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Carrefour sells this portable air conditioner that is different from the rest in design and ideal for relieving the new heat wave at home

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Temperatures are rising again and a new heat wave begins today. If you have been tempted to install a split unit at home and are looking for a solution to stay cool without having to do any work or carry out complex installations, at Carrefour we have found it. It’s about this air Climatric portable air conditioner CPACN-09-CO-Awhich you can buy for 269 ​​euros in these moments. Climatric CPACN-09 CO-A Portable Air Conditioner The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A good, pretty and cheap penguin Unlike the classic white and rough blocks that usually crowd the market, this portable air conditioner that Carrefour sells stands out for its modern lines and its stylized vertical format, as well as for its elegant black color. It has a cooling power of 2,236 frigoriesperfect for effectively cooling standard-sized rooms, bedrooms or offices without taking up excessive space, making it an ideal choice for small or medium-sized homes. Includes multidirectional wheels so you can comfortably move it from the living room to the bedroom as needed throughout the day. Plus, best of all, you won’t have to call a technician to get it up and running. You just need to have a window nearby to remove the tube that expels hot air from the compressor. ⚡ IN BRIEF: Climatric CPACN-09-CO-A portable air conditioner ✅ THE BEST Stylish black design: breaks the traditional “giant white box” aesthetic. Its dark finish and column format make it much easier to visually integrate into modern living rooms or bedrooms. Balanced cooling capacity: It offers 2,236 frigories (2.6 kW), an ideal power to quickly cool small or medium-sized rooms of up to 15-18 m². ❌ THE WORST Does not include heat pump… It is an exclusive device for cold, so it does not serve as heating during the winter. Sound level typical of a penguin… By having the compressor integrated inside the device, it generates an average noise of around 51-54 dB, something common in portable air conditioners but not advisable for light sleepers. 💡 BUY IT IF… You live for rent and need to cool your home without carrying out work, using a drill or carrying out a fixed installation. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You want to cool large rooms (more than 20-25 m²), the 2,236 refrigerators fall short and the device will work hard without cooling enough. Other air conditioning devices that may interest you RANVOO AICE LITE MAX 2026 Neck Air Conditioner with AI The price could vary. We earn commission from these links DREO 10000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner 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 Carrefour In Xataka | Silent ceiling fan: which one to buy? Tips and recommendations In Xataka | Best portable air conditioners 2026. Which one to buy and six recommended penguins

