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Volkswagen lost 6.24 million with each one it sold

July 10, 2026 by usatoday24

On the walk of fame of luxury supercars, there is a star reserved for a car that, despite the fact that its wealthy buyers had to put 1.7 million dollars on the table to get it from the dealership, every time a unit was sold, its manufacturer lost 6.24 million dollars: the Bugatti Veyron. Bugatti Veyron: an icon of luxury and speed The Bugatti Veyron born in 2005 of one ambitious idea: create the fastest, most powerful and luxurious car in the world. And boy did they succeed. Ferdinand Piëch, the visionary architect of the current Volkswagen group and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche himself. The passion for speed and luxury was in his DNA. This supercar had one of the engines that has given Bugatti the most joy but, unfortunately, in 2024 it became part of the engine history since the brand stopped manufacturing it. It is about its brutal W16 8.0 liters and four turbos, with which it was capable of accelerating like a rocket and breaking top speed records above 406 km/h. This figure became almost a requirement for the desire for “revenge” of the brand for a speed record at Le Mans. The name of the Veyron is also closely linked to the Le Mans race, as it pays tribute to the Bugatti driver and engineer. Pierre Veyronwhich in 1939 won the 24 hours of Le Mans with one of the brand’s cars. The brand took six years in development of the Veyron for the challenge of implementing an engine capable of developing 1,001 HP of power and 1,400 Nm of torque. To keep the temperature of such a beast at bay, engineers had to integrate 10 radiators. The exclusivity of the Bugatti Veyron was not only noticeable when paying the 1.7 million dollars that it cost each unit. Each set of tires, especially designed for the Veyron by Michelin, cost a whopping $38,000 and had to be replaced every 4,000 km. On the track and at maximum speed, the life of the tires was limited to about 15 minutes before disintegrating. Something that they would rarely do, since the 106 liters of their tank were enough for 12 minutes. Without a doubt, a car with maintenance out of reach of many pockets. The Veyron wasn’t just about speed. It was also extreme luxury. Every detail, from materials to workmanship, was of the highest quality. Owning a Veyron was like owning a artwork on wheelsa demonstration that you could afford the best of the best. aspire to one of the special editions The Veyron was already another level, and meant paying more than 2.7 million for some of them. A ruinous business for Volkswagen But here’s the surprising part: despite its million-dollar selling price, Volkswagen lost money on every Veyron it sold. And not a little, precisely. As and how they counted in Technology.orgthe Wall Street financial research firm Bernstein Research, published a report in which they claimed that the Volkswagen group lost about $6.24 million for each Bugatti Veyron that was sold. However, the authors of that report later admitted that this figure should be taken with caution because it was based on rough estimates. Paradoxically, the explanation for this financial fiasco is given by its engineering and design success. Volkswagen spared no expense to create the perfect car and for this They invested 1,620 million of dollars in its development. Latest prototype of the Bugatti Veyron The negative part is that Bugatti only sold 450 units of its Veyron in the 10 years it was on sale, so the investment in R&D was greater than what the brand recovered by selling the cars, which turned out to be a financial fiasco. However, although in absolute terms, the Veyron’s development effort was greater than the income from its sale, the technology that was developed for that engineering gem later served as the basis for the entire a lineage of supercars. His legacy has served to break all speed records one by one until reaching the 490.48 km/h reached by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ in 2019, as how I collected Car and Driver. Volkswagen was willing to take those losses because it wanted to demonstrate its ability to create the best supercar in the world. Although the Veyron was not a financial success in itself, it managed to position Bugatti as a reference brand on the map of luxury supercars. A “failure” that, in the end, turned out to be a great triumph, although very expensive. A version of this article was published in March 2025. In Xataka | For years no one knew who had bought the most expensive Bugatti in the world: until it became part of an inheritance In Xataka | Mate Rimac takes the first Bugatti Tourbillon to the road: he has fitted it with winter tires to use it as a snow plow Image | Unsplash (Vlad Grebenyev)

The oldest human remains in Antarctica are more than 200 years old. The problem is that it doesn’t make any sense.

