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cover your straws with acid ants

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When some time ago South Korean Food Safety inspectors started looking at online reviews of restaurants, they found something unpleasant: ants. Hundreds, thousands of ants. To the astonishment of the officials, in the comments of one of the most prestigious establishments in Seoul, nothing more nor less than a sorbet sprinkled with insects was shown, a dressing with which the chef intended to give an acidic touch to the dessert. The recipe worked well enough that it has been served since 2021. There was only one problem: it was illegal. What has happened? That a South Korean chef’s creativity in the kitchen is about to cost him dearly. Very expensive. The local press has revealed that the Seoul Western District Prosecutor’s Office has requested a severe sentence for the owner of a restaurant in the capital for violating the Food Safety Law. The most curious thing is what he is accused of. The establishment in question has not neglected its hygiene or served food or drink in poor condition. No. Their mistake (supposedly) was including ants as part of their ingredients. Ants in the kitchen? Exact. While browsing online reviews, officials from the country’s Food and Pharmaceutical Health Department came across strange mentions about a restaurant in Seoul: in addition to mentioning its meats, fish, wines and desserts, customers alluded to a sorbet covered with insects. To be more precise, what the chef used were dried black ants imported directly from the United States and Thailand. The most curious thing is that it was not new. According to the local pressthe restaurant began buying them in 2021, so the dessert had been on the menu for years. And what is the problem? Taste and scruples aside, the main problem is that South Korean law is very strict about what can and cannot be used in hospitality. And black ants fall into that last category, the banned one. It is not that the country’s legislation prohibits the sale of insects for human consumption, but its list is very restricted and perfectly limited: it is limited to a dozen species, including grasshoppers, mealworms, crickets, bumblebee pulp or silkworm pupae. No ants. What if you want to try new things? If a chef wants to be original and try new ingredients they can try it, but they must first request specific authorization from the authorities. The Food Safety Agency He also insists in that she is very clear about it, so she does not tolerate excuses. “Anyone can easily check on the department’s website, among other places, which raw materials can be used in food. Therefore, operators in particular must first check whether a raw material is suitable for use in food before purchasing or using it.” Were many sold? It seems so. According to authorities’ calculations, the restaurant served a total of 49,000 ants in 12,200 sherbet glasses. From the local they clarify this information and remember several issues. First, there was no bad faith. The chef used the recipe in the US and Europe to give acidity to his sorbets, but when he transferred it to South Korea he did not notice the change in legislation. Secondly, the business remembers that the ingredient was well identified on the menu, which offered several alternatives. It was the diners themselves who chose whether to order it or not. They estimate that in these years it has done 60%. And now what? Seoul authorities have released the news, but without detailing the name of the restaurant or the identity of its owner and chef. In fact, it is not even known if they are two different people or if the cook is also the owner of the business. What has emerged is that the establishment is located in the area of gangnamin the Korean capital, and is distinguished with two Michelin stars, which a priori identifies it as a restaurant of “excellent cuisine”. The creativity of your chef, however, can be costly. Yonhap agency points out that the Seoul Western District Prosecutor’s Office has asked the court for a one-year prison sentence for the restaurant owner, in addition to a fine of 20 million won, about 12,000 euros. The figure has been calculated based on the estimated benefits, which the authorities place at 120 million won. Isn’t that a bit excessive? It may seem like too harsh a punishment, but The Chosun Daily assures that the health authorities have not only “hunted” the establishment by ignoring food legislation. Their analyzes would have concluded that the ants used to sprinkle the sorbet “contained up to 55 times more heavy metals than usual edible insects.” Images | Marco Neri (Unsplash), Louis Hansel (Unsplash) and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea In Xataka | Italy has taken the “gourmetization” of ice cream to the extreme with a €95 cone. Now the country debates whether that is “idiots”

already mass-produces its own UVP lithography machines, according to The Information

