usatoday24

“The problem is not drinking coffee, it is needing five cups to be functional”

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It is the first action of the morning for millions of people, the starter of offices, the companion of night shifts and the fuel of exam times. For a long time, coffee has been at the center of the nutritional debate, often demonized for its stimulating effects, but now this is something that is slowly changing. The problem. Just like pointed out Recently, the psychologist María Ros, the real elephant in the room is not the substance itself, since the problem it’s not drinking coffee“it takes five cups to be functional”. In this way, when we cross the line between enjoyment and absolute dependence on keeping our eyes open, the focus must move away from the coffee maker and onto our lifestyle. The consumption barrier. To understand when coffee becomes a problem, you must first establish what is safe consumption. The main international health agencies are quite unanimous on the matter, since, for example, the EFSA established at the time a clear opinion that today serves as a standard: for healthy adults (not pregnant), consumption of up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day does not pose safety problems for our health. To put it in perspective, an espresso is around 60-80 mg, and a cup of filter coffee can be closer to 100-150 mg. That is, we are talking about a margin of about three or four cups a day. In the case of the US regulator, matches with these figures, and points out that unwanted effects begin to emerge the moment this threshold is exceeded. The positive side. Beyond not being dangerous, the latest evidence point because regular consumption of 3 to 4 cups a day could be more beneficial than harmful. This fits into different articles that associate moderate consumption with lower mortality and a reduced risk of developing various pathologies. Even at a cardiovascular levelan area where coffee has always generated suspicion, current medical literature emphasizes that in regular consumers the effects on blood pressure are transitory and reversible. The danger of coffee. We speak at these levels when it stops being something pleasurable and becomes an urgent need to combat mental exhaustion. This way, if a person needs to binge cup after cup simply to avoid experiencing crippling drowsiness or to be able to stay focused on their work, coffee is acting as a painkiller for an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. We must remember that caffeine works by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain, the neurotransmitter that makes us feel tired. It doesn’t eliminate tiredness, it simply puts a “bandage” on the brain’s sensors, so using large amounts of caffeine to compensate for chronically insufficient rest creates a perfect storm. The experts. Institutions like the Mayo Clinic warn of the cascading effects of this excess by pointing out that tolerance is capable of developing, causing more and more caffeine to be needed for the desired effect. The problem is that overconsumption quickly leads to anxiety, nervousness, headaches, palpitations, tachycardia and digestive problems such as worsening gastroesophageal reflux. Furthermore, a vicious circle is created, since if you drink a lot of coffee to perform because you have slept poorly, that excess of circulating caffeine will prolong sleep disturbances the next night, feeding back stress and insomnia. Images | Taylor Franz In Xataka | Coffee doesn’t just wake you up: science now suggests that it also improves your mood (even decaffeinated)