It’s a preview of the future of video games

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These days there has been a happy coincidence: PlayStation Network and Xbox Live have gone down. Last Friday, PlayStation servers They were out of the game for a few hours and This Monday the same thing happened with Xbox. The result, in both cases, was the same: users who not only could not play online multiplayer, but They also couldn’t play games they had boughtbut they needed online verification to work. And I say that it is a “happy coincidence” because almost a month ago Sony announced that They will stop making games in physical format in January 2028, limiting all purchases to digital games that, remember, not only are not ours, but depend on these servers to function. And the fall of both services practically at the same time is a warning of what is to come. When everything goes digital and is locked down by a server check, if the servers go down you better have an old console on hand if you feel like gaming. A reminder of what is to come That servers fail is not new. It’s something that’s not common, but it’s there and it’s a bummer. So much PlayStation as Xbox They have status pages for the servers and the service, warning if any of the functions (games, applications, profile, friends, etc.) are not working as they should. As I say, we are not facing falls every weekbut it is something that is not so rare and, when it happens, there are games that we will not be able to play and others that we can. If we have the game in physical format (and it’s not a paperweightlike more and more in this industry), we put it in the console and play without problems. But if we have the digital game, that’s when the headaches begin. This is what has happened these days with both consoles: those with a digital library who would like to enjoy that video game they are enjoying would have to choose something else, since digital games check the license before starting and, if there are no servers, there is no verification and, therefore, there is no game. A server outage is much more than an afternoon without playing: it’s a reminder that you have nothing Every time this happens, players ask for compensation for lost playing time and so on. The problems are usually solved within a few hours and nothing happens to us for not playing that game in our free time because we can always get together with another in physical formatbut these almost simultaneous falls, as I say, come at a curious time. Sony announced on July 1 that, starting in January 2028, PlayStation consoles would not receive new games in physical format. This implies that, at least on PlayStation, all games released after that date will be digital, so a server outage would prevent you from playing. It is not known what Xbox is going to do with Project Helix (right now it seems that not even they know very well), but everything indicates that it will follow in Sony’s footsteps with a 100% digital console, and a server outage is much more than an afternoon without playing: it is a reminder that you have nothing. We have said actively and passively that games in digital format do not belong to us because they are a simple license to use (except in specific cases or those of the GoG platform on PC) and There are games on disc that not only do not have the complete content (‘Doom The Dark Ages’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle’ or the latest from Ubisoft, for example), but they need online verification to play alone (‘Gran Turismo 7’ or the recently released ‘Halo: Campaign Evolved’). Even if you have these physically, you do not play in a server crash. On the other hand, in a future that aims to be increasingly dependent on streaming gaming, with Nvidia, PlayStation and Xbox very interested in this, a server outage like this also cuts off your immediate access to video games. Xbox has responded through its CTO and that “you don’t play if the servers go down” is not an exaggeration. Scott Van Vlietfrom Xbox, comments that the server outage “caused many scenarios that require a rights check to fail, such as deploying your library and launching the games you own.” Under other conditions, such a drop would have made some noise among players, but it would be one more of those that these services usually suffer. However, the fact that the two platforms go down almost at the same time is that aforementioned reminder that the future that will come sooner rather than later is not the most hopeful for players. In fact, arrives in the middle of a storm by digital rightsthe possession of what we bought and with that murmur of “you will have nothing and you will be happy.” What’s more, the atmosphere is so heated that a publication about a Sony turntable has been filled with comments reminding the company that very well, but that the games are going to be loaded in physical format. In no parallel universe does a announcement tweet For a record player it would have more than 4,000 responses, but in this case, it is a sample of the feelings of many users. November 19th will arrive ‘GTA VI’ only in digital format. Imagine what will happen if the servers go down that day. In Xataka | Between Sony and GTA VI, the coming months have a guaranteed victim in the industry: traditional physical stores

Because of climate change, by 2100 we will lose the equivalent of what 2 billion people eat each year in crops.

