Mobile Tech & Gadgets

New York Bitcoin miners are buying old power plants. New Yorkers are not happy

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Minar Bitcoins can be a very profitable business, but the growing difficulty of adding a new block and the rules of the economy of scale make, in the end, they are only earning money the mining farms that have access to huge amounts of energy at a low price. What are mining farms. They are large data centers full of ASICs, computers specialized in solving cryptographic problems. His work is to find a hash (the output of a mathematical function called SHA-256) to appear a valid block. How to buy bitcoins safely and without risk This process orders and propagates the safe transactions of the Bitcoin block chain, which has a juicy reward: every time a miner manages to add a block to the chain (once every approximately 10 minutes), receives 3,125 new bitcoins, the equivalent of 101,606 dollars. But not everything is benefit. In fact, Minar Bitcoin has a very high energy cost. This is where the price of electricity comes into play. And the north of the state of New York is especially attractive thanks to its abundant hydroelectric energy. But hydroelectric plants are not exactly the main objective of mining farms. Bitcoin gas and mining plants. In New York, the energy appetite of Bitcoin’s miners has reached a dystopian look with companies that acquire old or little used electric power plants, mainly of natural gas, to feed their operations 24/7. The old Greenidge generation coal plant, located next to Lake Senecato the north of the state, it became a combined cycle center in 2017, operating only when the energy demand was high. In 2020, the company installed a Bitcoin mining farm next to the plant. Greenidge Generation opened the ban. In 2018, the combined cycle plant supplied 203,918 MWh to the electricity network. In 2020, with mining as its main business, it began to burn much more gas, generating 215,588 MWh for the network and additional MWH for mine Bitcoin. Its emissions have multiplied by six since the Bitcoin mine is, according to a report of Inside Climate News. But in addition, he sealed a kind of symbiosis between gas plants and cryptocurrency mining. Greenidge became a proof of concept to resurrect another 49 similar plants in the state of New York. In a legal limbo. New York is not precisely a permissive state in Environment Policy. The Environmental Conservation Department denied the renewal of Greenidge permits in 2022 for violating the climate law of the State, which requires strong emission reductions. However, Greenidge continues to operate thanks to his appeals. The state law allows you to work as long as the administrative process lasts. New Yorkers are not happy. Another controversial case is that of Digi Power X. The Canadian company bought Fortistar the Combined Cycle of North Tonawanda, near the Niagara cataracts, to feed its own Bitcoins farm. The neighbors began to complain about a “persistent buzz” from the huge fans that refrigerate the data center. They ended up demanding the company, which triggered a two -year moratorium and formal studies on the noise and water consumption of the installation, estimated at 1.9 million liters to cool the servers. It is not drinking water, but exerts pressure on local wastewater infrastructure. In November 2024, the New York Supreme Court ordered the Public Services Commission to reassess the sale of Fortistar for a possible violation of the state climate law. However, as with Greenidge, the plant can continue to operate while the process lasts. The battle continues. With Trump things have changed at the federal level. In favor of miners. The new administration has raised restrictions on the use of fossil fuels and has promoted a new more lax regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, despite legal battles, Greenidge and North Tonawanda mines continue to operate, along with their associated electric power plants. According to the United States Energy Information Agency, cryptocurrency mining represents up to 2.3% of the country’s total electricity consumption. In Xataka | Bitcoin is not to blame for a glacier lake to have become a “hot jacuzzi.” Still

China prepares its next technological assault. Huawei and Ubtech have just allying to bring humanoid robots to homes

