Mobile Tech & Gadgets

The most “walkable” cities in the world, gathered on a map with an overwhelming winner: Europe

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Little by little, Europe has been expelling the car. It’s something that goes beyond low emissions areas: It’s almost cultural. The cities of the continent were designed tailored to the pedestrians in which the cobbled streets and the squares were usual and, although they have given way to the roads, that pedestrianization is coming back. And show that pedestrian power is this map elaborated by Visual Capitalist in which we see the 20 most passable cities in the world on foot. Spoiler: The 20 are European. The map. The data to prepare the map have been extracted from the study ‘A universal frame for inclusive cities of 15 minutes‘and the graph of The Economist And it allows us to visualize the average time that someone living in a city of 500,000 inhabitants or more has to walk to reach some basic service. These services or comforts include places such as schools, restaurants, stores or hospitals and, although cities must be scored to choose an order, the truth is that the average time is very, very similar among them. Average time. Thus, of the 20 most pedestrian or more passable cities on foot in the world, the first would be Milan (with an ideal center to walk, everything is said) and the last one would be Oslo. Of course, as we can see in the table that we leave below, the difference between them is not a nonsense: Milan 6 minutes and 24 seconds Copenhagen 6 minutes and 36 seconds Turin 7 minutes and 6 seconds Dublin 7 minutes and 24 seconds Lyon 7 minutes and 24 seconds Munich 7 minutes and 30 seconds Paris 8 minutes Marseilles 8 minutes and 6 seconds Genoa 8 minutes and 6 seconds Edinburgh 8 minutes and 12 seconds Berlin 8 minutes and 12 seconds Vienna 8 minutes and 18 seconds St. Petersburg 8 minutes and 18 seconds Bilbao 8 minutes and 24 seconds Bordeaux 8 minutes and 30 seconds MINSK 8 minutes and 36 seconds Stuttgart 9 minutes and 6 seconds Lille 9 minutes and 6 seconds Barcelona 9 minutes and 12 seconds Oslo 9 minutes and 30 seconds Characteristics. The European advantage over other countries and the characteristics that make cities more friendly to pedestrians are diverse. On the one hand, these big cities usually have historical centers that have been pedestrianizing or that were already. There are many examples, but cities like Amsterdam or Paris, among many others, They have gained ground to the car In recent years with more pedestrian areas of both the center and the school streets. Another important factor is that many of them were founded before the arrival of the car, so they were designed to reach everywhere. That is why there is a greater proximity to essential services and there is a green infrastructure such as squares, gardens and parks that are also inciting, in addition, to walk. On the other hand, public transport is also very developed, reducing the dependence of the private car. Advantages. There are many, but we can encompass them in one: health. Walking more and taking less the car implies that air quality improves because there is less pollution. Noise is also reduced, although these two factors are something that the electric car has potential to change. Having a more active lifestyle, it has positive consequences on health and the cardiovascular system and is something that promotes community life. Projects. All this has led to the fact that, as we say, Europe is friendly with the pedestrian, there are cities that are rethinking their urban model. In Spain, there are cities like Logroño that They have gained space to the car. Pontevedra is Another curious casewith 80,000 vehicles in the center in the late 90s only 7,000 in 2018. The idea is to have “15 minutes cities”And, although in Spain we already live in them, there are projects for large cities to be even more friendly. An example is the Supermanzanas of Barcelonahe XPANDE project of Burgos to convert 23,000 square meters into pedestrian areas, the regeneration of Bilbao, Valencia either Sevilleamong other large and small throughout the territory. Out of Europe? And, in fact, it is something that has been encouraged at European level. He WALKING PANEUROPE PLANor European Walking Plan, was an initiative to promote that pedestrian mobility throughout Europe, driven by common policies and focused on improving health. Outside Europe, then … there is everything. To find the first most passable city on the list, you would have to go down to 28th place, where Kyoto is. And, within the top 50, there are other cities that are not European such as Taipei, Katmandú, Taichung or Tokyo, all in the lowest part of the list. USA, Cochista region. On the other side of the end is North America. The United States and Canada are countries that have developed cities in a completely opposite way to European: prioritizing the use of the private car. The first on the list is Vancouver in 53 position and it is something that will be difficult to change despite the projects individuals of each city. The reason is that it is something cultural due to the urban design of its large cities, where suburban areas are They expanded big before and after Second World War and where the highways They won the ground to the neighborhoods very quickly, destroying communities and that model of “cities of 15 minutes”. Cities like Houston or Los Angeles They could not sustain themselves without the car, in fact. In the end, it is curious as, at least in Europe, the cities of the future seem to look at the past to recover a healthier and closest urban model. In Xataka | High speed lanes for pedestrians, the solution for all those who hate the slow sidewalks

Musk’s political ambition has turned Tesla into an ideological lightning rod. And the whole company is paying