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We all know that climate change affects crops. the drought, global warmingextreme rainfall and many other related weather phenomena can seriously endanger agricultural activities. Given that these are the main livelihood of millions of people around the world, it is a situation that is worth analyzing carefully. It is precisely what has done recently a team of scientists from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. After comparing historical episodes of extreme heat with crop yield data from the FAO, they observed that we have been gradually losing crops for several years and that this, as climate change progresses, will only get worse. So much so that by 2100 losses of 160 billion dollars annually are estimated. Only three crops. The situation is even more worrying if we take into account that the data has been analyzed for only three crops: cornsoybeans and wheat. These were selected because there was sufficient data from FAO to carry out both phases of the statistical analysis. The first, calibration, was carried out with data from 1974 to 2004. On the one hand, historical records on episodes of extreme heat and drought were taken and then they were confronted with the existing information on the yields of these crops in different countries around the world. Thus, it was possible to obtain a formula on the correlation between climate and crops. This formula was then validated with data from 2007 to 2019. The objective was, with the climate information for that period, to calculate how it would affect crop yields. For the validation to be positive, the results should coincide with the true performance that was recorded at that time. And so it was. The data coincided and were not at all encouraging, as the first losses began to be detected. Specifically, there was a 3.5% decrease in crop yields. It may seem like little, but as explained to New Scientist one of the authors of the study, Kai Kornhuber, are relevant figures about a global impact, which could even trigger serious crises at a regional level. In fact, there are already annual losses of 20 billion dollars. A worrying situation in 2100. With the model already validated with known data, these scientists ventured to analyze an unknown future. What they saw when entering data for a scenario high emissionswith current trends, was very worrying. According to their calculations, global yields will fall by around 35% by 2100, with annual losses exceeding $161 billion. Another of the authors of the research, Yi Ling Hwong, explained in May at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union that the losses would be roughly equivalent to what around 2 billion people consume in a year. Crops affected by climate change around the world. The calculations have been made at a global level. There would be losses in all countries, including developed ones. However, these scientists warn that the situation will be especially serious in developing countries, where many people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. It can be solved. The positive part of all this is that, according to the authors of the study, you can try not to reach those figures. Kornhuber recalls that climate scientists make these statistical calculations with the goal of making people react and their predictions ending up being wrong. Therefore, they hope that this data will be disseminated and will help farmers to find ways to adapt, choosing new crops, according to the climatic conditions of each area and customizing irrigation. Limitations. This study on how climate change affects crops has limitations that must be recognized. Firstly, only three crops have been calculated. Others could be related to worse or better data, so it cannot be extrapolated to everything that grows on earth. On the other hand, only climate data related to extreme heat and drought are taken into account, but not with the floods or hail, for example. These are also phenomena associated with climate change that affect crops to a large extent. In addition, some scientists outside the study consider that the statistical calculations used may be good for making short-term forecasts, but not for the end of the century. Some even believe that the data may be overestimated. Even so, the authors of the study insist that it is better to be somewhat alarmist so that measures are taken than to underestimate the data and, with the truth in the face, it is too late to take action on the matter. Because that is the great reality of all this. Something has to be done. Data can be the push needed to get started once and for all. Image | Magnificent In Xataka | Google has shown with its AI that the prediction of storms and hurricanes is outdated. This is how your new model works

We thought that using a lot of emojis was immature. Psychology has just shown that the opposite is true.

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For many people, using a lot of emojis in emails, text messages or work chats is a sign of immaturity or unprofessionalism that should not be overlooked. However, the most modern psychology has analyzed the reason for using so many emojis and the reality is that It is not a childish actbut a desperate attempt to recover the emotional nuances that plain text has taken from us. The context. Conveying sarcasm in plain text is undoubtedly a great challenge, and not doing it correctly can result in a message that transmits an edge tone that can ‘scare’ the person to whom we send it. That is why using emojis or any type of expression strategy over text is what saves us from transmitting something that is not what we want. Non-verbal communication. When we speak face to face, words are only a fraction of the message, as tone of voice, posture, a raised eyebrow or a smile convey the true intention behind what we say. In the digital ecosystem, that layer of communication disappears, leaving our WhatsApp or Slack messages at the mercy of the interpretation (and often, pessimism) of the recipient. And this is where emojis come in, since, far from being simple decorations, psychology defines them as substitutes for non-verbal communication. Without going any further, an article published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2021 demonstrated that emojis function as real affective symbols that help convey pure emotional content. It can be measured. An investigation of Journal of Nonverbal Behavior found that adding positive emojis to a completely neutral message makes the recipient perceive it as positive. Likewise, negative emojis can instantly darken the tone of a text that has no point of malice behind it. In privacy, as the magazine points out Symbolic Interactionthe use of emojis in romantic conversations dramatically increases clarity of intentions, reducing the feared ambiguity of the first digital flirtations that in person can be much clearer thanks to the tone or looks we use. There is not a single emoji. With all this evidence, the logical conclusion would seem to be: “Use as many emojis as you can so they can understand you better.” But science warns that there is a catch, since the meaning of emojis is not stable. Here we must keep in mind that, unlike words, which have agreed definitions in dictionaries, emojis are tremendously dependent on the context, the platform and, above all, the generation of the reader. What for a boomer or a millennial It is a simple friendly smile, for Generation Z it can be interpreted as irony, passive-aggressiveness or even contempt. He is the king. The effectiveness of the emoji depends entirely on where and with whom you use it. Research published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports support that, in informal communication, emojis reduce ambiguous interpretations and bring interlocutors closer. However, In the workplace everything changessince, although it brings closeness, it can also alter the perception of competence of the person sending the message. It has even been seen that in formal emails or with superiors, an excess of emojis can generate communicative “noise” and detract from the professionalism or appropriateness of the message. Images | Tim Witzdam In Xataka | Psychology says that people who thank drivers when crossing the street don’t do it just out of gratitude.

