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Taiwan believes having found the mythical planet 9 of the Solar System. Instead of looking for his light, he has been looking for his heat

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The countless frustrated attempts to find planet 9, a hypothetical giant gas in the confines of our solar system, have aroused the ingenuity of some Taiwanese scientists. Short. For years, astronomers have swept the sky in search of the weak reflection of sunlight that should get to us from planet 9, a demonstratedly ineffective task. Now, a team of researchers has changed the rules of the game with an ingenious idea: instead of looking for it, they have tried to detect their heat. Well, they have found two very promising candidates. Context. Beyond the orbit of Neptune, in an icy and dark region known as the Kuiper belt, the orbits of several objects seem to be grouped in a way that challenges chance. The trajectories of these transneptunian objects (TNos) align as if an invisible hand were guiding them. The most accepted hypothesis to explain this behavior is the existence of an unknown massive planet, the planet 9. Of existing, this distant world would have a mass of between five and ten times that of the earth. The problem is that it would be more than 400 astronomical units, so its light would be incredibly dim. To put it in perspective, Neptune is “only” 30 UA or 4,496 million kilometers. If we can’t see it, maybe we can feel its heat. A team from the National University Tsing Hua in Taiwan believes to have the strongest track in years on the real existence of the most wanted object in our neighborhood. The results of their study are not final, but they reach two promising candidates. Every object with a temperature above absolute zero emits thermal radiation, that is, heat. But while the light decreases with the distance following a relationship of the inverse of the fourth power (1/d4), the heat only decreases with the square of the distance (1/d2). This abysmal difference is the argument used by researchers to focus their search on the heat signature of planet 9. A needle in a haystack. The team resorted to the data of the Akari Space Telescope of Japan. Throwed in 2006, Akari dedicated his useful life to sweeping the full sky in distant infrared light, the perfect range to detect the thermal brightness of the planet 9. And he did it from space, without the interference of the Earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers set out from a list of unprocessed Disssdl detections: more than 5.2 million signals with many false positives. After limiting the search zone, eliminating known objects, filtering sources contaminated by galactic dust clouds and excluding static objects, which seem to be at the same point in observations separated by months, the list was reduced to 393 candidates. Of 393 candidates for two. He touched his hands dirty. The investigators visually inspected the images of the 393 candidates. They ruled out weak detections, artifacts at the edges of the sensor and, above all, the impacts of cosmic rays that can be perceived as a specific source of heat. After this thorough process, there were only two candidates. Two heat points that appeared where planet 9 was expected, had the predicted brightness for the theory and showed the expected movement: they were detected in the same place in a period of 24 hours, but there was no trace of them in the same place six months later. All to demonstrate. The two candidates were baptized as FISSDL J0250422-15011 and FISSDL J0301112-164240. But to verify if these two heat points are really a single object moving in an orbit compatible with planet 9 will need new observations in visible light, with sufficiently powerful telescopes to detect its weak optical brightness and measure its movement with precision. If confirmed, the discovery would not only solve one of the greatest mysteries of modern astronomy, but would revolutionize our understanding about how our own system was formed and evolved. Everything is to be demonstrated, but at least we have a hot trail to continue hunting. Image | ESA, Hubble, M. Kornmesser, CC By 4.0

Ferrari has won on land, but now points to the ocean. His new challenge is a ship that works without a drop of fuel

