Month: July 2026

After 40 years in the Galician sea, the radioactive drums are in a critical state of deterioration. The solution may be worse than letting it be

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“There is no life down there.” For decades it was almost a legend among activists and oceanographers: a giant landfill, with hundreds of thousands of radioactive drums, abandoned in the abyssal plain of the Atlantic. The problem is that there was life and they were killing it. A little less than 300 nautical miles from Cape Fisterra in Galicia – just over 500 kilometers – the Nodssum Project, which is already on its third expedition, has sounded the alarm. Far from the myth, French scientific missions They located thousands of barrels, went down with manned submarines, photographed leaks and measured radionuclides above what was expected. 220,000 barrels They only found a thousand. The rest, some 100,000 tons of nuclear waste, lay at the bottom and was carried away by the currents, its contents scattered. Now, with just over 3,500 barrels located, it is concluded that they are suffering from an “advanced state of deterioration”, according to researchers from the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). A cemetery under the Atlantic. Where does all this come from? The drama began in 1946. And until the early 1990s, British, Dutch, Belgian, French and other European ships continuously dumped low- and medium-level radioactive waste at the bottom of the Atlantic. They are concentrated in an area of ​​about 10,000 square kilometers, at a depth of 4,000–5,000 meters. It is, without hot cloths, the third largest landfill of canned nuclear waste known on the planet. Inside there are no fuel rods, but rather civil and military nuclear waste: sludge, gloves, laboratory equipment, medical remains, resins, contaminated scrap metal, encapsulated in cement or tar to withstand the pressure of the deep ocean. When the landfill began to be mapped, they did not even document 1% of the total. To date, just over 3,000 barrels have been located, identified with the autonomous robot UlyX and high-resolution sonar. A longliner and a lot coraxe. The They came between two freighters that were dumping garbage to the Atlantic Trench. The press took notice and that practice bounced around in newspapers around the world. The protests had an effect, because the European body in charge of controlling this waste declared a moratorium on discharges. Moratorium that is still in force today. The first NODSSUM-I campaign focused on making the invisible visible. since a decadethe expedition has been expanding the mapped area to about 140 square kilometers, with densities of about 20 drums per square kilometer and more than 3,350 barrels cataloged. The great novelty came with the manned submarine Nautile, which made it possible to directly observe the state of the barrels at more than 4,000 meters deep. It was then that the real state could be noticed. Barrels in the last. Corroded surfaces, colonization of anemones, open cracks in dents and leaks of encapsulating material – with tar and cement overflowing – in some containers, in addition to the detection of radionuclides above what was expected. The sea salt is slowly eating away some brass lacking the necessary security. The expedition has taken 345 samples of sediment, about 5,000 liters of water and specimens of abyssal fauna (fish, amphipods, small crustaceans) to analyze them in the laboratory with precision one hundred times greater than that of the instruments on board. To date, no “anomalies” have been found in the sediments and, although the radionuclides are below legal limitsthey do exceed all previous estimates. Rescue them… or leave them where they are. The current objective is to contain the threat. Can 200,000 drums be removed from the bottom of the Atlantic? Technically, yes; Politically, economically and in terms of risk, things get complicated. The Nuclear Safety Council insists on a clear message: the Galician and Cantabrian coastal waters do not show significant levels of radioactivity, below the limits set by Spanish and European regulations. And Spain does not even have responsibilities, since it did not dump waste into the Atlantic trench. In fact, the problem goes beyond the astronomical cost: many barrels are so degraded that they could disintegrate in the lifting process. If deterioration continues, will there be greater problems resulting from bioaccumulation? How does it affect the abyssal food chain? This is exactly what you are looking to answer. At the same time, we are trying to study this deep habitat full of organisms adapted to a darkness that now coexists with an 80-year-old nuclear legacy. Images | BNG (by Wolcott Henry), Flickr (owned by Tomas Vazquez) and Campagne NODSSUM, CNRS, Flotte oceanographique française. In Xataka | 800 meters deep in a 175 million year old rock: Germany’s solution to nuclear waste In Xataka | The big problem with nuclear energy has always been its waste. Russia can now recycle them up to five times

