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2,000 people will live like guinea pigs

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One of the most tourist points in Japan It is Mount Fuji. Such is the fascination that awakens that Japan decided to charge to climb the top with the aim of curbing the massification, and even They ruined the famous photo placing a huge fence. At the foot of the iconic place there is not only Traditional villagesbut also the City of the future. From the future of Toyota, at least, since it is where the Japanese automotive decided to create a city-laboratory called ‘Toyota Woven City ‘. And after years of works, in September the ‘Phase 1’ of the development of the next brand technologies will start. Phase 1. With brushstrokes given in the 2018 CES, with more details offered two years later and with the works of the ‘Phase 1’ finished at the end of last year, Toyota is finalizing the details so that his ‘Woven City’ begins to roll. Located next to the plant Higashi-Fuji of the company, in the prefecture of Shizuoka in Japan, through a release They have defined the plant as “a platform to expand the concept of mobility beyond transport.” After many preparations, the starting point of that ambitious plan will take place on September 25. And, although Toyota carries the singing voice, in Woven City there will be other companies that will work to achieve that end of “reinvent mobility” Coworking. Toyota, like many other companies, is known for a specific product -in this case, cars -but has a lot of subsidiaries and pàrtes of the group that are dedicated to supporting other industries. Many of them will settle in Woven City, but in their laboratories there will also be space for others that, a priori, have little to do with that goal of enhancing mobility in everyday life. Two recent examples are interstellar technologies, which is dedicated to the manufacture and development of both rockets and satellites, and Kyoritsu Seiyaku, a corporation that develops, manufactures and imports veterinary medications. Previously, It was already announced That Daikin – AIRs conditioned – would also be in Woven City (and may make sense because there is still no air conditioning systems), but also others such as Dydo Drinco (soft drinks and other drinks), UCC Japan Co.known for his instant noodles). Laboratory. In total, and counting companies from the Toyota group, at the moment there are 19 companies that will develop their proposals within Woven City. At the moment, it seems a bit abstract, but Toyota sees this installation as a “living laboratory” in which to try advanced mobility technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, connectivity and sustainability In a real urban environment. That is, instead of caught the streets of a city to do tests, they have raised their own, fed by solar energy and something that the company put Very interest in the past: Hydrogen fuel cells. We could say that it is a “prototype city”, and its dimensions are considerable. Enormous. In total, and when the different construction phases are finished, it is estimated that Woven City has about 294,000 square meters of surface. We have already commented that the buildings will be fed by solar panels located on the roofs and by the aforementioned hydrogen batteries, but will also be surrounded by Hydroponic cropswhich are the plants that take the nutrients of mineral solutions and not of the agricultural soil. All buildings are connected by tunnels, where autonomous vehicles such as the cast circulate City. For the design of the city, they have taken into account three types of streets, differentiated according to the speed of vehicles that can circulate through them and the type of mobility. For example, there are streets for fast vehicles, others for personal mobility and also pedestrian areas, all of them distributed forming an “organic” pattern. And that mobility will be through completely autonomous vehicles and zero emissions. Many companies are opting for the creation of huge campuses in which to house thousands of workers. Huawei’s are an example, With a huge one and another that Imitate the architecture of several European citiesbut when we talk about the city of Toyota, we literally refer to a city. Apart from the laboratories in which the new forms of mobility and energy for the city of the future are designed, in the Woven City will live people. In phase 1 it is estimated that some 360 people will live among Toyota employees and their families. They will do it in houses created with ‘Japandi’ style (a Combination between Nordic and Japanese) equipped with advanced support and domestic robotics support and robotics technologies, and the objective is that the city houses some 2,000 people once all phases are completed. Phase 2. The company’s desire is to test in a scenario as real as possible (although carefully designed and away from what traditional cities can offer) the most leading technologies in mobility, sustainability and urban planning. And, taking what has been learned in the ‘Phase 1’, at some point a new phase will begin that will not only increase the population, but will also expand or perfect the built environment. And in 2026 The doors will open to visit the city and that other people outside the project offer their opinions about the model. It is a tremendously ambitious goal and the brand does not expect that Be profitable In the first years, since it takes it more as a technological incubator for the planning of the cities of the future than something that offers an immediate return. Images | Toyota In Xataka | The Line goes regular, so Saudi Arabia has asked some consultants to solve the obvious: if it makes sense

Italy is going to build the suspension bridge with the largest opening in the world. And they will load it to NATO’s budgets

