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We have been searching for dark matter for 90 years. Now a Japanese man believes he has found his “fingerprint”

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Since Fritz Zwicky suggested the existence of dark matter in 1933, the reality is that it has been one of the great ghosts of modern physics, generating many debates about its existence. The little we know indicates that this matter is there because we see how its gravity pushes galaxiesbut we have never been able to see it or touch it. It is invisible. Or at least, that’s what we believed until now. And to ‘see’ this matter you have to be a true superhero, since it does not emit, absorb or reflect light. Something that makes it completely invisible to telescopes around the world. But it is not something that is a small part of what surrounds us, but which makes up 85% of the total matter in the universe. But now there is hope to have more information about this great mystery of physics thanks to a study Professor Tomonori Totani of the University of Tokyo claims to have found the first direct evidence of this elusive substance. He has not seen it directly with his own eyes, but he has detected the “smoke” of his gun: a very specific gamma ray signal emanating from the halo of our own Milky Way and that eerily coincides with theoretical predictions of how dark matter behaves. A large amount of data. To understand the discovery, you have to look at the sky with gamma ray eyes. Totani has used a total of 15 years of data accumulated by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (LAT). But the important thing was undoubtedly knowing where to look: in the galactic halo. That is, the ‘quiet’ outskirts of the Milky Way, excluding the galactic disk to avoid interference. What he found when cleaning the background noise was surprising: an excess of gamma rays with a very specific energy peak, located at 20 billion electron volts (20 GeV). The importance. So far so good, but… Why is it important? Basically, because it doesn’t fit what we would expect from normal astrophysical sources, like pulsars or supernova remnants. However, it fits like a glove for the WIMP theory. This is a theory that basically suggests that dark matter It is made up of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). According to physical models, when two of these particles collide, they annihilate each other, releasing a cascade of energy in the form of gamma rays that would be detected in the universe now. And that is their conclusion: the detected signal is compatible with WIMP particles that have a mass of 500 times that of a proton. This would, therefore, be the fingerprint that gives the most information about dark matter, although it does not stop there. The shape is not a point on the map, but a soft, spherical halo that surrounds the galaxy, just as dark matter is distributed in the cosmological simulations that physics has made. The same goes for consistency, since the signal persists even when different background models are used and other known sources of noise in the universe are removed. There are precedents. This isn’t the first time someone has yelled “Eureka!” In the past, excess gamma rays have been detected at the Galactic Center (known as GCE), but the scientific community has tended to think that this signal comes from undetected millisecond pulsars, rather than dark matter. The key to Totani’s study is that he has looked where no one was looking in such detail. By moving away from the center and analyzing the diffuse halo, it is where he has found a much cleaner signal that does not invite so many doubts about its origin. There are still doubts. The study itself admits that the calculated cross section (the probability of interaction) is higher than the upper levels established by the observation of dwarf galaxies, which are often used as scale for dark matter. This means two things: either our models of the density of dark matter in the Milky Way are incorrect (which is possible, since there is a lot of uncertainty in the profile of the halo), or we are looking at a new and unknown astrophysical phenomenon that mimics dark matter. A great mystery. If this finding is confirmed, we would be facing one of the greatest discoveries in physics of the 21st century. It would confirm that dark matter is composed of particles that we can detect (and not primordial black holes) and open a new door for physics. go beyond the standard model. But as we say, this still needs to be verified by a second laboratory such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) that may have the ability to detect these gamma ray spectral lines. Image | A. Schaller (STScI) In Xataka | Exactly 100 years ago we began to understand how the world works. Quantum physics has radically changed our lives

