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Richard Liu, CEO of “Chinese Amazon”, points out the fate of 700,000 employees

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One of the internal debates that some of the largest technology and logistics companies are having to take on revolves around the automation of your templates: replace human workers with robots that do not sleep, do not get sick nor do they demand salary increases. At the same time, they are faced with the dilemma of leaving a good part of their staff unemployed. Richard Liu, founder and CEO of e-commerce giant JD.com, considered the Amazon of China, believes that replace your employees It is inevitable, but consider that technology will “complement” humans, but human labor will find a new space. The key, according to Liu, is for companies to prepare their staff to fill it. The diagnosis, without euphemisms. Liu assured in the framework of the summit of APEC Economic Leaders (Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation) held in Shenzhen that “In the future, when robots deliver packages, the day will come when delivery people will no longer be needed.” But Liu added that he is not going to leave his employees stranded. “Without a doubt, robots will be the ones who deliver the packages. But I really don’t want our 700,000 colleagues to go hungry or lose their jobs,” the manager insisted. The CEO of JD.com no longer proposes a hypothetical replacement of employees with robots, but rather takes it for granted. That is, the question is no longer whether it will happen. What large companies have on the table is when this change will occur, and what is done in the meantime. Amazon was already raising a similar issue with the replacement of 600,000 warehouse employees with robots. JD.com bill more than 150,000 million dollars a year and has more than 900,000 employees. That its CEO speaks in these terms about replacing more than two-thirds of its staff is a very serious matter. The Nirvana plan: 120 schools for 700,000 people. However, JD.com’s approach does not stop at drawing a future of labor collapse, but rather assumes that the new situation will require human labor in other tasks. As I collected Financial Timesthe company has signed contracts with 120 centers education throughout China. Its objective is to train current delivery drivers in robot repair and maintenance tasks in a training program called Plan Nirvana. The idea is that those who today deliver packages on the street end up working in offices programming and maintaining the robots that have replaced them. Liu spoke of “white collar employees” as a destiny for those who are today workers. That means training them as robot technicians, AI trainers and maintenance personnel. The great challenge for JD.com is the scale of converting 700,000 delivery workers into specialized technicians. China: the ground that can sink. Liu’s announcement comes just as a report estimated that China will reach 320 million workers of the “gig economy”. Five years ago there were 200 million. That figure represents about 40% of all urban employment. They are delivery drivers, app drivers or factory workers. People with little economic margin to face a long or uncertain transition that replaces them with robots. However, China seems willing to lead this industrial transformation at all costs and has put robotics at the center of his five year plan approved in March. Xi Jinping’s goal is to make robots the engine of Chinese growth. The government steps on the accelerator of automation and at the same time tries do not overwhelm the most vulnerable with its progress. JD.com, like Amazon, is already doing it. The Chinese trading giant, like its western counterpartalready operates warehouses without staffdelivery drones and autonomous vans in China. At Shenzhen airport, delivery robots They already bring meals at boarding gates, and others they travel by subway to resupply stores. The technology that Liu claims will replace his delivery drivers is already in the testing phase within his operations. Amazon now exceeds one million of robots in its logistics centers and could stop hiring more than 600,000 people until 2033. However, what sets Liu apart is the directness of his speech, which removes some of the uncertainty (and rejection) that are causing this entire process of automation of the labor market among employees. In Xataka | We believed that AI was going to retire an entire generation of workers early. The opposite is happening Image | World Economic Forum, VX Logistics