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Tesla’s action touched its historical maximum at the end of 2024, just in time for Christmas. Since then You just made receiving coala paradox for the leader of the electric transition. From $ 480 to 240. Half. 50% fall (and 15% in a single session last Monday) is no longer a market correction or temporary fluctuation. Is the materialization of the political risk that Musk has accumulated deliberately during the last two years. Musk, with its lights and their shadows, It is an atypical phenomenon and a case study like or not. But he has also starred in his own even more atypical phenomenon in recent business history: the transmutation of an aspirational brand in the object of cultural repulsion for a part of its original client base, as stated The Verge. Tesla built an empire on very specific pillars: Technological innovation Environmental sustainability. A vision of the future techno -optimist. It was a perfect car – figured and literally – for progressive consumers with purchasing power that wanted to signal not only financial power, but avant -garde values. Musk’s political turn has caused a cognitive dissonance too heavy For a good part of this segment. This ideological fracture can be put figures. In California, one of the great progressive bastions and originally the most important market for Tesla, Model 3 sales They collapsed in 2024. In Europe, collapse has been even greateralthough it would be unfair to signal only to Musk’s personal future, since here a perfect storm has come together. They are more typical figures of A brand exodus – Here we can point to Chinese cars, but in the United States not – than a simple sector recession. Especially because even in Europe we have seen A growth of 34% in electric car sales at this time. The most visible demonstration of this brand crisis is the spontaneous emergence of an ecosystem of embarrassed owners. From apology stickers (“I bought it before Elon went crazy”) to the replacement of the Tesla logo with other generic badges. They are drivers who seek to dissociate their creator’s car. The protests have climbed to pure and hard vandalism, with concessionaires Tiring in Oregon, Molotov cocktails in Colorado and some Cybertruck on fire in Seattle. Tesla has become An ideological lightning rod. Meanwhile, competition has taken advantage of that vulnerability. Hyundai, Kia, GM U Honda (let’s mention Chinese brands on this side of the Atlantic) have been launching electrical alternatives perhaps not as painting as a tesla, but already attractive and more or less reasonable prices. In this equation There is a blind spot: Musk itself. His political ambitions and his parallel agenda with Trump have eclipsed their business vision. Tesla needs more than ever its affordable model – about $ 25,000, The repeated and deformed promise since 2018– To compete against byd, omoda, Jaecoo and company. But Musk is aspiring to something much older, maybe even too conceptual, such as Humanoid robots. Or with the promises of robotaxis that do not finish arriving … while Waymo already operates real fleets of autonomous taxis. Tesla’s technical credibility has also worsened. The promise that all cars manufactured after 2016 contained the necessary hardware for totally autonomous driving turned out to be true. Musk He admitted that they will have to replace on board computersa process that he confessed “painful”, and now faces collective demands for deceptive advertising. Tesla was, is and will surely be the king of the electric car in many ways, but something has changed lately. Trump can convert the White House into a Tesla dealership and proclaim in your social network Your absolute support to Muskbut You cannot reverse financial physics. The destruction of value has been monumental: 800,000 million dollars of stock market capitalization and 100,000 million of Musk’s personal heritage have evaporated in less than one semester. Even some historical shareholders, loyal to Musk, They have sold mass actionssuch as Robyn Denholm (the president of the Council) or James Murdoch (son of Rupert). There is a fire in Tesla, but that is not too worrying, every company happens at some time. The problem is that it is self -induced. Tesla will survive, surely, it has a solid cash position and hard -working economies. We are no longer in 2019. The real question is whether you can recover your old statusthat of Visionaria company, while its founder is still determined to sacrifice it on the altar of its political aspirations. The divorce between Tesla and a part of its original customer base seems difficult to reverse in the short term. The maximum irony of this story may be that the greatest enemy of the original mission of Tesla – to school the world transition towards sustainable energy – turns out to be Musk itself. Outstanding image | Tesla In Xataka | Tesla’s most buoyant business is also the most unknown: energy generation and storage

The US has decided that the Gulf of Mexico is called the “Gulf of America.” Canada has avenged the “Canadian coffee”