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The megaconstructions are the order of the day. We find each other Colossal projectssome that They make us crack an eyebrow thinking If necessary. However, few can boast of being the culmination of a work of centuries, or even millennia. Italy is close to getting it when approved A huge bridge that connect the continent with Sicily: the Messina bridge. The turn is that they have described it as something key to the NATO. So that? So that the bridge budget is included in the percentage of military spending that Italy must contribute. Historical dream. Sicily is a complicated territory. Isolated from the continent, it remains Italy and, although they have a very strong identity feelingthat isolation has led to some problems and difficulties throughout history. In it Roman empire I know proposed Unite the territory through the Strait of Messina with a peculiar plan: connect Calabria and Sicily using barges and barrels. It was ruled out for obvious reasons such as intense maritime traffic or its technical unfeasibility. In the Middle Ages, Charlemagne too study take actions to unite the territory and, in 1866, firmer plans were drawn to build a viaduct, but they were also discarded when considering that A tunnel would be more suitable. In whatever, it also ended in nothing and, during the following decades, the project of the bridge in the Strait was changing hands without success, maintaining the connection with the peninsula by ferry. Colossal. Throughout. Everything changed in 2023, when the new Giorgia Meloni government resurrected the plan. Contemplating an investment of more than 13,000 million euros, the bridge would mark a turning point in Italian, European and world architecture, depending on who we ask. The length will be about 3.7 kilometers with twin towers of 399 meters on both banks, a height of 72 meters above sea level so that large boats and capacity can pass and capacity to move A large number of vehicles. The three lanes in the direction offer a capacity for 6,000 vehicles per hour, and their two railways would allow a cadence of 200 trains per day. It is a transport barbarity to connect Sicily, but the only thing about this bridge will be the central opening: 3,300 meters that would set a new world record for a suspended vain. Necessary. The start of the works is scheduled for this same 2025 and its estimated completion by 2032. As we say, after many comings and goings, the project is already officially underwayas the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure of Italy, Matteo Salvini, advertisement Last Wednesday. Finally, the cost will be 13,500 million euros and, as we read in New York TimesItalian minister and vice president, he is “absolutely proud of work.” Stating that “it will be an unprecedented public works in the world.” The justification of the bridge, as we read in Financial Timescomes from the side of the revitalization of Sicily. With this volume moved from the continent, the economy of one of the poorest regions of Italy can be promoted, where unemployment practically double The national rate: 13% compared to 6.5% of the rest of the country. But … necessary? The question is why, if a bridge between both territories was so important, something had been done. And, above all, why firm projects such as 2011 threw himself by land, arguing concerns about his price, about 5,000 million euros at that time and, in addition, about his real need. And it wasn’t the first time: Silvio Berlusconi He already proposed This project in 2005 for about 3.9 billion euros. Criticism. Many. There are few detractors of the bridge. This “unprecedented work in the world” faces opposition, environmentalists and even nature itself. The opposition, as New York Times states, considers that it is “an economic and social catastrophe” by diverting funds from other projects more necessary to build “a cathedral in the desert.” The animalists lo consider A disaster for local flora and fauna, as well as for a bird’s migration route. And when we say he has against nature, it is because those critics too comment that the area is prone to earthquakes that could make the bridge collapse. Even the ‘thing nostra’, the Sicilian mafia, said Be against the bridge in 2023. It has a trick. If you have so much against, if it is not clear that you will revitalize Sicily after a mastodontic investment, why do you go ahead with the project? During the NATO summit in June, Meloni declared that, due to the convulsive moment that is lived in several parts of the world, “there are many threats and hostile actors operating on the southern flank of the Atlantic Alliance.” In addition, he commented that “Russia projects more and more His presence in the Mediterranean” And this bridge would be a key piece, according to the Italian government, “in the context of NATO defense and security, facilitating the movement of the Italian and international armed forces in a context in which the Mediterranean is a geopolitically sensitive area.” And the trick? Well, like other NATO allies, Italy has beenOppromeded to increase its annual expenditure in defense Up to 5% of its GDP during the next decade, including 1.5% for strategic infrastructure. If the bridge is 13,500 million euros and include it in their proposals for “strategic infrastructure”, they would already be hitting a good bite to that 5% They must invest. Instead of armament or other elements, in a new bridge. Germany goes behind. “The Mestina Strait Bridge constitutes a fundamental infrastructure in relation to military mobility, taking into account the presence of important NATO bases in southern Italy,” they said in a report prepared last April, but Italy seems to be the only ones that will try to ‘put’ a renewal of infrastructure in that 5% of NATO. Germany, in a recent reporthas included in these defense budgets other 1 billion euros for the maintenance of ‘autobahn’, Your highway system. Forcing the machine. Returning to the Italian Bridge, and … Read more

