Mobile Tech & Gadgets

competes with all of Asia. And he is losing

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The race to develop models of artificial intelligence (AI) that the US and China maintain in their struggle for world supremacy is entering a new phase. And the physical applications of AI are gradually gaining prominence. By “physical applications” we mean the integration of one or more AI models into a mechanical device, such as a humanoid robot or a machine for industrial automation applications. The interesting thing is that the rules that will determine which countries will lead this emerging industry are different from those that currently govern competition in the field of AI models and software applications. And they are so for a reason: the robustness of the supply chain plays a fundamental role when the product stops being immaterial and takes the form of a cutting-edge hardware solution. In this scenario, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and, above all, China, have a great advantage over the US and Europe. China is committed to the strategy with which it has managed to dominate the electric car Before continuing to investigate the industry specialized in the development of physical applications of AI, we are interested in diverting our gaze for a moment to the semiconductor market. At the moment in Asia they are manufactured 90% of memory chips, 75% of microprocessors and 80% of silicon wafers. These figures are overwhelming. So much so, in fact, that in the medium term they remain absolutely out of reach of the West. It will be very difficult for the US and Europe to compete with the Chinese companies UBTech Robotics, Agibot or Unitree Robotics The electric car market also clearly illustrates the strength of Asia in general and China in particular. The country led by Xi Jinping leads it with a global market share of 62%. On the other hand, the South Korean companies LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI accumulate a joint global quota in the market for batteries for electric cars of 16%. And the Japanese Toyota produces more than one million hybrid vehicles per year. Japan’s position is peculiar because leads the production of hybrid carsbut it is lagging behind in the pure electric car market. Whatever China’s strength in the electric car market and Asia’s leadership in the integrated circuit manufacturing industry have been built on a very robust supply chain and overwhelming production capacity. Jixun Foo, the senior director at venture capital firm Granite Asia, which specializes in technology investments in Asia, ensures that “AI is not just about models or software applications (…) If we look towards Asia our advantage is in the supply chain, hardware and engineering capabilities.” That’s the key. China has opted for the same strategy in the physical applications of AI industry that has led it to lead the electric car market. Its meticulous control of the entire supply chain, its high manufacturing capacity and its cost optimization in all probability They are giving you a very important advantage in the industry of humanoid robots and machines for industrial automation applications. And not only in its struggle with the United States; It will be very difficult for Europe to compete in a market in which Chinese companies such as UBTech Robotics, Agibot or Unitree Robotics are already fully established. Image | UBTech Robotics More information | SCMP In Xataka | The US is doing everything to drown China. China has already achieved that 35% of its chip machines are its own

The megacity you haven’t heard of is in China and aspires to be the largest in the world