MediaMarkt is selling off these Google Pixel 10 Pro XL and 10a phones in its outlet, with some brand new models

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MediaMarkt has an outlet that is accessed through eBay and where we can find devices of all types at a very good price. This time we are going to focus on mobile phones and, more specifically, on Google Pixels. Are you looking for one of the best Google phones to date? Well, you might be interested in this one. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: comes out 849.15 euros. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, Moonstone, 256 GB, 16 GB RAM, 6.8″ Super The price could vary. We earn commission from these links If you prefer a cheaper alternative, but one that is also within the Google ecosystem, then the Google Pixel 10a. We brought it to you a few days ago at one of its best prices, but today it’s even cheaper at the MediaMarkt outlet: you can buy it for 439 euros and it is brand new. Google Pixel 10a – 7 years of New Updates and Features, 30+ Hours of Battery, Camera Assistant, Gemini Live, Pixel Security – Fog Gray, 128GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Great price for one of the best Google phones This Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is an exhibition device from one of the MediaMarkt stores. Despite this, We will have the corresponding legal guarantee and shipping is free. Additionally, MediaMarkt offers a 30-day return period in case there is a problem. This Pixel is a top option if you are looking for a large phone and want a pure Android experience. The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL stands out for its 6.8-inch OLED screen with a good peak brightness of 3,300 nits, so we can see it well even outdoors. Inside is the Tensor G5 chip, one that is not as powerful as other high-end options, but that offers very good performance. This version of the device has 256 GB of storage and 16 GB of RAM, something that, together with its seven years of guaranteed updates, It will make us have a long-lasting mobile. To this we must add a photographic section that performs at a high level, many artificial intelligence tools and a well-optimized 5,200 mAh battery. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: pixel 10a from the mediamarkt outlet ✅ THE BEST It is the best of the Pixel 10: Although the other Pixel 10s are very good phones, this one beats them in screen size and battery. Seven years of updates: It is a high-end mobile that will receive support for many years, which means that we do not have to worry about renewing the mobile for a long time. ❌ THE WORST It is an exhibition phone: It is a phone that has been displayed in a store with everything that entails. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for a high-end Android mobile, you want one from Google and your goal is to spend as little as possible. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… Do you prefer to buy a completely new mobile or do you prefer to wait for it to download in one of its configurations with more storage. You may also be interested XIAOMI 17 – 12+512GB Smartphone, Leica Summilux optical lenses, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, HyperAI, 1 year Extra warranty, Charger not included, Black (ES Version) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links XIAOMI POCO 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 | MediaMarkt, Google, Xataka In Xataka | Best mobile phones in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and ten recommended models In Xataka | Best mobile phones 2026. Which one to buy based on use and six recommended models

