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“Quantum computers are the solution to tritium that will fuel nuclear fusion”

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The nuclear fusion It promises us clean and practically unlimited energy, but it has been stuck for decades by an obstacle that is difficult to overcome: fuel. The reactors tokamakthe most frequent in experimental projects, work fusing deuterium and tritiumtwo isotopes of hydrogen that when combined release a helium nucleus and a neutron that is ejected with an energy of about 14 MeV (megaelectronvolts). The problem is that the tritium It is an extraordinarily rare isotope on Earth. It is only formed naturally in the atmosphere due to the interaction of cosmic raysand in tiny quantities. In this scenario, for nuclear fusion to have a future as a real energy source, scientists need to find an efficient strategy that allows them to produce tritium in an artificial and sustainable way. This is the context in which the latest research carried out by the Cleveland Clinic, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, IBM’s TJ Watson Research Center and Michigan State University, all in the US, is drawing a lot of attention. And for the first time a team of scientists has used a quantum computer to identify the molecular configurations of the material that acts as a tritium “breeding blanket” within a nuclear fusion reactor. FLiBe: the molten salt that can save fusion The material identified by this quantum machine is called FLiBe, and it is a molten salt composed of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride. Inside a reactor tokamak The neutrons released by the fusion plasma impact this molten salt that covers the internal walls of the vacuum chamber, and it is this process that is responsible for producing tritium. Finding the optimal FLiBe configuration is the key to making fuel production viable on an industrial scale. This approach allows you to rule out less promising options in advance, saving time and money. A quick note before moving forward: the technique used by these researchers is known as quantum computing focused on supercomputing, and it is the same as Cleveland Clinic has previously used to simulate protein configurations of thousands of atoms. Applying it now to the chemistry of fusion materials is a novelty. The result of this strategy has been the identification of nine different molecular configurations of the FLiBe material, each with its own electronic structure, atomic behavior and molecular bond strength. Tom Beck, a computational chemist at Oak Ridge Laboratory, has explained that quantum computers are essential tools for accelerating the discovery and design cycles necessary to produce enough tritium to fuel fusion reactors. However, it is important that we temper our expectations. The nine configurations are, for now, simulations, and still have to be validated in the laboratory before making the leap to a real reactor. What this approach does allow is to rule out in advance the least promising optionssaving time and money on experiments that might otherwise go nowhere. IBM researcher Jerry Chow has added These results reinforce the idea that quantum computing is already a practical tool capable of solving problems that have eluded chemists and engineers for years. For now, nuclear fusion still does not have a closed solution to its fuel problem. However, for the first time a quantum computer has put concrete candidate materials on the table with which to begin solving this enormous challenge. Image | Fusion for Energy (F4E) More information | Science Alert In Xataka | The start-up of the largest nuclear fusion reactor on the planet is delayed by a decade. These are the reasons for the ITER gap

