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The perfect sample of “Manchego Bronze”

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

The stain is Wine landof cheese and of Better olive oil in the world. However, to the east of Ciudad Real There are not only rare earthsbut an endless plain that is occasionally dotted with the so -called “rings”. They seem mounds of land that rise on the esplanade, but they are really fortifications strategically built during the Bronze age. The peculiarity is that they are castles raised up, but also down, with some entering more than 20 meters on Earth to protect the most valuable resource in the region: water. And in a town in Daimiel is the largest well of the antiquity of the Iberian Peninsula. The rings. Between 2,200 and 1,500 BC on the Peninsula several cultures lived. In part of Castilla-La Mancha, the Manchego bronzeknown as the ‘MOTALLY CULTURE‘. In their day, these riot were fortified settlements with a circular shape that served both to house the sedentary population and to protect themselves to invasions and, above all, to control a resource as valuable as the water of the underground wells After their abandonment, these fortifications were dispersed by the Manchega geography and, over the centuries, they were covered by land and vegetation, forming those ‘motorcycles’ on the ground. Organization. There were rigs of various sizes, but generally These strengths had a diameter of between 30 and 50 meters. They were like a medieval protocastillo, with a series of concentric rings that acted as a wall and were available around a central tower. Like the strengths that were built in high areas to have a better strategic vision, the rigs were built around deep wells. The water, next to the grain, was the resource that was kept and protected in these ribs, and something curious is that there was a distance of a few kilometers between one and the other, so the groups could maintain visual contact between them. The population lived both within the fortress and its surroundings and it is estimated that the more cultivation controlled and more permanent was the presence of water, the more power the leaders had and the more influence the motilla in question. Speculating. There is a lot of space for the speculationsince the largest rigs would be those that were nerve centers for trade, while the smallest around them could be the home of one or more families that served as advanced points for the control of the territory, grass, crops and combat against who would like to take that great nerve center. Numerous weapons have been found in the tombs, so it is assumed that they were communities in permanent conflict. Azuer Motilla. And, among all the ribs, the crown jewel is that of Azuer. It was declared a cultural interest in 2013 and is unique due to its dimensions. It fulfilled the same defensive and commercial functions as the rest of the settlements of this type, but if for something it caught the attention – and it continues to do it – it is because of its dimensions. The central tower reached 10 meters high, so it was very visible in an exceptionally flat landscape. On the other hand, the well excavated to reach the water table at a depth of between 15 and 20 meters. In times of prolonged drought, this well could supply water to the inhabitants and, when it rained, the reserves reloaded again. It is estimated that this fortification is that allowed an enormous agricultural development in the region and the reason for its cultural interest is that it is considered the oldest well in the Peninsula. Difference between the height of the Motilla and what sinks on the ground to the water table Late discovery. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were years when we worried about digging up the past. We made numerous and important discoveries that reflected the passage of the civilizations that preceded us and, being the rigs of some of them. It occurred at a late point, since it was during the last quarter of the last century when archaeologists began to dig up and study these constructions. Due to its dimensions, that of Azuer Motilla He was the most investigated in the entire age of the Bronze de la Mancha, developing Since 1974 more than one fortnight of excavation campaigns. And it is curious that, at the beginning of the excavations, the researchers thought it was funeral mounds. Manchegas fortifications. The Azuer is the deepest, but in the region there are numerous fortifications of this type. Currently, there are 29 in the province of Ciudad Real, as well as one in Toledo, another in Cuenca and one more in Albacete. The problem is that, although possible rigs to be investigated, it is complicated Incorporate new structures into the list. The reason is that they are difficult to locate. We talk about constructions with between 3,000 and 4,000 years, so human action and erosion have been able to end the characteristic form of mound and it is easy for us to overlook those that remain buried. The efforts have also concentrated to the Azuer Motilla. Its conservation is made, in part, thanks the price of tickets -10 euros per person- visit it. You can also do a Virtual route. Earrings. Therefore, it is very likely that little by little more riots are added to the list, but these peculiar strengths are not the only structures of the Bronze Age in La Mancha. It is known that they coexisted alongside height settlements called ‘Morras’, stationary cabins called ‘Fields of Hoyos’ and some sacred places with stars -oriented constructions, such as Bocapucheros In Almagro. Therefore, if you catch you close, it is a different activity and we can rarely visit something with 4,000 years behind you. Images | Azuer Motilla Guided Tour, Rodrigum In Xataka | We humans have been killing ourselves brutally. A prehistoric site shows to what extent