July 10, 2026 by usatoday24

In 1912, the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott He arrived at the South Pole convinced that he would be the first to set foot on it. There he found an unexpected surprise: a tent with the Norwegian flag and a letter from Roald Amundsen They showed that someone had been more than a month ahead of him. The history of polar exploration is full of “firsts” that, with the passage of time, have ended up being revised. The remains that should not be there. Antarctica has never had a permanent population. When humans arrived on its shores, it was already a continent too cold and isolated to be inhabited without modern technology. That is why it is so disconcerting that the oldest human remains found there belong to a deceased woman. between 1819 and 1825just when the first documented explorations of the continent were just beginning. A half-buried skull. The discovery occurred in 1985, when the Chilean biologist Daniel Torres Navarro found a skull partially buried on Yámana beach, Cape Shirreff. Years later they appeared other scattered bonesincluding a femur, which probably belonged to the same person. Analysis suggests that she was a young woman, possibly of Chilean origin, whose death occurred sometime between 1819 and 1825. The chronology turns the discovery into a puzzle. The problem is not only who that woman was, but when she died. The first confirmed observation of Antarctica is usually attributed to the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in 1820. If the dating of the remains is correct, the woman lived exactly during the period in which the first expeditions were just beginning to approach the continent. This temporal coincidence makes it extremely difficult to explain how he ended up in one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet. The first Russian expedition to Antarctica (1819-1821) The hypotheses and the mystery. Researchers are considering several possibilities. The first suggests that he could be part of a group of seal hunters from the 19th century who abandoned it after his death. The second proposes that she died on board a ship, was buried at sea (as was common then) and that the currents, together with scavenging birds, They would later disperse their remains to the beach where they were found. None of these explanations have been proven and, four decades after the discovery, new remains have still not appeared that would allow us to reconstruct what happened. The alternative. While that enigma remains open, another study invites us to review another of the great certainties about the continent. Researchers at the University of Otago maintain that Polynesian sailors, and in particular the explorer Hui Te Rangiorathey were able to reach the Antarctic waters already in the 7th century. The hypothesis is supported by Maori oral traditions which describe a frozen ocean, large masses of ice and a dark, fog-covered landscape, descriptions that some specialists consider compatible with the Southern Ocean. Between legends and archaeological evidence. The authors of the study make it clear that these traditions do not constitute a definitive demonstration that the Maori ever contemplated Antarctica. However, they do question the idea that the history of the continent began exclusively with European expeditions of the 19th century and claim the role of indigenous traditions in the reconstruction of the great oceanic explorations. If this interpretation ends up being confirmed, the first human contact with the southern tip of the planet would be more than a thousand years ago to what usually appears in history books. Two investigations that force us to look with different eyes. The two studies They speak of very different times, but they converge on the same conclusion: we still know surprisingly little about the first human contacts with the most isolated continent on Earth. One suggests that Polynesian navigators could have arrived much earlier than previously believed. The other remembers that the oldest human remains found there belong to a woman whose presence remains extraordinarily difficult to explain. Two centuries after his death, the biggest mystery is not who he was, but why he appeared on the only continent where, quite simply, no one expected to find it. Image | US Embassy, Bourrichon In Xataka | The map of Antarctica has been made for decades. And yet we just found something that changes what we knew about her. In Xataka | Antarctica was practically the last corner of the Earth immune to touristification. That’s ending

Meta just turned your Instagram photos into raw material for its AI without asking your permission: how to disable it

