Mobile Tech & Gadgets

There was a time when poop moved the economy of half the world. His name was Guano and taught Peru a valuable lesson

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Throughout history, humanity has interested in different resources. Maybe the Gold fever It is the best example to see how the obsession with a specific one unleashes the madness in those who seek to make it its main source of income, arramping with everything they find without thinking that it can be bread for today, and hunger for tomorrow. With the case of gold it is logical, but … Did you know that something very similar happened with excrements of sea birds? This is the story of the guano, the ‘white gold’ that transformed the Peruvian economy for both better and bad. White gold. Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt was a man with a lot of free time. Born in 1769, this German was a philosopher, scientist, geographer, naturalist and explorer, among other things. During a trip through South America in 1802, Humboldt He visited the Peruvian coast and was interested in how the premises used a white element as substratum For crops. His name was Guano, and it was the result of the dry excrements of sea birds. HE says That, walking through an area where there was a lot of stored guano, he began to sneeze out of control, and it was his curiosity that encouraged him to send samples to Europe to study his components. What happened next is not something that caught us by surprise at this point: pre -Columbian civilizations were generations using the substrate, Europeans found that the guano was a magnificent fertilizer and began to be interested in him. Pass. The guano is literally fertilizer. His own name “Wánu” in Quechua means “fertilizer”, and really had a unique composition to enrich soils. This guano was a wonderful result of the conditions of the area. The mixture between the dry climate of the Peruvian and Chilean Islands, the composition of the rocks on which they fell and the excrement fruit of the marine diet of the birds resulted in a compound Rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and potassium. It was ideal for improving the health of plants and promoting their growth, so European and American farmers began to pay close attention to the substrate. The reason? The increase in the population was causing an overexploitation of the fields, which led to its exhaustion and a series of unsuccessful crops. You had to find a miraculous solution, and the guano had all the ballots to be that solution. Peanut mine. The two territories began to exploit the resource based on good. Between 1840 and 1880, the demand for the guano exploded and the Peruvian islands became a very precious good. The United States and the ‘Old Continent’ carried dozens of ships with this white gold and Peru came nothing wrong. In those 40 years, Peru exploded about 11 million tons of guano, with estimated revenues of about 38 million dollars. That decontextualized amount may not tell us too much, but the guano’s income allowed the country to develop with ports, railways and roads. Not surprisingly, the first year of exploitation of the guano, the appeal contributed 5% of the income to the country. Facing the last decade of Bonanza, that input It was 80%. A real barbarity. The “Guano War”. It was so popular that the United States, to anyone’s surprise, believe The Guano Law of 1856, for which any American citizen could claim uninhabited islands that had guano deposits. This led to the private appropriation of a hundred of islands in the Pacific and the Caribbean, but the thing became serious between 1879 and 1884. It was when the “Guano War”, A conflict between Peru, Chile and Bolivia for the control of the richest deposits of both Guano and Salitre. As a result, Chile attached some very important enclaves, such as the Atacama desert (which today is one of its wonders for the production of renewable energy), and things for Peru began to change course. Interestingly, the nations that entered that war had been allied against Spain, where guano control was also an important point in the Hispanic-Sudamerican War. To produce, beautiful And crisis. Peru focused so much on the export of the guano that, when the fever sent at the end of the 19th century, the country entered In an economic crisis. It is not that the world stopped wanting Guano, since it was still a very precious resource, but there were two reasons that led the main buyers of the substrate to look the other way. The first was that the reserves began to exhaust and the rate of production could no longer be maintained. The second was that synthetic fertilizers began to appear that could be more or less efficient, but above all they were cheaper because they did not have to bring them through dangerous crossings of thousands of kilometers by boat. The lesson in the Peruvian economy was that they could not focus on a single resource and its economy could not depend From something like that, which highlighted the need to diversify to avoid similar situations in the future. Present. Now, the Guano is still an excellent fertilizer and not only produces the Pacific Sea Birds. The bat guano also has fantastic properties such as fertilizer (in addition to being easier to obtain). And the resulting of the excrement of seals and penguins is also highly valued, but also a very expensive resource because the populations are diminishing. In the end, the Guano played an important role not only in the economy of the countries involved, but at the beginning of the modernization of agriculture, by stimulating investment in fertilizers and, when they began to scarce, to the development of artificial fertilizers. The cycle is repeated. On the other hand, it was One more example How from the Old Continent exploited the resources of Latin America, using local labor under conditions of almost slavery for the benefit of the stranger. And, writing these lines, it is impossible not to draw parallelism with the Rare earth At … Read more

The director of ‘The substance’ debuted 30 years ago with a homemade tribute to Star Wars that you can now see for free

