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reduces the risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s in the future by 65%

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

In the Nordic countries, the sauna is little less than a religion, since, more than a luxury, it is considered a necessity for daily well-being as it is attributed all kinds of healing properties. These spaces in Spain have little by little been gaining strength and there are now many gyms that include this service for their members and in spas it has also become one more. Its properties. Here common knowledge tells us that it is good to spend a few minutes in the sauna enduring humid heat, but the question we must ask ourselves is: does it really have healing properties? And the reality is that science supports the impact that thermotherapy has on our own brain. A Finnish study. When talking about the neurological benefits of the sauna, almost all roads lead to the same point, which is the KIHD cohort study carried out by the University of Eastern Finland. This is considered the “crown jewel” of thermotherapy and with good reason, since researchers followed 2,300 middle-aged Finnish men for 20 years to see the real impact of the sauna on their health. The results They pointed out that those who went to the sauna between 4 and 7 times a week had a 66% lower risk of developing dementia than those who only went once a week. But also, in the specific case of the disease Alzheimer’sthe risk was reduced by 65%. These data are not a simple statistical accident, since the researchers adjusted the results taking into account multiple risk factors, such as smoking or BMI. Furthermore, subsequent reviews have expanded on these findings, noting that the benefits of passive body warming remain independent of other risk factors and they are not exclusive to the male sex. Beyond memory. The impact of the sauna is not limited to neurodegenerative diseases, but we also have evidence that tells us that heat baths lead to improvements in depressive symptoms. And although the evidence here is more mixed and is based on observational studies and smaller trials, neurobiology offers us a fascinating explanation of why this happens. The most relevant thing in this case is that heat activates certain proteins in our body that are responsible for repairing other damaged proteins and protecting cells from stress. But in addition, the alternation between intense heat and subsequent cooling trains our “fight or flight” and “rest and digest” responses. If we go more recently, we know that depression has an important inflammatory component and the increase in body temperature paradoxically reduces these inflammatory markers in the long term. The small print. What these studies tell us right now is that taking saunas frequently makes the brain age more slowly, but it is not an absolute coincidence. That is to say, we cannot categorically affirm 100% that it is the heat itself that ‘stops’ dementia. The reason for this is that going to the sauna 4 or 5 times a week is usually associated with a particular lifestyle, since it can be accompanied by several exercise sessions in a gym. Even having the time and resources to do so is usually linked to lives with lower stress levels, greater social interaction and better habits that can have a lot to say in Alzheimer’s. Images | HUMM In Xataka | Dementia is devastating largely because it arrives without warning: some researchers already predict it seven years in the future

In 2004, 15 driverless cars competed in the desert for a million dollars. None of them ended, but they changed the industry forever