This 4,500 -year -old game was an absolute mystery. Until AI helped us decipher it

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

A few years ago archaeologists found something unique at the Shahr-i Sokhta site: a board game. I had about 4,500 years old, and it is believed that it is the board game complete older ever discovered. The problem was that no one knew how it was played … until AI arrived. Persian games. That site was part of the Helmand civilization in the Bronze Age. Lying To the east of Iran and south of Afghanistan, in that discovery both the board were found, with 20 circular spaces, and four dice and 27 geometric pieces. But how were they used? No game manuals. In old board games hardly ever There were written rules, and the instructions passed orally. That probably caused the rules to end up being modified between different groups of players over the decades or centuries, experts point out. But that also facilitates the task of finding out how it was played: as explained in New Scientistit was not necessary to find the definitive rules, only those that approached those that were probably the most logical. AU helps learn to play. The used AI systems use techniques such as Monte Carlo Search Treewhich was also used for the Alphago developmentof Deepmind. With them it is possible to simulate rules that can be applied to the game based on the structure of the board and the available parts. They can evaluate multiple variations of the possible rules that allow evaluating not only if they are logical, but end up offering boring or fun games. Beyond chess. Among these games there are real jewels because of their age Senetthat for example was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. There are representations such as the main image – the Nefertari Egyptian queen playing Senet – that demonstrates its popularity in that culture. Others, like him Ur’s real gamefrom the ancient Mesopotamia, their secrets were able to discover a cuneiform tablet that It deciphered in 2007 In the British Museum. Shahr-i Sokhta game. Source: Persian Wonders First studies. One of the first applications of AI to the board games of antiquity is in the game Ludus Latrunculorum (“The game of thieves”), which was played among the Romans and that it is believed that it was already played (at least, in a previous version) in Greece. It is one of the best known thanks to the writings recovered from that time, and that allowed – thatNot effortlessly– rebuild its rules quite likely they were the ones that the Romans effectively used. Thus the Romans played. Cameron Browne, from the University of Maastricht, in Holland, led The call Digital Ludeme Project (DLP). It investigated about 1,000 traditional games over the 6,000 years of the history of humanity, and games such as Ludus Latrunculorum were studied. Simulations everywhere. It was not easy: this game – or its variants – appears with boards of different formats and sizes throughout history, but the AI helped discover possible rules. Simulations were made to investigate which boards made more sense for the most plausible rules, and it was discovered how three games still active in our days – Khabebga, Seega and Tablut – had a strong relationship. All these tests allowed to conclude how the smallest boards were the ones that probably They were used in the Roman gameand others may be dedicated to other board games that experts have not been able to identify. You can play Shahr-i Sokhta. As with Ludus Latrunculorum, the help of AI served to raise what were the probable rules of the Shahr-i Sokhta game. So much so that developer Sam Jelveh and archaeologist Hossein Morad created An online playable version of the video game With complete information on how it was supposed to be played. Endless investigation. These efforts have not stopped there. More than 200 computer scientists, archaeologists and historians are collaborating in the project Gametable to develop even more advanced AI tools to discover the rules of old board games. And also, perhaps, to reveal why some came to our days transformed into current games – it is believed that UR’s real game ended up becoming the backgammon – and others disappeared without leaving just a trace. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | The 41 best board games: from ‘Catán’ to ‘Gloomhaven’

The price of olive oil in origin has returned to “normality.” What everyone wonders is what happens to supermarkets