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It is one of the most surprising films of the year: ‘The substance‘(What can you see In Filmin and Movistar Plus+) It is a history of neocárnico horror that satirizes the obsession of society to supervise the body of women. With absolutely star Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley and a display of absolutely demential effects, the film It is also a tribute to many forms and styles of horror cinemafrom the toxic avenger films to ‘Videodome’. That is, its director Coraline Fargeat is a devouring of all kinds of films. In fact, he already demonstrated it three decades ago and with only 17 years. Herself Account to Letterboxd I “did A small Star Wars movie. Using my family’s camcorder, I encouraged my toys in Stop Motion, I dressed my friends from Ewoks and Stormtroopers, and edited it in a VHS video (which was the fashionable device at that time!) “. The rudimentary images and the zero budget are apologized by Fargeat himself: “It was a fond thing, but Everything I liked to make movies was already there… It was the place where I felt free, passionate and alive, and capable of expressing myself fully. It was after making this little movie when I knew I wanted to be a director … today that I am nominated for best director, I can’t help remembering this little movie … Follow your dreams. “ The truth is that the result is absolutely adorable, and the shameless campaign at ease: infrahuman costumes, direct ripeo of plans and complete dialogues of the original film, sectional script twists … and of course, an absolute devotion for the act to create stories, even if they are second -hand. To do this, Fargeat puts the hands of the licensed toys that he had on hand and the soundtrack of John Williams, of course used without permission, as well as the portal of a building, shot as if they were the interiors of an imperial base. And, of course, a final Ewok party that lengthens more than reasonable. Now that Fargeat is a prestigious director and Oscar nominated What would she do if a new installment of ‘Star Wars’ fell into their handsa possibility not as far from reality as a few years ago. Surely we would see much more canteen, much more alien with tentacles and confrontations with infinitely more visceral imperial assault troops. It seems impossible for Disney to put a family franchise as ‘Star Wars’ in the hands of such a radical director, but for that Oscar win, right? Header | Letterboxd In Xataka | ‘Star Wars’: Where and what order to watch all the films of the saga

The culture of the tip

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The complaint was made a couple of weeks ago the lawyer Andrés Millán and the Youtuber Pablo Cabezali, who together add in their respective accounts of Lawtips and Cenandoconpablo Hundreds of thousands of followers in networks. In A video With more than 15,500 ‘I like you’ (and up) Cabezali explains how when on January 3 he was given the account in a rice in the center of Madrid he saw that the ticket marked 150.7 euros. The problem is that food, drink and VAT really added 137 euros. The remaining 13.7 were the “suggested tip”, which appeared by default already loaded and added. It is not an isolated case. In fact For a long time And especially in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​cities with a intense influx Of foreign travelers, it is not strange to find it. “A PERRADA” “A knife.” Thus they qualify what happened both Influencers in Your videoin which they also show the account of discord, an invoice in which the real amount of the command is written with the same source and size as that of the tip. Each concept is perfectly identified (€ 124.55 of consumption, 12.45 VAT and 10% extra “suggested tip”); But if the customer does not fix or does not even know how to read Spanish it is not difficult to interpret that € 150 is the sum of food, drink and VAT, without gratification. “This violates the law of consumers and users because prices should not induce error or deception. It must be clear what the price is, with taxes included. And if you want to suggest a tip should be with another font and size, separately, smaller. Thus it seems that what it cost is 150 turkeys. They clearly want to deceive, ” warns Lawtips. “Even if it were legal, I don’t cool to do these things.” Millán and Cabezali’s piece It has a clear intention of denunciation, but the truth is that the application of tips on the tickets (‘to the American’) has been installed for some time in some cities of Spain and not always with the purpose of “inducing to error”, as both appreciate Influencers In the specific case they are talking about. Moreover, invoices also circulate in networks in which the amounts that correspond to the tip appear well identified or even include Emoticons of more or less smiling faces depending on how much the final gratification amounts. A simple Google search arrives in fact to verify that the practice It is not entirely new. Nor isolated. In 2022 Rac1 already spoke of A group of restaurants Catalan that marked the tips on the ticket itself. In 2023 Efe echoed Another case from Madrid and shortly after the global consumer contributed A third example from Barcelona. One of the pioneer businesses that included tips in their accounts years ago in Catalonia acknowledges that since then they have been asked about the local model of Galicia or the Basque Country. In TripAdvisor they are also found Referencesas in the networks, beyond the head of Cabezali. A few days ago Carlos Peguer He denounced In their X account that “in Madrid they are putting in many sites the screws to pay and add tip.” “As if we were in failed states … it’s fine,” He added. Cases like that are just the most media. José explains to Xataka that when he recently asked for the account in a cafeteria in the Atocha surroundings they gave it to him with Tip Automatic: “You get in the dataphone, a large screen one, and pay With the waiter looking at you“ Not everyone applies it in the same way. There are cases that can be more or less misleading, such as the one they comment Cabezali and Millán; and others in which, in Tique itself paper, several options are offered to the client: add 0%, 5%, 8%or even 10% of tip. Clear and didactic. And where does this come from? The million dollar question. In Spain there has always been the concept of tip. And while it is true that it has traditionally been more associated with hospitality than other sectors in which gratifications (taxis, hotels, cast …) can also be included …) its payment is not as institutionalized as in the US or in closer countries, case, case of Germany or France. These cultural differences have already given rise to Some “encounters”. Two years ago It went viral The comment of an American waitress who complained that some Spaniards had left him ‘only’ 70 dollars of tip. In Spain that sum would be more than considerable, but the total account amounted to almost $ 700 and in the US it is usual for bonuses to 15, 20, 22 or 25%. “By God, I hate Europeans sometimes. This table only left $ 70 for a 700 account after spending hours at the restaurant. We should prohibit them from traveling until they learn how to behave.” To meet an account with a predefined space For “tips” like the one who accompanied the complaint of the American waitress, you don’t have to cross the puddle and go to the US. In Spain they are. And the big question is … why? There are several keys. A sum of factors The first is that the best known cases are given in cities such as Madrid or Barcelonawhich suggests that tourism and the influx of foreign clientele, willing to spend, with greater purchasing power and tip culture has much to say. It is not a strange phenomenon. In other cities, such as Mexico City, the influx of foreigners and digital nomads has already affected something much more rooted in its gastronomy: The spicy flavor of his rooms. There is another fact that points in that direction, that of foreign influence. In 2019 Mastercard and Alpha Research made A study on consumption habits and found that Only 10% of Spaniards They always give tip. In hotels it barely went from 30%. There would be two other … Read more