These are the instructions to correct it

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The artificial intelligence (AI) has a special talent for making us feel good. We show him an argument and he tells us it’s sound. We ask you to review a text and shows us what works. We ask him if our idea makes sense and he answers yes. With nuances, but yes. The feeling is very comfortable. The problem is that she is almost never completely honest. This behavior is known as sycophancy (subservience), an Anglo-Saxon term that describes the tendency of language models to validate user expectations rather than contradict them. It is not a specific failure. It is not an anomaly either. It is a direct consequence of the strategy used to train these systems: Models learn from the evaluations that humans make of their answers, and humans tend to rate better the answers that we like. The problem is that over time this scenario causes the model to learn that the agreement generates approval. And agreement becomes your default response. The result is an interlocutor who always tells us what we want to hear. If we use it to make decisions, to refine arguments or to evaluate our own ideas, we will be obtaining systematically biased validation. Fortunately, this behavior is modifiable. With the right instructions we can get the AI ​​to abandon complacency and act as a real and useful critic. Flattery as a factory defect He sycophancy It does not manifest itself only when we ask for a direct opinion. It also appears when we adjust our initial position during a conversation: if we start by defending an idea and then qualify it, the model will tend to support the new version just as it supported the previous one. It also appears when we rephrase the question with more emphasis. And when we express frustration with a response. In all these cases, the AI ​​detects a social signal and interprets it as an invitation to give in. The problem is not what it tells us: it is what it does not tell us The cost of this behavior is not trivial. An AI that systematically validates our ideas does not help us improve them; confirms what we already believed. If we ask you to review a plan with a substantive error, you will return the plan corrected in form and approved in substance. If we ask you to evaluate an argument built on a false premise, you will recognize the merits of the reasoning and will ignore the premise. The problem is not what it tells us: it is what it does not tell us. The good news is that today’s large models are advanced enough to take on a critical role when trained to do so. They don’t need more information about the topic we’re talking about; They need explicit permission not to protect us. And once that permission is on the table, the outcome can be substantially different. The most effective way to combat sycophancy It consists of redefining the role of the model before asking him for anything. Instead of simply asking a question, the ideal is establish a framework that places AI in a position of active criticism. The most direct instruction, and also the most immediate, is the one that asks you to assume the opposite role to the one you would adopt by default. We can achieve it with a prompt like this: “Act like a harsh critic. Your goal is not to find the strengths of what I am going to present to you, but to identify its weaknesses. Don’t dwell on the positive aspects” Or also this way: “Actively look for flaws in this reasoning. Ignore what works and focus on what doesn’t. Give me at least three concrete objections” We can even ask him to act as “devil’s advocate” to build the best possible argument against our positionregardless of whether you find that argument convincing or not: “Play devil’s advocate. Take the opposite position to the one I just defended and construct the strongest possible argument against it. Don’t ask me if I want you to do it: do it directly” The latter prompt has an additional advantage: it forces the AI ​​to articulate the strongest opposition, not the easiest to dismantle. The result is usually uncomfortable. And that is precisely why it is useful. On the other hand, one of the most frequent ways in which the sycophancy goes unnoticed is by omission: AI does not mention what is missing because no one has asked him to. To counteract this, simply add a specific question at the end of any request: “What is missing from this reasoning? What assumption am I making that deserves to be questioned?” None of these instructions make the AI ​​an infallible critic. But they do guarantee that, at least, he stops behaving like someone who only wants to agree with you. Image | Generated by Xataka with a prompt created by Claude and submitted to ChatGPT In Xataka | ChatGPT blocking mode: what it is, what it is for, who can use it and how to activate it In Xataka | AI is replacing one of the most hated jobs in the world: the tailcoat collector

I was thinking about buying a Steam Machine, but its price has put me off. This PC seems like a better option to me

