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Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12, specifications, technical sheet, images, price

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Microsoft just presented the new generation of Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, which now come equipped with Qualcomm processors Snapdragon X2. With a really solid technical proposal and real improvements compared to the last generation, the problem comes from the price and, above all, who they are aimed at. Below these lines we tell you all the details. Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12, technical sheet Surface Pro 12 (12th Edition) Surface Laptop 8 (8th Edition) 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 8 (8th Edition) 15-inch processor Snapdragon X2 Plus (10 cores) / Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 cores) NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon with 80 TOPS Snapdragon X2 Plus (10 cores) / Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 cores) NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon with 80 TOPS Snapdragon X2 Plus (10 cores) / Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 cores) NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon with 80 TOPS graphics Qualcomm Adreno GPU Qualcomm Adreno GPU Qualcomm Adreno GPU RAM memory 16, 24, 32 or 64 GB LPDDR5x 16, 24, 32 or 64 GB LPDDR5x 16, 24, 32 or 64 GB LPDDR5x storage Removable SSD 4th generation: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB Removable SSD 4th generation: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB Removable SSD 4th generation: 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB screen 13-inch PixelSense Flow touchscreen Resolution: 2880 × 1920 (267 dpi) Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast: 1M:1 (OLED) / 1300:1 (LCD) Dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz Brightness: 600 nits SDR / 900 nits HDR peak (OLED) 10-point multi-touch Dolby Vision IQ reinforced glass 13.8-inch PixelSense Flow touchscreen Resolution: 2304 × 1536 (201 dpi) Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast: 1300:1 Dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz Brightness: 600 nits 15-inch PixelSense Flow touchscreen Resolution: 3270 × 2180 (262 dpi) Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast: 1300:1 Dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz Brightness: 600 nits camera Front: Surface Studio Camera QHD (1440p) wide angle Rear: 10 MP Ultra HD Surface Studio front camera Surface Studio front camera battery Up to 15.5 hours of local video playback Up to 20 hours of local video playback Up to 19 hours of local video playback ports 2 × USB-C / USB4 (charging, data and DisplayPort 1.4a up to three 4K monitors at 60 Hz) — Surface Connect port — Surface Pro keyboard port 2 × USB-C / USB4 — 1 × USB-A — Surface Connect port — 3.5 mm audio jack 2 × USB-C / USB4 — 1 × USB-A — Surface Connect port — 3.5 mm audio jack Connectivity dimensions Length: 287mm Width: 209mm Height: 9.3mm Length: 301mm Width: 220mm Height: 17.5mm Length: 329mm Width: 239mm Height: 18.3mm weight 895g (without keyboard) 1.36kg 1.66kg SW Windows 11 Windows 11 Windows 11 price From 1,599 euros From 1,699 euros From 1,799 euros Microsoft Surface Pro | 13″ LCD | Snapdragon® X2 Plus (10 Core) | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD | Platinum | Windows 11 Home | Latest Model (12th edition) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links More powerful, more expensive, almost the same design The new Surface Pro (12th edition) and Surface Laptop (8th edition) arrive with 10-core Snapdragon X2 Plus and 12-core X2 Elite chips, replacing the X1 that they equipped 2024 models. Microsoft claims that Graphics performance improves up to 53% in the case of the Surface Pro and up to 58% in the Surface Laptop, according to tests carried out by the company itself. In terms of autonomy, the company promises up to 15.5 hours of local video playback on the Surface Pro and up to 20 hours on the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop. Figures that, if confirmed in real use, are very competitive in the Windows market. The Surface Pro starts at 1,599 euros and the Surface Laptop at 1,699 euros, both with 16 GB of RAM. There are also new features in terms of colors, as the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop debuts in the Jade color (a very pretty light green), and the Surface Pro arrives in Dune (something like bronze) with a matching keyboard. The problem is that, at the moment, through the Microsoft website we can only choose black and silver colors. On the other hand, the 15-inch model makes the jump from 201 to 262 pixels per inch on its screen. In addition, haptic feedback is added to the trackpad, a 24 GB RAM option which did not exist before, and the Surface Pro maintains the OLED screen as a premium option. Other than that, the design is essentially identical to the previous generation, with the same ports, same form factor, same 3:2 aspect ratio, and the Surface Laptop remains LCD-only, while the Pro offers OLED as an option. The price hit The Surface Laptop 7 was sold in 2024 for 1,199 euros in its entry configuration; The new Surface Laptop 8 starts 500 euros more expensive. The same happens with the new Surface Pro 12, which represents an increase of 400 euros compared to the Pro 11 at the time of its launch. Part of that rise has to do with the current component crisisespecially RAM shortage which has made the production chain of the entire industry more expensive (a situation to which Microsoft has partly contributed by putting its foot on the accelerator to build more AI data centers). To this we must add that the previous generation models had already suffered a price increase in April of this year, which means that the new generation comes out with an even higher starting point on that already corrected bar. To try to soften the blow, Microsoft is offering temporary promotions, such as a free keyboard with the Surface Pro, Arc Mouse with the Surface Laptop, and up to 250 euros off per device in exchange for an old computer. They are reasonable incentives, but in Spain, for example, we do not have them available, so they are subject to specific markets. And we must not forget that the 65 W charger is paid separately (+89.99 euros). What Microsoft has decided not to do Over all these years, Microsoft has oriented the … Read more