There is a cosmic network of “roads” formed by gas and dark matter filaments. We have just captured it from Chile

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We know well that matter is not distributed in a form of all homogeneous throughout the observable universe. The galaxies like the one we live are great clusters of matter in which the stars are born and died, and with them other objects such as planets and asteroids. However, that is only part of the story. In sight. A group of researchers has achieved Capture directly and in “high definition” an image of the so -called cosmic network, a network of gas filaments that extend throughout millions of light years in the intergalactic space. He has done it from the VLT, the large telescope that the Southern European Observatory has installed in Chile. A cosmic network. The subject in the universe is not only concentrated in the galaxies. Moreover, the subject distributed in intergalactic space plays a fundamental role in the structure of our cosmos. Physical interactions lead to this matter to be distributed in an interesting way. He does it In immense filamentsgas clouds that form an immense network that connects the galaxies around it. The gas that accumulates in this network of “cosmic highways” is the one that feeds the stars of the bright galaxies located at the intersections of this network. Huge, and almost invisible. In addition to the gas that feeds the stars, dark matter also plays an important role in the structuring of this network as indicated by the team responsible for this new image. Observing this dark matter is impossible today, but capturing the gas columns that accompany it, the “star fuel”, is possible. Hundreds of hours. Overcome this difficulty Requires dedicationeven for our most powerful telescopes. That is why capturing this image required hundreds of hours of observation by the VLT (Vary Large Telescope), The telescope of the European Observatory (ESO) installed in the Atacama desert, in Chile. The team resorted to the Muse instrument (Multi–Unit Spectroscopic Explorer), An advanced spectrograph installed in the Chilean telescope. The details of the process were published In an article In the magazine Nature Astronomy. In the image, in color, the diffuse gas that extends around and between the remarked galaxies can be seen. Davide Tornotti/University of Milano-Bicocca. Three million light years. The team used ultraprecisous data compiled by the telescope to create the most clear image ever achieved by one of the filaments that make up the cosmic network. The filament in question extends over three million light years and Connect two distant galaxieseach of them with its own supermassive black hole. “By capturing the dim light emitted by this filament, which has traveled for just under 12,000 million years to reach the Earth, we are able to accurately characterize its form,” Explain in a press release Davide Tornotti, co -author of the study. The team also highlights that the accuracy of the new data has allowed “Draw the border” between the gas of the galaxies themselves and all the subject that we associate with this cosmic web. And all through direct measurements. Validate the theory. In his study, the team used these direct observations to test the theoretical cosmological models. And with a positive result: “When comparing it to the new high definition image, we find a substantial agreement between theory and observations,” Tornotti indicated. Even so, the team also points out that they will continue working on the study of these structures. “One is none,” that is, with the image of one of these elements, it is not enough to draw generalizable conclusions about these key structures for our cosmos but as unknown as the filaments that make up the cosmic network. In Xataka | Is our Milky Way a zombie galaxy and we without knowing it? Image | Alejandro Benitez-Llambay/University of Milano-Bicocca/MPa/Davide Tornotti/University of Milano-Bicocca