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

On March 13, 2004, at dawn, fifteen vehicles left Barstow, California, heading for the Mojave Desert. They did not have a driver. Their mission was to travel more than 200 kilometers of hostile terrain to Primm, Nevada, without anyone at the wheel or remote control in between. The first to do it would win a million dollars. No one got it. Objective: operate without a driver. The DARPA Grand Challenge It was a competition organized by the United States Advanced Defense Projects Agency, the same organization that once laid the foundations for the Internet. Congress had set a goal that, by 2015, one-third of military ground vehicles could operate without drivers, thereby reducing the risk to soldiers on resupply and transportation missions in war zones. To accelerate that research, DARPA decided to open the door to anyone, whether they were universities, hobbyists, or independent engineers. It was enough to present a vehicle capable of driving itself. In detail. Twenty-one candidates passed the previous qualifying tests, held at the California Speedway circuit, and fifteen vehicles arrived at the starting line of the desert. There was everything from SUVs, to pickup trucks, and even modified motorcycles with computers, radar, cameras, and GPS receivers to “see” the terrain and decide for themselves how to navigate it. The route, about 228 kilometers, was not revealed until two hours before departure, precisely to check that the systems were capable of interpreting the environment in real time and not memorizing a route in advance. ORAn almost comical disaster. one of the cars it capsized as soon as it started and had to withdraw before the official start. Two others did not even start the test. Three hours into the race, out of a limit of ten, only four vehicles were still running. The rest fell due to mechanical failures, blocked brakes, broken axles or navigation systems that lost direction. According to collect the specialized magazine IEEE Spectrum, the image offered by the exit was “the most diverse collection of vehicles gathered in one place since the filming of Mad Max 2.” Who went further. The vehicle that advanced the most It was Sandstorm.a 1986 Humvee modified by Carnegie Mellon University’s Red Team. It traveled 11.9 kilometers before getting stranded on a slope in the terrain after exiting a horseshoe curve, according to the university itself. The impact broke front axles and burst wheels, and fuel began to spill from the tank. Its manager, robotics professor William “Red” Whittaker, acknowledged that the car arrived “injured” to the test, as it had overturned during a test the previous week and the team barely had time to fully repair it. Shortly after, another of the vehicles, nicknamed DAD (Digital Auto Drive), became immobilized. and it caught fire before those responsible for the event deactivated it remotely. No team exceeded 12 kilometers of a route that was supposed to exceed 200. It wasn’t entirely a failure.. Although the million dollars remained without an owner, DARPA considered that the experiment had fulfilled its real function: to demonstrate that there was a community of engineers, students and programmers willing to solve a problem that until then seemed like something out of science fiction. The day after the disaster in the desert, the agency announced that it would repeat the test a year and a half later, this time with two million dollars. And the revenge arrived. On October 8, 2005, in a new edition on a 212-kilometer route, five vehicles completed the route for the first time in history. The winner was Stanley, a modified Volkswagen Touareg by the Stanford University team led by German engineer Sebastian Thrun, who crossed the finish line in 6 hours and 53 minutes. Sandstorm itself, now repaired, came second. The real impact came later. That race through the desert ended up being the seed of the autonomous car industry as we know it today. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin They came in disguise to witness the 2005 test and, shortly after, Thrun was hired to lead Google X, the company’s experimental projects laboratory. There, along with other DARPA test veterans such as Anthony Levandowski, Chris Urmson and Mike Montemerlo, Thrun launched in 2009 the secret project that would eventually become Waymo, today one of the main autonomous car companies in the world. Stanley itself, the 2005 winning car, is currently preserved in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. And now what. Two decades after that first failed test in the desert, driverless cars They are already circulating through the streets from cities like San Francisco, Phoenix or Shanghai, and companies like Waymo or Tesla are committed to autonomous taxis becoming commonplace. In Spain we will briefly see some doing tests this year in Madrid. Although the really curious thing was that, a test in which most of the cars made fools of themselves, ended up being the real starting point of a technology that today moves billions of dollars. Cover image | Lemonodor In Xataka | China has an amazing 10-kilometer underwater tunnel and 200,000 LED lights with one goal: to keep you from falling asleep