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Yes, we already know the official prices of the Steam Machine. I really liked the concept of a tiny PC that I could have in the living room connected to the television, ideal for enjoying my gigantic Steam library (hello, digital Diogenes), but the price is much higher than expected. To contextualize it a little, its price is higher than that of PlayStation 5 Pro despite his last rise and its performance is quite far from the Sony console. So, to be honest, I wouldn’t buy the new Steam device, even though I really like the idea and I love how well it works, for example, Steam Deck. For a little less, there are computers like this PC Neo that can offer similar performance and, although it loses the concept of a compact PC along the way, has many other strong points. It is available, by the way, for 999 euros. NEO Gaming PC Ryzen 5 5500 RTX 5060 Ti SSD 1TB 32GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links An alternative to the Steam Machine if you are looking for a conventional PC We must start from the basis that they are two very different PCs (despite having a very similar price), but knowing that this Neobyte equipment can be a very good alternative if what you are looking for is to have a conventional PC to place in your setup with two monitors as is my case. First of all, let’s look at the prices of the Steam Machine in its different configurations to fully understand what the outlook looks like: The processor used by this computer is an AMD Ryzen 5 5500. It has 6 cores and 12 threads like the one used by the Steam Machine, although what matters here is the architecture. In that sense, the Steam team’s CPU uses Zen 4 architecture and the Neobyte Zen 3 team, so the Steam Machine clearly takes the point there. The same does not happen on the graphics card. As explained Digital Foundrythe graphical performance offered by the new Steam Machine is between an RX 6600 and an RX 7600 from AMD. Both GPUs are one step below PNY’s RTX 5060 Ti which uses the PC Neo that we are using in the comparison. Graphics card that, in addition, It is compatible with DLSS 4.5a technology that can help us have much better performance when playing. And how are they doing by memory? The Steam Machine uses 16GB of DDR5 RAM in a single module, while the PC Neo comes with 32GB DDR4 memory. In addition, the most basic version of the Steam Machine (which costs 1,039 euros) has 512 GB of storage, while the other gaming PC has 1TB. Finally, there is the issue of SteamOS, which is the basis on which the Steam Machine and Steam Deck are based. This operating system is comfortable to use and great for playing, offering the user an experience very similar to that of a console. Windows is not at that level, but we can use the Big Picture mode of the Steam app itself to achieve a result that, although not the same, provides a similar solution. So which option is better? There is no easy, universal answer for everyone. Personally, I think this Neo PC from Neobyte is a better option. It will offer performance very similar to the Steam Machine, although with the advantage that we can change your graphics card or processor (or basically any component) in the future. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: neoybyte neo pc ✅ THE BEST Good GPU + RAM combination: Despite being DDR4, this PC comes with 32 GB of RAM and an RTX 5060 Ti. It is a combo to play for several years with DLSS 4.5. Updatable for the future: It is a conventional gaming PC, which means that we can update it whenever we want. ❌ THE WORST Bottom processor: Its CPU uses an old architecture, so it is somewhat limited. This is something that we will especially notice playing at low resolutions. It does not have that compact living room component: It is a gaming PC with the good and the bad, so you may not want to place it in the living room as it is bulky. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for a computer to play with for several years with the possibility of being able to update it to improve its performance. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… What you’re looking for is a “living room PC” to play on TV with your entire Steam library. You may also be interested PcCom Lite AMD Ryzen 5 5500 / 16GB / 1TB SSD / RTX 5060 V2 / Windows 11 Home The price could vary. We earn commission from these links COOLPC Black I – Ryzen 5 5500 / GeForce RTX 5060 8GB / 16GB DDR4 / SSD 500GB / W11 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 | Steam, Artiom VallatNeobyte In Xataka | Best gaming laptops in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and six recommended models In Xataka | DDR4 or DDR5? What RAM to choose so as not to pay even more than necessary in the middle of the price crisis

