. While CEO Sundar Pichai boasts that 75% of Google’s code is written with AIemployees use an internal channel to make fun of that very thing. For example, while Google announced news in the Google I/O 2026a meme appeared on the channel saying that they were announcing “new ways to slop.” Memes can be voted on with a reaction system and this immediately added 100 thumbs up. They also make fun of the AI bros who do not stop evangelizing about the benefits of AI and point out the enormous work it is to review the code made by AI, often riddled with errors. What companies say. There is an evident disconnection between the official discourse and the internal feeling of the employees. Amazon has responded to the leaks by trying to downplay them. In an email to 404media, Amazon assures that the negative comments come from a few individuals and do not represent the majority. For its part, Google sent a statement to the same media in which they said they encouraged their employees to test and criticize their internal tools, even through memes. And a curious thing, Google sent two almost identical statements, the only difference is that in the first they mentioned that it was “essential that we keep humans in the process, including supervision.” In the second that phrase had disappeared. Image | Xataka with Magnific In Xataka | From “tokenmaxxing” we have moved on to “tokenwasting”: the level of waste in AI is reaching unprecedented levels

Create expands its collection of discounted ceiling fans

by

It’s almost summer now, and it’s time to repeat the same move as every year: look for something to keep us from dying of heat at home. There is air portable conditioner or other split typebut there are many people who bet on a ceiling fan. The problem is that there are many of these fans that have boring and bland designs. No matter how much they work, They can affect the atmosphere or the decoration we have. If this is something that concerns you, keep an eye on it. the fans that Create has. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Silent fans that are also design pieces As we say, there is a lot to choose from. For example, this one that appears in the image above is the Wind Calm, a blade fan with an elegant design, especially if we take into account their different shades. The sage green one (called Sage) fits perfectly with wood tones and is available in two sizes. In addition, we can choose it with or without light, as well as with different control options. Part from the 69.95 euros (its RRP is 149.5 euros). If you don’t like that color, you can go for a cobalt blue or a mocha color that goes great with minimalist spaces. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links This fan has blades and has a more traditional cut, but there are more options. He Wind Clear Studio and the Wind Clear Lamp are two retractable blade fans. In this way, they look like a lamp when they are folded and, when we turn them on, they take out the blades. They are a very elegant option that has linen as a material, which makes them have a warm appearance that is very appropriate for, for example, a bedroom. In that same line we have the Wind Clear Rattanwhich is exactly what we can see in the image that is just above these lines. It has rattan as its protagonist, which gives a great natural touch. Along the same lines, we have the Wind Lamp Natural Woven or the Wind Calm Custom Rattanthe latter a fan with more conventional cut blades, but with a rattan area above with lighting that will project lighting that will help make the atmosphere in the room warmer. In fact, you can choose with main light and ambient light. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links To finish, the Wind Clear Bladeless and the Wind Shapetwo fans with lighting that are not only designed to be another point of light in the room, but to create a cozy atmosphere. The second of them is done with a double lighting system: one located practically in the anchoring area and another more oriented towards the ground. This ambient light system is present in both models. Any of these fans (and the many others that we can find on the Create page) has several points in common: They are silent, have a winter function and can be programmed, in addition to helping repel mosquitoes. All without forgetting that, as we said at the beginning of this article, they are on sale. If we add everything we have mentioned up to this point, we can say that they are ceiling fans that differ from the majority and that not only seek to be a device to avoid heat in summer, but also to be another element that integrates into the decoration. and help us create different environments at home. 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 | Create In Xataka | Five things to consider before buying a portable air conditioner In Xataka | Which smart air conditioner to buy. How to choose a connected air conditioning system and featured models