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Humanoid robotics is ceasing to be a laboratory experiment. Bank of America Global Research CREE that its mass adoption could begin in 2028, with an industry that, if the forecasts were met, will move billions annually. Actually, the change is already underway: in 2025 about 18,000 units should be delivered and it is expected that by 2030 the million annual shipments will be reached, with a view to exceeding 10 million around 2035. While Tesla, Boston Dynamics and Figure AI develop their own humanoids in the US, in China a strategic alliance with global ambitions has been forged. As Sina points outHuawei, one of the country’s largest technological ones, and Ubtech Robotics, one of the most consolidated developers in the sector, have signed an agreement to collaborate in the development of humanoid robots for factories and homes. China steps on the accelerator in the humanoid robots sector The announcement was made in Shenzhen, a city where both companies are headded and considered by one of the main technological centers in southern China. As explained, the objective is to accelerate the transition of humanoid robotics “of laboratory innovation to the Large -scale adoption in industrial, domestic environments and other scenarios. ”Huawei will contribute its Ascend processors and Kunpengas well as cloud computing capabilities and generative AI models. The Alliance also contemplates the creation of an innovation center dedicated to the so -called “incarnate intelligence”: an approach that seeks to integrate cognitive functions into robotic bodies, which requires advanced coordination between algorithms, sensors, movement control and decision -making in real time. According to Leaderobot consultancythe Chinese domestic market of humanoid robotics could double this year and reach 5.3 billion yuan (about 665 million euros). Several of the country’s main manufacturers have already announced plans to overcome 1,000 units produced in 2025. Ubtech is one of them. Its president, Zhou Jian, confirmed it in March. Tien Kung Xingzhe, one of Ubtech’s robots This movement is part of a broader national strategy. As the New York Times detailsthe Chinese government is betting on industrial automation as part of its response to several challenges: commercial challenges, the fall in the birth and aging of the population. In factories such as Zeekr in NOBO, robots already perform tasks that previously required specialized labor. The objective is to maintain low costs and reinforce global competitiveness. And there is more. With the aim of encouraging the adoption of humanoid robots in the automobile industry, the Chinese authorities asked manufacturers to rent units, record videos in real environments and send them to the government. Even in the symbolic field there are blunt gestures: in April, Beijing organized a half marathon with 12,000 human runners and 20 humanoid robots. Only six crossed the goal, but the message was clear. Bank of America Global Research expect this sector evolve in three stages: first in factories and logistics (2025-2027), then in commercial and educational services (2028-2034), And finally in homeswith care and domestic applications from 2035. If the forecasts are met, in 2060 there could be 3,000 million humanoid robots in use worldwide. The challenge is not less. There are still technological bottlenecks, high production costs and dependence on tools and chips manufactured outside China. But with alliances such as Huawei and Ubtech, the Asian giant seems to be taking another determined step not to be left behind. What is clear is that the career to develop more advanced humanoid robots is underway. Images | Rubaitul Azad | Ubtech Robotics In Xataka | Klarna presumed that AI did the work of 700 people. Its quality is so low that it is rectuming humans

In Denmark more and more people are getting ready as volunteers for civil defense. Just in case