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Ferrari has already conquered the circuits. Now he wants to do the same in the ocean. Its new project has no wheels, nor ailerons, nor a V12 engine. Is called Hypersail And it is a Monohull of regattasalthough that description barely scratches the surface. The Italian brand has decided to build an extreme boat, designed to challenge resistance and engineering. The challenge is not less: to create a 100 -foot monoccasco that literally rises on water, driven only by renewable energies. Without a drop of fuel. A brand that is no longer limited to asphalt For decades, Ferrari has been synonymous with competition, engineering and prestige. Its history has been written in the most demanding paths and in the most select garages in the world. But times are changing. The brand continues to manufacture sports cars, yes, but it is also expanding its playing field. Today Ferrari not only innovates in his vehicles, he also does it in his strategy. Part of that evolution It has to do with the public. The Z and millennial generation They already suppose 40 % of their new buyers. They are younger customers, interested in design and technology, but also in impact and sustainability. And Ferrari is adapting. In that context, Hypersail It does not seem to be a whim or a marketing maneuver. It can be a way to apply everything learned in the asphalt to a different environment, although later also carrying that experience obtained in the water to their cars. Ferrari describes Hypersail Like a floating laboratory. And it is not an exaggeration. The boat, designed by the Naval Architect Guillaume Verdier and directed by the navigator Giovanni SoldiniIt has little to do with a conventional ship. Its structure is designed to keep the helmet out of the water by means of three support points: a foil coupled to a tilting keel, another in the rudder and one side that acts alternately. This provision Reduces friction to a minimum and literally allows “flying” on the waves. The most radical aspect of the project is not seen with the naked eye: it does not carry a combustion engine. All the energy necessary for its operation – from the control of hydraulic systems to navigation computers – is generated on board while sailing. The source is exclusively renewable: solar, wind and kinetic. It is not just about installing panels or captors, but of redesigning each system to be as efficient as possible. There are no hidden generators or plans B. According to the company itself, for many, this combination of total autonomy and oceanic navigation It seemed unfeasible. Ferrari wants to demonstrate that it is perfectly possible. Ferrari not only contributes his name, he actively participates in development. The equipment has applied to the sailboat many of the tools already used in its cars: aerodynamic simulation, advanced structural calculations and a flight control system adapted to the marine environment. That joint work has already resulted in nine patents, with another six in preparation. The ship reacts in real time to sea conditions, adjusting its position as a racing car would make it trace a curve. According to Ferrari, the development of Hypersail is also contributing to the evolution of its sports. The company has not specified specific models, but this technological approach would fit with its current hyper -sports linelike him Ferrari F80a hybrid of 1,200 hp called to continue what Enzo and Laferrari left. Hypersail It is not a finished product. It is an idea under construction. His assembly has already begun in Italy and the launch is scheduled for 2026. For now, Ferrari has shared very few images of the project, and everything indicates that we will have to wait to see more details of its development. Until then, the sailboat will continue to evolve as an open innovation platform. Images | Ferrari In Xataka | In Australia they already have the ‘infinite train’. To batteries, without catenary and unlimited autonomy, but with a great asterisk

China wanted to be the queen of high -speed trains. So he built all the longest bridges in the world

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Although Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are immersed in a war for have the highest skyscrapers in the worldwhen we talk about megaconstructions, there is no one to have China. It doesn’t matter if we talk about tunnels, Dams, roads and even half -skyscraper. And, when we talk about bridges, there yes There is no rival. From time to time They complete a new pharaonic bridgebut if there is something that shows China’s muscle about it, they are the bridges of the Beijing-Shanghái line. Because it is in it where the three longest bridges are located in the world. Massive and … boring? He Great Danyang-Kunshan bridge It is the longest bridge in the world. It measures just over 164 kilometers and can also be the most boring bridge in the world. The reason is that it is a bridge in which functionality prevailed. It is part of the high -speed network that joins Beijing and Shanghai and in its construction, 10,000 workers used 450,000 tons of steel and 2.3 million m3 of concrete to give life to a structure that had to endure possible ships of ships and the impact of earthquakes. It has 2,000 pillars, 22 tunnels, it has an average altitude of just over 30 meters and trains circulate at a speed of more than 320 km/h. Declaration of intentions. The most striking thing is that it only took four years to complete the work. It is an achievement if we consider that other bridges, such as the Constitution of Cádizthey took more than seven years for about three kilometers. They began in 2006 and the works were completed in 2010, inaugurating both the bridge and the line in 2011. The investment? 8,500 million dollars, and although in later bridges we have seen an aesthetic intention by the engineers, that of Danyang-Kunshan was a declaration of intentions. It became a global reference in rail engineering, but above all in a sample of the Technological advance of the country when undertaking the Infrastructure construction large scale in record time. It is something that has also attracted attention to subsequent works, the speed at which things do, especially, in many occasions of works of great complexity. In dark red, the bridge. In clear red, part of the full line Beijing-Shanghai, a monster. Because although this bridge Have the Guiness record in length and it was an important technical advance, the most imposing thing is that it is only a piece of the puzzle that supposes the high -speed line Between Beijing and Shanghai. It is a connection with a length of 1,318 kilometers and, apart from that of Danyang-Kunshan, there are three other bridges that are on the list of the 10 longest in the world. He Great Bridge of Cangde measures 115.9 kilometers and the Great Tianjin Bridge It “stays” at 113.7 kilometers. The three are the longest in the world, and in the seventh place on the list is the Great Bridge of Beijingwith 48.2 kilometers. The four were completed for the inauguration of the line in 2011, assuming a pharaonic work and, in total, representing a third of the total line length. The artificial island of the Hong-Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge, which is a bridge over the water until it becomes a submarine “bridge” It is called obsession. Because, if we look at the list of the longest trains in the world, China is a constant, monopolizing with eight structures the top ten positions. Not only are they very long bridges to house train lines (the Weinan Weije It has 102.7 kilometers, but it is not from the Beijing-Shanghai line), also for roads. The fifth longest bridge in the world is Hong-Kong-Zhuhai-Macaohe longest maritime bridge With 55 kilometers (and, this yes, quite attractive), the eighth of the list is the Quingdao Haiwanwith another 44.5 kilometers of road and the tenth is the bridge of line 1 of the Wuhan Metro with 37.7 kilometers. Within those positions of honor, we only find a 54 -kilometer Thai bridge, the Band Na Expresswayand the Lake Pontchartrain Road in the United States with 38.4 kilometers. Images | Mnxanl(2) Pechristener, Highestbridges In Xataka | Three highways, 20 access ramps: China has the most diabolical exchanger in the world in Huangjuewan

