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We thought that Sunday’s anxiety in the afternoon was a laziness problem. Actually, it’s about working balance

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Every weekend, millions of people experience a sensation that is increasing as Sunday is coming and the first day of the work week is approaching. According to A study Prepared by LinkedIn, this phenomenon, known as “Sunday anxiety“or” Sunday syndrome “, affects up to 80% of the workers surveyed, being more intense in the employees of generation Z with 94% incidence. In fact, this phenomenon is so studied that they have even managed to start time: the first symptoms tend to appear From 15:58 on Sunday, According to a survey which was carried out in 2020. The usual thing is to attribute this anguish Sunday to laziness or to the desire to stretch leisure time to the maximum at the expense of neglecting labor obligations. However, its origin is a bit deeper and is related to the abrupt step of leisure to duty. Factors behind Sunday anxiety According to published by The countryanticipated anxiety by the arrival of Monday is manifested with varied symptoms: from stomach discomfort and difficulty sleeping to melancholy and fear, depending on each person. According to psychologist Marisol Delgado, a specialist in psychotherapy by the European Federation of Psychologists Associations (EFPA), “Sunday afternoon is one of the few moments in which many professionals can stop reflecting on their life and wander after five or six frantic days.” Sunday’s anguish not only depends on personal emotions, but it is influenced by multiple factors structural and cultural. One of the most prominent is Labor exhaustionthe overload of tasks and the poor management of them throughout the week. In short, the job anxiety It does not have its origin in the laziness of returning to work instead of continuing to enjoy leisure time, but of the anxiety produced by the Labor overload and the lack of free time until next weekend. In other words, of a Bad balance between personal and work life. As Delgado explained, “people who suffer from this disorder are usually those who focus on the negative of things, those who do not know how to manage their free time, those with a clear avoidance strategy In complicated situations or those that have little tolerance to frustration and do not accept that things end, that the weekend ends. “ The feeling of guilt for not having fulfilled all the weekend plans, or for Not having enjoyed free time As expected, it helps to increase the feeling of discomfort and frustration before the work week starts again. The tendency to compare with others Through social networks It adds to anguish, especially when it is perceived that the weekend itself It has been less satisfactory than that of othersincreasing that feeling of discomfort. Strategies for a bad Sunday Although Sunday anxiety may seem difficult to handle, there are effective resources to reduce its impact both at the moment and in the long term. Among the most recommended is the create a relaxing routine For Sunday night and avoid leaving tedious or home tasks for that day. Try to advance them to Friday or Saturday morning to release your agenda for the rest of the weekend. Similarly, minimize Monday’s negative connotations planning an activity that is fun for Monday: a film session or is with a friend. In short, schedule an activity that makes you wishing that Monday arrives To do it. Another strategy consists of Organize and plan the weeksince having clarity about the objectives and tasks facilitates stress management and helps to reduce intrusive thoughts. When the discomfort persists, it is recommended Search for professional supportcommunicate the needs to the work environment to prevent Those first symptoms of lack of balance between working life and leisure time can derive in mental health problems. In Xataka | If you have wondered how much free time you need to be happy, science has an answer Image | Unspash (Hannah Popowski, Annie Spratt)