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In a stage of tensions between countries, everything is political. To coffee. The Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House To fulfill his second term he is being a tsunami. He has put The chips industry abovehas arrived with Tariffs under your arm For Mexico and Canada, it has the Celectric eight at the point of sightas well as renewable energiesand plan to be harder with China. These actions, among others, have aroused a feeling of Boicot to American productsand it is so deep that neither coffee is fought. But not a brand or something, but an elaboration: Canada wants to steal American coffee. And Mexico also points. The American is not American. The history of American coffee is most curious. We have seen this preparation dozens of times in cinema and television. Also in coffee shops in half the world to discover that it is a cuffed coffee (in broad strokes, it has its “art” to know the proportions) and we might think that it is an American ‘invention’. But no: it turns out that it is European. Italian, to be more exact. In the United States they have the habit of filling the cup to the top with coffee alone. Filter coffee is very rooted in the country, but in the Europe of the Second World Warcoffee drank differently. It seems that, during the campaign in Italy, Americans who wanted coffee to enjoy the drink or Stay alert They couldn’t stand the espresso Italian (the roasted grains of more do not help) and the baristas prepared A combination of your palate taste: a espresso to which they added hot water to reduce it. Coffee voltage. That combination was baptized as ‘American’ and, in the end, the participation of Americans in their creation was simply that the most intense coffee was not for their taste. But well, it is still a preparation that is really settled, but as we say, to a scrambled river, everything is political and, in Canada, the ‘American’ is no longer so well seen. Recently, and due to political tensions between both countriessome coffee shops have made the decision to change the name ‘American’ for ‘Canadiano’. The elaboration is the same and, in summary accounts, among the American soldiers who fought in Italy there were also Canadians, so they will estimate that they have the same right to keep coffee. Marketing or rebellion? But it is not so much for ‘cultural’ appropriation, for defining it in some way, as to use it. Against what? Because against those tariffs driven by Trump (which are running with a Canadian response, on the other hand). It was the Kicking Horse Coffee cafeteria the first that started this movement that has penetrated between the press specialized in coffee and that has reached media such as CBC News. But, at the same time that there are those who see in this a way to reaffirm the Canadian identity, there are also critics that estimate that it is an orchestrated marketing strategy to sell more coffee among those who have that patriotic fire. And yes, Kicking Horse Coffee has been calling ‘Canadian’ for 16 years to elaboration, but as they explain In their networksnow they make it official and seek that the rest of Canadian coffee shops do the same. Some He has already taken the witness. “For 16 years, Kicking Horse Coffee has been called Canadiano to the Americans. Now, we make this official and ask the coffee shops throughout the country to join. Call it ‘Canadiano’” Mexico wonders things. In whatever, the idea has reached a Mexico that will be used to the change of name of the Gulf of Mexico for that of Gulf of America (America not for the continent, but for that American idea that they are America). In the Latin American country there are already those who are exploring The idea of ​​renowing American coffee as ‘Mexican coffee’ or ‘coffee of pot’. Now, Mexico already has a ‘pot of pot’. It is a typical way of preparing coffee in the country that consists of preparing it in a clay pot as if it were an infusion. It is more typical in rural areas than in large cities, but the issue is not so much the name and … politics. Boycott. We will see if it covers that campaign to replace the American with the Canadian (who, to propose, each country could now put the name he wants), but what is evident is that Trump’s arrival is causing movements worldwide. We have already commented that in Europe and Canada there are movements that ask for the boycott To American products, in networks there are lists European software and hardware to stop depending on the American and have even seen Virulent reactions to products like Tesla cars. Next to cars burning, the Canadian looks like a joke. In Xataka | The intricate technology behind a coffee capsule: how Nespresso has tried to create an “ecosystem” to Apple

In the US they have realized that Covid has had an unexpected effect on its restaurants: it has triggered its production

