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The price you will pay will be the dismissal of 100,000 employees and the closure of more factories

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Just a year and a half ago, Volkswagen reached an agreement with the unions to lay off “only” 35,000 employees to ensure the continuity of some factories, ensuring their operation until 2030. a bad drinkbut acceptable in order to preserve the employment of many other Volkswagen employees. Today the German group has announced that this pact it’s broken. The numbers don’t work. The German magazine Manager Magazine advanced that the group’s CEO, Oliver Blume, had presented a new adjustment plan to the board of directors. The number of layoffs is the highest that the German manufacturer has ever announced: up to 100,000 layoffs worldwide, and four factories in Germany with closure on the table. The size of the problem. Volkswagen closed 2025 with more than 662,000 employees all over the world. Losing 100,000 jobs means losing almost one in six workers. As and as highlighted the agency EFEthis is the largest restructuring in the group’s 89-year history. The plants designated for closure are those in Hannover, Zwickau and Emden, all three of the Volkswagen brand, plus the Audi factory in Neckarsulm. The plan also includes a 15% reduction in investments for the next five years and a general spending cut of 11 billion euros before the end of the decade. The accounts don’t add up. The numbers for the first quarter of 2026 explain this drastic move by Volkswagen. Operating profit fell by 14% year-on-year to 2.5 billion euroswith a margin of 3.3%, while sales fell 7%. Analysts expected almost 4,000 million in operating profit. Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz left no room for doubt in the seriousness of the situation in the results report for the first quarter of the year: “We must radically transform our business model and achieve structural and sustainable improvements.” The group has already reduced around 29,000 positions from 2023 and cut its production capacity from 12 to 9 million vehicles per year. For management, these measures are not enough to compensate for the drop in sales. Chinese pressure and tariffs. There are two sources of pressure that have accelerated the deterioration of Volkswagen’s situation. The first and most obvious are the Chinese manufacturers. In 2025, cars made in China reached 7% of sales in the EUexceeding one million units for the first time. At the same time, European exports to China plummeted by 43%. Volkswagen, which has one of its largest markets in China, has been losing share there for years due to the unstoppable push of local Chinese brands. The second key factor comes from the opposite extreme: the United States. The tariffs that Trump has imposed on European vehicles have hit hard a group that has most of its factories in countries affected by the tariffs. Blume he recognized it at last week’s general meeting of shareholders: “Never before has the risk situation been so high.” To gain liquidity, the German manufacturer has just closed the sale of 51% of its Everllence marine engine division to Bain Capital for 7.4 billion euros. This could be just one more of future asset sales to obtain more liquidity. The union wall. As might be expected, the plan has not been well received by unions. The late 2024 agreement with IG Metall promised that there would be no factory closures or forced layoffs in Germany until at least 2030. The new plan blows up those commitments. Daniela Cavallo, president of the Volkswagen works council, and Christiane Benner, head of IG Metall, reacted with a joint statement of frontal rejection of the announced layoffs: “If these plans go ahead, we will stop them with all our forces.” On July 9, the supervisory board of the Volkswagen group will debate this workforce adjustment plan, which would affect one in every six of the company’s employees. The decisions made at that meeting will decide the future of Volkswagen. In Xataka | Volkswagen cars are no longer as popular as they used to be, so Volkswagen wants to start making… missiles Image | Volkswagen

What is Eustella, prices and what you can do with the new European alternative to Claude, Gemini or ChatGPT but with agents