More than 2,000 years ago they were already used in Greece

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

Where Arta is today, in Ancient Greece there was a prosperous polis called Ambracia. The city, located in the northwest of the country, lived its golden age when Pyrrhus made it the capital of the Kingdom of Epirus: it had palaces, theaters and temples… but today almost nothing remains. The Romans besieged it and in that episode it appears one of the oldest and best documented cases of the use of a toxic gas as a weapon in military history. Smoke as toxic gas. Here there are no newly excavated sites that reveal this use, but it is a quote from a work of the time that has revealed the existence of chemical weapons: the Greek historian Polybius in his work ‘Histories’, book 21, chapter 28. There he narrates how during the Roman siege, the defenders of Ambracia responded to the invaders’ attempts to save their walls by digging underground tunnels with an idea that generated one of the most toxic gases. primitive for humanity: the smoke of fire. Thus, they strategically placed a clay vessel with an iron funnel filled with fine feathers, lit a fire next to the mouth of the vessel and covered it with a perforated iron cover, channeling the exhaust gas into the tunnel dug by the attackers. With a bellows, they blew hard to fan the flames and intoxicate those Romans who came through the gallery. Context. It was the year 189 BC when, during Rome’s war against the Aetolian League, the city of Ambracia was besieged following the orders of the Roman consul Marcus Fulvius Nobilior. The Ambracians and their walls resisted the siege, so the Romans resorted to a common technique to attack them: digging underground galleries to either damage the foundations or penetrate them from underneath. What happened next. Polybius himself narrates that the legionaries were trapped in a very distressing situation: the smoke was unbearable and there was no way to stop it (they had placed spears). This ingenious device accomplished its mission, forcing the Roman consul and the Aetolian commanders to sit down to negotiate and delay the outcome. Despite her ingenuity and resilience, Ambracia fell into decline: surrendered to Marco Fulvio Nobilior and suffered some looting. Later, it was thoroughly plundered by Aemilius Paulus in 167 BC and finally its population was reduced to a minimum when Augustus forcibly moved its inhabitants to the neighboring Nicopolis, founded after the Roman victory in Actium. By the 2nd century AD, the traveler and historian Pausanias he only found a grassy place. In detail. What Polybius defines in essence is an irritating smoke generator: the combustion of feathers in a closed container causes dense and harmful smoke that, concentrated in a closed area with poor ventilation, can cause suffocation and become lethal. No more is needed. Although seen in perspective the Ambracians used the toxic effects of smoke as a weapon, warns historian Adrienne Mayor that these ancient practices were not understood in their time under the category of chemical weapons, but rather as another resource of warlike ingenuity against a superior enemy. In Xataka | 80 years ago an American destroyer attacked what it believed to be an enemy submarine. We just discovered it was a sunken ship In Xataka | The Vikings already had their “Inditex”: a colossal textile factory from a thousand years ago with its own Amancio Ortega Cover | Hush Naidoo Jade Photography and Constantinos Kollias

The US has found the solution to its hospital staff shortage: Filipino virtual nurses

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

In a hospital ICU, the staff remains attentive to the vital signs of all admitted patients, ready to act if necessary, or at least that is what we think it is. In many American hospitals, some of that work is being monitored in real time and thousands of miles away by nurses in the Philippines. Welcome to healthcare outsourcing. What is happening. They tell it in Rest of World. The United States has a deficit of almost 80,000 nurses and the way they have found to cover that lack is to outsource the service to independent contractors located in the Philippines. From there, thousands of nurses and assistants monitor patients and perform administrative tasks for a fraction of the salary they would earn if they were working in person. This is how it works. One of these virtual nurses says that he managed to monitor up to ten ICU patients at the same time, but highlights that “We did not make decisions about medical care, we only informed the staff nurses.” The virtual nurses cannot administer medication or perform procedures, but rather they are dedicated to monitoring the patients’ vital signs and notifying them if they notice anything strange or if they have forgotten to give them the medication. They also carry out other more administrative tasks such as giving discharges, filing records or making appointments. Much cheaper for the hospital. A virtual nurse is much cheaper at the hospital than an in-person one. In the United States, the average hourly wage for a registered nurse is $45, while working remotely from the Philippines is between $5 and $10 per hour. According to the Philippine Health Information Management Association (HIMAPfor its acronym in English) hospitals that outsource this service can save up to 70% in personnel costs. In addition to saving, a Mount Sinai Hospital study concluded that integrating this remote service benefits staff nurses, who perceived “a reduction in administrative burden, uninterrupted completion of clinical tasks, and the feeling that their overtime hours had been reduced.” And more profitable for the worker. The other side of the coin is that, in the Philippines, it is more profitable for a worker to be a virtual nurse than in person. They tell the story of Alice, a nurse who earned $100 a month working in a Filipino hospital and, after starting to work for a telehealth company, has quintupled her salary. HIMAP estimates that there are 210,000 Filipinos working full time for the US healthcare sector and the sector already moves $4.5 billion a year. Nursing shortage. In the US, the problem worsened after the pandemic with exhausted staff who have been leaving the profession. In addition to remote nursing, laws have also been put in place that recognize platforms that offer on-demand nursing services such as Clipboard Health or Nursa. But the shortage also affects the Philippines, which is one of the countries that has “exported” the most nurses since the 1960s. It is estimated that a quarter of immigrant nurses in the US are Filipinos. This remote format does not force them to emigrate, but it is still a way to divert work and feed domestic shortages. Why Philippines. From the Philippines they do all kinds of tasks such as control robots remotely either bring LinkedIn to Western managers. That the country has become a powerhouse in the outsourcing of services responds to several factors. The main one is that almost half of the citizens have a very good level of Englishbut it is also because they have a long history in outsourcing customer service for Western companies and there is already an entire industry created around it. And of course the economic issue: these workers are much cheaper than hiring someone in person. Image | Xataka with Magnific In Xataka | This humanoid robot promised to do our housework. For now it’s a $20,000 puppet