The first photographic meme of history was extremely macabro: posing as beheaded corpses

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Who says that before the Internet people He made less bullshit? They were the same, what happens is that there was no potential audience of millions of people to reach (and was not monetized). What gives even more merit to analog memes, the fashions due to infection that passed from hand to hand, generating absurd fashions that followed thousands of people. One of the first of these fashions was the Horsemaning (either Jinetism), such a delicious way to make the fool that it was not as isolated at the beginning of the century. What is it. He Horsemaning It shows a person pretending to have been decapitated. Actually, two people participate in the joke: one, the body, placed at an angle that either the camera shot or the position of the deceased assumption makes the neck not seen; Another subject, the head, places the neck on the edge of a table or buries its own body in the sand of the beach, so that it looks decapitation. Both added things create a very shocking and hilarious effect, especially since it is obvious where the trick is. It is fun because we see people lose their composure before the camera, which always laughs. Why Jinetism. By the headless rider of ‘The Sleepy Hollow ‘Legend of Washington IrvingAbsolute classic of Anglo -Saxon literature. The story was written in 1820, a century before the popularization of meme. But it is a story that returns to the collective imaginary over and over again due to its powerful imagery, so linked to Halloween. In it appears a spectrum, that of the headless rider, a decapitated gentleman (supposedly a Hesian soldier) that he was left without a gunshot. Of Victorian England … Although it was in the VCEINTE years of the last century when it became fashionable, we can track the origins of the macabra jokes further back in time: to Victorian England and the first steps of photography. At that time, in times prior to television, the newborn invention caused a sensation in very different environments (from family chascarrillos to the first and disturbing pornography steps). Since their first steps, photographers experienced with tricks: overlays, transparencies and trapantojos, and fashions such as those of the BeachBackground of this Horsemaning: People with heads in the lap or under their arm, and sometimes were achieved with multiple negatives. … to when Facebook cool. Around 2011there was a resurgence of the photos of beheaded with perspective tricks. Surely you remember it, because around that year became fashionable he Stocking (imitate photos of image banks), the Planking (Photos of people laying down in the most incongruous places), the Owling (disturbing snapshots posing as owls), the Plowling (the two previous meetings) or the Batmanning (Hang upside down). Loquisimo Pre-Tiktok times, and still overwhelmed an endearing digital naivety. In Xataka | Putting the testicles in landscape photos is the latest crazy photographic fashion of the Internet. There are more