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The Covid has not sat badly at the US bars. At least if we talk about productivity levels. Even though pandemic He hit with viciousness to the hospitality of half the world (including the Spanish), He sank the billing From the sector and condemned not a few businesses at the close, American premises reached during the health crisis a level of labor productivity by 15% greater than they had before COVID, a notable increase that has not been diluted. The explanation is very simple: express visits. The Covid heritage. That the pandemic was devastating for the hospitality and forced to close Many businesses It is clear. However, however, a group of researchers from Chicago and New York universities asked a question that goes a little further: Did Covid-19 influence the productivity of the premises? And if so, in what sense? Is that effect still maintained? Their conclusions were reflected in A study that has just published the National Bureau of Economic Resarch (NBER) with a quite eloquent title and that gives a clue to which direction its findings point to: ‘The curious increase in productivity in US restaurants’. A percentage: 15%. The team of economists has not only found that effectively the performance of restaurants seemed to increase during the years of the health crisis. Has even encrypted that increase, as they need in The conclusions Of its report: “We verify that, after being practically constant for almost 30 years, real work productivity in restaurants increased more than 15% during the Covid-19 Pandemia.” The data is interesting because it does not only reflect a specific and past reality, related to the worst years of the Coronavirus. After sliding that percentage (15%) the researchers clarify that this turn has not yet diluted its effect. “This increase has been maintained even when many conditions have returned to prepondondemic levels.” And what was the reason? Clarified and calculated the increase in productivity, the following doubt was obvious: what was the reason? What did he answer? To answer all these issues, experts examined about 100,000 restaurants distributed by the US, focusing on aspects such as sales or the number of consumers attended by each employee. They also had access to information about visits thanks to mobile phones. The sample is wide, but presents certain characteristics that should be taken into account. To start the experts set in a very specific business profile, the Limited service hospitality (LSR), the one in which the interaction between the staff and the client is minimized, as in many premises of Fast food. The study in fact that focused on three subcategories: restaurants in the style of Taco Bell or McDonald´s, buffets and coffee shops such as Starbucks. For the sample to be wide, they covered more than 600 brands. Why this choice? The study It clarifies that the LSRs represent about 45% of the employment and sales of the sector in the US already throughout the last decades its productivity has evolved in a “very similar” way to the whole of the restoration sector. In addition, limited services offered an extra advantage: economists have complete information on their visits. Combing (thousands of) data. With all that information about the table, economists began drawing conclusions. And the first were striking. “Microdatos reveal significant growth in productivity, already measured in sales per employee or even in a more basic/physical average of the total number of customers per employee,” he says The study Published by Nber, which also rules out that this rebound can be explained by economies of scale, a greater weight of the sector or changes in demand. The experts also found that if the employees sold more it was not because they spent more time in their positions. When they were proven that the average weekly hours worked between July 2022 and June 2024 was 25.1 hours, “the same”, they clarify, that from 2006 to 2008. “In fact the current hours per worker are actually a bit below the pre-covid average from 2018 to 2019”. What is the cause? The rhythm. Or rather, the duration of visits. The researchers appreciated “significant descents in the amount of time” that customers spent in restaurants, with an increase especially pronounced in the group of consumers that remained in the premises 10 or even less minutes. That phenomenon was found during the pandemic years and did not seem to dissipate once the health crisis has been overcome. “The average permanence time of customers decreased and most of the reduction was due to the increase in the percentage of visits that lasted less than 10 minutes,” says the study. Your reading It is therefore clear: the increase in the performance of the restaurants “is strongly correlated” with the reduction of the time that customers pass in business, especially with express visits, which do not reach the quarter of an hour. Beyond the minutes. The data of the minutes clarified part of the mystery about the increase in performance (shorter visits translate into the possibility of attending a greater number of customers without increasing the templates), but letting another equally important question be bumping: why? Why was that increase in fleeting visits, 10 or even less minutes? Researchers are clear: leading food. “The frequency of these carrying food clients increased during the COVID-19, even in restaurants in Fast foodand it has not decreased “, They conclude Economists. The key would therefore be Deliverythe increase in orders made by telephone or customer apps that then collect their orders to eat them at home, office or any other place. “If businesses can satisfy these fast customers, in addition to the usual ones, with the same labor, the data will reflect a clear and legitimate increase in productivity,” economists add in their article. An advance with nuances. The 15% yield increase is positive for business, but there are experts who already invite you to value it with perspective. Douglas Hoktz-Eakin, president of the US Forum of Action, I pointed After examining the study that there is … Read more

Mexico’s plan to stop being a second player in the semiconductor industry

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Become Mexico into a scientific and technological power. That is the plan of President Claudia Sheinbaum who, since she held the position at the end of last year, has not stopped presenting proposals to achieve that goal. Fruit of this is the call ‘Mexico Plan‘, the intention of create your own cheap electric car. Now, Mexico wants to depend on others to obtain chips, becoming a technological power along the way. The key name of the project is ‘Kutsari’ and, although ambitious, it must face important challenges. KUTSARI. In a press conference, Sheinbaum advertisement The creation of the National Semiconductor Design Center “Kutsari”. He explained that “it is the union of many scientists, technological developers and public institutions of higher education that will put all their intelligence, design and creativity to generate new semiconductor designs.” The idea is ambitious and encompassed in the proposals of the Mexico Plan to revitalize the country and stop depending on both imports. In this case, imports of all types of chips for the devices that Mexico already produces and, thus, strengthen local manufacturing. Stop being a country that assembles chips to become one that designs and manufactures them, ultimately. Goals. Sheinbaum’s vision is clear: Creation of the National Semiconductor Design Center. Later, establish a semiconductor manufacturing center. Finally, create a chain that allows you to try, encapsulate and assemble those chips in equipment. In the statement, the president speaks of three venues located in Puebla, Jalisco and Sonora that, in addition, will be coordinated and supported by institutions such as the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics, the Advanced Studies Research Center of the National Polytechnic Institute, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the National Polytechnic Institute. Kutsari means “sand” in Purépecha, the key material from which silicon is extracted to create semiconductors Roadmap. After the implementation of the first headquarters in which the semiconductors will be designed, a consolidation of them is expected for 2027. At some point next year, the idea is to start looking for how a private, public or mixed company could establish a factory that produces these chips in the face of consolidation in 2029 and 2030. The objective of these first Mexican semicondators is the automotive industry, the automotive industry is the automotive industry and medical equipment. They also mention “other strategic devices for the country”, without specifying what they would be. However, in the design of semiconductors the patents and that commitment of the country will be reflected in a modification of the Federal Law on Intellectual Property Protection with the objective of accelerating the patent process. Thus, this record of technological innovations will be expedited to expedite the production and sale process after the initial design phase. And it is also something that will allow protecting designs to possible plagiarism. Investments. We enter the critical part of the plan. As we mentioned, Kutsari is part of the Mexico Plan, but producing semiconductors is not only easy: it is not cheap either. Thus, the idea is to attract national private initiative and foreign investments that intend to seduce with the creation of a more powerful business technological mesh. Several companies are already betting on Mexico and, without leaving the chips segment, we have an almighty like Foxconn who is building in Mexico the Greater factory on the planet For Nvidia chips. Challenges. But, beyond the difficulty when establishing that new industry, Kutsari will encounter other challenges along the way. One is the very high competition with countries such as Vietnam either India that have been offering aggressive incentives for years for companies They move from China to their territoryeven seducing giants like Apple and Samsung. To that wild competition we must add that silicon is needed or germaniumtwo critical materials for semiconductors that are strategic in countries such as the United States and China. And, obviously, national and international talent is needed, as well as a stable political and economic environment, since chips do not develop overnight. On this, Sheinbaum has commented that “there is a lot of research in Mexico and now what we are doing is putting all these minds together”, a good touchstone that only needs to consolidate with good development policies that allow the country to enter to play in the complicated and competitive world of semiconductors. Image | ASML In Xataka | If the question is how to answer the US trade war, Europe believes to have the answer: smart tariffs