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Let’s tell you What is Eustella and how does it work? this European alternative to OpenClaw. It is an artificial intelligence assistant for Android and iOS, which is promoted with privacy as its flag by having all the data hosted on servers in the United States. We are going to start the article by explaining what this AI is and who is behind it. Then we will tell you all the things you can do with Eustellaand we will finish by telling you what the prices of their payment plans are. What is Eustella and who is behind it? Eustella is an artificial intelligence personal assistant created by a European company. Created in Europe for Europeans, says the Vienna-based company newsrooms.ai, which is responsible for this project. In essence, it is an AI assistant with agent capabilitiesso it offers several possibilities. This means that you can do two things with this AI. First of all, you can ask him any type of questions as you would with Claude, ChatGPT either Gemini. But secondly you can also ask him to perform tasks for you on your mobile device. Its big argument is that you maintain full control over your information, and that no profiles are built or AIs are trained with it. In addition to having been developed by an Austrian company, the data is hosted entirely in servers located in Europewhich are managed by the German company IONOS CLOUD. Of course, not even IONOS has access to user data, since the information is stored encrypted. Under the hood, we are going to find several artificial intelligence models. On the one hand we have European Mistral modelsbut also other open weight models such as Qwen 3.5/3.7 from Alibaba, Gemma 4 from Google, gpt-oss-120b from OpenAI and Flux from Black Forest Labs. Non-European models use them because they are open source and can be hosted in Europeno matter where they were trained. With this, Eustella does not depend on the closed APIs of the United States, and in fact explicitly avoids the use of proprietary APIs. In addition, developers intend to continue maintaining flexibility by integrating new open weight models as soon as they offer better results. How it works and what it can do You can use Eustella both in the browser and on the mobile. You can register and access the website eustella.com or access your app for Android. An iOS app will also be released soon. Therefore, even for its functions of AI agentusing it is as easy as installing an app. This AI seeks ease of use above all else. You will not have to install anything additional, you do not have to select or configure models or servers. You simply write and the bot will respond. As for its capabilities, the first thing is that Eustella works as an artificial intelligence chatbot. You can ask him any question and he will answer you by searching for information in the knowledge of his models or on the Internet. Furthermore, it also has deep investigation featuresadvanced search or answer specific questions about Eustella itself. Another of its functions is multimedia creation. Can generate images from scratch or modify existing ones. For that, it also has a vision mode, allowing you upload images to analyze them or extract text from them. It also has office functionsbeing able to create, read and edit Word, PowerPoint or Excel documents. It offers professional writing or even file analysis, being able to read and extract content from PDF files or other text documents. Eustella also allows you schedule remindersmanage notes and create projects to centralize queries on the same topic there. You can also manage your memories, or even create a companiona kind of virtual pet with its own personality to interact with and ask for things. Another of the great strengths is that you have several AI agents that you can use. Each of them perform specific automations, such as helping you plan a trip, having a morning news summary, finding music, conducting research, helping you learn, etc. EUstella also allows you to create your own agents, group chat and more. Additionally, it also has integrations in place, such as displaying real-time cryptocurrency prices with Bitpanda or a price comparator from Geizhals. In the coming months there will be new integrations focused on maps, travel, navigation, shopping, education and lifestyle. Price of Eustella subscriptions You can use Eustella for free, although You also have three payment plans. They are the following, and with the following characteristics: Comet (€5.99/month): Gives you more tokens and more Eustella usage. You can do more projects and advanced search, document creation, image generation and European data sovereignty features are added. Star (€17.99/month): Everything Comet offers but with usage limits 3 times higher. It also allows you to create more projects, more image generation and you can schedule agents at specific times. Cosmos (€89.99/month): Everything Star offers, but with 15 times the usage limit. You can also create more AI agents, have unlimited projects, and European priority for support. In Xataka Basics | Artificial intelligence on your PC: the best free tools to install AI models like DeepSeek, Llama, Mistral, Gemma and more

In three days we have seen crazy prices on hardware from Apple, Xbox and Valve. Obviously, these are not isolated events.