the price of China starting to manufacture its own lithography

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ASML has suffered a hard blow. Just a few hours after The Information revealed that a state-backed Chinese company had begun mass manufacturing its own immersion deep ultraviolet (UVP) lithography machines, ASML shares plummeted. They fell until 6.5% in Amsterdamits lowest level since the beginning of June, while on Wall Street they reached fall 6.3%. However, when ASML sneezes other companies catch a cold. And Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp, the other large Western suppliers of equipment for manufacturing integrated circuits, were left between 4% and 7% in the same stock market session, dragged by the same underlying fear: that China, after years of trying, will finally begin to solve the link of the semiconductor chain that most resisted him. International media have not yet confirmed the name of this company, although several of them claim that it resides in Shanghai (China), so it is probably Shanghai Yuliangsheng Technology, an emerging company linked to Huawei and YesCarrier. This simply means that the ecosystem of suppliers that China has been weaving around Huawei in recent years is also beginning to bear fruit in photolithography. Be that as it may, the market has already decided that the threat, although incipient, is real. ASML’s China business suffers This setback in the stock markets comes at a bad time for ASML’s business in China. Its sales in this Asian country represented 19% of your income during the first quarter of this year, and fell to 14% in the second. Even so, this Dutch company presented some solid quarterly results: net sales of 9,326 million euros in the second quarter, 21% more than a year ago, and a net profit of 2,918 million, 27% more with a gross margin of 54%, slightly above the 53.7% of the previous year. ASML still plans to deliver about 130 immersion systems worldwide during 2026 Its CEO, Christophe Fouquet, even raised its net income forecast for 2026 in mid-July to a range of between 43,000 and 45,000 million euros relying on a demand for chips artificial intelligence (AI) that is still triggered. This simply means that ASML comes to this setback with the wind in your core businessEUV lithography, a segment in which China neither manufactures nor can buy its most advanced machines. The immersion UVP, on the other hand, can manufacture it, which has precisely caused this Monday’s scare. On the other hand, we must not overlook that ASML still plans to deliver some 130 immersion systems worldwide during 2026, a volume that the Chinese company cannot even remotely match with its five units planned for this year. Even so, the simple possibility that China will no longer need ASML to produce the less advanced chips, the ones needed by cars, household appliances and much of the world’s industry, is enough for the market to begin to foresee the arrival of a different future. Image | ASML More information | Bloomberg | Blockonomi In Xataka | TSMC raises its bet in the US: there are already 265,000 million dollars for 2 nm

Parking in the sun in Córdoba and in summer is like turning your car into an oven. Luckily, there is a key trick.