We are sending cannabis samples to space. They will be key to knowing if we can colonize the moon or Mars

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Throughout our short space race we have sent the most diverse things to space: from golf balls up to 2,000 small jellyfish (that returned being 60,000), going through latea piece of the Wright brothers, an electric car, a gorilla costume and a pizza. Today to this peculiar list we have to add about 150 cannabis seeds. The reasons? Strictly scientific. Mayasat-1. That is the name they receive both the mission (Integrated within Mission Possible 2025) as the incubator on board which have traveled seeds, algae and human DNA, among other things. In total, 980 samples of 11 different customers. The incubator has been developed by the Genoplant Research Institute in Slovenia, but who has decided to send cannabis seeds to space has been Martian Grow. Transport-14 | Image: Genoplant Mayasat-1 | Image: Genoplant Three laps. Before addressing the why of cannabis, it is convenient to understand what the mission has consisted, whose duration has been three hours. Mayasat-1 took off on Monday 23 at 23:50 aboard a Falcon 9 from Spacex from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It reached a height of 520 kilometers (120 kilometers more than the International Space Station) and completed three laps around our planet. Specifically, through polar areas. Because? Because at the North and South poles exposure to radiation is very, much higher than that of Ecuador due to the magnetic field. The objectives. There are several, but they can be summarized as follows: Observe the survival of samples to radiation, microgravity and temperatures of space to have an idea of ​​its ability to resist extreme conditions. Investigate possible adaptations, such as genetic or structural changes, which may have occurred in response to the environmental stress factors. Study the possible implications for the cultivation of plants in space or advances in medicine. Serve as proof of concept for the realization of biological experiments in space. And now yes, cannabis. Božidar Radišič leads the initiative Martian Grow and works as a consultant at the Research Nature Institute in Slovenia. In statements collected by WiredRadišič believes that “sooner or later, we will have lunar bases and cannabis, with its versatility, it is the ideal plant to supply those projects.” In his own words, cannabis “can be a source of food, proteins, construction materials, textiles, hemp, plastic and medicines. I don’t think many other plants give us all these things.” But cannabis … Yes, it is associated with a very different recreational use, but its potential as a plant is tremendous. The Cannabis sativa l produces THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound) and CBD (Cannabidiol, has no psychoactive effects), but these are only two of the More than 550 chemical compounds found to date. And although we do not know what effects each and every one of them has, we do know that the plant is surprisingly resistant. Image | Crystalweed Cannabis Hold on what you throw. Cannabis sativa is a plant that resists ultraviolet rays and gamma radiation (in fact, it is used in its industrial production to decontaminate it). It is also extremely versatile, being able to grow both in Mexico and India, Nepal, Netherlands or Afghanistan despite the fact that its origin is in the Himalayas. Nor is it a plant that needs too much water and can be grown in different types of soils. Their ballots to be a successful space crop are, therefore, abundant on paper. And why send seeds to space? We know that radiation and genetic mutation is able to generate new varieties of species with different properties. “So far more than 3,400 new varieties of more than 210 species of plants using genetic variation induced by radiation and improvement by mutations, “they explain from the International Atomic Energy Agency. For Radišič, that is precisely the key: “It’s about finding out if cosmic conditions affect cannabis genetics, and how they do it, and we may only discover it after several generations.” Radiation exposure can cause mutations, not all negative, not all positive. The key is to detect those that can play in favor of humanity. The problem, of course, is that we need more information. Image | Genoplant Further. We have already cultivated lettuce at the International Space Station, Thalian Arabidopsis on lunar soil and Sent seeds to spacebut all radiation exposure has been in low orbit (up to 2,000 kilometers high). The responses to the radiation of a plant at the International Space Station may not be the same as those of a plant on the moon (at 38,400 kilometers away) or on Mars (54.6 million kilometers). One of the projects that seek to explore how plants cultivated on the moon respond is Leafa NASA mission that will travel to our satellite in the mission Artemis III In 2027. Next steps. When the capsule returns, the Božidar Radišič team and the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Ljubljana will study the seeds, their possible mutations and adaptations to obtain results and see which compounds have altered and how. “Whether there are changes as if not, both results will be important for the future, so that we know how to grow cannabis in the space environment,” says Radišič to Wired. An important job. Colonizing the moon or Mars is not only a technological challenge, but also logistics. It is not viable to transport food to keep the population of another planet, so it is capital to learn to cultivate in lunar and Martian soils, completely inhospitable and hostile. There have been advances and research with different proposals For many yearsbut there is still no solution that seems perfect. Images | Genoplant In Xataka | We have found a plant capable of producing 40 cannabinoids. A closer plant evolutionarily to lettuce that to hemp