feed solar and wind energy the darkest and colder place in the world

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In a place where the nights last six months, wind gusts can reach 300 km/hy them the temperatures collapse below the −40 ° C, the idea of using solar and wind energy sounds like a joke. For a few months, however, China is feeding its Antarctica base with renewable energy. How the hell have they done it? Short. Five years ago, electrical engineer Sun Hongbin, today president of the Technological University of Taiyuan, received what seemed an impossible mission: to build a renewable energy system capable of supporting the most extreme conditions of the earth. As he has told Scientific AmericanThe objective was to align the new Qinling Antarctic Station with the green commitments of the Chinese government. The result cost 14 million dollars, was officially inaugurated in early 2025 and is a technological feat that now other countries with Antarctica bases want to imitate. Diesel logistics nightmare. Antarctica stations work almost exclusively with diesel generators, but this dependency has a very high cost. Not only because diesel is expensive, but because transporting it is a logistics nightmare that requires mobilizing breakwinds and military personnel for each replenishment trip, which is usually annual. In addition, environmental risk is huge. The spills are frequent and, in such a fragile ecosystem, where the low temperatures slow down the decomposition, any discharge is a catastrophe. Not to mention the emissions of the combustion itself. The renewables did not endure. The problem of conventional renewable systems is that they do not work in Antarctica. The extreme cold causes the blades of the wind turbines to become brittle, the performance of the solar panels plummeted and the lithium batteries stop working. And that without counting the polar night: six months without seeing the sunlight. Provided to overcome these obstacles, Sun Hongbin did not walk with little ones. His team raised A 2,000 square meters laboratory At the Technological University of Taiyuan that, basically, it was a piece of Antarctica in China. To put to the limit each component, they simulated freezing temperatures, winds of more than 200 km/hyams artificial. How the hell did it. After four years of tests, the team found a robust system that combines wind energy, solar energy, batteries and, the key of everything, hydrogen. The wind turbines have a vertical design reminiscent of an egg blender, which reduces the structural tension and lowers the center of gravity so that the wind does not take them. The solar panels are mounted on a special frame made of reinforced plastic with carbon fiber. This material has a lower thermal conductivity than aluminum, so it does not deform so easily with sudden temperature changes. As for the batteries, instead of the typical lithium ions, they used lithium-ditana. Its internal chemistry facilitates the movement of ions at temperatures below zero. In addition, they put them in a thermal housing that takes advantage of their own residual heat to stay at an optimal temperature. The cake widge. During the polar summer, when there is a sun and spare wind, energy is used to feed an electrolyzer that separates water into oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is stored in high pressure tanks. When winter arrives and the other sources falter, hydrogen is recombine with oxygen in a fuel pile to generate electricity. The only residue? Water and heat, which are recycled to heat the system itself. According to those responsible for the project, the base can work for about 48 hours only with the energy stored in the form of hydrogen. The way to follow. The integrated wind, sun, hydrogen and batteries system has a total capacity of about 230 kW, which It is 60% of the capacity Total Qinling generation. The remaining 40% continues to depend on diesel as support, but the savings is gigantic, so it has received praise from the international scientific community. This is the “first large -scale clean energy system in the world capable of working all year in a polar environment.” And there are already other countries investigating how to adopt it while China maintains its goal of reaching 100% renewable energy. Image | CCTV

It turns out that in the US people pay more for not having a taxi driver. The added value of going silently offers and works

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According to The data Offered by OBI, an app that offers real -time prices on the different taxi and transport services in the United States, Waymo’s autonomous cars They cost average $ 20.43 by journey compared to 14.44 of Lyft and the 15.58 of Uber. Even so, users are willing to pay the premium for traveling without a driver. The conquest of the robotaxis. The analysis of the platform, based on almost 90,000 real trips in San Francisco, reveals that Waymo It charges up to $ 11 more than its competitors at peak hours. However, the demand does not stop growing: the company already makes 250,000 payment trips a week in its first four cities where the service is available. Everything indicates that users value both the experience without driver than are willing to pay a good amount of more for her. Waymo weekly paths in California. Image: Nat Bullard Data Different pricing model. Waymo operates with a more basic system of pure supply and demand, while Uber and Lyft have refined their algorithms for more than a decade. Robotaxis have a fixed fleet that grows slowly, which generates greater variability in prices. Short paths They are especially expensive: Less than 1.4 kilometers can cost about $ 26 per kilometer, between 31% and 41% more than competition. A strategy that works. Surveys show that 70% of those who have tried Waymo prefer to travel without driver. Almost 40% are willing to pay the same price or more, and 16% would agree to pay up to 10 extra dollars per trip. The key is in that “personal bubble” offered by the autonomous car, where the client can travel comfortably without human interaction. And this attracts many. Safety first. Despite the enthusiasm, 74% of respondents Consider Security His greatest concern about robotaxis. About 70% believe there should be some kind of remote human supervision during the paths, something that It is already practiced usually in the sector. Lower deployment and expansion times. Waymo Atlanta has just entered and soon it will arrive in Miami and Washington DC. It is collecting data in Las Vegas, Dallas, San Antonio, Nashville and New Orleans. The entry process in new markets is accelerating: now it takes only between one and two years since mapping vans arrive until customers can get on board one of these vehicles. And in Europe we are also at all. And from 2026, we will begin to see the first circular robotaxis through the United Kingdom and Germany. The surprise is that It will be Lyft, in collaboration with Baiduthose that seem to take the lead to this side of the puddle. Cover image | Waymo In Xataka | Tesla Robotaxis have been programmed to drive as a human. So when they see the police hit a brake

More and more places begin to charge to see their tourist monuments. The last: the Mills of Holland