diesel lives, the fight continues

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Diesel, 204 HP and ECO sticker. Aberration for some. Heavenly music for others. Audi maintains in its range one of those cars that is a safe bet for fans of the brand. But, above all, for those who travel long and hard on the road, those who want a car with comfortable and safe reactions and, incidentally, get an ECO label that gives it certain advantages when entering big cities. He Audi Q5 It is the reminder that there are not many of them anymore but yes, diesel is still a good alternative for a very specific driver profile. The company has also renewed one of its best-selling SUVs with a technological arsenal that may include a screen for the co-pilot. Audi Q5 technical sheet Audi Q5 TDI quattro 150 kW (204 HP) BODY TYPE. five-seater SUV MEASUREMENTS AND WEIGHT. 4.86 meters long, 1.89 meters wide, 1.66 meters high. Wheelbase of 2.82 meters. 1,910 kg weight. TRUNK. 520 liters MAXIMUM POWER. 204 hp WLTP CONSUMPTION. 5.9 l/100 km ENVIRONMENTAL DISTINCTIVE. ECHO DRIVING AIDS (ADAS). Automatic emergency braking, intelligent speed limit information, parking assistance, driver fatigue monitoring, parking assistance and lane departure and lane keeping warning. OTHERS. Operating system built on Android Automotive. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, via Bluetooth. Two USB C ports for the front and rear seats. Wireless charging for mobile phone. ELECTRIC HYBRID. Yes, MHEV versions with 48v battery. Plug-in HYBRID. Yes, 220 kW (299 HP) version with 98 kilometers of electric range. electric No. price and launch Now available from 66,600 euros. Tested unit 76,300 euros. Diesel, why not? Only 5.6% of all cars bought in Spain They have been diesel between January and October 2026. The image is radically different from that of a few years. In 2010more than 70% of the cars purchased in Spain used this mechanism. It didn’t matter if the car was going to be used on long stretches on the highway or in an urban environment and its ring roads. Over the years, European regulations have put a stop to this fuel, less expensive than gasoline under similar conditions and cleaner if we talk about CO2 emissions but much more polluting if we focus on NOx emissions or in fine particles. This has led us to AdBluethe particle filters and their painful breakdowns. A technology that discourages short, repetitive journeys in which the engine does not reach the optimal temperature to burn polluting particles, forcing forced regeneration which, when not completed, ends up leading to breakdowns. But like everything in this life, not everything is black or white. Firstly, because there are those who not only still like the diesel formula, they also still like it for maintaining that push from very low down. And second because this 204 HP Audi Q5 TDI does not add up in the category of diesel car. The company has here a mild hybrid which accesses the ECO sticker, a purchase value that is almost essential in a car worth more than 60,000 euros. That ECO sticker is achieved by a soft hybridization system that continues to impact less on consumption and emissions than a “Toyota-style” electric hybrid but it is more capable than most alternatives on the market. And the electrical system, which consists of a 1.7 kWh capacity battery and a 24 HP motor, allows the car to move by itself and not only support the combustion engine. It does this for a few meters or during parking maneuvers and is especially comfortable in the latter case when the engine is turned off and parking becomes more pleasant. It can also turn off the combustion engine while it is running when the foot is lifted from the accelerator to drive at full speed and save a few tenths in final consumption. This is where the Audi Q5 shines the most. On the open road is where it achieves its best results because its dynamics have everything we can expect from the brand: a comfortable car, with direct steering and very noble reactions. Especially with the pneumatic suspension that we have tested, which slightly reduces the height with the sport mode activated, improving the possible roll of the body that becomes almost non-existent unless we intend to go faster than we have to on a secondary road. It is also its best side because that is where the combustion engine becomes less present. And at low speeds or when we put pressure on the accelerator pedal to get out of trouble, the combustion engine can be heard and felt. This diesel is less refined than, for example, the six-cylinder inline of the Mazda CX-60which is a delight. We are not talking about a car that feels noisy, but its presence is noticeable during acceleration or in the city where the lowest speeds do not cover the sound of the engine. They are details that leave us wanting more. The same thing happens inside with some lights and shadows although it is the first that shines above the second. And the fit of all the interior materials is good. Soft materials are used in most places where our hands reach, but as we go down to the ground, hard plastics are more present, which reduces the sensation. premium that we should have in a car that starts at over 60,000 euros. Added to this is the absence of physical controls for the air conditioning and the replacement of controls that were once made of aluminum with plastic parts finished in piano black that are difficult to keep clean. Layout of applications on the central screen Beyond the ergonomics of having direct access to raise or lower the temperature or select the lights (which are located in the door collected in a single piece of plastic), these are decisions that lower the perception of the general quality of a vehicle and that, without you knowing very well why, do not generate the good harmony of a few years ago. Of course, Audi is not … Read more

A Ukrainian system has accelerated the death of kamikaze drones. It’s called Delta, and it does in 120 seconds what took days