a historic family from Valencian high society bets on photonic semiconductors

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The Valencian saga that has made part of its fortune bottling soft drinks is now taking a technological leap: a chip factory that uses light instead of electronswith almost 25 million of public money. The general overview. The Council of Ministers has approved almost 25 million in public financing for Attypics Photonicsas reported exclusively He Confidential. The company, 100% controlled by Baladre Capital (the holding company of Álvaro Gómez-Trénor, director of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners), plans a total investment of 50 million to build a photonic chip plant in Paterna, a municipality a few kilometers from the Valencian capital. The State enters with 49% through the Perte Chipthe semiconductor program linked to Next Generation funds. The context. The Gómez-Trénor They are an old acquaintance of Valencian high societywith two centuries of history that starts with an Irishman named Thomas Trenor Keating: He founded the Trenor Bank, traded in guano and got involved in the region’s agri-food industry. Nine generations later, the saga accumulates noble titles, historical properties (from the monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba to buildings in the center of Valencia, passing through a park for public use in Torrent) and a reference position in the province’s business community. In detail. Attypics was born in April 2026 from a team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia with more than fifteen years manufacturing photonic chips. The integrated photonics processes and transmits information using light instead of electrons: more speed, less energy consumption. The company wants to be the European private benchmark in the model Lab-to-Fab (from the laboratory to the factory) covering from prototyping to the manufacture of 200 and 300 millimeter wafers. The first phase includes 1,240 square meters of clean rooms and 100 direct jobs. The second would expand the facilities to more than 7,500 square meters and would exceed 300 jobs. Why is it important. Photonic chips are destined to be infrastructure in AI data centers, quantum telecommunications and high-performance computing. Europe has been trying for years to reduce its dependence on Asia and the United States for semiconductors, but private projects that actually materialize are rare. That a family with its own capital, stable dividends from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and no need for advertising decides to commit 50 million to this niche says a lot about how certain family assets are reading the next decade. Entering now, with state support and a consolidated scientific team from the UPV, has overwhelming logic. Yes, but. Attypics is barely three months old. Integrated photonics is a field where the gap between the laboratory and industrial-scale production has brought down projects with more muscle than this. Depending on the Perte Chip also implies being exposed to the rhythms of the public administration, whose management of European technology funds has a bittersweet history in Spain. And the Gómez-Trénors, much more accustomed to collecting dividends than managing semiconductor factories, will have to demonstrate that the scientific capital of the UPV can become a sustainable business without the university umbrella. In Xataka | “My family tells me, but where are your products?”: inside the Spanish institute that is putting its chips on Mars Featured image | Ayar Labs

the continent has just realized that its infrastructure lives in a world that no longer exists

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a tugboat approaching a dutch drawbridge and watering it with their hoses; stopped trams in Leipzig, British supermarkets without chilled products, melted roads… They seem like a bunch of curious anecdotes about how Europeans survive one of their first real ‘heat waves’. But they are not. Each of these failures is the symptom of a problem that, despite bombastic speeches and sickeningly detailed plans, we have persisted in forgetting: that climate change is serious. And here we are. A Europe that does not exist. For practical purposes, the event these days is the second heat wave that the continent has faced so far this year. We have seen incredible things: 37.3 in the United Kingdom, 37 in Denmark, 41.7 in Germany, 39.5 in Slovakia, 39.4 in the Netherlands… it is not only that the June highs have fallen in almost all the countries of Western and Central Europe, it is that absolute records have been broken (i.e. also July and August) in four countries. According to World Weather Attributionis the most severe episode ever measured in the region studied: in 1976, such heat would have been “virtually impossible” in June. And that is perhaps the most important lesson of these days: that the Europe of 1976 no longer exists. And we have begun to notice it in the worst possible way. Although we can make distinctions between what has happened these days (In Leipzig, the problem is that the sealant between the lane and the road surface softened to dangerous levels; while in Holland the bridges began to be refreshed by protocol without any problem being detected), the truth is that these are all signs that the European infrastructure is outdated. Many of Europe’s roads, bridges and highways were designed for maximums between 32-35. Before, exceeding that limit was something anecdotal (in the 119 years between 1881 and 2000 There was only one day in Germany that measured 40° or more), today is the ‘new normal’ (last week there were 4 days like this). It is important to note that so far I have not said anything about mortality. It will take some more time to have the complete data, but suffice it to say that France has already registered around 1000 deaths attributable to the heat wave. The obvious question is… what have we been doing all along? While all this is happening, no one can claim ignorance or surprise: in March 2024, the European Union itself recognized in its first European Climate Risk Assessment that “Europe was not prepared” for what was coming, that policies “were not keeping pace with the increase in risks” and that incremental adaptation “was not going to be enough.” I don’t want to say that nothing has been done. There are analyzes that say that without the adaptation of this century (things like heat plans, surveillance or the alert system) mortality would have been a 80% older. However, the data is there: no matter how much we have done, the deficit grows with each passing day. And that means we’re not doing enough. What can we expect? It seems like little or nothing. In recent years, public support for climate policies appears to have tempered. And there is a lot to do: we must not forget that estimates tell us that Europe’s air conditioning fleet will go from less than seven million devices in 1990 to more than one hundred million in 2030. That requires radical changes: an enormous reconversion that, given what we have seen, we do not know if we are going to want to undertake. Europe knows what is coming and knows what it has to do. You have it planned, signed and approved. The question is whether he will do it before this stops being an anecdote and begins to become an unmanageable crisis. Image | Bill Iliot In Xataka | ENT doctors agree: “Sleeping with air conditioning forces the nose to work excessively”