July 10, 2026 by usatoday24

Meta is not exactly known for being a company that takes care of the privacy of its users, rather the opposite. With their latest release they have made it even clearer if possible: an image generator in which Anyone can tag your Instagram account and generate deepfakes with your facelike the one you can see on these lines. The serious thing is that this option has been activated by default for all public Instagram accounts, without asking permission or warning anythingvery much like Meta. The only ones who are spared (for legal reasons, not ethical ones, don’t believe it) are those under 18 years old, but the rest of us have been put in the bag without asking. If you don’t want anyone to be able to create AI images with your photos, you have to disable it manually. How creating user images with Meta AI works Meta has launched Muse Image, its new image generator to compete with Nano Banana and ChatGPT Images. This generator lives inside the Meta AI app and, in addition to being able to generate images from nothing, you can also do it from the photos that people upload to Instagram. Left, an image generated with Meta AI from a user’s image. Right: What appears in Meta AI when the user has disabled that option If your account is public and you are over 18 years old, you can be tagged in Meta AI to create images, as you can see in the image on the left. It should be noted that the model has safeguards against creating sensitive contentso they will not be able to create nudes with your photos. What less. In the image on the right I tried to tag my account after deactivating this option and a message appears saying that you do not have permissions to access the photos. It is still possible for someone to download your images to create a new one from them, but as with any image that circulates on the internet. How to prevent Meta AI from using your Instagram photos If your account is private you will not have to do anything since it is excluded by default from Meta AI. However, if your account is public you have to disable the option manually. The steps to follow to deactivate it In your profile, click on the three lines button horizontal lines that appear in the upper right. Scroll to option “Share and reuse.” Here, there is a block called “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features” (for some reason, it came out in English) Uncheck the boxes for posts and Reels. Additionally, just below you have a box that allows you to limit other people from using the original audio from your Reels to create other videos and use it in Meta AI. Many people on social networks have criticized Meta’s decision to activate this by default for millions of accounts without asking permission or warning. In statements to New York Timesa company spokesperson recalled that it can be disabled “with just a couple of clicks” and that “We will take action against any content that violates our Community Guidelines.” Images | Xataka In Xataka | Meta shoehorned its AI chatbot into WhatsApp. Now Europe issues an order: they have five days to open themselves to rivals

“Accommodations are uploaded with stolen or AI photographs and an eye-catching price”

July 10, 2026 by usatoday24

You are looking for a hotel for your vacation and you come across the perfect ad: well located, with everything you are looking for and at an incredible price. However, shortly after the bubble burst: The accommodation does not exist and you have been scammed. It’s not fiction, it’s what many travelers find on their vacations. It’s called a ‘ghost vacation rental’ and In summer the risk of suffering from it increases. Scammers know well what people are looking for on platforms like Booking or Airbnb and create ads to attract our attention: “their accommodations usually meet exactly what you are looking for, but at a much better price,” says Jordi Nebot, CEO of Paynopaina Spanish fintech specialized in payment solutions. Additionally, they often use “stolen or AI photos” that make the ads look more credible. Anatomy of the vacation rental thymus Once they get our interest, what follows is the psychological pressure. Scammers “always try to introduce that sense of urgency to put the victim in a dilemma”, such as “a message from the owner telling you ‘I only have one room left, make the reservation now or you will be left with nothing’”. They play with the card of high demand, because yes, “the scams change depending on the season. In summer they get very busy with the vacation theme,” says Jordi. “A message from the owner telling you ‘I only have one room left, make the reservation now or you’ll be left with nothing’” The next step is the one that should set off all the alarms: “They will usually tell you to leave the platform.” The excuse they usually give is that They can give us a much better pricebut this is where we can have real problems because “they look for ways to make you pay by some means by which you lose the dispute protection that the most common payment methods have (…) a transfer, PayPal or Bizum, are payment methods in which once you have sent the money, the only way you have to recover it is to take the person you have spoken to to court.” chow to spot a fake ad The first clue is the price. An offer well below the area average is not definitive proof, but it is the first warning sign. The second, much more reliable, is the lack of history: “scams have very short legs. Normally the platforms eliminate the ad within a few days.” That is, if someone reports it, Booking or Airbnb will take it down quickly. That’s why heFraudulent ads almost never accumulate reviews or age. “Look for that accommodation and see if it has networks, if it has opinions on Trustpilot or on any specialized blog” A real accommodation leaves more traces outside the platforms, like “a website, a telephone, a location that you can find on Google Maps.” If you have doubts about the legitimacy of an ad, it is best to “look for that accommodation and see if it has networks, if it has opinions on Trustpilot or on any specialized blog.” If you are still hesitating, Jordi’s advice is blunt: “choose another one, don’t risk it.” What to do if you have already fallen in a scam If you have paid within the platform, you are in luck because “you already have coverage with the platform itself.” Just report it to Booking or Airbnb to make the refund. If you have paid outside the platform, the steps to follow will depend on the payment method you used. If you paid by card, your bank also offers you protection. In this case you will have to file a report with the police and take it to the bank to file a dispute. It is normally resolved in a few days, although it can take up to 45, but it is a standardized process that is usually resolved without further setbacks: “It has to be very bad for you to have been a victim of a scam and not get your money back,” says Jordi. “You’re going to have to go to the police to report it and the only way to recover it is going to be through the courts.” The scenario changes completely if you paid by transfer or another means such as Bizum or PayPal: “You will have to go to the police to report it and the only way to recover it will be through judicial means.” In your experience, it is usually a lost battle: “everything ends up in court and today that is a big problem, because for certain amounts it doesn’t even pay to fight.” Image | Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com in Unsplash In Xataka | Booking active reservation scam: how it works and how to prevent them from stealing your money thinking that they will cancel a reservation