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The war in Ukraine has turned the drone into the central weapon of the battlefield, but it has also made evident an insurmountable limit: the kamikaze modelswhich dominated the early years of the conflict, are beginning to die due to sheer unsustainability. The almost thousand kilometer front requires a continuous supply of platforms capable of surveillance, harassment, destruction and survival. And Ukraine has realized this. The sunset of a drone. Russia can no longer guarantee that supply with the cheap, single-use drones it previously launched by the thousands. The western sanctions have strangled Moscow’s access to advanced sensors and critical processors. Furthermore, the Ukrainian attacks to assembly plants They have broken production chains, and the cost of losing increasingly sophisticated systems against denser Ukrainian defenses has made the model unviable. of “launch and forget”. For the first time, Moscow recognizes that it cannot replace what it destroys with the same speed. The Russian bet. Faced with this scenario, Russia is reconfiguring its fleet towards reusable drones that combine precision, electronic resistance and multiple attack capacity. Platforms like the Night Witch (capable of carrying twenty kilos, operating for forty minutes, launching up to four munitions and returning to base) mark the shift towards designs that survive the mission. The Bulldog-13 follows the same logic: modular, resistant to interference and with advanced sensors that would be too expensive for a disposable platform. This evolution not only affects offensive drones: russian interceptorspreviously designed to collide and destroy each other along with their objectives, begin to incorporate methods that allow recovery. From improvised loads like food cans thrown over FPV ukrainians up to electrified rods capable of incapacitating several drones in a single flight, the pattern is clear: if the platform is increasingly complex and more expensive, it cannot be lost on each mission. Russia is, out of obligation rather than choice, migrating toward a fleet that looks more like onepersistent unmanned flight than to an infinite store of cheap projectiles. The Russian limit. The operational advantage of these advanced systems it is evident: interference-immune navigation, thermal optics with digital zoom, long-range links and semi-autonomous capabilities allow for more precise and adaptable attacks. However, Russia pays an operational price: every drone that must return to its base sees its time available in the combat zone. reduced by half. The flight cycle shortens, the attack window narrows, and exposure to Ukrainian defenses widens. It’s the paradox of the reusable drone: more valuable, more capable and more vulnerable to logistical wear and tear. But Moscow has no alternative. Without mass replenishment, drone survival becomes a strategic resource. Ukraine breaks the cycle. And while Russia tries to extend the life of its drones to survive the technological blockade, Ukraine is blowing up the very logic of the war of attrition with a digital tool that turns every sensor on the front into a potential trigger. Previously, locating a Russian target, verifying it, transmitting it, and assigning it to a unit could take up to seventy-two hours, enough time for any vehicle, artillery piece, or tank to move or camouflage. Now, with Delta (the system battle management created and iterated over two years of real war) that cycle is reduced to two minutes under optimal conditions. Delta integrates satellite imagery, radar, reconnaissance drones, frontline observers and data from multiple branches into an interactive map that instantly shows where own and enemy forces are. Operating with NATO standardshosted in the cloud and already used by 90% of Ukrainian units, Delta turns warfare into a digitalized and almost automatic process: see, mark, assign and shoot. Drones that “live” too long. The consequence is devastating for Moscow. Their reusable dronesmore complex and expensive, survive by not wasting themselves on suicide attacks, but at the same time they face a battlefield where every exposure, every takeoff and every return can be detected, processed and attacked in a matter of seconds. The old Russian shelter (moving positions from one day to the next) ceases to exist when a Ukrainian FPV can take off, travel kilometers and hit in less than three minutesor a 155mm battery can open fire minutes after receiving verified coordinates. Even long-range systems, which require planning and preparation, now benefit from a flow of intelligence that never sleeps: latency is no longer strategic, only technical. The kamikaze in extinction. The joint result of both transformations (the Russian transition to drones that must survive and the Ukrainian transition to a system that kills in minutes) alters the nature of drone warfare. The russian kamikazes They do not disappear due to lack of usefulness, but because lack of replacement. And the drones that survive must now contend with an environment where survival depends less on their robustness and more on escaping a detection cycle operating at digital speed. What was once a war of saturation is now a war of instant precision. And in that equation, a new paradox arises: each Russian reusable drone is worth more… just when Ukraine can destroy everything it can see faster than ever. Image | Telegram, Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform, RawPixel In Xataka | The new peace plan in Ukraine has been reduced to 19 aspects. The problem is that the key point measures 900 km In Xataka | Ukraine’s latest tactic begins with a song. It is the prelude to an unknown trick: “sending” Russian missiles to Peru