What Steve Jobs thought about intelligence

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A good way to help us work our path to success is to find inspiring figures. People from different areas that reached significant goals and who had often overcome multiple adversities. Fortunately, we live in a connected world where many speeches or experiences of those who can be our referents are at hand. The speech. We must not necessarily match everything. Sometimes it is enough to find certain anecdotes or advice that can be adequate for certain moments of our life. It is no secret that Steve Jobs has inspired thousands of people, and continues to do so. A speech provided In 1982 by Apple’s co -founder at the Academy of Achievement It has a part that has not gone unnoticed. Much is talk about intelligence. Some believe that this capacity is key to achieving great achievements in life, and that it is directly related to intellectual coefficient (CI). Others believe intelligence It has nothing to do with the ICeven some claim that it is a secondary capacity to achieve achievements, and that it is of no use if there are no defined goals, action plans and, above all, discipline. But what did Jobs think? As Ign points outthe businessman had a fairly peculiar vision of what it was to be intelligent. For him, he was mainly on people’s ability not to see things individually, but to understand them as a whole. To do this, it was essential to take distance and contemplate a problem or a situation as if they were looking from the top of a building. Let’s see exactly what Jobs said: “I have reflected a little about this, and one of the things that I think is important is that it has a lot to do with memory, but also with the ability to get away a little, as if you were in a city and you could see everything from the 80th floor, looking down. While others try to discover how to go from point A to point B reading those absurd maps, you can see everything in front of you.” This successful businessman continues to explain that power away allows us to see everything as a whole, and make connections that, from that perspective, seem obvious. “Therefore, brilliant people often feel guilty, because they come up with things that simply say” look this “, and other people give them silly awards and feel weird,” he said, precisely in the academy that recognizes the achievements. Other ideas. For Bill Gates, another personality of the technological world, success was to consider the worst and best scenario. Microsoft co -founder left in the background qualities such as reading or exercising memory, although We know that it has a huge library and that he dedicates much of his time to read. For Warren Buffettthe key to achieving success is high as time as time. Images | Apple In Xataka | Sam Altman’s advice to achieve success in a competitive world: build a solid network and be constant *An earlier version of this article was published in August 2024

Stellantis awaits a ship with open arms. One loaded with Chinese cars to assault the SUV of 30,000 euros

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China has an objective with its automotive industry: flooding Europe and other main markets with its cars. Its main bet is the electricbut Chinese brands are consolidating in the West with All types of motorizations. Saic, Geely, Byd and, of course, Xiaomithey are increasingly recognizable brands in the market, but at the end of 2024, Another joined the party: Leapmotor. Its objective is to compete in the most tight price segment, and for this they joined Stellantis. Now, the first ship loaded with the new LEAPMOTOR B10 China has left Rumbo to Europe. And it is a serious bet to assault the urban electric SUV segment of 30,000 euros. Stellantis 🤝 China. Stellantis is one of the largest automotive groups, but in recent years he has had to face a Image crisis due to its Puretech engines. Millions of cars with potentially defective engines translate into A guarantee extension (with the cost that this implies for the brand), Millions of euros have burned in unsuccessful developments and have even managed to anger the Italian police. To try to bite in the electricity share of the electric, at the end of 2023 He invested 1,500 million euros in Leapmotor for have 21% of the company. With that movement it became a Strategic shareholder of the Chinese companybut they also created a joint venture called Leapmotor International led by Stellantis (51%) and Leapmotor (49%) that gives Stellantis exclusive rights to export, sell and manufacture Leapmotor products outside China. In a nutshell: Stellantis assembles and sells Chinese models in Europe and other markets and Leapmotor takes advantage of the Stellantis distribution network to consolidate its position in the global market. And a very important model is the B10. LEAPMOTOR B10. Leapmotor has designed the B10 with the international market in mind. It has a 218 hp motorization and something common with the rest of Chinese cars (and following the trend that It has swallowed until the identity of Mazda), a 14.6 -inch screen dominates the interior. After the steering wheel there is an instrument frame that is also a panel of 8.8 inches. It has a length of 4.52 meters by 1.89 meters wide and will arrive with two battery options. On the one hand, 56.2 kWh that allows up to 361 kilometers WLTP. On the other, 67.1 kWh for up to 434 kilometers. The load is up to 168 kW, allowing 80% of the battery to recover in half an hour. Leven Anclas. The commercial debut of the SUV will occur in the IAA Munich Mobility. It is one of the most important windows for electric vehicles and, both Stellantis and Leapmotor, they want to ensure a good inventory for possible buyers. China wants to dominate the electric cars sector in Europe (And not just electric), And companies do not conform to rent huge ro-ro ships To transport your product. We have already seen cases like byd either SAIC opening a flotTo transport their cars, and Leapmotor has also secured his, but without having his own fleet. An alliance with the Italian Grimaldi Group is the one that will allow the Chinese company to use its ships, including the latest generation, for its operations. The fact that It has already started from China With 2,500 units of B10 is the great Tianjin, which holds imposing figures: 200 meters of length. 38 meters manga. Capacity for up to 9,241 units. Electrical system to avoid emissions during scales. Low emissions man engines prepared for future conversion to fuels without carbon. Rivals. The idea is that the great Tianjin arrives on time for both the presentation at the German event and for the start of sales in concessionaires. In addition, its arrival will allow Stellantis to have a car to compete, directly, with the most settled electronic SUVs in our market such as the Renault ScĂ©nic E-Techhe Volkkswagen ID.4he Byd Atto 3 And the most ‘dangerous’, the MG ZS EV. The version with less autonomy is expected to be positioned for less than 30,000 euros, a figure lower than those of those direct rivals, but we must wait for the official presentation to confirm it. Climbing. Although the IAA Mobiliy is the event that marks the start of Stellantis and Leapmotor operations with the B10, companies will not limit this model to the European market. Apart from 20 countries on the continent, the intention It is selling it in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America at the end of this year. Images | Stellantis In Xataka | Family and friends keep asking me if “it is worth buying a Chinese car.” This is my answer