We have had a nautical chart for almost two centuries in a drawer because we thought it was all wrong. we were wrong

July 10, 2026 by usatoday24

Sometime in 1835, on the northwest coast of India, Alexander Burnes purchased a roll of paper. Inside was a handwritten navigation chart of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that the British officer came to describe as a “specimen of naval survey without equal in the cabinets of Europe.” Burnes donated it to the Royal Geographical Society, where a team of experts examined it and put it in a drawer. Since then, the diagnosis has been unanimous: the letter was very beautiful and very attractive, but completely wrong. For 189 years, we have believed it was wrong. But we were wrong. And it’s not that we hadn’t studied it. In the last century alone it has been studied in detail on up to five occasions (1947, 1987, 2002, 2012 and 2022). However, all efforts had been futile. However, in recent years, John P. Cooper of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter and his team They have studied the subject in depth. Without much success, really. Until they realized one thing: what if instead of a document, what they had in their hands was a tool? I mean, what if it wasn’t a map to hang on the wall, but something else? How did the thing work? The key, always according to the researchers, is that the letter was only opened to the section that the navigator was using at that time. If you look at the map as a whole (more than 180 islands, plus reefs, land landmarks, religious buildings and flags), you don’t understand; above all, because they do not have continuity. But if you analyze the references fragment by fragment, the idea emerges that it was used to maintain the navigation line, to remind the sailors what they had to do. Its purpose was mnemonic and operational; not representative. How curious, isn’t it? Yes and that is the main problemto think that all this is just ‘curious’. But no, what the letter puts on the table is the Eurocentric bias that still prevails in the history of science: For almost two centuries we judged an Indian tool by the only yardstick we knew (the geometric correspondence to the terrain) and declared it “defective” for not meeting that yardstick. How many thousands more things will we have out there lost, without fully understanding? It never hurts to remember that there are many things that we do not fully understand. Image | University of Exeter In Xataka | Urbano Monte’s world map, one of the most amazing and grandiose cartographies in history

It’s been 20 years since we saw its last episode but audiences have not fallen, and 5.9 million viewers continue to watch it every month