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The Danish National Guard, better known as Hjemmeværnet or for its HJV initials, it already has Eight decades of history behind him, but he had rarely lived a April more moved than that of 2025. Throughout the last month almost 800 Danish They showed interest in joining the ranks of this body of volunteers created to “Respond to emergencies” and support the country’s defense. You have to go back to the 80sin full cold war and tensions with the USSR, to find a spring start with better recruitment data. The increase in interest in the HJV comes at a very special moment at the geopolitical level: after three years of War in Ukrainea Emboldened Russia and with Trump sowing doubts on the future of the US in NATO and showing their interest in Annex Greenlandnow under Danish sovereignty. A fact: 1,732 inscriptions. In a convulsive geopolitical scenario and with Copenhagen pending what happens in kyiv, Moscow and Washington, more and more Danes They show interest in The HJVa body formed by trained volunteers to act in emergency cases and support the country’s army. The data are revealing. During the first quarter of the year 1,732 Danes They filled and confirmed the form to register in the National Guard. During the same 2024 period they did 1,041 And in 2023 there were 663. In just two years the growth, at least during those months, was 161%. And interest does not seem to be referring, like They recognize From HJV itself: last month 764 people confirmed their desire to enlist. You have to go back to the 80s to find an April in which the Hjemmeværnet aroused so much interest. “Have you valued to join?” With this backdrop data, Voxmeter recently conducted a survey for the Danish news agency Ritzau that throws another striking figure. Its technicians interviewed 1,018 people to those who asked the same question: “Have you considered joining the National Guard?” The majority (85.8%) replied that no, but 9.5% gave an affirmative response and 4.5% acknowledged that “he does not know,” which means that he does not rule it out either. The figure is relevant due to its reach (the tenth values ​​to swell the ranks of the organization), but also for what it tells us about the image of the HJV. Bent Åge Andersen, a National Guard veteran, Recognize to the newspaper BERLINGSKE that the Danes no longer look with the same eyes to the volunteers. “Before it was usual for people to smile when we exercised and we arrived uniformed and with weapons. We called the weekend soldiers. It was a joke for years. But today there is a totally different attitude.” What exactly do they do? In Your official page HJV is presented as “a voluntary emergency response military organization that supports the Danish defense.” With that purpose its members, who include civilians who work in companies that have nothing to do with weapons, carry out military training. eldiario.es I spoke recently With one of the new volunteers, Anne Kaae, a 38 -year -old woman without prior military experience. If you have decided to take the step, he explains, it is for “the concern” that generates “what happens in the world.” “A wide range of tasks”. In an article published this weekend, the newspaper Describe A training on the outskirts of Copenhagen with 40 men and women who when the HJV uniforms are taken are normal civilians. There is some war veteran, but most study or work in trades that have nothing to do with weapons. Thanks to the military training they receive, the National Guard has participated in Surveillance worksearches for missing or preparation against extreme weathering phenomena. Especially on Danish soil. “We solve a wide range of tasks for the armed forces, the global emergency response and civil society,” The HJV emphasizeswhich recalls that, to a lesser extent, its volunteers also offer support in international missions outside Denmark. In March the Ministry of Defense claimed that the number of active volunteers exceeds 14,000. The registration flow has been so high that Recognize that the new ones can find “an extra waiting time.” Matters how much … and does when. The increase in HJV enlistments is important, but so is the geopolitical context in which it comes, mainly marked by three major scenarios: Ukraine, Russia and the US. To the three years of war in Ukraine, from January 20, Trump’s return to the White House, his approach to Moscow, the distancing with the EU and its Declarations about NATOthat have sown doubts about what degree of involvement Washington will have from now on in the Atlantic Alliance. If the scenario were not complex enough in itself, in the case of Denmark another extra factor is added that has further tensioned the relationship with Washington: Greenland. Trump ha OpenamentAnd his desire for the US to control the Arctic Island, now administratively linked to Copenhagen, and has even suggested that it could resort to force to achieve its goal. “I do not say that I will do it, but I do not rule out anything. We need Greenland with urgency. We need it for international security,” argued The American leader a few days ago during an interview at the NBC News. “A dangerous situation”. Beyond the HJV, Denmark has decided to redouble his commitment to the defensal. In February the government headed by Mette Frederiksen announced its plans to mobilize 6,700 million euros in two years for a Urgent reinforcement of his defense. The objective: achieve 3.2% of GDP. “We are in the most dangerous situation in many, many years. Therefore, because of the Russian threat, to defend Denmark and avoid war, we promote a new reinforcement,” summed up the Danish Prime Minister, who made at the beginning of the month A visit to the National Guard. Copenhagen’s redoubled military effort also contemplates dedicating 53.6 million euros to HJV equipment. Denmark is not the only one that is increasing its commitment to military spending. The EU … Read more