also a garage crisis

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Housing is not the only real estate asset that It is more expensive In Spain. Although the garages remain in values ​​much lower than those of the houses, their sales prices have been growing at a good pace, even revaluing more than 10% (even 14%) in a matter of one year. It stands to reason. After all, they are a caramel for small investors in search of good profitability and their market is closely related to two others that said goodbye to 2024 in positive, that of The cars and Housing. Fotocasa has launched A report With some clues. A percentage: 10.2%. That is what garages have been increased on sale in Spain over the last year, 10.2%. At least according to The last report of Fotocasa, which takes as a reference the prices of December. His study is just that, a study, with his strengths and weaknesses and in which stockings that can move away from the specific values ​​of certain neighborhoods are handled; But it helps to understand how the prices of parking spaces have evolved. Especially because until not the trend ago it was the opposite: its value was in Free fall. One year: 2021. The study It shows that the turning point in the sale of garages was recorded in 2021. Until that year the market recorded prices in fall, with annual decreases ranging between almost 13% and 3.5%. In December 2021, however, Fotocasa technicians found a first year -on -year price increase of 3.4% to which uninterrupted increases have followed. The greatest of all was in 2022, with 14.5%. In 2023 it stayed at 7.5%, several points below 10.2% of last year. A value: € 13,770. In addition to showing interannual variations, the Fotocasa report recludes the prices that, on average, had the garages of Spain at the end of each exercise. And according to his accounts in December 2024 that amount was € 13,770. The fact is just that, a state average in which very different realities are combined, but it is interesting for several reasons. The main one is that according to the records of Fotocasa the cost of the garages is at its highest level since at least 2015. At that time 13,762 euros per place was charged. A region: Basque Country. There, in Euskadi, is where Fotocasa He has noted The highest average price in the country. Its technicians estimate that at the end of 2024 almost 21,100 euros per garage was charged, which places it at the head of the communities despite the fact that this amount descended slightly in recent months, with an interannual drop of 1%. The Basque Country is still at the Balearic Cost (€ 18,683) and Cantabria (16,644). In the opposite pole are Castilla-La Mancha (9,786), Murcia (9,150) and La Rioja (11,112). The highest price increases were recorded in Castilla-La Mancha, with an increase of 34.2%, followed by Murcia, with 20%. CCAA Average price 2023 (€) Average price 2024 (€) Annual variation Castilla-La Mancha 7,293 9,786 34.2% Murcia region 7,628 9,150 20% Andalusia 13.007 15,057 15.8% Cantabria 14.410 16,644 15.5% Aragon 10,994 12,684 15.4% Valencian Community 9,976 11,404 14.3% Galicia 14,016 15,673 11.8% Estremadura 13,220 14,763 11.7% Balearics 16,817 18,683 11.1% Asturias 13,571 15,046 10.9% Madrid 11,934 12,746 6.8% Navarre 12,832 13,664 6.5% Castilla y León 13,890 14,448 4% Catalonia 13,523 13,852 2.4% the Basque Country 21,320 21,097 -1% Canary Islands 13,111 12,887 -1.7% Rioja 11.318 11.112 -1.8% Spain 12,495 13,770 10.2% A capital: Gualajara. If more in detail is lowered, the real estate platform shows that last year the parking spaces were more expensive in 73% of capitals from province. Although there are two cities in that upload map that stands out on the rest for its drift: Guadalajara, with an interannual rise of 37.1%, and León (32.3%). That in percentage terms. If what we are talking about is of euros and sounds, the palm is taken by Cádiz, with an average of 26,552, followed by Donostia (25,775) and Granada (23,895). The data must be taken in any case such as what they are: references, overall photographs. Within cities there are considerable differences between neighborhoods and districts. For example, in Madrid in December, 11,500 euros were requested for a space to park in Villaverde while in the center that same value was approaching 28,000. There are even extreme cases, such as 185,000 euros They have come to ask for a place in Mallorca. One question: Why? It was not always the case. Not so much does the value of the garages accumulated collapses of almost 30% In a matter of a five years. That now its price rises even more than that of housing (Fotocasa Calculate That at the end of 2024 8.4%had been increased) is due to several factors, including their attraction for investors in search of assets that are profitable and comfortable. After all, the data of 2024, their rentals already They have been going up. “The garage places have established themselves as an attractive alternative for small savers or investors because it involves low maintenance and high profitability,” María Matos commentsof Fotocasa. “The garage purchase demand has also been strengthened due to the increase in vehicle sales, which makes them a demanded good.” A word: regulation. There are more factors that come into play, as they recognize from the real estate platform. “The regulations of recent years, restricting access to vehicles in certain areas, makes having a private square a more valued asset,” Add María Matos. She points out that the “strong interest” in the squares “contrasts” with the current level of the offer. The picture is completed with The growing demand of housing and the increase in the sale of cars, which closed 2024 with A 7.1% rise. Images | Tim Smurf (UNSPLASH) and Juan M8 (Flickr) In Xataka | “Garage Okupas”: There are people parking their car every day in parking spaces that are not theirs

