Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Spotify charts have been filled with AI songs. It is largely a consequence of what Spotify has encouraged

by

Songs like ‘I still breathe‘ either ‘I loved myself more‘, performed by Ruby Black, have topped Spotify’s algorithmic charts in Spain for weeks. Ruby Black does not exist: she is a singer generated with artificial intelligence distributed by a label called Silencio Capital, with more than one hundred thousand followers on Instagram and a new single every Thursday. Spotify is now announcing measures that try to quell this wave of synthetic artists, but everything indicates that this new situation is here to stay. And we have asked for it. Who’s that girl. In April 2026Ruby Black topped the first spot on Spotify’s list of The 50 Most Viral in Spain. Soul-type ballads, very soft, with vocal echoes of Rosalía and other fashion trends in pop in Spanish, lyrics of heartbreak and improvement, and covers and video clips generated by artificial intelligence. Google’s own AI, when consulted about the artist, lied when describing her as a “human, not AI, singer, known for ballads like ‘I Still Breathe’.” How are the machines? Its release of weekly singles is unequivocal: chain production applied to entertainment, thanks to a catalog that continually grows, minimal cost, zero emotional ties with real creators… Ruby Black is not the only one of her kind: the same viral top, as different media have commented, includes equally dubious artists such as Nyx Solaris. But Ruby Black is the one who has reached the highest thanks to the undoubted advantage of singing in Spanish. There is AI but… how much AI? According to what he said Deezer this monthreceive around 75,000 completely AI-generated tracks every day, 44% of all new content. In January 2025, just over a year ago, there were only 10,000. Spotify, for its part, removed more than 7.5 million tracks generated by AI in the twelve months prior to September 2025, many of them linked to mass generation tools. Its entire catalog is around 100 million songs. We don’t distinguish it. It is not only an ethical issue, but it is increasingly difficult to identify AI-generated music. A study commissioned by Deezer with 9,000 people in eight countries published in November 2025 concluded that 97% of the participants were not able to distinguish between songs generated by AI and human songs in a blind test. 80% of them believed that 100% artificial music should be clearly labeled. The demand exists but the platforms have not yet reacted. Step forward from Deezer. In fact, Deezer is the only one that, to date, has implemented its own detection system. In June 2025 began flagging albums that included 100% AI-generated tracks and to exclude them from algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists. In January 2026 put that same technology on sale so that other platforms could take advantage of it. Deezer also found that 85% of streams of AI music are fraudulent, and that is why it excludes them from its distribution of royalties. It is the only one that has taken such an openly anti-AI stance. Apple Music launched in March 2026 Transparency Tagsa metadata system that allows labels and distributors to voluntarily declare whether they have used AI in vocals, songwriting, cover art or video. And Spotify works with DDEXthe music industry standards body, on a metadata system for song credits that indicates how AI has been used, also voluntary. Spotify’s latest move. To all this, the most followed platform has added the verification seal ‘Verified by Spotify‘ to ensure that there are humans behind each artist profile. Artists like Ruby Black are, precisely, proof that the formula limps: with a massive following on networks, a single every week, and number one on the top viral list in Spain, he has everything Spotify needs to award him the “real artist” label. A well-managed synthetic avatar can meet Spotify’s criteria (consistent activity, compliance with platform policies, signs of an artist’s real presence) and be a synthetic creation. The root of the problem. The truth is that all this fuss was not born with generative models. Liz Pelly, author of the book ‘Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist’, has been documenting for years how Spotify has systematically built a listening model based on lean-back listening: mood playlists, algorithmic recommendations that prioritize the most generic song in an artist’s catalog, the content that works best as a background sound. The author also revealed the existence of the internal program called Perfect Fit Content (PFC): since 2017, Spotify has filled its most popular playlists with “ghost artists” musicproduced in series to reduce the cost of royalties. Twenty composers were behind the work of more than five hundred “artists”and its tracks were listened to millions of times. Playlists such as Deep Focus, Cocktail Jazz or Ambient Relaxation were almost entirely composed by Perfect Fit Content. AI has not broken into a healthy ecosystem: platforms have been favoring anonymous, interchangeable and depersonalized content for years. And awarded by the algorithm. The Instagram-core. The phenomenon has an exact reflection on Instagram. In the same way that there is a Instagram-core (that homogeneous aesthetic of Reels with fast transitions, viral music, warm light and motivational text), there is almost the Spotify-core that Ruby Black represents. That is, designed to exceed the thirty-second hearing threshold (quick emotional hook, recognizable or directly cloned voice, lyrics that impact at first) that Spotify counts as a listen. Or put another way: Spotify can delete 75 million tracks and announce anti-spam filters. But as long as it continues to reward with its algorithm the most comfortable, ephemeral and generic song to captivate a listener who listens without paying attention, Ruby Black is just one more profile (a millionaire, of course) in a problem that has been brewing for years. In Xataka | Dear Spotify, it’s about time you had a button that allows you to filter AI-generated music