The US has realized that millions of workers have no future because of AI. And he got to work

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A question has been going around the councils of ministers and the main world economic forums since ChatGPT showed its capabilities in November 2022. How many jobs is going to destroy the AI? The founder of OpenAI himself has been one of the more pessimistic voicesand has even financed studies and pilot tests on universal basic income as a tool to mitigate the impact of AI in the world of work. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, is also not optimistic about the impact of AI on the labor market: up to half of office jobs of recent graduates They could disappear in five years. Now, the same people who develop the great AI models are putting money on the table to cushion the coming labor blow. The concern about a labor apocalypse is such that it is even uniting political adversaries to find a solution together. United against the AI ​​workplace apocalypse. As and how he published The Wall Street Journallast week he was born RAISE USa non-profit organization that aims to train US employees in profiles with a future within the new AI economy that is coming in the coming years. The organization will be led by Democrat Gina Raimondo, former Secretary of Commerce in the Biden administration, but, what is more curious, is that she will do so together with the former Republican governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb. Yes, AI has achieved something that seemed impossible: that political parties and rival companies join forces to prevent millions of employees from being left without jobs due to the arrival of AI. The problem also wants to be the solution. The initiative starts with more than 500 million dollars already committed, half of a budget goal that is set at 1,000 million for several years to come. The goal of RAISE US is to harmonize the evolution of the AI ​​career, but without leaving people behind. “If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we will have gained nothing,” said Raimondo in the presentation of the project. The most striking thing of all is that, among the main donors of this initiative we find some of the main protagonists of the race for AI. Namely: Amazon, Microsoft, Bank of America, IBM, Cisco or the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Of course, Anthropic and the OpenAI foundation have also joined in. That is, the same people who are building the tools that can put their users out of work want to provide them with training for a future in a sector less exposed to AI or to cover the new professional profiles that will be created. AI is going to change everything. AI is evolving much faster than systems designed to protect workers, and that makes them more vulnerable. Goldman Sachs calculated that some 300 million jobs globally will be affected by the automation of generative AI. In the US, young people between 22 and 25 years old with jobs exposed to AI they already accuse the blow and its unemployment rate has risen almost three points since the beginning of 2025. The problem is that the current unemployment aid and subsidy systems are not designed to cover employees of entire sectors who, suddenly, lose their jobs. for AI automation. In Spain, unemployment benefits it is more guarantee when an employee becomes unemployed, but in countries like the US, only 27% of the unemployed receive unemployment benefitaccording to data from 2025. RAISE US objectives. An analysis 2025 Brookings Review reviewed decades of job training and retraining programs, and concluded that their results have been modest at best. RAISE US wants to redesign incentives so that companies prefer to retrain their employees rather than lay them off. It also proposes reforms in US unemployment benefits, so that a laid-off worker can continue collecting unemployment benefits while starting a business or starting training, instead of losing it as soon as he signs a new contract, something similar to what It is already applied in Spain in some specific cases to encourage their reintegration into the workforce. Get it started before it’s too late. The first pilot tests of the job training platform are already underway in four US states. In Arkansas, an AI-based career guidance platform is being tested that connects students and unemployed people with training programs tailored to their profile. In Maryland, the focus is on expanding a paid course program of at least nine months that gives candidates real-world experience in sectors with high demand of personnel, such as healthcare. The biggest fear of those who promote the platform is that their measures arrive on time. Labor markets already show signs of adjustment with changes in demand for certain technological profiles on the rise, while junior profiles they are in free fall in technology, law firms and consulting firms. In Xataka | We believed that AI was going to retire an entire generation of workers early. The opposite is happening Image | Unsplash (Shamin Haky)

We think that the body asks us to “eat lightly” in summer. In reality, we are buying tickets to malnutrition