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Three pieces of news about hardware price increases or announcements in three days, and all three have met with open rejection from the public. Valve confirms that its new console costs more than 1,000 euros (or much more, depending on the model). Apple raises all its Macs and iPads by 20% on average. Microsoft announces the third Xbox increase in fourteen months. And they all give the same reason, which has been causing the tech industry to convulse for months. The worst: at the moment there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The prices. This past Monday, June 22, Valve wakefulness the final price of its long-awaited Steam Machine: 1,039 euros for the 512 GB model without controller. And that is the economic option. On Thursday morning the 25th, Apple updated their online store with increases of 15 to 20% on all Macs and iPads; The MacBook Air went from 1,099 to 1,299 euros, and the MacBook Neo, the entry-level laptop that the company introduced in March at $599, rose to $699. hours laterMicrosoft: Xbox Series S and Series The reason, which has now become sadly familiar: the RAM and storage crisis. Who is to blame. Neither Apple, Microsoft nor Valve are responsible for this situation. They are the three manufacturers that produce 90% of the world’s DRAM: Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. They have all made the same decision: prioritize contracts with artificial intelligence data centers over the consumer market. Micron, for example, closed its consumer division in 2025 (the Crucial brand) to redirect its capacity towards industrial customers. SK Hynix, Nvidia’s main supplier, stated that Its production for this year was completely sold. The pressures. A Valve spokesperson described it bluntly in an interview: “They give us a price every month and then they say ‘you can buy this amount’ and it’s a yes or no. And if we say no, they never talk to us again.” It is the same scheme for all companies, just with different consequences depending on the size of the order. Apple has room to negotiate because it sells tens of millions of units a year. Valve, not so much: its hardware volume is incomparably smaller. But the result is similar: the costs have been shot until they cannot be absorbed internally. Tim Cook acknowledged it before the announcement: the situation is already “unsustainable.” Why consoles pay more. Significantly, consoles are especially vulnerable to this crisis. Unlike a MacBook or a phone, consoles have historically sold below their manufacturing cost, assuming that lRevenue from games and subscriptions will cover the difference over time. Microsoft explained it very light: “Unlike phones, computers and other devices, consoles are generally not sold at a profit, but for less than it costs to make them.” That model works when component costs are predictable, but if RAM rises without being possible to anticipate, the market is thrown into chaos. For example, Nintendo is paying 41% more for 12 GB of RAM which includes each unit of Switch 2 with respect to the original projections. Maintaining the sales price in that scenario would mean a loss of $50 per console sold. The case of Xbox is even more striking because it does not stop accumulating increases. The first in May 2025, the second in October of that same year and now this third. According to Microsoft, the cost of console storage and memory “has increased more than 2.5 times” since the last revision. Valve in trouble. The component crisis applied to consumer hardware has hit Valve with particular fury. The Steam Machine was announced in November 2025 pricelesswith internal projections that placed it around 700-800 dollars. The company explains which was based on years of data on the evolution of PC hardware prices, which “tend to go down over time as new technology arrives.” But just the opposite happened: when DRAM manufacturers redirected their capacity towards AI, Valve stopped getting stable prices for its components. Every month a new price arrives; either it is accepted or there is no supply. There is one detail in the launch that illustrates the precarious supply better than any figure: some Steam Machine units are shipping to analysts with a single 16 GB RAM module, while others arrive with two 8 GB modules. The situation has reached the point that the same type of module is not always available. How long will things last? Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said it no room for optimism in the Q3 fiscal 2026 earnings report: “We expect shortage conditions to persist beyond 2027 as a result of AI-driven demand across all segments, coupled with structural supply constraints.” He added that even with a gradual improvement planned for 2028, “there is currently no visibility on when memory supply will be able to catch up with growing demand.” Microsoft, for its part, expects “another doubling” of console storage and memory prices by fall 2027. The consequences beyond the current moment are already beginning to become clear. sony consider delaying the launch of PS6 until 2028 or 2029which would make this period between PlayStation generations the longest in its history. And even when the shortage moderates, no price drops expected: the new level of costs will tend to stabilize, not reverse. That is to say, the week we have just experienced, more than an occasional tsunami, is the advance of a new pricing structure for consumer hardware. In Xataka | Intel and AMD are setting their prices through the roof, so the TikTok company has decided to create its own chip

The Galaxy A27 debuts in Spain with six years of updates and what is necessary to be one of the best-selling mobile phones

