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If you always brush your teeth after eating, science has something to tell you: you’re doing it wrong

July 21, 2026 by usatoday24

“Almost everyone brushes their teeth,” concluded a group of researchers from the University of Gothenburg in 2012. The problem is that “only one in ten does it well.” The results were limited to Sweden, but from what we know They are still perfectly valid In the Western world: we spend a disproportionate amount of time and resources cleaning our teeth poorly. It’s not just the citizens’ fault. And it is that, as the BBC explainedstudies have found at least “66 different types of expert advice, sometimes contradictory to each other.” So we’ve asked ourselves… what does the available evidence say about brushing your teeth? How to brush your teeth? The most effective way to brush our teeth is one that understands why we brush them. We usually believe that we brush to remove food from our mouths; but there is something else. The teeth develop a dense biofilm (dental plaque) that surrounds them and is not easy to remove with just rinsing. We brush our teeth to manually remove that sticky layer as much as possible. To remove it from the teeth and gums, of course. There is various techniques for thisbut now we are going to focus on the most important: that “the movement should not be made horizontally, but rather the brush should move from the gums to the bottom of the tooth”, explained the dentist Juan Casado Adán. And go through all the teeth, one by one, without much pressure or haste. Oh, and by the way, after you brush, spit. But don’t rinse. If you do, most of the fluoride ends up going down the drain. How many times do you have to brush your teeth? Twice at least the experts tell us: one before we go to sleep and another as soon as we wake up. It may seem strange, but it has an explanation: saliva plays a key role in inhibiting bacterial plaque. but while we sleep we produce less saliva. Like, while we sleep, our mouth becomes more hospitable to bacteria, prior washing helps to eliminate ‘residues’ that bacteria can use to develop their activity and weaken the enamel. For this reason, the key function of washing after waking up is to renew the bacteria-laden environment in our mouth and help saliva fulfill its function. Shouldn’t you brush your teeth after meals? In reality, by using medium-hard brushes, we can brush our teeth as many times as we want. And yes, it is usually a good idea to do it after eating because this way we remove waste that bacteria could use. However, there are exceptions: if we have consumed a lot of acidic drinks (“such as soda, coffee or alcohol”), sweets or vomited, brushing immediately may be a mistake. According to Luis Cabezas Vallejo, pediatric nurseWhen the pH of the mouth is acidic, the enamel weakens and brushing at that time can cause damage (even if it is negligible). As Juan Carlos Llodra explained on ABCdeputy secretary of the Executive Committee of the General Council of Dentist Associations of Spain, in this situation it is better to wait, let the saliva neutralize the acids (or sugars) and then brush. Image | Quang Tri Nguyen In Xataka | We are a little closer to fulfilling the dream of dentists: teeth that grow back

A study reveals that we no longer know how to say “I don’t know”

July 21, 2026 by usatoday24

I notice that it is increasingly difficult for us to say “I don’t know.” Maybe it is one of the most honest acts that a person can do and, on the other hand, with the arrival of AI and with all the information at our disposal, it seems that we are losing that habit in conversations. a study He wanted to put some data on the table regarding the subject. And the conclusion reached by a group of researchers from different universities in Paris, Rome and Milan, by bringing together 3,100 participants, has been that having access to an AI, even if it gives wrong answers, pushes people to stop recognizing the limits of their own knowledge. I know everything. Recognizing that we don’t know something is more useful than we think, since it is a mental skill that prevents us from acting guided by false beliefs. The authors of the study they call her “suspension of judgment”, that is, the ability to stop before responding when there is uncertainty. As AI assistants sneak into more and more aspects of our lives, the research, signed by Chiara Marcoccia (École Normale Supérieure of Paris), Walter Quattrociocchi (Sapienza University of Rome) and Valerio Capraro (University of Milan-Bicocca), wanted to verify if the simple presence of these chatbots it alters the moment when we decide that we already know enough to answer. The experiment. To isolate the effect, the team purposely designed questions that were almost impossible for an AI to get right, with very specific visual details from movies, such as the color of the kit in ‘I Want to Be Like Beckham’ or the vehicle a character drives in ‘Like Cat and Mouse’. This is data so specific that it barely appears on the internet, so the model used in the experiment (Step 3.5 Flash) almost always failed. Participants could ask the AI if they wanted, but they also always had the option of leaving the question blank or admitting they didn’t know the answer. Figures. In the group that did not have access to any assistant, 44% of the participants admitted not knowing the answer when appropriate. Among those who could ask AI for help, that percentage plummeted to 3%, according to collect the study. Furthermore, the proportion of correct answers also fell, from 27% to 9%. That is, people answered more questions, but they got much less right. The most striking thing is that, despite making more mistakes, the participants felt more confident, since according to the study, their confidence in the answers went from 30% to 76%, almost double. What if there is money at stake?. The researchers suspected that paying for getting it right (and penalizing for getting it wrong) might correct the problem. It did indeed help, but very little, because with financial incentives, the willingness to admit that they did not know the answer rose from 3% to 8%, and the correct answers went from 9% to 16%. Interestingly, the authors themselves expected the effect of AI to be weakened by money, but their data did not confirm this. And the pull towards trusting the machine turned out to be practically independent of the economic incentive. Boundaries. Capraro, co-author of the study, explained told The Register that people “became much worse” at their performance, being only one-third accurate than the non-AI group, but ended up “twice as confident” in their own answers. For the researcher, this ability to say “I don’t know” represents neither more nor less than “the recognition of the limits of our own knowledge.” On the other hand, Capraro was especially concerned about the effect that this phenomenon can have on children. According to declared In the middle, adults “already have formed critical thinking” before the massive arrival of these tools, but children who grow up using AI from the beginning “run the risk of never developing that basic ability to question an answer.” Cover image | Solen Feyissa and Dylan Gillis In Xataka | Meta warns: “We have been building infrastructure for humans for 20 years, we may have 20 months to rebuild it for agents”