How Granada wants to become the great battery of southern Spain

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Spain needs energy storage solutions, That is indisputable. With a good part of its electricity from renewablesthe country faces the great challenge of saving energy when the wind does not blow or the sun appears. In that context, the Villar Mir project appears in Granada: a reversible hydroelectric plant of 356 MW linked to the Rules reservoir. A key step in the procedures. The Villar Mir Energy subsidiary has just achieved the FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT DECLARATION of the Ministry for Ecological Transition. The approval is a decisive impulse after years of waiting: the granting of water of the Junta de AndalucĂ­a It was granted from 2020but this process was missing, probably the most complex of all. The resolution, Published in the Official State Gazettealso imposes a package of environmental conditions with preventive, corrective and compensatory measures. The project advances, although it must still overcome additional authorizations before putting the first stone. Thus the Guájares Central will work. The proposal will be built in the municipalities of VĂ©lez de Benaudalla, El Pinar, Los Guájares and Padul. The system is simple on paper: Water will be pumped from the Rules reservoir to a upper raft to release it in times of greater demand, generating clean electricity. The installation will have the capacity to produce 1,022 GWh a year, sufficient to supply hundreds of thousands of homes. The works will not be minor: it is expected to dig more than 246,000 cubic meters of material, 1.5 km pipes and an execution period close to five years. More than 400 million euros at stake. According to the economistBanco Santander advises the group in the search for investor partners who co -finance the work. The movement arrives at a key moment for the holding company: the group has reduced its debt from 1,500 to 120 million since 2017, after selling participations in Ohla, Ferroglobe and Fertial, and looks for projects with which to reinforce its financial repositioning. A controversy in progress. The project is not free of criticism. Deputy Granada Alejandra Durán, deputy spokesman for Andalusia and leader of Podemos, has shown her frontal rejection. According to Europa Presswarns of erosion risks and slopes of slopes, in addition to the possible condition of protected species such as the real eagle, the lost eagle or the grown vulture. Durán also alerts the felling of “thousands of trees, shrubs and native scrublands,” recalls that part of the affected land coincides with the soil on fire of the Guájares and accuses the administrations of prevailing private interests on the general interest. He even speaks of a “water theft” that would harm the farmers in the area. Spain and the urgency of storage. The debate is not exclusive to Granada. Spain already produces near Half of its electricity with renewablesbut the intermission of wind and solar forces to look for storage solutions. Pumping plants have become authentic “Hydraulic batteries”capable of saving surpluses to release them when they do the most. In October alone, this type of facilities generated 4,747 GWh, 10% more than in 2022. Although the installed power has barely grown in the last 15 years (3,337 MW), experts agree that the reversible pumping will be decisive to stabilize the system and contain light prices. Between need and resistance. The Guájares Central clearly reflects the tension of the energy transition: the urgency of guaranteeing storage against the environmental and social risks of this type of works. With the favorable day in his hand, now he has to decide if Villar Mir assumes the investment and makes Granada epicenter of renewables in Spain. The question is whether this great “water battery” will remain as a progress engine or as an example of the excesses of the energy transition. Image | Freepik Xataka | How much electricity produces each country with renewable energy, exposed in a graphic

