Month: June 2026

Aragon has the cure for the abandoned lands of the Pyrenees: cultivate medicinal herbs

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If he rural abandonment In Spain it is a reality that has existed for decades, in high mountain areas even more so: if it is already difficult to live in a small town, when it is in the middle of nowhere and to get there there is only one road full of curves, staying there means spending your life in difficult mode. Leaving means abandoning everything, including those lands that were once more or less productive and that now become pasture for bushes, soil degradation and fires. The Aragonese Pyrenees has extensions of abandoned cultivated land and a solution to give way to that wasted land: cultivate aromatic and medicinal plants. Goodbye to the wastelands. This initiative of the Aragon Agri-Food Research and Technology Center is part of the project Pyrenees4Climate. The pilot plot is in Espierre (Biescas, Huesca), it has been abandoned for 60 years and is located between 1,250 and 1,600 meters of altitude. The crop for these first tests is fine lavender, which is used to obtain essential oils for the pharmaceutical and perfumery industries. Why choose such inhospitable terrain to plant lavender? Precisely because the altitude and type of soil, unfavorable for other plants, are ideal for lavender, according to two decades of CITA research. But growing crops in high mountain terrain is not an easy task: as explains researcher Juliana Navarrothe conditioning of these farms has posed a technical and logistical challenge: steep slope, deep-rooted weeds, intensive stone clearing and even old stone walls for retaining land on plots that had never been mechanized. Why is it important. Because rural areas have been losing population and agricultural activity for decades and this project wants to recover vacant lands with crops that have a real market. This project seeks to regenerate high-value products, establish a young population in rural areas, preserve traditional knowledge about local plants and improve biodiversity, since aromatic plants attract bees and other pollinators. On the other hand, and as we mentioned previously, lavender and lavender are plants that are especially resistant to cold and drought, which makes them ideal for a Pyrenees that increasingly has drier summers and more irregular winters. Context. If the rural exodus in Spain has been a reality since the mid-20th century, in the case of high mountain areas the phenomenon is even more intense and documented: The abandonment of farmland in the Central Pyrenees has accelerated especially since the 1960s. The forest area has gained ground at the expense of traditional agricultural and livestock uses, which offers ambivalent results: there is more vegetation coverbut also increased risk of fire and loss of biodiversity associated with grasslands and open habitats. The LIFE program is the main financial instrument of the European Union for the environment and climate action since its inception in 1992. European funds provide 60% of the financing of the total budget, which guarantees its materialization and monitoring. Aragon is the territory where they will run more pilot tests: 14 of the 33 designed for the next seven years. How are they going to do it?. The operation model combines CITA’s institutional research with local entrepreneurs such as Ignacio Guallart Balet, promoter of the project and businessman from Zaragoza, originally from the Tena Valley and with experience in ecological mobility and circular economy. This point is important because it solves one of the great problems of agricultural research: the application of its research. The project also includes the development of a manual of good practices for mountain crops adapted to climate change and has a European scope: the Alps or the Carpathians are potential candidates for its application. Yes, but. While it is true that these medicinal plants can be sold dry, for the distillation of essential oils or for cosmetics, the reality is that the European market already has consolidated producers. in the south of France and the center of europe. Without a seal indicating protected origin or organic certification, competing in the market will be an arduous task. Bottom line: the profitability of the project is unclear. On the other hand, growing lavender also has its difficulties: it is true that it tolerates drought well, but in its first years it needs irrigation and the Pyrenees are already experiencing worrying changes in their rainfall regime. And there is another actor to take into account: wildlife, whose pressure on crops in high mountains can be significant. In Xataka | There is a corner of Spain where global warming is wreaking havoc: the Pyrenees are becoming “Mediterraneanized” In Xataka | If we want to know how climate change will affect the Pyrenees, we do not have to look at the heat or the snow. You have to study the caves Cover | Dina Spencer and Luise and Nic