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A Chinese company backed by the government led by Xi Jinping has broken one of the most resistant barriers in the semiconductor industry. According to The Informationthis company has begun to mass-produce its own immersion deep ultraviolet (UVP) lithography machines, the tool that engraves the geometric pattern of circuits on silicon wafers and that China had never produced on an industrial scale. Its objective is modest: it intends to produce five units this year aimed at SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), Hua Hong Semiconductor and CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies), and another twenty in 2027. International media have not yet confirmed the name of this company, although several of them claim that it resides in Shanghai (China), so it is probably Shanghai Yuliangsheng Technology, an emerging company linked to Huawei and YesCarrier. This simply means that the ecosystem of suppliers that China has been weaving around Huawei in recent years is also beginning to bear fruit in photolithography, the link that is taking the longest to master. The market has reacted immediately. ASML shares have reached drop up to 6.5% in Amsterdam just a few hours ago, and Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp left between 4% and 7% in that same session. It is no surprise: any significant advance by China in lithography is perceived on Wall Street as a direct threat to ASML’s business in this Asian country, which, surprisingly, continues to be an important source of income for this Dutch company despite the fact that US and Netherlands sanctions They prevent it from selling its most advanced machines there. China is still a generation behind SMIC, China’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, has been testing a Yuliangsheng tool since September 2025. That machine has been designed for 28nm integration processes, although with multipatterning advanced could reach 7nm nodes or even more sophisticated. SMIC has set 2027 as the date for mass production of these machines. However, Yuliangsheng is not alone: ​​SMEE (Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment), another Chinese manufacturer of lithography equipment, has already sold about ten units of its SSA800 series, which is also focused on 28 nm immersion UVP photolithography. These new machines mainly incorporate Chinese components, although some critical parts still depend on Japanese suppliers. These new machines incorporate mostly Chinese components, although some critical parts still rely on Japanese suppliers, and presumably lag behind ASML equipment in performance and manufacturing quality. On the other hand, we must not overlook that this technical gap can trigger months of qualification tests before the equipment actually enters the large scale production lines. In this context, an independent analysis of AI Futures Project published in June has put Chinese production of commercial-scale UVP dipping machines into the mid-2030s. Meanwhile, ASML continues to control the 98.7% of the market. This last company, in fact, plans to deliver to its customers about 130 UVP immersion equipment in 2026, a volume similar to that of 2025, as explained its chief financial officer, Roger Dassen, at the July earnings call. This figure makes clear the real magnitude of the distance that separates China and ASML: this Asian country aims to manufacture twenty UVP units in 2027, while the Dutch company will deliver that quantity in just under two months. The geopolitical context, in any case, does not help reduce tension. The US is considering imposing even stricter restrictions on the export and maintenance of lithography equipment that reaches China through the MATCH lawwhose limitations would reach even machines already installed in Chinese factories. In parallel, the Chinese Government continues to develop its own extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE), although this project is presumably still in the prototype phase, and, according to analysts, it is still several years of producing a commercial chip. Image | ASML More information | The Information In Xataka | TSMC raises its bet in the US: there are already 265,000 million dollars for 2 nm

Our attention span is so broken that a thriving industry has emerged: “distraction-free” keyboards