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When summer arrives, important routine changes also come to our daily lives, beyond ‘hiding’ from the scorching sun that we are having these days. And something that has surely happened to many people is that heavy digestion becomes unbearable and the body cries out for fresh foods like a salad. The problem is that this can also pose a very important nutritional problem by giving up essential nutrients due to having a much lighter diet. The heat takes away our hunger. It is not a subjective idea that, when we are at forty degrees, we do not feel like stuffing ourselves with food, since it is pure biology. Here scientific evidence shows us that heat reduces appetite and, consequently, the amount of calories we eat (with some exceptions in people who do not have this problem). Here is a study published in 2021 in the British Journal of Nutrition put to the test this premise in healthy men, seeing that acute exposure to an environmental temperature of 30 ºC drastically reduced food intake during lunch in those exposed to 20 ºC ambient. In addition, the overall perception of appetite before sitting down at the table plummeted. In Spain. In our country, the data also supports this summer problem, as pointed out in a study published in 2005 that revealed that we eat significantly less in summer than in winter. And in the cold months, the average intakes of calories and almost all nutrients were much higher in both sexes. The most worrying thing about this last study was the conclusion on the coverage of dietary recommendations, since During the summer, a greater percentage of the population was unable to meet their minimum calorie needs or most micronutrients. And this is a serious problem. The salad trap. The statement that “you eat light in summer” is not inherently bad, but it does not justify poor nutrition. According to the WHO healthy eating parameters, the risk of malnutrition appears when our diet does not cover our physiological needs for an extended period, and summer lasts long enough to wreak havoc on our diet. Experts here point out that, when we lose our appetite, we usually replace full meals with salads with little variety or simply fruit. That is why if we go from eating three full meals to surviving on a couple of light dishes, we run the risk of have some nutritional deficiency. Our shortcomings. Among the nutrients we lack is, above all, quality protein and also iron. Added to this are the dangerous summer “fad diets”, which restrict food to fruits or juices. And beyond how healthy it sounds, these practices not only cause rapid deficiencies, but, if maintained over time, they can trigger adverse metabolic effects. Hydration a priori it is essential throughout the summer because we do not stop sweating and that means a greater loss of water and minerals. However, replacing meals with drinks (especially if they are sugary or excessively juiced) is a textbook error. Something to keep in mind is that hydration should come from water and seasonal foods rich in it, but not at the cost of emptying our diet of solid nutrients. This is something essential to take into account in people who are more vulnerable to color or nutritional losses, such as children, the elderly and the chronically ill, where dehydration and loss of appetite overlap very easily. A varied diet. If the body asks to eat less food to avoid heavy digestion and increased internal heat, logically it will have to compensate with a greater nutritional density of the little that is ingested. This involves eating cold legumes in the form of a salad, oily fish such as tuna or sardines, boiled eggs as a source of protein and nuts to have a lot of energy. Images | atlascompany In Xataka |We have searched for the formula for the definitive pre-workout breakfast. The answer from science is much simpler