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

Every week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food publishes the price of oil at source and The last bulletin is full of good news. The price of ‘liquid gold’ before reaching bottling, distributors and supermarkets has returned to the levels prior to the ‘boom’ of recent years. Now the most difficult is: this reaches supermarkets. When did the oil price start uploading? Actually, the price of oil began to rise erratically from the beginning of the Ukraine War. The explanation is simple: Ukraine was one of the largest producers of vegetable oils in the world. As soon as the problems began, manufacturers around the world went to other types of oils and that raised the price of oil (also driven by the increase in energy, fertilizers and oros agricultural inputs). It was, however, a conjunctural price increase. However, like Cristina G. bolinches pointed at eldiario.esthe situation began to complicate in autumn of 2022, when the Ministry of Agriculture warned that the harvest was going to be abnormally low. From that moment on, a roller coaster of ups and downs that now, finally, reaches its term. What price do we talk about? According to the Ministryon March 16, the 100 kilos of oil in origin were at 406.04 euros. A little (very little) above the traditional profitability threshold of the dry land. Before the war, the price became lower, but to this we would have to discount the inflation and rise of costs. In addition, the trend (although slowed) remains positive. In Italy, for example, the price Still still in the clouds. The price in supermarkets. In the lines of the stores the price has also dropped. Above all, if we take as a reference the 12 euros per liter of virgin oil of extra olive that was requested in the worst moments of 2024. Right now, the liter (in white marks) can be found at 5.80 euros, according to Bolinches. The problem is that in October 2022, just when the price of oil was at these prices, the liter You could find 3.2 euros per liter. Rockets and feathers. It is, however, a well -known phenomenon in other goods. When the Brent barrel rises in price, the fuels experience strong and almost immediate growth. On the other hand, when you go down, prices They fall much more moderate. In the case of oil, in addition, it is logical. It is enough to remember that the largest distributor in the world, deoleo, lost 34 million euros Only in 2023. All that entity that has some power in the market will try to soften the price drop to square the accounts at the end of the month. In this sense, the fall in origin evidence that producers are still the weakest leg of the entire framework. After years walking on the tightrope, they need income to stay alive. Above all, in an environment in which prices can fall even more. When will ‘normality’ return to the supermarket? A priori, it’s a matter of time. The rains of the month of March They predict good conditions for the next harvest. It is true that everything can still be twisted, but it is the stimulus that the market needed to assume that they don’t have much time. Of course, the months of March They are becoming more wet And that has long -term implications. It will be necessary to see how all these climatic changes affect the Olivos Sea and, by extension, to our diet. For now, everything seems to indicate that the sector is getting interesting. Image | Fulvio Ciccolo | Eduardo Soares In Xataka | For centuries, olive leaves were used to feed cattle. Now some grenadines want our nutrition to revolutionize

The sunset images on the moon are more than a curiosity. They will also help us solve an old mystery

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

50 years after the last manned mission to the moon, NASA and other space agencies in the world have renewed their interest in exploration In situ of the satellite In the case of the US agency, this return to the moon has been bittersweet. To the recurring transpiés of the Artemis program The injured arrivals from American private probes are added. There are also exceptions here. Sunset on the moon. The first module mission Blue Ghost From the company Texana Firefly Aerospace has brought us A sequence of images They show us the sunset on the moon. The images are not only striking but can help us solve a question that persecutes us from the era of the Apollo missions. An enigma to solve. The doubt in question revolves around the phenomenon known as “Lunar horizon glow” (Lunar Horizon Glow) and is related to the dust of the satellite surface. This phenomenon was documented by THE SURVEYOR 7 MISSION that he arrived at the satellite at the end of 1968 and was also captured by the astronauts of the last manned lunar mission, Apollo 17. The data compiled by the probe could help us to inquire if this glow is due to the existence of small polka dust particles in suspension on the lunar surface and investigate in the phenomenon that would be causing this levitation in a place with a practically non -existent atmosphere such as the moon. The main hypothesis indicates that these particles could be electrically charged by the effect of solar radiation, which would make them repel with each other and thus levitate. Halo. The images show us for the first time in decades this unique luminous halo. In the photographs, the greenish glow caused by lunar dust in the lunar dusk can be seen. From eclipse to sunset. On March 2, the Blue Ghost module landed in the Mare Crisium de Luna region becoming the First private mission in reaching the satellite. The mission operated for 14 days, the strictly daytime part of the lunar day, that is, until a few hours later the dusk we see in the image. The mission brought 10 charges to the moon NASA experiments. During his activity period he sent 119 GB of data to Earth, of which 51 GB correspond to technological and scientific data, According to NASA. In those 14 days the mission too He could capture A unique event: the lunar eclipse of March 14. With unique detail: from the moon what was appreciated was an eclipse of sun caused when our planet interposed between the satellite and light in those 14 days the mission could also capture a unique event: the lunar eclipse of last March 14. With unique detail: from the moon what was appreciated was an eclipse of sun caused when our planet interposed between the satellite and light of the sun. CLPS The Firefly Aerospace mission is part of the Clps initiative (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) from NASA and the Artemis campaign. This program seeks that private companies cooperate with NASA in lunar exploration in order to outsource part of the agency’s efforts in this corner of the universe. The lunar missions framed in this initiative have been arriving with more grief than glory to our satellite. Only one of the four Missions launched to date has managed to land in the satellite with the ability to operate normally. In Xataka | It has passed again: the intuitive machines spacecraft has come alive to the moon, but has overturned at the last moment Image | Firefly Aerospace