July 9, 2026 by usatoday24

On July 6, 2006, Antena 3 broadcast the last episode of ‘There is no one who lives here‘. Two decades laterthe comedy by Alberto and Laura Caballero gathers a monthly average of 5.9 million unique viewers in streamingon platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Atresplayer and Movistar+with peaks of 8.8 million and a cumulative audience of 10.4 million in the last year. The consulting firm ranks it as the most viewed content in the OTT market in six of the last twelve months. The distribution of that audience between platforms says a lot about where the series is growing today. Prime Video leads with 2.2 million viewers and Netflix follows closely with 2.1 million, ahead of Atresplayer (0.9 million) and Disney+ (0.7 million). The study also wonders about the reason for this sustained success: 37.2% of the viewers surveyed say that the series “disconnects, entertains and never tires”, compared to 15.7% who appeal to nostalgia and 12.9% who consider its plots valid. 72.4% already saw it in its original broadcast, but more than a quarter discover it now. Before being a phenomenon in streamingthe Desengaño 21 building had already achieved marks that were difficult to match. Throughout its 93 episodes, it brought together more than 40 million unique viewers, and its most viewed episode was close to 8.4 million on average with a 43.1% screen share. From that same creative tandem was born ‘The one that is coming‘, which is still broadcast and shares its catalog and number of viewers with its predecessor. There is a very simple logic behind this success, beyond the quality of the series. An already known title saves on marketing and comes with proven success, at a much lower cost than original production. It is the reason why classics like ‘Friends’, ‘The Office’ or ‘Seinfeld’ continue to boast multimillion-dollar licenses: continue to attract people. Added to this is the unequivocally local component of ‘No one lives here’, which after television went to reruns on TDT, especially on FDF, before making the leap to the streaming. And from there, generation after generation continues to be hooked on our most Bruguera series. In Xataka | This remake of a classic on Prime Video is the science fiction premiere of the summer: ‘The Matrix’ or ‘Cyberpunk 2066’ owe it all

In 1962 the United States exploded an atomic bomb in orbit to create an anti-missile “wall.” The result was electrical chaos 1,000 km away

July 9, 2026 by usatoday24

July 9, 1962, an aurora appears in the skies of Hawaii, Tonga and Samoa. It would be strange for these phenomena to form so far from the poles, although experience has shown us that it’s not impossible. Even so, in this case the auroras were not formed by a solar storm, but by Starfish Prime, a US experiment that went wrong. Very badly. Basically, they decided to launch an atomic bomb into space to widen the ring of natural radiation that surrounds the Earth and, thereby, create a wall against Soviet missiles. They managed to distort it, yes, but not in the way they expected. Furthermore, by the way damaged electrical systems, satellites and telephones, caused blackouts more than 1,000 kilometers away and there were even fears for the health of the astronauts who would travel to the Moon 7 years later. As a result of that incident, an international agreement was signed to prohibit atomic testing in the atmosphere, outer space or the bottom of the sea. Since then, all countries have complied with it, although there are scientists who do not trust that it will continue to be done, so they have devised a plan curiously related to Starsfish Prime. Starfish prime. The Starfish Prime project consisted of the detonation in low earth orbit of a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead. That is, they used a bomb 100 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. The goal was to stretch the Van Allen belta ring composed of swarms of highly energetically charged particles that are trapped in the network of the Earth’s magnetic field. If the ring could be stretched, they thought it could incapacitate the Soviet missiles that posed a threat to the nation. They achieved the goal. But the rest of the consequences were too serious to want to repeat. More radiation. The amount of radiation in the Van Allen ring increased. By 1969, when the Apollo 11 astronauts they traveled to the moonthere was still a slight increase in radiation that they could absorb on their way to our satellite. Several studies were carried out to check if their health would be seriously at risk, but it was seen that the danger was manageable, so it was decided to continue with the mission. An international agreement. In 1963, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, in which they committed to freeing the atmosphere, outer space and the seabed from nuclear tests. Later, in 1967, was signed he International Outer Space Treatywith which the great world powers established a mode of action for the exploration and use of outer space. Since then there is no evidence that nuclear weapons have been sent into space. However, there are scientists who do not trust that other countries may be acting as agreed. One of them is Areg Danagoulian, from MIT, and the idea you had to solve it is, to say the least, curious. Neutron spallation. Danagoulian’s proposal consists of taking advantage of a phenomenon called neutron spallation, by which very high-energy particles are capable of causing atomic nuclei to expel their neutrons. And where have we seen that there are charged particles with a lot of energy? Indeed, in the Van Allen belt. This MIT scientist believes that if a satellite loaded with a nuclear device were to pass through this ring, something it necessarily has to do, its particles would cause the nuclei of the uranium atoms to lose neutrons. For this reason, it proposes to build a specific detector for this type of neutrons, which would be responsible for sounding the alarm if it detects said expulsion. Aurora seen from Hawaii A feasibility study. At the moment, Danagoulian has not built anything. Has carried out a feasibility study in which he demonstrates that his project is plausible. It is based on sound physics and the techniques needed already exist. If Russia had a nuclear satellite, as this and other scientists fear, it could be a useful device. Now, just because it is possible does not mean that it is easy. Neutrons coming from uranium would have to be differentiated from those from other elements and, furthermore, distinguished from those that could come directly from the Earth. There is a lot of work ahead. With Starfish Prime it was discovered that the consequences of an abrupt release of radiation in the Earth’s magnetic field can be very serious, whether it occurs artificially, with an atomic bomb, or naturally due to solar activity. It is important that we are prepared. Ideally, everyone will comply with the agreements; But, just in case, it doesn’t hurt to resort to detection techniques. Without a doubt, it is a much healthier way to take advantage of what the Van Allen belt gives us. Image | US Air Force 1352nd Photographic Group, Lookout Mountain Station/NASA In Xataka | SpaceX has launched 8,000 Starlink satellites in five years, but they are not enough. And we’re starting to understand why

