usatoday24

rice from Myanmar and Cambodia

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These are difficult times for Spanish rice. Not so much because of the crops but because of the context in which farmers are forced to compete. After several campaigns marked by a adverse weatherthe sector has achieved increase the surface harvested and your estimates For the 2025/2026 campaign they point to a clear increase compared to the previous one. Both indicators are positive, but they have not prevented the sector from being concerned about another reason: falling prices and pressure imports. There is Who is speaking of an “extreme” situation. Coming back from the drought. The last few years have not been easy for Spanish rice growers. Among other issues, they have been forced to deal with a drought that has conditioned the cultivated area and (what is the same) production. According to the Esyrce surveyprepared by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA), so far this century the average area dedicated to rice has never fallen below 100,000 hectares (in 2011 it even reached 122,300). That changed in recent campaigns due to the serious shortage of water. This season things are a little different. In June the MAP estimated that the cultivated area will reach 97,000 hectares, 15,400 more than those calculated in spring and 12.9% more than last year. And it is not the only positive indicator. Agro-Food Cooperatives already speaks that the national rice harvest for the 2025/26 campaign will reach 761,515 tons. In practice, it means improving production by 27.43% compared to the 2024/25 campaign. These are data that are still far from what the sector managed a few years ago (in 2011 it exceeded 900,000 t), but encouraging. Fantastic, right? More or less. Although these figures lend themselves to an optimistic reading, another feeling prevails in the sector: caution. Just yesterday, in the statement In which it reported the increase in the national rice harvest, Cooperativas Agro-Alimentarias acknowledged facing an “uncertain future” for national crops. And it is not the first message he has launched with that tone. Just a few weeks ago, during an interview With the Efe agency, the group already reported that it is going through an “extremely extreme” situation marked by prices that in many cases do not cover production costs. What worries you? To the farmers it worries them the impact of the 2024 DANA in La Albufera, how the hail has punished the crops in the Ebro Delta or the influence of the summer rains and heat waves. Also “the increasingly pronounced lack” of tools to confront pests, “phytosanitary restrictions” that condemn the sector to a “competitive disadvantage”. If there is something worrying in the sector, however, it is grain prices and imports. Outstanding prices. The message was conveyed clearly. a few weeks ago Félix Liviano, president of the rice sector of Cooperativas Agro-Alimentarias: “In Extremadura it is likely that we will not be able to market 20% of the long rice (indica variety) produced because there is so much imported grain that it is very cheap in the markets.” At that time the indica variety Cascara was priced at 310 euros per tonfar from the 453 in 2024 or the 555 in 2023. The updated data MAPA shows that both indica and japonica are still well below the levels of recent years. “We can’t compete with them”. There is another point, closely related to the drift in prices, on which the sector focuses: the import of merchandise. I told it recently EFE. For some time now, Spanish farmers have been demanding that the entry of rice from other countries be stopped. Above all, they target Cambodia and Myanmar, nations benefiting from a community initiative (EBA, Everyting But Arms) that left cereal imports without tariffs in 2009. The situation has undergone changes since then (between 2018 and 2021 clauses that taxed imports were introduced), but even so the Spanish sector warns that it is under excessive pressure. “Imports are sinking prices in the sector since the safeguard clause disappeared several years ago. We cannot compete with them, because in the EU we have prohibited many phytosanitary active materials, higher labor costs and we produce with sustainability requirements,” explains Ignacio Huertas, from UPA. Hence, it requests “reciprocity” in Brussels’ trade agreements with third countries or the sector emphasizes the importance of providing itself with “automatic safeguard clauses” against imports. Does that much rice arrive? The EU recognizes that it is not self-sufficient in rice cultivation and needs to import tons of rice every year, especially of the indica variety. Its main origins are Cambodia, India and Thailand, although the photo changes slightly if we talk about the Spanish market. “The European sector is at a critical crossroads in the face of ongoing negotiations on the GSP. The current framework, combined with preferential trade agreements, bilateral agreements and tariff quotas, allows the annual entry into the EU of around 635,690 tonnes of milled rice without tariffs, in addition to significant quantities of husked rice, especially basmati varieties from India and Pakistan,” remember Cooperativeswhich warns: “Without minimum corrective measures, the future of the sector could be compromised.” Images | Darío Méndez (Unsplash), Shayan Ghiasvand (Unsplash), MAP and European Commission In Xataka | Rice has just done the unthinkable: from inflationary threat to historic price collapse

The best science comedian does not have any scientific training. And that’s the key to your success.