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In the world there are big, huge, huge cities and then others that are almost a country in themselves, like Jing-Jin-Jithe huge conurbation that has been taking shape in northern China for years. And “country” can be taken in its most expansive sense. If they are fulfilled the forecasts launched by its promoters more than a decade ago, the megalopolis will host between 110 and 130 million of inhabitants, in addition to a robust business muscle. Its size will also take away the hiccups: is spoken of more than 200,000 km2double that of all of Portugal. It may sound like science fiction, but there is a very simple explanation: Jing-Jin-Ji is not a city founded from scratch, but a new way of understanding and organizing Beijing, Tianjin and the province of Hebei to shape an urban titan. Rethinking Beijing. Although it does not reach the levels From Tokyo, Delhi or even Shanghai, Beijing is one of the most populous cities on the planet. Its stable population easily exceeds 20 million of people, more than all Romania or Netherlands. That huge number of people move every day to go to school, the doctor and of course to companies that may be close by. several hours of their houses. If we add to that the role of Beijing as the capital of one of the greatest potentials in the world, the result is an (almost) impractical megalopolis, polluted and in which complications the services. To face such a challenge and prevent the exodus from the countryside from ending up collapsing the city, in recent years the Government has resorted to several solutions. One has been limit the population. Another is to rethink Beijing itself so that it is no longer just the capital of China or a mere metropolis, but part of a much larger conurbation. The objective is twofold: to relieve pressure on the capital and to promote a new industrial hub, one capable of replicating the success achieved in the Yangtze River Delta or Guangzhou and Shenzhen area. A new giant: “Jing-Jin-Ji”. With this premise, a decade ago the Chinese authorities decided to go for what is probably one of their most ambitious projects: Jing-Jin-jia word that hides a nod to the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Ji, which is how the province of Hebei is traditionally known. That business card speaks for itself idea. The idea is strengthen the bond between those three territories in northern China, distributing part of the crushing burden that now falls on the capital, improving communications and betting on a distribution of specialized roles. The story of Jing-Jin-Ji can soar at least to the National New Urbanization Plan presented by the Government for the period 2014-2020. In it, China, a nation already accustomed to megacities, advocated the promotion of a dozen “urban clusters.” The greatest of all would be Jing-Jin-Ji, in which Beijing would embrace (in an almost literal sense) with Tianjin, which is another of the biggest cities of the country and nearby cities in Hebei province. More than theory (and politics). The project received Xi JinPing’s blessing just 12 years ago, in April 2014and was sold with a display of astonishing data. Its objective was neither more nor less than to bring together a region of more than 215,000 km2 in which some 130 million people would live in 2050, generating a powerful industrial and commercial hub. It could have remained just that, an ambitious idea, but a quick review of the newspaper library confirms the extent to which China was determined to push it forward. The following year, in 2015, The New York Times confirmed that Jing-Jin-Ji was beginning to become a reality. Shortly after Guardian informed of the plans to create Xiongan, a large city located just under 100 km from Beijing that would allow the urban framework of Jing-Jin-Ji to be articulated. It was just one of the measures to consolidate the new megalopolis. The most effective of all was the reinforcement of rail and road communications. In 2016, China actually approved an ambitious investment plan to build kilometers and kilometers of roads and reach the middle of the century with about twenty of railway lines. Is it just infrastructure? No. Improving communications is a fundamental part of Jing-Jin-Ji, but not the only one. Another, equally important, is the distribution of roles between the regions. He starting point It was simple: Beijing would consolidate itself as a political, cultural and technological center while Tianjin would establish itself as an export port and manufacturing hub. As for Hebei, there was a commitment to also orient it towards industry and wholesale trade. In the background, slide China Briefingthere was the desire to bet on industrial clusters focused on emerging sectors, such as electric vehicles, the biopharmaceutical industry or robotics. To achieve this distribution, of course, it was not enough to set guidelines on paper. In 2015, the Beijing authorities announced his plans to refocus the capital, moving certain services, such as wholesale markets and administrative offices, out of the urban center and moving some services to suburban areas or even to Hebei province. The importance of gestures. Perhaps the best proof of the extent to which the Government wants to keep the project alive is that, from time to time, the Chinese press publishes articles reviewing the progress in the creation of Jing-Jin-Ji. It happened in April 2024coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the presentation of the plan, and it happened again in 2025, when CGTN He published an article to make it clear that Beijing’s suburban dream is advancing little by little. His chronicle highlights the increase in economic production in the region, the opening of new stretches of road that allow travel times to be cut, the reinforcement of public transport or collaboration at an economic level and when providing services. The local press also highlights that the region “has become an innovation center” capable of attracting companies. Of course, there are also important challengeshow to achieve greater … Read more