70% of its hotels lack staff

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Becoming one of the great resorts in the world has its price. Spain knows this, as it is on its way to overcoming the 100 million visitors foreigners and become the country with the most tourists of the planet. And Japan certainly knows this, which in recent years has seen its flow of foreign travelers skyrocket to almost the 43 million. That avalanche of people eager to climb Fujisee the geishas and he Sakura or be photographed in Shibuya has strained coexistence in the country, sparking the debate about the tourism and one wave of social rejection. Japan could, however, have a natural (and unexpected) brake on its tourist expansion: the lack of staff in hotels. The percentage: 72.2%. In full tourist boom and with Japan breaking records of foreign visitors, the Japanese authorities recently did a curious exercise: they asked the country’s hotels how they are doing. Not in terms of billing and demand, but in terms of their ability to provide services. It may seem like a strange task, but the truth is that it has revealed a surprising fact: 72.2% Of the more than 500 accommodations surveyed, they acknowledged having fewer staff than they really need. That is to say, in the midst of a tourism boom, it is easier for businesses to attract clients than workers. Does it affect everyone equally? For their study, the technicians spoke with 522 establishments of all kinds, from large hotel chains to more modest accommodations and ryokan traditional. Of all of them, those that acknowledged having the most difficulties when training their staff are medium-sized businesses, with an annual turnover level of between 100 and 1,000 million yen, equivalent to between 540,000 and 5.4 million euros. Of the 280 businesses interviewed with these characteristics, 77.1% admitted that it is difficult for him to find professionals. And almost all of them (90%) are companies with less than 100 employees. What’s more, half don’t even reach 30. One word: overexertion. The problem is not only the greater or lesser shortage of staff, but what this means for the professionals who already work in hotels. The equation is very simple: more work without more staff ends up resulting in greater pressure on the workforce. The Government study confirms this with figures: 79.3% of accommodations with a lack of staff recognizes that this handicap ends up overloading their staff in high season. 40.6% have no choice but to reduce their services. The great mystery. The question at this point is obvious… If tourism has become a booming business in Japan and the country aspire While this demand continues to grow, why is it so difficult for hotels to hire staff? l The answer is complicated and requires handling several keys. The main one: the hospitality industry is not the most desired sector in the country. Low salaries and a lack of breaks discourage the Japanese population from looking for work in the sector, leading the authors of the ‘White Paper’ on Japanese tourism to propose an improvement of working conditions. They also advocate modernizing their accommodations. Is it the only problem? No. In the background there is another handicap that cannot be ignored either: it is not only that Japan has fewer employees for its hotels, it is that in general Japan has fewer people for everything. Its population has been contracting for yearswhich in turn affects the nation’s labor muscle: if in 2010 it came close to 128.1 million of inhabitants, in 2025 it would not reach 124 million. And a significant part of that population is already very old. With these data as a backdrop, it is better understood that the sector has chosen to look for talent outside, signing foreign personnel and offering part-time contracts. Ironically, in recent years Japan he hasn’t made it easy to immigrants who come to the country to work or undertake, hardening the conditions that must be met to qualify for resident status. It is estimated that at the end of 2025, Japan would host slightly more than four million of foreign residents, an interesting figure on two counts: it represents 9.5% more than the previous year and (above all) a new historical record. A not so new notice. This is not the first time that Japan has seen alarm bells go off due to labor shortages in the tourism sector. He did it in 2025when the Asia Pacific Institute of Research warned that the country risked suffering a deficit of hundreds of thousands of hospitality workers. Specifically, it estimates that if the nation maintains its goal of reaching 60 million tourists in 2030, it will find itself with a ‘hole’ of about 536,000 employees. The problem is the same: demand in hotels and restaurants increases, but the sector’s muscle to meet it is not strengthened. Even the aviation sector would have problems. In 2024 Bloomberg warned that to reach the goal of 60 million tourists the country will need many more pilots. At the moment the flow of foreign visitors remains below the 43 millionbut the trend is clear growth. Images | IK’s World Trip (Flickr), Ramon Buçard (Unsplash) and Victoriano Izquierdo (Unsplash) In Xataka | “If you only visit Copacabana, you don’t really visit Rio”: mass tourism has found its new object of desire in the favelas

This is how the new Castellana subway will work

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A few days ago we knew that Madrid it was over with one of the key phases of the burial of the north of Paseo de la Castellana. This is the excavation of the tunnel that will connect the M-30 with the surroundings of the Four Towers, ending after the demolition of the last wall that separated both ends of the work. The mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, present at the time along with the delegate of Works and Equipment, Paloma García Romero, assured that the infrastructure, 675 meters long, will be ready for vehicles to circulate. starting in december. A tunnel with AI. The capital already has more than 40 kilometers of underground traffic galleries, but everything indicates that this will be the most technologically advanced. And unlike passageways like those of the M-30 under Madrid Río, which have been built for almost 20 years, the new tunnel will incorporate technology based on artificial intelligence to monitor and manage in real time everything that happens inside. What AI will do. The idea is that the system is trained to identify vehiclescontrol the speed at which they circulate, detect incidents or violations and monitor the polluting emissions generated inside the tunnel. This information will also allow the ventilation of the gallery to be automatically adjusted based on the level of pollution detected at all times, thus optimizing air quality without the need for manual intervention. Between the lines. The goal is for the tunnel to function as a self-regulating system. The more data you collect about traffic and pollution, the more accurately you can anticipate problems, from a traffic jam to a broken down vehicle, before they become a risk to those driving inside. According to sources collected by The reasonthis commitment also seeks to provide the tunnel with the highest safety standards. And along with all its AI, the infrastructure will also have improved emergency exit systems and Wi-Fi coverage. What will it be like inside? The tunnel will have three lanes in each direction, not counting the accesses, exits and links with roads such as the M-30, the M-607, the A-1 or the M-11. The route will connect the current underpass on Sinesio Delgado Street, in the south, with the North Nude, next to the La Paz Hospital. Furthermore, according to they count from ABC, it has been designed on two levels to minimize the impact on the trees that exist right now, thus conserving the greatest number of specimens, especially the largest conifers. And now what. This summer, excavation will begin on the second level of the tunnel, an extension that in the future will connect La Castellana with the Begoña neighborhood and with the new Madrid Nuevo Norte district. For now the infrastructure will be prepared, but it will not come into operation until that connection arrives. Meanwhile, on the surface the construction of Parque Castellana is progressing, a green area of ​​70,000 square meters with more than 1,500 trees, a large jet fountain and a 35-meter-high pergola covered with solar panels that, according to explained Almeida, will serve to “guarantee that at all times there is an adequate supply” of energy for vehicles traveling through the tunnel. The idea is that, when everything is finished, only public transport and local traffic accessing the buildings in the area will circulate on the surface. Cover image | Madrid City Council In Xataka | The Mayrit tunnel boring machine has crossed under the Manzanares and the M-30: thus it has arrived eleven days ahead of schedule to its first major stop