an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

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To understand China, it is essential to enter their philosophical roots. A constant that has marked its history is the art of thinking in the long term, of planning with decades in advance. An ideology that is deeply linked to confucionism, which prioritizes collective duty, social stability and sacrifice present for a stronger future. However, it should be noted that Confucio did not explicitly speak of political or economic strategy in the current terms, but its emphasis on meticulous planning can be glimpsed in the country’s current energy policy. An “electrostate.” He 10% of Chinese GDP It is in clean energy, since technologies, such as electric vehicles, batteries, wind turbines and solar panels are growing at a dizzying pace. According to the Financial Timesthe objective is not simply to modernize its energy infrastructure; It is to create an “electrostate.” In other words, that its economy works almost exclusively with electricity generated from low carbon sources. All according to the plan. The transition to an electricity -based energy model is not accidental. It is the result of a combination of state planning, mass investments and technological innovation. It all started more than 10 years two years after Xi Jinping assumed power, when he ordered the Chinese energy system to “revolutionize”. Thus they began with the strategic investments that are expected that within five years another 800,000 million dollars will be added to consolidate the electrical infrastructure, intended for ultraalta tension lines that the country already has 40 transporting solar and wind energy. The expansion of renewables. Planning also had The expansion in renewableswhere the country leads the transition solar and wind With megaprojects. Next to it and at the same vertiginous rhythm, China has taken into account That the greater the renewable capacity, the greater the need for storage systems. The batteries have become a key piece to stabilize the electricity grid and manage the intermission of solar and wind energy, but there is still a long way to achieve the 500GW of storage necessary to completely support its renewable network. Also, like They have detailed In Financial Times, the two largest Chinese companies in the country, Catl and Byd, have allocated 5% of their income to research and development, which has allowed to drastically reduce storage costs. An elephant in a room. Despite all this change, China continues to aggressively invest in fossil fuels. In fact, Keep building new coal plants and represent 80% of construction plants worldwide. This paradox has raised international criticism, especially for the risk of increasing global emissions while the country is presented as a leader in clean energy. From The commercial war with the United Statesthe vulnerabilities of global supply chains have been exposed, which has led To China to reveal their plans on the control of their own coal and oil reserves as of key energy infrastructure. However, he has not stopped his projects outside because He wants to reinforce Its geopolitical influence while minimizing internal risks. The dual strategy. China continues to invest in renewable energy for long -term electrification, while maintaining control of fossil fuels to avoid short -term interruptions. This duality has generated international criticisms that accuse Beijin of flooding the market with subsidized clean technologies and breaking their climatic commitments, as He has collected The Financial Times. A planned future. While the rest of the world debate how to reduce emissions and ensure energy supply, China has chosen not to choose a single path. Instead, he has opted for both. And if we look at its philosophical roots, Taoism summarizes it well: opposites not only coexist, but also need. Renewable and fossils. Yin and Yang. On the energy board, China is playing with both cards at the same time. Image | Kenueone and Palacio do Planalto, CC BY-SA 4.0 Xataka | China is immersed in a nuclear revolution and needs industrial amounts of Uranium. His solution: “fish” in the sea

Mr. Beast has brought his extreme tourism videos inside the Mayan ruins in Mexico. That is a problem for ruins

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Mrbeast It is the most important youtuber and followed in the world, and virtually any idea it has to generate content in its channel becomes a trend. Millionaire contests, spectacular challenges, philanthropic maneuvers … and now, adventure tourism. One of his last adventures has been to pass One hundred hours in an old Mayan temple two thousand years old. It is an idea with a peculiar dark side. One night in the temple. In the video we can see how Mrbeast wanders inside several Mayan pyramids, among other Chichén Itzá. Accompanied by an native guide, which reinforces its promotional character for the powerful tourism business in Mexico, sleeps in the jungle, and can touch funeral masks of the kings buried in the area. A privilege that is not at the scope of any tourist. A superstar. With almost 400 million followers and more than 82,000 million visualizations, no one doubts that Mrbeast is The most important youtuber in the world. The average video display on its channel is about 100 million, although it already has many exceeding 200. The income of your channel They can exceed four million dollars, not counting sponsorships or agreements. An authentic icon of the platform that is largely responsible for the spectacularization of Influencers: Always looking for the most extreme challenge, the most shocking image and the most unexpected trip. The spectacularization of YouTube. This spectacularization of the content is very clear in the titles of its last videos: ‘Would you risk drowning for $ 500,000?‘, I survived 7 days in an abandoned city, I survived the 5 most mortal places on earth… It is a radicalization of the content that is not only in the subject, but in the visual: climbing assemblies, a lot of noise and screams, many careers, a dynamic that stuns and that Keep the spectator dopamine by the clouds. Extreme tourism. Mrbeast exploits a new form of telematic tourism that is hooking millions of viewers by making these trips to remote places, often giving them an adventurous narrative: these trips are often linked to extreme challenges or tests, and have turned tourism into an experience that can be digitally consumed. For example, a few months ago we talked about Fabio Belnome and his trip in a 1998 Fiat to Japan. But there are many more in different social networks: the mountaineer @Nimsdaithe urban explorer @Shieyfreedom or the traveler to high -risk countries @drew_binsky. Thanks to them, the hashtag #tikToktravel, for example, has More than 23,000 million views. The dark side. However, there is a dark side in videos such as Mrbaest Chichén Itzá. In 2024, the Secretariat of Tourist Development of Yucatán reported that he expected the arrival of 6.7 million tourists, more than double those that arrived in the last year pre-pandemic. It is an area to which tourism provides 90% of its income. The controversial Mayan train. To promote and facilitate tourism, projects such as Mayan traina transport that will travel relevant areas of the Mayan zone, with special attention to serve tourism, connecting airports in a space of 1500 kilometers. But the authorities are concerned about Environmental impact of the pharaonic López Obrador project. For example, the works have been arrested in the area of ​​the Riviera Maya, one of the most frequented by tourists. The impact is more than studied in what affects caves, temples and other protected areas, and Even Unesco has intervened. The double track. Mexico is, in this way, before a dilemma: the content of Mrbeast is sponsored, as the video credits affirm, by the Tourism Secretariat of Mexicoin collaboration with institutions such as the National Institute of Anthropology and History. But at the same time, the massification of tourism is eroding archaeological treasures such as these temples, in a dilemma of which perhaps the great travel and adventure youtubers will have to begin to take responsibility in the future. Header | Mrbeast In Xataka | The videos of AI have broken the Instagram and Tiktok algorithms. Welcome to the new “AI landscape”