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In 2024, more than 90,000 books. It is estimated that in the United States the figure was much higher and reached three millionincluding self-published books. Those numbers make something very clear: the world has been filled with writers. Those who write also do so in many ways. The traditional typewriter has practically disappeared to give way to the computer, and the versatility of this technological product has made the experience more personal than ever. The blank page, but on the screen Thus, while some write on the desktop computer, others do so on the laptop, but in that experience the details matter a lot, such as the type of keyboard used – with the popular mechanical keyboardsfor example—or, of course, the application that each one uses to write. The famous case of George RR Martin with the mythical and very old WordStar It is almost anecdotal, because currently there are many much more modern rivals. Microsoft Word is the obvious choice, but rivals have tightened significantly in this sector. Thus, a huge number of applications and services designed for writers have appeared, such as Scrivener, Ulysses, iAWriter, Manuscripteither Ghostwriter. In many cases, one of the focuses of these applications was not only to help the writer in areas such as the structure of the novel or the organization of the characters and plot. They also usually have a distraction-free mode, which usually manifests itself with the digital version of the blank sheet of paper: the interface is completely empty, without toolbars or menus. Just a cursor blinking and waiting for us. Welcome to distraction-free keyboards These software applications are also accompanied by some hardware devices specifically aimed at writers. They are a modern version of traditional typewriters: products designed entirely to do one thing and one thing only: write. Freewrite Traveler. These “distraction-free keyboards“They usually integrate small screens on which the text we are writing is displayed, but there is nothing else we can do with them. They have internet connectivity, but only with the objective of being able to synchronize those texts with the cloud to save them. No web browsers, no social networks, no (supposedly) distractions. All of them try to create a “concentration bubble” so that whoever writes can focus exclusively on it. The clear reference in this segment is Freewritefrom the company Astrohaus, which manufactures several models of keyboards without distractions with this proposal. In them we normally have: Internet connectivity Small flash memory but enough to store several manuscripts Internal battery Screen: usually e-ink, but also LCD This electronic ink screen of various models makes it more comfortable to have long writing sessions and contributes to long-lasting battery life. The most notable alternative to FreeWrite machines is Pomeranianfrom the Japanese company King Jim, which has launched some of its models on crowdfunding platforms such as IndieGogo. Pomera DM250US These are, however, devices with a high price for how specific they are. Here it is likely that the limited production batches make these products more expensive, but still its price/performance ratio is not remarkable. The Freewrite Traveler, for example, is priced at 602.95 euros in the official Freewrite store. Pomera’s recent rival – with an LCD screen – has an official price of $449, almost 400 euros. There are even ones with a much higher price, like the Ernest Hemingway, which has a price of $1,206.95. At Xataka we have contacted three users of these devices: two of them English-speaking, and a young Spanish man. All of them have purchased and used at least one of these types of keyboards without distractions or a similar alternative, and they have been kind enough to share the experience with us. Looking for a digital substitute for the notebook and pen Ilia Epifanov, writer and editorhas published more than 30 works, including short stories, books and even comics. When he decided to buy one of these devices, he tells us, “I was looking for a compact machine that would allow me to write without distractions.” He discovered the Freewrite devices“but the price seemed high to me, and I was also looking for something more portable. He ended up deciding on Nokia E7a smartphone launched in 2011 that had a physical keyboard that could be folded out under the case. “It’s small, well made and evokes nostalgia,” he commented, “although it certainly has its limitations.” He admits that he wouldn’t recommend it to most people, especially since the keyboard isn’t suitable for use for long periods of time. But for this user, one of the keys to this old device is that it is old and most of its applications are useless today. That makes me approach it solely as a keyboard without distractions, because as he says “I love its simplicity: you unfold the keyboard and just type.” Carl Dilkington —pseudonym that use on Reddit our second guest—is a freelancer who writes both professionally and as a hobby. He also began to look for alternatives to write without distractions, and started with the cheapest and least technological: a notebook and a pen. He soon realized that this did not seem practical to him, and after searching for devices of this type he opted for the Freewrite Traveler, which he chose for its portability but which “if I’m honest, I chose it over others for aesthetic reasons. I just liked the way it looked, and I thought that if I was going to spend a good part of the day looking at it, I wanted to like its design.” These types of products “don’t work magic,” he confessed. “You still need to force yourself to sit down and write, and that will always be a complex task. And that’s the real problem. We let computers distract us because we want to avoid the difficulty of writing. Eliminating those distractions doesn’t eliminate the desire to be distracted, and the world has plenty of additional sources of distraction that we can subject ourselves to.” It is an important reflection, and reveals … Read more

China is already experiencing a fever for ultra-technological electric caravans and the reason is simple: they are better than combustion ones