solar panels that do not compete with the earth, but rather protect it

by

In the vast regions of northern Mexico, where the sun beats down with relentless intensity and water is an increasingly scarce and coveted resource, a quiet revolution is brewing. The growing demand for food, the scarcity of water and the urgency of moving towards clean energies force us to rethink how we manage our resources. In this scenario, a technology emerges that seems to challenge the traditional logic of competition for land: agrivoltaics. Far from choosing between growing food or harvesting light, agrivoltaics strategically combines agricultural production and solar energy generation on the same surface. By installing solar panels elevated above the crops, space is dually used without interrupting agricultural activities. A concept that comes from Germany. This idea, which began to germinate in Germany in the eightiesmanaged to land as a real option in Mexico thanks to the historic collapse in the prices of solar panels during the last decade, which transformed this vision into a financially viable alternative for countries with our climatic characteristics. In the year 2023, The Mexican Agrovoltaic Network (RAMe) is bornan initiative that, according to its own mission statement, seeks to analyze, disseminate and promote these projects by integrating specialists from multiple disciplines. Today, RAMe brings together more than 70 organizations—including universities, companies and rural communities—with a presence in at least 14 states in the country. The urgency to optimize the territory. According to data revealed in Intersolar Mexico 2026For this year alone, conventional photovoltaic developments have been authorized that will devour around 5,000 hectares of land. This shows a voracious need for space for electricity generation that, if not managed properly, could displace primary activities. “Agrivoltaics comprehensively addresses three critical challenges for the country: energy security, water security and food security,” explained Valeria Amezcuapresident of the RAMe. Water is crucial. In Mexico, the agricultural sector consumes about 76% of the available fresh water. This is where solar panels they do their magic: they act as technological umbrellas that moderate high temperatures and protect crops from intense solar radiation. This drastically reduces plant evapotranspiration, helps conserve soil moisture and reduces water demand. The potential for the country is massive. If we look to the southeast, in the Yucatan Peninsula —where electricity consumption is growing above the national average— the data is revealing: Using just between 1% and 2% of the region’s livestock territory would allow for the installation of up to 12,000 MW of solar capacity. Current energy needs would be covered without the need to cut down a single hectare of forest or sacrifice the livestock vocation of the land. lThe challenges from the field to the law. However, bringing the theory to the field involves technical and economic challenges. photovoltaic structures must be modified and installed at a higher height (up to two meters) to allow the passage of tractors and the natural growth of plants. This adaptation increases installation costs between 50% and 100%. Despite the cost barrier, the evidence in the field is promising, since there are successful tests with lettuce, tomato, carrot and chiltepin pepper crops. In addition, RAMe is leading projects with high social impact, such as collaboration with Otomi communities in the State of Mexico, installing panels on greenhouses to generate clean energy that powers drip irrigation systems, saving up to 80% of water. The academic effort in Mexico City with the Sustainable and Educational Agrovoltaic Plot (PASE) also stands out. promoted by UNAM. However, the biggest current brake is bureaucratic. In Mexico, agrivoltaics lacks its own legal figure. Producers and developers face a regulatory labyrinth where they are required to process the same permits as a large-scale power plant, even though the land maintains its original agricultural vocation. This contrasts with countries like Italy, that have already been adapted its legislation to facilitate this dual model. htowards the circular economy. For the model to be truly revolutionary, it is not enough to generate shade and electricity; We must also look towards the earth. The magazine of the National Solar Energy Association (ANES) puts an innovative proposal on the table: integrate solar pyrolysis to manage agricultural waste (stems, stubble, leaves) left after harvest. Solar pyrolysis is a process where biomass decomposes at high temperatures (between 400 and 800 °C) limiting oxygen. Unlike conventional methods, this uses a solar oven (composed of a heliostat and a parabolic concentrator) as a source of pure heat, eliminating the use of fossil fuels. With this you obtain biochar (biochar), a highly stable and porous material that remains in the soil for decades. This biochar is an excellent improver that increases soil fertility, optimizes water retention and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, becoming the perfect ally against climate change and replacing chemical fertilizers. A call to action. The circular agrovoltaic model, anchored in the vital nexus of Water-Energy-Food, is much more than an engineering curiosity. But as the RAMe warnsthere is a latent risk: that the energy transition is purely technological and forgets the people. Changing the origin of electrons from fossil to solar is of little use if it does not improve the quality of life and the economy of peasant families. The development of this sector will inevitably require effective public policies, strategic investment and genuine collaboration between the agricultural, energy and academic sectors. Agrivoltaics is not only a technical alternative to meet clean generation quotas; is an imperative call to action to build a more resilient and equitable future. Mexico has the sun, it has the land and it has the urgency; Now all that is missing is the will to awaken this sleeping giant. Image | EnelGreenPower Xataka | Chile has one of the most valuable skies on Earth. Renewables are putting it on the ropes