the survival capsule that arrives from France

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

In these times of geopolitical tensions and natural disasters that are increasingly frequent and in unexpected places, having a refuge from possible catastrophes is an idea that sounds better and better. In fact, the EU recommends have a survival kit to “be able to survive for at least 72 hours.” The French startup Momentum Technologies is developing has detected this need and already has up to three portable survival capsules in its catalog ready to use anywhere, no matter what happens. French survival capsules. They are called LifePods and aesthetically they look similar to the cabins of many attractions, although if you ride what will be outside it will be anything but fun: The B01 is designed to offer ballistic and industrial protection. It is a ground capsule for up to two people, armored against bullets, explosions and fires. The W01 is a floating capsule designed for tsunamis and floods and can accommodate up to four people. The Q01 is still a concept, but it will serve to protect its occupants during earthquakes and will serve up to three people. Why laptops? Building security infrastructures is not something new, but the most interesting thing about these capsules compared to fixed construction bunkers is that they are modular, transportable and standardized, which allows them to be stacked in warehouses, they fit in containers, which facilitates transport by trucks or even helicopters and easy and quick deployment by emergency forces or administrations. In detail. The B-01 has structural armor made of high-hardness ballistic steel and according to the company, its panels have exceeded the international VPAM PM7 standard, a recognized standard for resistance to high-speed military projectiles. As for the W-01, its mechanism to stay afloat does not depend on engines or complex mechanical systems that can fail at critical moments: it is covered with 5083 marine aluminum, Kevlar and polymer and has a hydrodynamically stable design, so it uses its own natural buoyancy. The price range ranges between 29,000 and 40,000 euros, without shipping or installation and these capsules are aimed more at governments, security forces and institutions rather than individuals. The company’s roadmap details that this year they will be at fairs such as VivaTech and Eurosatory, the first deliveries will begin in 2027 and then they will carry out the development of the Q01. Yes, but. The concept of a prefabricated bunker is coherent, it already exists and in fact responds to a real demand, but it still has pending issues such as obtaining complete official certifications for the finished capsules as an integral system and in real conditions. In Xataka | The threat from Russia is taking Europe to something unprecedented: from the bunkers of the Cold War to bunkers anywhere In Xataka | A secret Nazi bunker in Germany hides the most sought-after treasure on the entire planet: hundreds of tons of rare earths Cover | Momentum Technologies

“Karoshi” is the scourge that has been undermining the health of Japanese workers for decades. And the Government does not know how to stop it