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China wants to attract tourists. And he wants his tourists to bet on the national tourism. The objective, evidently, is to attract money and promote internal consumption in the country. So much so that in 2025 tourism generated 16% more income than the previous year, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The movement, of course, has promoted the use of the train or the plane. But it has had an unexpected effect: the fever of electric caravans. “To take a nap”. It is, according to Daniel Wu, global director of brand and marketing at XPeng, what some people do when they finish their work hours. “Many people go to their cars to take a one-hour nap. After work, they stay in the car for an hour before returning home, doing things they like—for example, playing—simply because it is a very comfortable space,” he explains in words reported by Bloomberg. And the American media has focused on the Chinese camping fever. Since the Covid-19 crisis, this type of tourism has spread throughout the country as it offers an alternative to much more expensive hotels and adds the flexibility inherent to this type of tourism. The reasons for prioritizing camping tourism are exactly the same ones that we have defended in Europe and that have fired these types of proposals since the confinements due to the coronavirus crisis. The difference is that, in the Asian country, manufacturers are specializing in making the interior of the car its own space where the wheels are the addition. In Xataka Spain changes the rules of the game for motorhomes: they will be able to park where any car parks best electric. The big difference is that a good part of this fever is being channeled through fully electric or extended range vehicles. These types of vehicles allow functions such as “camping” or “sleep” modes to be incorporated, making life easier for the user who finds greater flexibility in this type of vehicle. In fact, the chinese media themselves They highlight that the boom is concentrating on models that offer more “high quality and comfort” options. According to their data, in 2022 this business moved 113.47 billion yuan but in 2025 it reached 250 billion yuan. A good part of this result lies in the fact that users increasingly opt for this type of vehicle when they have to rent them. To understand the fever for this type of vehicle, in ChinaDaily They reported that orders for “new energy” vehicles (as they call electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles there) are growing at a rate 10 times higher year after year and the rental period is increasingly longer. In Xataka Pebble has created the mother of all electric caravans. It parks itself and has a propulsion system A substantial advantage. Both in Bloomberg like in chinese media like People They highlight that these electric caravans are more sought after because their huge battery expands everything that can be done with the car. Users rateFor example, being able to carry appliances and all kinds of cooking utensils that only require a gigantic battery on wheels. There are some that even use 4K projectors inside so that passengers can enjoy wherever they go. A good example of this is this caravan that they collected in esquire with the interior space divided into two floors, refrigerator and induction hob, a compact toilet and karaoke, a highly sought after feature in all types of cars. Or this other one from Changan capable of fording rivers wave Geely Farizon. In addition, the possibilities for keeping the interior at a constant temperature are much greater than in a traditional vehicle, making it especially interesting for those who travel with pets. In Xataka It is no longer enough for luxury motorhomes to be huge. Now they have their own garage (with a car inside) The Millennials. One of the reasons given for this increase in the use of electric caravans is, evidently, the savings they represent compared to hotels. They are the travelers born from the 90s those who travel the most with this type of automobile. In fact, 53% of travelers were born during this decade. During May Day holidaysrentals of this type of car skyrocketed again but not only among caravans. And it is that car manufacturers are increasingly likely to include camping modes of use and sell a greater number of accessories to make these cars a realistic option with which to go camping without having to invest in a motorhome. In Xataka If the question is whether you can live in your caravan due to impossible housing prices, the answer is simple: it depends. Chargers everywhere. Of course, all this would not be possible if the charging network were not there. And the huge batteries that serve refrigerators and kitchens would no longer serve their main purpose (moving the car) if, for example, they did not have a dense network of chargers. They collect in Bloomberg that the country has filled gas stations and rest areas with plugs at a devilish rate. Growth is sustained at over 50% each year and there have already been more than 21 million chargers distributed throughout the country. Photo | Geely In Xataka | This image of a Tesla pulling a trailer hides a secret: an entire house in a ridiculous spaceeither (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 China is already experiencing a fever for ultra-technological electric caravans and the reason is simple: they are better than combustion ones was originally published in Xataka by Alberto de la Torre .

a data center turned neighborhood life into a nightmare

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For years, data centers remained out of our sight, although much of what we do on the Internet depends on them. In Dowagiac, a city in southwest Michigan, that infrastructure has become impossible to ignore: several residents say that a facility dedicated to cryptocurrency mining and currently in the process of reconversion It has been emitting a high-pitched hum 24 hours a day since 2024. Now, as the company prepares the leap into computing for artificial intelligence and advanced robotics, the conflict shows the extent to which a digital installation can transform the daily lives of those who live around it. unbearable noise. The story focuses on Louise Avenue, a dead-end street where Lindy Valenzuela and her husband and wife Marjorie and Billy Finn live right across the street from the compound, owned by Alliance Cloud Services LLC, a subsidiary of Hyperscale Data. According to what they told the American network WXYZfor decades on the other side there was an industrial building hidden behind a row of pine trees, integrated into the daily landscape of the neighborhood. Neighbors date the change to 2018, when the trees disappeared and a loading dock was installed. Around 2021, a cryptocurrency mining operation began there and, three years later, the operation of the place began to feel different. inside the houses. Valenzuela described the sound with a very specific comparison: “It sounds like having a vacuum cleaner in your living room (…) when the filter is clogged, so it makes a high-pitched whistle. And they left it on and left.” Its consequences appear in everyday gestures that were previously normal. The Finns say they can no longer open the windows like they used to, while Valenzuela says that staying outside for a few minutes on hot days can end up giving them a headache. From complaints to the courts. The conflict ceased to be solely a neighborhood conflict in March 2026, when Dowagiac passed its first industrial noise ordinance. The standard sets a maximum of 65 dB during the day and 55 dB at night, and the municipal official assured that the city had already sanctioned Hyperscale Data for failing to comply. The company, however, questions both the measurements and the method used. In parallel, Valenzuela appears as a plaintiff in a class action that accuses the operator of negligence and substantially interfering with the use and enjoyment of the homes. The turn towards AI: Hyperscale Data has put figures to the transformation announced for the venue. Its CEO, William Horne, explained during an extraordinary meeting of the municipal council that the company plans to invest $100 million to expand computing for artificial intelligence and advanced robotics, while abandoning cryptocurrency mining. It has also acquired adjacent land that it intends to use as a natural separation strip to reduce the sound that reaches the homes. For now, however, local authorities say they have not received any permit requests for this expansion. The answers. Among the responses offered by Hyperscale Data is the progressive shutdown of mining machinery, which the company hopes to complete over the next three months. The CEO went further and stated that they would buy the homes of those who still could not enjoy them. For those affected, this alternative does not resolve what these homes represent. For example, the Finn house has been in the family for almost 100 years and there they maintain their friendships and a support network that also helps Marjorie, diagnosed with Parkinson’s. The case. What is happening in Dowagiac shows how a computer infrastructure can become very physical when it is installed next to homes and operates continuously. Data centers support services that we use every day. This expansion can provide investment and employment, although it can also increase the demand for electricity and water, the occupation of land and, in certain cases, the noise endured by the environment. Images | Brett Sayles In Xataka | The Chinese AI startup that launched the amazing GLM-5.2 model has just reached another milestone: creating its own data center