We are in 2025 and the Wi -Fi of the airplanes is still terrible. Starlink is demonstrating that we are at the turning point

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June 30, 2016. BBC publishes an article called: How does the Wi -Fi work in the airplanes and why is it so bad? Almost 10 years later, we are almost in the same place. The Earth has revolved for almost a decade but in terms of connecting to Internet networks from the air it seems that we are completely stagnant. Or it seemed. 2016. “Some compare their speed with that of the beginning of the Internet, when, with the soundtrack of the atrocious beep of the modem, they had to be put on patience while any page was loaded.” With this paragraph Yolanda Valery for BBC In 2016 what was the experience of trying to connect to the Internet from the air. In that same article it was explained that connecting to the Internet from a flight guaranteed a certain guarantee to do very basic connected tasks, such as sending an email. But it was also mentioned that you could already forget to see a content in streaming Or, at least, assume that it was going to be a really tedious experience. We remain the same. In 2016, the offer of a wifi on board was relatively recent. In 2013 we told you that Iberia made this service available to the client at a price of five euros … for five megas. Shortly after, Enrique Dans narrated his experience In an Iberia plane and pointed out that the option was really interesting but that the result was very bad. And even raised if he had to be offered under the conditions of that time. Already in 2017, in Xataka We wondered why we still have no wifi in all airplanes. And we could say the same right now, with a good handful of airplanes that do not offer it … and above all: those who offer it and serve little or nothing. If we enter On Iberia’s own page We verify that in its reference to the connection packages it is specified that allow “Internet navigation, messenger, email, download and sending documents”. That is, tasks that require poor discharge speed. And they emphasize that it is “it is possible that during some moments of the trip the signal can come weakened” or that it lends itself with “three different suppliers, so you can experience differences between one flight or another.” Why is it so bad? The main reason why the Wi -Fi in the airplanes is so bad is how the Internet connection is obtained. You can take “global, satellite or land coverage,” depending on the flight, they point out on the Iberia website. This means that the plane receiver can connect to telephone antennas or satellites if the latter are not available. On a transatlantic flight, that connection is more unstable since Terrestrial antennas are far away. It only remains to be connected to a satellite so that the shipment and reception of data is complicated. First because the distance is much broader than when we have our feet on the floor and, second, because the plane moves hundreds of kilometers per hour, which complicates the reception and sending of the data. The big problem is that although the bandwidths that users have to share are now the demands of applications. Not only is the Quality of the images we load on Instagramis also the huge amount of data that an application like Netflix needs to play your streaming videos. Already in 2020, in Xataka We estimated that one hour sailing on this platform consumes between one and seven GB (depending on quality). A turning point? Andrew J. Hawkins explains in The Verge that the time may have come to say goodbye to these connections. In the aforementioned article, it indicates its experience aboard an E-175 Embraer, a 88-seat narrow fuselage plane that United Airlines uses for short flights. This, specifically, lasted 90 minutes. The plane is one of the first connected to Starlink and, in fact, will begin offering on May 15. The figures collected are highly hopeful. Connected to the airport Wi -Fi, Hawkins said navigating with a 305 Mbps discharge and a load of 249. The latency was 5 ms. During the flight, the speed was 196 Mbps of discharge and 27.3 Mbps of load with a latency of 19 ms. The discharge speed is close to the experience before climbing to the plane and although the figures are remote from what it offers on land, they are notable compared to those we had so far. During the whole flight. Hawkins breaks another spear in favor of the system and United Airlines: the wifi was active throughout the flight. “The service works from the door to the door, not only above 10,000 feet, restriction under which some other systems operate. As soon as I sat, they told me to connect to the Wi-Fi using United mobile application. “ In fact, in your article to The VergeThe author reflects the speeds during takeoff (234.8 Mbps of discharge and 14.9 Mbps of load with a latency of 19 ms) and the landing (72.6 Mbps of discharge, 26.1 Mbps of load and 90 ms of latency) when the worst data was collected. The time, despite this, would be brief because as soon as the plane touched earth again offered good figures with 231.5 Mbps of discharge. Although, this time, with the worst load data with only 3.01. Well to watch movies. But not so much to work. Because Hawking himself points out that he could use Instagram and Tiktok, Disney Plus, follow the ceremony of the new Pope for CNN or watch a live match “with a crystalline image quality.” However, the result was much less impressive when loading a file on Google Drive that took him seven minutes. Explains that this is because Starlink’s own infrastructure It is designed to download content and not so much to raise it, hence the difference in figures between the two processes. Differential. How much would you be willing to pay … Read more