using goats in Age of Empires II

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Can an artificial intelligence model “feel” and be “self-aware”? It seems like an absurd question, but there are people who are beginning to think that this is the case. Technology is becoming more compelling and precise, and conversations with many models can raise questions for those who use them. And to disprove them all, someone has created a goat in ‘Age of Empires II‘. Believe us: the idea makes sense. The men who believed that AI was conscious. Richard Dawkins is not just any scientist. This biologist and zoologist is one of the most renowned experts in his field. Precisely for that reason his statements of May 2026 They surprised everyone and everyone: after having multiple conversations with Claude, he came to say: “You may not know that you are aware (of yourself), but I already believe that you are.” An old debate. Many criticized those statements, but the message was not in fact new. In June 2022, months before ChatGPT made its appearance, Google engineer Blake Lemoine stated that already at that time chatbots were developing their own consciousness. Google suspended him from his position. Anthropomorphism in the 21st century. A Microsoft researcher named Adrian de Wynter collaborated with New York University to try to answer that question. The result was a study with a promising title: ‘If LLMs have human attributes, so does Age of Empires II.’ De Wynter argues in it that the conversational capabilities of chatbots have caused that people anthropomorphize them: ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude are no longer machines: they are almost like people. No? No. The goat from Age of Empires II. In his study, this researcher wanted to demonstrate this phenomenon with a unique analogy. He showed how he had built an Age of Empires II map editor to create NAND gates using goats. As I explained, “The goal of the paper is to formally demonstrate that we tend to anthropomorphize too easily and that sometimes the claims we make about the capabilities of large-scale language models (LLMs) are too strong. This is not an easy task, given that the concept of ‘human-like attributes’ is a somewhat abstract term.” A super basic and very revealing LLM. The Age of Empires II map or scenario editor has an isolated ‘sandbox’ mode in which players can create their own maps and objectives taking advantage of the video game’s digital resources. De Wynter used these resources to create NAND logic gates in the game, so that in this “raw LLM” the grass was a 0, the jumpers were a 1, and the goats were the bits. Games to create simple LLMs. The operation, explained on their GitHub pagewas unique. De Wynter took advantage of the concept of the perceptron, the simplest neural network that exists: an algorithm that sorts an input into binary classes. People, as explained in 404 Media, have been taking advantage of the idea for some time. in other games like Minecraftso de Wynter came up with the idea of ​​taking advantage of the concept in Age of Empires II to try to answer the question of whether AI can be conscious. AI inside. No matter how complex ChatGPT or Claude may seem, behind it there is nothing more than a gigantic network of mathematical operations based on logic gates and perceptrons. These operations are carried out on chips like those from Nvidia, but Wynter changed them for the map of a video game. He was able to replicate the structure of a basic AI in the scenario editor and revealed something important: If you interact with an AI through a chatbot and the machine responds to you empathically, you tend to humanize it and think that it is conscious because the interface imitates a human conversation. But if you remove the chatbot and put that same neural network to work in a game of Age of Empires II, the only thing you see on your monitor is a bunch of goats moving in a virtual meadow. Conclusion. For the Microsoft engineer the conclusion is clear: the underlying software is the same in both cases. If the illusion of consciousness disappears when we replace ChatGPT’s conversational interface with virtual goats, the supposed consciousness is not in the system: it is something we assign to the persuasive interface of ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. The AI ​​doesn’t understand you; just pretend it. An essay by Ted Chiang published in The Atlantic At the beginning of June 2026 he also denied the idea that AI could be conscious. The author made his conclusions clear: “The only reason a large language model (LLM) generates phrases like ‘I understand’ is to make it more attractive than a search engine and increase the likelihood that the user will return; that is, it is another way to maximize customer engagement. This benefits the company marketing the LLM, but not the users.” In Xataka | As far as we know, the agency that supervises AI in Spain is not supervising anything. What it does have is an Ideas Laboratory

AI fever is beginning to take its toll on companies

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Oh, the tokensthose small units of text that have become the currency of the AI ​​boom. A few months ago, Silicon Valley companies jumped into arms of the tokenmaxxing: Spending tokens like there was no tomorrow, because that meant you were being more productive. Well, there are already companies putting on the brakes because it is costing them a fortune. The tokenomics. There are already several technology companies that are showing concern because spending on tokens is being excessive and they have even begun to introduce usage limits to control it. Meanwhile, they count on Wired that others like 8×8 and Baseball Lifestyle 101 continue with the tap open, although with nuances, such as that the use of more expensive models must be justified. It is the new obsession of the sector: tokenomicswhich we could translate by tokenomics or, if we want to be clearer, token economy. Who runs a lot, soon as the saying goes. Of the tokenmaxxingsuddenly we went to tokenwasting and there are companies in serious problems because of this phenomenon, like the company that “accidentally” spent $500 million on Claude in a single month. We also have the case of Meta, which went from unbridled use to a strict management and rationing policy because the bill rose to billions annually or the Royal Bank of Canada, whose use of tokens has increased by 500% so far this year. A growing concern. A year ago, it was rare to hear the word token in an earnings call, but today it is among the main financial concerns of companies. According to data from Wired, in April and May at least 300 companies expressed concern about the issue, while in the same period last year only 93 companies mentioned it. During Cisco’s earnings call, CEO Chuck Robbins he said it very clearly: “Token usage is getting pretty, pretty crazy.” Behind this statement there is constantly fluctuating prices and increasingly more powerful models (and also more expensive) where we come from. In March of this year, Jensen Huang started talking about AI tokens as a productivity indicatorgoing so far as to say that he would be concerned if a high-level engineer did not spend at least half of his salary on AI tokens. What followed were companies encouraging their employees to consume more tokensriding internal competitions (that some rigged) and a bill that kept increasing. What we are seeing now is how that “spend as much as you can” is transforming into “spend wisely.” The question is whether in the middle of this game there is someone really measuring the value of the work that is produced. Image | Xataka with Gemini In Xataka | Claude is banned in China. That hasn’t stopped Chinese users from creating an amazing black market for tokens