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Yeah Turisteaspay. As the international flow of travelers recover (or even exceeds) early levels and great destinations such as Venice, Amsterdam either Florencethey face unbalanced tourism, an idea begins to spread through the sector: if you want to know large monuments, mountains or historical helmets, you will not arrive with a plane, you pay a hotel and go to the place in person. Once there you must buy a ‘ticket’. As in a museum. Venice has been A pioneer of that philosophy, which now Go with interest Holland. What happened? That if you travel to the Netherlands it is likely that in not much time you must pay to know one of its great icons: Zaanse Schansa kind of outdoor museum of Zaanstad, Em Netherlands northern, famous for its wind mills. For years tourists come in mass (there are buses that are responsible for transporting them) to visit their historical museums, walk along their paths, enjoy their peculiar architecture and especially get out selfies. How many people do you go? Yes. Zaanstad authorities They assure That Zaanse Schans is one of the “most popular day excursions” from the Netherlands, something to which his heritage helps and how close to Amsterdam. Only the Ephting park and Rijksmuseum. After the fall of tourists during the pandemic, the authorities estimate that in 2024 the Zaense Schans attracted some 2.6 million of visitors. And there are those who warns It will soon pass the three million. What do you want to do? What the Zaanstad authorities raise is to collect an entry to tourists who want to visit Zaense Schans. His plan announced in detail in spring, in A statement in which some keys slide, such as the rate that the City Council has in mind is € 17.5, a “realistic” sum in your opinion. The idea is to pay only visitors. The neighbors of Zaanstad and WORMERLAND and certain “specific groups” may continue accessing free. Charging for access requires more than approving a rate, so Zaanstad authorities are also considering closing certain roads and trails to the public. “The Zaense Schans will no longer be freely accessible as is now”, Confirm The City Council. The idea is that you begin to demand tickets in the area already in the 2026 tourist season, although AFP needed Recently, the authorities have opened the door to a certain delay. In his release Spring, the City Council talked about the measure was still in the “preliminary” phase. And all this … why? For the massification. The authorities They assure that Zaanse Schans has become “a national symbol of excessive tourism” and warn of their effects. “The heritage and quality of life of the neighbors are at risk of being affected by mass tourism,” warns the session before remembering that the massive flow of visitors “has important consequences for security and habitability” and interferes with the maintenance of its architecture. It is nothing new. The region already raised the same dilemma in 2020, but pandemic and falling tourism during the following years prevented them from going further. “However, since 2022 the bustle has returned to its usual level. In 2024 the Zaanse Schans attracted 2.6 million visitors. That also means that all the problems caused by excessive tourism have returned,” emphasize The City Council, which recalls that the Dutch Tourism Office provides that foreign tourism in the region will grow 37% over the next few years. And what was collected? AFP Slide that the new rate would have a double effect: it would reduce the volume of visitors and especially raise millions of euros that the authorities could use for the maintenance of historical buildings. In that same idea insists the Consistory, which emphasizes that the income generated by the inputs “are necessary” to pay for the preservation of its heritage, in addition to guaranteeing “the security and quality of life” in the area. “The Zaense Schans needs urgent interventions for the preservation of all its heritage, greater security and improvements in public spaces. Nothing is not an option. Without sufficient resources, it will be lost in the short term, between five and seven years,” argues. “The volume of tourists also influences heritage: the more it is used, the more management.” Not everyone sees it the same. In fact, in the town there are who warns that the new tax will damage tourism. Why is it important? Because, beyond what it may be for Zaanse Schans or future visitors who want to enjoy their wind mills, Zaanstad’s decision connects with a much greater trend: to collect tourists who want to enjoy iconic destinations. Venice already It demands an entry of access and similar measures have been adopted (or at least discussed) in Japan to Get to Fuji and Rome to approach the Fontana di Trevi. The theme is also on the table in New Zealand for visit Its beaches and mountains. Even in Italy, farmers have begun to install lathes in the field to demand tourists to Pay a ‘toll’ If you want to cross your fields. It is not necessary to leave the country to find similar measures. Beyond the tourist rate, which It continues to expand by several regions From the country, there has also been talk of the collection for visiting certain iconic destinations. In 2024 the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife He raised An ecotasa to enjoy natural spaces. Images | Kismihok (Flickr) and Karl Paul Baldacchino (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Cantabria promised them happy with their protected beaches. Until it became “the Magaluf del Norte”

According to a new study, the holy sheet never covered Jesus Christ. The strange thing is that he has put defenders and critics in agreement