put UBTECH’s most advanced humanoid robots to work

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In Fangchenggang, where control windows and cargo trucks outline the routine of a border with Vietnam, an experiment is being prepared that will not take place among laboratory prototypes, but among travelers, agents and logistics workers. China has chosen this place to test humanoids in real situations, with deliveries scheduled from December and very specific functions: guiding movements of people, supporting logistical tasks, participating in certain commercial services and carrying out inspections both at border posts and at industrial facilities. An ambitious contract. The agreement signed between UBTech and a center specialized in robotics in this border city amounts to 264 million yuan, about 34 million euros, and establishes the deployment of the model Walker S2 in different types of scenarios: border crossing, logistics zones and industrial complexes. According to the company, the humanoids will be intended to guide flows of people, organize internal transportation operations and carry out structured inspections in facilities linked to steel, copper and aluminum. From prototypes to 800 million. UBTech arrived at Fangchenggang with a model that is no longer presented as a prototype, but as an industrial product. The Walker Series accumulate valued orders by 800 million yuan by 2025, not including educational and research models. UBTech assures that it has already begun to deliver the first industrial batches of the Walker S2 and that its objective is to accelerate production at scale, with a view to manufacturing thousands of units and reducing costs so that humanoids enter real environments. Robotic administrations. The rollout of UBTech fits into a broader trend within the Chinese public sector. The Zhejiang immigration office already uses robots for daily tasks, such as support in people flows and information services. At Hangzhou airport, one of these systems answers simple questions to passengers, while at the top of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, held in Tianjin, a multilingual robot developed by iBen Intelligence was used for protocol assistance. The Fangchenggang initiative is part of a coordinated strategy from the State to organize the humanoid sector in China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology created a national committee specific for this type of robots, chaired by the organization itself and made up of companies, innovation centers and relevant technical figures. It includes executives from UBTech, Unitree, AgiBot and representatives of the Shanghai innovation center. The goal is to set standards and accelerate the transition from laboratory to commercial and administrative applications. What is relevant is not only that the humanoids have contracts and assigned functions, but also the place where they are going to test them. A border is a regulated space, with people in transit, goods, controls and tight times. If they work there, it will be easier to propose new applications in other public contexts. The Fangchenggang Pass serves as a laboratory, but also as a stage to observe what sharing tasks between machines and human workers entails. Images | UBTECH In Xataka | NVIDIA is the most valuable company in the world because it had no competition. Until Google started making chips

A 600 kilometer quantum network is one of its great strategic bets

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During the 90s the idea was established that Japan represented the future. Whoever traveled there found bullet trains, cities covered in neon, technological culture on every corner and a very visible contrast between tradition and innovation. In the early 2000s, cell phones with cameras and humanoid robots arrived, further reinforcing that image of a country ahead of its time. Three decades later, that perception is still alive in the collective imagination, but it no longer fully reflects the Japanese technological reality. Japan retains important capabilities, but has been losing ground for years. It controlled nearly 50% of global semiconductor production four decades ago and in 2019 it represented only 10%. In artificial intelligence fell from fourth to ninth place after the release of ChatGPT in 2022. According to the Global Innovation Index 2025 It occupies 12th place, and in digital competitiveness it falls to 31st, affected by a lack of specialized talent. Japan seems determined to return to the global technology board Japan is deploying several initiatives to reposition itself technologically, and one of the most relevant is its future national quantum network. The plan contemplates a 600 kilometer fiber optic infrastructure which will connect Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe, and will have an operational environment for testing in 2027. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technologies will lead the project together with Toshiba, NEC and telecommunications providers. The network will transmit quantum keys using photons, in states that allow attempts to intercept information to be detected. The quantum bet cannot be understood without considering the risk that comes. IBM and Xanadu They predict that quantum computers with bug fixes will be functional before 2030, which could render current encryption systems, including RSA and elliptic curve algorithms, obsolete. In 2024, researchers from Shanghai University breached SPN encryption using D-Wave technology, while Google warned that 2,048-bit RSA keys could be decrypted in less than a week with advanced quantum resources. That’s why NIST has begun publishing post-quantum cryptography standards to protect digital infrastructure. Building the network is just the first step. Japan has experience in quantum research, but lacks large-scale operating environments and will need to resolve issues such as signal stability, deployment costs and system governance. Equipment installed will be needed every so often to maintain the range and quality of the encryption, which makes the operation more expensive and requires specialized personnel. However, These challenges also represent opportunities to develop new capabilities, train talent and demonstrate that the country can compete again in advanced infrastructures. The international map shows that Japan is not starting from zero, but it is not leading either. China has a quantum network land of more than 10,000 kilometers that connects around 80 cities, and the European Union is working in its own infrastructure that covers several countries. The difference is in the approach: Japan aspires for its network to function as an operational national infrastructure, with the capacity to scale and become a strategic asset. The potential of this project goes beyond its technical scope. Japan seeks for this network to become a symbol of technological autonomy and a platform from which to build international agreements. With its own technology and operational experiencecould offer solutions to other countries and reinforce its role as a digital security provider. In a scenario where secure communications will be considered critical infrastructure, being prepared can be a way to regain relevance without competing in all sectors at the same time. Images | Chris Bahr | Jesus Esteban In Xataka | Japan’s great technological delay: how it went from being a pioneer in the sector to being frozen in time