everything we think we know about Apple’s new base model

by

In September the new iPhone 18 Pro and it will be the debut of John Ternus as the new CEO of Apple. And… that’s it. Maybe we’ll see the rumored foldable iPhonebut the iPhone 18 will have to wait. Breaking with the tradition of their releases, the basic iPhone 18 will have to wait until sometime in the spring of next year. However, that does not mean that the wheel of rumors and leaks is not working. Next, we tell you everything we think we know about that iPhone 18 which, according to those rumors, will not be a revolution, but it will have a couple of features that will make it more interesting than the current ones. iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e: new camera and RAM memory. Let’s go to trouble. What to expect from the iPhone 18? Design: two aspects in the leaks with a design maintained in the most conservative leak and an island that will follow the design of the Pro models, but with two cameras instead of three to further differentiate this iPhone 18 from the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16. Screen: 6.3-inch diagonal with LTPO refresh rate up to 120 Hz with a Dynamic Island that will maintain the size of the one we had until now. On the iPhone 18 Pro we are supposed to have a smaller Dynamic Island. SoC: Apple A20 with reduced features in GPU and cores compared to the A20 Pro that the iPhone 18 Pro will carry. RAM: 12 GB integrated on the chip wafer to allow good performance of the new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence. Cameras: dual camera configuration with a wide angle that will be brighter and so on, but that will pale in comparison to a new main sensor that will also be in a camera with a variable aperture. Connectivity: The new C2 chip would be the heart of the networks of the new iPhone 18. Price: It is expected to remain around what we already have with the iPhone 17, without exceeding 1,000 euros in the basic 256 GB version. Another story will be the version with 512 GB, which may suffer due to the increase in the price of components. Launch: Obviously, without anything confirmed, but all the leaks for a long time point to a launch in spring 2027. When would the iPhone 18 come out? The forecast is that Apple, for the first time, will break its classic release cycle. Instead of launching the two iPhone 18s in September, the one that will arrive first will be the iPhone 18 Pro, while the iPhone 18 will be released sometime in spring next year. In fact, this late launch would imply that in the September keynote Apple will not present the iPhone 18 in depth. It should mention it so that the user is clear that it will arrive, but leaving all the details for a later presentation closer to the launch in spring. What design will the iPhone 18 have? The leaks point to a conservative design, as usually happens. Apple has already created a visual identity for the Pro with a giant side-to-side rear camera island, while the basic iPhone 18 has the cameras separately and vertically. There may be some changes such as cameras next to each other or with a similar design to the Pro’s island, but keeping only two cameras. At the moment, there is only speculation here, but if the trend continues, it is easy to see that change on the back because, if not, Apple would repeat the design of the iPhone 16 for the third year. And that is not something that Apple people usually do. What will the screens of the new iPhone 18 be like? On the front, the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to feature a smaller dynamic island, but right now there are no leaks about that element of the iPhone 18. There have been reported some problems when carrying out this miniaturization, which would raise the price of the device and is something that, for the ‘cheaper’ iPhone 18, Apple would not want to allow itself. For the rest, the leaks point to an LTPO screen with a refresh rate up to 120 Hz and a diagonal of 6.3 inches. There are fewer leaked details (in general) than for the iPhone 18 Pro, something logical due to this supposed time lapse between one model or another, and it’s not like we have too much information on the screen either. The easiest? That the Pros do have that smaller Dynamic Island, but that with the iPhone 18 Apple maintains the size. What processor will the iPhone 18 have? Here what we can expect is a A20but with some cores and frequencies cut compared to the A20 Pro that, supposedly, will mount the iPhone 18 Pro. It will be a 2 nanometer chip manufactured by TSMC and, beyond the expected increase in power thanks to the new SoC, perhaps the most notable thing is the issue of RAM. From 8 GB, we would go to 12 GB of memory. They are the same ones that already have the iPhone 17 Prohe iPhone Air and those expected to mount the iPhone 18 Pro and the explanation when it comes to matching the amount of RAM is marked by the company’s ambition with the new Siri AI. The iPhone 18 will be mobile phones launched with the new Siri and Apple Intelligence in place and, to perform some actions locally, a considerable amount of RAM is necessary. It is clear that 12 GB is needed to have all the Siri AI and Apple Intelligence options The iPhone 17’s 8GB is adequate for certain tasks, but not for the more advanced Siri AI tasks (as Apple itself has detailed) and going up to 12 GB would be ideal to maintain parity in that experience with that AI that they are going to push so much from now on. What battery will … Read more