The place where dozens of animal cells are stored in case there is a great disaster

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In a basement from the Biomedical Research Park in Barcelona, ​​between liquid nitrogen clouds, an incalculable value treasure is saved: an ark of Noah of the 21st century. It does not contain couples of animals, but thousands of small tubes at -196 ° C that retain life. It is the Cryozooa pioneer biobanco that stores cell lines of hundreds of species, many of them to the edge of extinction. It is not an achievement, but a warning. At the head of this initiative is the renowned molecular biologist TomĂ s Marquès-Bonet, one of the Greater world experts in genomics of great worlds. As the world has collected, This project is not a great achievementbut a last use resource in the event that the main species of our planet are extinguished. This is explained by the researcher himself: Recovering species with these techniques is the failure of society, but it is amazing to be able to do it. The first must be to preserve in your habitat the animals that remain alive. And when everything else has failed, it is better to have these banks than not to have them, like an ace in the manga Of a biopsy to cell immortality. The concept, inspired by the famous San Diego Frozen Zoo, is as elegant as powerful. The Cryozoo team collaborates with about twenty European zoos and aquariums to obtain small tissue samples, often during routine veterinary reviews. In this way, with a millimeter of leather you can create a stock of cell lines and keep them forever. The process is surprisingly pragmatic. Zoos send biopsies in tubes with a conservation medium. A complex cold chain is not always needed; Sometimes, as in the case of a stranded whale in Valencia, a little serum is enough to start. In the laboratory conservation is consumed. Once the fabric reaches the laboratory, Technicians cultivate cellsallowing them to divide and multiply to form a homogeneous population that is called ‘cell line’. Reprogramming to stem cells. The most revolutionary step is reprogramming. They can take a skin cell and, by laboratory techniques, return it to a pluripotent state, turning it into a stem cell of induced pluripotentiality (IPSC). “A stem cell is a pluripotent cell, which means that it can become what you want,” says Marquès-Bonet. And once this is achieved, the last step of cryopreservation of both cell lines and IPSC in liquid nitrogen is reached, where they can remain viable for decades, waiting for the science of the future to need them. A technique similar to that used for human embryo conservationfor example, in fertility processes. Currently, Cryozoo already houses more than 2,000 samples of almost 300 species, which have generated 350 high quality cell lines. Among its “treasures” are Montseny Triton cells (the most threatened amphibian in Europe), the Pyrenean frog, the ORYX DAMMAH (A species already extinct in nature) and even the rhinoceros Pedro, the longest in Europe, deceased in 2023. Quality on quantity. What distinguishes Cryozoo from other initiatives is not its size, but its obsession with quality. And it is that the bank’s goal is not to have the more cell lines the better, but to have the best and most viable. To achieve this, they have implemented a step that they consider crucial and that makes them unique: sequence the complete genome of each cell line they create. In this way, they ensure that the genome of the cultivated cell is a faithful representation to the original animal without genetic aberrations that have occurred in the laboratory. AND the fact of sequencing it It is also a great advance for science, because on many occasions it is the first time that this technique is done in a specific species. Something that will be in a repository that any researcher can consult. They want to avoid using these cells. With the ability to convert skin cells into ovules and sperm, the question is inevitable: is the ultimate goal of ‘de -sextinction’? But researchers have it clear: it is a red line that they never want to pass. Although technology has already allowed to bring functionally extinct species such as the Huron of black legs or the Przewalski horse, the Cryozoo team considers that its function is to be custodians of the genetic material, not to execute reproduction. They would only make their cells available to a project of this caliber if it had the validation of the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) and a global consensus. Cloning is not the step. Although it can be attractive to make ‘photocopies’ of animals in a laboratory, the reality is that today It is a expensive and inefficient process. The real effort of the researchers today lies in preserving ecosystems so that animals live in them and reproduce naturally. Without man having to intervene. A cell bank to save animals … and also humans. The value of Cryozoo does not only reside in that distant possibility of resuscitating species. Its applications are immediate and revolutionary for current research. And it is that diseases can be studied without damaging any living being by infecting cells with a pathogen to see how cells react. But it goes further, being able to create ‘mini organs’ to investigate the biology of some species, test drugs safely or investigate human diseases in the genetics of these animals. A hope for an uncertain future. The changes that succumb to our planet can cause in the future to be a real climatic emergency. That is why we prepare the ‘end of the end of the world‘To collect all the seeds of the world, and now we also collect all animals. A genetic library that, in the best stage, we will only consult for pure scientific curiosity and never for a planetary emergency. Images | Gary Bendig Julia Koblitz In Xataka | Apocalypse diet: science already knows what survivors will eat a nuclear war