In 1950 two scientists wondered if possible a nuclear bomb of 10 gigatons. Its results are hidden locked up

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On October 30, 1961, a Soviet bomber furrowed the skies of the Arctic towards Novaya Zemlya. Under his fuselage he hung an artifact the size of a bus: an unprecedented nuclear pump. At 11:32, the called TSAR pump He released. A parachute slowed its fall, allowing the plane to move away. Then, a detonation illuminated the sky with a fireball of almost 10 kilometers in diameter and a fungus -shaped cloud that amounted to more than 65 kilometers. The show was surreal: the pump, With 50 megatones explosive (more than 3,300 times that of Hiroshima), became a symbol of the Nuclear madness. But it could be much worse. The awakening of a new era. With the atomic bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki In August 1945, the world changed irreversibly. Those bombs, 16 and 21 kilotons respectively, they marked the beginning of the destructive power without a paragon of Nuclear weapons. However, despite their fearsome capacity, these weapons were only the first step towards a much more sinister technological escalation. What would later transcend the most reckless imagination. The most powerful pump ever detonated would be That Soviet tsar of 50 megatones, although designed to reach 100. However, the most disturbing thing is that this was not the summit. In hidden, the United States had still planned More huge. The “Super” concept. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were based In fission: A chain reaction in which heavy nuclei are divided releasing energy. But as we said, in parallel to their development, some scientists imagined a second stage: The fusion. This implied union of light nuclei (as deuterium and tritium) to form a heavier one, releasing even more energy. It happens that this reaction required an initial fission explosion to activate, which would give rise to the concept of the Hydrogen pumps. In the 1940s they were just a theoretical speculation … but everything changed very soon. Photograph of a replica of the tarum pump housing Communism comes. After the detonation of the First atomic bomb Soviet in 1949, the United States accelerated its thermonuclear programs. The fear of communism, enhanced by the revolution in China that same year, made the National Security Council recommend quadruply military spending. In that context, the figures of Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam appear, who devised The design that even today supports the H bombs. In 1952, the “Mike” test of Operation IVY demonstrated for the first time the Thermonuclear principle: an explosion of 10.4 megatones (500 times Nagasaki) that left a crater of 1,900 meters wide. Despite such force, that was not enough for Teller. The Soundy germ. Two years later, in 1954, the so -called “Shrimp” bomb during the Castle Bravo test. A powerful explosion was expected, but the result of 15 megatons (1,000 times Hiroshima) even surprised its designers, both by strength and by the devastating level of radiation released. However, Teller’s impetus did not stop there either. I wanted more, Much more. It was then that one of the most delusional and terrifying projects of nuclear history emerged: the Sundial Project. Designed by Teller and his colleagues from the Livermore Radiation Laboratory, the plan proposed a new destruction scale: no already kilotons or megatones, we entered In the gigatons. A couple of brothers. They were designed Two weapons: Gnomon and Sindial. Gnomon would act as “primary”, with a detonation of 1,000 megatons aimed at detonating Soundy, which would reach a power of 10,000 megatons, that is, 10 gigatons. For placing it in perspective, he thinks again The image of the beginning. Well, the figure exceeds 200 times the tsar bomb, and almost does not fit in the conceptual framework of the physics of conventional explosions. The potential apocalypse. The logic behind Sindial overflows any traditional calculation. To such powers, the laws of escalation of destruction They lose any validity: The heat, pressure and energy released would be so monstrous that, a priori, they would open a hole in the atmosphere. In fact, A report Del Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists pointed out that a pump like a sundial, detonated about 45 kilometers of altitude, could cause fires in an area of the size of France. The death toll would be unthinkable, not only because of the immediate explosion but by global radioactive sequels. Hiroshima, with 140,000 victims, would be a sigh against cataclysm that would represent Sindial. It was not science fiction. Although it might seem like a laboratory fantasy, the Sundial Project It was not a joke or an eccentric occurrence. Declassified documents and historical analysis indicate that Livermore’s team worked seriously For years in the development of Gnomon, with concrete plans to test it in the Redwing operation of 1956. That test was canceled, but the mere existence of the plan shows to what extent the fear, scientific ambition and deterrence had pushed the superpowers to border the abyss of the unacceptable. Echoes of Sindial. Suindial never materialized, but his mere conception forced A critical reflection In American politics. The growing destructive power of these weapons overflowed not only military strategy, but also ethics, logistics and land physics itself. While many ruled out their tactical utility for being impracticable (a pump of such dimensions was impossible to launch), its potential as an instrument of symbolic terror was enormous. As with The TSAR pumpits value was more political than operational: a floating threat that showed how far a nation could go if I wanted. Monster in the shadows. Finally, the Soundal project is It was diluting between political restrictions, international treaties and practical sense (without serving as precedent). The Ratification of the treaty Partial prohibition of nuclear trials in 1963 was a brake on atmospheric tests, which in practice made it impossible to continue advancing in the development of extreme performance weapons. The strategy then went on to favor smaller, portable and operational multiple eyelets, leaving behind the vision of total apocalypse that represented Sindial and its cousin Soviet sister. Imagine the unimaginable. What’s doubt, today sundial is just a footer … Read more