Europe’s secret weapon to win the electric battery war is not in the mines: it is in the garbage

by

The race for European energy sovereignty is being fought far from the large open pit mines. The new battlefield is located in a much more unexpected place: the garbage heap. The companies Vianode and Cylib they have forged an alliance to convert old batteries from scrapyards into high-performance components for new vehicles, the continent’s latest attempt to achieve supply chain independence. However, this scientific advance collides head-on with a real political earthquake. As anticipated at the time Reutersthe European Commission is evaluating whether to reverse or delay its star measure for five or more years: the ban on selling combustion cars from 2035. While technology shows that stopping dependence on foreign powers is possible, economic fear makes Brussels hesitate. The “unsung hero” at the bottom of the landfill. To understand the magnitude of the project, you have to look at a specific material. How do you define it? Aqua Metals, This is the “unsung hero” of lithium-ion batteries: graphite. This material is essential to create the anode (the negative pole of the battery) that allows energy to be stored and released efficiently. Although it is light compared to metals such as cobalt, graphite represents between 10% and 20% of the total weight of a cell. The underlying problem is geopolitical. Global demand for this mineral has skyrocketed, but Europe depends almost entirely on imports of virgin material controlled by external markets. The situation became critical when China, the world’s largest producer, announced severe restrictions for export. The answer to this vulnerability lies in what the industry knows as “black mass,” the dark dust that results from crushing discarded batteries. In this mixture, graphite can account for up to 50% of the content. Recycling has ceased to be a simple green initiative and has become a matter of industrial survival. Urban water-based mining. How exactly is that scrap metal transformed into cutting-edge components? The German company Cylib has developed its own technology based on water, named OLiC. This system is capable of recovering 90% of critical metals (lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and manganese) from spent batteries, reducing carbon emissions by 80% compared to traditional mining extraction. This development is not an improvised promise. By mid-2025, Cylib has already marked a milestone together with the Syensqo firm by producing high purity lithium hydroxide directly from this black mass using a proprietary selective solvent (CYANEX 936P). This achievement allowed different battery chemistries to be processed in a single operational line, preparing to more than comply with EU regulation, which will require recovering 80% of lithium by 2031. With the new alliance signed, the graphite recovered by Cylib will be delivered to the Norwegian firm Vianode, which will integrate it into the formulation of its advanced synthetic anodes. Its goal for 2030 is radical: emitting just 1.0 kg of CO2 for every kilo of graphite produced. As Dr. Lilian Schwich, co-founder of Cylib, summarized: “Circular does not mean making concessions. It means a competitive advantage for Europe.” The fracture of the industry in the mirror of 2035. Although recyclers demonstrate that material autonomy is technically viable, pressure from traditional manufacturers has fractured the automotive sector. Giants like Volkswagen or Stellantis They argue that the current goals They are not viable because consumers are reluctant to pay the extra cost of the electric vehicle and the charging infrastructure remains poor. Ford CEO Jim Farley himself publicly admitted that EU demands “are not a sustainable reality in Europe today,” pushing to save combustion engines through the use of synthetic biofuels. But this position is not unanimous. Purely electrical firms see this possible political delay as a strategic error that will give the market to China. Michael Lohscheller, CEO of the electric brand Polestar, was blunt in the face of regulatory uncertainty: “The technology is ready, the charging infrastructure is ready and consumers are ready. So what are we waiting for?” The great European paradox. Europe holds the key to its energy future in its own scrapyards. This year’s pilot plants and commercial agreements demonstrate that the circular ecosystem is a mature reality. The great paradox that remains in the air is evident: What will be the point of building the most advanced battery recycling technology on the planet if, out of fear of competition from foreign markets, Brussels decides to artificially extend the life of the exhaust pipe? European automotive independence may have been born in the trash, but it risks dying in the offices. Image | Pexels Xataka | Keeping combustion engines alive in 2035 leaves us with clear winners. Some called BMW, Porsche and Ferrari