We thought we had passed the worst of the memory crisis. We were totally wrong

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A new report from the consulting firm Jefferies Equity Research paints an even more terrible picture than we expected for the immediate future of the memory crisis. These components have already risen in price extraordinarily in the last nine months, but wait: it hasn’t ended there by any means. The rest of 2026 will be horrible. According to its analysts, memory prices will experience an increase of between 40 and 50% in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the current quarter. But the increases will not stop there, because in the fourth quarter, between 30 and 40% price increases are expected compared to the third quarter. Let’s do the math. According to this prediction, the prices of memory modules for our PCs will be absolutely exorbitant: 16 GB DDR4 module: the current price is around 139 euros. Applying these increases, in the third quarter this product will cost up to 209 euros in the third quarter, and up to 292 euros in the room. 16 GB DDR5 module: the current price is around 240 euros. Applying the same percentages, in the third quarter we would pay up to 360 euros for it, and in the fourth quarter up to 504 euros. Bad for (almost) everyone. These increases will therefore make prices much worse than they are now, and although we have given the example of memory modules for the PC, this problem extends to all types of electronic products that have this component. Mobile phones, tablets, graphics cards, Smart TVs, routers, consoles (Hello Steam Machine) or cars will also be affected, and this could therefore significantly impact the future prices of these products. Let them tell Apple: we could see how this and other companies are forced to raise prices again. 2027 will be bad too. This report also reveals that the crisis will persist in 2027, although the growth curve will reduce slightly: increases of between 40 and 45% are expected from year to year. It is a very bad figure, but not as bad as what is expected for this second half of 2026. Why does the crisis last so long?. AI is to blame for this memory crisis, and what is happening is that manufacturers are not only unable to cope: the “little memory” they are manufacturing is being reserved for long-term contracts. Micron, for example, has already signed 16 strategic contracts with large firms and hyperscalers, and in the global market 50% of what is manufactured is already reserved for those large clients. That percentage could rise to 70%, they say at Jefferies, which will make it even more complicated (or rather, more expensive) to access memory modules for PCs, laptops, consoles or mobile phones. The end of the crisis, in 2028? This analysis also indicates that 2028 could finally see prices begin to fall slightly. The reason: a slowdown in demand and a slight increase in supply of between 15 and 20%. China manufacturers won’t save us. He Chinese manufacturer CXMT it seemed the great hope for consumers, but as seen at Computex, their prices they are similar to those of Micron, Samsung or SK Hynix. Apple is trying to work with that Chinese firm and is pushing for the US I took it out from your “Entity List”, but it remains to be seen what will happen. The only advantage of this and other Chinese manufacturers such as YMTC is that they do have modules in their inventory, but most are intended for domestic consumption by Chinese firms. In Xataka | Samsung had been the absolute king of technology in South Korea for decades: SK Hynix has just surpassed it

Lidl sells this gadget for less than 9 euros and it will be very useful during the summer holidays

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Finding a technological device that meets the three ‘B’s (good, pretty and cheap) is increasingly difficult, but Lidl seems to have hit the nail on the head just in time for the start of the holidays. Now, you can buy this lTronic smart locator keychain (a direct rival to Apple’s AirTag or other brands’ locators) for only 8.99 euros. Smart Locator Keychain The price could vary. We earn commission from these links This is one of the typical Lidl gadgets that usually fly off their website or shelves (when they sell it in store). If you can’t get it, on Amazon you can get the Xiaomi Smart Taga locator that is also compatible with Android and iPhone and that is now discounted to 11.96 euros. Xiaomi Smart Tag, Compatible with Apple Find My and Google Android Find Hub The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Lidl’s great success is double native compatibility The main problem with official locators is usually their closed ecosystem. For example, the AirTag Apple’s only works with the iPhone and Samsung’s trackers are limited to its own brand. Lidl breaks this barrier with this cheap gadget that you now have in your online store. This Tronic locator is officially compatible with the Apple’s “Search” app (requires iOS 14.5 or higher) and also with the “Google Find Hub” network for Android (requires Android 9.0 or higher). This means that it uses the giant global networks of millions of smartphones from both companies to triangulate the position of the object you attach it to anonymously and securely. This locator uses connectivity Bluetooth 5.3 low consumption and the direct range it provides is approximately 10 meters (both indoors and outdoors) for direct connection of your smartphone. Furthermore, it has IPX5 certificationso it is resistant to jets of water, as long as it is used with the protective cover. It works with a standard CR2032 button cell (included and easily replaceable), which provides an autonomy of around 10 months. Its true potential for the holidays lies in the long distance location. If you leave your suitcase at the airport or your backpack is stolen, the device will emit an encrypted signal that any nearby iPhone or Android phone will capture. This phone will automatically and transparently send the location to the cloud, allowing you to see on the map where the lost item is. Furthermore, unlike the original AirTag, which requires purchasing separate accessories to attach it to the keychain or any other object, this Lidl Tronic locator already Includes a protective keychain case. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: lidl tronic smart locator keychain ✅ THE BEST Double ecosystem without dramas: It works natively with both Apple’s Find My network and Android’s Find My Device. It doesn’t tie you to any brand. Everything included in the box: Unlike Apple, Lidl already includes the keychain case and the CR2032 battery so you can use it from minute one. ❌ THE WORST No Precision Search (UWB)… It doesn’t have the ultra-wideband chip that shows you exact arrows on the screen to tell you if the keys are two centimeters to your left. You depend on the map and the beep. Limited direct reach… Its direct Bluetooth connection drops from 10 meters. Outside that range, you are dependent on someone passing by with a smartphone to update your position. 💡 BUY IT IF… Do you want to check your suitcase at the airport or leave your backpack at the hotel with the peace of mind of knowing where in the world it is at all times. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are one of those who constantly lose the keys inside the house and you need your cell phone to guide you with centimeter precision through the rooms or if you want to track your dog in the countryside, since it does not have a real-time update or its own GPS. You may also be interested Apple AirTag (2nd generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links ATUVOS Smart Air Tag Card Pro Tracker for Android & iOS 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 Tronic (Lidl) In Xataka | Five brands and one goal: we look for the perfect locator for your keys, wallet or suitcase In Xataka | Best wireless over-ear headphones. Which one to buy and five recommended models