Smell mummies 5,000 years ago

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Why are roses red? What is the meaning of life? Is the potato tortilla better with or without onion? What does an Egyptian mummy smell of 5,000 years ago? The answer to some of them is not clear (The tortilla with onion, of course), but if Your particular Roman Empire It is thinking about the aroma of rot and mortuary processes of ancient Egypt, you should know that you are not alone. In fact, a group of researchers has been smelling mummies for months. Now they want anyone to do it. Eau de Mummy. “We were surprised how pleasant his smell was,” commented Cecilia Bembibre a few days ago to BBC Radio 4, just at the same time that a study of the University College of London in which They analyzed The reasons after the interest in knowing how the mummies smelled. And it is curious, especially when it comes to a body that has been macrating thousands of years in a sarcophagus and that both cinema and literature (and a little common sense) have encouraged us to never smell a mummy if we had the opportunity . But, if we stop to think about it, it is not so far -fetched that a mummy smells “good.” In the end, the mummification process was carried out to preserve the body and soul in order to enter the other life, so not only the deceased was accompanied by its trousseau, but the body was treated with oils and balms. “Sweet” Ok, surely you think they simply opened sarcophagi and bring their nose closer. It would be little hygienic, as little, but no. The researchers of both the UCL and the University of Liubliana of Slovenia inserted a tiny tube to measure the gases. In this way, they get the method not to be invasive when you do not need to take samples. The device can be seen in the image that we leave below: Separating odors. It is always difficult to describe odors, but researchers comment that, although they are intense, they can say that they have touches of wood, spices and that the background is something sweet. Wow, quite the opposite of what we could imagine. They also noticed odors related to the decomposition of animal fat used during the embalming processwhich tells them that the body would be beginning to deteriorate. This olfactory analysis was not like that of a wine taster, but through a process in which, through gas chromatography, they separated the different odors captured inside the sarcophagus. Subsequently, a program analyzes them, compares with markers of other odors, combine and is how the aromas are formed. The data of the nine mummies were compared to see which markers coincided with family odors It makes sense. All this has a double purpose. On the one hand, “intervene practically” in the conservation of mummies. Knowing what aromas and substances were used at the time they embalmed it, researchers have a new way of storing them and wrapping the bodies in a much closer way to the original. Also of knowing the age of the mummy more accurately, since the techniques and oils evolved over time. On the other, the nose is powerful: smells transport us to other times and places without moving from the site. It is something that creates a strong emotional reaction and Ally Louks, supervisor of English literature at the University of Cambridge, told BBC that it is an “innovative” way to communicate history. Also, like Comment Ali Abdelhalim, co -author of the study and director of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, the smells were key to society during the mummification process, since the pleasant ones associated with the deities and the “dirty” to body corruption and decline. Sensory experience. In fact, from the research team it was affirmed that it can be “an approach of great interest to museum collections.” That is, if you visit a museum with a collection of ancient Egypt that exposes a mummy, you could live a more complete sensory experience if, in addition to observing it, you could taste the aroma that would be lived during the embalming process. When separating odors and recombing them through these chromatography techniques, substances that smell similarly to permeate the room in which the mummy is exposed can be generated. Therefore, these discoveries have a double purpose: to approach that point in our history and, above all, allow the past to be better. Images | ACS, Abdelrazek Elnaggar In Xataka | Ancient Egypt had something more impressive than its pyramids: a colossal death industry