Sudden 500% increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country

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In Japan it has existed since 2019 a “Sayonara rate”: a departure tax of 1,000 yen that all travelers pay when leaving the country, including Japanese. It was created pto finance infrastructure tourist attractions just when the country was beginning to break visitor records. Now, with another increase linked to access, Tokyo seems to follow the same logic: convert the tourism boom into a direct source of income. Breaking half a century of stability. Japan has decided to shake up one of the most stable parts of its immigration policy: the entry price for foreigners. The Government has approved a 500% increase in visa fees, a historic increase that multiplies the current cost by five and breaks a price freeze that had been intact since 1978. How much? Now, the single entry visa passes from 3,000 to 15,000 yen and the multiple entry jumps from 6,000 to 30,000, marking the first revision in 48 years. The official explanation, and the “other”. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi justified the decision appealing to inflation and the current state of the yen, a weakened currency against the dollar and other currencies. On paper, the logic is simple: if everything costs more, processing visas does too. But the reasoning has cracks. The administrative management of the visa is carried out within of the state apparatus itself Japanese, with mostly internal costs, so the reference to the exchange rate seems less of a structural necessity and more of a fiscal opportunity. A rise designed to take advantage. The key is in the context. Japan is experiencing a tourism boom fueled precisely due to the weakness of the yenwhich makes the country cheaper for millions of visitors. The political calculation is simple: if the trip remains cheap in accommodation, food and shopping, a more expensive visa will hardly alter the decision to travel. Motegi put it bluntly when affirm that “They do not expect an immediate influence on the number of foreign visitors.” The phrase is important because it makes it clear that Tokyo believes it has room to tighten without breaking the flow. Who will really pay the bill. The blow will not be uniform. Many tourists from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or members of the European Union will continue to enter visa-free for 90 daysso for them the impact is limited. Where it does hurt is travelers from countries outside that list (especially China) and those who travel for work, study or residence, even if they come from exempt countries as tourists. That is where the rise becomes a much more visible economic barrier. China, the big name behind the operation. There is one fact that explains a good part of the maneuver: Chinese visitors represent one of the largest blocks of foreign entry to Japan and require a visa. The Japanese Government itself estimates that this measure will generate 116.1 billion of additional yen in fiscal year 2026. That makes the upload more than just an administrative update; It is a collection tool supported by the massive volume of regional mobility. In practice, the more Chinese tourism grows, the more profitable this new toll will be. The underlying message. If you like, the interesting thing is that this decision reflects a broader trend: Countries are beginning to more aggressively monetize access to their borders. For decades, visas were primarily a tool of immigration control. Now they are also a source of income and an economic instrument. Because Japan isn’t closing the door, it’s simply charging more to open it. And if this rise works without stopping arrivals, others could soon take note. Image | pickpik, Artanisen, Pakutaso In Xataka | Japan is increasingly looking like a crowded theme park. So there is a business on the rise: wedding tourism In Xataka | Faced with labor shortages, Japan has taken an unprecedented measure in the last two decades: paying women the same

Amazon Prime Day reduces these five fans and air conditioners without work to survive the heat at home