It is so curious that for some it should be a holiday

July 9, 2026 by usatoday24

You may have seen a post on social media that mentions that on July 8, around 11:15 UTC, 99% of the world’s population is bathed in sunlight. The author of one of these publications points at X that this should have a name and, at the same time, be festive. I won’t be the one to reject your idea of turning it into a holiday. But, while we’re at it, let’s be strict: this happens for almost two months a year. Who wants just one festive day while being able to have a long vacation? Fact check. In 2022, when the first publication went viral the astronomy website timeanddate analyzed its contentconfirming that, indeed, exactly what it says happens on July 8. 99% of the world’s population is illuminated by sunlight at the same time for a few minutes. However, a year later did a new analysis in which they pointed out that, in reality, it is a much longer phenomenon, since it occurs between May 18 and July 17. Since then, other publications about July 8 have continued to be published on networks, ignoring the fact that it is not an exceptional date on the calendar. In any case, although it is a longer period than what the networks say, it is still interesting. Asymmetry. The world population is not evenly distributed between the two terrestrial hemispheres for several reasons. To begin with, 68% of the mainland and therefore habitable land is in the northern hemisphere. In addition, there are more job opportunities here, so over the years many people have emigrated there. As a consequence, approximately 88% of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere. This means that, throughout the year, there are times when more than 90% of the population is illuminated by the sun. The reasons. The equator is a fixed line that separates the northern and southern hemispheres and has an inclination of 90º with respect to the poles. On the other hand we have the terminatorwhich is another imaginary line that separates the half of the planet that is under sunlight from the half that is in the dark. If the Earth were not tilted, both lines would coincide; but, due to the inclination of the earth’s axis, they only coincide at the equinoxes. The rest of the year they are different, hence there are not always the same number of people bathed in sunlight. Although normally it is 90% of the population that coincides under the Sun, there is a time of year in which the terminator is located right between the most densely populated area and the one that is least populated. That leaves 99% of people who, for a few minutes, see some clarity on the horizon. Just a few minutes. This is estimated to occur between 11:00 and 11:03 UTC, although there are calculations that point to a start at 11:15 UTC, which would coincide with the Internet publication. In that short period of time, only Australia, New Zealand and a part of Southeast Asia and Antarctica will remain completely dark. Not everyone has the same sunlight. It should be noted that, although there is talk of 99% of people being in sunlight, not all of them are equally illuminated. In order for this 99% to be counted, it is important to take into account both those who are in places with the Sun high in the sky and those who have already passed sunset and only see the light that appears above the horizon after our star has hidden below. It’s still light, although obviously the lighting levels are not the same. Ultimately, the internet publications were right, but it is not something as special as just one day. For two months, there is a very high percentage of the population that sees sunlight at the same time. On the days around May 18 and July 17 it may be more like 98% than 99%, but, in general, it is almost all of humanity bathed in the light of our star at the same time. Today you are late, but tomorrow will also be one of those days, so, at 1:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time, look at the sky and remember that almost everyone on the planet is seeing the same light as you. Images | reddit In Xataka | Centralia is a city with Hell under its feet. It has been burning for 60 years and is far from going out