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Tom Gauld is one of the most accessible and yet peculiar cartoonists of today. His vignettes are a mixture of a wink for the initiated and simple, white humor.which often makes his cartoons a mix of “everyone can understand them” and “if you’re interested in science and literature, sure.” A real rarity in these times when you have to show up at franchise fan clubs with a very clear identification and resume. Because Gauld may talk about quantum physics, multiverses and the secrets of the cosmos, but he doesn’t leave anyone out either, all thanks to deceptively simple, but highly expressive graphics. Able to make an Escherian architectural nonsense believable or to perfectly portray the interior of an impossible dimension with just a couple of lines, Gauld reduces the complex to a couple of gentle strokes, and hence his popularity on the internet and in media of indisputable prestige such as ‘The Guardian’where he makes literary jokes, or ‘New Scientist‘, where it focuses more on science and technology. It is precisely a compilation of jokes of this last type, ‘Physics for cats’, which Salamandra is now publishing. Thanks to this brand new volume we have had the opportunity to speak with him and have him explain his creative processes and his career as a scientific comedian… who does not have much knowledge of science. We started, of course, by asking him how his collaboration with ‘New Scientist’ began and what impact it has had on the way he approaches scientific topics in his comics. It tells us that we have to go back very far in time. “My grandfather was a scientist, a marine biologist, and he always read the ‘New Scientist’. So when he went home, the magazine was always there, and when he finished reading the magazine, he would give it to my father, who was also interested in science. When I was little, I would look at the pictures and diagrams and, from time to time, I would read a little bit of the text.” And from there, a few years later and now a professional cartoonist, he began to collaborate with them. Gauld states that a magazine of this type is a splendid workplace for an illustrator: “Some concepts about reality or other universes cannot be photographed, so in These types of magazines have a good tradition of using illustrationsand in fact most of its covers are illustrations rather than photographs. Then, I don’t remember exactly why, I thought it was strange that they didn’t have a comic strip in the magazine.” He proposed it a decade ago and it was accepted, but, he says, “I got a little scared because I stopped studying science when I was about 16, so I’m not an expert at all.” How to draw science It is obvious that this approach to science from a non-scientist perspective will entail difficulties. But contrary to what it might seem, “the really difficult thing with vignettes is not getting the scientific details right.” His process is: “I read the magazine, I follow scientists on social media, I listen to podcasts and radio shows about science, and anything that I think could make a joke I write down in my notebook.” And his approach is clear: “I’m giving my own light-hearted, fun take on something that’s quite serious and thoughtful. I try to do it without being derogatory, like when you make fun of a friend you respect.” Which inevitably brings us to the next question: how do you balance scientific precision with the artistic freedom to create such abstract concepts? And in fact, here the lack of scientific training is revealed as an advantage: “When creating the strips, the fact that I have no scientific training, that I am an ordinary person, not a professional, perhaps helps me judge the level of knowledge at which the jokes should be.” And he adds: “I never want to make a cartoon that makes people feel stupid.which makes one think that a doctorate is needed to understand it”. What happens then when he stumbles upon concepts that even he can’t understand? “When some real science is mentioned in the cartoon, I like to get it right, so I do some research on the Internet or ask someone at New Scientist to check my formulas or whatever. Or I do it so badly that it’s obvious I’m not trying to get it right. In fact, last night an astrophysicist mentioned that one of the formulas in the background of one of my strips was correct and that he liked it, which I was very happy about.” When we ask him if there are any scientific ideas or theories related to physics that he finds especially inspiring, he tells us that two come to mind. “One that I think I keep coming back to in the cartoons is, and I guess this is more of a philosophical question than a physical one: What is reality? That and the idea of ​​many worlds. The other is quantum theory, which I still don’t understand. I’ve made some jokes about it and I’m proud of them, but I think they could be improved if I ever managed to understand all of quantum theory. Which may never happen, but I keep trying.” And here we enter into a personal question, but we couldn’t help but ask him: does Tom Gauld like Gary Larson’s humor? (Larson, for those who don’t know, is the creator of ‘The Far Side’, absolute master of comics with background geeka mix of surreal humor and deep knowledge of biology and science absolutely unmatched). “I’ve mentioned Gary Larson as an influence in almost every interview I’ve done today,” he confesses, “so I’m glad you brought it up.” Typical Gary Larson: “‘Hey! What is this, Higgins? Physics equations?… Do you like your job as a cartoonist, Higgins?” And he adds: “The cartoons from ‘The Far Side’ appeared in my local newspaper when I was a teenager and I have … Read more

We thought smoking was no longer fashionable among Gen Z. Until Sabrina Carpenter and Jeremy Allen White arrived