It’s a very bad idea

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It’s sad, but we have normalized receiving scam attempts everywhere. An SMS from the Post Office tells you that it has not been able to deliver a package to you, on Instagram they tell you that you have won an iPhoneyour email spam box is saturated and now scams even arrive in the home mailbox. You may have been tempted to respond and troll the scammer a little, but it’s best not to. Why it is not a good idea to respond. It doesn’t matter if it’s just to make fun of you, answering sends a very clear message to whoever is on the other end: this phone number is active and its owner wants to talk. This means that more similar messages continue to reach you and also that your data continues to circulate on the dark web. Furthermore, security experts cited by the Wall Street Journal They warn that, if you have a very long conversation, you may end up giving out some details without realizing it, such as the country and city where you live, your age or details about your family. Scambaiting. It is what is known as the practice of intentionally interacting with scammers, generally pretending to be a naive victim to waste their time and give you a laugh. There are entire subreddits dedicated to this type of anecdotes, with users who maintain conversations for several weeks and share them with the community. There are even creators whose content focuses exclusively on the scambaitinglike the Scammer Payback YouTube channelin which the protagonist invents elaborate characters and the craziest situations. He has even collaborated with the authorities to dismantle scam networks. What should be done. The best is not participate in any way With these types of messages, do not even respond to ask them to stop contacting you. Rosario Fuentes, cybersecurity expert at TrendLife, says in WSJ that her golden rule is “ignore, block and report.” Of course, it goes without saying that you should never click on any link, even if it appears to be from your bank or a courier service. We have already seen too many times how the sender can be falsified, it is what is known as SMS spoofing and it also happens on phone calls. Tempting, but risky. It can be very tempting to make fun of someone who is trying to steal from you, but it is no joke. Whoever is on the other end has your contact information and can use it against you. have been given telephone harassment cases intense and even death threats. The scambaiters professionals warn It is not a good idea to do it if you do not have experience, and if you do it you have to take many precautions. The first thing is to create a false identity and, if you are going to make calls, use an alternative phone number or ideally VoIP services. If you are speaking from a computer, they recommend using a virtual machine to prevent them from accessing your system and of course a VPN. Don’t do it on social networks either. Finally, a personal anecdote. One day I received a message on Instagram from a man who claimed to be interested in being my sugar daddy All he asked me was to send him photos of my feet and he would pay me a fortune (I don’t remember how much, but it was a lot). It occurred to me to humor him, not for long, but just enough to laugh a little and share a couple of screenshots in my stories. Well, the scammer reported me to Instagram and they ended up penalizing me for “offering sexual services.” I tried to appeal to Meta, but it was of no use. Image | Xataka with Gemini In Xataka | Spain is still not able to eliminate spam calls. So the Government has a new plan: flog them

You also get the VAT on a coupon

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Making the leap to large diagonal screens is no longer an exclusive luxury of projectors. If you have plenty of space in the living room and are looking for a truly immersive experience, Carrefour now has this “Save the VAT” campaign available. TCL 85P8La giant television that you can take with you 1,355 euros and a coupon of almost 285 euros for future purchases. In addition, shipping is free and you can finance it in 10 installments if you have the Carrefour Pass card. Tv Qd-mini Led 85” Tcl 85p8l 4k Uhd Smart Tv The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A TV with cinema contrast thanks to MiniLED and Artificial Intelligence The great attraction of this model, beyond its impressive 215 centimeters of diagonal, is the use of a panel MiniLED. By using light diodes much smaller than those of a conventional LED television, it offers a zone lighting control extremely precise. This results in very deep blacks, good contrast and almost complete elimination of the halo effect around bright objects in dark scenes. To manage such a panel, TCL integrates a processor with Artificial Intelligence that analyzes content in real time. This engine is responsible for improving sharpness, optimizing color and efficiently rescaling content that is not in native 4K (such as DTT or old streaming platforms), making everything look sharp despite the enormous size of the screen. Additionally, it supports all major dynamic range standards, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+. This TV is not designed only for watching movies. If you are a player PS5, Xbox Series X or PC you will find, in this model, a giant high-performance monitor thanks to its 144 Hz refresh rate. This figure guarantees absolute fluidity in fast-action games, reducing latency to a minimum. The sound section is signed by Onkyo and its speakers come standard with compatibility with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, to create a surround sound atmosphere in the living room. Finally, it can be noted that it comes with Google TV as an operating system, one of the most fluid on the market. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: TCL 85P8L smart tv ✅ THE BEST Absolute cinematic immersion: There is nothing that compares to watching 85-inch cinema with MiniLED technology. By having thousands of light control zones, you get a depth of blacks that is very close to OLED, but with a much more powerful brightness. A beast for gaming: having native 144hz in this size is crazy. If you connect a powerful PC or a latest generation console, the fluidity is total. Plus, it includes full HDMI 2.1 ports to take advantage of all the modern features. ❌ THE WORST Size is a double-edged sword… You need a huge piece of furniture or an ultra-strong wall mount (and a brick wall, no thin plasterboard). Additionally, if you sit less than three meters away, you may begin to notice eye strain if you are not used to it. Image processing… Although TCL’s AI is good, the rescaling of low-quality content (such as old DTT channels) is not as fine as that of Sony or LG processors. At 85 inches, any image imperfections are much more noticeable. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are one of those who turns off the lights and wants to feel like you are at the cinema every night. With Dolby Vision and this size, the cinema experience is guaranteed. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… 80% of the time on TV is to watch the news or old channels, you are going to see a lot of pixels and artifacts. Such a large screen demands high-quality content. Some sound bars that may interest you for this TV TCL Q65H Sound Bar 3.1.2, 340W The price could vary. We earn commission from these links TCL Q85H Sound Bar 7.1.4, 860W The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Webedia and TCL In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