If their spies spoke Basque as a secret code

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The espionage stories They are fascinating. Video games like Spanish ‘Commandos‘They have one of their best characters in the spy and the sagas of’Impossible mission‘ either ‘007‘are sustained (At least in the first deliveries) in that work of espionage and Double agents. Something fundamental is the encryption of conversations, but … why devise a complex system so that the enemy does not discover what you speak if they exist languages ​​that do not speak so many people? In Spain there is one that is homeless: The Basque. And, precisely, one of the legends of the spies Spaniards is the use of Basque so that enemies do not discover the plans. But as usually happens, there is as much reality as a myth in this story. Felipe II’s networks. Let’s start at the beginning and one of the clearest uses of Basque in a espionage network. In the second half of the 16th century, things in Spain were uneasy. The reason was that Henry III of Navarra, king of Navarra since 1572, had religious ideas contrary to the Spanish monarch Felipe II. While Felipe was a staunch Catholic, Enrique became Protestantism. The problem is that in 1589 Enrique III of France and ‘Our’ Enrique III inherited the French throne as Henry IV. Felipe did not make a hint of grace because he did not want a Protestant to occupy the throne of a great neighboring country and, as a defender of Catholicism and Spanish hegemony, supported the Catholic League and proposed to his daughter Isabelgranddaughter of Enrique II of France, as queen of the Gallic country. He did not set the proposal and that caused a rivalry that made the Pyrenean situation complex. Lady of Urtubia. Enrique, in the end, returned to the path of Catholicism in 1593, so things have already calmed down and was recognized in full as king of France. Now, although Enrique IV’s conversion calmed the situation, the tension did not disappear at all, and our spy comes into play: Aimée de Urtubia. This woman belonging to the nobility shipment Between 1597 and 1598, at least 19 letters to the mayor of Fuenterrabía and Captain General of Guipúzcoa. In them there was relevant information about military and political events in France and Navarra during the Religion wars and allowed the Catholics of Felipe II to record the situation in France. The peculiarity is that the letters were written in Basque, which assured that they would only be “decipherd” if they fell into someone who controlled the language. And it was his native language, detail that is not less. In whatever, their letters were referred to the Secretary General for the North, which speaks well of the importance that the information of the ‘Lady of Urtubia’ had in the strategy of the administration of Felipe II. In 1598 the Paz de Vervins with which Felipe stopped intervening in French affairs. Although the agreement had not been reached, Felipe would not have interfered with more because he died that year. Second World War. There is proof of Aimée’s letters, but … the legend of the Basque among the Spanish spies comes from there? Well, not quite. Time to make a leap to Second World War. Spies are key to operations such as day d or even for war stratagems that confuse the enemy. The Enigma machine It was the great Nazi tool to encrypt messages and Basque … too? Myth. The United States, of course, considered the use of little known languages ​​to make secret communications. Instead of creating language, Americans used Native American languages ​​such as Navajo or CREE to generate safe messages. It would be rare for a German to speak Navajo, go. And, to expand networks in Europe, they also thought of the ‘Basque Code Talkers‘. This was basically reused Euskera to produce indecipherable messages for the enemy. To the Not being an Indo -European languageor the enemy had a dictionary, or would not find out anything. In fact, some publications of years ago affirm that Basque was used as a code in the battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. The problem is that it is … false. And reality. A subsequent investigation carried out by historians Pedro J. Oiarzabal and Guillermo Taberilla, demonstrated that Americans may consider the use of Basque as ‘Code Talk’, but it was not carried out. Investigating American and British military archives, they did not find that they support the use of Basque in that context. American captain Frank Carranza, grandson of Basque emigrants, would have been one of the architects of the legend, supported by the historical fact of the relationship between the secret services of the Basque Government In exile and the OSS American. Now, something that could feed the myth is that there were Basque spies involved in the conflict. José Laradogoitia Menchaca, or “Bromine”, He was a Basque pastor who worked as a double agent during the war. For whom? First for the Nazis, but then he went to the allied side, transmitting false information to the Nazis. And the investigation of Oiarzabal and Tabernilla, regardless of denying the myth, He left a pearl: Vicelehendakari of the Basque Government in exile worked as a spy for the British. In the end, Basque soldiers may speak in Basque between them and I find it funny to think that some Nazi intercepted that communication and gave mental somersaults trying to decipher the ‘code’. Image | Screen of ‘Call of Duty ww2’ In Xataka | The US landed on an empty island during World War II. In nine days it had more than 300 casualties