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For decades, the cigarette starred in some of the most iconic images in popular culture. In the imagination of journalism, that reporter from the last century always reappears leaning over his typewriter, surrounded by wisps of smoke while writing an urgent chronicle. In television fiction, that scene evolved into Carrie Bradshaw typing on her Mac with a half-consumed cigarette butt in her New York apartment. And in the cinema, the cigarette was almost a visual code: from the dark seduction of Humphrey Bogart to the melancholic aura that enveloped so many classic characters. Smoke, more than an accessory, functioned as a symbol of charisma, mystery or vulnerability. All of that seemed to be extinguished with the advance of anti-smoking laws. The terraces they cleared themselves of smokeHollywood moderated its use and audiovisual culture stopped associating the cigarette with glamour. The gesture was relegated to a stale past, linked to the strong smell of bars before the ban. But something unexpected has happened: the cigarette has returned. And it has done so hand in hand with the only sector capable of resurrecting what seemed forgotten: celebrities. The visible return of the cigarette to pop culture. The warning signal came from the mecca of cinema. According to a report from the anti-smoking organization Truth Initiativehalf of the movies that debuted last year included cigarettes, cigars or tobacco. In addition, it detected a 110% increase in representations of tobacco in programs aimed at young people between 15 and 24 years old, and a quadrupling in the most viewed series. The figures confirm the obvious: the cigarette has regained prominence. And, to give a couple of examples, it is being observed in music: Sabrina Carpenter appears in the video clip for Manchild smoking and posed for some photographs wearing a corset made from packets of Marlboro Gold. In cinema, films like Saltburn, Materialists or Oppenheimer They have returned tobacco to an almost omnipresent place. Fashion has not been an exception either, during New York Fashion Week, models they smoked on the catwalk as another accessory. And there is still something else, I couldn’t forget about social networks. The Instagram account @cigfluencerscreated in 2021, publishes images of celebrities smoking and has accumulated more than 80,000 followers. The cigarette as a symbol? The most curious thing about this phenomenon is that it is not mass tobacco consumption that is returning, but rather its aesthetics. That nuance is essential to understand what is happening. The point is that the cigarette returns as part of the revival Y2K and aesthetics indie sleaze and heroin chicthat mix of grunge, decadent glamor and soft rebellion that dominated the 2000s and that today inspires fashion, music and social networks. In this framework, the cigarette functions as a retro accessory, a vintage gesture that provokes more visually than addictively. This aesthetic dimension also operates as a narrative tool. In a report for The New York Times point out that the cigarette re-emerges as a symbolic resource on screen: Dakota Johnson smokes in Materialists to underline the emotional emptiness of his character; Jeremy Allen White, in The Bearuses smoke to intensify his melancholy; Sabrina Carpenter holds a makeshift mouthpiece in an ironic tone. According to the medium, the cigarette does not get in the way of the shot: it fills it with aura, drama and texture. And the fundamental question, does it have attraction for young people? There is a component of minimal rebellion. According to the BBCsmoking functions as a gesture of light transgression within a generation accustomed to self-care, permanent surveillance and implicit norms of well-being. The aesthetics brat popularized by Charli XCX It combines hedonism, irony and a touch of nihilism: a perfect territory for the cigarette to recover its provocative role, more suggestive than dangerous. Hence, the great paradox when observing the real behavior of Generation Z. While they watch celebrities smoke on screen, young people consume less and less substances. Already we have explained in Xataka how they are succeeding coffee raves —alcoholic-free daytime parties, where you dance with a cappuccino in hand—, and Tinder registers a boom in dry datingwith one in four young people preferring alcohol-free dating. In other words, cool aesthetics no longer have anything to do with actual habit. Should we worry? The problem appears when cultural trends intersect with health data. The WHO remember that tobacco It kills more than seven million people a year and that there is no safe level of exposure. EPData confirms that its global consumption has fallen from 32.7% in 2000 to 22.3% in 2020, but institutions like the CDC —cited by Wall Street Journal— warn that repeated exposure to tobacco images increases the likelihood that young people will start smoking. In fact, the BBC collected testimonies from American doctors who already observe cases of young people who, after normalizing vaping, have switched to cigarettes because “it gives more credibility” or is “more aesthetic.” Constant exposure to so-called “digital smoke”, pointed out by the Spanish Association Against Cancercan normalize a habit that seemed on the way to disappearing. However, a study carried out by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) showed that Tinder profiles of smokers receive between 29% and 52.7% less matches. Young people do not want to date someone who smokes, but they do want to consume – from a distance – the aesthetics of cigarettes on screens. The contradiction is clear: in the video clip it adds glamour; In real life, it reduces romantic interest. Fad or cultural turn? Perhaps the cigarette has not completely returned: perhaps its ghost, its iconography, its gesture has returned. Aesthetics are back, not addiction. The smoke, not the habit. But while celebrities hold it up as if it were just another jewel in the photo, health organizations remember that tobacco continues to kill half of those who don’t quit. And although on the screen it is pure aesthetics, in real life it is still a tangible risk. The cigarette, that old protagonist of classic cinema, today experiences its … Read more

Yes, the Strait of Gibraltar is “about” to disappear. Within 50 million years, specifically