Japan has realized that to welcome 60 million tourists, something lacks: workers in the hotels

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

Japanese tourism does not come out of accounts. Not at least if the government maintains its goal of reaching in 2030 the 60 million of foreign tourists, considerably above record which already registered last year. An Apir study shows that reaching that goal would require that many (many) work in the tourism sector. Birth crisis and where the accommodations They already drag A personnel deficit. Thus Japan takes risks to have to reth OMOTENASHI. A figure: 36.8 million. 2024 was a memorable year for the Japanese tourism sector. The popularity of destiny, the Paulatina recovery of international trips after the pandemic stop and the Weakness of Yen allowed Japan to reach a New record of tourists and expense. Its flow was so high that in some regions it caused friction with the local population, as in Fujikawaguchiko, where they reached Install a screen To cover the views of the Fuji. The figures help to better understand how the year was. In 2024 Japan received 36.8 million of international tourists, above the record reached before the pandemic (in 2019 they were counted 32 million) and with a total expenditure that exceeded the 51,000 million of dollars. 2025 has not started badly. According to the National Tourism Organization in January, the 3.8 million of foreign visitors. An objective: 60 million. The 2024 balance is high, but Japanese authorities seem to know little. Your goal is to maintain the trend and reach the 60 million of foreign visitors in 2030, a data that expects it to arrive accompanied by an expense of billions of dollars. The goal is so ambitious that it has already caused a certain debate. At the end of 2024 a columnist of The Japan Times He wondered If the country is “prepared” to receive that flood of travelers and in February another newspaper, The Mainichipublic An editorial in which he stated that Japan should “change the focus” of the sector to the increase of visitors. As? Going from “quantity to quality.” One question: Is it possible? That is what they have wondered in the Asia Pacific Institute of Research (Apir). What exactly does the entry of 60 million of tourists? What size and resources should the sector have to assume such demand? To answer these issues, they basically set the muscle of the Japanese tourist tissue. Its conclusion is curious: with the current trend and if it maintains the goal of the 60 million, the sector will find a deficit of hundreds of thousands of workers, a work emptiness that will affect hotels and food services. A prognosis: 536,000. To be accurate the estimated workers’ deficit is 536,000 employeeswhich would mean a problem to address the flow of tourists that the Government aspires to move in five years. Many vacancies may seem, but two trends that “throw” in the opposite sense are understood: on the one hand it is expected that the flow of tourists will increase, on the other that the templates of the hotels and food services are in 2030 a 1.9% lower than last year. A challenge: employment. According to The data collected by The Asashi Shimbunone of the main newspapers in the country, to meet the increase in demand and compensate for the labor deficit, the level of productivity of the sector should increase 2.8% per year. Apartages, the reality is that companies face two draft challenges. One is the demographic derives of the country, which It has been for years losing inhabitants and lime its population of employment population. The other challenge is the capacity of the sector to capture workers. Right now there are accommodations that already drag a considerable template deficit. In 2024 Nikkei spoke more specifically businesses that lack more than 20% of the labor they would really need. “We are definitely seeing a shortage of personnel in the industry,” I recognized Recently a This Week in Asia Masaru Takayama, responsible for a travel agency based in Kyoto. “Many companies in the tourism sector had to fire personnel during pandemic and those people found employment in other sectors,” Takayama abounds. “Now tourism has returned to normal and, with more activity than ever, we have lost those people who have gone to new careers. We have lost their skills and knowledge.” A proposal: 40 million. APIR is not limited to pointing out the personnel deficit to which Japan risks if it maintains its goal of reaching 60 million tourists. The organism also launches A recommendation: rethink that goal, reduce it to 40 million and change the approach. Your proposal goes in The line of The Mainichi: No matter how many tourists arrive (if there are 40, 50 or 60 million) as what they do with their portfolios once they are in Japan. “Instead of focusing on the number of foreign visitors, we should encourage them to spend more,” Yoshihisa Inada points outfrom the University of Konan and responsible for the study. A question: What would you mean? The calculations They are clear from the institute. With 40 million the flow of foreign tourists would still be 8% higher than that of 2024 and the country would continue to suffer from a labor -handed deficit in the tourism industry, but much lower: in that case APRI estimates it in around 138,000 people. To meet demand, there would therefore an increase in annual productivity of 0.7%. Beyond the number of visitors and their symbolic value for the country, the big question is … staying at 40 million and renouncing those extra tourists would stop stopping entering a lot of money? After all, the Government not only aspires to move 60 million travelers in 2030. He wants that farm to arrive accompanied by a tourist expense of around 15 billion yen, about 101,000 million dollars. APRI Calculate That to maintain that goal with 40 million visitors, traveler spending should exceed 227,000 yen (€ 1,400) from 2024 to 375,000 (2,300). A conclusion: “You can”. For a little there are few doubts. “If we improve the … Read more