Last hours to participate in the giveaway for a Nintendo Switch 2! Only for Xataka Xtra members

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Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow the draw ends for one nintendo switch 2one of the most ambitious exclusive awards we have given during these months in Xataka Xtra. Because yes, as we already mentioned, this award is for members of the Xtra Community, a community to which You can join from only 30 euros per year to access exclusive giveaways like this one and a good handful of other advantages. The winner of the Nintendo Switch 2 that we raffled with AliExpress will be revealed tomorrow, June 19, at 11:00 Spanish peninsular time. As always, you will be notified by email and it will be announced both in the original article and on our Discord server (another advantage of Xataka Xtra, by the way). How to participate in the giveaway for a Nintendo Switch 2 This giveaway is reserved for Xataka Xtra subscribers. If you are already part of the Community, you just have to go to your subscriber area and check that you have checked the box to participate in raffles. If you already activated it in a previous draw, you don’t have to do anything else. Make sure you check that box to automatically participate in the exclusive Xataka Xtra draws | Image: Xataka If you still don’t know Xataka Xtra, you can join for only 30 euros a year (or from two euros per month) and access more exclusive giveaways like thisEl Consultorio, the Discord server, discounts on a growing catalog of digital services and monthly meetings with editors. The winner will be chosen at random from all participating subscribers, along with two alternates. If the winner does not respond within the period indicated in the legal bases, the first substitute will be contacted, and if he/she does not respond either, the second will be contacted. Winning a giveaway does not exclude you from participating in the following ones. You can consult the complete legal bases here. In Xataka | Subscribe to Xataka Xtra