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In recent days, we have been able to see some voices that pointed to an almost apocalyptic event in our country: the Strait of Gibraltar this “about to disappear“, making two continents come together. The image in this case is quite powerful: the Mediterranean turning into a salt lake or completely disappearing before our eyes because its water intake would be cut off. However, when geologists say ‘soon’, they don’t mean next week. The reality. This new wave of fear over this fact arises as a result of a publication in the magazine Geology which is undoubtedly fascinating. In this case, geologists have used the capacity of supercomputers and 3D geodynamic models to see that under Gibraltar there is a subduction zone that right now she is ‘asleep’ and could wake up at any moment. The study, led by João C. Duarte together with researchers from the University of Mainz, addresses one of the great debates in plate tectonics: is the Gibraltar subduction zone dead? The discovery. For years science has pointed out that the sinking of the oceanic lithosphere under the Gibraltar Arc had stopped. However, the authors have applied new computer simulation techniques with the 3D ‘gravity-driven’ model to be able to reproduce the evolution that the western Mediterranean will follow where this strait is located. This is something fundamental, since the ancient models had us quite limited, but with technology you can see the processes over millions of years. The result of what was seen is quite clear: subduction is not dead, but is in a period of ‘rest’ or ‘silence’. Although the model believes that at some point this is something that will be activated or unblocked again. The future of the Atlantic. Something that must be clear is that the oceans are not static, but rather follow what is known as the Wilson Cycle. According to this model, the Atlantic is a young ocean that is expanding right now. But like everything in this life, it is doomed to die, just as happened in the past with the Tethys ocean, which is the ancestor of the Mediterranean Sea. However, for this to occur, subduction zones need to be activated where the tectonic plate sinks under another. breaking plates. The problem is that breaking a tectonic plate to start this subduction process is mechanically very difficult. The solution proposed by this team is that this area already exists in the Mediterranean, and its effect will spread to the west, crossing the Strait and invading the Atlantic. This is something that would give something called the ‘Atlantic Ring of Fire’, analogous to the famous Pacific beltcharacterized by volcanoes and earthquakes. When will this occur? This is where the important nuance comes in that must be taken into account when we talk about something in geology happening ‘soon’. According to this simulation, the current phase of inactivity will last for some time yet. But not a few days, but the propagation of subduction towards the Atlantic will gain traction in 20 million years and the development of the new subduction system can be delayed up to 50 million years. Saying that the Strait is “about to disappear” based on this study is like saying that the Sun is about to go out because it has “only” fuel left. 5 billion years. It is true on the scale of the universe, but irrelevant to our daily lives. Why it is important. Beyond the time it will take for this to occur, this model demonstrates how subduction zones can migrate from dying oceans like the Mediterranean to expanding oceans like the Atlantic, helping us understand how the Earth has been shaped throughout its history. Images | Malcolm Ketteridge In Xataka | Cádiz has decided to prepare for something that has happened five times in 7,000 years: its destructive potential justifies it

The overhaul of 6,000 Airbus A320 aircraft is a disturbing reminder that our technology is at the mercy of the Sun

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Airports around the world have once again plunged into chaos of red screens and canceled flights. Airbus and EASA They have ordered an unprecedented technical stoppage of 6,000 A320 aircraft to apply a patch that prevents “data corruption in the ELAC computer.” Behind this technicality lies a disturbing reminder that all of our digital technology is at the mercy of the Sun. The more advanced, miniaturized and efficient our infrastructure is, the more vulnerable it becomes to space weather. Anatomy of a “bit flip”. On October 30, a JetBlue Airbus A320 covering the route between Cancun and Newark made a sudden downward pitch without the pilots commanding it. A manufacturer inquiry revealed that the culprit had been a high-energy particle: a neutron generated by the interaction of the solar wind with the atmosphere that impacted a memory cell of the ELAC (Elevator Aileron Computer) computer with enough energy to change the voltage of a microscopic transistor from 0 to 1. This phenomenon known as a “bit flip” caused the L104 version of the Airbus software to interpret that the plane was in a dangerous situation (such as a stall). The computer did what it was programmed to do: “save” the plane by lowering the nose to gain speed. But the problem was not the hardware itself, but rather the software logic, which in this version does not have the necessary immunity to discard corrupt data. Hence, it does not affect all aircraft, and the solution is to apply a patch. The price of Moore’s law. 30 years ago, transistors were macroscopic bricks that required a lot of energy to alter. Today, microprocessors in airplanes (as well as those in cars and cell phones) have transistors on the nanometer scale. They are so sensitive that a minor solar storm, like the one on October 30, which was classified as G1, has the potential to wreak havoc that we previously only expected from catastrophic solar stormslike the Carrington event. It is the price that we pay for Moore’s law– As transistors become smaller and operate at lower voltages, less power is required to disturb their state. A precedent called Qantas 72. While the JetBlue Flight 1230 case has ended up affecting an unusual number of aircraft, industry veterans have had a déjà vu. In 2008, Qantas Flight 72 (an Airbus A330) experienced a similar nightmare over the Indian Ocean. The plane abruptly lowered its nose twice without warning, throwing passengers against the cabin roof. The Australian ATSB investigation concluded that one of the aircraft’s inertial reference units had been hit by cosmic rays, causing it to take an angle of attack of 50 degrees. The difference is that today we have thousands more planes in the sky, more dependent on automation, and operating under a 25 Solar Cycle which is proving to be more active than anticipated. Beyond airplanes. The Sun had already sent us a warning about its new maximum in 2022, when SpaceX lost 38 of 49 Starlink satellites just released. Not due to electronic failures, but thermodynamic ones. A solar storm increased the density of air in the Earth’s atmosphere, slowing satellites in low orbit until they fell. It was a minor storm, but enough to cost millions of dollars. The satellites are more exposed to solar radiation and are especially sensitive to geomagnetic storms. On Halloween night 2003, the Sun played trick-or-treating, causing a 30-hour crash in the FAA’s WAAS system, which is vital to GPS landing accuracy. If that were to happen today, with the current reliance on GNSS for everything (from Uber to banking transactions), the impact would be incalculable. Will there be another Carrington event? The most disturbing thing about the technical report on the A320 is that the triggering event was a level G1 geomagnetic storm, classified as minor. The scale goes up to G5, classified as extreme. In 1859, the Carrington Event fried telegraph networks around the world. If a storm of that magnitude hit the Earth today, we wouldn’t be talking about updating the software of 6,000 airplanes. We would be talking about the possible loss of entire GPS constellations, massive physical damage to the electrical grid and a paralysis of global transportation for weeks or months. We’ve built a civilization on extremely fragile silicon scaffolding, and our host star has a bad temper. Hence, space meteorology has ceased to be a scientific curiosity and has become a first-rate mission to predict solar storms and prepare satellites, astronauts and electrical infrastructure on the ground for any possibility. Today was a software patch, tomorrow we may need to rethink how we harden all of our technology. Image | ESA, Airbus In Xataka | Airbus has launched an urgent alert for the A320, the most delivered aircraft in the world: “operational interruptions” are looming