The director of ‘Train to Busan’ signs this Korean thriller in Netflix that is among the most sinister of the platform

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

There is much talk about ‘adolescence’ in Netflix, but the platform catalog is overflowing with very different options from each other. This same weekend It has been released This stimulating ‘Revelation‘, which guarantees a good time of thriller in the purest Korean style: it is a morbid, intriguing, sinister and turning movie. In it we will meet a pastor of deep faith and believe together in divine revelations, which makes him suspect that a very specific person is responsible for a kidnapping case. To solve the case you will have to collaborate with a detectivewho lives tormented by his past: his dead sister’s ghost, which appears in chilling visions. Those responsible for ‘Revelation’ are not precisely unknown: Yeon Sang-Ho, director and coguionist, gained international fame with ‘Train to Busan’ and his sequelae, and has collaborated with Netflix previously with the fantastic and delusional ‘course to hell’, among others. Much eye for his animation films, especially the extraordinary ‘The Fake’, whose atmosphere in a small tent in which sermons are offered tremendously remembers one of the key spaces of ‘Revelation’. Korean cinema has become one of the most watched out of Asia, especially for the impact of its romantic series. But as the most cinephile sector knows, it all started with films such as ‘Old Boy’ or the foundational ‘Memories of Murder’, with which ‘revelation’ has some point in common. Especially that dark atmosphere of the rural Korea Where we are already used to the fact that, under a layer of apparent normality, the most heinous crimes take place. Header | Netflix In Xataka | Netflix’s best Korean series (because not everything is ‘the squid game’)