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It was taking a while, but the Galaxy A27 it has become official just before July starts. It is the direct successor of the Galaxy A26one of Samsung’s best-selling phones. Is there much evolution between one or the other? Is it worth taking the leap? Let’s see it a little further down, but small spoiler: part of the 349 euros. Mobile – Samsung Galaxy A27 5G, Black, 128 GB, 6 GB RAM, 6.7″ FHD+ Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, 5000 mAh, Android 16 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A continuous mobile with six years of updates As Samsung explained in its statement, the mobile will be available starting July 3. However, we can now buy it at MediaMarkt, both in its version with 6+128 GB (which costs 349 euros) and the one with 8+256 GB, available for 439 euros. There aren’t many changes between this phone and its predecessor, both good and bad. This means that, despite being an affordable mobile phone, it continues to maintain its six years of updates guaranteed. He Galaxy A27 It arrives with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 under the hood, a 4nm chip. This, together with the 6 or 8 GB of RAM memory (depending on the model we choose), will offer us more than enough performance for the most common apps. In addition, it has a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution, 120 Hz and a maximum brightness level of 800 nits. As for the battery, it comes with what is expected in this range: a 5,000 mAh battery with 25W fast charging. It is true that fast charging is fair, but Samsung optimizes its phones very well, so we can expect an autonomy of approximately a day and a half. Like all your current phones, we will also have many AI functions thanks to Galaxy AI and Gemini. At a photographic level, it has three cameras on the back, where its 50 MP main sensor with optical stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture stands out. And, finally, we cannot forget that is compatible with 5G networksBluetooth 5.1 and has a fingerprint sensor located on the side button. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Galaxy a27 ✅ THE BEST Six years of updates: It is one of the biggest assets of Samsung’s Galaxy A. It makes the phone last longer. Many AI tools: One UI brings many artificial intelligence tools and they work at a very high level, as is the case with the image eraser. ❌ THE WORST High launch price: The phone has increased in price compared to the previous generation, so it is a bit expensive at launch. Fair fast charging: A 25W fast charge is already starting to be very poor, especially if we take into account what other phones in the same price range have. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for a Samsung phone because you like its ecosystem, you want it to have many years of updates and you don’t want to pay too much. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are a user who needs their mobile phone to have more power, faster charging or a better camera. You can do very well there. Galaxy S25. You may also be interested Samsung Galaxy A26 5G 256GB Mobile Phone, Amazing Intelligence, 6GB RAM, 50MP Camera, Mint, 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty + 1 Extra Year 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 | Samsung In Xataka | Best truly wireless earbuds (TWS) with noise cancellation. Which one to buy and seven recommended models In Xataka | Best mobile phones 2026. Which one to buy based on use and six recommended models

You should restrict the release of GPT 5.6 yes or yes

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The US Government has asked OpenAI to limit the distribution of GPT 5.6, its next artificial intelligence (IA), to a reduced number of partners approved by the Administration itself. This decision, according to CNNhas been caused by the advanced capabilities of this model. However, this is not an isolated movement. And this request comes a few days after the Trump Administration imposed a export control order to Anthropic, which led this company to withdraw its two most advanced models from the market: Mythos and Fable. The trigger for the current scenario has been, precisely, that episode. Mythos and Fable put Washington and Wall Street on alert for their cybersecurity capabilities, which some experts consider an unprecedented risk vector. According to those same sources, the Administration and OpenAI agree that GPT 5.6 is on par with Mythos in terms of power and reach. This makes it, de factoin the second border model to come under direct government scrutiny in a matter of weeks. OpenAI has accepted this restriction as a provisional way to release this model publicly. Sam Altman, the head of this company, has described this scenario in an internal report as a “strange moment” with no real regulatory framework for AI models. In that same document Altman explained that the Government is approving “client by client” access, a formula that the company tolerates but does not support. A “strange time” for AI companies OpenAI’s official stance leaves little room for ambiguity. “We have made it clear to the US Government that this is not our preferred long-term model, and we will work with them and other players in the sector to achieve a more sustainable approach in future launches,” wrote Altman in his report. The White House has limited itself to stating to CNN that “they continue to collaborate with frontier AI laboratories to develop shared approaches.” OpenAI has not commented anything further at the moment. Donald Trump has signed an executive order asking companies with advanced models to undergo a government review Be that as it may, the regulatory background further complicates the picture. Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month requiring companies with advanced models undergo a government review voluntary 30 days before each launch. The framework of its implementation, however, still not established. The handling of the OpenAI case perfectly illustrates the confusion that now pervades everything: the petition came from the White House, while the export ban on Anthropic came from the Department of Commerce. They are two different organisms. Two different instruments and without apparent coordination. In any case, the absence of a clear regulatory framework responds to explicit critics. “Right now we have an ad hoc, personalized, opaque, possibly outside the law approach,” Brad Carson stateddirector of Public First, a bipartisan pro-AI safety superPAC. A superPAC is a type of American political organization that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections or public debate, but without being subject to the funding limits that apply to traditional parties or candidates. Carson recognizes that the Government has the power to remove dangerous products from the market, including AI models, but warns that it must be done with transparency and fairness. We’ll see what happens eventually, but GPT 5.6 still doesn’t have a confirmed public release date. More information | cnn In Xataka | The world is running out of data to continue training AI. China has an ace up its sleeve

The University of Córdoba has found a pesticide in the eggs of up to 14 different wild birds. The only problem is that it has been banned since the 70s.