Japan did not need another aircraft carrier to make a move. His next military step begins with Vietnam

July 21, 2026 by usatoday24

Japan has spent decades measuring every military gesture with almost surgical caution. Not due to lack of industry, technology or capacity, but due to the weight of its recent history and the political limits that have marked its defense since the post-war period. Therefore, when Tokyo moves a piece in this area, it is advisable to look beyond the apparent size of the gesture. What we have before us shows where the Asian country is moving. The specific news. The movement appears in a statement from the Japanese Ministry of Defense after the meeting that the Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi He held two days earlier with General Phan Van Giang, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Vietnam. According to Tokyo, both agreed to start talks to establish new forms of cooperation in defense equipment and technology. The most striking part is the possibility of jointly developing and producing fast landing craft. Vietnam, partner without alliance. The choice of Vietnam is not coincidental. We are talking about a country whose recent history was marked by the war with the United Stateswhich since diplomatic normalization in 1995 has elevated its relationship with Washington to the rank of comprehensive strategic partnership and that, at the same time, avoids presenting itself as part of a military bloc. That combination is precisely what makes its role interesting for Japan: Hanoi needs to strengthen its capabilities, diversify partners and protect its maritime interests, but without becoming trapped in a formal alliance. In this balance, Tokyo appears as a useful, advanced and politically less strident partner than other actors. The policy of balance. This position has a very specific translation in Vietnamese defense doctrine: the so-called “four noes”. Hanoi maintains that it does not participate in military alliances, does not align itself with one country against another, does not allow foreign military bases or other countries to use its territory against third parties, and does not resort to the use or threat of force in its international relations. It is an architecture designed to cooperate without being absorbed by anyone. The maritime map. The Japanese statement does not mention China as a direct recipient of the message, but it does place the conversation in two very specific spaces: the East China Sea and the South China Sea. For Tokyo,the first is part of its major security concerns; for Hanoi, The second is the stage where they concentrate some of its main maritime tensions. That is why the two ministers stressed the freedom of navigation and overflight, in addition to respect for international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Why they matter. The expression “fast landing craft” may sound minor compared to submarines, fighters or large warships, but their function is very specific: moving troops, vehicles, equipment or supplies to a coast, an island or an area that is difficult to access. In a fragmented maritime environment, with archipelagos, reefs and territories where distance is not always measured in kilometers but rather in the ability to arrive sooner, this mobility has strategic value. We are not talking about a spectacular weapon, but rather a practical tool for operating where the map narrows. Japan moves its industry. The possible cooperation with Vietnam fits into a broader transformation: Japan is trying that its defense industrial base weighs more inside and outside the country. We have seen this in the reform of its military equipment transfer rules, revised again in April 2026 to promote more defensive cooperation with allies and like-minded countries, and also in advanced projects that are still in the research phase, such as the electromagnetic railgun. The point is that Tokyo is moving away from viewing its military industry as a purely domestic matter. A very measured turn. The interesting thing is that neither country needs to present this as a breakup for it to have weight. Japan does not suddenly abandon its historical caution, and Vietnam does not sign a formal military alliance. What we see is a much more discreet formula: industrial cooperation, defensive technology and naval capabilities in an area where every small movement is read in a strategic key. That’s why landing craft may seem like a small thing on paper, but they say a lot about where the Indo-Pacific is moving. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | Germany wanted to armor its army with a volunteer military. He has encountered a boom of conscientious objectors