How to turn your old mobile into a chromecast

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

Let’s explain How to turn your Android mobile into a chromecastso that if you have an old one that you do not use you can give it a second life. Thus, in the event that you do not have Chromecast or intelligent TV with this function, you can give your TV to send content, and if your chromecast does not work, you can also get out of the way. Let’s start the article explaining you What are the requirements so that your mobile can become a Chromecast. And then, we will briefly explain how to proceed to connect it to the TV and make it fulfill that function. What are the requirements To convert your Android mobile into a chromect, you will need to support HDMI output, for which you will need that MHL standard support. This standard is now missing, but years ago you could find it with old high -end mobiles. To check if your mobile is compatible, you can use the app MHL vintor, Available on Google Play. You will also need your mobile to have an operating system equal to or above Android 4.1. In addition to this, you will need An OTG cable that passes from USB-C to HDMIto connect it to the USB-C charger of the mobile and that at the other end has an HDMI that you can connect to TV. These cables are not expensiveand can cost about 15 or 20 euros. But before throwing yourself, first check if you want to use MHL. Finally, what you need is Install the application Punishmentwhat can you download for free In the Google Play Store. In the link we have put the test version that only allows streaming for a few minutes. But if then you see that everything works then you can pay the 4.79 euros that costs the full version of the app. Turn your Android into Chromecast Once you have all the requirements in order and all the verifications made, you have to Install and configure the app of Punishment. Simply install it, and then be granted the permits you ask you when you open it for the first time. The app will allow you to change the name of the device and little else, simply make sure your two options are activated. Once you have the app open and configured, the message will appear on your screen Ready to cast. When that is like that, Connect your mobile to TV With the cable we have mentioned before. On the one hand, the mobile connects the USB-C end of the cable, and on the other connects the HDMI to the TV connector. Now, on TV you have to click on the button where you choose the entrance source, where you choose what you want to see, and choose the HDMI option where you have the mobile. This is the same as you would have to do if you had a real chromecast connected. Once you do, you will start watching the mobile screen on TV. And now, all you have to do is enter YouTube or any application compatible with your main mobile, start reproducing content and Press on the send button to Chromecast. When you do, identify the mobile you are using by the name you have configured, and choose it to send the content. In Xataka Basics | Google TV vs chromect: differences and what types of device are each

The sugary drinks tax has been a resounding success. And there are those who want to extend it now to salt

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

At the beginning of the week, Chris Hilson, a professor at Reading University, brought together the press and presented The most ambitious report which had been done to analyze the United Kingdom sugar tax. His data were begged: since the tax was introduced, the sugar content in the drinks 44% has been reduced. However, Hilson doesn’t want to stay there. Why not use this approach to improve food, address the obesity epidemic and promote a healthy and sustainable diet? Why not launch, for example, a salt tax? The salt? Indeed. Salt has been in the spotlight of doctors, nutritionists and health researchers for many years. And rightly: Reducing salt intake is one of the simpler and more profitable ways to reduce the incidence of diseases such as arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease or strokes. The problem is that we don’t even know how much salt we consume. And we don’t know because it is very difficult to know: According to the surveys availableapproximately 70% of the salt consumed by Western populations comes from processed foods. The “approximately” is key. It is not easy to measure at the individual level and not even biometric analyzes (such as urine) are very precise when determining consumption. But we know that, if we discount the effect of other critical factors, add salt to meals on the table It is related With a reduction of more than two years life expectancy in men and about a year and a half for women. It is not, seen what is seen, something lower. But what can we do? There it enters Hilson’s idea: “It is vital to extend sugar tax to all processed foods. The current tax has reduced sugar in soft drinks, but we need to see the same success in products such as milkshakes, cookies, yogurts and cereals for breakfast to improve public health,” said. In the background, according to your team’s data, well -designed regulations in the food sector in general could translate into “a healthier environment, as well as a healthier population.” A tax that always ends up. It is curious because salt taxes have historically been one of the most unpopular taxes. From French gabela to the Indian nationalist movementsSalt has played a very important role in the formation of contemporary political societies. It is true that the current tax that is being considered in places like the United Kingdom It is very different to those who disappeared throughout the twentieth century. The importance and scarcity of this resource changed radically with our technical capacity. However, it is still curious that this compound is in the pillory. As epidemics like obesity grow, more and more experts They believe that states They should take action on the matter. Above all, in well -being systems such as Europeans. The evidence shows that These types of interventions are effective. However, we are still taking the first steps in this field. Image | Timo Volz / Victoriano Izquierdo In Xataka | We have a problem with our salt consumption. And there are several alternative ingredients to remedy it

The willpower has failed in the adoption of habits, but the brain has a better trick: personal automation