The hantavirus outbreak has sparked a search to find its origin. Ushuaia fears that this will cost it its tourism

by

Until a few days ago, the vast majority of Spaniards had never heard of hantavirus. Probably not Ushuaiathe capital of the province of Tierra del Fuego. The crisis unleashed by the MV Hondius cruise ship, however, has united both names in one of the most worrying episodes so far in the turbulent 2026, at least in health terms. And so worries in Ushuaia. A lot. Although there are still unknowns about how, where and when the viral outbreak broke out, in the southern region they fear that what happened affects one of the pillars of their economy: tourism. They even talk about a “smear campaign”. And the hantavirus arrived. Although there are still many months ahead until December, 2026 seemed basically doomed to be the year of the iran waroil through the clouds, Maduro’s arrest or (in another order of things) the North American World Cup. Now that list is expanded with one more item: the hantavirus. Since on May 2 A viral outbreak was confirmed on board the MV Hondius, the world is waiting for what happens to the ship, its passengers and the chain of possible people infected by a virus that until almost two weeks ago was almost completely unknown in Europe. In a place in Patagonia… In Ushuaia, capital of the province of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), one of the southernmost cities of the planet, the evolution of the outbreak is also being followed with interest. Although there what really generates debate is not the last hour about the outbreak or what may happen from now on, but what has happened in recent weeks. The reason is very simple: the fateful voyage of the MV Hondius left its port April 1. When the ship set sail, there were about 140 passengers on board, including the septuagenarian Dutchman who only a few days later (on the 6th) began to show symptoms of infection. More than a month has passed since then, four long weeks during which events have happened at breakneck speed. That first patient died on April 11, days later his wife did and since then at least one more dead and half a dozen infected. As for the MV Hondius, after the evacuation of the last hours on board the ship there are only a few dozen of people who will continue heading to the Netherlands. What has not changed is the question that authorities have been asking for days: Where is the origin of the outbreak? Where the hell did the Dutch couple get infected? A remote landfill. Taking into account the incubation period of hantavirus, which ranges between one and six weeks, authorities are working with the hypothesis that the epicenter of the outbreak is not on the ship. That is, the most plausible theory (at least in appearance) is that the virus they took him to the MV Hondius one or more travelers who were already carrying it before navigation began. That made all eyes turn first to the couple of Dutch retirees and second to Ushuaia, the place where they embarked. In recent days the conversation has revolved around a very specific point in the town: a garbage dump located about seven kilometers from the center of Ushuaia, a place where, assures The Countryepidemiologists are looking for traces of infected rodents. Hantavirus infection, let us remember, is contracted mainly by coming into contact with the urine, feces or saliva of certain rodents. The most common thing is that contagion occurs by inhaling remains of this waste in poorly ventilated spaces, but it could also be contracted in a large landfill. The unknowns begin. That a Dutch couple (he 70 years old, she 69) stop by a mega urban garbage dump before embarking on a luxury cruise through the South Atlantic may sound strange, but it makes a lot of sense. The MV Hondius trip was not just any trip. It was planned as an expedition cruise to contemplate Atlantic fauna. And the Ushuaia landfill is not just any garbage dump either. Lovers of birds and natural photography usually go there to enjoy the species that fly over it, including scavenger birds such as the white matamico. In recent days it has been published that some of the travelers who boarded the MV Hondius visited the dump. The Country even interviewed to a guide who was in the area with some of the tourists from the cruise, although the Dutch couple was not among them. Did they get infected there? Is that the epicenter and genesis of the outbreak? Hard to know. First because the marriage (unfortunately) has died. Second, because before boarding the cruise the couple had made a long road trip that took them to