liquid hotter than a jacuzzi

July 21, 2026 by usatoday24

For years, we’ve associated efficient data centers with cold rooms, hallways of frigid air, and roaring machines to keep servers under control. The expansion of artificial intelligence is forcing us to review that image. The next generation of infrastructure not only has to accommodate more powerful chips, it must also keep them running without power consumption growing at the same rate. In that scenario, NVIDIA opt for a counterintuitive solution: use a coolant at 45°Ca higher temperature than many hot tubs. The reason for this change is the scale that artificial intelligence is reaching. Data centers need to run more and more operations and concentrate more computing power in less space, increasing both electrical demand and the amount of heat their systems must manage. The company led by Jensen Huang explains that energy efficiency is not only about consuming less energy, but about completing more computational work for each kilowatt hour used. This metric has become one of the great challenges of digital infrastructure. The technical answer comes with Rubinthe generation of AI infrastructure that, according to NVIDIA, is the first to reach a 100% liquid cooling. This means that not only the accelerators or CPUs are liquid cooled, but all chips and network components in the system, within a closed loop. In that architecture the fans disappear and air is no longer the element that keeps the machine stable. Heat is captured much closer to where it is generated: on the surface of the components themselves. Here appears the most curious part of the approach: a hotter liquid can help use less energy. The reason is that, if the circuit works at 45°C, the system does not need to cool the refrigerant as much before returning it to the server. NVIDIA explains that this way the heat can be transferred to external circuits and dissipate with dry coolers, a kind of large radiators, reducing dependence on mechanical cooling. In a large-scale installation, that margin can translate into less electricity dedicated solely to removing heat from the building. This is how coolant flows in an AI factory: from the distribution unit to the servers Efficiency is not measured only in electricity. One of the most important promises of the closed circuit is to reduce the water used to keep the facility operational, because the liquid is not consumed in each cycle, but rather returns to the system. According to NVIDIA, designs based on dry refrigerators can bring this consumption close to zero in suitable locations, compared to traditional systems with cooling towers that can require about 9.8 million liters of water per megawatt per year. Added to this is another less visible effect: without fans or cold air corridors, the data center begins to be a physically different machine. The aerial pipes carry the refrigerant to the servers, one of the visible changes when the air stops being the protagonist For that model to work, it’s not enough to change the building’s cooling system: you also have to redesign the server inside. The company explains that previous liquid equipment was hybrid, with GPU and CPU cooled by cold plates, but with other components still dependent on air. At Rubin, its thermal engineering team redid the liquid path to take it to more elements of the board with a cleaner architecture, based on a single input and output. The visible result is clean, sealed fronts, where air-cooled servers typically have grills, and racks capable of concentrating more computing in less space. Geography is still a part of the calculation. A circuit capable of working at 45°C expands the margin for expelling heat to the outside, but does not turn all data centers into identical facilities. NVIDIA recognizes that climate makes a difference: designing a plant in a cold area is not the same as designing it in Phoenix, Arizona, where outdoor temperatures can require mechanical cooling systems to be activated. The promise, therefore, is not to always eliminate this equipment, but to greatly reduce the time in which it is needed. So if AI is going to require more and more computation, the industry has to find ways to cool its machines without making cooling even more of a problem. NVIDIA proposes to capture heat where it is bornmove it through a liquid circuit and raise the working temperature to reduce the stress on the system. The solution, at least in this approach, is not to chase more cold, but to stop fighting with the heat as before. Images | NVIDIA In Xataka | We had a lot of fun watching robot fights. Until we saw how one decapitated another with a kick

Japan has three red lines on nuclear weapons. One of them no longer seems so untouchable