Spain has the key to the next invasion of the Pentagon

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In 1942, while preparing Operation Torch to land tens of thousands of Allied soldiers in North Africa, General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived to a conclusion that would mark American military strategy for the following decades: a war does not depend only on soldiers or weapons, but on the ability to move them to the right place. That operation turned the Strait of Gibraltar into an essential piece. More than 80 years later, the map still says practically the same thing. The US threatens, the truth is very different. donald trump hardened again his speech against Spain to the point of proposing the breakdown of commercial relations due to discrepancies over military spending and the position of the Spanish Government within NATO. On paper, it seemed like the beginning of a rift between both countries. However, it is enough to observe the movements of the Department of Defense itself to discover an obvious contradiction: while the White House raises the political tone, the Pentagon continues allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to reinforce the two most important US military bases in southern Europe. In fact, hours later Trump himself turned back to the threats: “I must admit that I had problems with Spain, and I still do, but today Spain completely redeemed itself. Spain was very generous today. They agreed to an important payment request, and if they had not done so, we would not have even spoken to them,” he indicated. The valuable letter of Spain. The true origin of the clash was not in the tariffs, but in Iran. When Washington requested to use Rota, Morón and Spanish airspace during the operation against the Iranian regime, Madrid refusedforcing the United States to reorganize part of its deployment from Germany and France. That decision recalled something that for decades had remained almost invisible: although the United States invests billions in both facilities, they remain baces under Spanish sovereignty and its use depends, ultimatelywith the approval of the Spanish Government. Rattan The US response: more money. It we count at the time. What is striking is that the American reaction did not consist of preparing an exit from Spain. Just a few months after the veto, the US Air Force awarded a framework contract of about 400 million of dollars to maintain and modernize Morón during the next decade, guaranteeing its operation until 2036. Far from being interpreted as retaliation, the investment sent exactly the opposite message: the strategic value of the base is so high that no specific political disagreement justifies failing to reinforce it. The track was broken. A few days later a second, even more significant decision appeared. Washington announced the construction in Rota of a huge hangar designed for accommodate transport aircraft strategic as C-17 Globemaster and the gigantic C-5 Galaxydevices capable of transporting battle tanks, helicopters, air defense systems or hundreds of soldiers in a single flight. In an era in which the speed of moving troops is almost as important as weapons, expanding that capacity means preparing for future operations, not abandoning the base. Hummock The explanation is on a map. Rota occupies the entrance to the Mediterranean, one of the most important maritime corridors of the planet, while Morón connects Europe with North Africa and the Middle East in a few hours. Together they form a logistical bridge from which the United States can move ships, aircraft, fuel, ammunition and personnel to various theaters of operations almost simultaneously. Changing that combination to another location does not simply consist of moving troops to another European base: it would involve rebuilding for years a logistical infrastructure that already exists and works today. The impossibility of changing a geography. The own published analyzes The United States agrees that losing access to Rota and Morón would place an additional burden on US forces, even if they could redistribute part of their capabilities to other allied countries. The problem, therefore, does not lie only in the hangars, docks or fuel tanks, but in the place where they are built. Andalusia continues to be the natural gateway to the Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East, exactly as it was during the Second World War. The Spanish asset: military logistics. That is why it is difficult to imagine that the business threats end up one day becoming a real rupture between both countries. Trump can use Spain as a political argument in his speeches, but the Pentagon has been sending a completely different signal for months with your budget. Every dollar invested in Morón and every new infrastructure built in Rota reminds us of an uncomfortable reality for Washington: when the next major international crisis, attempted invasion or start of a new war arrives, there is an extremely high possibility that the path towards it will begin again in southern Spain. Image | Commander, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US 6th Fleet In Xataka | The US threatened to take the Rota base to Morocco. Spain has buried it with an unbeatable offer: more territory In Xataka | The same day that the US threatened Spain and said it did not need the Rota base, the US invested 13 million in expanding the Rota base

The intestine has a “Goldilocks zone.” And if we often defecate outside it, we must pay attention.