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Sometimes I wonder what a pizza will feel like when I put it in the oven. So I wait until 6:00 p.m., I open my car (which is parked on a street in Cordoba in the sun because I have no other option), I get in, and I think “ah, well like that.” It’s a penance because everything is very, very hot, from the seat to the steering wheel to the gear lever of my humble Seat Ibiza. The air conditioning goes as far as it goes, and by the time the car cools down, my clothes are already soaked in sweat. Since I can’t turn on the air conditioning remotely (I wish), a simple way to at least reduce the impact of the heat when getting in the car is to key trick. Windows down, windows up It is quite likely that your car opens and closes with a little touch. Well, there is a trick (it’s no secret, but it never hurts to remember it) to open and lower the windows remotely using only the controller: If you hold down the car unlock button, the windows go down. If you press and hold the car lock button, the windows close. Using this trick is one of those things that, over the years, I have become accustomed to. In my case, I only have automatic front windows, only the front ones go down. And let’s see, things as they are: This doesn’t work magic, but at least it’s progress.. The car is still hot because well, it’s hot, I’m in Córdoba and I’ve parked in full sun, but the initial shock when getting into the car is considerably reduced. If not even for those, we can always resort to the call “japanese trick“: open a window and open and close the opposite door to renew the interior air and reduce a few degrees. In my case, due to the area where I park, this is not always possible, but if you have space on the sides it may be a good idea. From here on, the mechanisms to cool the car are the same as always: Do the first few meters with the windows down and the air conditioning fan at low revolutions. Once you have reached cruising speed, roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning a little stronger. Use the air recirculation button. Point the air conditioner towards the ceiling. Image | Xataka Via | Gamestar.de

This indie has been returned 55,000 times due to Steam’s restrictive policies

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270,000 copies sold and 55,000 returns are not very logical figures for a single game. Does a bestseller (on the margins of the independent circuit) and an extraordinary number of returns make sense in the same title? The two figures did not add up to Mateo Covic and he exposed a problem that mainly affects independent developers: you cannot make games that are too short. The game. ‘Paddle Paddle Paddle’ is a cooperative physics and platform game that Covic signs under the name Zoroarts, and is his second commercial title after ‘Makis Adventure’, from 2023. Published by Assemble Entertainment, It went on sale on July 25, 2025 for $4.99. Covic, 23, built it alone in just four months; It takes just over three hours to complete if played slowly. But many players don’t play leisurely. The complaint. On July 5, Covic published in X that his game accumulated more than 55,000 refunds: 21% of all sales, despite the fact that the 90% of the reviews were positive. “This should not be possible,” he wrote. But it is: the Steam refund policy allows you to return any game played less than two hours and purchased less than fourteen days ago, without having to give any verifiable reason. System failure. The policy is not intended, as she herself acknowledges, “as a way to get free games,” and using it this way can result in the loss of the right to request future refunds. But the two-hour limit is the same whether the game lasts six or sixty: it does not correspond to the actual length of each title. In the European Union, in fact, the legal right of withdrawal in distance purchases expressly excludes digital content once the download begins with the consent of the buyer, so this consumer protection comes from Steam’s commercial policy. It’s not the first time. In its day we already had How a studio built an entire game around all of this: a survival of terror that turned the return into a challenge, rewarding anyone who finished it before the limit with the possibility of recovering the money. And Valve has already touched the refund policy to prevent an early access title from being played indefinitely and return it just before launch. With Covic the other side of the same problem appears, finished and enjoyed games that are returned anyway. And in this way the temptation is generated to stretch a game just to exceed two hours. Short genres have been defending their length for years as a design decision, not as a defect. If the economic penalty for being short grows, the pressure to stuff development with padding grows with it, and that precisely harms games that make a point of their brevity. Nuances. Days after his tweet, Covic sat down to crunch the numbers, and qualified his initial anger: 20% refunds are common among games of the type to which ‘Paddle Paddle Paddle’ belongs, and 10% is the general average on Steam. With 270,000 copies sold, its 55,000 returns are not that far from that range. He also recognized that the real driver of sales was the bargain price, with a 40% discount, not the refund policy: at less than three dollars, people bought without a second thought. That doesn’t stop Covic from thinking the system is flawed: Steam doesn’t check the reasons for each return, and he, as a developer, would find it helpful to see returns labeled “too difficult.” Of the nearly 826,000 gross dollars that the game generated, 158,000 were lost directly in returns (before subtracting the Steam commission, the distribution with the publisher and German taxes that are around 42%). And yet, none of this made him consider artificially extending his games. For speaking. The post where Covic expressed his complaints went viral: he received very hostile messages, and a good part of that response translated into protest reviews. Many understood his complaint as an attack on returns in general, something that he himself has denied. Now, in the game file, the historical set of reviews remains Very Positive (88% out of 1,414 reviews), but the most recent ones have fallen to Mixed (57% out of 69). In any case, their proposal that Valve include an estimated departure time next to the price, and removing “too short” as a valid reason for refund once that time has passed, are still very reasonable requests so that the indie scene continues to evolve at its own pace, and not at that of the AAAs. In Xataka | This game dared to go on sale the same day as ‘Silksong’. The only thing he managed to do was attract 12 players in his debut