Anthropic claims to have found Claude’s “consciousness”, although the data tells another story

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Anthropic has published an article that promises to change the way we understand the inner workings of your business models. artificial intelligence (AI), like we explain to you last week. This company claims to have identified a kind of global workspace within Claudewhich he has named J-Spacewhere the model analyzes and manipulates concepts before these become part of the final answer. What is surprising is that, according to Anthropic, this space has not been deliberately programmed: it has emerged as a byproduct of training the model. To analyze it and understand how it works, a technique known as J-Lens which is capable of mapping the internal activations of the model onto words from its own output vocabulary. When asking Claude to solve a multi-step mathematical calculation the visible answer contained only the final result, but within the J-Space each intermediate step was represented separately. Without this technique no part of that process could have been observed from the outside. However, Anthropic itself recognizes that much of what a language model does does not even go through this internal space. Speaking fluently, remembering simple facts or applying basic grammatical rules almost completely dispenses with J-Spaceand when the company blocked its use Claude continued to function normally, although he lost some of his higher-order cognitive functions. Claude “knows” that he is being watched During one of his most striking experiments, Anthropic subjected Claude to injection attempts. prompts during data acquisition processes. He J-Space then showed words like “false”, “injection”, “erroneous”, “prompt“, “fraud” and “poison”, while the visible response of the model completely ignored the attempted manipulation. Interestingly, when pressed to comment on the matter, terms such as “transparency”, “honesty” and “truth” emerged in the internal space. The language used in the article sometimes borders on the idea of ​​an emerging consciousness The Anthropic researchers also observed that Claude seems to recognize when he is being evaluated, which leads him to behave differently when faced with tests than when faced with prompts everyday. In a particularly revealing test, Anthropic removed J-Space the vocabulary associated with that consciousness of being put to the test (terms such as “fake”, “fictitious” or “scenario”) and found that Claude became much more vulnerable to attempts at blackmail or provocation. Be that as it may, the researchers’ report admits important limits: the J-Space is restricted to a single-token vocabulary, so plans or concepts that cannot be expressed with a single word may not appear in the reading, even though the model is calculating them anyway. Anthropic also does not dare to claim that monitoring this space is sufficient to guarantee the alignment of a model. However, we must not overlook that the language used in the article sometimes borders on the idea of ​​an emerging consciousness. Neel Nanda, head of model interpretability at DeepMind, supports this finding as real evidence of a cognitive space within the modelsalthough he clarifies that the practical usefulness of J-Lens remains limited. This achievement, in any case, opens a promising avenue for auditing the honesty of models, although it is still far from being a complete window into a machine’s thinking. Image | Generated by Xataka with ChatGPT using a prompt created with Claude More information | Anthropic In Xataka | While most oppose AI data centers, there is one group enthusiastic about them: merchandise thieves

“Every repetition is an experiment for the brain”