One of the most relevant actors in ‘Back to the Future’ fell so badly that we never got to see his face: it was a mask

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For decades, millions of viewers remembered George McFly as one of the most beloved characters from ‘Back to the Future’with his nervous gestures, his strange shyness and that peculiar way of inhabiting the screen. But what almost no one imagined is that, when the saga returned to the cinema, what we saw was no longer exactly him. Or, at least, not in the way we all thought. An impossible artist. Crispin Glover He burst into popular culture playing George McFly with a performance that made the character one of the most recognizable souls. from ‘Back to the Future’. His performance, at once clumsy, intense and physically expressive, became an essential counterpoint to Marty’s dynamism and Doc Brown’s eccentricity. However, behind that iconic role, Glover was already a unique artistobsessed by the limits of narrative, by art as an act of critical thinking and by the need to escape from the corporate machinery that, in his opinion, turned cinema into an instrument of ideological complacency. The fame that the film brought him did not bring him closer to Hollywood: it pushed him away from hertowards a life of his own projects, marginal filmographies, performative tours and experimental books that he himself read on stage in front of his followers. That mix of massive success and countercultural sensitivity would end up leading, a few years later, to one of the legal conflicts most influential in the history of commercial cinema. The ideological disagreement. Glover never hid his discomfort with the final message of the first film. It bothered him that the climax was an economic reward: a family becoming a symbol of the triumphant middle class, a new car as an emblem of happiness and a moral that, according to himhe unequivocally associated money with life success. He was barely twenty years old, but he was already openly questioning an element that he considered propaganda. For him, the real prize should have been emotional reconciliation between the parents, not wealth. That conversation with director Robert Zemeckis, who according to Glover It led to notable anger from the director, marking a point of friction that would later be amplified when negotiations for the sequel began. Silent war. The actor felt that he had done a decisive job in the first delivery and expected treatment equivalent to that of his colleagues. The studio, on the other hand, perceived his comments as an artistic and personal challenge. The financial offers reflected this rupture: figures much lower than the rest of the cast and, according to Glover, a deliberate feeling of punishment, especially seeing that the script from ‘Back to the Future II’ It included scenes in which George McFly appeared hanging upside down, a physically uncomfortable position that he interpreted as a hostile gesture. By then, the aesthetic tension had already been transformed into a contractual and human tension. Plot Twist: The mask. When negotiations failed, Universal did not opt ​​for the usual solution of replacing the actor and continuing as normal. No, he did something much more aggressive: used a mold Glover’s facial created for the first film and placed on a different actor, Jeffrey Weissmanadding prosthetics, makeup, hairpieces and a meticulous imitation of her voice and gestures. It was, in practice, putting an interpreter to play Crispin Glover playing George McFly. Weissman, initially informed that it would be a simple photographic double, discovered during filming that they were asking him to replicate a foreign personality, not a character. It was even called “Crispin” on the set, and even heard jokes from Steven Spielberg about a supposed “million” that Glover would have demanded. One more thing. Many scenes relegated him to the background, carefully out of focus, or showed him face down to make recognition difficult. The rest was composed by mixing Glover’s real shots with Weissman’s new shots to create the illusion of continuity. For the public it worked: millions of viewers thought that Glover had participated in the sequel. For Glover, that was an outrage: his identity, his interpretive essence, had been used without consent to support a multimillion-dollar production. George Mcfly (with Weissman inside) A historic litigation. In 1990 Glover filed a lawsuit that, without looking for it, became one of the first early warnings about the risks of digital recreation, impersonation through visual effects and image rights in the era of technological manipulation. He argued that Universal had used his face, his voice and his acting style without permission, hiding behind the idea that they were only prolonging the existence of the George McFly character. His lawyer, Doug Kari, built a strategy that sought to demonstrate that it was not about perpetuating the character, but about appropriating Glover’s artistic identity. He wanted to depose Spielberg, Zemeckis, Gale and Michael J. Fox, in addition to accessing the studio’s accounting books. What happened? That the case did not go to trial: the judge encouraged both parties to reach an agreement, one that was finally closed by about $760,000. Consequences. But the psychological, industrial and legal impact was enormous. The SAG-AFTRA union was forced to review your rules. Hollywood began to debate to what extent a performance belongs to an actor and whether a studio can, without consent, reconstruct it for new installments. Years later, every time there was talk of digitally resurrecting a deceased performer, Glover’s name reappeared as a warning. In a way, his case anticipated current debates about deepfakes, avatars generated by AI and digital replicas hyperrealistic. Personal consequences. The process left no one unscathed. Glover managed clear your name and establish a red line in the industry, but the experience marked him deeply. He refused to attend conventions or photo sessions related to the saga because, according to himthat would be supporting a lie: that he had participated in those sequels and that Weissman’s artificial interpretation belonged to him. He also suffered for years from the emotional burden of fans attributing to his work gestures or moments that he never interpreted, even receiving criticism for what he did. … Read more