the incredible history of the largest castle in the world

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Europe is full of castles, but there are castles and castles and the one of the Teutonic Order in Malbork plays in another league: more than just a building, it is actually a superb Gothic brick complex built in the 13th century. In fact, It is the largest castle in the world on surface. To get the idea, it is four times that of Windsor. Furthermore, it is UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork stands imposingly on the southeastern bank of the Nogat River in northern Poland, and as interesting as its impressive construction and size is its history. Beyond being a witness to Central European history, this building was built by the Teutonic Knights, a militarized German Catholic religious order of crusaders that served to Christianize the entire Baltic coast for centuries. Among other things. A masterpiece of architecture. The intro has served to whet our appetite, but the Ordensburg Marienburg complex is architecturally a marvel: it comes with a huge palace, a monastery, three different castles and hundreds of auxiliary buildings. In essence, they are three castles separated by moats and towers, three castles in one. The castle began to be built around 1274 and reached its maximum splendor in 1406, that is, it took just over 130 years. The complex that had to expand to provide shelter to 3,000 brothers of the Order, thus becoming the largest fortified Gothic building in Europe. For its construction they were needed 30 million bricks. It was impressive inside and out: inside there were amazing innovations for the time, such as hot air central heating and an advanced sewage system. Its large halls have ribbed vaults that are authentic masterpieces of engineering secular gothic Entrance. Diego Delso Why was it built?. The construction of the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork goes hand in hand with the history and future of said militarized religious organization. And at that time, the Teutonic Order was looking for a new Headquarters after its withdrawal from the Holy Land. After a time in Venice, in 1309 Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen transfer the seat of the Italian city at Malbork, in newly conquered Prussia. The main objective was to reinforce control over the area after the repression of the Great Prussian Revolt of 1274. Thus, that border area became the nerve center of a Monastic State that would govern much of the Baltic. In addition to its religious and military function, the castle was instrumental in establishing a monopoly on amber. thanks to your strategic location along the Nogat, allowing the Teutonic Knights to collect tolls from ships transiting the river to finance their military campaigns against the pagan peoples of Lithuania and convert the fortress into a commercial center integrated into the Hanseatic League. All this allowed them to ensure their economic power of the Teutonic State in the region. Historical context: the Baltic Crusades. Malbork reached its peak during the Baltic Crusades, a period when Germanic military orders sought the forced Christianization of the northeastern peoples of Europe. In this context, the castle not only acted as a military base: it was also its best visual propaganda. A complex of such dimensions is a financial and military ostentation to potential enemies. Come on, such an impressive architectural work shows that you have God on your side. Malbork became the most powerful manifestation of the Crusades in Eastern Europe. From 1309 it was the headquarters of the Order, a role it played until its decline at the beginning of the 15th century. This period coincides with the height of Teutonic power in the Baltic, with the fortress as the political, military and religious epicenter of a sovereign monastic state. Decline, destruction and rebirth. The Teutonic Knights were finally defeated decisively in the Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410 at the hands of the armies of Poland and Lithuania with the support of the Tatars. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years’ War, a Bohemian mercenary they sold the castle to King Casimir IV of Poland, becoming a Polish royal residence until 1772. However, the darkest chapter in its history dates back to 1945, on the verge of the end of World War II: the forces of the German army and the Red Army reduced more than half of the structure to rubble, as can be seen. see yourself in these photos. The landscape was so desolate that restoring it seemed like an impossible mission, but the process began in 1947 and is still continuing. Thus, with the passing of the year and the good work of specialists who have used historical documentation for a detailed restoration, they have managed, among other things, to recover the interior of Saint Mary’s church. In 1997 it was declared a World Heritage Site and since 1961 it has housed the Malbork Castle Museum. In Xataka | That Christian Friedrich von Kahlbut died in 1702 is nothing exceptional. That his corpse has not decomposed, yes In Xataka | We just discovered that a semi-legendary Nile king really existed thanks to a 17th century document found in trash Cover | Gregory

the savior of world energy

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When the price of fossil fuel tightensthe answer is not long in coming. The Iran war caused breaking the barrier of 100 dollars per barrel WTI. It was not surprising considering that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz led to the loss of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined products, leaving the market with a net deficit of about eight million barrels per day. The world did not sit idly by watching the price of fuel rise and the reaction was immediate: buy solar panels at industrial levels. And, in that scenario, there is a very clear winner: China. Bottleneck. When the war startedsome of the first objectives had to do with energy. Through the Strait of Hormuz It moves more than 20% of the oil consumed by the world, being a strategic element and, therefore, vulnerable. With the closure of the Ras Tanura refinery and with the collapse of the strait itself, a brutal traffic jam was caused in which hundreds of vessels They moved at the speed of a bicycle. According to Bloombergthere were more than 800 stuck boats, and an Al Jazeera investigation pointed out that, in the first 40 days of conflict, 206 million barrels disappeared from the market. With that amount, 103 supertankers would be filled. The reaction of the governments was to begin releasing millions of barrels from their emergency reserves, as well as to call on citizens to spend as little as possible. Chinese panels. This is when countries have accelerated the transformation of their electrical network. As we read in Electrekwith data from Ember, China exported 68 GW of solar energy in March alone. The graph prepared by Ember speaks for itself, but that amount is double February’s total and 49% more than the previous record, set in August 2025. It is estimated that the solar energy installed in Spain is about 42 GW by the end of 2025and being Spain one of the powers in this sensespeaks volumes about the extent to which the world has turned to Chinese solar when the fossil fuel belt was tight. It goes through neighborhoods. The largest clients have been the logical ones: those most exposed to fluctuations in fossil fuel prices. Imports from Africa increased by 176%, reaching 10 GW with Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia being the largest importers. India imported 6.6 GW, Malaysia 1.8 GW and, in total, other Asian countries added 39 GW. Panels were also purchased in Europe, Japan and Australia, but the study points out that capacity was lower due to work carried out previously, and in the Middle East things were more complicated due to trade restrictions due to the war. Trend change. Something that the study points out is that, although entire panels continue to be purchased from China, there seems to be a turning of the tables because imports of solar cells are increasing, which are subsequently assembled in the destination country. For example, of those 68 GW exported, 32 GW belong to pre-assembled panels and 36 GW to cells and wafers. One is going down, the other is going up. And something important: it also means a relief for a China whose panel companies they were dying of success. Not just the panels. And this commitment to new energy not only translates into a greater amount of solar energy exported. Batteries and electric vehicles They are also booming and it is estimated that, as a whole, they increased by 70% year-on-year and by 38% compared to February. The Spanish lifeguard. Going down the data, the global implementation of solar energy is growing and it is being seen that it is not only a way to pollute less, but also to cushion the blow of the fossil fuel price increase that can suffer turbulence due to war, geopolitical issues or by accidents. It also shows that the fact that much of the world’s oil passes through a single point is something that can strangle the market in the event of a catastrophe, explaining why countries seek this transition to renewable energies that make them more self-sufficient. Images | Jenikir In Xataka | For the first time, 100% of Spain’s energy has been covered by renewables. The question is whether we can repeat it