Piri Reis drew in 1513 the most incredibly precise map in America. So much that it included regions still not discovered

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The maps have been, They are being and will bea key piece in the history of mankind. The cartographers carry thousands of years profileing the land From our planet, a silhouette that has gone changing over the centuries and with Europe and Asia as the undisputed protagonists in cartography. However, from the 16th century, the obsession changed to the west: now we wanted to map America. 500 years before, Nordic explorers have already stepped on the American continent, reaching the coasts of what is now Canada and part of the United States and shaking your vision on a map. This Viking document perfectly reflects that ‘perfection’ of the European silhouette and the sketch, or La Mancha, which was the American continent. And, among all the incipient maps of America, the most intriguing may be that of Piri Reis. The reason is that It is very precise for its time And the author said he was based on lost maps, supposedly, drawn by Christopher Columbus. The mysterious Piri Reis map In the Era of the discoveriesExplorers such as Columbus, Magallanes or Vasco da Gama found their best ally on the maps. They helped cross the oceans, but as they did, they were capturing their vision of the ‘New World’ in maps to help in the planning of future expeditions. The map of Juan de la Costa of 1500 is considered the first that includes a representation of America. It has important accurate, but it is the only one made by a witness of the first two trips of Columbus and the terrestrial profile, unequivocally and despite errors, it is America. A few years later, in 1507, the Enigmatic map of Waldseemüllerin which the name “America” ​​was used for the first time. Again, there were errors in the profile of the Eastern coast of South America, but these two explorers were not the only ones who mapped the continent at this time. In 1513, the Ottoman Piri Reis not only mapped the same territory, but did it with a past accuracy and detailing territories that should not be there (because they had not been discovered). In this mapwe find the following: The east coast of South America to Argentine Patagonia. The Falkland Islands. Antarctica Here are several details that surprise and invite you to lift an eyebrow. Piri Reis was a admiral and cartographer who, from a young age, participated in several battles in the Mediterranean, cartographing the territory and its islands. However, in 1501, only nine years after the discovery of America, his uncle and captain Kemal Reis of the Ottoman fleet captured several Spanish ships near the Spanish coast. Questioning the crew and looting the ships, discovered that one of them had been in the New World during Columbus’s journey and had a map drawn by himself that represented the American profile. As he was not a cartographer, he took it to Piri to study it. Thus, the cartographer got to work and, having as a source That Map of Columbusother Portuguese maps and several cards, began in 1511 to design its map. He did it on gazelle skin and surprises that Piri, really, did not travel to the New World, but that he drew everything based on the sources that had gone to an expedition. As well as knowledge of Ptolemaic Mapamundis. The most controversial of the matter? To start, the Falklands. As many times throughout our history, the discovery of the islands has several boyfriends. Numerous maps after 1520 suggest that the Falklands were first sighted by Magallanes, but Portugal also wants merit and attributes it to Américo Vespucio’s trip of 1504. In the map of Waldseemüller the islands are already intuited, but it is in the Piri Reis that are represented in a much more faithful way to reality. Identified as ‘Il de Sare’, the islands have compared with the Malvinas, located east of the Magallanes Strait. The Horn of Argentina is more stretched than it should, also the Caribbean, but surprises how well represented the entire eastern area of ​​the continent is. Creatures … strange On the other hand, and the strangest thing is Antarctica. The first thing is that it is represented without ice, something impossible, since it has been covered by that white mantle. The second is that, officially, it was discovered in 1820. Apart from this, the cartographer made some descriptions of some of the areas and represented both animals and mythological creatures, something normal at the time. Chiripa and controversy For years, Piri Reis’s map was in the shadow. However, in 1929, a group of scholars had the commission of organizing the archives of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. The idea was to turn the palace into a museum, so you had to clean the basements and classify everything found. On a wall of the Ottoman Empire section, hidden and forgotten, the director of the national museums, Halid Edhem, found the map. Due to the mentions of Fuentes such as Cristóbal Columbus as it represented unknown details for the Ottomans of the early 16th century, the map was studied almost from the first moment. It is a Turkish national pride since 1933, but there is a problem: although it has extremely well represented areas, others, such as Stretched Caribbean Islands or the Union of Argentina with Antarcticaadded to the intrigue to know how an Ottoman who did not travel to a new world that, when the map was made, was in an extremely early phase of exploration, have raised controversy over the years. The most accepted theory about the map profile. There are those who say that Argentina’s horn is an error of the maps of the time, but also that having run out of space to draw would have motivated that elongated form Theories have been generated on the existence of ancient civilizations with advanced cartography abilities -controlled and without foundation. This may be because, although Piri cited reliable sources, he also referred to the “former kings of the sea.” … Read more