Are they still a problem or is it in the past?

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There was a time when buying an OLED TV was a leap of faith. With your purchase, you got the purest blacks on the market, infinite contrast and enviable response speed, but also a hidden passenger: the fear of burn-in or screen burn-in. The truth is that taking a TV home paying 1,000 euros and leaving with the thought that the channel logos or the HUD of your favorite video game would be burned into the screen forever, was a real and justified concern. However, there has been a lot of rain since the first generations of organic panels. Even so, in full 2026this is a doubt that can be raised by users and the question “Is it still the burned “A real danger to fear or has it become a myth of the past?” is mandatory. We are going to try to answer it throughout this post. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The first thing that must be made clear is an uncomfortable truth and that is that, physically, the risk of burning will never be zero. This is because the OLED panels They use organic compounds that degrade with continued use and the emission of their own light. Thus, it can be said that burning is not a technical failure, but rather uneven wear. If a group of pixels (the logos of a channel, for example) works at 100% brightness for thousands of hours While the rest varies, those pixels will age sooner, lose light strength and generate the much-feared “ghost effect”. The new WOLED, QD-OLED and Tandem OLED panels have made it possible to avoid this problem Now, laboratory physics is one thing and real life is quite another. The current panels have little or nothing to do with those of five years ago. For example, the WOLED panels latest generation with microlens array (M.L.A.) allow much more light to be projected towards the viewer without the need to overheat the organic pixels. For their part, the panels QD-OLED (which are the alternative to Samsung and Sony) have matured in thermal management and subpixel distribution, which drastically reduces heat stress, which is the true catalyst for burn-in. Furthermore, although it is true that they have begun to emerge especially in tablets and monitors for productivity, the technology Tandem OLED (which consists of stacking several emitting layers) has shown that spreading the work reduces the current density per layer, pointing to greater longevity than any previous OLED panel Software is important too Much of the current miracle comes not only from chemistry, but from the brain of the television. The current compensation algorithms They are sophisticated and very effective. For example, there are some technologies or functionalities that prevent burn-in on televisions. These are: PixelShifting: imperceptibly shifts the image by a few pixels so that the hard edges do not always wear out the same emitters. Detection of static elements: The processor locates a floating logo or sports scoreboard and dims its brightness independently without you noticing. Confidence in the industry is such that most major manufacturers already include natively three year warranties that explicitly cover the burn-in. This was something unthinkable a few years ago. What is clear is that no brand would be stuck with replacement costs if return rates for this problem remained high. For whom is burn-in still a risk? Can almost completely forget about burning if you give it normal use or mixed (that is, you use the TV for movies, series, streaming and various video games). On the other hand, there are very specific user profiles for which OLED is still not the ideal option due to burn-in and these are the following scenarios: If you are going to buy television for a bar or business in which you will be tuning into the same news channel with a bright static banner non-stop. If you are going to use the screen exclusively as an office monitor in clear modewith identical static windows for 10 hours a day and the brightness at 100%. Some OLED TVs that may interest you If you are thinking of making the jump to an OLED panel, these are some of the models that we recommend. LG C5 55 inches (869 euros in PcComponentes): This LG C5 It is a benchmark within the brand’s televisions. Its refresh rate is 144 Hz and it has a 40 W speaker system compatible with Dolby Atmos. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sony Bravia 8 II 55 inches (1,799 euros in MediaMarkt): this QD-OLED TV from the Japanese firm stands out, in addition to its image excellence, for its XR processor with Artificial Intelligence. comes with Google TV and support for cinema formats such as Dolby Vision & Atmos and IMAX Enhanced. In addition, it is perfect for gaming, since it has HDMI 2.1 ports at 120 Hz, so you can make the most of the PS5For example. 55″ QD-OLED TV – Sony Bravia 8 II, XR Processor with AI, Smart TV (Google TV) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links What is clear is that in the middle of 2026, the nightmare of those burned is something that belongs to the past. Today, you can buy an OLED TV to enjoy it and not to suffer for it. 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 | Jose Antonio Carmona (Xataka Home) In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