Chinese researchers wanted to know if it was possible to block Starlink in Taiwan: now they have an awkward answer

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Communications have become the invisible thread that sustains any modern military operation. Troops, vehicles or missiles are no longer enough: without a stable and resilient network, the situation can become complicated. During the Ukrainian war, Starlink demonstrated be able to keep Ukrainian forces connected even under pressure, and has since been placed at the center of the debate over its role in military scenarios. According to South China Morning Posta group of Chinese researchers linked to defense institutions has examined to what extent that network could resist a large-scale interference attempt on a territory like Taiwan. Starlink is not a typical satellite network. Instead of relying on a few high-altitude satellites in fixed positions above the equator, it is made up of thousands of small satellites that orbit the Earth at low altitudes and on changing routes. This architecture allows a terminal on the ground to not always connect to the same satellite, but to jump between several in a matter of seconds, forming a flexible mesh that is difficult to interrupt. That dynamic behavior largely explains why it has become a key element in debates about electronic warfare. A laboratory experiment. The study that has put numbers to this scenario is titled “Simulation research of distributed jammers against mega-constellation downlink communication transmissions” and appeared on November 5 in the Chinese magazine Systems Engineering and Electronics. It is signed by a team from Zhejiang University and the Beijing Institute of Technology, an institution with a prominent presence in the country’s military research. It should be noted that it is not an operational document or an official proposal from the Chinese Army, but rather an academic simulation that explores, from a technical point of view, what it would take to interfere with a network like Starlink on a regional scale. {“videoId”:”x9ri2iu”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”How China, the biggest polluter on the planet, has also become the complete opposite”, “tag”:”webedia-prod”, “duration”:”740″} A constellation designed to avoid interference. The study does not limit itself to describing that the terminals change satellites, but analyzes how this change thwarts any attempt at sustained interference. When a hostile signal affects a link, the terminal automatically redirects traffic to another visible satellite, and the network adapts the channel and frequency in real time. That reaction, combined with highly directional antennas capable of concentrating the signal toward specific points, reduces the impact of interfering emitters. The researchers highlight that even if a connection is momentarily blocked, the network can restore communication from another angle or frequency almost immediately. A thousand drones in action? The simulation was based on real data from Starlink’s orbital positioning and modeled how the signal would behave for twelve hours over eastern China. The researchers placed a virtual network of jammers 20 kilometers high, spaced between five and nine kilometers apart, as if they formed a checkerboard in the sky. The study considers that these nodes could be installed on drones, balloons or similar aerial platforms, capable of supporting coordinated interference systems. Using 26 dBW power and narrow beam antennas, each node managed to block an average of 38.5 square kilometers. With that efficiency, at least 935 units would be needed to cover a territory the size of Taiwan, not counting redundancies, failures or geographical barriers such as mountains. In Xataka China is sending drones to an island 100 km from Taiwan. The problem is that Japan and the US are filling it with missiles The authors themselves acknowledge that their results are only an approximation. They explain that they do not have real data on the radiation patterns of the terminals or measured signal suppression coefficients, which limits the precision of the simulation. They also do not know Starlink’s internal adaptation mechanisms against coordinated interference. Even so, they consider that the model serves to estimate the scale of the necessary effort and opens a line of study that allows quantifying, although imperfectly, how a blocking strategy would work in a real scenario. Images | starlink In Xataka | Starlink satellites have transformed war: China and Russia work on “Starlink Killers” to deactivate them (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 Chinese researchers wanted to know if it was possible to block Starlink in Taiwan: now they have an awkward answer was originally published in Xataka by Javier Marquez .