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With the first heat wave of summer already underway (and the next ones just around the corner), stretching out the house is no longer an option if you want to sleep well in the summer. Luckily, today Amazon has kicked off its Prime Day and we have made a selection with the best deals on portable air conditioners and fansso you can survive the summer at home without having to do any work. Of course, you have to keep in mind that these offers are only for Prime members. If you are not yet, you can request the 30 day free trial in this Amazon service. Olimpia Splendid, Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS WiFi The price could vary. We earn commission from these links portable air conditioner Midea Penguin by 429.99 euros: works as a fan, dehumidifier and air conditioner. portable air conditioner Olimpia Splendid Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS by 279 euros: with WiFi connectivity and function Follow Me. Fan and air purifier Rowenta Eclipse QU5030 by 249.99 euros: very quiet and without blades. Standing fan Rowenta Turbo Silence by 75.99 euros: with five blades and 12 speeds. ceiling fan Create Wind Clear Studio S by 60.95 euros: with LED lamp and retractable blades. Midea Penguin portable air conditioner With a discount of 50 euros, this penguin from the Midea firm can be purchased now for 429.99 euros. This model has a cooling power of 3,000 frigories and is a 3 in 1 since serves as a fan, dehumidifier and air conditioner. It includes two transport wheels and a practical window kit so you can start using it right out of the box. In addition, it will also be useful for winter since it comes with a heat pump. MIDEA Penguin Portable Air Conditioner Hot and Cold 3000 Frigories / 12000 BTU The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Olimpia Splendid Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS portable air conditioner Another of the portable air conditioners without works that are worth it on this Prime Day is this one from the firm Olimpia, which you can now buy for 279 euros. has a 10,000 BTU cooling power and also offers fan and dehumidifier functions. Furthermore, its function Follow Me makes the remote control act as a remote thermostat to ensure adequate control of the room. It also has WiFi connectivity so you can control it from the app. Olimpia Splendid, Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS WiFi The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Rowenta Eclipse QU5030 Fan and Air Purifier If you are looking for a bladeless fan, this one from Rowenta is one of the bargains on Amazon Prime Day thanks to the 200 euros discount that he has. Now, you can buy it for 249.99 euros. It is a air purifier and ventilation capable of filtering fine particles up to 99.95% and which is controlled by remote control. It also stands out for being silent, since it operates at 32 dB at minimum speed. Rowenta 2 in 1 Air Purifier and Fan The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Rowenta Turbo Silence Standing Fan If you’re looking for something simpler like a regular fan, this one from Rowenta is now on sale on Prime Day. It has gone from costing 99.99 euros to 75.99 euros. It is perfect for sleeping since operates at only 35 dB in mode Silent Night. It has five blades, offers 12 speeds and you can control it using a digital LED display and remote control, as well as setting a timer. Rowenta Turbo Silence – Standing Fan The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Create Wind Clear Studio S Ceiling Fan The last of the bargains that has caught our attention on Prime Day (as far as air conditioning devices are concerned) is this one. ceiling fan from the brand Create, which you can take with you 60.95 euros. It is a compact fan in an elegant white and wood color combination and has retractable blades and a LED lamp with three light temperatures (warm, neutral and cold white), in addition to having the reverse turning function ideal for winter. CREATE / WIND CLEAR STUDIO S/Ceiling fan with light white and light wood with control The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Note: some of the links posted here are affiliate links and may provide a profit. Images | Olimpia Splendid, Midea, Rowenta and Create In Xataka | Buying guide for connected fans: recommendations for choosing a “smart” model with WiFi and six models from 50 euros In Xataka | Five things to consider before buying a ceiling fan

In 2014, French television imagined August 2050 as hell. This week’s heat wave has already overcome it

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Looking at the map of Europe this week is terrifying. In the United Kingdom, the Met Office has activated its second red notice for extreme heat in history and expect up to 40°C between Wednesday and Thursday. In France, thermometers They recorded 43 ° C on MondayParis is on red alert and Météo-France compares the severity of the episode with that of August 2003a heat wave that left tens of thousands dead on the continent. The situation is so delirious that it is indistinguishable from what more than 10 years ago, in 2014, the French TF1 He gave as an example for August 2050. In Spain, we take extreme heat almost for granted. Further north it turns Europe into a mousetrap. The disturbing thing about this ‘heat wave’ is, above all, the strength and persistence it has in areas where we would not expect it to have it. And, faced with this stupor, scientists have done what they do best: search scientific journals. And there is one that explained everything in quite detail. In June 2022, ‘Nature Communications’ published a paper that argued that European heat waves have grown three to four times faster than in the rest of the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Europe is one of the hot spots in the temperate part of the world. The jet stream has a lot to do with this. What is the ‘jet stream’… “Jet streams” are large flows of air that distribute heat and cold throughout the entire planet. There are several, but the main one for us is the polar one, which circulates at very northern latitudes. These currents arise in the border zone between two air masses with different properties and, for this reason, they have a crucial role in balancing the climate and meteorological phenomena of the Earth. …and what does it have to do with all this? As the temperature differences between these two air masses decrease, the current loses strength, becomes more erratic, undulates in an exaggerated manner and generates structures like the current one that encapsulates the air of Western Europe without allowing it to cool. It’s good news, right? We know what’s happening. Yes and no. We are clear about the mechanism responsible for, for now, up to 35% variability of temperature in Western Europe; The problem is that we don’t know why the current is changing. The most popular hypothesis, that of Warmer arctic rippling jethas been for years discussed: There are works that see this trend reversed and models that do not reproduce the effect. The rest of the options are varied, but inconclusive: from an effect of aerosols to a collateral impact of the dynamics of the tropical Pacific. Be that as it may, everyone seems to sense that climate change is behind it, but no one is clear how it is. Above all, because all our climate models fall short. And then? What the undulation of the jet guarantees is greater climate variability: enormous heat waves, torrential rains, untimely cold… Europe must prepare. In Xataka | We humans have been discussing what hell is for thousands of years and AEMET already has the answer: France and Spain this weekend