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The premiere of the live-action remake of ‘Moana’ does not seem to have started too well, and it is already planned considerable losses in this attempt to recapture the success of the original film and its sequel, just a decade after the release of the first installment. But that does not detract from the achievements of the original ‘Moana’: it is still, according to figures from Disney itself, the most watched movie in the history of Disney+. What is so special about that film that makes it hold such a record? That success. Disney talks about more than 1.5 billion hours playedan amount unexpected even by the film’s creators themselves. Directors John Musker and Ron Clements they counted that when they learned the figure, the information left them perplexed: they had not imagined that the film would have such a journey in streaming, taking into account that it neither won an Oscar nor was it the highest grossing of the year of its release. Some explanation. Sam Wass, child psychologist and director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years and Youth at the University of East London, explains for The New York Times that a young child’s brain learns by predicting. Each viewing allows you to fine-tune a different prediction: first the general plot, then the jokes, the characters’ emotions or the vocabulary. Wass places the optimal point of learning in what he calls the “Goldilocks zone” (translated: Goldilocks), the space between the completely predictable and the impossible to anticipate. ‘Moana’ is especially attractive in that regard. The more complex the narrative is, the more repetitions are needed before it stops providing new information. ‘Moana’ meets this requirement better than a linear story, because it has several layers of reading at the same time: the maritime adventure, the family bond and the identity crisis of the protagonist. What seems like empty repetition to an adult may be, to a three-year-old brain, just the level of challenge it needs. why andThe adult also repeats. The phenomenon does not only apply to children. The aforementioned article talks about the studies of Cristel Antonia Russell, a marketing professor, who has spent a decade studying why people return to the same content over and over again, a phenomenon that certainly goes beyond the success of ‘Moana’. In 2012, together with Sidney J. Levy, he published a study in the Journal of Consumer Research on what they call “volitional reconsumption”: the conscious search for a hedonic experience already lived. Paradox of choice. Russell also resorts to the paradox of choice, the concept that psychologist Barry Schwartz raised in 2004 in his book of the same name: when options multiply, choosing something already proven reduces the cognitive load of deciding. It is linked to the phenomenon of marathon the same series over and over again: the self-control necessary to process new stimuli is exhausted, and returning to something familiar does not require that effort. Clinical psychologist Lecina Fernández matches in which the pattern is identical in children and adults: knowing how something ends eliminates uncertainty, and that absence of surprise is, in itself, pleasant. Watching ‘Moana’ for the umpteenth time and watching ‘The Office’ for the umpteenth time are phenomena, deep down, not very different from each other. The limit of the formula. But then, if repetition is so rewarding, why has the new version stumbled, with Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui? Critics have sunk the remake with 33% on Rotten Tomatoesbut possibly the secret of the puncture is precisely what has led to its streaming success: the new version is so mimetic of the original that the public has no reason to pay for something they already have, free and in a known version, in their own living room. At home, predictability is the advantage, as we have seen. But if we pay an entrance fee, we want surprises and novelty, even if the packaging is familiar. After the setbacks of the new versions of ‘Moana’ and ‘Snow White’, and despite the sweet smell of banknotes in ‘Lilo & Stitch’, in this case repetition does not guarantee pleasure. In Xataka | The failure of ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ is something more worrying for Disney: what the hell is it doing with Star Wars

Five TVs that you can buy today at Carrefour at an outlet price and saving VAT

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If you were waiting for the right moment to retire your old television from the living room, renew the television in the living room, Carrefour has just made it easy for you. His popular campaign “Save VAT” is now active (for TVs 65 inches or larger), which translates into a golden opportunity to get top-notch imaging technology at discounted prices. The available catalog is extensive and it is easy to get lost among dozens of acronyms and models. To save you the research work, we have thoroughly analyzed the five best smart TVs of this campaign, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs and budget. Of course, to be able to see the price of each model, you will have to add it to the shopping cart. Samsung – QLED TV 189cm (75′) Samsung TQ75Q7F5AUXXC, 4K Vision AI Quantum dot Smart TV. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi TV A Pro 75 (2026) by 450.18 euros: 75-inch QLED and with Google TV. TCL 65P71K by 392.78 euros: 65-inch QLED and with Google TV. LG OLED65B6ELC by 1,311.18 euros: 65-inch OLED and with Dolby ATmos. Hisense 65E79S by 499 euros: 65-inch QLED with VIDAA operating system. Samsung TQ75Q7F5AU by 573.18 euros: 75-inch QLED and with Tizen. Xiaomi TV A Pro 75 (2026) By 450.18 euros (compared to the 549 euros it previously cost) you can buy this TV 75 inch QLED from the Chinese manufacturer. It stands out for its Quantum Dot panel with 4K resolution and AI optimization, accompanied by a surround audio system compatible with Dolby Audio and DTS:X. In addition, it works under the Google TV operating system. Xiaomi QLED 75″ A PRO 2026 UltraHD 4K Dolby Audio Google TV The price could vary. We earn commission from these links TCL 65P71K Although it is already reduced to 479 euros, now, in addition, in the “Save the VAT” campaign you can get this 65-inch QLED TV from TCL for 392.78 euros. It offers 4K resolution and is compatible with HDR10. The operating system under which it works is Google TVso it has Google Assistant and Chromecast integrated. TCL – QLED TV 165.1 cm (65′) TCL 65P7K, 4K HDR TV, Smart TV Powered by Google TV, compatible with Voice Assistants. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links LG OLED65B6ELC If you are looking to take a leap in quality, this 2026 LG TV from the B range stands out for offering pure whites and blacks. Now, you can take it at Carrefour for 1,311.18 euros and you also have a refund of 150 euros available. This TV 65-inch OLED is compatible with Dolby Atmos and it has 120 Hz refresh rate, so it is also perfect for gaming. TV LG OLED AI OLED65B6ELC 65″ 4K UltraHD 120Hz Smart TV WebOS HDR10 Dolby Vision Gaming The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Hisense 65E79S By 499 eurosyou have this Hisense TV available 65 inch QLED with 4K resolution and that stands out for incorporating Dolby Vision IQ, an intelligent system that analyzes the light in your living room to adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen in real time. It offers surround sound compatible with DTS:X and Dolby Atmos and the operating system under which it works is VIDAA. TV Hisense LED 65A79S 65″ 4K UltraHD 60Hz Smart TV VIDAA HDR10 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung is another of those firms that cannot be missing from our compilation of televisions and this model TQ75Q7F5AU is one of the models that are worth it in this Carrefour campaign (now it costs 573.18 euros). It is a TV with a panel 75 inch QLED and operating system tizen. In addition, you get up to 345 euros as a gift in content. What stands out about this TV is that it is compatible with HDR10+ and the Alexa voice assistant. Samsung – QLED TV 189cm (75′) Samsung TQ75Q7F5AUXXC, 4K Vision AI Quantum dot Smart TV. 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, TCL, Samsung, LG, Xiaomi and Hisense In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