right now it has the best prices of the year

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If we think about what we use to study or work at home, it is normal for our minds to go first to technology (computer, monitors or peripherals, among other things). But, And the furniture? Choosing the table or chair well is key if we want to be as comfortable as possible throughout the day. To give a new look to what we use at home, we have a very good option with Sihoo Black Fridayespecially if we are looking for a new chair. We are going to see two very specific offers that right now present one of the best prices of the year. Sihoo Doro C300 Choosing a Sihoo chair will allow us to have something comfortable and with a very elegant design at home, which makes it fit into any type of setup. This Sihoo Doro C300 is one of the brand’s most popular models and, as we will see a little later, it currently has a huge discount. It is a model that stands out for offering a lumbar support with body tracking. Simply put: this piece moves with us, so without configuring anything we will have our lumbar well supported at all times. Although that is your key point, there is more. Its backrest is flexible and, although it has a rigid structure, we will have good support regardless of whether we are placed in a normal position or with the backrest reclined. The cable rest can be adjusted in height, inclination and depth, something ideal for the neck area. Another important factor is that it has mesh fabric. This material, in addition to giving a more elegant touch to the chair, It is more resistant to the passage of time and stains. All without forgetting that, in addition, it is more suitable when it starts to get hot in a few months. We also can’t forget its 4D armrests, which can be adjusted both up and down and forward and back (and in or out). In addition, they synchronize with the backrest if we recline it, so we will always have them supported. The RRP of the chair outside of the promotion is 309.99 euros, but right now it is reduced to 259.99 euros (there is a version with footrest, also reduced to 299.99 euros). Now if we use the code ‘SihooT6‘, the price of it will remain at 244.39 eurosthe lowest this model has had in recent months. Golden opportunity to renew a chair. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sihoo Doro S100 We have an alternative to the previous one with the Doro S100. It is a versatile chair that is ideal for all types of users, thanks to its double dynamic lumbar support. This, with a larger support surface, It is totally independent of the backup. If we are looking for maximum lumbar support, this model is ideal for us. The fact that the backrest is independent of the lumbar area also allows us to adjust it at various levels to be able to customize support for the shoulder and neck areasomething essential to be seated with a comfortable posture. It can recline up to 135 degrees and also has a quality elastic mesh fabric, plus its armrests are also 4D. The RRP of this model is exactly the same as that of the previous Sihoo chair: 309.99 euros. Now, if we take advantage of Black Friday, we can get it at a much more attractive price. As a base, we have it reduced to 249.99 euros. Now using the same discount code ‘SihooT6‘, its price remains only 234.99 euros. 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 | sihoo In Xataka Selection | Which chair to work and play to buy: recommendations for ergonomics, comfort and 13 gaming and office chairs from 80 euros In Xataka | How to set up your home office: buying guide for stands, monitors and other peripherals, cables, headphones and more