The Russo do not succeed since they left Marvel

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It’s the movie More face in Netflix’s storywith 320 million dollars of budget, and also one of which worse criticism is receiving. It is accused of being anodine, slow and not very bright in the visual, which is a surprise coming from the Russo brothers, signatories of the acclaimed ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’ of Marvel. Or is it not so weird? Why are the Russo not able to find a safe space outside Disney’s umbrella? Devastating criticism. At the time of writing these lines, ‘Electric State’ has 19% of critics in Rotten Tomatoes (11% if we only consider critics that the web grants more credibility). Its public note is somewhat higher, 69%, motivated halfway by two expected phenomena: the established anti-critical reaction and pro-marvel activism (a comparable phenomenon happened with ‘Rebel Moon‘by Zack Snyder). Everything indicates that it will be far from a very brilliant score, rhyming with criticism impressions as “320 million waste“,”Complete supplication” and “destruction of the previous work“ But … is it so bad? Leaving aside its absolute waste of the superb book by Simon Stålenhag, banalizing the careful atmosphere that its author raised and turning a contemplative retrofuturist drama into an action comedy to use, one of the main problems of ‘electrical state’ is that its 320 million dollars do not wear at all. Despite its distribution of stars, despite its competent special effects, there is no show, there is no slightest sense of wonder, there is only one script illustrated competently, but without great displays. It amazes that it is such a expensive movie. Russo: guilty. And that can be attributed, of course, the Netflix equalizing roller, which makes all films the same as they force their directors, among other things, To use the same cameras. Also to Netflix’s obsession for imitating Disney in an area that is given especially to the mouse house: make films filling Excel leaves. Here the cast seems the solution of a mathematical equation, rather than an acting squad: the first great star of the Netflix generation, plus the funny officer – but harmless – of the cinema mainstream Current, plus a campus of dubbing voices and prestigious secondary actors/fame/recent awards. The result is as bright as hollow. Bad luck out of Marvel. The bad luck that the Russo have had outside Marvel is well documented. The brother’s producer started with good fortune after ‘Endgame’ producing a success for Netflix, ‘Tyler Rake’ -the only one they have had outside Disney along with the also medium imopact of ‘The invisible agent’-. But after that, ‘Citadel‘In Prime Video was the most expensive series in history and a disaster of audiences, which undoubtedly reverberates with disturbing echoes in’ electric state ‘. The return of the Russo to Marvel, a little with the tail between the legs, To make the next Avengers filmscertifies the irregular of his adventure out of Disney. Why so much stumbling. Behind this rosary of disappointments is, among other things, the absolute lack of creative ambition of the Russo, who had been demonstrating since Marvel’s time: his films are ambitious and effective products conceived in a millimeter way in offices, not author works. From that point of view, movies like ‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of madness‘,’ Iron Man 3 ‘O’Galaxy Guardians‘They will have their most and less in terms of quality, but there are personalities defined behind them, imposing a series of decisions and criteria. Until again, we still have to find that in the Russo films. Header | Netflix In Xataka | Netflix and prime video dominate streaming wars with iron. His secret weapon: romantic literature

Is it more “healthy” white wine or red?