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Pooping is a thermometer of gut health. So much so that in Australia they encourage employees do your things at work. It is a moment that we can even take advantage to read or to do infinite scroll on mobile (even for share the site where we are pooping), but also one we should pay more attention to. The reason is that the time and frequency are details that say a lot about our long-term health. Cause or consequence? Over the years, different research has been carried out on the importance of defecation as such, but also on the ideal time to do itits frequency and the shape, size and texture that they should have the depositions. Studies have been carried out that linked the constipation with a higher risk of infections and diarrhea chronic with neurodegenerative diseases. However, these observations were made in subjects who already had a disease, so it was necessary to find out if the intestinal problem was a cause or a consequence. Since science is not done alone, a team from Institute for Systems Biology took the lead in answering that question. The study. In it studyresearchers Sean Gibbons and Johannes Johnson-Martinez analyzed the clinical, genetic, microbiological and lifestyle variables of 1,400 healthy adults. Something that the subjects had to detail was the frequency of bowel movements, which would be classified as follows: Once or twice a week – Constipation. Three to six times a week – Low frequency. One to three times a day – Normal frequency. More than three times a day – Diarrhea. “Goldilocks Zone”. Researchers found that people who reported eating a high-fiber diet, exercising regularly, and being well hydrated had good bowel movements. In a display of scientific humor, they baptized this “the Goldilocks zone,” which is a bowel movement frequency of between one and two bowel movements a day. That is the point at which, according to researchers, the balance between the microbiome and physiological markers is optimal. Therefore, the optimal frequency is between one and two times a day, but this is not always the case and when there is an imbalance that is when problems begin within us. Ideal stool shape: type 3 and 4 More serious than it seems. Johnson-Martinez comments that “if feces remain in the intestine for too long, microbes use up all the available dietary fiber, something they normally ferment to produce short-chain fatty acids that are beneficial for health. If this happens, the ecosystem changes and begins to ferment proteins, which generates various toxins that can reach the bloodstream.” Those byproducts of protein fermentation leaked into the bloodstream, such as p-cresol sulfate and indoxyl sulfate, pass to the kidneys, being associated with markers of worse kidney function… constipation. If, on the other hand, diarrhea occurs, the feces practically do not pass through the intestine, causing clinical parameters related to liver damage. That is to say: with constipation, the kidneys suffer. With diarrhea, the liver. Snitch. Gibbons comments that chronic constipation, which we have just seen what effects it produces, has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders and the chronic progression of kidney diseases. What remains is to define whether this abnormality in intestinal movement is an early warning of a chronic disease or organ damage. Now, the study also explores how this frequency of intestinal movement is also related to the anxiety and depressionrelating mental health to bowel movements. The researchers comment that it has been possible to link the frequency of bowel movements with all body systems and how it is something that can be a risk factor in the development of chronic diseases. Their hope is that medicine will take bowel movements seriously to “optimize health and well-being, even in healthy populations, based on bowel movement frequency.” And something interesting is that, if we do not have any problem, we should neither hold back the urge nor force it, because we artificially reduce and increase the time that the feces are in the intestine. Study the feces. There is an important detail that must be taken into account: having a frequency other than once/twice a day may be normal. The problem is when it becomes chronic. That’s when we should ask ourselves what is happening. There may be a health problem, but also that we have a diet low in fiber from fruits and vegetables. It is logical, but food and our lifestyle It is something inseparable from our feces. Plus, keeping an eye on them from time to time is not a bad idea because it is a free gut health test. Also you can scan your poop with an app that analyzes it thanks to AI. The time matters. Being in the “Goldilocks zone” is relevant, but previous studies have also explored the idea that when we poop is relevant, too. Studies carried out in 2020 and 2022 They related circadian rhythms to gastrointestinal activity. At night, intestinal activity decreases significantly, but during the day, especially after waking up or eating, there is greater mobility. An optimal time is half an hour after waking up, since the colon is activated after a night’s rest, but defecating later than that moment does not mean that something is wrong because there is some flexibility in the matter. Images | Cabot Health, Bristol Stool Chart, Sincerely Media In Xataka | Everest has become a dumping ground for feces. Solution: that all climbers carry theirs in bags

“The average user should be worried because phishing is being refined with AI”