The dirty reality of what we throw

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“The waste is history. The bodies break down, the paper is raised and undone, the treasures can get out or the conquering forces can melt them. But no one steals in a landfill and, therefore, for centuries archaeologists (…) They have rebuilt our history from waste “, Oliver Franklin-Wallis told us And, if he is right (he carries it), one thing can ask us: what will our garbage say? And, even if it seems, that is a key question. Because the image that these waste returns us is terrible. The great cheat of garbage. “Every year We produce 2,000 million tons. They are everywhere, but since it is disgusting, we don’t think about it. ” Franklin-Wallis held A few weeks ago talking about ‘Dump‘(Captain Swing, 2025), but that is to fall short. As he recognizes, it is not a ‘natural and understandable forgetfulness’; on the contrary, “The (international) industry of waste has been an opaque business on purpose“With the accomplice collaboration of governments, management and media companies. Before, in 2028, China I decided to stop buying waste In the middle of the world, everything seemed like a haven of peace and good management. But it was a lie. As Cheryl Katz explained years ago in Wireddeveloped countries that had recycling systems for many years, took advantage of the facilities that gave them countries like China to make the most accessible and cheap waste management. A trap in which we got alone. The negative side is that this pressure dismantled the local waste management industry. To get an idea of ​​the problem dimension: Before that year 201895% of European plastics and 70% of Americans ended up in China. But that “treatment” ended. China decided that it no longer brought to continue importing waste and the international garbage system convulsed. The developed world was found that all structural solutions They were too complex and faces To implement: they required, ultimately, rebuild an industry that had almost completely relocated. Given that, the alternative was to look for new countries that want that garbage: during the last years, millions of tons of garbage have redirected Towards the Gulf of Guinea And, above all, towards Southeast Asia looking for “new landfills.” Nothing has changed substantially and what least obscurantism. In the shadows the monsters grow. And when I use the term “monster” I am not using a metaphor: I am describing reality. Garbage -related crime is already the fourth most important criminal activity in the world (after drug trafficking, human beings and forgery). Moreover, According to the Civil Guardthis type of crime grows at a rate of between 5% and 7% per year. How to get out of this spiral? In which perhaps it is the most valuable part of ‘landfill’, Franklin-Wallis explains what he himself experienced when he finished his very long investigation for “the dirty realdiad of what we threw.” Several of the people I have met in the waste business have shared similar stories: once you really start looking at the waste, you see them everywhere. They become an obsession. After a while, start my mood. After all, as Heather Rogers wrote in 2005“garbage is the visible interconnection between everyday life and deep horrors, and often abstract, of ecological crises.” Therefore, when we talk about these issues, the first temptation is asking “What can I do?” And the answer is complicated. In most cases, all the options we have at our disposal have problems: there are no strategies – and less at the micro – that are fully positive. That, of course, does not mean that initiatives such as the circular economy or responsible consumption strategies do not have a role. Simply, it means that you have to understand the dimension of what we are talking about (and not put more hopes in them than are reasonable). We need macro strategies, Franklin-Wallis says; But above all, we need to get the garbage in light, we need to discuss waste, we need to think about waste. And we need to do it in a way that drives us to improve. It is the only way to find something valuable among so much because. Image | Jilbert Ebrahimi In Xataka | Someone who wants to be the landfill in the world is sought: the global recycling crisis shows no recovery signs