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One has the intuitive idea that within each egg lies the promise of a story that is just beginning. But it’s a lie. Nature is amazing and elusive and blind and cruel: many eggs, in fact, never even hatch; They end up lost in the countryside or as food for scavengers. For this reason, one day, a group of researchers from the University of Córdoba They decided to collect them and analyze them as what they are: capsules that summarize the chemical memory of the place where they were placed. They collected eggs from bearded vultures, red kites, gray teals and many other species. And inside found everything: from veterinary drugs to heavy metals to all types of pesticides, pesticides and fungicides. Among them were traces of DDT, the organochlorine that we banned in agriculture in the 70s (and could no longer be used as an insecticide in 1994). Curiously, this is not the most worrying thing. What does an egg hide? An egg, as I said, is a photograph of the environment. What accumulates in each bird’s body turns out to be a fairly accurate reflection of what it eats, what it drinks, and where it spends its day. The entire trophic chain is hidden inside each egg. Therefore, when we approach them as the UCO has donewe are not talking about bird problems… we are looking at the chemistry of an entire territory in which we are also. And what have we seen? The most striking thing is not, in fact, DDT (or DDE, its main derivative). Although it is curious that there is a pesticide banned decades ago floating around the environment, it is almost expected: it is what toxicology predicts and why it was ultimately banned. The most interesting thing about the UCO’s work is that it allows us to see, at a single glance, the reality of the pollution with which our mountain coexists. The AGR-125 Veterinary Toxicology group and the Center for Analysis and Diagnosis of Wildlife of Andalusia they used the eggs as ‘non-invasive matrices’ and their data are a canvas that covers many compounds, many birds and a lot of time. There we have found, along with the remains of DDT, commonly used pesticides and fungicides, persistent exposure to endocrine disruptors, heavy metals (such as lead, mercury and cadmium) and, in two bearded vulture eggs, veterinary drugs. And now what? Little, really. The history of DDT shows how difficult it is to work with these realities. As I said, it was banned in agriculture in the 70s, but it remained as an insecticide until 94 and, in fact, It continued to be manufactured (a derivative) in Monzón until 2008. The world of pesticides is a rabbit hole from which rural society never emerges unscathed. Besides, as the authors point outthe concentrations they have found are low. This means that, although we are concerned about the long-term effects, it is very difficult to take extra measures to control the exposure of these birds to these compounds. Luckily, as I also said, this work opens a new door for us to understand what is happening in the countryside and in the mountains. And that, believe me, is already a lot. Image | Kishan Upadhyay In Xataka | We have a problem with pesticides in agriculture. And a bigger one with the panic they generate

Next week the 2,400 W Parkside pressure washer arrives at Lidl that will leave your terrace like new

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With the arrival of good weather, fine-tune the exterior areas of the house It becomes one of the mandatory tasks almost every weekend. If you are tired of scrubbing the garden floor, the terrace walls with the brush, or spending money at the car wash to clean the car, in next week’s Lidl brochure we have found a device that will help you do this. It is about the Parkside 2,400 W pressure washerwhich will go on sale in physical stores next Friday, July 3 by 89.99 euros. Although if you don’t want to wait, you can now buy it on the Lidl website. Parkside pressure washer 2,400 W The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Competing at this price with Lidl is impossible for the vast majority of brands. But if this Parkside cleaning device runs out, on Amazon Prime Day you have this one available Bosch Home and Garden pressure washer with 120 bars and a power of 150 W reduced to 91.99 euros. Bosch Home and Garden High Pressure Washer, High Pressure Cleaner, 1500 W, 125 Bars The price could vary. We earn commission from these links An ideal cleaning tool for removing stubborn dirt. The true hallmark of this pressure washer is its motor with 2,400 W of power, which powers a aluminum high pressure pump Specially designed to offer great durability and resistance to corrosion. This technical combination allows reaching a maximum pressure of 170 bars (with a very solvent continuous working pressure of 115 bars). This means that it has enough strength to lift moss embedded in the stone, clean the joints of exterior tiles or remove grease from the car without straining. In addition, it offers a maximum flow rate of 500 liters per hour, an ideal water volume to speed up cleaning large surfaces without it becoming an eternal task. It can also be noted that this pressure washer comes with seven interchangeable bulbsdetergent tank and a 10-meter anti-twist high-pressure hose. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: offer for lidl’s parkside 2,400 W pressure washer today ✅ THE BEST High pressure aluminum pump: Unlike many cheap pressure washers that use plastic components, this model has an aluminum pump. It is a key technical detail because it resists heating, wear and corrosion much better. The “all-inclusive” accessory kit: It does not require spending extra money on accessories. It comes standard with a vario nozzle, rotating turbo nozzle, detergent bottle and a generous 10 meter anti-twist high pressure hose. ❌ THE WORST Exclusively domestic use… Although it has a lot of power on paper, its overall and internal components are designed for moderate-duration home cleaning sessions. It is not recommended for intensive professional or commercial use. Volume and storage… With a weight of around 11.5 kg (with accessories) and considerable vertical dimensions, it requires a fixed space in the garage or storage room to store it. Although it includes wheels and cable supports, it is a cumbersome machine. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want to clean tiles, remove moss from stone paths, wash fences or clean blinds quickly and comfortably. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You need a machine to work continuously for several hours a day on facades or industrial warehouses, you will have to make the leap to professional ranges with water-cooled induction motors. Other pressure washers that may interest you Bosch High Pressure Washer UniversalAquatak 135 (1900 W, pressure: 135 Bar, max. flow: 410 l/h, in Box) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Stanley SXPW24BX Pressure Washer 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 Parkside (Lidl) In Xataka | Safety, organization and entertainment gadgets and accessories for cars on long trips In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes