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AI is changing everything, including cybersecurity. The release of Claude Mythos a couple of months ago set off the alarms: AI is now capable of finding dozens of vulnerabilities that have been hidden for years. Fear has become the new resource of AI companies to announce their new models. The question is how this affects us mere mortals. More sophisticated scams. For Daniel Púa, head of security at Magnificent (formerly Freepik), the impact is clear: “The average user should be worried because phishing is being refined with AI.” At this point “we have all received the typical phishing with spelling mistakes, with use cases from banks that are not ours, which are very easy to identify.” However, with AI we are seeing how scams are becoming more sophisticated and it is going to be increasingly difficult for us to detect them. “Calls are going to start arriving with the voice of a family member, video calls with the video of a family member and that’s when things are going to get complicated” Cloned voices. “Calls are going to start arriving with the voice of a family member, video calls with the video of a family member and that’s when things are going to get complicated,” Daniel warns. Although not yet the most common scam attempt, deepfake calls with cloned voices that impersonate a family member in distress They are already a problem, to the point that Google itself knows about it and introduced a feature to prevent this. Next step: video calls. As Daniel Púa warns, fake video calls impersonating another person are already a reality. At the moment we have known cases that attack companies, such as the employee who transferred 25 million dollars in a video call in which everyone was deepfakes except him, or as a political weaponbut it is a matter of time before this technology begins to be used against ordinary citizens. From companies to the end user. Púa tells it from within Magnific: “we already have many scam attempts posing as our CEO, on WhatsApp, with audios and everything.” And he anticipates how it will escalate towards the individual user: “once they are established in the companies, which are like the gold mine where they can exploit it more, they will move on to the next one, which is the ordinary user (…) being a much more massive scam, it is no longer a single objective, but there are hundreds of thousands of people and some will get stung.” How to avoid it. Púa’s advice is as simple as it is necessary: ​​”everyone should have a second method of approval. If a family member comes and asks you for something strange, confirm it in another way. For example, if they called you by phone, then you confirm it on WhatsApp.” Cybersecurity experts recommend taking it a step further and create a family password. Púa agrees: “In case he’s asking you something strange, you say, ‘What’s our secret word?’ And you make sure it’s the right person.” The speech of fear. AI companies are using cybersecurity fear as a sales argument for their latest models. Daniel Púa does not buy all that talk: “a lot of hype has been given to it. I do believe that it is the next step in this advance that is being seen in AI related to security, but I do not think it is a paradigm shift as many are selling.” He does not believe that Claude Mythos has been as big a leap as they have sold us and illustrates it with a very clear comparison: “if we say that Opus 4.8 could be a knife, Mythos is perhaps a machete. It is a little more dangerous, but they could do the same damage to you with the previous models.” Be careful with open source. But just because you don’t buy all the talk doesn’t mean that there is no danger, there is a sector in which it is: open source projects. “Almost all the vulnerabilities that Mythos has discovered are in open source programs, with access to the code. That is where I do see a big paradigm shift.” He explains why: “a normal person can take days or weeks and even get lost in that flow and not find the vulnerability. An agent works much better in this because they can follow the entire flow in seconds or minutes.” Image | Xataka with Magnific In Xataka | A stranger calls you on your cell phone and hangs up before you can react. The worst thing you can do: call back

Generation Z was told that job success was having a good salary. Having more life has become your new luxury

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Generation Z is creating a new work scenario and we have several examples of this: they have a different concept of labor relations than previous generations had and their definition of commitment is now governed by rules that they demand reciprocity to companies. It’s not strange. This generation has seen how their parents have worked non-stop and end up just as drowning at the end of the month. Therefore, when young people talk about job success, they no longer think only about the payroll, they also think about power. leave on time and to be able to dedicate time to your personal life. The strike that marks the step. To understand this shift we must first look at the reality of this generation. According to data According to the INE, youth unemployment in Spain stood at 24.5% in the first quarter of 2026. It is almost double the average Eurostat for the European Union as a whole, slightly above 15%, but half of the 42.91% we had a decade ago. As pointed out by the ‘I Barometer Challenges and Learning. Youth positions on training and professional challenges’ prepared by the Reina Sofía Center of Fad Juventud and Banco Santander, this pressure is conditioning even decisions as important as choosing what to study. The urgency of the salary, even if it is precarious. According to data from this report, 64.7% of young people admit that they decide their future thinking about making money as soon as possible, not in the future. job you would like to do really. “I want to have a kind of stability. So I feel pressured by that, because I don’t want to live constantly as if on the edge, I want to have that stability,” said one of the young participants in the study. Six out of ten also believe that there are factors beyond their control that hinder progress in their career: precariousness, lack of opportunities and economic pressure They are among the most mentioned. And yet, 67% do not contemplate throwing in the towel despite the difficulties to prosper in their career, moving away from the stereotype of unmotivated youth. Success changes its definition. With that starting point, the young people of generation Z have changed the definition of what is considered succeed at work. Before, success consisted of moving up in rank and salary every few years. Now free time, mental health and a work environment come into the equation don’t burn. Conciliation stops being an extra and becomes be entry condition. The report Workmonitor Randstad marks a turning point: the balance between life and work already weigh more than salary when evaluating a job. More than half of those surveyed would leave their position if it prevented them from living outside the office. What they ask for: financial guidance and education. According to data from the Reina Sofía Center Barometer, generation Z does not ask for a miracle either, just a guide to develop your capabilities professionals. 75.7% want to better understand what interests them before deciding their career, while 74% demand more information about job opportunities of each training option. That is, not waste time studying a career that leaves them on a siding. And more than 73% lack basic financial training to manage their daily lives. The result of all this is that in the future we will have fewer young people willing to sacrifice time in their personal lives for a little more salaryand more companies that are going to have to offer both as an incentive if they want retain talent. In Xataka | The wealth of Spaniards under 35 years of age has plummeted by 75% in recent years. And we know the culprit Image | Unsplash (Vitaly Gariev)