We have been believing for years that women live longer because of their lifestyle. Science has a much deeper explanation

July 9, 2026 by usatoday24

If we take a look at the World Bank’s global statistics, there is an unbreakable pattern that repeats itself in practically every country in the world: Women live longer than men. Conventional wisdom often dismisses this phenomenon with a quick response based on lifestyle or “men take more risks.” And although there is some truth in this, the scientific reality is much more complex. Because? To understand female longevity, We must focus on the DNA that we have in all our cells. Something very basic is that women have two X chromosomes, while men have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. A fundamental difference, because that second X chromosome in women acts as a kind of backup. This means that if a gene on one X chromosome suffers a mutation or is damaged, the female body can turn to the healthy copy on the other chromosome. Men, however, play a single card, since if their only X chromosome has a defect, there is no plan B. In addition, this chromosome is vital because it houses a large number of genes related to the immune system, which gives women a more robust response to infections. It goes further. Genetics is not everything here, but the body has an ace up its sleeve, which are the mitochondria, which are nothing more than the “power plants” of our cells. These organelles are inherited only maternally and, as proposed in 2007sexual differentiation has a direct biological cost for men, translating into lower mitochondrial function and, therefore, greater cellular oxidative stress that accelerates aging. The hormones. Beyond genetics and mitochondria, we must mention sex hormones, which are in very different proportions between sexes. Estrogens, for example, are the main female sex hormones that, in addition to regulating the reproductive cycle, act as a powerful antioxidant shield. Among its effects stands out maintaining the flexibility of blood vessels, reducing “bad” cholesterol and preventing inflammation. This largely explains why the incidence of cardiovascular disease in women is significantly lower before menopause. In the man. On the other side of the coin we have testosterone. Although it is crucial for the development of muscle and bone mass, high levels of this hormone in men are historically associated with increased cardiovascular risk at an early age and long-term depression of the immune system. The evolution. Someone may fall into the idea that this system is something exclusive to humans, but evolutionary biology shows us otherwise. Here, a 2025 study analyzed 1,176 species and the results revealed that in mammals, females live on average 13% longer than males. The reason lies in reproductive strategies and the biological wear and tear derived from male sexual competition, such as fights over territory or mating. However, it was seen that andIn birds, males live 5% longer; since in the avian world, males usually have two identical sex chromosomes (ZZ) and females have different sex chromosomes (ZW). Furthermore, in many bird species, parental care is shared or falls to the male, which reduces their risk behaviors. Human behavior. Of course, biology does not operate in a vacuum and genetic and hormonal factors must be added. the behavioral gap and social. For example, the consumption of toxic substances has a greater prevalence in men, being associated with cancer, cirrhosis or respiratory diseases. But, as we have said before, testosterone is also linked to a greater propensity to take risks, which translates into higher mortality rates from traffic accidents or cases of violence. On the other hand, women suffer from “invulnerability syndrome” which causes them to seek preventive medical services much more frequently. Men tend to postpone visits to the doctor until diseases are in more advanced stages, making treatment difficult. In addition, women tend to build stronger social and emotional support networks, a factor directly linked to greater survival in old age. Images | Age Cymru In Xataka | 5 minutes of sleep, 2 of exercise and half a serving of vegetables: the macro study that supports a great longevity ‘hack’