The US built the most powerful army in the world. Now there are those who point out its Achilles heel: cyberwar

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Few countries have a military mix comparable to that of the United States: ground, naval, air and space forces, industrial capacity and the means to operate far from their borders. However, recent conflicts have made it clear that the superiority no longer depends solely of airplanes, ships or battle tanks. In Ukraine, drones have acquired a prominence that forces us to review tactics and defenses. Meanwhile, Cyberattacks have established themselves as another tool of confrontation. And that’s where some experts believe the American structure is starting to show problems. A commission assembled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in collaboration with the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0s project, has tried to answer this question and its diagnosis is not very reassuring. In a recently published reportits authors maintain that the current design of US cyber forces is insufficient to deter, compete and combat in this domain. They do not claim that the Pentagon lacks specialists, units or operational capacity. The problem, according to the study, is deeper: no organization concentrates the responsibility of consistently recruiting, training and equipping the personnel needed by the United States Cyber ​​Command. It is no secret that measuring military power requires more than counting soldiers, ships or planes. The most visible data comes from SIPRI: in 2025, the United States remained by far the biggest military spender in the worldwith 954 billion dollars and 33% of the global total, compared to the 336 billion estimated for China. This data does not measure military power on its own, but it fits with other analyses, like those of GAO and Brookingswhich continue to describe the US as a dominant force due to its combination of capabilities, deployment, logistics and alliances. The domain for which no branch of the United States Armed Forces was designed There appears the anomaly that focuses the report. The United States has created military services with central responsibilities associated with the large traditional domains of combat, including the space branch since 2019. Cyberspace, on the other hand, continues without its own branch. The commission maintains that, for this reason, there is also no single authority responsible for creating the necessary forces to operate in that area. Responsibilities are distributed among different services, all involved in the mission, but none obliged to place it ahead of their traditional tasks. This dispersion translates, according to the report, into different approaches among the Department’s five military services to recruit, train and develop those who make up the cyber forces. Each one applies their own criteria access, career plans, educational systems and compensation models, which, according to the commission, produce unequal and inefficient results. Katherine Sutton, civilian cyber policy officer and senior cyber advisor at the Pentagon, acknowledged before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 28, 2026 the “significant difficulties” in recruiting profiles with the appropriate skills, retaining the most experienced operators in the face of better-paid opportunities in the private sector and offering specialized training with sufficient agility. Now, the Pentagon has not stood still. The report acknowledges that it has attempted to correct part of the problem with CYBERCOM 2.0an initiative announced in 2025 to reinforce the role of Cyber ​​Command in talent, training and capacity development. But the commission considers that this type of reform does not resolve the underlying issue: the absence of a military branch dedicated to generating forces for cyberspace. In other words, it is not just discussing who commands the operations, but who stably builds the personnel, preparation and tools that those operations need. The United States Cyber ​​Command, known as USCYBERCOMhas the official mission of directing, synchronizing and coordinating operations in cyberspace to defend and promote national interests, according to its own institutional description. According to the commission, the problem is that in practice it also ends up carrying part of the “service-type” functions that it should provide. personnel, preparation and capabilities. The authors see there a design problem that is reminiscent of the model corrected by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986which reorganized the Pentagon and better delineated the difference between building the force and employing it in operations. And what do they suggest? Well, the study works on the hypothesis of creating a military branch dedicated to cyberspace and develops how it should be organized if Washington were to make that decision. This Cyber ​​Force would have a defined mission: organize, train and equip the personnel in charge of offensive and defensive operations, while USCYBERCOM would retain the responsibility of employing them. The proposal does not seek to absorb all of the Pentagon’s technology or take charge of each of its computer networks. The other branches would continue to manage the systems linked to their own missions, but they would stop separately generating a capability that requires common criteria, careers and priorities. The paradox is difficult to ignore. The United States retains the most powerful military force in the world, but the report warns that has not yet developed a structure specifically designed to generate its capabilities in cyberspace. Erica Lonergan, lead author of the study and professor at Columbia University, and Mark Montgomery, commissioner of the report, retired rear admiral and head of cyber and technology at the FDD, They later transferred that conclusion to a forum in Defense News: If the digital environment has already become a war domain, it should have a branch ready to fight in it. Images | US Army Cyber ​​Command | Wyoming National Guard In Xataka | For years Russia accustomed its citizens to a distant war. Thousands of gas stations have just broken that illusion