We fill the field with solar panels to stop climate change. We have unintentionally saved 122 species of bees

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There’s a hum under Minnesota solar panels that engineers didn’t put in the plans. It is a biological, dense, ancient hum. Beneath the photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into electricity, 122 species of native bees have found something that has been disappearing from the fields of half the world for decades: flowers. It’s not a coincidence. It is the result of a management decision that costs money, requires planning and that, according to the latest science, is producing results that no one expected when the first solar panel was installed in a meadow. The bees are disappearing. A study published in Nature Ecology & Evolutionwith data from 681 agricultural fields on three continents and more than 19,500 specimens of 910 species of wild bees, reached an uncomfortable conclusion: pesticides and habitat loss are reducing bee populations in an additive, independent way, without one factor compensating for the other. That is, having more natural habitat around a field does not neutralize the damage from pesticides. And reducing pesticides is not enough if the habitat has disappeared. They are two different problems that require two different solutions. The work, led by Anina Knauer and researchers from Agroscope among other institutions, found that pesticides not only reduce the number of bees: they also reduce their functional and phylogenetic diversity. Communities not only become smaller, they become simpler, less resilient, less able to cope with future shocks. A desert with seasonal flowers. In Iowa, in the heart of the American Corn Belt, 72% of the territory is covered in corn and soybean monocultures. Less than 0.01% of the original prairie remains standing. This is what researchers at Iowa State University publish in BioScience described as “an extreme example of landscape simplification”. Bees literally have very little to go to. And when the soybeans stop flowering at the end of summer, there is nothing. The colonies enter what science calls the feast-famine dynamic: the festival of flowering followed by famine that kills hives before winter. This is the background scenario. An agricultural world that urgently needs more pollinator habitat, free of pesticides or with minimal exposure. And in that desert, solar panels are doing something no one expected. 14 floors. 122 species. And an unexpected star. A team of researchers led by Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar of Western EcoSystems Technology and James McCall of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory asked a very specific question: Of all the plants that can be grown under and around solar panels, which ones actually establish? And how many bees can they hold? The work, published in Environmental Research Communicationstested 101 plant species in eight different seed mixtures at three solar farms in the tallgrass prairie region of Minnesota. After three years of monitoring, 14 species of flowering herbaceous plants had successfully established themselves. With those 14 species as a starting point, the researchers cross-referenced the data with an exhaustive catalog of plant-bee interactions from the same region. The result is that those 14 plants can support 122 unique species of native bees, 24% of all bee diversity in the state of Minnesota, which has 508 documented species. The star of the system is Zizia aureathe golden Alexander, a yellow flowering plant that blooms early in the season. Alone, it supports 67 species of bees. And 36 of those species—30% of the total study—only visited Zizia aurea among all the plants studied. If it is not in the seed mix of the solar park, those 36 species have nothing. Not all flowers are worth the same. The study also documents an important nuance: bumblebees, the group of pollinators with the most species in decline—three of the eleven species of Bombus of the study are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN: B. pensylvanicus, B. terrestrial and B. fervidus—they don’t get along with Zizia aurea. Only one species of bumblebee visited that plant. Bumblebees prefer Monarda fistulosathe wild bergamot, visited by nine of the eleven species of Bombus of the study. The practical lesson: there is no universal mix. The design of what is planted must respond to what is to be conserved. And what if there are pesticides in the surrounding fields? He study by Toth and colleagues in BioSciencewith more than a decade of data on strips of native prairie embedded in corn and soybean fields in Iowa, systematically reviewed chemical contamination in that type of habitat. Pesticides arrive—neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, fungicides—but in concentrations that, for the best studied species, are below the damage thresholds. And most importantly: the concentrations are no higher than in the rest of the surrounding agricultural landscape. They are not an ecological trap; They are an island of resources in a sea of ​​fields that already have pesticides on them anyway. In addition, a diet rich in quality pollen—exactly what these plants provide—makes bees better tolerate chemical exposure. Nutrition acts as a shield. The authors of that work themselves explicitly point out that their conclusions are applicable to “other types of landscape improvements for pollinators such as hedgerows, pollinator gardens, solar installations with pollinator habitat.” It is not a journalistic extrapolation. It’s in the text of the paper. If there are flowers inside there are bumblebees. If field studies answer the “does it work now?” published in Global Change Biology by Hollie Blaydes and colleagues at Lancaster University answers “will it still work in 2050?” The team modeled the 1,042 operational solar farms in Britain under three socio-economic scenarios for mid-century: a sustainability scenario, an intermediate scenario and a fossil development scenario with maximum agricultural intensification. The main finding is compelling: the management of the solar park is the main determining factor of bumblebee density within the park, above land use changes in the surrounding landscape. Solar parks last between 25 and 40 years. That means decades of stable habitat in landscapes that are going to change and possibly get worse for pollinators. And there is an economic angle that is not minor either. Colonies located near diverse native vegetation avoid feast-famine dynamic which in monocultures weakens … Read more