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

It is not a new or unknown phenomenon, but he karoshi (illnesses or even deaths due to overwork) is gaining ground in Japan. This is suggested by at least the latest data from the Ministry of Health, which reflects that last year the Government recognized a record number of those affected with the right to compensation: 1,310. If we take into account all the requests, the figure is 6,212, another record. State records are only one indicator of a much broader problembut they suggest that Japan is a long way from solving it. And that sets off alarm bells. What has happened? That data from the Ministry of Health reveal that Japan is far (very far) from solving one of its thorniest social challenges: illnesses or deaths from karoshithat is, due to work overload. The latest official balance reveals that the number of employees who received government compensation for this reason rose to a level never seen before during fiscal year 2025. That is alarming in itself, but beyond the numbers what is truly worrying is the trend. As remember The Japan Timesit is the fourth consecutive year that the record has been broken and the flow of applications (whether approved or not) is also at historic levels. What do the figures say? The report of the Ministry of Health reveals that in Japan there are hundreds and hundreds of people for whom the Government recognizes the necessary conditions to receive compensation for excess workload. Specifically, during fiscal year 2025 the record of 1,310 was reached. There are only five more than in 2024, but what is relevant is that the number has not stopped growing in recent years. In fact, it is not the first time that alarms have gone off. At the end of 2024 Nippon I already warned of the escalation in the number of documented cases. As if that were not enough, the ministerial report throws out another figure: perhaps there is 1,310 compensatedbut the number of requests is much higher. During the same period it rose to 6,212, another record figure that exceeds that of 2024 by 1,402. Probably not all meet the requirements demanded by Health, but the Japanese press does not clarify whether the difference between both figures (indemnified and applicants) is due to this disparity or a simple administrative issue. Do we know anything else? Yes. The vast majority of compensated people (1,086) had work-related mental disorders, including depression. The remaining 224 suffered strokes and heart attacks. All attributable to his professional work. In 145 cases the outcome was the most traffic: it ended in deaths or suicides, although this is 14 less than in 2024. Among the applications received at the Ministry of Health, the majority (4,958 out of a total of 6,212) are also related to psychological problems. Not only are they the most common, but their incidence is clearly growing: the Government registered 1,178 more than during fiscal year 2024. Their report also reveals that after many cases of karoshi There are problems with bosses, workplace harassment and sudden changes that affect the workload and quality of the work entrusted to the affected person. Does the sector matter? Yes. Those who are most at risk are professionals in sectors in which overtime regulation is less developed. The Japan Times specific quote to bus and truck drivers, doctors and construction workers, trades that have seen their legal framework gradually improve, but in some cases still have certain exceptions. For example, a driver can work up to 960 overtime hours a year, a workload that is also exceeded 15% of doctors that are used in hospitals in Japan. In 2016 they were 39.2%but even so the data is worrying and there are certain specialized profiles in which overtime hours skyrocket. Why is this something worrying? Because illnesses and deaths related to karoshi They are nothing new. The discipline of strenuous work is very rooted in Japanese culture, although it hardened especially after the Second World War. For a time it helped the country advance, but in the 60s it began to pay its price: heart attacks, strokes and even cases of suicide due to stress, the karojisatu. In recent years there have also been very high-profile cases, such as that of a young girl who took his own life in 2015 after sleeping only 10 hours a week due to his work overload and accumulating around 100 overtime hours a month. How do they face it? Against that backdrop, Japan has begun to regulate issues such as overtime and the maximum number of consecutive days that can be linked. However, the results just released by the Ministry of Health reveal that the problem is far from being solved. In the country there are also those who fear the impact that the conservative government may have. Sanae Takaichiwho does not hesitate call meetings team at three in the morning and brag about not sleeping more than four hours. Images | Beth Macdonald (Unsplash), Vien Dinh (Unsplash) and Joris Beugels (Unsplash) In Xataka | Faced with labor shortages, Japan has taken an unprecedented measure in the last two decades: paying women the same