The OECD has found a burden in the Spanish labor market: we do not earn enough

July 9, 2026 by usatoday24

It doesn’t fail. Every time I go shopping at the supermarket I come across someone who complains about the price of fruit, of the eggs or the unattainable that the salmon has set for the little that the salary rises of the humble workers. That buzz now has international support. The report has just been published ‘OECD Employment Outlook 2026’ which analyzes the labor market of the member countries and, among praising the Spanish labor market, has left us with a small barb: low salaries continue to be Spain’s weak point. A report that puts figures to the discomfort. The Paris-based organization analyzes the occupational health of the more than 40 member countries every year. In 2026, the organization recognizes important advances in the Spanish labor market: more employment, less temporalitya stoppage that goes down little by little. But when it comes to the salaries section, the tone changes. According to OECD data, real wages, after inflation, remain 2% below where they were at the beginning of 2021, just before prices soared. That is, in terms of purchasing power, salaries are worse than five years ago. This percentage places Spain among the three countries with the greatest drop in purchasing power since the pandemic, only behind Italy and Australia. Much of Europe has already recovered its purchasing power after the post-pandemic downturn, but Spain continues to lag behind. The minimum wage rises, the rest stagnates. It is worth stopping to analyze salaries in Spain because during the last five years not all salaries have evolved the same. The minimum wage has been going up for years by decree and this 2026 reached the 1,221 euros per month3.1% more than last year. Since 2018 it has grown more than 60%. This salary increase, the only one that is in the hands of the Government, has protected those who earn the least. The problem is what happens above that mandatory minimum that remains in the hands of companies. While the minimum has been advancing, the average salary has barely movedand the distance between the two narrows, causing more and more employees to approach that income floor, so that an employee with several years of experience can charge just a little more than a young man in his first job. Increase in real wages according to the OECD. Spain in the tail group It’s math. The INE data confirm that the labor cost per worker rose 4.9% in the first quarter of 2026. However, if this figure is crossed with an inflation that is around 3%, the real margin of improvement that remains is small, and for a large part of the workforce, the increase in their purchasing power is almost non-existent. “Although real wages grew by 2% during the last year, they are still 2% below their level in the first quarter of 2021, which places Spain among the OECD economies where they have fallen the most since the Pandemic,” the international organization warns, highlighting Spain’s wage stagnation. Why don’t salaries start? The OECD points to an old acquaintance to justify this stagnation: productivity. Spain has hardly improved its productivity figures for a decade and that limits how much a salary can rise without the company losing margin. “Given that labor productivity growth has stagnated over the last decade, and in a context of renewed short-term inflationary pressures, real wages are anticipated not to rebound throughout 2026 and 2027,” the OECD report indicates. The positive side is that, although the situation has stagnated in recent years, Spanish companies have become less reactive to the ups and downs of the economy. The proportion of companies that have laid off their employees despite changes in the economy has increased from 8.9% at the end of 2019 to 4.3% in the first quarter of 2026. The organization attributes this decline to the application of the labor reform in 2022. “The reform has driven greater recourse to permanent contracts: the proportion of workers with temporary contracts fell from 24.8% in the first quarter of 2022 to 14.8% in the first quarter of 2026, although it is still higher than that of most OECD countries,” the report states. Unemployment, the wound that does not close. The other burden that the OECD points out in the Spanish labor market is more than well known, but no less serious. Spain remains the second country with the highest unemployment rate of the entire OECD, more than double the average and only behind Finland. According to the unemployment data of the Ministry of Labor, in May it fell to 10.3%, reaching 2007 levels. It is an improvement, yes, but from a very high starting point. Behind that figure there is also a factor of geographical inequality. The difference between the regions with the most and the least unemployment reaches 15.5 points, well above the OECD average. Looking for work in Melilla is not the same as in the Basque Country, and that gap It is also transferred to the income of each household, according to the report itself. In Xataka | Working does not get you out of poverty: three out of four workers have not improved their purchasing power in two years Image | Unsplash (Ru Dur, Mitchell Luo)

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