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We have read innumerable articles on wine benefits and risks. Like the rest of alcoholic beverages, the consumption of wine, especially excessive consumption (but not only), has been linked to diverse health problems, from liver problems to cancer. On the other hand, wine also contains beneficial compounds for our health, although these benefits do not necessarily compensate for risks. Analyzing the risk. Of course not all alcoholic beverages have the same impact on our health, and even not all wines have to affect us the same. Now a group of researchers He has studied If red wine is healthier than white, focusing on the impact of these drinks on our risk of cancer. The answer obtained is not. Not only did they find differences between the effects of one or another type of wines on the general risk of cancer, they did not find any effect of the consumption of one and the other came on this risk. They did find differences when studying the impact of white wine on skin cancer. Alcohol and cancer. Alcohol is considered a hallucinogen of group 1, that is, a substance linked to the development of human cancer. The reason is in the fact that our body, when metabolizing ethanol, transforms it into potentially harmful compounds for proteins and DNA, which increases the risk of cancer. Despite this, there is some notion that red wine is healthier, at least compared to white wine. 42 studies. The team conducted a meta -analysis, a quantitative study that explores the results of previous studies to weigh possible discrepancies between them. He did it by taking 42 observational studies, among which they added a total of 96,000 participants. This analysis of scientific literature did not detect significant impacts on the risk of cancer associated with wine consumption, regardless of its color. The details of the analysis were Published in an article In the magazine Nutrients. The case of skin cancer. Yes they detected a difference that was manifested in the long term in the case of skin cancer: the consumption of white wine was related to a 22% increase in the risk of suffering from this type of cancer with respect to the consumption of red wine. “The results of our meta -analysis did not reveal any significant difference between red wine and white wine in general,” explained in a press release Eunyoung Cho, who collided the study. “However, we observe a distinction in regards to the risk of skin cancer. Specifically, the consumption of white wine, but not that of red, was associated with an increase in the risk of skin cancer. ” The team admitted not to know what this difference could cause. The generic consumption of wine could be linked to the possibility that those who consume wine are more likely to activities that are linked to skin cancer such as sunbathing. The problem is that this would not explain the difference between the type of preferred wine. Is it then good wine? It is necessary to have caution when interpreting the results in this regard since meta -analysis only analyzes global results of previous studies. In some contexts, such as the American, wine is a drink linked to Socio -economic situations more favorable. In this type of contexts, wine consumption can also be correlated with greater care in other aspects: healthier food, physical exercise … etc. This could do That the carcinogenic effect of alcohol contained in the wine is compensated, so that, globally, its impact cannot be appreciated through the statistical tools used. In Xataka | The study of two wines from 1,500 years ago illustrates something interesting: choosing one in front of another was already a matter of posture Image | Zachariah Hagy

Artificial platforms to invade an island

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It is not necessary to go very far to find clues about the challenges that China has with Taiwan. In December, the island found an army of 53 airplanes and 90 Chinese ships In an unpublished exhibition. Days before, filtered documents showed that the nation has a plan with up to six options To invade the island through the beach and its ports. All this does nothing but confirm with the latest images. If things twist, everything is almost ready. Images and video. In the last 24 hours it has leaked A video and several images through of the Navalnews medium that have revealed the presence and deployment of new Chinese lifting barges (called in English Jack-Up Barges), used to build temporary docks that can extend in the sea and facilitate amphibious operations. No doubt, development is seen as part of China’s preparations for a Possible Taiwan invasionas well as a strategy to expand the use of maritime assets of civil appearance in support of the Navy of the Popular Liberation Army (PLAN). In fact, The video It shows three of these barges deployed in tandem on an unidentified beach, confirming China’s intention to integrate them into their military infrastructure. What we see. As we said, satellite snapshots From Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) On Longxue Island they have confirmed the departure of three of these barges, previously under construction, while three other remain in development. Analyst Tom Shugart, from the American Security Center (CNAS), identified this movement And he pointed out in his X account that vessels did not use the Automatic identification system (AIS), which suggests that China seeks to avoid its tracking or that, in effect, they are active plan. As we will see below, this behavior is similar to that of other double -use ships that have participated in Chinese military exercises and other nations. Aerial view of one of the artificial ports called Mulberry, built by the allies against Arromanches, Normandía (September 1944) Mulberry ports. The most striking of the design of these barges is their ability to join to form a single structure extended in the sea. They counted in media Like The War Zone that initially it was thought that they would work independently, but the new evidence shows that they are designed to operate together, creating a kind of floating dock of approximately 850 meters longallowing the transfer of loads from larger vessels in deeper waters. The truth is that this floating infrastructure model It is not new in military historysince he remembers and much The Mulberry ports used For the allies in it Normandy landing During World War II. With a notable difference, yes: the Chinese version It incorporates hydraulic supports that raise barge on water, providing stability even in adverse climatic conditions, which could guarantee a constant flow of loading, vehicles and troops without depending on traditional ports. Comparison with other infrastructure. The idea of ​​using floating docks with military purposes It is not exclusive from China. Recently, the United States Army implemented a similar system To expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza (although a storm seriously damaged it), which demonstrated the vulnerability of this type of infrastructure in extreme climatic conditions. In contrast, the design of Chinese barges, with their elevators, offers greater resistance to the inclement weather and could be key to establishing a continuous logistics supply in an operation. However, these structures also have disadvantages. Being large and stationary once deployed, they become easy and high strategic value objectives, which suggests that its main use would be possibly after the initial assault, facilitating the arrival of reinforcements and supplies once the area has been insured. The role of the civil naval industry. The use of civil infrastructure for military purposes is a key tactic in China’s strategy. It is known, in fact, because It has been documented in the annual Pentagon report on Chinese military development. Although the plan has not invested in the amount of landing vessels that analysts believe necessary for a large -scale invasion of Taiwan, yes has reinforced its abilities with civil ships turned into military assistants, such as The so-called Roll-on/Roll-Off (Ro/ro) and other logistics platforms. More than one purpose. This commercial asset militarization trend is not only designed for a possible invasion of Taiwan, but also could be applied in Other strategic scenarios inside the Indo-Pacific. Of course, these resources could also be used in disaster response operations and humanitarian assistance as the United States already did, which allows China to project power under a “benevolent” appearance. Perspectives and geopolitics. It is the last of the legs to be treated after knowing some images that leave so few doubts. The development of these lifting barges and their potential use in An invasion of Taiwan They have generated concern among military analysts in the United States and their allies. In fact, previous reports indicated that Beijing could be in a position to launch a military operation against Taiwan By 2027although other more recent estimates have softened such prediction. Be that as it may, the general consensus seems to be the same: China remains committed to the reunification of Taiwan of a U other way, and if things get in the worst stage, they already have lists Some of the capacities necessary for the logistics of a large -scale “amphibious” invasion. Image | 笑脸男人, Imperial War Museums. In Xataka | China has a plan with six options if things “twist” with Taiwan. World War II advocates all In Xataka | Taiwan lives an unprecedented situation in three decades: there is an army of 53 planes and 90 Chinese ships in front of the island