The US has put into service a new anti-satellite weapon. The most striking thing is that it doesn’t shoot anything

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For decades, when we talked about weapons against satellites, the mental image was almost always the same: a missile, an impact and more space junk. But space warfare doesn’t always need an explosion to be effective. Sometimes it is enough to act on what we do not see: the link that connects a satellite with those who depend on it. That is what makes the US’s latest step especially striking. We are not facing a system designed to shoot down an object in orbit, but rather one that aims at something less visible and much more everyday in any modern military operation: communications. Attack communications. US Space Force Combat Forces Command operationally accepted on June 8 to Meadowlands, a new addition to its family of electromagnetic warfare systems. It’s not an isolated program: the Space Force describes it as an upgrade to Counter Communications System 10.2 and says it can detect, deny, disrupt and degrade adversary capabilities in active defense of joint force objectives. Its operation remains in the hands of Mission Delta 3, Space Electromagnetic Warfare. The key is in the sign. A satellite is not just an object in orbit, but a chain of links, antennas, ground stations and users that need to communicate with it. Meadowlands acts on that less visible part of the system. L3Harris, program contractor, describes the Counter Communications System as a deployable ground platform aimed at denying communications from satellites in orbit, and presents Meadowlands as a more compact and mobile version. A change of era. Meadowlands fits into a broader transformation of conflict in space. The Secure World Foundation classify capabilities counterspace in several families, from co-orbital capabilities and direct ascent missiles to electronic warfare, directed energy and cyber capabilities. That distinction matters because not all of them seek to destroy a satellite. Some, such as electromagnetic warfare, seek to degrade services, limit communications or alter access to a space capability during a specific operation. Space Force itself places it in that first invisible line of the electromagnetic spectrum. Looking at the precedents. When an anti-satellite weapon physically destroys its target, the problem does not end with the impact: a cloud of debris begins that can continue orbiting for years. The US Space Command assured that the Russian direct ascent test against Cosmos 1408, in 2021, produced more than 1,500 traceable pieces. NASA had already documented something similar after the Chinese test against Fengyun-1C, in 2007, with more than 2,000 fragments of about 10 centimeters or more identified. Meadowlands belongs to another logic: act without adding more junk to the orbital environment. The paradox. The less Meadowlands looks like a conventional anti-satellite weapon, the better you understand why it matters. Its value is not in converting a satellite into orbital debris, but in acting on the layer that allows it to be used in a real operation. This difference helps explain the US movement and also the fundamental change that we are seeing in the military space. The battlefield is not only in the orbit or in the objects that travel through it. It is also in the signs, in the links and in the ability to maintain them when they are most needed. Images | United States Space Force In Xataka | “We are going to see more and more cases like this.” There are six mysterious spheres on a beach in Australia, and everything indicates that they came from space