The future tallest tower in the world has grown again. His biggest obstacle was not in the concrete

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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates shared a regional agenda and a particularly close relationship between their leaders for years. Over time, this cooperation began to coexist with an increasingly visible rivalry: both compete to attract investment, gain regional influence and develop economies less dependent on crude oil. If we want to observe that race without resorting to macroeconomic figures, just look at its urban horizons. He Burj Khalifa it turned Dubai into a world reference; A project called to surpass that mark began to rise on the Saudi coast. That project is Jeddah Tower and, after years in detention, it has regained height. The new contract to complete construction It was signed on October 2, 2024but the return of the works also began to be seen on the ground when the structure officially surpassed 100 floors and 400 meters on April 20, 2026. The most recent update from Thornton Tomasetti, published on June 18placed it close to the 104th floor. The work is progressing again; What we have to understand now is why he stopped doing it for so long. The scale helps to understand why the project seemed capable of getting bogged down for purely technical reasons. Jeddah Tower was designed to exceed one kilometer in height and reach 157 plantsleaving behind the 828 meters of the Burj Khalifa. To support it, the engineers proposed a five-meter-thick foundation slab supported on 270 piles, some sunk up to 105 meters. Above, a network of interconnected concrete walls must distribute the building’s loads and limit the effects of wind without resorting to a conventional structure of columns and large beams. Jeddah Tower construction status in May 2026 The project had begun long before Saudi Arabia presented Vision 2030. The tower was announced in 2011 and work started in 2013 with a clear ambition: to build the tallest building in the world in Jeddah and turn it into the center of a new urban development. During its first stage, the structure reached 63 of the planned 157 floors before being stopped. Its revival can now be read in the context of Saudi diversification, but the project was conceived five years before the kingdom presented its major economic transformation program. Jeddah Tower construction status in May 2026 The stoppage came in the midst of a business and financial crisis that affected two fundamental actors of the project. In 2017, Saudi anti-corruption campaign led to arrest of Alwaleed bin Talal, linked to the promoter through Kingdom Holding, and of Bakr bin Laden, then president of Saudi Binladin Group. The contractor was also going through financial difficulties and construction ended up halted in 2018. Jeddah Tower construction status in May 2026 The return needed more than just new announcements and calendars on paper. The completion of the skyscraper was once again in the hands of Saudi Binladin Group, the same contractor that had participated in its first stage, with a planned period of 42 months. If completed without further delays, work should be completed around April 2028, although there is no firm opening date yet. The decisive test came later: the pace of construction was maintained throughout 2025 and into 2026. After years of uncertainty, the project has gotten underway again. Growing back doesn’t mean being close to done. Although the cladding of the façade and the first mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations are already underway, Much of that work still needs to be completed.in addition to the elevators, security systems, finishes and all the necessary tests before opening the building. Until then, the Burj Khalifa will officially continue to hold the world record. Saudi Arabia has already shown that it can return the tower to activity; The next challenge will be to maintain financing and finish the work. Images | Thornton Tomasetti | Saudi Binladin Group In Xataka | In Italy they were promised happiness with a new Roman amphitheater from the 4th century. Until it was discovered that it was a “fake” concrete