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Turin’s shroud, also known as ‘Santa Slack’, is one of the most important relics of Christianity. This 4.4 x 1.1 -meter linen fabric has been a historic controversy focus among those who defend that it was the blanket that was placed on the body of Christ at the time of their burial and those who believe that it is a subsequent fabric. Now a new study has been published to add more firewood to the fire by stating that the Holy Sheet is false. And what he has achieved is to unite both defenders and critics of the authenticity of the fabric. Short. Cicero Moraes is a Brazilian researcher specialized in three -dimensional reconstruction. I already warned in 2024, but in the recent study published in the magazine Archaeometry He has presented the conclusions that lead him to consider the holy sheet as a false relic. Using Open Source software and three -dimensional models, Moraes approached the formation of the image of the sheet performing digital simulations. He analyzed how a fabric behaves when covering different three -dimensional forms, observing the patterns of the sheet and concluding that they adapt much better to a solid model and without too much depth, such as a bas -relief, than to something more “soft” and in depth, such as human anatomy. This, for him, would already rule out that it was the sheet that covered the body of Jesus Christ, arguing that, in that case, the distortion of the image and the folds would be much more evident if a human body had covered. Here you can see the video of the simulation of Moraes: So? The researcher holdsbased on those 3D models such as those used in cinema and video games for Simulate objects of objectsthat the image of the shroud could only have been created if it had been placed on a bas -relief of a human figure, such as a stone or wood size. If a human body had covered, the image of the shroud would not be so perfect and should be more distorted due to the greater depth of the body, especially on the sides. Come on, that the royal sheet shows a “photocopy” of a sculpture or bas -relief, not a human body. Having covered a body, I would have presented the documented effect “Agamemnon mask“ Moraes’ study shows what the silhouette of Jesus Christ really would be if the sheet had been on a body, on the left, in the face of the perfect representation of the body that shows the shroud, to the right Previous studies. Moraes’ is just One of the many analysis which have been done to verify the authenticity of the relic. The most famous, perhaps, is the test carried out in 1988 by Laboratories of Oxford, Arizona and Zurich in which the Carbon-14 and determined that the fabric had occurred at some point between 1260 and 1390 AD Apart from the studies, to dismant Godofredo de Chany He exposed it for the first time in a French town. And there are also no writings of the Christian tradition that mention the sheet. Of course, on the other hand, defenders of their authenticity argue that The most solid testthat of 1988, It could have been contaminated with materials after the time of Christ, and that the sheet would be about 2,000 years old. Another recent study He pointed out that the spots of the shroud corresponded to the blood that could occur with torture and crucifixion, but there are also those to indicate opposite. The shroud Criticism. The problem of the new study is what you can be imagining: it is an extremely powerful statement based on a theoretical analysis with strictly digital data such as those of a 3D simulation. And criticisms have not taken to arrive. The International Center for Syndonology of Turin (who are responsible for the study of the sheet), directlypoints out that Moraes’ work does not provide direct evidence on the historical piece and, although the 3D modeling It is valuable from the perspective of visualization of the tissue on the body, does not take into account variables such as the elasticity of the fabric, among other factors. And that it is a visual representation of a theory with a century behind it without adding much more. Other experts have commented that, although the study is interesting, the simulations, by themselves, They cannot replace direct analysis of the object. Convulsive context. The First statements De Moraes in 2024 on his study arrived at a complicated moment, since the Santa Neck was going to be an important piece in the 2025 jubilee acts. Not showing the real element, but a series of Very precise digital representations. And what does the Vatican? Interestingly, they have not spoken. But not with this 3D study, but historically. The official position is to promote the interdisciplinary study of the piece, without issuing a conclusive judgment. And this is something that is valued in the scientific community, since it maintains the living and open debate, allowing new study approaches in future research. Therefore … Is the holy sheet false? Moraes defends that its origin is that of a medieval art work, but its research through simulations cannot be definitive. Therefore, it follows the debate on whether it is the original sacred relic or if it is a medieval creation and, like Matteo Borrini, one of the researchers who maintains that it is a medieval artifact, commented A few years ago, “our faith is not based on the shroud, but on the gospels”, so it would give the same if the shroud is original or something much later, since the faith is above it. In Xataka | Boadilla del Monte is not famous for many things. So now he wants to lift a statue of 37 meters