After the fried potato or “moon tread” nougat, comes the only possible conclusion of the industry: nougat for dogs

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There was a time when if you went to the supermarket to buy nougat you could choose between soft and hard, chocolate, toasted yolk, almonds or maybe (if you were lucky) caramel. The offer was more or less limited, as was the ability of the nougat makers to surprise us. Not today. In recent years the sector has launched experiment with flavors as unexpected as ham, potatoes, wine or mojito, between a long (lengthy) etc. of flavors and textures. Now that spiral of experimentation has led one of the best-known companies in Spain to go one step further and sell nougat for pets. Nougat for dogs? Nougats for dogs. That is the bet that just launched Confectionary Holdingthe company behind such well-known Christmas dessert brands as 1880, Doña Jimena or El Lobo. In the midst of fever nougat experimentation (a phenomenon that dates back several years) the firm has decided to go one step further and take risks in a different way. Their bet is not only looking for new flavors or textures, but also for a different audience than usual: pets. Hence, its catalog has just expanded with a line of Polvorones and Nougats made specifically for dogs. The sweets can be consulted now at the web from El Lobo, where 85 gram nougat tablets are sold for 4.99 euros, the same price as the 120 g box of Polvorones. And what are they like? The company has launched three products. Two varieties of nougat crunchymade with coconut or carrot, and some arrozrones based on rice. In all three cases, the company insists that the snacks are cooked with natural ingredients, do not include added sugars and (in the case of nougat) are designed with a crunchy texture designed precisely for dogs. Efe precise that they only include a small amount of honey and that the packages specify the amount that each dog can ingest, depending on its size. But… Why? Because, says Rubén LópezCEO of Confectionary Holding, during Christmas “we get together with friends and relatives and the pets are part of the family.” The idea is simple: transfer the experience of parties and Christmas sweets to the pet market, a niche that other companies in the sector have been exploring for some time. The Wolf may have just tried his luck now (marketing started in October), but there are specialized companies that already sell panettones for dogs, wet food cans for cats decorated with Christmas designs or special nougats for pets. The striking thing is that one of the most popular traditional nougat manufacturers in Spain is now exploring this line of business. How have you done it? The idea, López emphasizes, is that the consumption experience is “as humane as possible”. For this purpose, the company has resorted to a very recognizable format: 80 g tablets, pre-cut and which can be purchased both in pet stores and in supermarkets. Previously, the company had to spend two years developing the product, between studies and formulations, together with veterinarians. He has also had to do pedagogy in the sector. Recently José Manuel Sirvent, president of the Confectionary Holding group, recognized that the throwing of the nougat pet friendly It has been one of the most complicated decisions he has made throughout his career. The other was to dedicate itself to the manufacture of private labels. “It’s not very orthodox,” admits the manager about the new pet treat. So unconventional is it, in fact, that Sirvent confesses that the decision has not been liked by part of the traditional sector of Jijona. Does it make sense? S. There are two ways to look at El Lobo’s bet. One is the innovation that the nougat sector is experiencing, which has led manufacturers to explore new flavors and ways to expand their market with an eye on a more select clientele. In recent years this has led him to sell nougats that incorporate such curious ingredients as black beer, plankton, fried potatoes, ham, pine, popcorn or strawberries with gin. The bet doesn’t seem to have gone wrong. With the rising prices of cocoa and eggs as a backdrop, in recent months manufacturers have shared data that suggests an increase in turnover, in line with the rest of the sector. What data? In July the Spanish Sweets Association (Produlce) published a report which reveals that in 2024 all categories of the sector experienced growth in terms of consumption. In its balance sheet, chocolate and cocoa lead the segments (2,106 million euros), followed by cookies (1,428 million), pastries and pastries (€1,310M), baking (€954M), candies and chewing gum (€809M) and nougat and marzipan (€290M). At the beginning of the year, the nougat sector with designation of origin (DO) in Spain, Jijona and Agramunt, also revealed that its sales volume had increased 12% in 2023led by Sanchis Mira and Torrons Vicens. And beyond the nougat sector? That is the other big key. Spain is increasingly a country of pets (even more than babies) and that places the pet food and care sector in a privileged position. Both in our country and in others. According to the Grand View Horizon platform, the global pet care market will exceed the 236.1 billion of dollars thanks to a compound annual growth rate of 5.1%. There are those who believe that the sum will be elderly thanks to the trend of “humanizing” pets. In Spain, the industry dedicated to feeding pets had a turnover of something in 2024 more than 2 billion of euros, 5% more than in 2023. The largest volume of business (around 790 million euros) was generated by sales focused on dogs, which is precisely the niche on which El Lobo has now focused to sell its nougat for pets. Images | Baptist Standaert (Unsplash), DAP, Anfaac and The Wolf In Xataka | We knew that Suchard nougat had become more expensive since 2020, but we did not suspect how much. The reason: redflation