Nox’s key to convert the nighttime train into the alternative to the plane

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The train is the Interior mobility dorsal spine from many countries, but although in territories such as the European there is a good international connection, Short low-cost flights They have eaten this emblematic transport. Although there are still diurnal trains operators and, above all, Night that connect those countriesbut now one that wants not only to offer an attractive option to tour Europe, but also stand up to the plane. His name is Noxand the bet is the price and private cabins. Wake up at destiny. In June of this year, He was born The German Startup Nox. Its objective is to offer an attractive solution for those who seek An alternative to the plane In a more comfortable, sustainable and, above all, private transport. Its founders are two veterans in the railway sector and consider that The night train It should cease to be that romantized experience to become a fundamental piular in Europe’s international transportation. Cabinas. They look for a change of model, replacing short distance flights with night -train journeys designed for both those who travel for work and for tourists who want to rest and dawn in the destination. The main difference with the plane (beyond airport times), and with other night trains is the system of cabins they propose. All will be private, they will have two meters and there will be Three categories: Individual loft for a single traveler. Double loft with convertible bunk. Double view with second floor bed, seats and panoramic window. The trains will have food, drink and space for bicycles, and also devoted themselves to recycle trains that are discarded every year in all countries, reconvirting them to offer this new cabin experience. Destinations. Those responsible hope to start operations in 2027, although we still have some renders of the project, and want to start with about 30 routes that will later expand up to 100 European cities. By 2035, they want to have large centers such as Barcelona, ​​Paris, Amsterdam, Budapest, Rome or Warsaw, among others, with a connection that will be central to central-city, something with which the plane cannot compete. Among its objectives, the range will be 1,200 kilometers away maximum per route for an optimal 12 -hour travel time. The price controversy. This is a crucial point and the bet is from 79 euros per individual room and from 149 euros for double and per night. It is a very interesting price, but you have to see how realistic it is. According to the German Aerospace Center, low -cost airlines They charged In 2024 an average of 79.33 euros per night tickets for journeys between 500 and 1,500 kilometers. Is aligned with the price with which NOx wants to operate, but in back on track They already calculate that those 79 euros can only be the entrance price and that the average should be exceeding 100 euros. According to the organization’s calculations, a night train with an average occupation of 75% and a maximum of 500 seats, would have a journey of 27,000 euros at the prices that NOX expects, assuming a deficit of about 9,000 euros per route to cover costs. They are not alone. As we say, several night trains operate in Europe, but Nox’s great argument is that of privacy. And apart from the fact that there are several companies offering this transport service, there is a whole movement to enhance the use of night trains. This is the aforementioned Back-on-Track, who seek to enhance this way of traveling as One of the tools that Europe has To reduce, According to themup to 3% their contribution to Climate change If used trains instead of aircraft on short and medium distance trips. In Xataka | Renfe has joined the “Slow Luxury” with a luxury alternative to visit Andalusia: Al-Andalus with tickets at 14,000 euros