To build the longest world bridge, China turned to a peculiar material: bamboo

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Although Saudi Arabia and Arab Emirates are immersed in a particular war for have the most beast buildingstalking about megaconstructions is to automatically look at China. The Asian giant has some of the works more tremendous, impossible bridges and even Higher abandoned skyscraper in the world. And one of those pharaonic constructions is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge. With a length of 55 kilometers, it turns out that it is not only formed by steel and concrete: the secret ingredient is bamboo. And according to those responsible, continue like the first day. The bridge. After six years of planning and another eight of construction, in 2018 China opened the imposing bridge that connects Macao and Zhuhai. Its 55 kilometers, 6.2 of them underground, allow to convert a trip that previously lasted three hours into a ‘walk’ of just 30 minutes. And something that resonated in its day was the 420,000 tons of steel (which would be equivalent to 60 Eiffel towers), its more than one million cubic meters of concrete and the flexibility necessary to support typhoons and earthquakes. It is a barbarity, with an underground stretch that disappears and emerges from the sea It looks like a ship, but it is one of the two inputs/exits of the sea Bamboo. It turns out that the mixture added a plant: bamboo. And it is something that is not so weird, since, as we can read In South China Morning Post, China is the largest bamboo producer in the world and is something to give way. In the aforementioned bridge, this element was used on the panoramic platforms that are found throughout the same and the official newspaper Science and Technology commented a few days ago that, after six years installed, these panels have resisted sunlight, typhons and The corrosion of seawater, keeping “as solid as ever.” One more element. Lou Zhichao is a member of the Bamboo Research Institute of the Forestry University of Bamboo and pointed out that, apart from in China, bamboo occurs mainly in developing countries, which gives China a unique advantage and position to the time to process this bamboo. His team, in fact, has been developing more advanced technologies to process bamboo a decade, causing the process to emit less co₂ while encouraging the use of bamboo under constructions due to a relationship between resistance and weight higher than some alloys of some alloys of some alloys of steel. In addition, it can replace wood, plastic and steel itself in some constructions. Bamboo II. Now, although it has interesting properties, it also has a problem: it is prone to decomposition. This means that when bamboo facilities are done, toxic preservatives must be used that make the material much less ecological. The chickens that come through those that come out in environmental matters, basically. And, precisely, the Zhichao team has been working in recent years. One of its latest advances in research is a heat treatment that eliminates nutrients that cause the accelerated decomposition of the material. This allows to reduce its processing time by 50% while increasing durability outdoors without antimoho treatments. Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport. You don’t have to go to China to see great structures in which bamboo is clear protagonist. In Spain we have examples such as Madrid airport Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, in which the roof of terminal 4 is formed by lames 100 mm wide of bamboo sheet. In total, there are 200,000 m² of bamboo with fire resistance and was the ideal material due to the peculiar curved forms of the terminal roof design. It is also a material that was raised for the Futurist Ciudad Oceanix City And the protagonist of the bamboo towers that Paris wants to build for 2050. And scaffolding. Beyond in places as punished as a bridge in such a complicated area and applications in other buildings, bamboo is absolute protagonist in Hong Kong. Specifically, in its skyscrapers, like an exoskeleton that really is a system of Scaffolding During the construction of buildings. For the rest, Zhichao continues to work to expand the use of bamboo as high quality material for several reasons. One because it absorbs 50% more co₂ than common trees. Another because it is estimated that its crop and market benefits some 50 million people throughout the country. And, therefore, he hopes that the government “finance the development of key technologies and reinforce regulation by national and local standards to boost the industry.” Industry tech. Apart from in structures, bamboo is positioning as a material that can be very useful in other sectors. An example is that of consumer technology not as an element that goes within the devices, but as part of the packaging. A few years ago, on a visit to the Innovation Center of Lenovo, They told ushow they were starting to use bamboo in the boxes of their laptops. Bamboo box to the right. On the left too, but after a year underground. The reasons were environmental due to the degradation of their fibers in normal conditions in nature. In fact, it can be buried directly in the garden to use it as fertilizer. In the photo that we leave just on these lines you can see two boxes, one new and one after a year underground, to appreciate its degree of decomposition. And, that sustainability is one of the keys (along with many others, of course) of decarbonization. Images | Xataka, Moso, NRG800, Chronus, HMZB, Chris 73, Kamakura In Xataka | After 120 years of growth, a Japanese bamboo has just flourished. And that is a problem

The rebirth of an old system that is illuminating remote villages in India: the hydraulic wheel

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While the big cities They have opted for self -consumption through solar panels and even wind turbinesmany remote areas of the world still fight to have a renewable system. However, in Kashmir, they have found a cheap, effective and inspired solution in the past: the hydraulic wheel. An old advance. Surely the name of the hydraulic wheel will not come a direct image to the head, but if I describe a inn away from an village in the central European area, which had a large wheel shape that spinned with the water can be more enlightening. The fact is that they were important during the industrial revolution To perform mechanical tasks such as milling or hammering. However, its use began to decrease with the expansion of burning fossil fuels and the development of electricity. However, like fashions, everything comes back, and more if the original idea was good. So with the rise of renewable energies, hydraulic wheels have resurfaced as a viable option to produce electricity in a clean and continuous way in remote and impoverished areas. A new clean source. Initial investments in renewables usually have a high cost that not everyone can afford. But what if they turn to an old energy system? That is what a group of researchers from the Technical University of Munich thought that They have managed to install A hydraulic wheel in a town of Kashmir, India. The wheel in question measures about two meters and lets the stream water pass to produce electricity. In this way, it provides an uninterrupted energy source to the community, so it does not need centralized power, which was previously a problem with frequent cuts. In addition, the hydraulic wheel is accompanied by the use of other renewable energy systems, including the Decentralized microredwhich allows the inhabitants of the people to enjoy energy independence and resilience before a possible blackout. Self -sufficient One of the highlights of the hydraulic wheel is its high efficiency, reaching the 85% energy conversion. As for the assembly cost of this system, it is relatively low, around $ 1,000, so it makes them accessible to different impoverished rural communities. In addition, the design is available on the Internet for free. Only in rural areas. Hydraulic wheels are designed for rural and remote areas, specifically in communities that need a continuous and reliable energy source. This type of system offers a simple and economical way to generate electricity without depending on fossil fuels or intermittent energy sources. In addition, its environmental impact is minimal, since they do not emit carbon and, According to studiesdamage to aquatic life is reduced. While this type of technology has limitations and is not suitable for all contexts, its potential to improve the energy self -sufficiency of small communities could make a considerable difference. More for the world. The benefits of this technology are not limited to Kashmir. A similar system has been implemented in Nepal and a prototype has been developed in Tegernsee, Germany. In addition, in Northern Ireland, a hydraulic wheel has been restored with an old mill in Fermanagh County, which now supplies electricity to a restaurant. Image | The Waterwheel Project V1.0 Xataka | China prepares the most expensive megaestructure on the planet: a hydroelectric power plant on the most controversial place possible