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

Bet everything to willpower when you want to acquire a new habit It does not usually work. That I knew San Mateo: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” James Clear, author of the Best Seller ‘Atomic habits‘He already warns that leaving the acquisition of habits to willpower is a decision that brings you a little more to failure. Our brain is not designed to constantly fight against what is comfortable and known. Clear bet for creating systems that lead to the execution of the new habits that you want to acquire to achieve your goals without having to depend on discipline and constancy. However, there is a method that can simplify it much more: Personal automation. Habit, what a habit? One of the best strategies for acquire a new habit Without depending on willpower, it is simply not having to think that there is that new habit. That is to say, Automate habit In the same way you don’t think when you wash your teeth or what breakfasts daily. An example of personal automation can be the one used by Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg (before Your style change) in which They had adapted their wardrobe to reduce the number of decisions they made up to date, and thus reduce their mental load. Neither Jobs nor Zuckerberg were planted every day before their closet thinking about what they were going to put that day, they simply opened the closet and took a clothing that was already previously selected, without mental debate. In fact, the brain has a natural tendency to procedure. The creation of habits is based on cerebral plasticity or, which is the same, the brain learns to perform a task Based on the repetition of the sameuntil he learns, optimizes it and executes it unconsciously and involuntary. Do you think every movement of the fingers when you tie you a shoe, brush your teeth or scrub your dishes? Obviously not, because it is something you have practiced so much that Your brain has automated it. Now think of your new habit as that automated action and how you can assimilate it without even having to think about it. The key to generating that automation is to integrate the habit into a specific routine and in a specific order, to repeat it every day, in the same way that every morning you get up, show you, you dress, breakfast in a certain order. It is not usual to change that order once you have acquired it because you have automated the process and the strange thing will be to skip one of those steps, so it will not depend on whether you woke up without wanting to shower, or breakfast. You don’t even consider it, you simply do it. The benefits of personal automation Such and As they point out from Thinkwasabione of the greatest benefits of personal automation is mental energy saving. However, this system helps reinforce Acquisition of new habits or objectives without leaving any loophole to temptation not to do so. In addition, personal automation can stimulate your creativity and ability to solve problems. When the automation process of a certain action or habit is already very settled, the brain enters “autopilot” while this process is carried out, which leaves space for creative thinking by promoting the “Eureka” moments. Ideally, start little by little, choosing one or two things you can automate in your daily routine, and then add more progressively. For example, if one of your goals is to eat healthier or save, you can start by integrating in your weekend routine the elaboration of A menu for the whole week. By having it prepared, you will not have to think about your diet daily or worry about cooking during the week to eat healthy. If your goal is start sportsprepare your shoes and sports clothes in advance so that you just have to hear them and run. Having to look for them under the bed can become a more than enough excuse for your brain to mine your willpower. Do not give that advantage. The key to this technique is in the consistency and anticipation. Make small actions repeatedly until they become automatic habits. In Xataka | Until recently, people were very proud of how little I slept: today they are candidates to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s In Xataka | The simple habit that provides a surprising impact on productivity: order the work space before starting Image | Unspash (Isaac Smith)

In the 60s Spain wanted to experiment with gamma radiation. The result was an “atomic forest” in Alcalá