It was the largest batch of medieval helmets found in Spain

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

It was 1990 when the nets of some local fishermen “fished” two large metal blocks off the coast of Benicarló (Castellón), like says the University of Alicante. Inside were dozens of iron helmets that were initially thought to be Roman. After all, all the clues pointed in that direction: they appeared alongside Roman amphorae, Roman anchors and bronze helmets of the Montefortino type, a model used during the Punic Wars. Almost 40 years later, the error has been discovered: They were old but not that old. The discovery. In fact, they were almost 1,500 years more modern than initially thought. This new study has identified at least 43 matted and corrosion-melted helmets as belonging to the Late Middle Ages. The key to identification has not been the metal, but the textile remains that remained inside some helmets, which, thanks to the fact that they were adhered and sealed by the marine concretionsthey held out until they were able to radiocarbon date them. Why it is important. With 43 copies, according to the University of Alicante the set constitutes the largest known collection of medieval helmets recovered in Spanish waters and even in the western Mediterranean. Furthermore, they are a little-known rarity. according to the research team: non-elite infantry equipment, manufactured in smaller workshops and distributed through secondary or regional markets, and prior to the European standardization of plate armor. On the other hand, this correction several decades later serves as an example to illustrate a common problem in archeology: dating by association, that is, if the remains next to it are ancient, this too. However, if this hypothesis is not supported by absolute scientific methods, glaring errors can be made. On the other hand, it is also a poorly documented rarity, according to the research team: non-elite infantry equipment, manufactured in smaller workshops and distributed through secondary or regional markets, and prior to the European standardization of plate armor. Context. The dates of the dating fit with a time of strong instability on the Valencian coast. The study documents that Islamic piracy on the coast went from sporadic attacks to a structural threat since the mid-14th century, which led to fortifying the coast with watchtowers and mobilizing local militias. In this scenario, a shipment of cheap infantry helmets could have been destined for troops from the Kingdom of Valencia, mercenary companies or municipal militias. By type, these helmets date back to just before Europe standardized 15th-century plate armor, when workshops in Lombardy and Milan were beginning to dominate large-scale production. Before that, armor varied greatly depending on the region. In detail. The samples were sent to two independent laboratories for dating, one in Miami and another in Mannheim, where accelerator mass spectrometry was used. Four of the five dates fell between the third quarter of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century and the fifth was deviated, pointing to being later (more than 100 years later). As a curiosity, the fabric turned out to be a simple taffeta fabric, with vegetable fiber threads, probably a lining or interior padding. Yes, but. The research team points out that the exact origin of the helmets remains open: they could have been manufactured locally in the Iberian Peninsula or arrived via the trade routes of the western Mediterranean, at that time dominated by the workshops of northern Italy. The Crown of Aragon, with Valencia as a weapons producing and exporting centermaintained intense commercial traffic with Genoese merchants that operated in their ports. This fifth date, which behaves like an atypical value, points more to pollution produced on the seabed than to the helmet being used for a longer period of time and at some point having its inner lining changed. As for the reason for the sinking, the study only points to piracy, which is a reasonable assumption, but not a proven fact. In Xataka | The oldest bone spearhead found in Europe was not created by our species: it had already been there for 30,000 years In Xataka | More than 3,000 years ago Europe was already hosting battles involving several regions. We know it thanks to some arrows Cover | cambridge