Millions of teenagers have turned AI into their go-to psychologist. It is an unprecedented challenge for medicine

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In society there is a fairly well-established debate about how affect social networks to the mental health of the youngest and there is even debate about the possible consequences they have, going so far as to propose very clear limits to access them. However, while the focus was on the recommendation algorithms of TikTok or Instagram, a new trend has been quietly growing on the screens of millions of teenagers: the use of generative AI as a therapist. New therapies. Here, research led by the RAND Corporation has put on the table the magnitude of this phenomenon when analyzing a sample of 1,058 young people between 12 and 21 years old. And the figures paint a quite revealing picture by pointing out that 13.1% of adolescents and young adults use generative artificial intelligence to obtain advice about their mental health. But the most worrying thing is that this percentage shoots up to 22.2% if we look exclusively at the oldest age group, that is, those between 18 and 21 years old. And although it can be defended as something specific, the reality is that 65.5 of these users turn to AI on a monthly or even greater frequency. Works? The most striking thing we have learned from this study is not only that young people consider AI as a psychologist, but that those who attend leave quite happy, since 92.7% of users stated that they found the advice provided by the AI ​​useful. And among the reasons they give for their satisfaction, what stands out above all is the possibility of resorting to their ‘services’ at any time, the absence of economic barriers and, above all, the feeling of privacy and lack of human judgment. All of this together is turning large AI models into the first line of emotional support for Generation Z. The other side of the coin. Just because a tool is perceived as useful by the user does not mean that it is clinically safe, because the intersection between generative technology and psychiatry is a minefield, and major medical institutions are already raising their hands. In summer 2025, the American Psychological Association issued an official warning about the risks of relying on AI for the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorders. Among the reasons they give, it stands out that language models are designed to predict the most likely next word and sound empathetic and convincing, but they lack real understanding, clinical context and the ability to manage severe crises. The security. Added to this warning is the devastating context contributed by researchers from Stanford University, who also in 2025 evaluated the responses of several chatbots to mental health queries. Their conclusion was worrying as they saw that in 1 in 5 cases, the artificial intelligence provided advice that was unsafe or inappropriate for the user’s situation. A real challenge. Right now we are at an inflection point where AI is filling a huge gap in a mental health system that, globally, is collapsed and inaccessible for a large part of the young population. And furthermore, prohibiting or blocking access to these tools does not seem like a realistic solution in the face of millions of users who have already integrated them into their emotional well-being routine. That is why the real challenge for technology companies and health agencies is twofold: on the one hand, improving the security barriers of the models so that they refer users to human emergency services when necessary. Images | Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦 In Xataka | There is a weapon of mass destruction against our ability to remember things: stress