Spanish cities are full of a tree that litters everything with flowers and fruits. They have a reason to be there

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If during these weeks of summer you have walked through the streets of your city, it is very likely that you have stepped on a dense carpet of small creamy white flowers. The person responsible for this summer floral rain is an old acquaintance of the urban trees that we popularly know as “Japanese acacia” and scientifically as Styphnolobium japonicum. Its usefulness. If you wonder why the city councils of cities like Zaragoza, Barcelona or Murcia insist on planting this species on paved avenues, the answer It is in its extraordinary adaptive physiology. Something that is supported by the technical sheets that classify it as a species highly tolerant to urban pollution. It is a tree that successfully withstands traffic pollutionheat islands, drought and poor or highly compacted soils. Added to this is its ability to provide dense shade during the harshest months of the year, making it an ideal candidate for road alignment design. It’s not perfect. The only negative point that this tree may have, despite the long list of advantages, is the annoyance that the massive drop of its flowers and later of its fleshy fruits can cause in pedestrian areas. This is something that can end up being quite annoying and making cities very dirty, which is why it requires good maintenance and cleaning. Late flowering. While most urban trees bloom in spring, the Styphnolobium japonicum Save your energy for the summer. Specifically, flowering occurs in the hottest months, between June and August. Its small papilionaceous flowers not only create that characteristic “carpet” impression on the ground, but are highly melliferous. For weeks, the canopy of these trees becomes a hotbed of bees and other pollinators, fulfilling a vital ecological function in the urban ecosystem during a time when other sources of nectar are scarce. Its fruits, strangled legumes reminiscent of a pearl necklace, remain hanging on the branches for a long time, extending their ornamental value well into winter. The identity crisis. One of the great myths around this tree is in its popular name because it is not an acacia. But around his Japanese origin, his epithet “japonicum“was historically misleading, as its native range is not found in Japan, but in the central and southern regions of China. It was introduced to Europe and East Asia much later, where it became greatly popular due to its biological characteristics. Its toxicity. In the field of ethnobotany and traditional Asian medicine, various parts of this tree are have attributed medicinal propertiesand the reality is that it has been seen to have compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. But the problem is that some parts of the tree, such as the raw fruit, are toxic, so their management should be left to the pharmaceutical industry and moving away from home remedies. Images | Bianka Becsi In Xataka | In the 19th century it was planted in parks for its beauty: today this tree is one of the trees that breaks the most pipes and sidewalks in Spain