increasingly successful at leisure than at home

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Spain can boast of a rich gastronomic tradition based on fish. Neither that, nor their kilometers of coastHowever, not even the millions of euros that the country’s ports move each year have prevented the fish from going through a particular journey through the desert in Spanish homes, one marked by the collapse in consumption per capita and the closure of thousands and thousands of fishmongers. Behind this phenomenon there are several keys, such as cultural and educational changes that affect the purchase or the perception that consumers have of its cost, but there is also another interesting factor: we increasingly associate fish more with leisure and less with our refrigerators. Maybe we don’t plan to cook a sea bass for lunch, but we like to go to sushi, sashimi, pokés or ceviche for dinner. A percentage: 32%. These are not good times for the fish industry. Not at least in Spain. Markets and fishmongers have been losing strength in the shopping basket at a speed that is evident in consumption data per capita at home calculated by the ministry: if in 2014 each Spaniard consumed on average 26.4 kilos of fish per year, at the end of 2025 that indicator it already marked 17.8. In short: a collapse of 32.5% in just a decade. If we extend the comparison the decline is even greater. In 2009 They were close to 30 kg. A negative trend. The latest data They don’t exactly invite optimism either. According to the latest tables from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (Mapa) on domestic consumption, in November 2025 each Spaniard ate an average of 1.48 kg, on which they spent 17.65 euros. The consumption data is more or less similar to that of 2024, but is far from the more than two kilos of 2015. In your sector report Most recently, with data from November 2025, Luis Planas’ department warned that the fish market in Spain “is losing purchasing intensity”, with a drop of almost 2% that is partially offset by the increase in prices. The most affected (by far) is the fresh merchandise business, which has fallen by 5.6%, dragging the rest of the sector along in its fall. Frozen sales actually rose by 1.5% in 2025. One figure: 5,000 businesses. The drop in fish purchases not only shows us what we eat at home, it also leaves a clear business reading. This ‘pinch’ in consumption has been accompanied by the closure of 5,000 fishmongers in Spain, such as I remembered a year ago The Newspaper. “A third of the 15,000 fishmongers that existed in 2007 have been lost, which means the closure of more than 350 traditional fishmongers per year,” corroborates Fedepesca. “In the same period the number of people employed in the sector has also gone from 26,237 to 18,396.” Although the closure of establishments coincides with changes in consumption and a lower presence of fish in the country’s refrigerators, Fedepesca recognizes that this is not the only challenge. “There is no generational change,” regrets before pointing to factors such as business hours or the lack of a firm commitment to training. In an attempt to diversify their income, some have even begun to explore new business avenues, such as pet food. Do all the fish fall? The truth is that no. And that is one of the keys that help us better understand the changes in fish consumption that Spain is experiencing. In your report ‘Fishing month by month’MAPA points out that there are species that have seen their demand increase over the last year, such as trout (27.7%), tuna (3.4%), sardines and anchovies (7.5%) and salmon (9.7%). The demand for smoked salmon and trout has also grown, by 9.1 and 38.9% respectively. The evolution of salmon stands out above all, not so much for its growth percentage as for its volume, with one of the highest per capita consumption among the species identified by MAPA. More fish (away from home). There is another indicator that is equally interesting. Fish consumption may decrease in homesbut his behavior is better outside the home. He report of Mercasa on “extradomestic consumption” of 2024 suggests that the product is improving its reception in restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses where people can eat without cooking. Over the last few years, the organization has registered “a progressive increase in the extra-domestic consumption of fish and shellfish” that can be clearly seen in your graphicsIf in 2022 it was 145.9 million kilos, the following year it rose to 149.8 million and in 2024 it was already 155.7, the highest figure since at least 2020. Going down into more detail, the demand for seafood, squid, octopus, prawns and shrimp, salmon and fresh tuna stands out. During the start of 2025, out-of-home consumption of fish continued to increase, with a growth of 8.1% with respect to 2024. What does that tell us? We may have reduced the consumption of fish in our homes and in general we pay less attention to it when planning our meals, but its demand does not evolve the same at home as it does outside of it. In fact, the loss of fishmongers coincides with the rise of other types of businesses: establishments specializing in sushi, sashimi, poké and ceviche, dishes from foreign cuisines in which fish also plays an important role. Increasingly associated with leisure. Seen another way: fish consumption is losing strength in homes, but seems to be strengthening in others oriented towards ‘leisure’. Companies in the sector detect a problem of “perception” among consumers related to the price of fish, but the reality is that there are businesses that have been able to take advantage of it. In recent years there has been no shortage voices that they claim that the increase in the intake of salmon, one of the products that responds best, is directly related to the rise of Asian cuisine. Beyond the opening of businesses, interest in new ways of preparing fish was evident during … Read more