Our brain has two different circuits for laughing, and one of them is ancestral

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Laughter seems like a simple and automatic act, but neurologically it is a enormously complex phenomenon. It is so complex that we have different types of laughter, since almost all of us have noticed the difference between that uncontrollable laughter that leaves us breathless and the polite laughter that we let out out of courtesy. Now, science suggests that laughter does not depend on a single circuit, but on at least two partially separate networks: one more linked to spontaneous and emotional laughter, and another to voluntary or social laughter. A question of evolution. This has been the focus of an interesting investigation published in Trends in Neurosciences that pointed out that we live with an “ancestral laugh” that is deeply emotional and is directly related to other primates. But, on the other hand, we have “human laughter” which is involuntary and intended to “look good.” To get to this point, the researchers analyzed dozens of patients to whom they performed electrical stimulation while they were awake in order to see the areas of the brain that ‘lighted up’ when they began to laugh. Two networks. The most technical results pointed to the existence of two brain circuits for laughter. The network of spontaneous laughter, which is ancestral, is activated when we hear a brilliant joke or when we are tickled. It is involuntary and purely emotional, causing the most primitive brain regions linked to the reward system and emotions to become active, such as the nucleus accumbens. On the other hand, the laughter that we emit voluntarily to join a conversation and show empathy activates a circuit that does not depend on emotions, but on motor and cognitive control. Two functions that are much superior on the phylogenetic scale of our species. In the disease. This division, which was already intuited in classic reviews, explains why some neurological diseases can nullify the ability to laugh at will, but keep spontaneous laughter intact, since it is in totally different places. With our ancestors. If voluntary laughter appears to be a sophisticated social tool developed by the Homo sapiens To complement language, spontaneous laughter is a direct echo of our evolutionary past. And to understand where this primal laughter comes from, a recent study published in Communications Biology analyzed the acoustics and rhythm of laughter with the aim of comparing laughter sequences in humans and great apes, demonstrating that there is a shared rhythmic pattern. In this way, when a chimpanzee or a bonobo is tickled, it emits vocalizations whose rhythm and timing bear a striking similarity to the spontaneous laughter of humans, or even the laughter of babies. Its meaning. This finding suggests an undeniable evolutionary continuity, since laughter did not appear out of nowhere in our species, but rather arose from neural and vocal networks that our hominid ancestors already possessed. Over hundreds of thousands of years, as our brains developed the motor and cognitive areas necessary for complex language, we “hijacked” that emotional vocalization to create a second circuit: controllable, voluntary, conversational laughter. A missing link. Discovering that laughter has a rhythmic “barcode” shared with apes and two distinct brain pathways is not just a biological curiosity. As points out Nature News Echoing these findings, understanding the evolution of laughter is a direct window into the evolution of vocal control. And the ability to fake a laugh or emit it voluntarily at the exact moment of a conversation requires immense brain plasticity. That is why understanding how we went from the involuntary gasps of primates to the subtle human laughter could be one of the master keys we have in our hands: how we have been able to develop the language we use today. Images | OurWhisky Foundation In Xataka | The human being is the primate that sleeps the least. Science is clear that it is a “radical evolutionary experiment”