We have a problem with cardboard recycling. In the United Kingdom they believe that the solution is to use it in a power plant

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Every day, millions of cardboard boxes leave our homes heading to the blue container. They are the last link in an accelerated consumption cycle in online commerce. However, this material, so everyday that we don’t even look at it twice, could be on the verge of an unexpected second life: becoming fuel to generate electricity on a large scale. A residue that enters the energy map. A team of engineers from Nottingham University has shown for the first time that used cardboard can be used as an effective source of biomass in power plants. The investigation, published in the journal Biomass and Bioenergycompares cardboard with a common reference for industrial biomass: eucalyptus. The engineers didn’t just watch the cardboard burn. They crushed it, studied its shape, broke down its chemistry and analyzed how it reacted to heat and what type of carbon it left behind. They even developed their own method—based on thermogravimetric analysis—to measure exactly how much calcium carbonate each sample contains. This component, common in printed cardboard, gives rigidity to the material but also conditions its behavior when burning. Thanks to this procedure, they can predict which type of cardboard will work well in an industrial boiler and which could cause problems. The science behind cardboard that burns “better.” The study did not stop at theories. He tested the combustion of cardboard in two types of systems equivalent to those used in power plants: Drop Tube Furnace: Simulates the rapid combustion of pulverized biomass.Here, the researchers observed that cardboard particles develop chars (the carbonaceous remains that remain after the first combustion phase) highly reactive, with a predominance of fine and porous structures that favor a burnout accelerated. Muffle Furnace: Simulates fluidized bed or grate systems. Even with longer residence times, the paperboard maintained its excellent combustion profile. In addition, the size and shape of the particles were characterized through an analysis with more than one million particles per sample; The tendency of cardboard to form “spongy aggregates” during grinding was observed—a challenge for its industrial handling—and characteristics such as sphericity and aspect ratio were correlated, something that could improve future combustion models. As the academic study explains, this detailed analysis allows predicting combustion efficiency and designing industrial strategies to integrate cardboard into the fuel flow. The result was very favorable. Thanks to this experiment, the engineers managed to demonstrate that cardboard has less carbon (38%) than eucalyptus (46.7%) and its calorific value is also lower (15.9–16.5 MJ/kg versus 21 MJ/kg). However, its chars are finer, porous and reactive, which accelerates combustion; In addition, it contains much more ash (8.9–10.6%, compared to 0.6% for eucalyptus), a critical aspect for boilers. What remains to be resolved? Although the technical potential is evident, the study makes it clear that cardboard is not ready to enter the boilers of a power plant tomorrow. There are three fundamental challenges that must be addressed: Management and processing problems. When ground, cardboard does not behave like wood: it forms spongy lumps of very low density that make internal transport difficult, complicate the continuous feeding of boilers and can increase the risk of blockages and accumulations. The study warns that it will be essential to adapt the grinding and feeding systems to guarantee a stable and safe flow. The behavior of calcium. Cardboard contains very high levels of CaCO₃, especially when printed. This calcium can behave in different ways depending on the temperature and type of boiler. In certain cases it raises the fusion temperature of the ashes – which is positive -; In others it can favor the formation of slag or alter the quality of the fuel. The study recommends analyzing the behavior of cardboard according to the type of plant, because not all technologies tolerate these variations in the same way. Large-scale industrial validation. Laboratory tests are promising, but the decisive step is missing: testing the cardboard in real operating conditions. According to the researchers, the industry will have to carry out tests on different technologies in boilers, evaluate emissions, study the accumulation and composition of ash and check their compatibility with existing biomass mixtures. Only then can it be determined whether the cardboard can be safely and stably integrated into the mix of biomass. An everyday material with an unexpected future. Cardboard protects pizzas, televisions, books and appliances. We recycle it without thinking too much about it. But this research from Nottingham suggests that this everyday waste could become another piece of the energy transition, helping to diversify fuels and take advantage of an abundant and local resource. Today we see it as garbage. Tomorrow it could help produce electricity. The spark has already been lit: now we need to know if the industry wants – and can – convert it into real energy. Image | Unsplash and Geograph Xataka | Selling smoke is now a business in Soria: it purifies it and sells it as CO2 to make soft drinks

The hundreds of black dots on train and car windows are not a whim: they are a shield called ‘frits’