you will have to pay more to enjoy the best places

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When entering the Cinesa website to buy a ticket at some of its cinemas, which are included in this pilot experience, the seat selection process has changed. A notice appears warning that the prices of the seats will be variable depending on their position and the seat map shows areas with different colors, each with a different price. Same screen, same sound and same movie, but the price changes depending on where you sit. Cinesa test. The leading cinema chain in Spain, with 35 complexes and more than 400 rooms throughout the countryhas launched a pilot test in three complexes: Nassica (Madrid), Salera (Castellón) and Parque Principado (Asturias). The first rows and the sides have a lower price than usual, while the central area, which has the best visibility, carries a supplement. The advance notice warns: “We are testing a new system that allows you to choose where you want to sit based on the price that best suits you.” Prices in Nassica, For example, They range from 8.40 euros for the areas closest to the screen to the standard price, ending with a supplement for the central seats, with the VIP seats (a category that already exists before the pilot) being the most expensive. The pilot is neither indefinite nor generalized, and Cinesa’s own notice warns that the company is testing the response before making any decision about its extension. Currently, Cinesa has 35 multiplexes throughout the country. They already tried. Cinesa belongs to Odeon Cinemas Group, the largest exhibitor in Europe, with a presence in nine countries. And Odeon, since 2016, has been owned by AMC Theatres, the largest cinema chain in the world. In February 2023, AMC launched Sightline at AMC: a pricing system by seat location with three levels: the first rows and seats for people with disabilities were renamed Value Sightline, with a reduced price. The center seats became Preferred Sightline, with a supplement. The rest, Standard Sightline, maintained the usual price. The show premiered in three markets (New York, Chicago and Kansas City) with the intention of extending it to all AMC locations in the United States before the end of the year. Five months later, AMC canceled the show. The conclusions after analyzing the data were that three out of four spectators who previously chose the central area continued to choose it with the supplement, but lowering the price of the first rows had not increased their occupancy. Essentially, people were still sitting in the same places. Cinesa Airlines. There is a lot of reading comparison of this action of Cinesa with the airlines’ pricing policy, but it is not entirely accurate. On a flight, the difference between seats has a series of very clear additions: legroom, priority boarding… In a cinema, the difference is minimal and the different rates have been decided practically arbitrarily. The differentiation makes more sense in the theater or at a concert, where the different location can lead to considerable differences in the sound or what you see on stage, but this is not the case. The Cinesa case. Cinesa already has a differentiated pricing architecture depending on the quality of the seat or the type of experience thanks to the iSense, IMAX, ScreenX, chair-bedsPlus reclining seats and VIP seats. However, and although it is logical that the next step is to segment the rooms themselves, the reaction on social networks to the announcement has been mostly negative. At the moment, Cinesa has not responded to the questions we have sent them about this decision, so it is not clear whether the strategy it is pursuing is to earn more with the increase in the price of the central seats or to attract more audiences with the discount on the front and side seats. The door is open for competitors like Yelmo to follow in their footsteps. AMC in the US, precisely, stopped the experiment of these tiered prices because its competition kept them fixed, and the company judged that at the image level these fractional prices could be harmful. The key will be to check whether the Spanish public values ​​the location of the space or the savings for their pocket more. In Xataka | There are two reasons why Generation Z is returning to the movies: subscriptions and moving away from mobile phones

“We will lose one like this every year”