It is better than ever for having perfected the psychology of the habit paid

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Duolingo has just presented Spectacular results: 41% more income, 40% more active daily users and benefits that have fired 84%. The platform of Language learning Not only does it maintain its growth after more than a decade in the market, but it accelerates it. It is clear that their model works, since more and more are those who prefer to pay to maintain their streak, even if this implies not progressing in learning, an irony. The paradox of its success. It is curious that an application that promises to teach you English, French, German, and dozens of languages more, prosper even so much when there are few precisely those who criticize their learning method. Do not be misunderstood, Duolingo does very good things, and if people also give new languages and knowledge, better than better. However, the key that your business model is working so well is that Duolingo does not sell as much knowledge and feeling of progress. And of course, a need to maintain the streak is generated, taking advantage of all the bonuses that are missing before they give 12 in the morning to keep us hooked. The daily dopamine of the habit fulfilled, the satisfaction of maintain Fiscal results They corroborate it. The aspirations business. Duolingo has perfected something that characterizes many current technological products: monetizing aspirations rather than solutions. As air fryers that we buy convinced that they will make us eat healthier, or Meditation applications that promise us mental peace, Duolingo sells the improved version of ourselves. The difference is that it does so extraordinarily effective, turning the desire to learn a language into an addictive habit of daily consumption. The winning formula. The company has found the perfect balance between gamification and social pressure. The gusts, leagues, owl notifications … Everything is designed to pay the premium subscription feels as a necessary investment not to lose progress. It doesn’t matter so much if you really learn Italian and what you feel you are doing. And that constant advance perception is valuable enough to justify that monthly expense. And to see, I as an old Duolingo consumer in order to learn Turkish, I attest in which their mechanisms are really addictive (spoiler: I left the Turk at half). Beyond languages. Duolingo’s latest movements confirm this strategy. The firm is not only enough to monetize the sensation of learning with languages. And it has also expanded its offer With chess courses and have acquired A musical game startup. It is not about becoming the best Online Language Academy, but the final platform of the daily educational habit. Each new subject to which we sign up under the umbrella of Duolingo seems to be an opportunity to expand that microtransactions and rewards ecosystem that uses users hooked. Cover image | Generated by ia with chatgpt In Xataka | Boring tasks have had a solution all this time: you just had to turn them into levels of a video game

Germany was the country of beers, sausages and the punctuality of their trains. The latter is ending

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We live on myths and stories that many times do not fit reality. For example, Germany has long touched together with an external perception where its citizens They are very workerseven more than the rest of Europe (although the data Say something else). Also that they are the nation of sausages, beer and legendary punctuality of their trains. And either. The collapse of a myth. Yes, for decades, Germany cultivated the image of a country where rail punctuality was as part of national identity as beer or sausages. Today that image It cracks: Only 56% of long -distance trains arrive within the official margin of six minutes, a remarkable fall compared to 85% of the nineties. The situation has become so serious that Switzerland He has vetoed The passage of German trains beyond Basel, fed up with the delays that affect their own network. Cases like that of a damaged train near Vienna that left 400 passengers trapped For six hours in a tunnelor the closure For nine months From the Berlin-Hamburg line for repairs, they reflect The collapse of a system punished for three decades of infinance. Between wear and frustration. The railway company acknowledges that 80% of the delays are due to An obsolete infrastructureprone to failures and overloaded, which forces drastic solutions and a expensive modernization. For passengers, experience has become everyday calvary: endless waiting, crowded trains and lost connections that alter both professional and personal life. Travelers such as banker Michael Prieggen or retired Gerald Vogel summarizes it In the Washington Post Non -Rodeos: reliability is already the exception, and the network is in a state of “disaster.” In stations such as wuppertal or bonn, delays accumulate and complaints become a indignation choir that expresses a crisis of trust in one of the symbols of German efficiency. Investment promises. Solutions? Given this scenario, the government has allocated record figures: 25,000 million dollars in 2025 and more than 116,000 million until 2029, with part of the funds from A historical package Investment in infrastructure and climate that is a change of course in German fiscal discipline. Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder has described punctual levels as “unacceptable” and has promised substantial improvements to reach 75-80% of specific trains in 2027. However, experts and user associations They warn that the hole created for thirty years of abandonment will not be solved in a few years and that the network still requires greater injections of capital and structural reforms. National identity. Plus: The German rail crisis is not just a mobility problem. As we said, it touches sensitive fibers of the national identity. In a country where precision and reliability are considered collective virtues, see how the rail system collapses or even It compares With other nations, it results deeply humiliating. That the Swiss (referents in rail efficiency) distrust of German trains is an even greater symbolic blow. If you want, the debate transcends the technical and reflects a broader anxiety about Germany’s ability to maintain the prestige of its economic and social model. Delays and breakdowns, repeated daily, not only hinder trips, but They erode trust in the nation that was once synonymous with mechanical punctuality. Europe Heat. It is the last of the legs to analyze. The current state of Deutsche Bahn It is both an operational crisis as a more than possible mirror of LEuropean dilemmas: infrastructure that age, insufficient investment and a growing tension between national expectations and economic realities. It’s not just that the old continent is not prepared for a war Due to its waysis that Germany, once of rail modernityhas become an ad for navigators. The nation is trapped between the memory of its past perfection and the urgency of reconstructing a system that has stopped complying with the Germanic Puntalidad ideal. In that gap, not only the credibility of a company is played, but part of the country’s own identity, with Europe at the bottom of the frame. Image | Raimond Spekking In Xataka | The myth says that Germans work more than the Spaniards. The data tell a different thing In Xataka | Germany has tried the four -day week and is clear about its verdict: 73% of companies will not return to five