Promotional notifications have become pure spam. And often we cannot deactivate them without losing important

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In August 2023 I asked Wallapop in X to stop sending absurd notifications of the type “Hello! How are you today? Have you slept like a baby?”. It is the most extreme example, due to its absurdity, that I remember of an endemic evil of our era: abuse of notifications until they become another form of spam. Almost three years later, this problem is getting worse in the app industry, not less. The bank notifies me about home insurance before relevant events. Uber Eats offers me 30% on burgers I haven’t ordered. Spotify promotes a podcast to me that I don’t listen to. The situation has a technical name, notification fatigue, and an apparent solution: deactivate them. There’s the catch. I can’t mute my bank’s promotions without also missing the notice of a suspicious charge. I can’t turn off the offers from the company that brings me dinner without being blindsided by the delivery person. Apps purposely mix transactional and advertising in the same channel, and rarely let you separate them without digging into the settings. You choose between two evils: put up with the spam or be left without the ads that matter. This did not happen with SMS because sending an SMS cost money, although they were cheaper when sending mass messages. This minimum cost forced the issuer to think if it was worth it. He push it’s free. Sending you a hundred notifications costs the same as sending you one, so saturation is in the end the rational strategy of those who cannot conceive the inconvenience. Apple expressly prohibits promotional notifications without opt-in since 2020 and Google has similar policies, but brands avoid them by disguising advertising as transactional (“your order is ready… and look at this 2×1”) or directly sending nonsense, because nobody audits anything. It is the same landscape as that of public transport: signs asking for silence, reserved seats, clear rules and no one enforcing them. They are there to make things beautiful. And while, We have normalized that the bank that holds our money sends us advertising through the most intimate channel of the mobile phone, at no cost to him and at all costs to us. We continue deactivating notifications one by one, app by app, in which they allow us to segment by type of notification even if we search, until one day we miss something that did matter. That’s the part that doesn’t appear on any conversion panel. In Xataka | There is a generation working for free as a documentarian of their own life: they are not influencers but they act as if they were. Featured image | Xataka

In 1802 someone proposed to Napoleon to unite France with England. Today the Eurotunnel invoices more than 1,000 million a year