Many times art is inexplicable, and a retiree from Malaga uses the most illogical tool to create it: Excel

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Explain what art is as complicated as sometimes get the weather forecast. Few things are more subjective and, while for many a banana is a simple fruit, for others it is a work that costs 6.2 million dollars. But within that subjectivity, reflecting reality in a painting is one of the most “accepted” ways to create art. What if that painting is done not with Photoshopbut in Microsoft Excel? That is precisely, with what Jesús Villanueva enjoys. No tutorials. “Normal,” you may think, since who would have occurred. Well let me tell you … it’s not so weird. We are going to see it throughout this pictorial trip with such a boring program (and useful) as Microsoft Excel. The program, which has almost 40 years behind himit was launched as a system of exclusive spreadsheets for Mac In 1985 and its bases have not changed: it is still a calculation program. However, each version became more powerful and versatile. In it Microsoft blog We found the story of Jesús Villanueva, 78, who entertains himself not playing ‘Skyrim‘, doing Streaming of ‘Leage of Legends‘ either Catching Pokémon: It entertains with Excel. He studied a construction eyeliner course and is what has been dedicated, but after retirement and pandemic of the COVID-19something changed Miguel Ángel del Excel. With free time (because you have to have it to create such works), Jesus began using Excel as canvas. “I never found a tutorial to explain how to do it. It has been trial after proof, drawing after drawing,” he says. He began recreating buildings in a format without perspective, but as he learned to master the tool, he went to more complex compositions. Image | Jesús Villanueva Image | Jesús Villanueva The most impressive thing is that it is not dedicated to borrowing external resources or hitting images, but to draw with colors directly in the grid, combining complex and simple shapes to give life to your idea. It is based on photographs, yes, but draw all forms manually in the application. Your secret? “Everything is a matter of patience, even in works that can take up to three months, such as the Siena cathedral.” Other religious buildings in its porpholio are the Mosque of Córdoba or the Cathedral of Florence, for which he had to draw the little characters large and then reduce their size to be able to embed them on the general image. The “Insert Forms” brush. That is the basic tool for Jesus. Choose a figure, calculate the proportions to case in a reference image and there begins to adapt, color and combine with others to give life to the object you want. When he has it, he unites it to the rest and the scene is formed. He also plays with vector strokes and the change of scale of elements. Image | Jesús Villanueva Japanese landscaping. In it Instagram of Jesus You can see his work, but he is not the only passionate of this particular brush. Tatsuo Horiuchi, an 84 -year -old Japanese man, also decided to unleash his particular vision of art when he retired. He says he took 10 years to create something that he felt that he could proudly teach people, but also that there were people who did not understand their hobby or that they laughed at it. “Why do you put so much effort on something that is not useful? Are you crazy?” “Well yes,” he replies in a video in which we can see part of his collection. Excel has a lot of life. Horiuchi gives a very important key. “I think, even if you don’t have talent for painting, you can paint something whenever you have Excel.” And this is interesting because there are people – as I – who are denied to paint even if he would like, and with a grid, it may be easier to start drawing. In any way, it is always curious to see that Excel is not just the tool in which Sustains the world economy and even formula 1 equipment: Excel too It can be a sport. And to gamify a tool as boring as it has all my respects. In Xataka | Thousands of people have been living from art for three years. Ireland pays them 1,300 euros per month to fulfill their dream

After years of debacle, South Korea has managed to rebound his birth. Now it’s time to find out how the hell has done it