an underwater cable through the North Pole

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He 99% of international internet data traffic travels through fiber optic cables that run along the bottom of seas and oceans. There is a kind of Google Maps of underwater cables where you can see its trajectory to discover that, while there are areas that are true wastelands, in others there are tangles of cables that clump together. Precisely these areas are critical for potential accidents and attacks. Well, 90% of the capacity of the Europe-Asia cables happens through a region that is anything but calm: the Red Sea. In times of peace these cables work well, but in conflicts they are a real candy for sabotage: they are “abandoned” to their fate in the middle of nowhere, they are strategic and repairing them is not exactly easy or convenient. And in fact, in the case of these Europe – Asia cables it has already happened: in 2024 a Houthi missile impact a cargo ship in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and its drifting anchor cut three underwater cables. Repair ships were able to enter four months later. In September 2025, history repeated itself. The Achilles heel is clear and Europe wants to solve it by detouring around the North Pole. The alternative route: Polar Connect. The European Union, through its resilience panel, has recommended building two Arctic cables to reach Asia by avoiding the Red Sea: one would go through the Canadian Northwest Passage and the other would connect Scandinavia with Asia by directly crossing the North Pole. The latter is precisely the Polar Connect. Said and done: the EU you have already labeled this cable as “Cable Project of European Interest” and has already prepared the first funds for its construction. The total estimated cost is around €2 billion and the operational goal is 2030. Behind the project is the Nordic research and education network NORDUnetNordic network operators such as GlobalConnect Carrier and the Swedish polar research agency. This summer probably they will do a study of the route. Why is it important. Because submarine cables are the roads that keep the world in which we live connected: corporate communications, cloud services, finance, streaming, security… and the fact that the majority of connections between Europe and Asia occur through a corridor in persistent conflict increases the risk of blackouts between both continents. This cable seeks to minimize geopolitical risk while reducing latency in data transmission. On the other hand, there is its strategic dimension: Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon now represent more than 70% of all submarine cable capacity consumed globally, compared to less than 10% a decade ago, according to TeleGeography data and GlobalData. Europe does not have any route of its own to Asia. How Polar Connect collects in your white paperthe three current options between Europe and Asia are the Red Sea, Russia or passing through the United States and none are under European sovereignty. The two new cables to connect Europe and Asia via the Arctic route. NORDUnet Context. The Red Sea and its surroundings have been an almost continuous hornet’s nest since at least the 1950s: the Suez crisis, the Six Day War, Yom Kippur… so as Roderick Beck, a cable industry veteran who is dedicated to finding telecommunications capacity for internet service providers, explains for The Verge: The industry looked for alternatives in the Persian Gulf, but it is not exactly an oil raft either: The United States attacks on Iran in 2025 also closed that route. That said, the geopolitical context in the Arctic is not neutral either. Historically to run a cable through the arctic was necessary a partnership with Russia, but since the war with Ukraine, the North Pole corridor lacks of western intercontinental connectivity. However, it will not be easy: others have tried it before and failed, such as Quintillion on the north coast of Alaska. They activated a section of cable, but the ice broke it twice and to repair it it is necessary either to have an icebreaking ship to repair the cable or to wait until summer. How do they want to do it?. He plan is connecting the Nordic region with Japan and South Korea via fiber optics under the Arctic Ocean with possible branches to North America. Regarding financing, at the end of 2024 were approved 44.6 million euros from the Connecting Europe Facility program for the first phases. Polar Connect will also have with advanced sensors for environmental and climate monitoring, so that it would function as a telecommunications infrastructure and an Arctic scientific research instrument. The project is complemented by Far North Fiber, another Arctic cable that would take the Canadian Northwest Passage route. Together they would form a network with mutual redundancy: when one fails, the other takes over the traffic. As it says the CEO of NORDUnet himselfValter Nordh: “both routes have strengths and weaknesses, which is why they complement each other well.” Yes, but. Designing, building and installing an underwater cable is not a small project, but the main problem that Polar Connect is going to face has already been glimpsed in the failed Quintillion project: the obstacle is maintenance. The ice cuts and the icebergs drag the seabed to depths greater than those that allow the cable to be buried in a phenomenon known as ice scour. If there is a break in winter, we have to wait until summer to repair it simply because there are no ships capable of breaking ice and laying cables at the same time. Alan Mauldin, research director at TeleGeography, one of the leading research companies in the sector, he says it bluntly: “We’ve seen a lot of (Arctic cable) projects happen. There’s a reason for that, right? It’s very complicated.” In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them In Xataka | The first great Atlantic submarine cable that connected us to the internet says goodbye for a simple reason: it was too expensive to repair it Cover | PxHere … Read more