They stay for free in luxury houses and castles throughout France

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Every few months, Claudine and Jean-Louis, a retired couple living in Aveyron, in the south of France, pack their bags to start some somewhat peculiar vacation. Sometimes their destination is a castle in the Saône-et-Loire region. Others, a house with a pool in French Provence. They are not millionairesbut no one charges them to stay in those luxurious properties. In return, the retired couple only has to give to eat a catwater a garden and collect mail from people they barely know. They have been doing it for twelve years and they told it in Le Figaro Emploi like someone describing any routine. Behind these apparent luxury vacations, there is a system with clear rules and an unexpected reason: they have to go spend the summer in palaces and mansions with pool because your retirement pension it wasn’t enough for them to go on vacation. The trick has a name: home-sitting The name sounds very modern, but in reality the idea is as old as asking a family member, neighbor or friend to stop by from time to time to water your plants or feed the cat during your vacation. In the case of home-sitting, that caregiver is not your neighbor, but rather they may have to travel across the country to water your plants, so the incentive is to allow them to stay free in your house while the order lasts. It is an exchange in kind in which there is no money involved. The retired couple has been using DomSittinga French platform specialized in this type of situation, designed only for retirees. Each assignment lasts from a few days to several weeks, and the owner usually explains the tasks to be carried out and shows the house in person before leaving on vacation. “Without DomSitting, we simply would not be able to travel,” Claudine declared to the French digital. They don’t put just anyone in your house Entering this world is not automatic. At the end of the day it is about bring a stranger into your house. As a control measure, they ask for a clean criminal record and insurance to cover possible damage to the home. Nomadorthe most used platform in France outside the exclusive circuit for retirees, requires verification of the DNI or passport and covers the home with insurance of up to 50,000 euros for damages. Once the profile is approved, the retiree can choose between assignments spread throughout France, and sometimes also extend to Switzerland or the Netherlands. Before each stay they sign a contract with specific rules, such as not receiving guests in the “borrowed” house. The assigned tasks are simple: walk the dog, water pots, make sure everything works. Nothing that a seventy-year-old retiree can’t do without effort. Word of mouth of this “trick” to stay in luxury villascastles or mansions during the summer has made it spread like wildfire. A French travel YouTuber posted a video from a villa in Nantes with a jacuzzi that, according to her, she “could never have afforded” on her own. His only tasks were to water a huge garden and feed Melchior, the house cat. He paid about 30 euros for three months of access to Nomador and chained five weeks of free accommodation in different destinations. Vacations within reach of retirees As indicated in their interview with the French media, Claudine and Jean-Louis’ joint pension is around 2,400 euros per month. It is not a low figure, but it does not leave much room for frequent getaways, taking into account the prices in France. According to the latest data As of 2025 from the French Government’s statistical agency, the average pension of a retiree in France is 1,666 euros gross, about 1,541 euros net. And today the country has 17.2 million retired people. The home-sitting alternative allows them to travel to other cities in the country, they do not pay rent, electricity, gas, or water in the place where they stay. They also hardly spend any money on their own home while they are away. Your vacation expenses only involve day-to-day gas and food. Claudine calculates that They save about 5,000 euros a yearmoney that previously went into hotels or vacation homes that never they could have afforded. In Xataka | Billionaires and celebrities have a new way to make money with their mansions: renting them to their fans Image | Unsplash (Alejandra Cifre González, 冷毛)