bathe with or without underwear

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

The world is divided between people who prefer tortilla with onion and without onionpizza with pineapple or without pineapple, vacations on the beach or in the mountains… None of these choices is dangerous compared to the other. At best, people in the opposing group may think they have no judgment. Sometimes very rightly so. However, there are other polarized decisions in which there is a decision that is worse than the alternative. For example, the option of wearing the swimsuit with or without briefs. Many men prefer to wear underwear under the swimsuitbecause it is more comfortable for them, they avoid friction and everything looks more aesthetically gathered. Furthermore, if the swimsuit becomes transparent when wet, it can become a social emergency. However, every year experts warn of the risk this poses. Although it may seem like the most comfortable option, in the long run it is much less comfortable and, in the worst cases, dangerous. Drying time matters. Swimsuits are generally made of materials that dry quickly. This is important, since Humidity is a perfect breeding ground for infectionswhich can affect both the skin and the genitals. Polyester or nylon are some examples of these materials. Underwear, however, is not designed to dry quickly. It is often made of fabrics such as cotton, which do not have this among their main virtues. In addition, the swimsuit with briefs involves a double layer of fabric. Even if they were quick-drying fabrics, it would still be easier for moisture to accumulate. Swimsuits with briefs also increase friction. Water is not the only thing that accumulates when wearing swimsuits with briefs. It is also possible that sand accumulates and that can cause very annoying friction. It is quite paradoxical, since many people use this combination of clothing to avoid precisely that. What can be done. The solution is simple. Basically, don’t wear a swimsuit with underwear. It is important that the swimsuit fits the size of the wearer, so that it does not cause discomfort or friction. And, of course, you must check that the fabric is not transparent, dry or wet. This way it will not be necessary to resort to underwear. Women suffer too. Women don’t usually think of wearing underwear under their swimsuit. However, humidity is also a problem for the same reasons. In fact, according to the Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SEGO)the risk of suffering from a gynecological infection increases by 50% in summer for obvious reasons. Although women’s swimwear is also made with quick-drying fabrics, it is important to follow a measure applicable to both men and women. When you get out of the water, spend some time in the sun so your swimwear can dry. If we get into it immediately under the umbrellahumidity will be maintained for longer. In any case, if possible, the best option is always to bring a second swimsuit to wear dry. It is not easy to change on the beach, in the pool it is usually a little easier, but if that option exists, it is the best we can do. Images | Magnificent In Xataka | Italy has been privatizing its beaches for years. Now it has taken another step: prohibiting you from bringing your sandwich from home.

Denmark is preparing a colossal artificial island where it wants to connect half of Europe to receive energy

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

Europe depends on third parties for strategic resources as valuable as gas or oil, so the energy transition is an absolute priority. Among the essential renewables for this transition is wind energy and there is a place that is a vein: the North Sea. The question is to connect this enormous field of wind turbines with the rest of the continent and you know how: with a new island in Denmark. The Danish artificial island. Denmark wants to build an artificial island in the North Sea that functions as a kind of “giant plug” to connect hundreds of offshore wind turbines from several European countries at the same time. The North Sea Energy Island, as it will be called, will be built about 80 – 100 kilometers off the west coast of Jutland, and will cost about 28 billion euros. according to the International Energy Agency and the company in charge of its management will be the Danish operator Energinet. Although initially will have a capacity of 3 GWthe idea is to expand it to 10 GW by 2040, enough to supply about ten million European homes. The installation will combine electricity, the production of hydrogen is on the table and in the future it may incorporate energy storage. Why it is important. Because according to Energinet, it is the largest infrastructure project in the history of Denmark, but this is a multinational project to accelerate offshore wind deployment and strengthen energy infrastructure between the North Sea countries. Furthermore, grouping the connection of several wind farms at a single point allows us to distribute infrastructure costs and place the turbines further from the coast, where the wind is more constant. On the other hand, this island will produce green hydrogen for ships and airplanes, two industries with complex electrification. Context. This project was born fruit of Denmark’s 2020 climate agreement, when its parliament approved the creation of two energy islands: this one of artificial origin in the North Sea and another minor one of natural origin in Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea. In May 2022, the project was consolidated with the agreement between the energy ministries of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark, which established the initial capacity and its connections. The project is part of the broader European strategy for marine renewable electrification, which the European Commission promotes since 2019 with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. In detail. Denmark has the majority participation in this critical infrastructure through Energinet, builder and owner of the network to the country. The rest of the international connections will be established with operators in each country, such as Elia (Belgium) or Amprion (Germany). The island will be connected to Denmark by Gammelgab, in the municipality of Varde, and the connection to the electrical grid will be made at a plant in Revsing, in the municipality of Vejen, as confirmed by Energinet. Yes, but. The production of hydrogen on the island is still a pending issue regarding technological advances in the segment over the next decade: everything is a question of economic viability, or in other words, whether it is more profitable to produce it on the island or on the coast. The decarbonization potential is enormous and so is the political support, but It is already experiencing delays and increased costs: It was originally planned for 2033 and we already know that it will not materialize until at least 2036. It also raises environmental concerns: the design contemplates converting protection structures into artificial reefs and monitoring marine biodiversity, but the relevant environmental permits are still pending. In short, this energy island today is more of a project than a reality. In Xataka | Something is happening with wind energy. Its deployment has slowed while solar energy grows unstoppable In Xataka | Offshore wind seemed to be Europe’s great energy hope: now it faces a murky future Cover | Vindo