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“Bonjour mon ami,” said Graham Fagg. “Welcome to France”, replies Philippe Cozette. With these words an Englishman and a Frenchman greet each other. Both are operators of one of the most ambitious and spectacular infrastructures in the world. France and the United Kingdom have just been united by land. Specifically, the land lies 50 meters below the seabed. It is December 1, 1990 and the workers have found themselves in their excavation operations. Since work began in December 1987, it is the most exciting moment in the history of the Channel Tunnel. finally united The Eurotunnel is a 50.5 km excavation that since 1994 has connected buses and trains between the United Kingdom and France. The work runs for 38 kilometers under the sea and remains, to this day, the only land connection between the United Kingdom and Europe. More than 30 years after it was launched, the Channel Tunnel has a turnover of more than 1 billion euros a year. It is the magic figure that confirms why the investment has not only been profitable, but also why it is a project that has been talked about for hundreds of years. They explain in Reuters That the first time someone imagined a tunnel similar to the current one was 1751. The Frenchman Nicolas Desmarets, a French geologist, was the first to imagine the construction of a tunnel but no one bought the idea. Yes it would, they explain in MotorpassionNapoleon Bonaparte in 1802 when he gave his support to a project to dig a tunnel to the United Kingdom and launch a passage for horse-drawn carriages by the light of oil lamps. Evidently the project never went beyond paper because, in fact, throughout the 19th century projections were being made of what this step would be like to the point that, in 1866, the British engineer Henry Marc Brunel showed that the soil under water was composed of chalk (a type of limestone rock) that allowed drilling into the soil. In fact, these studies led him to create the gravity coring system, a working method that is still used today. However, it would not be until 1880 when the first steps on the ground would be taken. Progress that was initially successful but was completely suspended in 1883 when the works had already begun to enter the underwater zone. The reason given by the United Kingdom is that a tunnel could facilitate a potential invasion of the country from the continent. The argument carried so much weight that the project was frozen for almost a century. Winston Churchill advocated for it before the Second World War but no serious work was ever carried out to bring it forward. In fact, a system of hatches was proposed that, in the event of an emergency situation, would allow the tunnel to be flooded in case of fear of an invasion. This did not convince the military officials and the project remained suspended. It was not until the 1970s that the project was discussed again in much more serious terms. Along the way, all kinds of solutions had been proposed, including the possibility of creating an isthmus and that, through canals, allow ships to pass at the same time. In the end, the most logical solution was chosen: a railway tunnel between the United Kingdom and France. The agreement began to take shape in 1964 when technical studies began to make it viable. However, it would not be until 10 years later when work began. Some works that, in fact, barely lasted because the United Kingdom soon abandoned them due to the enormous cost of the project. Yet, The Eurotunnel had already started. And on January 20, 1986, François Mitterrand, on the French side, and Margaret Thatcher, for the British, announced the definitive construction of the tunnel. The decision maintained the idea of ​​previous decades of linking both countries with trains. Trains that, at the same time, allowed the transport of vehicles such as private cars. Thus, the tunnel now allows the transit of people with the one known as Eurostar, whose passengers travel by train, and a second train that allows the transfer of vehicles. It works through a system of three tunnels. Two of them perform round trip functions and the third is designed for their maintenance. The work, which began operating in 1994, now allows the passage of people and vehicles (including trucks) and is managed by Getlink (which was previously called Group Eurotunnel), a company that has the concession of exploitation by both countries as stated in the Treaty of Canterbury. This company benefits from the concession thanks to the passage of people and vehicles but also due to the interconnection of electrical energy on both sides of it. In fact, in 2025 turnover was close to 1.6 billion euros but almost 400 million euros came from Eleclink (the electrical interconnection between both countries) and Europorte (freight transport), the other two businesses that the company has associated with the exploitation of infrastructure. Photo | opihuck and Tambo on Wikimedia In Xataka | 125 kilometers of water separate 140 million inhabitants. China is going to solve it with a mega railway tunnel