In 2024 Japan introduced autonomous buses. Now 68% of the prefectures want one

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Urban mobility is immersed in a process not only of change, but of revolution. When electrification still has not advanced to the combustion car in All countriesthere are already those who move file in the autonomous driving. And not with Promises like ‘Robotaxi‘, but with autonomous vehicles that are already circulating in the cities. Japan is an example of this and, after months testing an autonomous bus on a very specific route, almost 70% of the country’s prefectures want to. And it is not because ‘Mole’: Japan is one of those countries that, almost more than any other, needs public vehicles without driver. Autonomy Level 4. At the end of December last year, A driver without a driver began to cover A route of 800 meters between the stations of Takahama Eki-MAE and the terminal of the port of Matsuyama. It would repeat the path 60 times a day and, although its figures are modest (12 passengers and a speed of 35 km/h), it has become an example for something very concrete: it has level 4 autonomy. The vehicle is quite bland, but it is up to sensors and AI systems that allow analyzing everything that happens around it in real time. It is what allows you to operate on its own, even in danger situations, and Five levels of autonomy which establishes the Society of Automotive Engineers, this minibus is almost at the maximum level. Although there is a Operator ‘Vigía’. Buses. The manufacturers have put the batteries, since Japan made a review of the Road Traffic Law with which, as of April 1, 2023, they allowed the use of level 4 autonomous vehicles on public roads. Several companies put themselves to it and, apart from the mentioned Matsuyama line, other companies are offering an internal bus service, all with level 4 certification. They are very specific journeys such as Haneda Innovation City In Tokyo, with a level 4 bus that leads at a maximum speed of 12 km/h in an internal circuit of 800 meters or those of Tier IV that already They operate A continuous service between Komatsu station and Komatsu airport. Expansion. The government itself is promoting The expansion of this technology, setting objectives such as establishing services at the regional level in at least 50 locations by the end of this 2025 and in more than a hundred by 2030. The priority is mobility services such as buses or taxis, not so much private or logistics vehicles. He liked it. Both the measures and the operation of these buses have liked, so much that almost 70% of Japanese prefectures They are considering Adopt level 4 buses to guarantee the mobility of the inhabitants, especially in poorly populated areas to which it perhaps does not ‘rent’ so much to send a bus operated by a human. And is there any benefit to the traveler himself? At the moment, the studies point to rates that are not very different from those that are applied in conventional services, but the savings for the traveler is estimated at 11% for bus trips and up to 61% for taxi trips as technology evolves, matures and settles. But of course, that is the estimated thing, another song will be that companies apply sales as the product costs them less. Need. And the most important thing about this expansion of autonomous buses, at least in Japan, is that it is not simply to apply technology for applying or saving jobs. It is something that responds to a real need: Japan has no workers. Long and tendency we have treated the demographic winter that the country is living and the measures they are adopting (some more effective than others) to relaunch birth. The problem is that The population is very aged, There are no young workers And that is why Robots are used either Autonomous systems. And not only urban mobility, since it is raising that the first ‘bullet train’ debut in 2029. And it is not that it is unique in the world (years ago We already got on one in Malaga), But as we say, in the case of Japan we are talking about something crucial because, if there are no workers, the robots will have to assume the task. Image | Iyotetsu In Xataka | The autonomous driving was the great absent in the presentation of the Xiaomi Yu7 and there is a reason: the Chinese government

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