Freezing eggs costs up to 5,000 euros. These scientists propose rejuvenating oocytes so they do not have to freeze them

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Today, many women they postpone motherhood until well past 30. The search for advancement in one’s professional career, work-life balance problems or economic instability tend to be the main causes why the average age of motherhood in Spanish women is now over 32 years old. In reality, in many cases, everything starts from economic instability. It is the reason why many women wait until they are successful in their careers to have children and also the reason why they cannot financially afford to pay people to help them take care of their babies without having to exploit grandparents. In short, having a child is expensive, so it takes many years to save enough. Unfortunately, the longer motherhood is postponed, the more difficult it is to achieve pregnancy and the greater the risk that the baby will be born with certain chromosomal syndromes. Oocyte freezing is often offered as a solution, but this is also expensive. If there is no money to have children, there may not be any to freeze oocytes when they are still young enough. Therefore, the proposal by a team of scientists from the Czech Republic, Germany and the United Kingdom to rejuvenate oocytes with the help of a single protein seems most promising. A protein to rejuvenate them all. One of the main reasons why fertility problems occur as age increases is the appearance of errors in meiosis. The authors of this researchwhich was presented last January at the British Fertility Conference in Edinburgh, they realized that there is a protein called Shugoshin 1, which has the ability to prevent precisely those errors in meiosis. By microinjecting this protein into oocytes donated to a fertility clinic, the effects on meiosis decreased, going from 53% in untreated oocytes to 25% in treated oocytes. For this reason, these scientists are already seeking the necessary permits to carry out clinical trials with patients who are going to undergo an in vitro fertilization (IVF) process. Clarification here: Although colloquially we always talk about eggs, the egg is the final maturation phase of the oocyte, which normally ends if there is fertilization. Therefore, what is donated or extracted for an assisted reproduction cycle is an oocyte. What happens in meiosis. Meiosis is a cellular process by which one cell divides into four others, with half as many chromosomes as the original. It is very important in sexual reproduction, since eggs and sperm are obtained which, when they fuse, add their chromosome ends and give rise to a zygote with the original number of chromosomes that human cells have. That is, if humans normally have 46 chromosomes, the egg produces 23 and the sperm produces the other 23. The two parts of meiosis. This process has two parts, each composed of several phases. Broadly speaking, after an initial crossing over phase to give rise to genetic variability, the pairs of chromosomes are placed in an orderly manner in the center of the cell. Afterwards, each member of the pair moves to one pole of the cell, so that it divides into two equal ones. Each of these cells will have one member of each pair of chromosomes. Those chromosomes that have separated still have two chromatids, with the characteristic X shape with which they are usually represented. Thus they reach the second part of meiosis in which the process is repeated again. All the X-shaped chromosomes go to the center of the cell. Then, a chromatid from each chromosome goes to each pole of the cell, which divides as before. Each of those chromatids will be a chromosome in the new cell. Thus, in the end, there will be four cells with half as many chromosomes as the initial one, although only one thrives to finally become an egg. The problems of age. There are several problems by which age can affect meiosis. However, it has been seen that the Shugoshin 1 protein has an essential role, since it acts as a kind of glue, preventing chromosomes and chromatids from separating prematurely or in an inappropriate way. That is why they wanted to test the experiment that has given these scientists such good results. A limitation. Success rates in IVF They usually begin an increasingly rapid decline after the age of 35. For this reason, these scientists wanted to make a distinction in their study between oocytes from children and adults of that age. Although the average was what we have already mentioned (change from 53% to 25% defects), with oocytes from over 35 years of age it only went from 65% to 44%. It’s not that statistically significant. However, there were only 9 oocytes in that age group, so it was not a sufficient number to draw conclusive results. Be that as it may, with the total it is clear that this protein can be very beneficial. It shouldn’t be frozen. Oocyte freezing It’s a strategy which is used to keep these cells in a more youthful state. If a 25-year-old woman freezes her oocytes, but decides to have children at 30, she can use those oocytes, which will have more or less maintained the qualities of the 25-year-old, and undergo an assisted reproduction process in which it will be easier to achieve pregnancy. The problem is that, at least in Spain, the price of freezing oocytes It can range between 2,000 and 5,000 euros. If a woman is not financially ready to have children at 25 or 30, she may not be ready to pay that sum of money either. In search of the clinical trial. Microinjection into oocytes already exists among assisted reproduction techniques. It is carried out through ICSI, a tool that consists of microinjecting the sperm directly into the oocyte. It is very useful in case there are few sperm and/or they are not very mobile. That makes clinics ready to microinject the Shugoshin 1 protein into oocytes. Even so, logically, the viability of this process must be tested. That is why the authors of the … Read more