More and more people work after 70 years of age

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The situation demographic of Japan is forcing the government and companies to adapt their regulations to maintain the balance between a very aged workforce and a serious labor shortage young man who has caused decades of drop in birth ratedropping to its historic low of 1.15 children per woman. One of the measures that is being applied most in companies is the extension of the mandatory retirement age. In this way, the most senior employees they can continue working even beyond the age of 70 if they wish. 9.14 million senior employees. According to data published by Nikkei Asia, Japanese companies employ more than 5.4 million employees aged 70 or over. If the focus is expanded to those over 65 years of age, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs estimates that 9.14 million people in that age group returned to work in 2024, approximately 25.3% of that population group. According to a report According to the Japanese Business Federation of 2024, the employment rate among those over 65 years of age in Japan is 25.2%, well above the 18.6% in the US, 10.9% in the United Kingdom or the 3.9% recorded in France. According to that same report, 99.9% of Japanese companies had measures to guarantee the employment of its workers beyond the age of 65, following the 2025 labor reform of the retirement age in Japan, which went from 60 to 65 years. However, Japanese companies have taken the legislation a little further: 29.7% of them have measures that guarantee employment up to age 70 and beyond. In Japan, 70 is the new 60. According to the data of a survey conducted in 2023 by the Japanese Ministry of Labor, 80% of workers of retirement age wanted to continue working beyond the legal retirement age. Of them, 70% of them would prefer to do it in their current job. Part of this desire to continue working beyond the age of 70 is due to the fact that Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates on the planet. According to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan published by Nippon.comJapanese life expectancy is 87.14 years for women and 81.09 years for men. This means that Japanese employees reach their legal retirement age in good health, which allows them to extend their working lives by adapting their working hours to their physical limitations. “60-year-olds are young. In this era of labor shortages, managers need to find ‘older men who add value,’” said Atsushi Morishita Morishita, 78, founder of Tenpos Holdings. Pensions in Japan. Another reason that is leading retirees to delay their effective retirement age as much as possible is the amount of their pensions. With an aging population, the pension budget balance suffers since there are more people in a position to receive them what contributors youths. Retirees can only receive from the Public Pension System a maximum of 831,700 yen annually (equivalent to about 5,100 euros), which are added to the allocations from the private pension funds that workers and companies have contracted (or not) throughout their working life. According to estimates Bloomberg, that leaves them with an average monthly public pension of 40,000 yen (about 245 euros per month). An income at all insufficient to survive. The Japanese government approved in June 2025 a reform of the pension system with changes that benefit those who continue working at retirement age. In April 2026 he entered in force The last change, which raises the income threshold from which the benefit is penalized or reduced, rising from 510,000 to 620,000 yen per month. This will allow some 200,000 active retirees to collect their full pension even if they continue working. The reform also extends the maximum age to subscribe to private pension plans to 70 years. Companies tailored to the elderly. According to the published figures by Nikkeiemployees over 65 years old represent around 15% of the company workforce in Japan. These employees are given the least demanding day shifts. “Rather than fitting people into a system, it is essential to manage work hours in a way that adapts to our diverse talent,” Kazushige Mori, president of Gashouen, a company that operates senior care centers whose workforce is made up of 15% people over 70, explained to Nikkei. Those who work 20 hours or more adopt the status of contract employees, which implies a higher hourly wage than those considered part-time workers. “Compared to young people, who have a high turnover rate, senior professionals who work with us for a longer time are the backbone of our company,” said Kimino Osada, president of Seisei Server. A version of this article was published in May 2025. In Xataka | Japan has the jobs, but it lacks the workers. So they are already paying up to 6,000 euros to go there In Xataka | Japan believed it had a demographic problem. Until he looked at his census and discovered that he was missing three million people Image | Unsplash (Jaipreet Singh)