includes video game and a gift

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MediaMarkt is one of the stores that is offering the most packs for the Nintendo Switch 2. They are not official but assembled by the store itself, which gives them a wide range of options when it comes to adding video games or other accessories. We have already seen many so far and now a new one has arrived: Nintendo Switch 2 along with ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder’ and a keychain by 479 euros. Nintendo Switch 2 + Super Mario Bros. Wonder + keychain The price could vary. We earn commission from these links New unofficial MediaMarkt pack The nintendo switch 2 It is a particularly interesting console for many reasons. Beyond the physical changes that we have seen with respect to the previous generation, especially in power and sizethere is something especially interesting, especially if we had the first Nintendo Switch. First of all, current generation is backward compatiblewhich means that you will be able to play most of the video games on the market. nintendo switch. In some cases you can do it with improvements by paying for them (approximately 10 euros) and in others you can have the best ones offered by the dock when playing on the television, but playing in portable mode. Obviously, it is not a console that only allows you to play video games from the last generation. Little by little it is adding exclusive titles of his generation to the catalogue. Maybe ‘Mario Kart World‘ and ‘Donkey Kong Bananza‘They are two of the most popular, but we cannot forget the curious one’Pokémon Pokopia‘ either ‘Hyrule Warriors: Age of Banishment‘. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Nintendo Switch 2 offer today ✅ THE BEST The pack: The store offers you a video game for little more than what the Nintendo Switch costs alone (difference of 30 euros). The price: In general, official and unofficial packs usually sell for approximately 500 euros, something that MediaMarkt has taken into account because theirs usually sells cheaper. ❌ THE WORST Yesno possibility of choosing the video game: The pack is not bad, but the store has offered on other occasions to choose a video game as a gift from several different options. For this same reason, it is not the best pack it has had to date. The battery: The autonomy varies greatly depending on the video game, but it usually lasts approximately three hours. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want to be able to play the Nintendo Switch 2 the moment you receive it home, especially if you want to do it with a good video game from the Super Mario saga. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are not convinced by the video game; MediaMarkt tends to renew Nintendo Switch 2 packs quite frequently, so you may be more interested in waiting for them to arrive. You may also be interested tomtoc Shoulder Bag Sling Bag Compatible with Nintendo Switch 2 Console 2025, Protective Bag Portable Travel Gaming Case with 8 Cartridge Slots, Charger and Accessories, Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 8BitDo Pro 3 Bluetooth Controller for Switch/Switch 2 – TMR Joysticks, Swappable ABXY Buttons, Pro Back Buttons, Charging Dock, Hall Effect Triggers, for Windows, Apple, SteamOS, Android – Purple The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Alejandro Alcolea (edited), Nintendo In Xataka | The second pack of the Nintendo Switch 2 arrives with the new Pokémon: you can now reserve it in these stores In Xataka | The best accessories for your Switch: cases, carrying bags, batteries, and more

Three decades of innovation in lithium batteries and a 99% drop in price, in an illuminating graph

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The world has been immersed for years in two essential transitions to leave fossil fuels behind: energy and mobility. But for both to be possible, it is an essential requirement that a technology continue to improve and also drop in price: that of batteries, one of the main components of electric cars and the one responsible for storing excess energy in times of energy surpluses, for example in wind and solar energy. And in fact, this is what he has done: In the last 35 years the price of lithium batteries has plummeted 99%. In 1991, a lithium ion battery cost $9,210 per kWh (in constant 2024 dollars). In 2023, that same kilowatt-hour cost $111: we are talking about a drop of almost 99% in almost three decades. To make it tangible, Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado of Our World in Data gives an example applied to car batteries: the battery of a current standard electric car with a range of 350 to 400 kilometers today costs about $5,000. A decade ago the same component would have cost more than $20,000. In 1991, almost $600,000. There is a strategic threshold that we have surpassed recently: 100 dollars/hWh, considered historically the point of economic parity with the internal combustion vehicle, but At the end of 2025 we will already overcome the barrier reaching 84 dollars/kWh. First of all, let’s start with the presentations: the graphics are from Our World in Dataa project of the Global Change Data Lab linked to the University of Oxford. And the primary source is a data series updated by Rupert Way, built on the original work by Ziegler and Trancik and completed with data from BloombergNEF and Avicenne Energy. All data is expressed in constant 2024 dollars. The price of lithium batteries has fallen 99% in 35 years The first graph shows the evolution of the price of lithium ion cells between 1991 and 2024, in constant 2024 dollars per kWh on a logarithmic axis. The line declines continuously and sharply throughout the series of years without any signs of stabilization until ending around $50-60/kWh in 2024. Evolution of the price of lithium ion batteries: 1991 – 2024. Our World in Data The second graph combines price with global accumulated production and uses a double logarithmic scale: it starts from an installed capacity of 130 kWh in 1991 and reaches 3,510 GWh in 2023. That the line remains straight for more than three decades, in two different graphs and with data from different sources, confirms that The price drop is not a coincidence or a streak. It is a stable mathematical pattern that allows you to project where prices will go. This trend is more important than the fall itself. Every time global cumulative production doubles, battery prices have fallen by 19%. Our World in Data This second chart shows that every time global cumulative lithium-ion battery production doubled, the price fell by 19%. That is the learning rate known as Wright’s Law. The learning curve remains stable for more than thirty years, regardless of financial crises, supply problems and even a pandemic. Behind that graph is that enormous jump from the 130 kWh installed in 1991 to 3,510 GWh in 2023. That is 27 million times more capacity in three decades and each doubling along the way led to a 19% reduction in price. With the current rate of installation, these duplications occur in less and less time, which implies that the curve is not going to slow down due to inertia. These graphs do not describe the past: they are a projection of the future. A stable learning rate of 19% per capacity doubling is a planning tool: it helps the industry and its actors to reliably estimate when storage will reach cost thresholds that make the electricity grid viable with high renewable penetration. According to IRENAthe cost of solar energy fell by 90% between 2010 and 2023 following the same logic. That the threshold has fallen below $100/kWh already has consequences: the European Commission estimates that the EU will need between 200 and 600 GWh of storage by 2030 and precisely this trajectory means that Europe will get the bills for its energy transition. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the graphs show the average cell price of the different types of lithium ion batteries, which have very different profiles of cost, life cycles or energy density. That doesn’t appear on the graph. Nor that battery cost is not everythingsince it has associated costs, such as installation or replacement. Likewise, it does not touch on the structural risks of the supply chain: lithium, cobalt or nickel are geographically concentrated and vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, such as warns the International Energy Agency. And although they are becoming cheaper, their weight and volume are still a handicap for some scenarios such as aviation or heavy trucks. In Xataka | The last piece of the renewable puzzle now fits: the price of storage batteries has reached its minimum In Xataka | China dominates the world of renewable energy, but it has an Achilles heel: it depends on the West more than it admits Cover | Our World in data