now your face is also needed

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Pokémon card collecting has been untied for a long time. Envelopes sold out in minutes, queues that start days before a launch and resale prices that multiply by ten or twenty the original value of a product. The Pokémon Company has decided that the only way to stop speculators is through something that until now seemed reserved for airports or border control: using facial recognition systems. What the company has announced. The Pokémon Company will implement a facial recognition system in its Pokémon Card Stores in Japan, the smaller establishments focused exclusively on the trading card game, which are distinct from Pokémon Centers. According to collect According to the company’s own official website, the goal is to “provide a safe shopping environment for all customers, prevent crime and ensure compliance with entry and purchasing regulations.” The measure will debut with the Japanese launch of the Storm Emeralda set, dedicated to the Pokémon Rayquaza. How it works in practice. Any customer ages elementary school and older must agree to have their face scanned in order to enter the store and receive a shift number. The system saves this facial record along with the number of visits of each person, so that if it detects that someone has entered more than once on the same day, or has tried to get several tickets, it denies access. Preschool children are exempt from scanning, but cannot enter alone as they always have to be accompanied by an adult. As the company explained, if staff detect repeated attempts to enter, “our staff can speak to you individually” to warn you that you are breaking the rules. Why do they go to this extreme? The problem is not new, but it has exploded in recent years. Scalpers buy boxes and envelopes in large quantities only to resell them later at much higher prices, leaving stores empty for the average fan in a matter of minutes. Some Japanese stores had already tried other formulas before reaching the facial scanner, such as removing the protective plastic from sealed boxes at the time of purchase so that they cannot be resold as a new product, or even ask customers to respond to a questionnaire about Pokémon to show that they buy to collect and not to speculate, according to collect VGC. None of these measures have been sufficient. It is not the only barrier they have put up. This is not the company’s first drastic measure. Earlier this year, The Pokémon Company in Japan began requiring identification with an official government document to purchase certain card products in its stores, according to they count from Polygon. And starting in August, according to collect PokéBeach, some purchases at Pokémon Center Online will also require official ID photo verification. Facial recognition therefore adds to an increasingly tight fence against resale. There is something else behind it: security. Beyond business, the company also talks about “security management.” In March, an employee of the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo store died on the premises at the hands of an alleged stalker, forcing the establishment to close, which will officially reopen in August, as confirmed by the company itself. Outside its waters, in the United States, the increase in the value of cards has gone hand in hand with an increase in violent robberies. In the last year alone, there have been multiple store robberies, including an armed robbery in New York in which employees and customers were detained, or the case of a man in Florida arrested for stealing letters valued at $12,000 using a chainsaw, according to they shared from IGN. What happens with that data. The Pokémon Company’s privacy policy contemplates the collection of a much wider range of data than merely facial data, whether photographs, audio recordings, email addresses, name of the educational center, occupation, place of work or numbers of official documents such as driver’s license or passport, according to they count from Polygon. The company ensures that the information collected in stores will be kept only as long as necessary and will be deleted afterwards, although it has not specified an exact period. And if you don’t want your face scanned. There is no middle ground, since anyone who does not give their consent to facial recognition will not be able to enter the store or receive their shift ticket. Of course, if a customer needs to leave the premises during their visit, for example to go to the bathroom, they can re-enter as long as they notify the staff first. And now what. At the moment, facial scanners are limited to Japan and there is no indication that it will spread to other countries in the short term. It is also not clear if it will reach the Pokémon Center, or will remain only in the Pokémon Card Store. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa had already announced this month that the company would take “measures” in the face of shortages and resale, without giving many details. Now we know what he meant. In Xataka | Microsoft wants to preserve Xbox games and has chosen an unexpected path: officially emulate them on Windows

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