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In 1790, a retired military man named Hayman Rooke stumbles upon a gigantic oak tree in Sherwood Forest and describes it as a “majestic ruin” that even then seemed to be nearly a thousand years old. The tree would end up taking its name and surviving more than two centuries after that discovery. Today, his death leaves an uncomfortable question. The fall of a giant. The Major Oakthe monumental Sherwood oak linked for centuries to the legend of robin hoodhas died after more than a thousand years of life. Its disappearance is not only the end of one of the oldest and most emblematic trees in Europe and the entire world, it is also the most visible image of how some of the great modern evils have begun to claim even that which seemed eternal. This year it did not produce a single leaf. The giant that survived wars, kings, empires and revolutions could not overcome a chain of increasingly dry and scorching summers. The Major Oak in 2006 The great invisible enemy. The experts point out several accumulated factors, but there is one that stands out as the great “cancer” that has accelerated its fall: the global warming. Over recent years, extreme heatwaves and prolonged drought have put the tree under constant stress, especially following the historic summer of 2022, when the UK surpassed for the first time 40 degrees. Ancient oaks are designed to withstand centuries, but not to adapt so quickly to a climate that changes at an unprecedented speed. The lack of rain in the last five years and record temperatures have been, according to its caretakers, a decisive factor in its collapse. The Major Oak, by Henry Dawson (1844), Nottingham Museum When saving can also harm. The History of the Major Oak It is also the story of how human intervention, even well-intentioned, can alter natural processes that had been in operation for centuries. Over time, metal chains, supports, concrete fills, and lead and fiber coatings were installed to keep it standing. The problem is that the ancient oaks they age “inwardly”: They drop branches, reduce size and concentrate resources. Forcing it to maintain its giant frame caused it to continue sending water to branches it should have already sacrificed. The result was a kind of internal exhaustion that ended up strangling his own vital system. A collapsed root system. The underground analyzes revealed a devastating panorama: impoverished roots, suffocated and practically disconnected from their environment. Decades of mass tourism (about 350,000 visitors a year) compacted the soil until make you less fertile and less alive, while ancient changes in the water table due to mining aggravated the situation. During the last three winters tried to aerate and regenerate the soil to restore microbial life, and the first results were encouraging. But it was too late. The tree barely sprouted last year and this year it just didn’t wake up. The symbol of a silent extinction. The most disturbing thing is not that the most famous tree in the world has died, that too, but what it represents. According to the Woodland Trust“we will lose a tree like this every year. They do not have any specific legal protection and we are losing them because they are not given the value they deserve”, a phrase that completely changes the dimension of the problem. This is neither an exception nor an isolated relic: the monumental trees andthey are disappearing silent due to neglect, urban development, tourism, disease and, to top it all off, extreme weather. They are the “white rhinos” of British forests, almost unrepeatable organisms that take centuries to form and can disappear in just a decade. The death that continues to give life. Be that as it may, and although the Major Oak is deadwill still stand. And that matters. Its dead wood continues to be a fundamental ecosystem for insects, fungi, birds and hundreds of species that depend on this type of habitat at some point in their life cycle. In fact, a quarter of all forest species need dead wood to survive. Even without leaves, it remains one of the largest trees in Europe and retains irreplaceable biological value. In a way, his final lesson is precisely that: even in death, he still sustains life, although the warning is clear. If a thousand year colossus has fallen, many others may already be following the same path. Image | Nilfanion, Marcin Floryan In Xataka | Lowering the temperature of cities is as simple as filling them with trees: just what Spain is not doing In Xataka | There are people who plant tomatoes. This couple is planting chairs, and they turn out so well that they are selling them for a fortune

An unexpected salvation for the end user emerges from the memory market debacle: Chinese chips