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Demographic statistics is nothing more than that: Demographic Statistics. Pure and hard mathematics, with objective and reading data. For years, however, their chronicles in South Korea transmit a dire air, as of announced death. And it’s normal. The country has seen how its birth rate descended to such low dimensions that in 2024 the country had to declare itself in “demographic emergency” and assume officially that it is a “society Super aging“ Now that seems to be changing little by little, which raises two questions: Has Korea achieved out of the demographic hole in which it has been immersed for years? And if so, how? They are key issues for Seoul, but also for other neighboring countries with birth problems, such as China either Japan. What happened? That against all forecast, South Korea Start to get used to to their demographic statistics arrive accompanied by positive signs. That does not mean that they are good at all, the country has managed to stop its demographic bleeding or its fertility rate stands above “Replacement level”; But they are favorable news after all. And that did not happen for a long time. A figure: 20,717. The latest data published by Statistics Korea show that in April they were born in the country 20,717 babies8.7% more than 19,059 counted during the same month of 2024. The data is interesting because it leaves several positive readings. The first is that three years ago the number of monthly lights remained below the 20,000 barrier. The second is that this 8.7% growth shows the highest year -on -year increase in the last three and a half decades. You have to go back to 1991 to find another similar percentage. More babies, more weddings. There are not only more babies. There are also more couples giving the ‘yes I want’. The data Statistics Korea show that in April 18,921 marriages in the country were formalized, which leaves an interannual increase of 4.9%. The data invites optimism for another reason: it is the thirteenth consecutive month in which this indicator is green. It may seem a minor issue, but in the South Korean society couple and birth They go hand in. There are studies that calculate that less than 5% From babies they are born out of marriage. Coincidence or trend? That is the question that surveys the birth data of Korea. Especially since the last years have been marked by the shadow of the pandemic, which modes to take many couples to postpone their wedding plans or even the decision to become parents. In his favor the country has to They are not the first in positive. Seoul already said goodbye to 2024 with a positive birth rate (the number of births 3.6% increased), something that had not happened for a decade. Looking for the causes. At this point, the question is obvious: beyond the influence of the pandemic, is there any factor that explains the rebound in birth in the country? The question is interesting for South Korea, but also for other nations that have been dealing with demographic challenges, such as Japan, China, Russia or many European nations, including Spainwhich in recent years has gained population thanks basically to foreigners. “The increase in births seems to be influenced by the increase in marriages since last year, the growth of the population of women between 30 and 39 years and various birth promotion policies by central and local governments,” Clarify Statistics Korea to the Yonhap News agency. In summary, after the birth rebound in Korea there would be three major factors: more weddings, the effect of the ‘Probebé’ policies and that in the country there are more women in the first section of the thirties. A concept: echo boombe. At least part of the demographic change would therefore be explained thanks to demography itself. And the key is in a certain group of the cohort of the echo boomers. The Guardian remember That the population born between 1991 and 1995 begins to reach the “ideal” age to marry and have children and that group has grown sensitively. If in 2020 there were about 1.51 million women between 30 and 34 years old, now there are already 1.65 million. To its possible effect, the wide range of policies that for years have deployed the South Korean authorities (both regional and state) to encourage the formation of couples and birth rate are added. And that includes from the delivery of generous ‘Baby checks’ to the application of Fiscal incentives, parental permitsinitiatives for Improve food of mothers or even appointment programs (with prize included) to form new couples. Well but not perfect. The latest data from Statistics Korea are good, but they are far from being perfect and of course they do not allow South Korea to launch the bells on the flight. On the contrary. Although birth is emerging, the country’s fertility rate remains at 0.79far from the replacement level that the country needs to keep its population stable without depending on immigration. In addition, although the number of births with respect to 2024 has increased, they remain clearly insufficient to stop the fall of the national census. The reason? Babies are born, but in the increasingly aging Korean society there are also more deaths. The deaths grew 0.8% year -on -year in April until adding 28,785. Images | Nathan Q (UNSPLASH) and Tommao Wang (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Throughout Europe, birth rate collapses as soon as women begin to earn more money. Except in Sweden