different parts of South America. In fact, it is believed that they were four months visiting several countries on the continent, including Chile and Uruguay. “We have no evidence”. This fact (that the first deaths were in other parts of South America) has been strongly emphasized by the authorities of Ushuaia, who do not quite understand that the couple was infected in their territory. The reason? The main one, insists Juan Facundo Petrina, general director of Epidemiology and Environmental Health of the province, is that the hantavirus is not a problem in the area. “In Tierra del Fuego we have no record of cases in our history,” clarifies to the BBC. “Specifically, since 1996, when the National Surveillance System included it among the notifiable diseases, we have not had a single case in Tierra del Fuego.” More than 1,000 km north. As if that were not enough, Petrina details a few more facts. To begin with, the hantavirus endemic area is more than 1,500 km to the north. Also remember that there are no records confirming that the mouse subspecies that transmits the disease lives in the area. “And if rodents begin to move, since they do not respect borders, it is important to remember that we are an island,” duck. Another key that … Read more

Google has become (even) more demanding with captchas. The Open Source community has not been amused at all

by

One of the conversations of the weekend was carried out by important developers, such as those from GrapheneOS. Google’s new security measures related to website access are beginning to be implemented in 2026 and, as a result, both custom ROMs and operating systems without Google presence have it tough. Google Cloud Fraud. If someone is okay with traffic light captchas as a security measure, I would tell you that they are not trustworthy. Google was also clear that they were not always ideal, so it developed an alternative solution, the evolution of reCAPTCHA. When the system detects suspicious traffic, it does not use the captcha system, it asks the user to scan a QR code with their smartphone. According to Googleis the best way to fight against bots and unwanted agents, protecting against attacks and possible fraud. But everything has a B side. The problem. The problem is that, for this security measure to work on Android, it is mandatory that the device has Google Play Services installed in a recent version. One of the key points of custom ROMs like GrapheneOS It is precisely that they are systems based on Open Source Android, but without Google services. Google Play Services is Google’s proprietary software layer that runs on certified Androids and provides, among other things, the APIs that verify that a device is approved by Google. Without them, it is not possible to satisfy the requests of the Play Integrity API, which is responsible for approving web access. The GrapheneOS case. GrapheneOS is one of the most secure ROMs in the world, one that has earned its reputation thanks to additional layers built on AOSP and, above all, by not having Google services or needing them for its operation. The GrapheneOS team argues that this has nothing to do with security. They claim that Play Integrity API rejects GrapheneOS and other systems even though it is technically more secure than most devices that do pass verification. Google’s Play Integrity API allows devices without security patches for years but updated to Play Services, but blocks the use of GrapheneOS even though it is much more technically secure. Mega’s entrance. After the complaint not only from Graphene, but from Cyber ​​DigestMega has come in to criticize the measure. Remember that in 2023 an attempt was made to do something similar with Web Environment Integrity (WEI). This was a proposal that Google had to abandon after criticism. That year, Google tried to put in place a mechanism that would allow websites to check whether the software and hardware on a user’s device was verified by Google. The logic was the same as now: if your settings did not conform to what Google considered acceptable, access was blocked. The proposal generated such widespread rejection among developers, web standards organizations and users that Google had to withdraw it. And now what. The relevant question is not whether or not Google is entitled to do this, because it is. The question is what happens when the de facto standard for online verification is controlled by the same company that sells the hardware and software necessary to surpass it. In Xataka | There is a race to get the first phone with 100% free software: so far there has only been failure