one of the fantasy films of 2025 is also among Gerard Butler’s highest rated

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It is one of Gerard Butler’s most highly rated roles (“honestly, a masterpiece” he said. one of the users of the AlloCiné website), although it is not exactly one of his best-known interpretations. And in fact, it was not the first time that Butler gave life to Stoick the Vast: he had already given him a voice in the animated films of ‘How to train your dragon’. However, it was with the live-action version, released in 2025, where he earned the applause of websites such as the aforementioned AlloCiné, where he has the best score of all his performances, ahead of more popular films such as ‘300’. You can check if the hype it’s for both Movistar Plus and SkyShowtime. In the film we will travel to the island of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been killing each other for generations without anyone being very clear about the reason for this conflict. Hiccup is the son of Chief Stoick and the Viking least prepared for war: he prefers to think rather than strike, and that makes him an embarrassment to his father and the laughingstock of the town. Everything changes when he wounds a dragon, which instead of finishing off he decides to heal and understand. The friendship that is born between the two dismantles everything Hiccup thought he knew about dragons, and ends up forcing his entire island to choose between tradition and change. The ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ saga was born in 2003 with Cressida Cowell’s novels, which sold more than sixteen million copiesand jumped to the movies in 2010 with the help of Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, the same tandem that would later direct ‘Lilo and Stitch’ separately. Fifteen years later, DeBlois returned alone behind the camera, marking a very special milestone: it was the first time that the original director of an animated film also directed his own live-action remake. The film also has a very pronounced emotional component for Butler: during the production of the film in Belfast his mother fell ill, so the actor frequently traveled to Scotland on weekends to accompany her. Finally, he died shortly before the world premiere of this live-action adaptation. The film paid an emotional tribute to him, with a few lines of dedication in its credits. In Xataka | Two hours of claustrophobic melodrama that not even Tarantino could endure: “I saw it in the cinema and I barely made it to the credits”

“In that aspect, it is better to have a house in Albaicín than in Zaidín”

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While Tenerife pay attention to the small earthquakes that shake its volcanic territory, another Spanish province that is also becoming an expert in seismic swarms has had its own succession of tremors. And this Saturday, July 26, an earthquake of magnitude 3.6 occurred in Granada that was preceded and followed by a few other much smaller earthquakes. Logically, just as happened in 2021, fear arises among Granadans due to the possibility of a larger earthquake. But could there really be large earthquakes in Granada? To answer this question, I have spoken with Ana Crespo Blancprofessor of geology at the University of Granada and expert in earthquakes. As he tells us, with science in hand, the answer depends on the flaws we look at. With those currently active in this seismic swarm, the most abundant in the province, a high intensity earthquake cannot occur. With some other, responsible for large earthquakes in the past, it could occur, but it is much less likely. In addition, nuances must be taken into account that make the risk currently even lower. Let’s talk about failures To talk about earthquakes, we must be clear about what faults are. And no, I’m not talking about the Valencia festivities. The faults are fractures in the earth’s crust throughout which there has been a displacement measurable of rock blocks. Due to tectonic forces, on the sides of these fractures Elastic tension accumulates until a limit is reached, in which the fault slides and energy is released in the form of seismic waves. This is important, because the larger the fault, the more energy will be accumulated and released. Shooting an object with a small slingshot is not the same as throwing an object with a large catapult. How do faults influence the earthquakes in Granada? The failures that caused the seismic swarm of 2021, as well as those that have been causing the most earthquakes in Granada these days, are too small to cause a large earthquake. “All the active faults we have are relatively short, on the order of less than a kilometer, so not much energy can be accumulated,” explains Crespo Blanc, clarifying that he refers to this being the answer based on the science we know today. As a result, not enough energy can be built up to generate a large earthquake. Now, in the history of Granada, two large earthquakes are known, which were very intense and destructive. One took place in 1884, in King’s Sandsand the other occurred in Albolote in 1956. We cannot know the exact magnitude of the first one, since there were no measurement systems like the current ones, but it is estimated that it had a magnitude of more or less 6.2 to 6.5. The second reached magnitude 5. We are talking, now, about quite large earthquakes. What happened then? A larger fault and poorly constructed buildings Normally, in seismic swarms, such as those that gave rise to the 2021 Grenada earthquakes, or even those that have been detected recently, the energy accumulated in the faults is released little by little. That results in tremors that are not too large. However, it could happen that it is all released at once. In that case, the magnitude increases. This is what happened in Albolote. However, today a magnitude 5 earthquake should not be extremely destructive. It is true that it is much more intense than those that normally take place, but we must add that in 1956, the buildings in Granada were not prepared for earthquakes. “In that year, the constructions were generally of poor quality,” recalls the geology professor. “Then the earthquake triggered landslides, there were people who lived in caves and there were also deaths in relation to those landslides, not so much with the house falling on top of the person.” In fact, Crespo Blanc points out that “that earthquake was the trigger for the anti-seismic standard which has been applied in Granada since the 70s.” With this rule, applies to the entire Spanish territory with risk of earthquakesa series of limitations and obligations are taken into account when constructing buildings, according to the different levels of risk. For example, if the seismic acceleration is 0.08 g or 0.12 g, the maximum height of a wall structure will be 4 stories, each of them no higher than 20 times the thickness of the wall. Thanks to that, earthquakes today cause much less damage in Spain than in the past. Although in the past there were some of very considerable magnitude, such as Arenas del Rey, it did take place on a much longer fault. It is something much more exceptional, which is not abundant in Granada. The ones that are normally active and cause seismic swarms are the small ones, which cannot cause earthquakes of great magnitude. Could one like the one from the 19th century be produced? Maybe one day, if all the energy from that larger fault is released at once, but it’s much less likely. The third factor: the composition of the terrain We have already seen that the most abundant faults in Granada are too small to generate large earthquakes. There is no need to fear a large earthquake related to the most recent swarms. We have also remembered that the buildings in Granada are built to withstand these types of events. However, there is a third factor that we must also take into account: the composition of the terrain. In this sense, Crespo Blanc explains that “if the soil is soft, for example sandy, an amplification of the waves occurs, which does not occur if the soil is rocky.” For this reason, he points out that, in that aspect, “it is better to have a house in the Albaicin than in Zaidín.” In any case, if you have a house in Zaidín you should not fear this swarm of earthquakes either. The flaws are too small so that the earthquake becomes extreme, no matter how soft the ground is. Image | … Read more