where to buy Macs or iPads even on sale

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The RAM crisis is affecting a huge number of manufacturers and, after the rumors that have been circulating, the news is now official: Apple will raise the price of a total of 21 products. But… have all the devices already uploaded? Not yet, so let’s go over what the best prices, offers and discounts that is right now on each device. Which Apple products have risen the most The price increase has not exactly been small, but there are some devices that have risen more than others. In MacBooks, the biggest increase is found in the MacBook Air M5 in its 13-inch configuration, which was previously the most attractive due to its quality-price ratio. The official price before was 1,199 euros and now it has cost 1,429 euros. It’s a 19% increase (230 euros at the exchange rate). The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Macs have also been affected with a quite notable increase in the case of the Mac Studio M4 Max. Its price before the increase was 2,329 euros and now it costs a whopping 3,029 euros. It is not a computer that is found in too many stores, so over time we may not even see offers. The same thing happens with iPads as with MacBooks, and that is that we have the biggest price increase in the iPad A16which is Apple’s most basic model. The 379 euros that we saw before the increase is a thing of the past, since it has now cost 499 euros. The increase is 129 euros (32%). As for other products, the Apple TV 4K has been the most affected. In most stores (not just the Apple Store) we almost always found it for 169 euros, but now it has risen to 229 euros with an increase of 36%. That is, the difference is 60 euros. Where is the old price still MacBook Neo The news about the price increase has arrived in the middle of Amazon’s Prime Day, so we can still find good deals on some devices, both on Amazon itself and in other stores. We have a good example with the MacBook Neofound on Amazon for 649 euros instead of 699 euros. Store Price Difference vs current price State amazon €649 €150 New MediaMarkt €649 €150 New PcComponents €649 €150 New The English Court €699 €100 New MacBook Air M5 But if we talk about computers that have risen a lot in price, The MacBook Air M5 is the one that takes the cake. However, there are stores that still have it on sale, such as MediaMarkt. Right now it is available for a price of 1,099 euros instead of 1,429 euros. Store Price Difference vs current price State MediaMarkt €1,099 €330 New PcComponents €1,299 €130 New iPad A16 The iPad A16 is Apple’s most basic model and the one with the highest percentage increase in price. It has now cost 499 euros, although there are stores that still have it cheaper. Store Price Difference vs current price State amazon €349 €150 New MediaMarkt €349 €150 New The English Court €349 €150 New PcComponents €339 €160 Reconditioned Back Market €349 €150 Reconditioned Products that are more worth it There are devices worth paying attention to before we see the price increase effective in all stores. He MacBook Neo no longer enjoys the same quality-price ratio, so the 649 euros that costs right now are attractive. The same goes for the MacBook Air M5 in its 13-inch configuration. The 1,099 euros We will not see them again after the price increase, so it is interesting to consider the possibility of buying it now if we are going to need it later, as may be the case with the next school year. The iPad Air is one of the most attractive tablets: it is powerful, very light and its price was very well balanced. With the new price increase, it has gone from costing 649 euros (official price) to 799 euros. El Corte Inglés still has it on offer for 619 euroswhile MediaMarkt, for example, has already raised the price to 749 euros (it has it with a small discount). The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The best time is now Today is the best time to buy one of these Apple devices. Some have already been updated with the current prices, but others continue to enjoy offers, promotions and discounts that are the last opportunity to buy them much cheaper. We remember that we are on the last day of Prime Day. It is possible that prices will be updated once the Amazon campaign ends. All devices that have increased in price New prices on MacBooks Current base PRICE BASE PRICE BEFORE DIFFERENCE MACBOOK NEO 799 euros 699 euros +100 euros (+14%) MACBOOK AIR (13″) M5 1,429 euros 1,199 euros +230 euros (+19%) MACBOOK AIR (15″) M5 1,729 euros 1,499 euros +230 euros (+15%) MACBOOK PRO (14″) M5 2,229 euros 1,929 euros +300 euros (+16%) MACBOOK PRO (14″) M5 PRO 2,949 euros 2,549 euros +400 euros (+16%) MACBOOK PRO (14″) M5 MAX 4,849 euros 4,249 euros +600 euros (+14%) MACBOOK PRO (16″) M5 pro 3,449 euros 3,049 euros +400 euros (+13%) MACBOOK PRO (16″) M5 max 5,149 euros 4,549 euros +600 euros (+13%) New prices on Macs Current base PRICE BASE PRICE BEFORE DIFFERENCE IMAC 1,819 euros 1,519 euros +300 euros (+20%) MAC MINI M4* 969 euros* 969 euros* 0 euros (0%)* MAC MINI M4 PRO 1,919 euros 1,719 euros +200 euros (+12%) MAC STUDIO M4 max 3,029 euros 2,329 +700 euros (+30%) MAC STUDIO M3 ultra 6,349 euros 4,849 euros +1,500 euros (+31%) New prices on iPads Current base PRICE BASE PRICE BEFORE DIFFERENCE ipad a16 499 euros 379 euros +120 euros (+32%) ipad mini 679 euros 549 euros +130 euros (+24%) iPad air (11″) m4 799 euros 649 euros +150 euros (+23%) iPad air (13″) m4 999 euros 849 euros +150 euros (+18%) iPad pro (13″) m5 1,299 … Read more