Apple deal with tariffs, but wants not to be noticed. I consider up the price of the iPhone without mentioning them, according to WSJ

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September appears again in the calendar as the month of the iPhone. And if everything follows the usual pattern, Apple will take advantage of those dates to present its new family of smartphones, the iPhone 17. They are expected to arrive with design news and some relevant technical changes. But there is another aspect that begins to take strength: the price could rise, and not necessarily for obvious reasons. An increase on the table … with nuances. According to The Wall Street JournalApple is valuing a price increase in its next iPhone. The information, attributed to familiar sources with the company’s plans, points to a strategy that would combine this increase with the new functionalities and a redesign of the product. It is still not clear what these improvements would be exactly, but It has long been talking about an ultrafine model. The question of tariffs, the elephant in the room. The same sources assure that within the company there is a clear intention to prevent this possible rise from being publicly associated with American tariffs on products from China, where most iPhone are still manufactured. The reason is evident: in April, An article that hinted that Amazon It would show the impact of tariffs on the final price was enough for The White House considered it a hostile gesture. Bezos’ company had to deny that possibility quickly. A difficult climb to justify only with cuts. The context is not easy for Apple. According to the sources cited by WSJ, the margin of maneuver to cut costs through the suppliers is limited. That means that, if there is no price increase, the impact of tariffs would result in a direct reduction in benefits. Hence, according to these internal voices, the company is considering what they describe as “the less bad option”: to raise prices and present the changes as a natural evolution of the product. India progresses, but China is still essential. In parallel, Apple continues its geographical diversification process. Tim Cook already advanced that A significant part of the iPhone sold in the US during the second quarter will leave India. However, the production of high -end models – the Pro and Pro Max – will continue to depend mainly on China, sources say. Although India has also begun to assemble pro versions, apparently its technical infrastructure is not yet at the necessary level for equivalent mass production. The commercial agreement and what is still standing. This Monday, USA and China announced an agreement to suspend much of mutual tariffs. Even so, some remain active. Among them, a 20% tariff that reaches smartphones, linked to the conflict over fentanyl, and another of 10% that remains as a base rate. The truce is partial and temporary, which adds relief, but also uncertainty to the global board. And Europe, how does it fit this story?. At the moment, the focus is in the US market. But if the price increase is justified in product improvements and not in external factors such as tariffs, it cannot be ruled out that new prices are also transferred to Europe. For now, Apple has not made statements about it. From Xataka we have contacted the company to know its position. We will update this article when we have an answer. Images | Amanz | Niels Kehl In Xataka | We have been accustomed to the propaganda of the United States for years: now the era of Chinese propaganda has begun

Extra virgin olive oil is one of the purest products in the world. And it is also full of microplastics