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The DRAM memory industry is facing a profound structural transformation. Until October 2025 the price of memory chips evolved in a relatively stable way, but from that moment on began a dizzying climb which still continues. In fact, the consultant TrendForce expects the price of conventional DRAM to rise between 58% and 63% quarter-on-quarter before the expiration of the second quarter of 2026. And the artificial intelligence (AI) is behind all this. The three largest chip manufacturers of memory on the planet, the South Korean companies SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, and the American Micron Technology, They have reallocated about 70% of its production lines to high-bandwidth memories (HBM) to satisfy the currently insatiable demand of data centers specialized in AI. The consequences of this movement did not take long to appear: standard DDR4 and DDR5 memories and their derivatives, which are the most used in the consumer segment, immediately began to become scarce. And its price skyrocketed. In fact, according to the consulting firm GartnerRAM has gone from representing 16% of the total cost of a laptop to 23%. And it is possible that this escalation will continue to develop in the coming months. However, users can cling to the greatest stabilizing agent in the memory market today: Chinese manufacturers. This is the great opportunity for YMTC and CXMT Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) is one of the largest NAND chip manufacturers in China. Its global market share is approximately 13%making it one of the main competitors of Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Kioxia or SanDisk. Its weight in the Chinese market is very great, especially because US sanctions They prevent American and South Korean memory manufacturers from selling their most sophisticated integrated circuits to their Chinese customers. On the other hand, Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is one of the Chinese companies specialized in the production of memory chips, and, like other companies in the country led by Xi Jinping, it has chosen to compete in this very attractive market by deploying a very aggressive pricing policy. CXMT in particular has increased its DRAM chip production capacity almost five times during the last four years, which has allowed it to increase its global market share until reaching a very worthy 7.6%. CXMT has chosen to compete in this very attractive market by deploying a very aggressive pricing policy. While large foreign manufacturers maximize their margins thanks to data centers and the rise of AI, Chinese manufacturers prioritize sourcing from local companies. This scenario allows the supply and prices of memory and NAND chips in China to remain relatively stable, remaining outside the strong premiums charged by the big three (Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix). This is the context in which the Chinese memory module brands Gloway and KingBank have recently announced new DDR5 modules that stand out for using SDRAM memory chips made in China. With a standard configuration of eight chips per module, these companies can produce 24 GB modules and group them into kits of two or four modules to achieve capacities of 48 GB or 96 GB, respectively. Chinese memory chips, particularly those from CXMT, have already begun to spread beyond China’s borders. Corsair has already integrated them into some kits of its Vengeance line, while HP and Dell have begun the process of homologating modules with CXMT chips for their products. This is good news for users, there is no doubt. Even so, we still don’t know if the use of CXMT DRAM will become widespread in response to AI-induced shortages. The market demands new players, wherever they come from, and if YMTC and CXMT are able to fill the gaps left by Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix, they are welcome. Image | Intel More information | Tom’s Hardware In Xataka | China needs to develop a new type of chips immune to US sanctions. And your scientists have just achieved it

Google opens reservations for its Home Speaker, a speaker with Gemini that is not especially cheap

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Google has finally announced the arrival of its next smart speaker, the so-called Google Home Speaker. It can now be reserved in the official store, and be careful because it is not particularly cheap, especially if we take into account the price at which the product was launched. Nest Mini. It can be reserved in the official store for 119.99 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A speaker with Gemini Voice assistants are changing. Amazon recently presented Alexa+an improved voice assistant that allowed for better real-time interaction. Now, Google has made a similar move with the Home Sepaker that features Gemini. The interesting thing about this new Google speaker is that we no longer have to learn the exact commands to interact with it, since it is capable of better understanding what we say and what we want. Furthermore, also takes into account the place where it is locatedsomething quite interesting to have greater precision when controlling the devices you have nearby. We have a good example in smart plugs; If we tell you to turn them off, you can keep in mind that we are referring to those in that same room. At the design level we also noticed quite a few changes. The speaker is larger than the Nest Mini and maintains the minimalist design that we saw in this same speaker, so it can integrate very well with the decoration of the house. As we see in other speakers, every time we interact with the Google Home Speaker we can know that it is listening to us because an LED light will illuminate located at the bottom (similar to the Echo Dot). Additionally, there are also improvements in sound quality. With the new design, Google promises that its speaker can play 360 degree surround audio in order to have a more uniform experience. Finally, it is worth mentioning that, although not necessary, two subscriptions are available that add several functions: Standard (10 euros per month or 100 euros per year), which adds Gemini Live and Help me create. Advanced (18 euros per month or 180 euros per year), which adds the functions of the Standard subscription and Search in video history and daily summaries. In addition, Google is now giving away six months of Google Home Premium if you reserve from the official store. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Google Home Speaker ✅ THE BEST Gemini: By having Gemini, we will not need to learn exact commands to interact with connected devices. Your surround soundwhich offers a better experience. ❌ THE WORST Subscriptions– If you don’t pay month-to-month or annually, you won’t be able to access some features. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want to create a smart ecosystem away from Alexa, with the Google speaker as the center of home automation. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… Your devices are compatible only with Alexa. In that case, it is more advisable to go for an Amazon Echo. You may also be interested Echo Dot (Latest generation) | Smart Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker, with more powerful and wider sound | Anthracite, with Early Access to Alexa+ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Amazon Echo Spot (latest generation) | Smart alarm clock with quality sound | Black, with Early Access to Alexa+ 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 | Google In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price (2026). Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 99 euros In Xataka | Best home theater projectors. Which one to buy and five recommended models from 299 to 18,000 euros

the initiative of a town in Huesca to make neighbors look each other in the eyes. “We’ll put the cell phone in a bag”