The SEPE will automatically process your IMV

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According to October data From the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, 773,272 households have received the Minimum Vital Income (IMV), providing coverage to 2,363,554 people. This represents an increase of 19.25% in the number of households that receive this benefit. Until now, for receive the IMV It was necessary to make an application and provide the necessary documentation. As announced in your X profile the ministry headed by Elma Saiz, the gateway has been activated that will allow those people who have run out of unemployment benefits without having found a jobthey are automatically granted the IMV without having to carry out the ordinary procedures. Expansion of coverage to vulnerable people. The Government has launched a system so that people who finish collecting unemployment and they are still unemployedbegin to collect the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) automatically, as long as they meet the requirements of the benefit. The Ministry’s statement emphasizes that the objective is that those who are in a situation of vulnerability They do not run out of income while trying to find work and they do not have to face more bureaucracy at a difficult time. “With the launch of this gateway, we eliminate administrative barriers and make it easier for citizens in vulnerable situations to receive the help they need automatically, without cumbersome procedures or unnecessary delays,” said Minister Elma Saiz in the statement. Official processing. The IMV granting gateway connects the end of the unemployment benefit with the start of the IMV to avoid an interruption in income in economically dependent households. As explained by the ministry, during the quarter prior to the exhaustion of the unemployment benefit, the SEPE will notify the beneficiary that their aid is about to end and will inform them that they can authorize the sending of their data and that of their family unit to Social Security to process the IMV, as established in the simplification of IMV applications that regulated the Royal Decree-Law 2/2024. Concession of office. If the person gives their consent, and meets the requirements, the SEPE has a maximum period of 10 days from the end of the unemployment benefit to send the application to the INSS to process the benefit. When the right is recognizedthe Minimum Living Income comes into force on the same day it is unemployment benefit runs outso the first payment of the IMV occurs on the first day of the following month so that people in vulnerable situations “receive the help they need automatically, without cumbersome procedures or unnecessary delays.” Tap on the image to go to the original message Automated management. The most important change is that the unemployed person does not have to submit a new application or provide additional documentation to access the IMV through this route. The transmission of data is carried out ex officio by the SEPE, which eliminates “administrative burdens” and avoids in-person or telematic procedures that could previously delay the collection of aid. Who is the measure aimed at?. As and as I pointed out The Newspaperthe measure is thought for people between 23 and 65 years old who exhaust their unemployment benefit and whose income does not exceed the limits set for each type of cohabitation unit. As a reference, the annual income limit for a single person is 7,250 euros and for a family of four this limit rises to 13,775 euros. According to data provided by the Ministry, the average amount of the IMV is 473.41 euros per month per household, although this amount varies depending on the nature of each household. This aid is complemented with 115 euros per household per month in the case of children from 0 to 3 years old; 80.5 euros per month for each child between 3 and 6 years old; and 57.5 euros per month for each minor between 6 and 18 years old. What happens if you cannot use the automatic route. If for any reason this automatic gateway cannot be used (because the unemployed person does not give consent or because data is missing), the option still exists. traditional application route. In these cases, the IMV can be requested through the Social Security benefits portal, by mail or in person at the Social Security Assistance and Information Centers (CAISS). In addition, along with the new automatic processing platform, the 020 telephone number for assistance and information has also been enabled for the Minimum Living Income procedures. In Xataka | Job insecurity prevails among young people and the salary does not reach them: the “B salary” is gaining more and more followers Image | Wikimedia Commons (Lojwe), Unsplash (Huyen Pham)

We thought this bug was a pig. Now we know that it was two meters tall, weighed a thousand kilos and was a killing machine related to whales.

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Almost 200 years ago, a paleontologist found some completely improbable bones. They thought about it a thousand times, tried to find some sense in it; but everything ended in the same delirious image: that of a huge pig with the capacity to destroy everything in front of it. And that’s what we called him for decades: the ‘pig from hell’. What we have just discovered, two centuries later, is that we know almost nothing about them. Now they are even more terrible. But what really is a ‘hell pig’? It is the popular nickname by which entelodonts are known; an extinct family of large prehistoric mammals that lived about 30 million years ago. The bug was described for the first time in the 1840sbut it was in the early 20th century that paleontologists assumed it was closely related to pigs or peccaries. It was not something irrational: on a strictly physical level, entelodonts looked very similar to modern-day pigs. Two meters tall, weighing more than a thousand kilos and jaws capable of crushing bones, but pigs nonetheless. With “crushing bones” we are falling short. Recently, a team from Vanderbilt University could examine in detail the teeth of these animals and, thanks to three-dimensional models of dental microwear, they have managed to turn around everything we thought we knew about the role of these animals in North American ecosystems 30 million years ago. Your conclusions they leave no room for doubt: “the largest specimens were capable of crushing bones with an efficiency similar to or even greater than that of lions and hyenas.” Luckily, they weren’t very smart; And, according to the researchers, “it has a brain-body relationship similar to that of reptiles, so they were very unintelligent creatures.” A complex story. At first, experts thought that this monstrous animal was a born hunter. Then, partly because of this familiarity with pigs, they came to the conclusion that they were omnivorous animals, capable of eating small animals and carrion. Now, thanks to this team, we know that they were most likely at the top of the food chain of their ecosystems. This, in fact, raises the possibility that different species (or subspecies) occupied different ecological niches. However, there are curious things. To begin with, entelodonts have nothing to do with pigs. In fact, they are closer to whales and hippos than anything else. But, above all, it shows us the difficulties we continue to have in understanding our past. Little by little, we are understanding that if our way of looking at the past conditions the futureour ability to understand what the world was like 30 million years ago will radically change many things we think we are. And the best thing is that, even though I get melancholic and retrospective, everything we know makes it clear that the “pig from hell” is more infernal than ever. Image | Carnegie Museum of Natural History In Xataka | The deaths of cows, reindeer or rhinos are not a mystery: they are the consequences of a curse, that of “large animals”