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As if it were the fashion concertFrance’s olive oil consumers have been waiting for their time for too long: that exact point in which the Bodegas Galas are left without the accumulated reserves of 2024 and prices begin to go down driven by the arrival of the Spanish product. The good news is that this moment has arrived. The bad is that oil bottles come with surprises. Surprises? These days, preparing the “great moment”, the great French magazine of consumption ’60 million of consommateurs’, decided to analyze the main brands They were in the French market. They selected 22 bottles of extra virgin olive oil (that is, extracted only with mechanical pressure or centrifugation). Despite the numerous frauds that have been found, the results of the analyzes seem to square with the requirements of composition of this type of products (99% of lipids of a certain profile, predominance of monoinsaturated oleic acids, etc …). The surprise has been the fact of finding high levels of microplastics. Also in oil? Indeed: “Bios or conventional all (…) contain some type of phthalates”, chemical substances that make the most flexible and lasting plastic. Although they are allowed products, there are an increasing body of evidence which suggests that they have an important role as endocrine disruptors. A few days ago We commented on his role in the regulation of blood pressure. And what do we do? The problem of microplastics is huge, really. Only now we begin to be aware of its dimension and depth. However, cases such as this show that we are not being diligent in the control of these: the presence of phthalates is directly due to the containers we use. A global problem. Because yes, these are French data, but it would be naive not to assume that in Spain (where these oil are consumed up to six times more and the presentations are very far from being ‘premium’) the situation is better. It is not, it cannot be. And it is precisely what should lead us to a reflection: we talk about one of the most important products in the country, the axis of a strategic industry that articulates the entire country. It is time to assume that conserving that heritage requires a much deeper look, a plan that goes beyond day to day. And that, I’m afraid, is a pending task. Image | Fulvio Ciccolo | Oregon State University In Xataka | Olive oil sales have fired 50%. The market is so broken that it threatens to be bad news

This is how absolute domain has achieved

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China dominates The lithium -ion battery market with an indisputable forcefulness. If we stick to electric cars the country led by Xi Jinping Fabrica 57% of batteries that these vehicles use. Catl and Byd are the biggest manufacturers of energy accumulators of the planet with A market share in 2023 34% and 16% respectively. And if we look at electronic devices equipped with batteries, your domain is equally forceful. The evolution that the lithium batteries industry has experienced in this Asian country is the result of a very ambitious strategy pergenerated by the Government a decade ago. In 2015 President Xi Jinping announced the plan “Made in China 2025”an initiative that pursued to take the country to a world leadership position in thirteen strategic technologies. In some of them, such as the production of medicines, large tractors, the manufacture of industrial machinery, the artificial intelligence (AI) or the robots does not lead, but has established itself in a competitive position. In batteries, however, he leads clearly. China’s success is the result of a well -measured strategy China has gone from having a share in the global battery market of 50% in 2015 to no less than 80% today. A decade ago his position was already good, but in 2025 his domain is absolute. Another fact that we are not overlooking is that the global production of lithium batteries in 2015 amounted to 42 GWh, while in 2024 this figure increased to 1,400 GWh. This growth is mainly explained thanks to the intervention of this Asian country. China is the largest electric car market on the planet, so its internal demand is able to sustain its battery industry alone In any case, the really interesting thing is to know what strategy has allowed the country of Xi Jinping to control such an important market in such a forceful way. As we can intuit, this success is the result of several factors. On the one hand China bet early on LFP batteries (Lithium Iron Phosphate), which use iron and lithium phosphate instead of cobalt and nickel, so they are cheaper and more safe, through subsidies of public vehicles. This happened in 2009. Years later, in 2016, the State subsidies prioritized the improvement of the benefits of these batteries, and therefore, They increased their competitiveness. This scenario allowed China to use patents derived from LFP technology in their free domestic market, which helped him gain experience and develop his production capacity. In fact, Catl, Byd and other Chinese manufacturers Batteries have put in recent years huge factories that have allowed them to develop the economy of scale producing a huge volume of batteries with an extremely competitive unit cost. In addition, China is the largest electric car market on the planet, so its internal demand is able to sustain its battery industry alone. However, beyond the support of the government and the ability with which China has managed to climb its production capacity, it is important that we do not overlook another factor: this country has access to raw materials in very advantageous conditions. The new lithium and iron mines under your control have allowed you to have great reservations of these chemical elements at a low price. In addition, its supply chain allows you to control, in addition to the extraction of raw materials, your refining and the assembly of all the components of the batteries, thus reducing the presence of intermediaries and the margins of external suppliers. From one thing we can be sure: at the current situation it is very unlikely that other countries will snatch market share to China in this industry. More information | Asianometry In Xataka | Historic record for China: its chips industry has produced in 2024 more than ever despite the sanctions