Nobody would bet on Meta today in the superintelligence race, but he plays with more advantage than we think to win it

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A year ago, Zuckerberg was hiring AI talent like the world was ending, offering millionaire salaries and even buying entire companies to be able to sign Alexandr Wang. One year later, 8,000 people have been laid off, the work environment is unbreathable and We are still waiting for them to launch that great model with which to compete with OpenAI and Anthropic, all this while they spend money a lot. Despite everything, Meta has a real chance of closing positions and getting closer to the podium in the AI ​​race. The near future. In a complete report by Semianalysis They talk about how Meta is playing with better cards than it may seem. Muse Spark, its first language model, was somewhat disappointing, falling behind Chinese competitors such as Deepseek v4 Pro or Kimi K2.6. But the important thing is not where Meta is now, but where it can be in the near future thanks to the combination of three key elements: data, talent and computing. Record employees. It was a very controversial decision and, as expected, Meta employees were not amused. Without them being able to object, software was installed on the company computers that I recorded everything they didnot to spy on them, but to train their AI. This data is pure gold for training agents: Meta is accumulating thousands of examples of different people solving the same tasks, while data companies like Surge or Mercor have to partner with others to be able to record their workflows. Meta has the data at home. They say in Semianalysis that this decision is as if they had created a “top-tier startup for RL environments” within the company, with one of the founders of Scale AI leading the transformation. In addition, after the restructuring they have put at least 3,000 engineers on reinforcement learning environment tasks. All this data is key to being able to create programming agents like Claude Code or Codex from OpenAI. Data centers. It is one of the main sources of spending for Meta, which is building several gigantic data centers whose capacities are more than 1 gigawatt. Maybe Meta cannot compete in infrastructure with hyperscalers like GoogleMicrosoft and Amazon, but things change if we confront it with frontier AI laboratories. Here, Meta has a clear advantage and, according to Semianalysis’ projections, Meta will have more computing power than Anthropic and OpenAI combined before the end of the year. The talent. Last summer, Meta began signing talent with a checkbook. They hired at least 14 high-level researchers who came directly from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, paid $14 billion to keep Alexandr Wang and Scale AI. Bringing together the best does not ensure that the team will work and, in fact, for months now there have been rumors of internal tensions. Of course, if they make it work, they have the talent. keep focus. Meta may be in the rearview mirror of OpenAI and Anthropic sooner rather than later, but it is one thing to have the resources and quite another to achieve it. Meta is in a delicate moment internally, with many employees very dissatisfied with the company’s strategy. If they do not navigate these waves well, they risk becoming unfocused and lost along the way. Image | Xataka with Magnific In Xataka | Meta has a long history of privacy scandals. We can add one more to the list