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The United Kingdom announced a few hours ago that is going to ban social networksamong other things, to those under 16 years of age. In a much more diplomatic line, the Aragonese people of Alcalá de Gurrea will soon celebrate a day without screens to enjoy the best social network: eye contact. This is an experiment that will put the entire town in “airplane mode” and, as you know, people are quite dependentthey will ensure that it is fulfilled in a very curious way. Putting cell phones in a bag with a sheriff patrolling the town. It’s much nicer than it sounds. Town in airplane mode. It will be next June 28 when, for a few hours, the Aragonese municipality will implement this measure. They will invite neighbors who want to join in to leave their cell phones aside to interact with the rest of the town and, as detailed in Chain Beingduring those hours there will only be one cell phone: the one owned by one of those responsible for the activity. “The sheriff will go throughout the town in case something happens and will call the right person if necessary,” the organizers point out. The objective is clear: to make people look each other in the eyes. “The plan is for people to do all kinds of activities but, above all, to interact with each other during those nine hours,” they say. To do this, there will be a group meal, activities such as a kayak experience and common spaces in which various types of activities and creative workshops will take place. What if you’re embarrassed? Well, they have it covered: “the organizers will be waiting for people to break the ice,” they say. The typical “do you know my friend?” of all life. to the bag. And the way to make sure people put their phones aside is to do it…literally. The event, as those responsible in Ser comment, will take place on the outskirts of the town and will be where participants will be given a bag to store their devices. “When you cross the border of airplane mode, there is no turning back: no one will be able to locate you,” they point out. “Since people are so dependent, we will put it in a sealed bag that they will not be able to open for nine hours.” As we read in Zaragoza-Citythe capacity will be very limited in this first edition, of just 200 people and the organizations defend that it is not about giving up technology, but about realizing that we can not be constantly glued to the screens. Not so original. If you are unable to put your phone down for a second (which is not the user’s fault either because applications use sophisticated tactics to ‘tickle’ our brains and that are very addictive), is a good solution. However, you should know that Alcalá de Gurrea is not the only place where this is done. On April 18, Euskadi celebrated the first ‘Family Cell Phone Free Day’ which, basically, was the same: the cell phone was left in a safe and guarded bag to experience a fun day without screens. There is an association called EsMontañas that has also driven a similar initiative in almost 60 Alto Aragonese towns and there are private initiatives such as ‘Offline Club’ that organizes meetings of the style in some cities. Others do it out of obligation. The truth is that the absence of the sound of notifications and not having the phone at hand to pick it up, unlock it and look into space simply on impulse does not seem like a bad idea to ‘detoxify’ the device. Now, it is fine as long as it is voluntary and not an imposition. In Vadgaon, India, every day at 7:00 p.m. a siren sounds which urges citizens to turn off televisions and cell phones with the aim of recovering face-to-face dialogue. And Green Bank, a city in the United States, is a municipality without mobile phones by obligation. Due to the presence of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory implies a radio-silent zone in which mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices are very restricted. Curiously, this situation is a claim for people who want a life without smartphones. In Xataka | The science of “doomscrolling”: how technology hacked psychology so we can’t let go of our phones

“It’s like acquiring a new skill”