This is how a supermassive black hole wakes up

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A team of scientists led by Riccardo Middei, from the INAF Astronomical Observatory in Rome, has monitored the step by step of a black hole “resurrecting” after “taking a break.” After monitoring for six years the galaxy that houses ithave been able to see how, after a clear decrease in its brightness, its activity increased significantly. This has allowed them confirm that some standards of physics were very well calculated. However, it has also been detected that some may not have been entirely correct. It’s actually more than six years.. All part of the observations of the Seyfert galaxy ESO 511-G030 that were made in 2007 and 2019 during the mission XMM Newton. It was found that the brightness of the center of the galaxy was 10 times weaker in 2019, whether measured in ultraviolet or when X-rays were detected. A previous detection indicated an increase in 2012, but since there were no measurements between 2012 and 2019, it was not possible to know exactly what happened in that period. The authors of the study that has just been published They wanted to have continuous monitoring, so they took regular data with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from 2019 to 2025. Thus, they saw that, indeed, in 2019 the black hole at the center of the galaxy had practically fallen asleep. However, in 2021 a recovery began to be detected, first in the brightness measured in ultraviolet and then in X-rays. The black hole was waking up. An active galactic nucleus. The Seyfert galaxy is a galactically active nucleus. That is, it emits a brightness higher than that which would correspond to the sum of all its stars. This is because at its center there is an active supermassive black hole. This attracts all matter that gets too close to it. In fact, from a boundary known as the event horizon, not even light can escape. Throughout this process of falling into the black hole, a lot of radiation is emitted. Knowing this, we can see two parts in the black hole. On the one hand, the accretion disk, a rotating ring of hot gas and matter falling into the black hole. During its rotation, it emits optical light and ultraviolet radiation. On the other hand, on this disk is the corona, composed of hot plasma, whose emissions are mainly X-rays. This is the reason why, to measure the activity of a black hole, data are taken in both ultraviolet and Step by step. The reactivation of the black hole occurred in two parts. First of all, the brightness in the ultraviolet clearly increased, between 2021 and 2023. Then, between 2022 and 2023 it was the turn of the X-rays. Therefore, it can be said that first the activity increased in the accretion disk and then in the corona of the black hole. size doesn’t matter. By eliminating the contribution corresponding to the stars of the galaxy, the brightness corresponding to the black hole increased by 20 to 30 times. It was a radical increase in activity, which came at just the right time. And scientists calculate that the transition occurred at just under 1% of its Eddington rate. This is a theoretical figure that describes the universal threshold at which a black hole can accrete or attract matter before radiation pressure expels the incoming gas. For it to truly be a universal figure, as predicted, it would have to be equivalent for both very large black holes and stellar ones. In the stars it has already been measured. Now, in this one, which has a mass equal to 17 million times that of the Sun, the figure is practically the same, so it can be considered universal. What doesn’t add up. The limit from which the black hole “falls asleep and wakes up” seems to coincide with the theory, but there is something that does not fit so much: the speed at which it does so. Both the fade and the recovery occurred too quickly than estimated in the standard models. Therefore, it is clear that the models still have a lot to perfect. To be able to do this, it will be necessary to study more galaxies like this one. Comes into play Vera Rubin Observatoryin which so many astronomers are placing their hopes. Thus, based on observations, the missing piece may be found. Image | POT In Xataka | We already know in which region of the solar system Planet 9 must be (if it really exists)

The Silver Route seemed like the perfect train for the Spanish west. They seek to recover it with one objective: forget about Madrid