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Traveling by car or train means looking around the windows. You probably don’t just look at the landscape, but at all the vehicle interior elementsthe closest being the edge of those windows. A common element on the train and on the car window is a black border with a curious pattern of dots that become smaller as the rows increase. It is not paint or an aesthetic element, but something that fulfills a crucial technical function to protect the integrity of the glass. They are called ‘frit band‘ either ‘frits‘, and it is one of the most important passive safety elements that these vehicles have. The Science of Car Window Blackheads Although it seems like it, these dots are not paint: they are ceramics baked at very high temperatures, which fuses with glass during manufacturing of the same. He process It is most curious, since first the still hot black ceramic paste is applied to the edges of the glass, and then it is baked together with the glass in the tempering and bending process. In Xataka In 2001, Renault launched a car ahead of its time: it was a miserable failure that now has another chance It is a structural element of glass and this process involves a permanent bond that does not wear over time. The dot pattern motif, known as “gradient matrix”it is not a whim either, but a solution to something that could spontaneously break the car window. Black glass absorbs much more heat than clear glass, and this is something you can easily check on a sunny day: the black band will be hotter than the rest of the glass. When the temperature is extreme, and on trips where the moon can being hit by small stonesif there were an abrupt temperature transition between the black border and the transparent area, stress points would be created that could cause cracks. That’s why they pulled out that gradient that works like a processor heatsink: creates a thermal transition zone which distributes heat more evenly. It is something that provides protection to the glass, but they serve something else: to help the bond between the chassis and the glass. On the perimeter of the crystals there is glue that joins the elements, and the ‘frits’ have a rougher texture that allows a better adhesion from glass to chassis. Also, being black, they protect the glue against ultraviolet rays, maximizing its durability and the security of the union of the components. A detail from Jeep, which introduced an Easter egg in these frits In the end, what might seem like a simple aesthetic element fulfills an important safety function. In the train, this adhesion and thermal dissipation, and in the car, added to the above, greater resistance of the moon to shocks. In some cars it has been used to place a nod, and the fact that they are circles and not another geometric element has an aesthetic part, but also functional because it makes us overlook them while driving. It is one more example of all that everyday technology that surrounds us and that perhaps we always wonder if it would have some function, but once that initial curiosity passes, we forget to look. Images | Jeep, Abil Saputra In Xataka |Cars have become gigantic. The problem is that our parking spaces do not (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news The hundreds of black dots on train and car windows are not a whim: they are a shield called ‘frits’ was originally published in Xataka by Alejandro Alcolea .

In the midst of a race towards immortality, China believes it has found a way for us to live 150 years: with grapes

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Aging is the objective that a good part of society has right now with different diets to look younger, ‘anti-aging’ treatments or even cocktails that promise this (although our biology has a fairly clear limit). Now, China is targeting a biotechnology company that affirms be developing a pill capable of prolonging human life to 150 years. A simple grape. A priori it seems that it has nothing to do with human aging, but we are quite wrong. The Shenzhen biotechnology company claims to have identified in its seeds a compound called procyyanidin C1 (PCC1) which achieves the effect that many want and has a great antioxidant effect. Zombie cells. To understand how this supposed miracle compound works, we must first talk about the enemy of aging: senescence cellular. As time goes by, some of our cells stop dividing, but they do not die. They remain in a state of limbo, accumulating in the tissues and secreting inflammatory substances that damage neighboring cells that are not so lazy and continue dividing. These cells that do not want to die is what known as ‘zombie cells’ because in the end there are quite a few parallels. As. Once taken into account, this is where PCC1 comes into play, which is nothing more than a natural flavonoid. Where the interesting begins is in a key study published in Nature Metabolism where it is pointed out that PCC1 acts as a senolytic agent. This means that it has a fairly important selective capacity to act on the cells that are bothering us the most. Specifically, at low doses, PCC1 inhibits the toxic substances emitted by zombie cells, but at high doses it kills them without harming healthy cells. And up to this point everything is quite solid, since it has been scientifically proven. There are ‘buts’. The scientific basis that the Chinese laboratory uses for its claims comes almost exclusively from animal models to whom this substance was applied. In this way, the researchers achieved several things by applying PCC1 on old mice: Reduce the load of senescent cells in vital organs. Reverse motor dysfunctions, making the mouse have more strength and better balance. Increase life expectancy between 9 and 60%. The big ‘but’ we found is that it has only been tested on mice and not on humans. And given this we can ask ourselves something quite simple: why are we skeptical about the claim of 150 years in humans? There are several reasons to be so. The first of them is that saying that because a mouse lives 60% longer, a human will live 60% longer is also a biological fallacy. The metabolism of mice and humans is not similar at all, and that is why there are drugs that, although they have worked in a mouse, have failed in humans. we are not equal with the mice. That’s why we don’t age in the same way. Although it is true that humans have senescent cells that are related to aging, we are much more complex. Aging involves genomic instability, telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, and stem cell exhaustion. That is why cleaning the ‘zombie cells’ could improve health in old agebut it is unlikely that on its own it will make us exceed the current biological limit of our species. This is also added to the fact that to date there are no published clinical trials that support the safety and effectiveness of using this compound in the human body. That is why, in conclusion, we can conclude that PCC1 is a very important finding to identify a door to therapies that make us age better. But talking about extending life to 150 years undoubtedly presents many doubts, since surely this ‘Chinese pill’ will not make us immortal overnight. Images | Maja Petric Daniel Franco In Xataka | Not all brain cells age at the same time: we have found a “hot spot” of aging

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