It is a strategy and it is working

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Work and pleasure are often Like water and oilthat are hardly mixed. However, LinkedIn has tried to break the laws of physics (labor) integrating a series of games into a social network very focused on the professional and workplace. At first that squeak a little slide through the Timelineof LinkedIn hoping to find publications of a former partner who has changed their jobs, or that a company is looking for candidates for cover a vacancy And suddenly, zas! A publication in which your co -worker presumes to have achieved the maximum score in a game. But, we hadn’t come to talk about work? Surprisingly, the play of integrating games is working very well. You do networking, you are looking for a job or … you start a game In May 2024, the company announced the integration of a series of free games accessible to all users registered on the platform. However, we talk about a corporate platform, so its focus is not offers triple A games, but maintain their productive spirit. From LinkedIn they point out that the objective of his social network “has always been to connect professionals around the world to make them more productive and successful. And, like the work world has changed in the last 22 years since the creation of LinkedIn, This has also done the way people connect with each other. “ That change of habits in communication and in the way to face the working day It has served as a support lever for the social network to pivot towards a more playful approach. “The objective of LinkedIn games is to encourage professionals to take a short break from work and stimulate their mind, while motivating them to connect with others,” they point out from the company. A recreation for the brain The catalog of LinkedIn games It is not very extensive. It is limited to four simple titles at a graphic level, but that propose different challenges at the mental level and a good dose of cognitive skills. Among the games that LinkedIn has integrated are: CrossClimb: A question and answers game in which you have to use clues to correctly guess each word of the stairs. The goal is to form groups of words based on tracks, in which only one letter differs with the previous word. Once you have organized the correct sequence of words, the clues will be unlocked for the beginning and end words. And the challenge is to decipher the words as quickly as possible. Pinpoint: It is a word association game in which you should try to guess (or “locate”) the common category or theme that unites a set of words. There are five clues to find out this common category. The challenge is to guess the category with the least possible number of revealed tracks. Queens: It is a logic game in which you have to fill in the grid so that there is only one crown per row, column and color region, not being able to coincide with any other crown of the attached segments. Tango: It has been the last game to join LinkedIn, and it is a logic game where you must fill a grid making sure that each row and column contains the same number of soles as moons. The complication is that there can be no more than two soles or adjacent moons, neither vertical nor horizontally. But what do these games paint on LinkedIn? According to Paolo Pasco, LinkedIn games editor the games seek to encourage Benefits of short pauses during the working day. “Various studies underline the importance of work pauses and cognitive benefits of the puzzles. Therefore, with our series of games we seek to offer professionals a space to make a brief pause and revitalize their mind. “ A investigation of the University of Exeter and the King’s College in London discovered the memory benefits that the crosswords, sudokus and other types of puzzles provide such as those proposed by LinkedIn in its recreational offer. Therefore, this may be a good way to foster a Status to take the brain to its “playground” in which abstract concepts and knowledge are connected to Generate new ideas. “It’s curious how something as simple as a game can be the impulse we need to return to energy with energy, desire to learn, connect and talk to others,” said Pasco. The fact of Improve cognitive abilitiessuch as the attention, concentration and mental flexibility, together with the social component that the social network provides, they make the games become a more socialization component between professionals or among classmates of the same office, breaking the ice in interpersonal relationships in The work spaces. According to A survey From Yougov, the puzzles and puzzle games are the most popular among users in the US, ahead of card games, action or adventure. Within these data, the puzzles were preferred, by far, by LinkedIn users, so it is not strange that the social network has chosen to integrate them into its platform. LinkedIn is still a business Beyond the productive component and Induction to labor interactions With the excuse of competitiveness in the games, the introduction of this new section on LinkedIn also Pursues an economic interest. In this sense, LinkedIn has followed the steps from The New York Times, which only a few months before also integrated a section of games in its application, continuing with the Wordle success. Such and As I counted Axiosthe games have allowed the New York Times to stabilize the number of subscribers to their platform, while the figures of the rest of their competition chopped. He Financial Times estimatedthat with the implementation of these games in LinkedIn a “record commitment” of 1.5 million content interactions per minute in June 2024 had been recorded. The LinkedIn Games Rachas system fosters the daily visit and sharing the results, so the return of users and their active participation in the platform increases, even if it is only for a few … Read more

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