AI has become the best example that if you don’t pay for the product, you are the product

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They said it in The documentary ‘The dilemma of social networks’: If you are not paying for the product, you are the product. Surely you have heard the phrase more than once in reference to the apps and services that we do not pay with money, but with another type of currency. Social networks, browsers, GPS apps … almost all They collect our information staff and navigation data to do business. Artificial intelligence apps are not different, in fact, there is a career to attract more and more users and forge alliances to get data with which to continue training their chatbots. Improve experience. “When you share your content with us, you help our models more precise since it can better solve your specific problems,” this phrase is taken from the Chatgpt Privacy Policy And in the one of Gemini There are other similar ones. Anthropic was the only one who held the conversations with Claude privately, but Yesterday they announced that they changed their policy. Our personal information, use data and especially conversations serve to continue training and improve. We can disable this option if we want, but we have to be we who do it. By default it is activated. Data shortage. AI needs many data to be trained, many. With the first language models all kinds of content were used, including Content protected by copyright as books or images of works of art. But the data is not infinite. At the end of 2021 there was already a talk of a shortage problem already early this year, Elon Musk said that AI had already consumed all human knowledge. This is a problem for the advance of AI and would be responsible for The rhythm has slowed down. Solutions. IA companies have had to look for life to get new data. OpenAI transcribed a million youtube hours To train GPT-4, Google decided that it would use Any information published on the Internet to improve your AI and Musk believes that the future is in the synthetic data generated by AI itself. But there is something that can also be used to train AI and they are our conversations with it. With the first models they did not have so many users, but currently the volume of data that users generate is much greater. Only Chatgpt has 800 million usersit sounds like a booty too juicy not to use it. Giving away. The conversations we have with ChatgPT can be useful, but it is even more useful when they are data from more specific groups. They count on Rest of World That to achieve this, IA companies are forging alliances with other companies and organizations that allow them to access data that cannot be achieved Web scraping. Openai has been associated with Shopee and offers its Plus plan for VIP users in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Google offers its free Gemini Pro plan for a year to students in India and Perplexity Pro is available free through operators such as Movistar or Airtel in India … These alliances increase their user base and provide real data of consumption of specific groups, which allows them to train their models more precisely. The Chinese case. China is an example of how to access specific data can give advantage when developing effective solutions. Pharmaceutical research companies that use AI have access to the national health system data, which covers more than 600 million people. This gives them a competitive advantage and has made Chinese companies sign Millionaire agreements with large pharmaceuticals. Worry. Experts such as Sameer Patil, director of the observer Research Foundation, calls to establish a clearer regulation, especially in sensitive sectors such as health or finance: “participating companies will have to ensure that data sets are not personalized and anonymous,” he says in statements to Rest of World. Image | Chatgpt In Xataka | Goal goes for all with AI: announces a data center almost as large as Manhattan and up to 65,000 million investment