July 21, 2026 by usatoday24

Japan has a relationship with nuclear weapons that no other country can tell firsthand. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not just two names in the history booksbut the origin of a political identity built for decades around the rejection of the bomb. And yet, Japanese security also rests on a reality that is difficult to accept: America’s nuclear umbrella. What begins to move now is not necessarily the decision to cross that threshold, but something earlier and perhaps more delicate: the possibility of discussing whether all its red lines are still absolute. The debate. The intervention that reopened that conversation was carried out by Shinjiro KoizumiJapanese Defense Minister, on a Genron TV program broadcast this weekend. His approach was not that Japan should manufacture nuclear weapons or have its own arsenal, but rather that the country should change the idea that certain security issues cannot even be debated. In his words, for Japan it is a difficult issue to debate, but one of the issues that it cannot avoid touching is, precisely, nuclear issues. Three red lines. This framework has its own name in Japanese politics: the three non-nuclear principles. Japan commits to not possess nuclear weapons, not to manufacture them and not to allow their introduction into Japanese territory. The formula comes from the post-war period and has remained a central reference of its security policy, although the country continues to be protected by the extended deterrence of the United States, which includes its nuclear umbrella. The key difference. The third red line functions as a hinge between two worlds that Japan has tried to keep apart: its non-nuclear identity and its dependence on American deterrence. While the first two bans close the door to a Japanese bomb, the third affects how that protection would operate in a real crisis. That is the ground that is beginning to become debatable. Koizumi’s words. The Defense Minister did not present the nuclear debate as a conclusion, but as a debate that Japan would have to allow itself. His central sentence was direct: “For Japan it is a difficult issue to debate, but one of the issues that it cannot avoid touching is, precisely, nuclear issues.” He also pointed out against a political culture that, in his opinion, turns some security issues into forbidden areas: “We must change this idea that certain things are not even allowed to be debated.” The weight of his words is there: in moving the limit of the debate rather than in setting a new policy yet. The European mirror. Koizumi did not talk about nuclear in the abstract. He did so by looking at Europe, where the Ukrainian war has pushed governments like France and Finland to review assumptions that for years seemed established. In this context, he mentioned Paris, for its commitment to strengthening nuclear deterrence, and Helsinki, which has removed legal barriers to the introduction, transport or possession of nuclear weapons within its integration into NATO, although it does not plan to deploy them in its territory. The strategic race. Koizumi connected that debate to a broader idea: Japan faces not only tougher threats, but a world that decides faster. In the interview he spoke about Europe moving with a speed that Tokyo does not always perceive and put on the table the competition between the United States and Chinain addition to the role of AI in military decision-making. His argument is that a crisis is no longer managed with the political times of before, and that Japanese defense needs to discuss all its margins before those margins narrow. Nuclear, in that reasoning, appears as part of a larger review of national security. The line that moves. Japan has not crossed the nuclear threshold, and with what we have it cannot be said that Koizumi ordered a Japanese bomb. What is relevant is more subtle: one of the three red lines that for decades helped to organize its post-war policy is beginning to appear as a debatable issue. There is the fundamental change: the taboo has not fallen, but it no longer seems to protect all the ground that it protected before. Images | Red Shuheart | Japan Ministry of Defense In Xataka | A Russian family lived isolated in Siberia for more than 40 years. He didn’t know about World War II or the space race.

“The citizen wants a train that passes on time and does not break down”

July 20, 2026 by usatoday24

With the Government trying to boost train travel, Cercanías, conventional medium-distance and high-speed long-distance services lost travelers. That is what the CNMC report tells us, which has its annual report available on how our trains are doing. Downwards. That’s what the CNMC data says in whose report Some details are specified about the use of the train throughout the year 2025. According to these data, the number of travelers fell last year compared to 2024 in all types of connections and types of trips offered by Renfe as a public service operator: Cercanías: decrease of 0.4%. Technical tie. Conventional medium and long distance: drop of 10.8% compared to 2024. Decrease in occupancy from 67.9% in 2024 to 60.2%. High-speed medium distance: decrease of 0.7% but with an occupancy of 77.5% compared to the 79.3% occupancy in 2024. Competence. If we stick to the data where there is competition, train use has increased. And on the high-speed long distance where the roads are liberalized, the number of travelers grew by 12.2%. Madrid-Seville (+18.7%) and Madrid-Málaga (+14.1%) were the corridors that saw the most passengers board the train compared to 2024. These figures make sense if we take into account that Ouigo has been dedicating more resources to Andalusia in the second half of the year. It also, in fact, explains that passengers on the Madrid-Barcelona route fell by 1.7%, the only corridor that reduced the number of travelers in 2024. Punctual and reliable. The data confirms that, without competition, whether or not to get on the train depends largely on how reliable and punctual the train is. César Franco, engineer and former president of the General Council of Industrial Engineers, he pointed us out a few days ago that “the citizen prefers a conventional train that passes on time and does not break down, rather than a half-empty monumental station (…) If the answer is that we are going to spend hundreds of millions to run three trains a day, we are making an economic mistake” Last year, Renfe published its first punctuality report. According to the data collected then, the medium distance accumulated average delays of 15.4 minutes. At the end of the year, the portal where Renfe offers its data on punctuality stated that only 59.4% of medium-distance trains arrive on time or with a delay of less than five minutes. 19.4% of trains suffered delays of more than 10 minutes. And 2026? In 2026 we will most likely see much worse data than in 2025. It must be taken into account that the Adamuz accident (in which a Renfe Avant train derailed and collided with an Iryo train traveling in the opposite direction) closed part of the Andalusian corridor for weeks and led to a cascade of delays on all linessubjected to intense scrutiny and the decision of some drivers to reduce speed. In fact, according to data from the Renfe portal28.8% of Renfe’s long-distance and high-speed trains have arrived late in the first five months of the year (May is the last month with consolidated data) and 11.7% have been delayed by more than 30 minutes. an opportunity. Losing reliability in the Spanish train network is also losing the opportunity to prioritize a more efficient and less polluting transport system. In fact, it allows reducing pressure in large cities, as is happening with the Madrid workers living in Valladolid. Salvador Galve, president of the Railway Commission of the Council of Colleges of Industrial Engineers, said a few days ago in the Senate that “when I go to Barcelona from Zaragoza and have a meeting, I go by car. When I go to Madrid I try to go by train because it usually arrives, but the majority of managers who go from Zaragoza go by car because they don’t know when they will arrive.” And it is necessary to have the necessary frequencies and the minimum reliability required in medium and long distance trains with conventional track and high speed. It is key for thousands of people who need to take the train to, for example, go to the doctor in a big city and return to their place of residence on the same day, with the peace of mind that they will arrive and return at the expected time. Without surprises. Photo | Nelson Silva In Xataka | Spain has 7.5 million dogs, so Renfe has changed its rules for traveling with large pets by train