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Cáceres and Salamanca are separated by just 200 kilometers but the journey takes seven hours in the best of cases and requires passing through Madrid. We talked, of course, about going by train. And the capitals of these two provinces represent one of the biggest railway holes that our country has. The situation is not unique in Spain (from Murcia to Granada you also have to go through Madrid) but perhaps it is more bloody because one day there was that option that structured the west of Spain. It was known as the Silver Route. Now, more than 40 years after its closure, there are those who continue fighting for its reopening. A line that was born sentenced From Seville to Gijón, passing through Mérida, Cáceres, Salamanca, León or Oviedo. The Silver Route It was designed as a railway corridor for passengers and goods away from the large Spanish economic centers. It was about finding an alternative so that not everything went through Madrid, Bilbao or Barcelona. And, curiously, its origin must be sought very far from these cities. It was in Paris in 1877 when the contract was signed to build a railway between Palazuelo (current Monfragüe station) and Astorga, they explain in The Extremadura Newspaper. The project was ambitious as it passed through a lot of unpopulated area in its attempt to connect the north of Extremadura with Salamanca, Zamora and León. Yet, the line went ahead in the last years of the 19th century. Between 1893 and 1896, the four sections that would end up forming the most representative axis of the line were inaugurated from south to north. This was the backbone of a road that connected to the south with the Mérida-Seville section and the Venta de Baños-Gijón in the north. Without a large city to drive it and without direct access to a large port, the line was falling into ostracism. First, because the State did not find sufficient reasons to modernize it and, at least, electrify it. And without investments, the tortuous path became less attractive for passengers and companies. The axis survived the Civil War but beforehand an investment had been requested that never arrived. In 1933, the iron bridges were replaced by steel ones but no major efforts were made. In the following years, they point out in the local mediaderailments and accidents multiplied due to lack of investment. For decades, once sentenced, the line remained open but in 1984 its definitive closure was confirmed. By then, the trains were barely running at 50 km/h, an average speed lower than that recorded during their opening. A train bus accident in 1981 in which a woman died put the finishing touches on a decision that began decades ago when no one wanted to invest in the western axis. Let it come back! Today, the connection between Cáceres and Seville, passing through Mérida, continues to exist, although it is a single-lane railway and is not electrified. The connection between Salamanca and Gijón is also maintained. But how you can see on this Adif mapa hole separates Cáceres and Salamanca. From Plasencia, you will see a green line leaving towards the north. In Salamanca, another leaves in a southerly direction. Are they projects to recover this train? No, they are Greenwaysconditioning of the old railway section to convert them into easy paths for walking, running or cycling. What some institutions have been demanding for years is that these Greenways are not the only vestige that remains from those days. In 2023, the city councils of Salamanca, Cáceres, Béjar, Plasencia Guijuelo and Hervás together with the Chambers of Commerce of those first three cities signed an institutional declaration demanding the return of the train. “Employment, creation of opportunities, logistical development, diversification of the productive system and stopping depopulation,” with these words they began a text to justify their demands. It pointed out some technical issues such as that the section between Plasencia and Salamanca has 4G network coverage on 90% of the route. But, above all, it was remembered that the new train could be an alternative route for the transport of goods in the western area, capable of connecting the Atlantic ports in the north with those in the south without passing through Madrid. This was the premise, in fact, with which the idea of ​​resurrecting the West Corridorunder the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. A project that, as they remember in the text, was not carried out. in the diary Today They collected information that the Gijón Chamber of Commerce put on the table in 2022 to defend this line: it could capture up to 625,000 journeys for goods which now carry trucks going up the A-66, also known as Vía de la Plata. Beyond unfulfilled promises (in addition to Zapatero, José María Aznar also promised to reopen the line after Felipe González closed it to passengers in 1984 and to goods well into the 90s), one of the biggest problems that this Western Corridor has is that it does not fall within the plans of the European Union as far as the railway is concerned. The Trans-European Transport Network ignores this and maintains that hole already mentioned between Cáceres and Salamanca and Salamanca and the south of Asturias if it is not passing through Valladolid. Regardless of whether we are talking about a passenger or freight network, the result is the same. That is why from the Corredor Oeste platform, together with the city councils and the rest of the local organizations, They have been organizing mobilizations and meetings to press and get the project taken to Europe. According to his calculations, it would hardly be necessary to invest 1.9 billion eurosvery far from what is being invested in other corridors such as the Mediterranean, which already exceed 8,000 million in investment. They also defend that the new Silver Route railway would be key to connecting the Atlantic Corridor, which does have European approval, with the Spanish south, offering a … Read more