Russia thought kyiv would fall within days. Four years later, the war in Ukraine has just “passed” the First World War

by

In 1914, millions of Europeans they were convinced that the war would end before Christmas. In fact, the expression “home by Christmas” became popular between soldiers and civilians who believed that the conflict would be rather brief. It ended up lasting more than four years and transforming Europe forever. More than a century later, the Ukrainian war has already grown longer. From days to historical milestone. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Kremlin expected a swift campaign that would culminate in the fall of kyiv within days. More than four years later, the reality is exactly the opposite: the war has reached the 1,569 days duration and has already officially surpassed to the First World War. What began as an operation designed to quickly overthrow the Ukrainian government has transformed into one of the longest and most consequential conflicts in recent European history, to the point that many Ukrainians they contemplate with concern another historical threshold even more distant: the duration of the Second World War. The inevitable comparison with 1914. The historians warn that comparisons with world wars have obvious limits due to the differences in scale, number of countries involved and volume of casualties. However, they consider that the war in Ukraine shares enough features with the First World War to become its closest parallel in more than a century. Both began lightning offensives aimed at achieving a decisive victory within a few weeks. Both the German advance to Paris in 1914 like the Russian push towards kyiv in 2022 came close to achieving their initial objectives before being stopped and forced to retreat. The return of trench warfare. After the failure of the initial offensives, both conflicts drifted towards long static fronts where artillery dominated the battlefield. The images from the trenches of eastern Ukraine quickly evoked scenes from France and Belgium during the Great War. Soldiers barely separated a few hundred meterscontinuous bombardments and small infantry assaults became the daily routine. The firepower forced combatants to bury themselves underground to survive, reproducing a pattern that seemed to belong definitively to the past. Drones change the rules. The main difference between both wars came from the air. The drones profoundly transformed the battlefield and ended up making even traditional trenches vulnerable. Permanent surveillance from the sky and the ability to attack with precision forced the replacement of long defensive lines by small scattered sheltersdifficult to detect and more resistant to attacks. In many areas, any open-air movement can be located and attacked in a matter of minutes, turning large areas of the front into veritable death zones controlled by unmanned systems. Tanks, bunkers and dispersal. Technological evolution has also reduced the prominence of some weapons that for decades symbolized modern warfare. Tanks, feared during the early stages of the invasion, have become on easy targets for drones and they appear less and less near the line of contact. Meanwhile, soldiers invest enormous efforts in building shelters each time more sophisticated and profound. Some bunkers incorporate specific designs to absorb explosions and increase the chances of survival, reflecting the extent to which physical protection is once again a vital issue in an attritional conflict. Destruction reminiscent of the last century. Although the casualty figures They are very inferior Like those of the First World War, the visual devastation is eerily familiar. Destroyed forests, towns reduced to ruins and fields covered in craters constantly appear in images captured by reconnaissance drones. Various military analysts hold that the lethality of the Ukrainian front is close to that of the great battles of a century ago, not because of the absolute number of deaths but because of the constant danger faced by those fighting on the front lines. Stagnation and the search for a way out. The slow pace of progress illustrates the nature of the conflict. In some recent operations, Russian forces have progressed at a pace even slower than that recorded in some of the most stagnant battles of the First World War. With negotiations practically paralyzed, neither side has yet found a formula to break the balance. Ukraine tries to weaken Russian economic capacity through attacks against energy infrastructures and oil companies while flooding the front with thousands of attack drones, seeking to impose unsustainable costs on the adversary. The final paradox is that a war that began with the promise of quick victory increasingly looks like to the Great War: a prolonged struggle of attrition, marked by technology and with no clear end in sight. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine In Xataka | The drone war has left a clear lesson for Ukraine: you can’t leave home without a 100-year-old machine gun In Xataka | In case there was not enough “gasoline” in 2026, the attack by a Russian drone has crossed a red line: that of Chernobyl