We have spent decades blaming a lack of willpower for obesity. Genetics Just Proved Us Wrong

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For decades we have heard about overweight and obesity that it is a problem of lack of willpower, of eating too much or moving too little. However, science has been trying to find more causes for years that we do not see with the naked eye about obesity to treat it as a complex, chronic disease with many different factors. Two great studies recently published studies have provided very important evidence that suggests that the way we relate to food and the size of our body in childhood are not always ‘choice’, but are, to a surprising extent, an inheritance dictated by our DNA and amplified by the environment. The weight of inheritance. The first of these studies published in PLOS Medicine analyzed to 86,000 children belonging to the Norwegian MoBa cohort. The goal here was to understand the extent to which parents’ BMI determines body size and the eating behaviors of their children at eight years of age. The results have exceeded what many geneticists expected, since, using structural equation modeling, researchers discovered that genetics explains about 79% of the association between the mother’s BMI and that of the child. When we look at the father, the figure is even more compelling, since DNA explains approximately 94% of the association between the paternal BMI and that of the child. Its importance. This means that when we see patterns of obesity that are repeated from parents to children and the determining factor is not mainly that “that house eats badly”, but that genetic variants are being transmitted that regulate key physiological aspects, from basal metabolism to the brain architecture that dictates the mechanisms of satiety and reward when eating. The environment. At this point, it is inevitable to ask a reasonable question: if genetics is so determining, why have obesity rates skyrocketed in recent decades if our human genome has barely changed? The answer the second study gives itpublished almost in parallel in PLOS Genetics where British researchers analyzed four large birth cohorts in the United Kingdom, namely people born in 1946, 1958, 1970 and 2001. The goal here was to measure how genetic risk interacts with the passage of time and changes in society. Its result. What they saw was precisely that the genetic variants associated with obesity have become much more predictive of BMI in more recent cohorts. That is to say, having a genetic predisposition to gain weight in the forties did not necessarily ‘condemn’ obesity, because the environment did not support it. However, being born with that same predisposition in 2001 exposes you to a much greater risk. Our genes interact with what epidemiologists call the obesogenic environment, which are sedentary urban environments, chronic stress, sleep disturbances and, above all, a constant, cheap and ubiquitous availability of ultra-processed, high-calorie-density foods. The modern environment acts as the trigger of a weapon that genetics had already loaded. Much further. This avalanche of empirical data collides head-on with social stigma. As organizations such as the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity have been warning for some time, it is urgent banish “Eat less and move more” is the only recommendation given in medical consultations. It is for all this that understanding that obesity is a condition with a very deep genetic root, strongly conditioned by the environment, completely changes the rules of the game. Images | i yunmai In Xataka | We thought that quenching hunger with Ozempic was the definitive remedy against obesity. Until we look at the muscle

manual shifting has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function”