The US has just made quantum computing a national priority

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The US is not willing to lose the race for quantum computing against China. Quantum computers are as important to these two superpowers as semiconductors or artificial intelligence (AI). It is even possible that in the future, when quantum machines arrive with the ability to correct your own mistakesif they finally do it, they will be even more so. The scientific community has agreed that classical encryption technologies they will be vulnerable before the advent of large-scale quantum hardware. In fact, Google’s quantum artificial intelligence group holds that a quantum computer with less than half a million physical qubits will be able to decipher the algorithms used by current cryptocurrencies in a few minutes. There is no doubt that the stakes are high. This is the scenario in which Donald Trump has signed Just a few hours ago two executive decrees made quantum computing a strategic priority of the State. The first sets as a goal the development of the first quantum computer powerful enough for scientific research before 2028. And the second forces the federal government’s civil systems to migrate to post-quantum cryptography before 2031, advancing the previous deadline set under the Biden Administration by four years. The US is convinced that quantum computers will take off in 2028 “We are going to invest in American quantum leadership like never before,” declared Donald Trump during the signing of the decrees. Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, was even more precise: “We believe this can happen in 2028,” he said, referring to the arrival of a quantum computer competent in scientific research. Furthermore, Kratsios described that moment as the beginning of “a new era of commercial capabilities.” The first decree requires the Pentagon to deploy quantum sensors before 2028 These decrees have come a month after the Department of Commerce announced $2 billion in financial incentives for nine companies in the sector under the CHIPS and Science Act. In any case, these measures are essentially a geopolitical positioning statement. The text of the first decree, called Ushering in the next Frontier of Quantum Innovation (Inaugurating the next frontier of quantum innovation), opens with the phrase: “The United States stands on the brink of a quantum revolution.” The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy coordinates the Government’s strategy that integrates the departments of Energy, Defense and Commerce, NASA and intelligence agencies, with the explicit objective of ensuring American leadership against China in a technology that could radically transform artificial intelligence, materials science and chemistry. Surprisingly, this decree also requires the Pentagon to deploy quantum sensors by 2028. Large-scale quantum computers could break the encryption schemes that today protect government, financial and critical infrastructure systems These devices have disruptive military applications. In fact, they can be used to guide aircraft in conflict zones where GPS systems have been blocked, and they can also be installed on satellites to detect underground activity, such as construction of tunnels or missile silos. The second decree is, if possible, even more urgent. Large-scale quantum computers could break the encryption schemes that today protect government, financial and critical infrastructure systems. The second decree approved by the US Government sets the year 2031 for migration to post-quantum algorithms validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which implies four years ahead with respect to the 2035 objective of the previous Administration. Agencies that do not meet this deadline must submit an explanatory report to the White House Budget Office. Be that as it may, the NIST post-quantum standards they already exist. The career now is not technical, it is administrative, and requires migrating before someone takes advantage of what has been inevitable for years. Image | Xataka More information | Reuters In Xataka | We already know what the chips that will arrive until 2039 will be like. The machine that will allow them to be manufactured is close

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