It took an engineer 17 years to build the Lamborghini Countach of his dreams from the basement of his house. The problem was getting it out.

by

There are motor fans. And then there’s Ken Imhoff. And this engineer from Wisconsin was not satisfied with having a poster of the Lamborghini Countach on his wall or with saving for years to buy one. He decided to make it himselfby hand, in the basement of his house. It took him 17 years. a movie. It all started in 1990, when Imhoff saw ‘Cannonball Run‘ (1981), directed by Hal Needham and featuring a Lamborghini Countach LP 400 S. Imhoff was amazed enough to make a decision that, seen from the outside, sounds crazy: build his own Lamborghini from scratch. How to build a Lamborghini in a basement. Imhoff began the project by erecting a wooden structure that served as a mold to shape the body panels. To work the aluminum he used an English wheel, a forming tool that allows you to create complex curves in sheet metal. He had to learn the hard way that welding too much at once causes deformations in the metal, so he perfected the technique with short, controlled welding points. The chassis is made of steel tube and the body is entirely made of aluminum. The model he used as a reference was the 1982 Countach LP 5000S. Details. To make the result as faithful as possible to the original, Imhoff incorporated authentic Lamborghini parts, such as the taillights, position lights, windshield and emblems. He even had replicas of the original wheels made from scratch. Where he did have to improvise was in the engine. And without the possibility of fitting an Italian V12, he opted for a Ford 351 Cleveland block, with forged pistons, polished cylinder heads and a more aggressive camshaft. The result was 514 horsepower at 6,800 rpm, according to collect CarBuzz. The transmission is a ZF five-speed and the suspension comes from a C4 Corvette. The whole thing weighs about 1,220 kilos, significantly less than a production Countach. The finish, almost at the level of a professional workshop. The body was painted in pearlescent metallic gray, a finish that has its own because it is usually more sensitive to any imperfection. The painting process was done in a professional paint booth, piece by piece (33 in total) because there was no way to get the booth into the basement. Each panel came out of the basement, was painted and carefully brought back down. Final sanding was done with 1,500 and 2,000 grit sandpaper, followed by three passes of the polisher. Just like point YouTube channel Wonder World, the shine achieved was difficult to distinguish from that of a factory car, according to those who saw it. Getting it out was an issue.. After 17 years working in the basement, Imhoff was faced with the task of removing the completed car from there. And one may wonder… Why wasn’t the project done outside or in the garage of his house? Well, according to Wonder World, Imhoff decided to do it there because the winters in his town are extremely cold, so he preferred to spend time in the basement, which is warmer. To get it out, they dug a dirt ramp outside, removed part of the basement wall and, with the help of a backhoe and some chains, pulled the car out by pulling it up the ramp over an improvised metal structure. It was the first time in 17 years that Imhoff was able to see his work in sunlight. On sale. Years after removing it from the basement, Imhoff noticed that the car was beginning to show signs of corrosion and concluded that he was not taking the proper care of it. “I’m doing you a disservice” and “actually it probably belongs to someone who may appreciate it more than I do,” counted Imhoff in words collected by the channel. So he put it up for sale on eBay with a starting price of $75,000. The bid reached 77,600, but the reserve price was not reached, so it did not end up selling on that occasion. Imhoff had invested around $65,000 in the project over almost two decades, as he confirmed. Ultimately, the car ended up selling to a Florida buyer for approximately $89,000, according to Wonder World. Since then, the car has continued to increase in value, as the Lambocars site public in 2023 that the current owner asked for $229,000 for it. It may seem absurd to have spent so much time building something and for the outcome to have been this. However, Imhoff ended up being honest with himself and decided that the value was not in having it, but in having built it and fulfilling his dream. In Xataka | This Aston Martin DB9 was sold for $57,000, but the craziest thing is not its price: it is the two flamethrowers it hides

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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