The theory said that Ozempic was going to put an end to ultra-processed foods. The reality is that it has reinvented them

July 20, 2026 by usatoday24

Whoever believed that Ozempic fever was going to be a hard blow for the manufacturers of ultra-processed products I was very wrong. And, as he recently explained in the BE food technology expert Beatriz Robles, the food industry never loses, it reinvents itself. As a result of the rise of this and other GLP-1 agonist drugs, the GLP-1 friendly foodproducts that are advertised for consumption by those who take these medications, but also for those who are thinking about trying to lose weight in other ways. The term arose among some nutritionists to refer to the foods that should be included in the diet of those who take Ozempic. However, the food industry has seen a breakthrough and has decided to convert classic ultra-processed products into alleged GLP-1 friendly options that not only give these people an adequate supply of nutrients. They also make their lives easier, because they don’t have to cook. With this and the appropriate doses of marketing, a fever is achieved similar to that of the famous black labels of foods rich in protein or the craze for superfoods with exotic origins. Because no, the superfoods that were never missing in your grandmother’s pantry don’t have such good marketing on social networks. Although they are even more superfoods. What is GLP-1? Before knowing what GLP-1 friendly foods are, we must start at the beginning: What is GLP-1? The answer, broadly speaking, is simple. It is a hormone that is synthesized naturally in the intestines, usually after eating. Its function is, on the one hand, control glucose levelssince it stimulates the production of insulin, a hormone that promotes its uptake in the cells, and decreases the production of glucagon, which does the opposite, as it stimulates the synthesis of glucose. On the other hand, GLP-1 reduces appetite by two different routes: directly in the brain, and also in the stomach, since it slows down gastric emptying. If the stomach empties more slowly, we will feel full for longer and perceive less feeling of hunger. The main problem with GLP-1 is that has a very short half-lifeof very few minutessince there is an enzyme that degrades it as soon as it reaches the bloodstream. Therefore, this is where GLP-1 analogues come into play. These drugs, including Ozempic, exert exactly the same effect as GLP-1, but for a longer duration. Traditionally they were designed to patients with diabetes. However, its effect on satiety led to its consumption also to treat overweight, either under medical advice or through self-medication. The rest is history. We live in a world increasingly dominated by Ozempic. And of course, that has led the food industry to reinvent itself. What are GLP-1 friendly foods? Mainly, Ozempic and other GLP-1 analogues help you lose weight due to their effect on reducing appetite. Therefore, nutritionists recommend that people who consume these medications adjust their diet appropriately. Since they will be eating less, they must further optimize the nutrients they consume. If we think about it, it’s simple: if you consume 10 dishes a day, adding all the meals, it is not so serious that one of them is not completely nutritious. On the other hand, if your appetite only allows you to eat three dishes, you should concentrate all your daily nutritional requirements there. Experts recommend above all focusing on protein and fiber. The first is necessary to strengthen muscle mass. When we eat less, we have a caloric deficit, which forces our body to consume energy by burning fat reserves. So far so good. It is what we look for if we want to lose weight. However, there comes a point where these are no longer enough, so muscle tissue also begins to be consumed. If we do not simultaneously consume a good supply of protein and we do strength exercisewe will lose a lot of muscle mass, with all the harm that entails. Regarding gastric emptying, on the one hand it is beneficial because it increases the feeling of satiety, but it also has a negative side: constipation. That is the reason why fiber consumption is so recommended. Nutritionist Lauren Manaker, for example, recommends salmon and eggs as sources of protein, as they are also very complete foods in other nutrients. Regarding fiber, he recommends prunes and berries. Additionally, for the upset stomach that Ozempic and other similar medications can sometimes cause, he recommends probiotics and ginger. Also, remember the importance of hydration. All of these could be considered basic GLP-1 friendly foods. However, the food industry has risen to the next level. What does the food industry propose? When appetite is reduced, the desire for certain ultra-processed products is often also reduced. For this reason, many brands have jumped on the bandwagon of GLP-1 friendly processed foods. They sell them as healthy options, which provide a very adequate amount of fiber and protein in one bite. However, this is somewhat similar to environmental greenwashing. Although it usually resorts to small environmental protection measures to divert attention from very harmful practices, with these foods the focus is on protein, fiber and vitamins, while on the other hand very inadequate doses of other nutrients are provided. Nutritionist Juan Revenga gives two examples in an article for The Country. To start, Nestlé has launched its own brand GLP-1 friendly food: Vital Pursuit. One of the products included in this brand is a cauliflower pizza that contains 32% of the recommended amount of protein. It is very good for those who are not going to eat much more in a day. The problem is that it also contains 40% of the not-to-be-exceeded amount of sodium and saturated fat. With a couple of dishes like this in the day, we would almost be over. A supposedly healthy smoothie could provide more calories and cholesterol than a donut It also mentions Smoothie King brand shakes. This includes a vanilla one that provides a highly recommended amount of protein and fiber, without added sugar. Instead, it contains more calories, sodium … Read more