The airlines will always let you carry a parachute inside the plane. The only problem is that it is useless

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There was a time when Mounting by plane was a luxury. Today, experience is more similar to that of tin. In addition, the organization It is not the most optimal And, although it is very safe, the anxiety to fly It can cause some passengers to consider measures as extreme as that of carrying their own parachutes. The short answer is: you can. The long one: you can, but with enough restrictions and reasons why it will never be part of the usual safety equipment on board. It is not realistic. Looking for information on the matter, it is curious that the first responses allude to commercial airplanes do not need parachutes because they are very safe and it is not necessary that the passage jump from the vehicle running. Inquiring a little more, we can find perfectly logical reasons why neither the crew carries parachute (no matter how much they have seen in some films). The first thing is that the height at which a commercial plane flies is very, very high. Jumping from about 10 kilometers high is not only risky, although the user has an oxygen mask: the temperature is so low that the remedy can be worse than the disease. In addition to the height, he plays against speed, also being high and turning the jump into something very dangerous. Well, and the pressure that can cause a loss of consciousness. AND Not to mention sparkling the cabin To throw us … Bad idea. To get an idea, a commercial flight is going to between 10,000 and 12,000 meters of altitude, already speeds between 800 and 950 km/h. On a flight prepared to jump in parachute, normal It is that the altitude is between 3,000 and 4,000 meters, with exceptions to a couple of more meters. And the speed is about 200 km/h. Jumping from a commercial plane on if it has a problem would cause, surely, the engines swallow us. And if we jumped from the tail door, the easiest thing is that we end up spoiled against the rear rotor or so unbalanced by aerodynamics that we do not know where we have to throw to act the parachute. It is still a backpack To bill. Those are the reasons why commercial airplanes do not carry parachute, but, as we said, we can carry a parachute in a plane of this type. And the airlines treat it as one more lump. Thus, a parachute (which is folded is camping backpack) has as a piece of luggage. In some airlines, we could not enter with the parachute and with a normal backpack, for example. But it could always be billed. And with restrictions. Now, it is not as easy as saying “ok, because I have only the parachute because I don’t need more luggage.” It is not so simple because they must be packed very precisely, the bag must be special for this type of elements and there can be no more clothes or any type of personal article. If the parachute has some safety element such as a smoke boat, it will not be allowed either. And if they have gas cylinders, pyrotechnic elements or any other type of prohibited article, more of the same. The airlines themselves They contemplate The possibility of carrying this type of luggage whenever what we have commented is met: “The bags and cases of sports teams should not contain clothes or other personal items. They should only be used to transport sports equipment. The entire team must be safely packed in a special container for paratrooper equipment or in a resistant bag, or canvas, for sports articles. ” Go with the lesson learned. Now, although the airlines allow and transportation administrations also They contemplateit is possible that we have to explain what we carry. Therefore, a couple of recommendations are: Pack the article separately to facilitate your inspection if necessary. Keep a copy of the authorities regulation so that the airport/airline staff not familiar with the issue has more information about it. And, as the team is very likely to attract attention, the recommendation It is that you arrive with a few minutes – more – in advance in case it is time to pass a control. If many times I have had to explain in the control that what I carry to take photos with my analog camera are reels that can be damaged in the scanner … as if to explain why I go with a parachute. And be careful, as many times in these cases, it is always better to go caught. Such as the TSA (the security body in the transport of the United States) Comment In this regard: “The final decision on whether an article is allowed through the control post corresponds to the TSA officer.” Images | Adam Reeder, Hunini, In Xataka | The crazy history of the airline that has operated for 34 years without success: it has not yet managed to climb a single passenger

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