Microsoft promised a quantum computer by 2029. Nature publishes a review that questions its promise

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Microsoft has been trying to demonstrate for almost two decades the existence of Majorana modes: quasiparticles that emerge in certain topological superconducting materials and that behave as if they were Majorana fermions. The Italian physicist Ettore Majorana mathematically described the existence of these fermions in 1937, and since then many researchers have become obsessed with them because they have a characteristic that makes them unique: They are both a particle and their own antiparticle. However, the Majorana modes that Microsoft works with are not fundamental particles; They are emerging phenomena in the field of condensed matter. Its appeal lies in the fact that if it manages to master them, it could manufacture qubits that are intrinsically more stable than those of its rivals and capable of resisting the external noise that weighs everyone down today. quantum computers. About that bet Majorana 2 arrived earlier this June, a new topological quantum processor that incorporates new materials to create a more stable topological phase. Its scientific basis comes from an article published in February 2025 in Naturecentral to all subsequent developments of this company. Regarding that work, Chetan Nayak, the technical director of quantum hardware, announced that Microsoft had cut its schedule in half: the goal of having a fully functional quantum computer is now set for 2029. Shadow looms over Microsoft’s quantum research The scientific community is being extraordinarily demanding with that article and with the research program surrounding it. In fact, this ability to exercise criticism and analysis is one of the strengths of the scientific method. Last Wednesday, Nature posted a review peer-reviewed and signed by Henry Legg, professor of quantum physics at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), which raises new doubts about the foundations of that work. Not about a peripheral detail. On its foundations. And the background of those from Redmond does not help. Two scientific articles supported by Microsoft have already been removed from Nature. On those occasions, the editors also pointed out several alerts about possible problems in two other texts: one from Nature and the other from Science. Microsoft explained that the recalled items were produced outside of its laboratories and that did not review the data before publication. Be that as it may, the February 2025 work questioned by Legg is the fifth under scrutiny and, unlike the previous ones, it is not being withdrawn. “It’s almost like debating whether flight is possible or not, and then you find yourself next to a plane. Well, come on, get on and take a spin” Microsoft’s response has been overwhelming. According to Reutersthis company assures that it supports its research and that its program is making practical advances despite the doubts it is raising. Nayak has illustrated it with a metaphor: “It’s almost like debating whether flight is possible or not, and then you find yourself next to an airplane. Well, come on, get on and take a spin.” The response has been equally resounding. Sergey Frolov, a physicist at the University of Pittsburgh, points to a fundamental problem: Microsoft lacks the accumulated evidence that supports IBM or Quantinuum, rivals that do not depend on the existence of Majorana modes. “Neither Microsoft nor anyone else has laid the groundwork to make it clear that these advances based on Majorana modes are plausible through a series of reliable experiments,” Frolov declared. “On the contrary, we have several articles that continue to be questioned at the most basic level by different people.” The geopolitical context adds additional pressure. The Trump Administration has invested $2 billion in quantum computing and this week has set the goal to have a functional system by 2028, a year ahead of Microsoft’s deadline. The race is real. The question is whether the science that supports it is also. Image | Microsoft More information | Reuters In Xataka | 38% of AI experts in the US have been trained in China. They are essential to sustain your leadership

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