Now the World Cup seems further away than ever

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The promise: the joint Spain-Portugal-Morocco candidacy for the 2030 World Cup was presented on a dossier that included between 14 and 18 stadiums in total, with 11 Spanish, 3 Portuguese and 6 Moroccan venues. On paperthe tournament would be a lever for infrastructure modernization. Regarding the coffers and the laws, there are complications. There are just over three years left until the World Cup and it seems to be receding like a phantasmagoria. Let’s count. Last March, FIFA took a tour visiting stadiums in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Zaragoza and Seville. There were gaps, too many. So the organization invited the respective organizing committees to put their notebooks in their suitcase and write down the good work of Miami and Dallas. The “Observer” program is, literally, an intensive master’s degree for the logic of an event like the 2030 World Cup: beyond infrastructure, airport management, visas, requirements in the commercial exploitation section, etc. In April, the president of the RFEF, Rafael Louzán, proposed creating a dedicated commission (and approving a State Events Law that covers the reforms). In May, some of these ideas fell apart. Because? The selection of the Ibero-Moroccan candidacy by FIFA is done, but in practice Spain has been losing weight: Málaga and A Coruña resigned, Valencia has been left off the official list of 11 locations and several key projects remain in the works or on plans. The condition was clear: many stadiums had to undergo renovations to meet FIFA requirements for capacity, access, decks and VIP areas. The moneys. Right now, these are the reform proposals and estimated cost. Although these are downward figures, this is the general map, starting with Morocco: Tangier Grand Stadium: €350 million (construction + expansions up to 75,000 spectators) Mohamed V Complex (in Casablanca): more than €95 million (major remodeling) Prince Moulay Abdellah (in Rabat): €480-500 million (practically complete reconstruction) Agadir Grand Stadium: €230 M (construction + modernization for World Cup) Marrakech Grand Stadium: €240 M (construction + upgrade) Fez Stadium: €250 million (construction + remodeling) Hassan II Grand Stadium (Casablanca/Benslimane): €1 billion (complete complex, including stadium and related infrastructure, with seating for 115,000 spectators) In comparison, Spain: Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid): €1,347 M (complete transformation project) Riyadh Air Metropolitano (Madrid): €310 M (original construction) Spotify Camp Nou (Barcelona): €1,450 M (Complete Espai Barça) RCDE Stadium (from Cornellà-El Prat): €60 M San Mamés (Bilbao): €211 million Reale Arena (San Sebastián): €80 M (comprehensive renovation 2017-2020) La Cartuja Stadium (Seville): €100 M (last remodeling for the 2030 World Cup) La Rosaleda (Málaga): €270 M (remodeling project) Gran Canaria Stadium: €174.7 M (project currently being put out to tender, El Cabildo is still negotiating to “lower some of its claims” because going all-in is already branded as “absolute suicide“) Riazor (A Coruña): €125 M (remodeling project) La Romareda (Zaragoza): €220 M The problem? What was suspected: the Federation itself has warned that many Spanish stadiums still do not meet the requirements and that we must go “from projects and good intentions to getting wet and guaranteeing works and investments”, while Morocco has already put specific figures and a schedule for the reform of its six fields. Let’s look at it case by case. 180 million for a team in third place. The New Romareda It has been justified from day one by the opportunity to host the World Cup: a stadium with around 43,000 net seats, designed to meet the FIFA minimum and bid for matches up to the round of 16. The initial cost was estimated at around 148.5 million plus VAT (close to 180). The Chamber of Accounts of Aragon raised the figure: it adds external developments, surveillance, certificates, ICIO and other concepts until it reaches at least 173.2 million. It is already suspected that will exceed 180 million if all the costs of the environment and modular stadium are included. Now comes the paradox: he builds a FIFA standard stadium for a city whose club, Real Zaragoza, currently plays in the First Federation, a place where it is better not to look. Using the World Cup as a political anchor for an investment that mixes municipal, regional and private funds It’s not sitting well with everyone.. The Accounts Chamber requested a “complete and traceable view of the costs” when detecting items assumed directly by the Government of Aragon. That is, they were not in society’s budget, precisely to prevent the World 2030 label from masking the real cost for the taxpayer. Saying “we did it for the World Cup” is not enough. Tic-tac and tiki-tac. Another work that race against the clock It is Nou Mestalla. The Valencian stadium is a recast on the skeleton built more than a decade ago. About 70,000 spectators capacity, light cover with tensioned cables and some 3,450 parking spaces They fall within your proposal. Beyond the World Cup, the City Council has signed an agreement that allows it to use the stadium for Cup, Euro Cup, and Champions League finals. The current calendar sets July 11, 2027 as the deadline to issue the Final Work Certificate (CFO). It is known that approximately 76% of the structure has been completed and that the total investment, including tertiary and surrounding areas, will far exceed 500 million euros, becoming the largest project in the club’s history. Then came the bickering: the RFEF left Valencia out due to the accumulated delays and the difficulty in guaranteeing deadlines. With the building permit already approved and aspiring to a UEFA category 4 stadium, the club reacted with a statement. Two years passed. FIFA did not get off its ass and indicated that in its bid book everything was clear. And Valencia pushed forward. The “World Cup renewal” mode does not work. In Seville, the La Cartuja Stadium aspires to be the third stadium in the country by capacity, with 70,000 gross spectators, lowering the level of the playing field, expanding the lower stands and changing facades and skin to comply with FIFA regulations. The first phase cost about 12 million … Read more