3,599 books of all kinds that you can now consult

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If you are proud of your reading speed, turn side to side: earlier this year, Dan Pelzer died with 92 years, leaving behind A manuscript list of books which had read since 1962. An enormous amount of readings that has generated an unusual interest among fans, since it raises a great diversity of issues on habits and reading records. 3,599 books. That is the amount of volume published in a document that has enabled the searchso you can locate your favorites there. Your goal to read such a amount: try to read a hundred daily pages. Pelzer began to maintain the list when he was destined in Nepal as a volunteer of the peace body, and kept it until 2023, when he had no choice but to leave the reading and after many years as a retiree. Tars. Many of these books betray an indisputable interest in Christianityreligion that Pelzer practiced, according to his relatives, devoutly. There is also abundance of history books, which led him to read no less than ‘History of Civilization’ of Will and Ariel Durant, a huge work in twelve volumes, which if we attend to the registration dates, he took from the library apparently disorderly. However, Pelzer did not disgust authors of Best Self Like Stephen King, Ken Follett or John Grisham. Why the list is interesting. Comments on articles like thisthat they break down the story of Pelzer, demonstrate to what extent in digital times this type of feats touch a fiber. Pelzer’s commitment to reading has its abundant critics (one states that “only about 15% of books are critical of the status quo or show the world from a non -homogeneous perspective. The guy read more than 3,500 books, but only to confirm their own beliefs “), but That vision has all the meaning of the world: His own son described the list in an interview as “a microcosm of his life.” The importance of libraries. It is logical that Columbus Metropolitan Library will take the work of digitizing and visible the list as a tribute to one of its most voracious visitors. For many readersthis list actually hides a real tribute to public libraries as essential tools for democratization of access to knowledge. A 2022 PEW survey He talked about the Americans to read on average 14 books in the year, much less than Pelzer’s 60 annuals. And in a moderate income man, the library plays an essential role. To read all. If you want to undertake the task of imitating the huge amount of Pelzer readings, remember that we have A list of tips to read 200 books a year. The methodology is simple: find a space of daily tranquility and click on it. Always carry a book on. Leave what you have to leave, do not become a torture. And yes, of course, turn off the mobile. Pelzer’s milestone is within your reach. In Xataka | More and more people use chatgpt to read books for them. Has advantages and enormous inconvenience

In 1995, NASA began to drug spiders with amphetamines, marijuana and the most devastating: caffeine

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We carry decades experimenting with animals. Despite the Ethical issueand that we see more and more vegan products that imply that there has been no experimentation in animals, until Large technological ones resort to this method. And in 1995, NASA made one of the more curious experiments To measure the drug toxicity. And they did it drugs. Measuring toxicity. It is not that someone woke up one day and wondered what would happen if we die LSD to spiders. Or well, exactly that is what happened, but for a good reason and not for fun. In 1948, the researcher Peter N. Witt He wanted to help his colleague HM Peters, a zoologist who wanted to modify the schedule in which his laboratory spiders began to weave the nets. To do this, he administered substances such as LSD, Mescalina (hallucinogen), amphetamines, caffeine and strychnine (stimulating such as cocaine) To the arthropods and discovered something: the schedule did not change the least, but the patterns of the cobwebs. Depending on the drug Administered, the pattern changed, and that revelation served as an economic model to prove the neurological impact of drugs and toxic on living systems. Why spiders? The problem is that the nervous system of arthropods is different from ours, so it is useless to draw conclusions when we want to try effects on humans, but it is interesting to know how these psychoactive substances influence their organism. In 1995, NASA, inspired by Witt’s experiment, chose spiders for new research, but also did it for An ethical issue. They wanted to measure the toxic effect of different compounds, but without resorting to mammals or “higher organisms.” They needed a sensitive and reliable organism, but not controversial. In addition, spiders are perfect because their cobwebs follow fixed and instinctive patterns that, as Witt already demonstrated, was extremely sensitive to chemical alterations. The experiment. Baptized as “Using Spider-Web Patterns to Determine Toxicity“, he experiment It consisted of exposing different European garden spiders to different drugs. To do this, they dissolved a certain amount of drugs in sugary water and administered it directly to the spider through the mouth or by means of flies previously fed with the solution. Once administered, they let each spider weave their air and, later, photographed the web that had been fabric, comparing that creation with cobwebs photographs that those same spiders had made before applying the drug. If you get drugs, don’t tile. The results They speak for themselves: In addition, the methodology was stricter than the one carried out by Witt half a century earlier when using statistical tools to measure changes in the number of complete sides of the ‘cells’ of each web and the general regularity of the design. In other words: high doses of caffeine, for example, and because it is the one that produces the most chaotic result, generated disorganized and incomplete patterns. Until the lowest doses they already allowed irregularities to be observed in the web that allowed researchers to correlate toxicity with tissue morphology. Consequences. We must not be a genius for this, but the greater the toxicity, the more incomplete and chaotic the web was. But the most important thing is that this thorough methodology of NASA converted the experiment In an alternative to traditional toxicity tests, especially in a scenario that, as we said, had less tolerance to tests with other types of animals. They were biological evidence, yes, and chemicals were also administered to living beings, but in a little invasive way and without losing rigor. And, precisely, the visibility of this work helped the debate on animal ethics to increase even more, evidencing that alternative, but economic methods could be used, with rigorous and replicable results, being more ethical than other models that were made -and they continue to do. Like Witt’s, NASA’s experiment provided very valuable information, but not applicable to humansdue to the differences between the nervous system of a human and other animals … and that of arthropods. For example, caffeine causes total chaos in spiders, but in humans, although It is not good if we want to make certain decisionsIt does not produce the same effects. Image | Das Morton In Xataka | If the question is “how much caffeine each cup of coffee or tea has”, this graph offers revealing responses