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A video from the Ukrainian unit Signum showed in 2022 one of the first successful attacks with improvised FPV drones against Russian positions, a scene that many analysts consider the starting point of the tactical revolution that today armies from half the world study. That started as a homemade solution of volunteers and hobbyists. Four years later, countries like Taiwan are teaching their citizens to fly them as part of their defense. The Ukrainian lesson. The war in Ukraine has changed many things, but one of the most profound has been the way in which the drone has stopped being an auxiliary tool and has become in a centerpiece of modern combat. Thousands of daily missions, cheap precision strikes and a constant ability to monitor, correct fire and wear down the enemy have transformed the logic from the battlefield. In Taiwan, this reality is observed carefully because the conclusion is evident: if Ukraine has managed to resist a superior power for years thanks, in part, to democratizing drone warfare, the island believes that must learn that lesson before it’s too late. Convert civilians into operators. That is why Taipei has launched its first civil drone piloting training program, an initiative promoted by Kuma Academy that seeks to teach ordinary citizens something that a few years ago seemed reserved for the military or advanced amateurs. The Guardian said that, in a small room full of cones, young people, retirees and workers practice basic flights, control maneuvers and visual navigation. The important thing is not only to learn to fly, but to assume that this knowledge can have real strategic value. One of the participants summarizes it with a phrase which encapsulates the entire philosophy of the program: “It’s like giving me a new skill, something I could use one day if I needed to.” The drone as a citizen weapon. That is the most profound change: in Taiwan the drone is beginning to be seen as a species civic weaponnot necessarily offensive, but useful to survive and contribute in a crisis. The idea is not to arm the population, but to move it from a passive defense (hide and wait) to an active defense based on observing, detecting and sharing information. on a stage Chinese invasionthese small devices could be used to monitor enemy movements, locate wounded, coordinate evacuations or maintain visual links in areas where traditional communications fail. The logic is simple: not everyone can hold a rifle, but almost anyone can. learn to fly a drone. Prepare for China. There is no doubt, the backdrop is the increasing pressure from China on the island. Taiwan lives under constant threat of a possible Chinese military operation and more and more citizens seem to assume that individual preparation is part of national defense. The expansion of civil defense groupsfirst aid courses and now drone literacy They are part of that social transformation. From that perspective, preparation is no longer just a matter of the army, each citizen becomes a possible piece within a broader resistance network. Learn to fly without automation. The technical detail of these courses says a lot about how Taiwan understands future warfare: the drones are small, light, domestically manufactured and without GPS or autopilot. The reason is crystal clear. In a modern conflict, electronic warfare can disable automatic systems in seconds, so the pilot must learn to control the machine by pure sight and reflections. It is modeled on what happens in Ukraine, where the electromagnetic combat It forces you to constantly improvise and adapt. Taiwan does not want to train users of convenient technology, it wants to train operators capable of continuing to function when technology fails. Strategic autonomy. This effort also fits with another objective: reducing the technological dependence from China and build its own supply chain for drones. Taiwan manufactures part of their weaponsbut it still depends arms sales of the United States for its heavier systems. Furthermore, political uncertainty in Washington and the ups and downs in the relationship with Beijing reinforce the feeling of vulnerability. For all these reasons, for many Taiwanese, learning to fly a drone is no longer a hobby or a technical curiosity. It is more of a tangible form to prepare for an uncertain future, with the conviction that, if the worst scenario comes, every skill acquired today can make a difference in the future. Image | Wikimedia In Xataka | “Speed ​​is not the key”: the trick against all logic of Ukrainian drones to hunt the fearsome Russian shahed In Xataka | A Ukrainian soldier spent 1,495 days imprisoned in Russia. He was saved with an unexpected weapon: the seven Harry Potter books