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A study from Tohoku University (Japan) has put figures to something that many motor fans have been defending for years out of pure passion. And although there are not exactly a few enthusiasts who claim that driving with a manual transmission is more fun, now they could also have science on their side, since according to the study, they also could be healthier for the brain. And the person who claims it, curiously, is the scientist behind one of Nintendo’s best-selling video game sagas. 20 years ago, I trained our brain. The study is led by Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University. His name will be familiar to anyone who has played any of the Nintendo titles in which he stars, since he was the scientific person behind the Brain Age saga and Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training, the “mental gymnastics” games that Nintendo published between 2003 and 2020. What it says about the manual transmission. The neuroscientist’s research analyzes the brain activity of drivers behind the wheel of manual and automatic cars, and finds clear differences in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for memory, decision making and attention. According to collect Japanese media Best Car Web, Kawashima explains that when driving a manual “you have to judge and then choose the optimal gear according to the situation, and this places a greater burden on the cognitive functions of the brain than driving a passive automatic.” In the end, we must keep in mind that choosing the right gear, pressing the clutch, moving the lever and dosing the accelerator simultaneously forces the brain and body to constantly coordinate, something that anyone who has stalled a car while learning to drive can confirm. Between the lines. That small repeated effort, according to the professor, has benefits that go beyond the simple pleasure of driving. Kawashima holds that doing so regularly has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function.” So changing gears daily could act as a kind of low-level brain training, the kind that the brain stops receiving when the car does all the work for us. Any habit capable of keeping the brain active adds up. And in societies with increasingly aging populations, like the japanesehaving this stimulus is important, since cognitive deterioration and dementia are increasingly accentuated public health problems. And yet. The paradox is that, while science has reasons to defend it, the manual transmission begins to disappear from the market at full speed. In Japan and the United States it barely represents between 1% and 2% of new cars sold, according to the data collected in the study itself. The emergence of hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as the comfort offered by this type of transmission, has meant that the manual transmission is beginning to be seen less and less. Photography is still different in Europe, although we are also heading towards this future. In Spain, according to Engine1we maintain a rate of manual cars of around 41% of sales, only surpassed by Italy, with 48%. So you could say that in Spain we continue to maintain a good level of stimulation for our brain while driving. Cover image | Nils Keesmekers In Xataka | Anti-electrics lose an argument about car batteries: a study confirms that they are more durable than previously believed

There are people covering the LED on Meta’s glasses to record secretly. The company has just made a drastic decision

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Today it is relatively easy to know when someone is recording us with a cell phone: we see it raised, pointing towards us, becoming an almost universal signal. The same does not happen with smart glasses. They may look like normal glasses, be on the face of someone looking in our direction, and go unnoticed for those who don’t know what to look for. In this scenario, the small white light that turns on when capturing photos or videos is not a minor detail: it is the visible clue that allows us to understand that those glasses are recording. The problem begins when that clue disappears. That’s just what Meta is trying to prevent now. The company claims that its AI glasses, a category that already goes beyond the Ray-Ban Meta, will disable the camera if they detect that the capture LED has been physically tampered with or destroyed, not just if it is covered. Until now, Meta said that, since its second generation of glasses, the system already blocked photos and videos when it detected that that light was covered. The novelty is that the protection is extended to more aggressive attempts to override the visible warning. It is not an absolute guarantee against all misuse, but it is a direct response to a specific crack in the product. The problem with glasses was not just blocking the light Meta calls that signal “capture LED”: a white light on the front of each pair of glasses that flashes when content is being captured for the gallery. According to the company, in the case of a photo the notice appears for a moment, while on video remains throughout the recording. On paper, its function is simple: let people around you know that someone is taking an image or recording a scene. In practice, that small light carries an enormous responsibility: making visible a camera that, by design, can be confused with conventional glasses. The leap is that it wasn’t all about putting a piece of tape over the light. Meta acknowledges that it has seen attempts that went further: efforts to physically modify or destroy the capture LED. Media like 404 Media and BGR have documented those types of practices in more detail. The first published the case of a service that offered to modify the Ray-Ban Meta to make the light useless, while the second included more rudimentary methods and other more elaborate ones, from accessories designed to hide it to physical interventions on the indicator area. The underlying issue was clear: if the signal could disappear and the camera continued working, the safeguard lost much of its meaning. In Spain we have already seen how far this gap can go. At Xataka we have been counting for just over a year the case of a young man detained in Barcelona after recording hundreds of women with smart glasses without their knowledge, an episode that turned a until then diffuse concern into a much more tangible problem. The key was not only the device, but the lack of social alarm about it: many people still do not react the same to apparently normal glasses as to a cell phone pointed in their direction. The company presents the update as a new layer of privacy, but it is also an admission that the LED had become an attackable point in the system. If the visible notice could be obscured, modified, or destroyed while the camera continued to operate, the promise of transparency was weakened. Now Meta is trying to turn that light into something more than an indicator: a condition for the camera to operate. Images | Goal In Xataka | Meta already has its rival for Nano Banana 2. Its problem is the same as always: mercilessly invading our privacy

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