China is researching how to have babies in space. And he has bad news

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

China has been putting its batteries into the new space race. Apart from test your rockets back and forth as a key element to reduce the cost of missions and to fill the low orbit of satellites of all types (both military as data centers), are taking advantage of the Tiangong. In one of the last shipments sent to its space station via Tianzhou-10, there was a very special package: a cell with embryos of zebrafish, mice and artificial humans. The idea is to experiment with them to try answer the question of whether it is possible to have babies in spacealthough it is by no means the first time that China has experimented with something like this. The problem is that the results of some previous tests have begun to arrive and the outlook does not seem very positive for spatial reproduction. China has been exploring this line of research for a long time. At the beginning of the year we already said that the Asian giant had sent a mouse to have babies on the space station with the aim of analyzing whether radiation and microgravity caused any problems or alterations in the babies. Of the nine that were born, six survived, so the study was considered a success and the decision was made to continue researching, but now with artificial humans. Having babies in space is complicated Don’t think about science fiction yet, those artificial humans are something much easier to understand. As they pointed According to Chinese authorities, these were not complete organisms that could become babies, but rather structures made from stem cells that mimic the very early phases of human development. What was sent to Tiangong corresponded to embryos approximately 14 to 21 days after fertilization. Although early, this phase is crucial because it is where all the organs begin to form and where anomalies could be observed due to the aforementioned space radiation. These samples must be studied, but within the same line of research there are previous works whose results have just been published. And the prospects are not very good despite leaving room for optimism. As they point From the South China Morning Post, researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University in Beijing note that cells sent on the Tianzhou-6 mission and that were at an early stage did not grow and develop as well as they would have on Earth. In the experiment, the success rate of generating germ cells dropped by about half, while sperm precursor cells multiplied more than 25% more slowly. Guilty? Microgravity and cosmic radiationexactly the main suspects if something went wrong in these tests. That is, it is not only that the cells already formed did not develop at the normal rate, but if you try to conceive in space, the sperm does not work either. As we say, it is not the first time that China has investigated this and, in 2023, a set of automated cell cultures was already studied in the experiment module of the station. When they returned to Earth, they discovered that the success rate of growth of those special stem cells (primordial germ cells derived from pluripotent stem cells induced by humans) was reduced by half. That is, a success of 2% to 6% in the tests compared to the 6% to 15% measured in the terrestrial group. The bottom line is that the more hostile environment in outer space made it much more difficult for primordial cells to become eggs or sperm. However, there is a glimmer of hope, as human-induced ovarian follicle count and activity did not show a notable decrease, so it appears that space radiation has a limited short-term impact on germ cells. Researchers have already indicated that, despite the “slump” in the latest results, they will continue experimenting, since with potential long-duration missions in space, the prospect of pregnancies in space is something worth exploring further and it remains to be seen what happens with the Tianzhou-10 artificial humans. In Xataka | Putting solar panels in space and generating unlimited energy seemed like a pipe dream. China is already chasing her

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