“The most traditional or old businesses are the ones that have it the most complicated”

July 20, 2026 by usatoday24

It was to come into force on January 1, 2026. Verifactu, the new billing system of the Tax Agency. Companies, freelancers, billing software… everyone had been preparing for months, but The Government postponed it at the last minute for a political issue and added even more chaos to a regulation that from the beginning has been marked by confusion. To learn more about the whole Verifactu mess we spoke with José Rodríguez, product manager at held and in charge of leading the Verifactu project within the company. The wolf is coming. As we said, when there were just weeks left for its entry into force, the Government announced that Verifactu was postponed for one year, until January 1, 2027. In reality, it is the second postponement of the regulations, but it was the most striking due to the short notice that was given. José Rodríguez believes that this has meant that the regulations are no longer taken seriously, a the wolf is coming that never ends up materializing: “It was a delay that happened fifteen days before it was effective and I believe this gives little credibility and little weight to the regulations.” Ignorance. The postponements have contributed to a deep lack of knowledge about Verifactu. According to a survey carried out by Holded, 27% of business owners admit to being unfamiliar with the regulations and 22% believe that they will come into force in 2026. There is another fact that has contributed to this confusion and that is that tax communications are not exactly intuitive. “The Tax Agency is very technical, which is correct, but sometimes I understand that for a person who is not so technical or who does not understand the subject much, needs it to be explained in a simpler way,” says Rodríguez. Precisely, the part of explaining it is the work that software and consulting companies have been doing since the regulations were known. “A lot has been delegated to software to evangelize companies and the self-employed,” he confesses. Adapt to Verifactu. Although there is still half a year left for its final entry into force, billing software is already required to comply with one of the requirements of the anti-fraud law of which Verifactu is a part and that is that, when creating an invoice, it is blocked and the essential data can no longer be modified. According to Rodríguez, this is the first point of friction: “This has brought to light a lot of billing flows that were not really complying with the regulations.” Many of these flows, he explains, were practices established by habit rather than conscious errors: “There were clients who created negative invoices when in reality a rectification was required, or businesses that directly edited an invoice already issued.” Anyone who already uses certified invoicing software will not notice anything when Verifactu comes into force, since the other part is simply its telematic sending to the Tax Agency that is done automatically. However, those who make invoices by hand will notice it more. According to Rodríguez, “The most traditional or older businesses are the ones that have it the most complicated because it is a double learning process. Not only Verifactu, but also the anti-fraud law,” but he adds that “those who already have some contact with technology, I think they are quite safe in that sense.” The electronic invoice mess. In parallel, another regulation is advancing, the Crea y Crece law, which regulates electronic invoices and aims to exchange invoices between client and supplier in a digital format. They are two different laws that regulate different aspects of the same bill; one, its sending in real time to the Treasury; the other, its format when circulating between companies. José Rodríguez tells us that this has caused even more confusion and, in fact, is the most recurring doubt among businessmen: “there are two regulations that affect the invoice, they are regulated in two different laws, and people do not understand why.” Although it is something that many professionals claim, The Tax Agency refused to unify both systems because they have different objectives: the electronic invoice is to control payment terms between suppliers and Verifactu serves to prevent fraud. Who is affected by Verifactu? The obligation covers practically all companies and self-employed workers in Spain, with two territorial exceptions and one size exception. Businesses located in the Basque Country, which has its own equivalent system called Ticket BAI, and Navarra, which is also implementing its own, are left out. Nor does it affect large companies that invoice more than 6 million euros annually, since they are subject to another control mechanism of the Tax Agency, the Immediate Supply of Information. There has been much talk about the exemption to the self-employed who make simple invoicesthat is, those that do not include any automation or macro. However, José confesses that not even he himself is entirely clear about this exemption: “There are many gray areas. What do you define as automation, is it a formula, a function…? If you have a sum, are you already in a sanction regime? It is not clear to me.” How to prepare. If they do not postpone it again, which at this point no one completely trusts, Verifactu comes into force on January 1, 2027 for companies and July 1, 2027 for self-employed workers. His recommendation for those entrepreneurs or self-employed people who have not done anything yet is that “If you use invoicing software, make sure that it already complies with the anti-fraud law so as not to have problems. If you do not use it, I would tell you that by consulting an invoicing software, it should be working by January 1st” and he adds that “There are a lot of software that have free trial periods, I would consult that.” It is not advisable to relax because you bill little: “The change can be very large, even if you bill very little per month,” he warns, because what changes is not the … Read more