It’s going so well that Mediaset is already preparing another season

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In a Telecinco hit by a crisis that has lasted for years and where not even hitherto safe tricks like ‘Big Brother’ work, it is advisable to desperately cling to any success that emerges on the grid. This season’s (and a few previous ones) is ‘The island of temptations‘, he reality which, despite being increasingly exaggerated and less credible, conquers audiences. Mediaset, faced with this triumph, can only do one thing: step on the accelerator. The island returns (it never left). Mediaset has confirmed that ‘The Island of Temptations’ will have a tenth season, whose recordings will begin in January 2026 with Sandra Barneda again at the helm of the program. The announcement came just 24 hours after the reality will reach his best record of the current edition: 17% screen share and 1.4 million viewers, last Monday, November 25. The speed of the move reveals the urgency of the chain to ensure its only consistent success in the midst of a unprecedented audience crisis: The tenth edition could arrive, apparently, sooner than the usual cycle of the program would dictate. The numbers that explain it. In addition to this maximum quota of last November 25, emissions in access prime time (Tuesday and Wednesday) average 11.5% with about 1.46 million viewerseven competing with rivals like ‘El hormiguero’ and ‘La revuelta’. The previous season closed with an average share of 16.5% and 1.529 million viewers, becoming the most successful edition since 2021. That eighth installment swept the young audience: it achieved 36% in the 13 to 24 year-old segment and 28.5% among 25 to 44 year-olds. A new strategy. With this new season Alberto Carullo, general director of content at Mediaset, has scheduled three weekly broadcasts because, as stated at a press conferencethey detected that “the public consumes this program almost like a series.” This repetition confronts reality directly with heavyweights such as ‘MasterChef Celebrity’ and competes on social networks with the phenomenon of ‘Operación Triunfo 2025’ on Prime Video, where it generates viral trends without stopping. And he maintains his form against such popular rivals, something that has undoubtedly encouraged Mediaset to renew. Historical debacle. The success of ‘The Island of Temptations’ contrasts brutally with the historic drop in audiences that Telecinco is experiencing. Mediaset’s main network closed 2024 with a 9.8% audience share, its worst annual record since it began broadcasting in 1990 and the first time it fell below the psychological threshold of 10%. From the departure of Paolo Vasile in 2022when the network averaged 12.3%, the loss has been 20% in audience in just two years. The situation has become so critical that Telecinco was overwhelmed even through the set of paid thematic channels. The network has fallen to third place in the national ranking, far behind Antena 3 and La 1, which They starred in the duel for leadership in 2024. In this catastrophic context, the realities They have become the only lifeline that Mediaset has to cling to. In fact, for a Telecinco at historic lows, ‘The Island of Temptations’ It’s not just a successful program.: It’s literally the only content that works consistently for you. History of a format. ‘Temptation Island’ landed in Spain in January 2020 with an ambitious bet: simultaneous broadcast on Telecinco (13.7%) and Cuatro (9.5%). The immediate impact led Mediaset to prepare a second installment that same year, incorporating crucial changes: Sandra Barneda replaced the original duo of Mónica Naranjo and Carlos Sobera, and the Dominican Republic became the permanent location of the reality. The format has already generated nine regular seasons plus a special spin-off, ‘The Last Temptation’ in 2021, where ex-couples from previous editions returned to test their new relationships. A consistent success. The casting of the ninth season broke records: More than 1,000 couples registered to participateshowing that the format maintains its appeal even after almost five years on the air. And now it’s time to get back to it: after the end of ‘Survivientes All Stars 2’, Telecinco has taken over with ‘Big Brother 20’ (that hasn’t worked) and this ‘Temptation Island 9’ that is doing it, which forces the calendar to accelerate. They counted our colleagues from SensaCineTherefore, “the tenth edition will begin filming as soon as it begins in 2026: in January”, breaking the tradition of summer recordings. At full speed. In Xataka | The end of ‘Caiga Quia Caiga’ is more than a blow to the audience: it illustrates that Telecinco can only trust reality shows

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