requirements and how to request your bonus of up to 90% on train and bus

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Let’s tell you how to request your travel discount of the Summer Young 2026 program, aimed at people between 18 and 30 years old. The page where you can request your code to obtain discounts of up to 90% on your train or bus trips has opened today, and we will tell you how to manage it. You have the information about the discounts in detail in this article. We are going to start the article by reminding you of the requirements to qualify for these discounts, and then we will tell you step by step how to proceed. These discounts are for travel tickets between July 1 and September 30 from 2026, therefore only for the summer. As of September 30, they will have expired. Requirements for discounts Not everyone can request these discountsand there are a series of requirements that you must comply with. These include that you have Spanish nationality or residence, and that you are of a certain age. The requirements are the following: The Young Summer is available for trips to be made between July 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026. It is necessary to have been born between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2008, both inclusive. Have Spanish nationality or have legal residence in Spain if you are a foreigner. How to request a Young Summer 2026 discount The first thing you have to do is enter the website of this program, at the address summerjoven.transportes.gob.es. Once inside, you have to identify yourself. You have two alternatives to do it, use filling in your personal data in a form or use the Cl@ve system. If you choose the first option, you will simply have to fill in your information. But the quickest thing is to go to the Cl@ve system, which will allow you to log in with a digital certificate like him FNMT certificate either DNIethe PIN key or Mobile Key, or your Permanent Key. Regardless of the method you choose, after logging in you will go to the final application process. In it, the first step is to fill in your data, something that if you have used a certificate will have been done. Then you will go to the second step, where you must write your contact details. These are the email and telephone, and then you will have to confirm the request. And that’s it, now you will only have to wait for your data to be verified, and when you complete it you will receive an email or SMS telling you if you have been accepted, and where you will be told the personal code to use. Cover image | Yubal Fernandez In Xataka Basics | How to use Trainline to get the best and cheapest train tickets in Spain

another worrying fact that adds to a historic ENSO

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On June 11, after weeks of uncertainty, NOAA declared that El Niño was already here and that everything seemed to point to a progressive intensification as winter approached. It is true that the probability that the warm phase will be ‘very strong’ is still at 65%, but it is also true that the models insistently indicate that it will be one of the most intense in the last 75 years. Now, in addition, we have an incontestable fact: It is not only that the central and eastern Pacific is much warmer than the historical average, but that the temperature in El Niño 3.4 (the one used by scientists to monitor, declare and measure the intensity of the phenomenon) is at levels never seen before. What do we talk about when we talk about ENSO, El Niño and all these things? What we know as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (or ENSO) is a cyclical (although somewhat irregular) climate phenomenon that has large effects on the global climate. During the warm phase (during El Niño itself), the lack of trade winds to cool the surface causes the temperature of the Pacific waters to skyrocket. And that, precisely that, disrupts all the Earth’s weather systems, causing the thermometers of the entire planet to skyrocket. As explained from AEMET“El Niño, through different atmospheric teleconnections, gives rise to drier than normal conditions in certain parts of the world; while in others it causes more precipitation. Some countries have to deal with significant droughts and others with torrential rains.” What this record implies and what it does not imply. This fact is incontestable, but there is a catch. It is true that the absolute temperature of the equatorial Pacific is at record levels, but technically speaking that is not what defines the intensity of El Niño. In fact, this last year, The index monitored by ENSO has been changed to prevent climate change (which, ‘naturally’, raises the average water temperature in the area) from causing us to confuse “a very hot Pacific” with a “very intense El Niño.” What defines it is the anomaly between the Niño-3.4 region and the rest of the surrounding regions. Right now that anomaly is still low, but considering how quickly it has appeared, it is exactly what we would expect. And why do we tell this? Because the situation is complicated. El Niño of 2023-24 was one of the five strongest on record and contributed to 2024 breaking the global temperature record. And we are talking about a ‘normal’ event. The SuperChildren of 1982-83, 1997-98 and 2015-16 left severe global impactsvictims in the order of 24,000 people and economic losses exceeding 30,000 million dollars. It is true that we have improved a lotbut to that’s what we expose ourselves to. We must not forget that the period April 2025-March 2026 is already the warmest twelve months ever measured. Image | AMETSE In Xataka | There are more and more extreme weather events. In return, they are leaving fewer victims than ever

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