We have just found two new ants in Andalusia

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The list of animal species that inhabit Spain has added two new names. And this time we are not talking about exotic species imported from a distant country but about the discovery of two new species of ants in Andalusia. Two new species. He finding of the two new speciesboth belonging to the genre Oxyopomyrmexhas been in charge of the researcher at the University of Córdoba (UCO) Joaquín Reyes López. It’s about O. Arenarius and O. Pallensdiscovered thanks to specimens found in Jaén, Granada and Huelva (including Doñana National Park). Genre ants Oxyopomyrmex They are classified within the subfamily of the mirmicinos (Myrmicinae). These, explains Reyes López himself, can be found in the arid areas of the Mediterranean basin, although it is a taxonomic group on which there is little information. Until now we knew the presence of two species of this genus in Spain (O. Santschii and O. Saulcyi). This implies that the finding bends the number of species of this group known in the country. According to the University Through the EFE agencythe finding adds two new names to the list of about 300 species of ants that inhabit the Iberian Peninsula. Oxyopomyrmex arenarius. According to Kings López explains himselfthe name of this new species is a reference to the fact that all its nests were found in sandy soils. This species, whose “type location” is the Biological Station of the Doñana, presents an oval head, and a coloration that goes from the dark brown of its head and abdomen to lighter tones in its joints. Oxyopomyrmex Pallens. The color is precisely what gives name to the second of the described species, since it presents a more pale coloration, with light and yellowish brown tones in parts of the body of the insect. In this second case, the type town described by Reyes López is the Jienense municipality of Mures. Electronic scanning microscopy. For analysis, Reyes López He turned to the scanning electronic microscopy, a technique with which he could closely study the morphological characteristics of these ants and compare them with the features of other similar species. The details of the study have been published In an article In the magazine Insects. By limiting the territory. As is logical, there is still little what we know about these ants. For example, the findings suggest that these species are typical of the south of the Peninsula, but there is the possibility that their habitat will extend beyond, so the discovery of new specimens can serve us to know in more detail the extension of the territory occupied by the new species. In Xataka | Someone has calculated all the ants in the world. It is a literally “unimaginable” number Image | Reyes López, 2025/Insects / Protoculture

It is a masterpiece of the Spanish comic, but they had to discover ‘Paracuellos’ in France so that we would pay attention here

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It is unanimously considered one of the masterpieces of the Spanish comic: ‘Paracuellos’ by Carlos Giménez is genuinely (for his tone, for his graphics and, of course, for his theme) from here. However, It was not easy to find a hole in our bookstores. As if one of the stunted children of the work were, ‘Paracuellos’ was the result of an initial misunderstanding that forced Giménez to seek space in other markets. And then he returned in style. ‘Paracuellos’ is one of those capital works of the Spanish comic that is simple to find in any bookstore. He coda in that sense with ‘Maus’, with ‘Watchmen’, and within the national space, with Mortadelowith Superlópez and with few more, because the editorial world of comic in Spain is a continuous recycling of successes. But finding ‘Paracuellos’ is, for years, very easy: in fact, Penguin Random House has launched a total edition on the occasion of its 50th anniversary that collects all the volumes of this work in giant format. Their virtues are obvious From the first moment: above all, the exquisite drawing of Giménez, supernaturally endowed to provide overwhelming personality to his creatures, is already in 1975, when he began to create it, absolutely extraordinary. A lot of Children dressed all the same, but each with a very important personality Thanks to the looks, sad and naive, but very distinctive, with which they receive the designs of adults (educators, wardens, nuns, inspectors, family members, members of the phalanx). As a good heir to the tradition of the Españo and the Spanish Berlanguian cartoon, it is the portrait of a terrible situation but without humor disappearing completely from children’s lives. Children marked by fears of very diverse type (to be abandoned, to be beaten, to lose the few privileges that scratch among their peers -because they know how to draw, because they have a toy, because they know how to play football -), but at the same time they are unable to lose their innocence, which turns their adventures into experiences halfway between the endearing and terrible. And, of course, above any other value, there is the ruthless portrait, in the first person (We are not, yes, before a strictly biographical comicalthough in part it is) of an atrocious reality: The life of admitted children in social assistance homes during the Francoist postwar. Children of defeated in the civil war, orphans or families in extreme poverty, educated under the yoke of nationalcatolicism and the Falangist discipline. Hunger, punishments, loneliness, institutional violence … A portrait that, despite its crudeness is not lacking hope and tenderness. Liked more in France The first episodes of the series were published from 1975 in several Spanish magazines such as ‘Thank you very much’, ‘El Papus’ and ‘Yes’. They had a very limited success, so Giménez was forced to leave the work after the publication of only two albums. He told so For rtve.es: “No Spanish editor of the time wanted to publish them in their magazines. They were horrified to see those pages full of familic and sad children with those disproportionate eyes and those most disproportionate ears yet yet.” The absence of eroticism or humor for adults in ‘Paracuellos’ closed the doors in Spain, but In France he found an alternative route in the legendary magazine magazine ‘which began to publish it in 1976. A much more prone market to recognize the talent in the cartoon made it a success and from there jumped to other countries in Europe, similar success. 20 years later, in the late 90s, Giménez resumed the work with four more albums. In 2016 he would return to her again coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the series, with three albums that Finally they would conclude it. ‘Paracuellos’ remains, despite the wide parenthesis over time, and thanks to the integrity and quality of Giménez, as a total work, of a caliber that has made that Your candidacy is presented on some occasion to the Princess of Asturias de las Artes. It is an essential piece of our comic that, however, had to be recognized outside to start appreciating in your country of origin. Header | Penguin Random House In Xataka | The most famous superlupez has not long since existed: how Jan transformed him from parody to adventure

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