“children don’t play anymore”

July 20, 2026 by usatoday24

Before Amazon carts and unboxing videos existed, many childhoods were built glued to glass. On any given Saturday, the children would gather in front of the window of the toy store, with their noses leaving mist on the moon, absorbed in that Scalextric track, the Nancy with a new dress or the plastic castle that might arrive in Epiphany. Light bulb lights, catalog folded in the pocket and the look of trying to memorize details that will later have to be explained to the parents. Or write it in the letter. For decades, the Malaga dream board (not the tablao) had its own name: entering Juguetes Carrión was almost a rite of passage for many families. Mid-April 2026 They lowered the blinds of their last store. “Children no longer play, the sector is no longer profitable,” the manager of the firm wieldsArturo García Carrión. As you can see from your websitethere is no longer sale to the public. From olives to toys. The most amazing thing about this story begins at the beginning: The story is not born as a toy store. In 1953, Francisco Carrión Ruiz, creator of Aceitunas Carrión, bought a store on Compañía Street. He calls it Almacenes Carrión. Sells clothing, perfumery, haberdashery. And also toys. I know it well because in my town, Quintanar de la Orden, there was an enclave of Aceites Carrión that fed several families for a lifetime. Because wow, they did well. Toys became the nerve center of the business. During the 80s they opened stores in Mártires, Alarcón Luján, Santa Lucía and Mármoles. The main warehouse was established on Bodegueros Street, parallel to the El Gallo artery, in the Ronda Exterior industrial estate. Many Malaga residents remember this warehouse full of boxes. The second generation, with María Dolores Carrión Martín, turned the company into a chain. In the 90s it had almost 30 stores spread throughout Andalusia, including in shopping centers, where every December they dressed up with their Christmas trees. 25 stores and a legendary brand. Don Dino, the brand that brings together other independent associates, was added to the parent toy brand and ended up spreading throughout Spain. A decade ago, the family business had 25 of its own stores and up to 45 franchises under the Don Dino banner. In practice, the network covered a good part of eastern Andalusia, with its own premises in Malaga, Granada and Jaén. A little over two months ago, the map was already much smaller: only the three stores on Nueva, Juan Sebastián Elcano and Motril streets remained. Also the Bodegueros warehouse, which was already focused on digital conversion, serving web orders and functioning as an outlet. The requiem began with the store on Velázquez Avenue, then followed by the Teatinos store, and so on until the third generation decided that there was no way to balance the numbers. “We have tried every way possible,” they said. “Children don’t play anymore”. “We cannot continue losing money, it is not profitable,” García Carrión said a few months ago. Consumption habits have changed: more time with screens, less time with physical toys—inheritance and direct influence from those themselves. parental consumption habits—. And fierce competition comes from everywhere. From hypermarkets, which sell toys on a large scale to platforms like Temu and AliExpress that will even continue to make noise despite the new tariffs, that “Shein rate” of 3 euros plus VAT for each B2C distance sale sent outside the EU, which already applies to all imports of purchases less than or equal to 150 euros. High street stores are suffering the perfect storm because, with minimal margins, increasing rents and fixed costs that cannot be cut without emptying the store, there is no choice but to go elsewhere, how it happened to Tobarix. And those of us who compare prices with our mobile phone also have no arguments to go downtown. Except when we remember that humane treatment and professional selection and recommendation will always be worth more than the price of the product we want to give as a gift. The map that shrinks non-stop. The closure of Carrión is just another example of the death of an entire sector. Or in retreat, at least: between 2019 and 2023, Spain went from 1,340 specialist stores to 1,160. There are 180 fewer toy stores in four years. The figure has continued to declinelike the country’s birth rates. Iconic chains like Imaginarium, the brand that served as a gateway for my children, have fallen. It closed after 32 years in operation. Poly Toys also disappeared. Juguettos was the one who bought its brands and nine of its stores, and is already working on a restructuring to close the year with about 200 operational stores. At the end of 2025 there was talk of 44 associates, 700 people on staff and the objective of reaching 100 million in 2026after its alliance with Eurekakids. Of course, although toys continue to be the heart of the business, they are by no means exclusive. Which ones remain? Juguettos and Toy Planet concentrate half of the specialized toy stores left in Spain. Behind them are networks such as Don Dino – with its headquarters in Carballo (A Coruña) and link in Aldaya (Valencia) -, Drim or Juguetilandia. They all fight in a market that is weakening little by little. The death of the sale of video games in physical box It will also hit the ankles of this chair that is the showcase shops. Lego summarizes it with a fact as simple as that, in Spain, its “number one retail partner” is Amazon, which grows 25% annually. The global online channel grew by 30% and the store channel decreased by an equivalent figure. Given this lack of options, not only a few meters of shelves disappear, those spaces where creatures touch, try and order without going through an app are also lost. In weeks Málaga has been left without two mythical ones such as Carrión and Confitería Aparicio de … Read more