One of the most advanced yachts in the world keeps its biggest secret below deck: cryogenic tanks at -253 ºC

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At first glance, Breakthrough It could seem like another superyacht destined to attract attention due to its dimensions. It measures 118.80 meterswas built by Feadship and is part of that category of boats in which each meter is usually accompanied by swimming pools, terraces and private spaces. The difference is that here the real claim is not on the external postcard. The point that makes this project something exceptional is below deck: a cryogenic system designed to bring liquid hydrogen at -253 ºC in a luxury vessel. The project was not born as Breakthrough, but as Project 821, the name with which Feadship unveiled it at its Amsterdam shipyard in 2024. The Dutch shipyard defines it as the first superyacht with a hydrogen fuel cell system, a statement that should always be attributed to the company to maintain rigor. The idea was not only to build another large ship, but to explore how far a non-combustion electricity generation technology could be taken within a platform of more than 100 meters. The “secret” of the yacht is below deck Carrying liquid hydrogen on a yacht is not simply about changing one tank for another. Feadship details that Project 821 incorporates a 92 m³ cryogenic tank for about four tons of hydrogen, integrated into a dedicated and very isolated room. The problem is that liquid hydrogen takes up much more space than a conventional fuel when the available energy is calculated: the shipyard speaks of between eight and ten times more volume compared to a non-fossil diesel equivalent. That hydrogen does not burn like a conventional fuel. It passes through 16 PowerCell systems that function like small power plants: They combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, and the exhaust is water vapor. The resulting energy powers an architecture integrated by ABB, with direct current electrical grid, intelligent energy management and Azipod thrusters. This means that hydrogen does not directly move the yacht, but rather produces the electricity that allows it to move and keep its on-board consumption active. As we can see, its most ambitious part is designed not to be seen, but the boat does not give up showing itself as a large superyacht. Feadship highlights that it incorporates more hull openings than any other Feadship to date, with 14 balconies, seven platforms and nine hull doors. The Edmiston listing completes the picture with a swimming pool, three hot tubs, Nemo lounge, spa, cinema, hospital, touch-and-go helipad and three elevators. At this point, the question is obvious: Does Breakthrough always run on hydrogen? No. Feadship does not present it as a yacht capable of doing everything with its fuel cells, but as a hybrid boat that uses that energy in specific scenarios. The shipyard talks about a week of silent operation at anchor or sailing at 10 knots in protected areas without fossil fuels. It is an interesting figure, but it also marks the limit: hydrogen serves to reduce noise and local emissions in certain uses, not to completely replace the conventional system. The reason is physical, not commercial. Even on a 118.80 meter yacht, there is not enough space to carry the liquid hydrogen necessary for a complete ocean crossing. That’s why Breakthrough combines its fuel cells with MTU generators capable of running on HVO, a second-generation biofuel, within a hybrid architecture. The project was also an exercise in integration. Feadship maintains that there were no specific class, Flag State or IMO regulations for hydrogen storage and fuel cell systems on such a project, so it worked with Lloyd’s Register to develop specific equipment, protocols and safety procedures. ABB completes that part from the electrical side: it integrated the 3 MW system with the Onboard DC Grid network, energy management and Azipod thrusters. The other big challenge is outside the boat. It is one thing to design a yacht capable of using liquid hydrogen and quite another to create the infrastructure to safely supply it. Air Products announced in 2025 which had supplied Breakthrough with liquid hydrogen in what was the first bunkering of this type in the Netherlands. The data is important because it remembers that the technology does not depend only on the tank, fuel cells or propulsion: it also needs ports prepared to handle fuel at extreme temperatures. In Xataka The future of war at sea is hybrid: Navantia is clear about how to win it with its new ship for the United Kingdom Breakthrough demonstrates that a technology that is difficult to store, regulate, integrate and supply can leave the laboratory and enter a real ship. It may remain an exception for years, available to very few. Still, its value lies in having brought one of the most complex conversations in maritime energy to a hull that is already sailing. Images | Feadship In Xataka | Norway gives the green light to the construction of the world’s first tunnel for ships: a colossal engineering feat that has been waiting for 150 years (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news One of the most advanced yachts in the world keeps its biggest secret below deck: cryogenic tanks at -253 ºC was originally published in Xataka by Javier Marquez .