She alone killed 309 enemies. Then Stalin sent her to Washington

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He killed 309 enemy soldiers in just ten months. Then Stalin made a decision that seemed incomprehensible: to withdraw her from the front and send her to Washington. The Soviet Union had discovered that your best sniper It could also become one of her most effective diplomatic weapons, a mission that would take her from the fighting in Sevastopol to the White House at the decisive moment of World War II. From history student to most feared woman. When Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union in June 1941, Lyudmila Pavlichenko He studied History at the University of kyiv. Years before he had started practicing shooting sports almost out of pride, after hearing a neighbor brag about his aim and deciding to prove that a woman could shoot just as well. That hobby led her to train as a sniper while working in an arms factory, although the Red Army was not willing to admit women into combat units. Only after insisting and demonstrating her skill with the rifle did she manage to join the 25th Rifle Division, beginning a military career that would change her life and turn her into a legend. Ten months were enough. His baptism of fire came near Odessa, where he shot down two enemy soldiers at long range and began a progression almost impossible to believe. During the campaigns of Odessa, Moldavia and, above all, the siege of sevastopolPavlichenko accumulated 309 confirmed casualtiesamong them at least 36 German snipers and other Axis armies. The figure could have been even higher, since each death needed a witness to be officially validated. Her ability to camouflage, wait for hours, and shoot with precision made her a nightmare for the Wehrmachtwhich even dedicated specific resources to locate and eliminate it before it continued to decimate its troops. Germany tried to buy it and ended up fearing it. Pavlichenko’s fame quickly reached the other side of the front. According to would later relateGerman soldiers used loudspeakers to try to intimidate her, offered her chocolate, a supposed officer’s rank and better conditions if she deserted, and even threatened to tear her “into 309 pieces”, a direct reference to the casualties she suffered. had already accumulated. Far from impressing her, those threats confirmed that his reputation had crossed enemy lines. During the fighting she suffered several wounds and continued fighting as long as she could, convinced that each shot prevented more civilians and Soviet soldiers from dying under the Nazi advance. Stalin understood that his best weapon was not a rifle. In the summer of 1942, a serious wound caused by shrapnel changed course of his career. However, the reason he disappeared from the front was much more strategic than medical. The Soviet Union was going through one of the most delicate moments of the war and Stalin desperately needed convince the United States and the United Kingdom to open a second front in Western Europe to relieve German pressure on the Red Army. It was then that he made a surprising decision: withdraw the most effective sniper in the country and cturn her into an ambassador of the Soviet cause. He had killed 309 enemy soldiers, and now he had to try to change the course of the war with speeches instead of shots. Pavlichenko (center) with Judge Robert Jackson (left) and US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in Washington DC in September 1942 From the Sevastopol front to the White House. At age 25, Pavlichenko became the first Soviet citizen to visit the White House. There she was received by Franklin D. Roosevelt and established a close friendship with the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, who accompanied her during a tour of the United States and later Canada and the United Kingdom. Before packed auditoriums he explained what it was like to fight on the front lines and sent a message that would go down in history: “I am 25 years old and I have already killed 309 fascist occupiers. Gentlemen, don’t you think you have been hiding behind my back for too long?” That phrase perfectly summarized the mission entrusted by Moscow: pressure allies to accelerate their military participation in Europe. They expected a celebrity, they found a soldier. The trip also revealed the enormous cultural clash between both countries. While Pavlichenko talked about trenches, casualties and military strategy, much of the American press seemed more interested in his physical appearance. Some journalists asked her if she used makeup before fighting, how she wore her hair or if her uniform was too unfeminine. His response became another of the great quotes of World War II: “There’s no rule against it. But who has time to think about powdering your nose when a battle is going on out there?” On another occasion he showed his indignation because they criticized the length of your skirt soldier and responded that he wore that uniform with pride because it was stained with the blood of combat, while others seemed to care more about the clothes than the war. Neither invincible heroine nor simple propaganda icon. Pavlichenko’s public image was used intensively by soviet propagandasomething that has led some historians to debate the extent to which the Kremlin exploited his figure. However, this political use does not detract from its widely documented military merits. He was part of the approximately 2,000 women female snipers who served in the Red Army during the war, of which only about 500 survived the conflict. After returning from his international tour trained new shootersshe finished her university studies and worked as a historian for the Soviet Navy, although she never managed to completely shake off the physical and psychological consequences of the front, aggravated by the death of her partner during the war and by alcoholism problems that marked her final years. Your most important mission. Lyudmila Pavlichenko She died in 1974, converted into a of the great heroines of the Soviet Union, decorated with numerous medals and even remembered in songs and films. However, its … Read more

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