the new trend that promises to be safer and more elegant

July 20, 2026 by usatoday24

For decades, iron bars became popular as an effective solution against theft and intrusions, especially on ground floors or in houses with windows accessible from the street. Although there is nothing written for tastes, the truth is that today it is not usually the most attractive remedy for the eyes (nor the most elegant). Happens the same with the gotelé (despite its benefits). That image of bars on facades is beginning to be left behind and more and more homeowners are opting for systems that offer similar, or even greater, protection, without giving up light, aesthetics or comfort. And precisely one of the options that is growing the most is laminated safety glass. What is laminated safety glass Laminated glass is a set formed by two or more sheets of glass joined together by one or several layers of an intermediate plastic material, usually polyvinyl butyral (PVB). This film acts as a kind of resistant “glue” that holds glass fragments together If the glass breaks, as they explain from Guardian Sun. That is precisely the key to its operation. And it is not an unbreakable glass, but a glass that, even if it cracks, does not come off or leave an open gap. The inner sheet holds the pieces in place, so that the window continues to act as a barrier and anyone trying to sneak in will take much longer to get through the window, when they do manage to do so. Image: Aluminios Garcilaso How to protect against theft Unlike conventional glass, which a burglar can break and break through in a matter of seconds, laminated glass significantly delays any forced entry attempt. “Laminated glass stands out for its ability to resist impacts, since it consists of several layers that hold the pieces together in case of breakage,” they count from Cerrajero Valencia. That extra time can make a difference, as most home burglary attempts last only a few minutes. In this sense, laminated glass does not completely eliminate the risk, but acts as a fairly effective deterrentespecially when combined with other reinforcements, such as multi-point locks or alarm systems. A regulation that measures its real resistance It should be noted that not all laminated glass offers the same level of protection. In Europe there is a specific standard, EN 356which classifies security glass according to its ability to resist manual attacks, whether accidental knocks, acts of vandalism or attempted theft with tools. This classification ranges from the lowest levels, designed for accidental knocks, to the highest levels, designed to resist burglary attempts with tools such as hammers or crowbars. The greater the number of glass layers and PVB sheets, the greater the thickness of the assembly and, therefore, its resistance. Therefore, before installing glass of this type It is important to define what level of protection is neededsince a window in an inaccessible attic does not require the same resistance as one on a ground floor with easy access from the street. Light, silence and less maintenance The good thing is that, since it is transparent glass, the house retains all the light. It’s not that the bars completely block the passage of light, but they do limit it a little. Furthermore, laminated glass hardly requires maintenancecompared to the iron of the bars, which if we want to keep it in perfect condition we have to paint it and take care of it against corrosion. Another clear advantage is acoustic insulation.. And the combination of layers of glass and PVB reduces the noise from filtering through the window, a plus for those apartments in very central areas with a lot of traffic and outside noise. Besides, glass reduces the risk of cuts in case the glass breakssince the fragments remain adhered to the sheet instead of spreading on the ground. How to install One of the most common questions is whether switching to laminated glass requires replacing the entire window. This is not always the case, since in many cases it is possible to maintain the existing frame and replace only the glass, as long as the carpentry allows it and is in good condition. This can reduce the cost considerablysince you don’t need to change the entire window. But to know whether or not it is necessary to change the window, it is best for a professional to take a look and assess whether the current frame is compatible with the weight and thickness of safety glass, which is usually greater than that of conventional glass. Cover image | mdreza jalali and Cabanyero In Xataka | France is suffocating at 40°C and without blinds: its desperate solution is to cover the windows with aluminum foil

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