Global warming has stepped on the accelerator at an unprecedented rate and we are getting closer to the point of no return

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In recent years we are seeing how the climate is changing radicallyand the reality is that we know well that the Earth’s climate system is accumulating heat at an unprecedented rate. And it is not a stimulation that we do in our heads, but it is the main conclusion of the fourth edition of the report Indicators of Global Climate Change. The figures do not leave much room for maneuver, since, according to the panel of more than 70 researchers from 56 institutions around the world that have participated in the analysishuman activities have pushed global warming to 1.37 °C in 2025. And most worrying of all is that, if the current trend continues, the mathematical projection indicates that we will cross the dreaded 1.5 °C line in approximately four years. An unprecedented rhythm. The analysis, supported by an immense Earth observation network and aligned with the program data Copernicus and institutional repositories such as NASA Earthdata, shows that the rate of human-induced warming remains at a historical maximum of about 0.27 °C per decade. Because? The report points to a lethal combination, such as record levels of greenhouse gases and, paradoxically, a continued decline in sulfur dioxide emissions. The latter is important because, by reducing sulfur aerosols, part of the warming effect of greenhouse gases, which was previously mitigated, has been “unmasked.” As Piers Forster, lead author of the study and director of the Priestley Center for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds, explains, the key to understanding the magnitude of the crisis lies in the Earth’s energy imbalance since this indicator measures how quickly heat accumulates in the system. In the researcher’s words: “Without human influence, it should be close to zero, but it has been growing since the 1970s and is now at a record level, doubling in recent decades” The carbon counter. Perhaps the most urgent data that the scientific consortium provides for short-term decision-making is the update of the remaining carbon budget. This concept defines the total amount of carbon dioxide that humanity can still emit into the atmosphere before exceeding the 1.5 °C limit is inevitable. As of early 2026, that estimated remainder was just 130 gigatonnes of CO₂. If we take into account that in 2024 global greenhouse gas emissions reached a historical maximum of 56.8 Gt of CO₂ equivalent, mathematics tells us that at the current rate, that budget will be completely exhausted in about three years. Oceans under pressure. Beyond the average surface air temperature, the updated climate indicators portray a transversal impact on all biomes. Something that we have repeated a lot is that the oceans are the planet’s great thermal sink, and the report introduces a critical monitoring indicator to monitor them, which are the days of marine heat waves. Globally, the year 2025 experienced 65 days under these anomalous conditions, meaning that this number has tripled since 1991, severely disrupting carbon exchange between the ocean and atmosphere, altering acidity levels and threatening coastal infrastructure and marine habitats. sea ​​level It continues its continuous advance, fueled by the melting of land ice and the thermal expansion of warmer waters. Consolidated records show a record of 23 centimeters of increase since 1901 and the current rate of rise is around 1.8 mm per year and, far from stabilizing, it is accelerating by leaps and bounds. Images | Marcin Jozwiak In Xataka | Three days and above the 95th percentile: AEMET’s golden rule for declaring a “heat wave” in Spain

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