Eight years ago Morocco embraced Central European Time. Now you’ve decided it’s time to change.

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September 20, 2026 will be an important day in Morocco. Or rather, an important early morning. With the last blows of summer, the Maghreb country wants to apply a major change in an aspect that affects its close ties. 37 million inhabitantsbeyond your age, gender, profession or wealth: the schedule. The nation will abandon the GMT+1 to return to GMT. It may seem like a minor issue, but it has been starring for years an intense debate. In practice it also means move away (at the time level) of Europe. What has happened? That Morocco has decided that next September will mean more than just the end of summer. It will also mean goodbye to GMT+1the time that is one hour ahead of the Greenwich meridian, the same one used by peninsular Spain during winter time. The executive headed by Aziz Achanuch has decided that at the end of summer it will return to GMT. The change will be made at 02.00 on Sunday the 20th of September. What hours do you have now? At the end of the 1960s Morocco established the legal time GMT, but in the last decade it progressively adopted the use of GTM+1. That change occurred an acceleration in 2018, when it was decided to establish it definitively, eliminating the return to the GMT. At that time, Moroccans stopped having to manipulate the hands of their clocks depending on the season they were in. There was only an exception: Ramadan. During those weeks (the dates depend on the lunar calendar) the population switched to GMT time to make life more bearable in a period marked by fasting and prayer. As explains Juan Carlos Sanz in The Countrythis year the hands were moved back one hour between February 15 and March 22, which in practice advanced he iftarthe food that breaks the daily fast, and prolong the rest. العودة إلى الساعة القانونية (توقيت غرينيتش) ابتداء من متم الصيف الحالي (السيد أخنوش) pic.twitter.com/TF14b57sTE — Agence MAP (@MAP_Information) June 25, 2026 And why do they go to GMT? In words of the Government, to meet “citizens’ expectations” and “solve the problems associated with the early schedule.” The return to GMt+1 after Ramadan is supported by several government decrees, but that does not mean that it convinces Moroccans. The reason: the mismatches between the official schedule, the bands in which there is daylight and the biorhythms of the population. For example, it is said that the GMT zone prevents it from being nighttime when children go to school in winter. Is it that important? Yes. In April Watchtower public a chronicle in which he talked about how a collection of signatures against the GMT+1 had achieved the support of 300,000 people, a considerable number in a country of 37 million of people. The same medium cited a survey, carried out in 2025, in which the majority desire to establish the GMT is expressed with percentages. According to the survey, 43% of Moroccans are against GMT+1, which only convinces 28%. 40% also affirm that it is negative for their daily life. Why did they adopt it then? Because GMT+1 also has its advantages, although they may not be as noticeable in the daily routine of Moroccans. His defenders they talk of energy efficiency and competitiveness and recall a 2019 study that estimated a saving of 37.6 GWh in electricity during the winter, which resulted in fewer CO2 emissions and fuel costs. Are there more reasons? Yes. Another key reason is that the GMT improves Morocco’s synchronization with its major European economic allies, France and Spain. That Rabat joining GMT+1 meant that for a good part of the year, from october to marchthe Moroccan capital shares the same time as Madrid, Paris and Berlin. The rest of the year the difference was only one hour, like Lisbon or London. The change will mean moving Morocco away from that harmony, leaving an hour of lag in winter and two during summer. Images | Raúl Mermans García (Unsplash) and Mari Helin (Unsplash) In Xataka | For decades we changed the time to spend less. Today we know that it was not of much use

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