release 64 million mosquitoes

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Eliminating disease-carrying mosquitoes is not an easy mission nor can it be carried out improvisedly. And if not, tell Verily, the subsidiary of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), which has been trying since 2017 with his DebugProject. How are they doing it? With artificial intelligence, robots and, as incredible as it may sound, with many, many mosquitoes. Verily’s latest move has been formally request to the United States Environmental Protection Agency permission to release up to 64 million mosquitoes over the next two years in the states of California and Florida. 64 million mosquitoes in your area. Verily has asked the EPA for authorization to release up to 32 million male mosquitoes of the species Culex quinquefasciatus bacteria carriers Wolbachia pipientis for two years in Florida and California respectively at a rate of 16 million the first year and another 16 million the next. At the time of this writing the public comment period was about to close (June 5). From that moment, the EPA makes the decision whether to approve it or not or whether to put conditions on the test. The objective of this mosquito bombardment that works as a biological pesticide is to obtain the necessary field data to, with EPA permission, market this pest control solution. Why is it important. The Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito is an old and feared acquaintance: it is the species responsible for transmitting the parasites of the avian malariaviruses West Nileof the rift valley fever and of the St. Louis encephalitis. West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne illness in the continental United States, causing an average of 2,000 cases of illness per year and about 120 deaths. according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On a global scale, the problem is greater: there is approximately 400 million cases of dengue per year and are estimated about 40,000 associated deaths. Finding a solution without chemical insecticides through biological control can be a true public health milestone with global impact. Context. There are compelling scientific reasons behind it: in Singapore, a clinical trial with more than 700,000 residents demonstrated that releases of mosquitoes with Wolbachia reduced the risk of dengue by more than 70%. Without going any further, the Debug Project free more than 10 million male mosquitoes per week in Singapore. In Fresno, California, between 7.5 and 14.4 million infected male mosquitoes were released between 2017 and 2018. The result was a reduction in the mosquito vector population of up to 93-95%. In detail. The mechanism behind this “biological pesticide” is relatively simple: only male (non-biting) mosquitoes that have been inoculated with Wolbachia are released. When they mate with wild females that do not have the same bacterial strain, the resulting eggs do not hatch. As several releases occur, the local population is reduced. And what does all this have to do with AI? Google uses artificial intelligence and automation to separate mosquitoes by sex, breed them and release them on a large scale and in a systematic way. Yes, but. All that glitters is not gold. The bacteria does not work with 100% reliability in all cases, as evidence this 2024 study where they concluded that between 6% and 75% of the eggs could produce live embryos under certain conditions. Come on, there is no guaranteed 100% sterility. On the other hand, in 2022 another study from the Verily/Debug team itself Google revealed that automated mosquito release systems were still in “prototype stages or very early versions.” In Xataka | We have spent years inventing everything to get rid of mosquitoes. Now we have a promising weapon: a laser that detects them and fries them In Xataka | Anti-mosquito repellents have been effective for 40 years. Now mosquitoes are learning to appreciate them Cover | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Karollyne Videira Hubert

Where you can watch the 2026 World Cup depending on the operator you have

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Let’s tell you with which operators you can watch the 2026 World Cup soccer. The 2026 FIFA World Cup starts on June 11 according to the calendarand if you want to watch the games, you may still not be clear about the network of channels and platforms that offer it. We are going to start the article by telling you What games will you be able to watch for free? on Spanish Television. And then, we will tell you which operators you will have the option to watch the World Cup matches with and what the characteristics of these offers are. What matches can be seen for free RTVE It has the rights to broadcast the World Cup openly. With them, you will be able watch all the matches of the Spanish National Team for freethe opening match on June 11 that pits Mexico against South Africa, the two semifinals, the match for third and fourth place, and the final that will be held on July 19. In total, Spanish Television will broadcast 33 matches through La1 on DTT, and you can also watch them streaming with the RTVE Play application. Being public television, all operators that include DTT in their television packages will allow you to watch the games. The operators that include DTT are Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, DIGI, Jazztel, Yoigo, MásMóvil or Pepephone among others. You can also see them on the OTTs of Movistar Plus and Orange TV Libre. Where can you watch paid matches In addition to the free matches, the rights to the exclusive paid matches belong to DAZN. In total, DAZN has another 71 exclusive matchesand operators such as Movistar or Orange have reached agreements with them to be able to offer the 104 world cup matches to its users. Therefore, the football offer of each operator it remains as follows: Movistar: Users who have contracted the LaLiga package with its additional 36 euros will be able to watch the matches on Movistar Plus. Also those who have contracted the Total Football package of 50 euros per month. If you don’t have one of those packages, your only option will be to contract them for two months and then cancel. We already warned you that either you take advantage of a promotion, or it will be more expensive than hiring DAZN on your own. Orange: Users who have Orange TV and have subscribed to football in their convergent rate will have DAZN Mundial available on Orange TV. The rest will have to buy a package with football to be able to watch the World Cup in its entirety and cancel it later. Of course, if you are going to do it, be careful with the permanence. Vodafone, Yoigo, MásMóvil and regional operators of the former Euskaltel Group (Telecable, R and Euskaltel): Your users will be able to add the Premium package (old Pro plan) of DAZN with DAZN World to their convergent rates, manage the subscription and pay them on the same invoice. Some may have a bit of a discount compared to the official DAZN price if you buy it on your own. If you do not have it contracted, keep in mind that you must maintain the subscription for a minimum of two months and you will have to use the DAZN app to watch the games. Digi, O2, Lowi, Pepephone and Finetwork: Users of these and other operators that do not offer an option to contract DAZN internally will have to subscribe on their own outside the operator. If this is your case, you will have to do it from the DAZN Spain website. In Xataka Basics | Apps for football results: the best 14 applications to receive notifications and see match statistics

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