Europe detected the oscillations of the blackout in Spain but did not know how to anticipate collapse

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While It is still done Analysis Committee meetings to find out what happened in the blackout of April 28. A new preliminary report of the European Network of Electricity Transportation Networks (ENTSO-E) has thrown An important focus on something that Europe could not see. Short. So far, what was known were the data of the “Black box”where second to second it has been investigated that it began to fail. But a new preliminary report of the Entso-E has confirmed That it is not only about the oscillations that were recorded in Spain: collapse was a “complex sequence of events.” In depth. The point is that the report explained that during the half an hour before the incident, two power and frequency oscillations were observed in the European electricity grid, between 12:03 and 12:07 and between 12:19 and 12:21. And of course, both Red Eléctrica in Spain and RTE in France took measures to mitigate these oscillations. However, at 12:33, the electrical system of the Iberian Peninsula He collapsed completely. The matter has more crumb. At that time, no oscillations and system variables were detected within the normal range of operation. But that did not mean that everything was under control. Europe had detected those oscillations, but when Spain and France intervened, they did not interpret it as a critical risk. This was how in southern Spain, a series of failures in electricity generation caused a loss of 2200 MW. This loss was sufficient to trigger a drop in the frequency of the system, which fell to 48 Hz. In other words, the electrical frequency must be maintained around 50 Hz. If it drops from 48 Hz, the system can enter a critical state. And that was exactly what happened. From that moment on … The blackout was inevitable. The electricity exchanges between Spain and its neighboring countries were at high levels: 1000 MW towards France, 2000mw to Portugal and 800MW to Morocco. But when the system collapsed, these connections were also lost. The transmission lines between France and Spain stopped working at 12:33:21 and automatic protection systems disconnected the entire Iberian network three seconds later. There was a figure that circulates in networks. The president of the Government in his appearance before the media said: “15GW disappeared in 5 seconds”I immediately ran this statement in the networks, but the Entso-E has specified that the loss was 2.2GW. So where did that figure come from? The 15 GW that circulated after the blackout comes from an initial REE estimate based on automatic defense systems. According to the Secretary of Energy of MitecoJoan Groizard, 10 GW were counted in automatic cuts (demand breakdown) and 5 GW in contribution of interconnections that stopped supplying energy. However, the report of the ETSO-E specifies that the loss recorded in southern Spain was 2200 MW (2.2 GW), a significantly lower figure, evidencing that the initial calculation did not reflect the loss of generation itself, but the global impact of the event on the electrical system. And now what? Entso-e has created A panel of experts to continue investigating what happened. These experts, from countries not affected by the blackout, will collect all the available data to rebuild minute by minute what happened on April 28 to prepare a technical report that will be presented to the European Commission throughout the second half of the year. In turn, the Spanish committee will continue working in parallel, analyzing not only technical failures, but also possible cyber attacks or errors in digital systems, according to has detailed The vice president, Sara Aagesen, in an interview for eldiario.es. Forecasts In the same interview, Sara Aagesen He has insisted in that the causes of the blackout are “enormously complex” and that no hypothesis is ruled out. But many unknowns are left: what centrals were disconnected exactly? What triggered the drop of 2200 MW? And why not the alert signals were detected in time? The first “green” blackout He has put Testing the Iberian Electricity and has evidenced the vulnerabilities of a system in full transition to renewables. While the full analysis of the blackout could take months, both system operators and governments They move in a field full of uncertainty. The key now is to rethink the Microredes, Energy storage and Gridorming technologies capable of stabilizing an increasingly volatile network. The road is being configured now and is in the present where you have to continue working. Image | Unspash and Eric Fischer Xataka | The other uncomfortable truth of the blackout: Spain does not yet have enough batteries for its renewable boom

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