March 23, 2025 by usatoday24

Before rowing us and getting into work I propose a game. One fast, simple and above all curious. Open Google Maps, activates the satellite vision (with that of the street the effect will not be the same), write “Alcalá Atomic Garden” And then let the web transfer you to a point located near Meco and the Northeast HighwayA-2. There, Google’s red claw. Approximate. What do you see? Exact. A Huge circumference green Symmetric. Perfect As if they had drawn it with an XXL size compass. If you dedicate a couple of seconds you will appreciate that it is formed by concentric circles, a succession Tree rings Almost and leafy enough to stand out in bird view and that someone planted in their day around a clear center. It is not a mistake. It is history. More specifically the footprint of “El Encín Gamma Radiation Field”an installation that in its day, back in the last decades of Franco, stood out on the country’s scientific map. His chronicle is fascinating. Almost as much as the large 15 -hectare wooded square left in Alcalá and that, In words From the anthropologist Ambrosio Sánchez de Ribera, it is “a singularity” at European level. New times, new science The 50s and 60s were times of change. For the world, which gradually entered into The cold war. And of course for Spain, where Franco seemed to enter a new phase marked by developmentalism and a certain cracking of its international isolation, with milestones such as The signing of the concordat with the Holy See In 1953, the Pacts of Madrid or the entrance to the UN, In 1955. The 50 were also time for something else: nuclear energy. With still the recent memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki And in full arms race with Moscow, the US wanted international opinion not to focus only on the threat of atomic war and also value its civil and scientific uses. Probably the best proof of that effort is speech “Peace atoms”pronounced in 1953 by Eisenhower before the UN. “Instead of focusing exclusively on the dangers of atomic war, Eisenhower praised the Civil nuclear applications In agriculture, medicine and energy generation. He proposed to create an ‘international atomic energy organism’ that promoted the peaceful use of nuclear energy ‘for the benefit of humanity’ “, Remember Elisabeth Röhrlichhistorian of the University of Vienna. The result soon materialized: just Four years laterIn 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) was created. Spain, who had started his own (and shy) history with nuclear energy to late 40did not remain impermeable to those changes. In the 50 Patria Press (Node included) already talked about the US plants either United Kingdom and experiments with radioactive sources applied to medicine and agriculture. In 57 Madrid even hosted a European FAO summit on the subject. Thus, with that backdrop, around 1959, Spain decided to take another step and, with the key mediation of César Gómez Campoan engineer with experience in the USA, planned to create his own “Gamma Radiation Field”a focused specifically designed to perform “crop and seed irradiation experiments”. The chosen place: El Encín, a plot away from Alcalá where Gómez Campo himself had been conducting studies for Agronomic Research Institute. The project advanced relatively fast, as Ambrosio Sánchez de Ribera recalls in a broad (and very complete) essay About the Encín published in 2018 in Complutenses Annals. In 1961, what time was lifted would be an active scientific installation whose footprint still shows today from Google bird: a field of study of 440 square meters of diameter, an area of 15 hectares and 18,000 trees, although in 2018 there were only 5,000 left. A huge outdoor laboratory The Encín was a huge outdoor laboratory. One with a design as peculiar as its purpose. The field was circular and was formed by a series of concentric rings arranged around an axis. In the center there was a circle of 25 m radius with a removable hexagonal greenhouse. Inside it contained a lead sarcophagus that housed the source of radiation with which scientists operated, Cesio137 from used bars of American nuclear reactors. Around that central almond of 50 m in diameter, protected with a concrete wall and a stepped soil slope of several meters high to avoid the radiation output, the nearly 18,000 trees that completed the circumference of 15 hectares were distributed. Its purpose was to serve as extra screen against radiation. By way of auction, the center had a garden of large trees and several constructions where the staff had its offices and laboratories. Clarified what the Encín was the other great question: What did they do in it in the 60s? Basically experiment with radiation to find mutations that in last terms allow to achieve varieties of interesting vegetables, fruits or seeds for their characteristics. What is called induced mutagenesis. Gómez Campo himself explained In 1964, which centers such as El Encín were dedicated: “Essentially it consists of a gamma ray emitting source that is installed in an open field, so that the irradiation of growth or relatively bulky animals is possible.” Certain hours a day and for several months a year, at the Alcalá base the technicians opened the lead sarcophagus so that the gamma ray emitting source could act in the center of the field, the 50 m area of diameter protected with a wall and slope in which plants, seeds, insects or some animals were exposed. “The dose received depended on the distance from Cesio137”, Sánchez de Ribera clarifies. When the years of irradiation ended the lead sarcophagus fell again, the caesium was locked and the researchers could access to work. The El Encín field worked 12 years, Between 1961 and 1973when his activity was complicated by the construction of a cement factory in the surroundings. The dust hindered research, so that in 73 it was decided to remove the radioactive source and transfer it to the Polytechnic University of Madrid. There he was only three years before embarking on … Read more

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