We believed that the success of artificial insemination was a genetic lottery. Turns out it depended on your shopping list.

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When we consider having a child, the truth is that there are many factors that can intervene such as real obstaclessuch as age. This means that science is focused on looking for different variables that can be ‘altered’ to tip the balance in our favor and favor fertility. And the last one that has been known is related to the much loved Mediterranean diet. A new investigation. In a recent published study in the magazine Food & Function, A Spanish research team has come to the conclusion that it is not about eating healthily, but rather that we need a set of nutrients that the Mediterranean diet gives us, which directly modulate the ecosystem of bacteria that our body has and that prepares it for a successful pregnancy. The bacteria. On many occasions we see them as our enemies by causing very severe infections, but the reality is that they play a fundamental role within our body. In this sense, we have spoken on many occasions of the intestinal microbiota, but there are also large bacterial colonies in the vagina that protect against a large number of infectious diseases. In this sense, the research team analyzed vaginal samples from 104 women between 18 and 38 years old who had been diagnosed with primary infertility and were undergoing artificial insemination processes. What they saw here is that the success of fertility treatment depended largely on who “governed” the patients’ vaginal microbiota. The results. After crossing the samples with the patients’ diet, it was seen that those who followed a Mediterranean diet had a microbiome dominated by bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus. These microorganisms act as a protective shield and are strongly associated with a higher rate of successful pregnancies. On the contrary, a poor diet left the door open to bacteria such as Gardnerella vaginalis. This pathogen is not only linked to the annoying bacterial vaginosisbut the study directly relates it to implantation failures and failure of artificial insemination. Because? Here the Mediterranean diet stands out for the micronutrients that foods contain and that we ingest almost without realizing it when we follow this dietary pattern that is so common in our country. Here vitamins A, C, D and E, along with beta-carotene, calcium and zinc, act as protectors of the vaginal ecosystem. These elements not only nourish the patient, but selectively nourish the Lactobacillus, strengthening defenses against bacterial vaginosis and creating the perfect uterine and vaginal environment for insemination to thrive. It is becoming more and more important. Although this study details for the first time this interaction between diet, vaginal bacteria and artificial insemination, scientific literature has already been warning that the refrigerator matters a lot in fertility. But previous studies already indicated that women who followed a Mediterranean diet in the months before undergoing in vitro fertilization had success rates that were up to 68% higher. In this way, you can see that it is increasingly important to keep in mind that what you are going to eat is essential for even a new life to take shape. Images | drobotdean in Magnific jcomp In Xataka | If we want to increase human fertility, mice have something to tell us: fecal transplants

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