When the town next door is your landfill

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Some residents of Santa Oliva cross the town next night with their garbage bag, reports 3cat, Catalan Public Radio. They are not visiting, they are going to throw it into the Albinyana containers so as not to have to separate their waste. The panoramic. The Baix Penedès region has become the epicenter of a garbage war between municipalities. Each town has its own collection system: Traditional containers. Smart containers by card. Door -to -door collection. The result is chaos where some neighbors practice what the authorities have baptized as “garbage tourism”: bring your waste to the people next to dodge the recycling standards of the strictest municipalities. The situation has climbed to the Kafkian. In Cunit, The Local Police opens and inspects the bags deposited outside the container in search of receipts, letters or any document that delates to the offender. They have already put more than 200 fines that range between 300 and 3,000 euros. Why is it important. This conflict perfectly reflects the gap between the technological and environmental ambitions of administrations … and citizen resistance to change. Smart containers that require card to open or door -to -door systems with strict schedules guarantee to increase recycling rates. But they also generate a visceral rejection in part of the population, which does not want or cannot have five different containers at home. The result is a spiral of absurd behaviors: Neighbors who sabotage smart containers to leave them permanently open. Others that drive kilometers to throw garbage in the neighboring town. And police converted into waste detectives. Yes, but. Legally, “garbage tourism” inhabits a gray area. Using the container of the neighboring town is not always illegal if its local standards are respected, although it is an abuse of the service that others pay with their taxes. The clearly illegal thing is to throw bags out of containers or do it inside whether there are municipal norms that prohibit use to non -residents. The context. The problem is not exclusive to Baix Penedès. In Sanxenxo (Pontevedra)the cleaning company also analyzes abandoned bags seeking to identify offenders, with fines of up to 600 euros. In Villena (Alicante)the police have identified twelve people in seven months. The municipalities defend that these systems reduce costs and improve recycling. But in Cunit there are neighbors who have not pick up the card for two years to open smart containers. The mayor speaks of “neglect.” The neighbors see it different. Between the lines. Recycling digitalization is creating new marginalized: older who do not understand smart cards, neighbors without a car for the clean point, workers with time -to -door incompatible schedules. “Garbage tourism” is only the symptom of the imposition of technological solutions without social consensus or alternatives for those who are out of the system. In Xataka | The subsoil of historical cities hides a great garbage vacuum. The problem is that you have to punch Outstanding image | Barcelona’s Decrease

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