On its way to increasing military production, Spain already has two new candidates: Seat and Ford

by

Europe rearms. The war in Ukraine and the constant pressure from the United States Government for European countries to increase their defense spending has driven a rearmament that crosses Europe and has raised blisters among the nations that invest the least in defense. One of them is Spain. But Spain, like many other European countries, is already looking for spaces to increase its weapons production. And he has an idea: car factories. What has happened? Spain is already considering using car factories to promote its military modernization programs. That’s what it says Expansiona medium that points to internal Defense sources as the voices that advance the conversations that the Government would have had with companies such as Ford and Seat. According to this medium, the conversations are part of the implementation of “the budgets and sizing of the new military modernization programs (PEM) that are going to be launched.” The objective is to define the budget to be used and where it could go, with the intention of presenting them around summer and assigning them at the end of the year. Seat and Ford? That Seat and Ford are the first to be mentioned makes a lot of sense. With its conversion towards the electric carMartorell planned to reduce staff and resize its facilities. In 2022 they estimated a surplus of almost 2,000 direct jobs and with a commitment to new technology, the El Prat plant focused on gearboxes is one of the most notable. For its part, Ford seems to be looking for a new future to its Almussafes plant or, at least, part of it. The company has significantly reduced its production and, although it has confirmed the assembly of a new modeleverything indicates that Ford does not fully trust the plant. In fact, the latest rumors suggested that The Chinese company Geely wanted to take over part of the facilities. With a view to Defense. Although there is now open talk of converting part of the plants of these two companies into spaces to produce military material, the truth is that this idea has been floating around Seat for a few weeks. Last March it already emerged that Seat negotiated with Indra to manufacture light military vehicles. The agreement, they assured in Five Dayswould have the approval of the Government, which already stated last year that the reconversion of the automobile industrial sector could involve, at least in part, supporting Defense. It also coincides with the increase in Indra’s investments in the military field. Not only in Spain. Reconditioning automobile facilities to produce war material is not an idea that was born in Spain, far from it. In Germany, there have been negotiations that one of the Volkswagen plants begins to manufacture tanks. Last year there was also talk of Renault’s turnaround, pioneer in tank productionto manufacture drones bound for Ukraine. And not just vehicles. Last March there was already talk of the possibility that Volkswagen will start producing parts for missiles at its Osnabrück plant, according to Financial Times. The intention is that trucks would leave their facilities to transport them but also basic equipment such as shuttles or electrical generators to activate them. A key moment. If governments are looking with eager eyes at European automobile plants, it is because they know that the industry is not going through its best moment. The conversion to electric cars points to massive layoffsespecially because they lack a good part of the mechanical components that are present in any combustion car. Furthermore, its simplification points to shorter assembly times, a greater presence of robots and less human capital. These massive layoffs could be saved, at least in part, with the reconversion of these plants. It must be taken into account that manufacturing in Europe is more expensive than doing so in Asia or countries with preferential trade agreements with Europe such as Morocco either Türkiye. This is moving part of European production to these countries. Especially the smaller ones that are more complicated to make profitable. Spain is of the countries that are suffering the least from the blow because, at the level of salaries and energy costs, we are more competitive than plants from Germany or France. However, both Volkswagen with Seat and Ford, Stellantis either mercedes They have dropped that they are willing to reduce their workforce and production in our country. Photo | Caesar and seat In Xataka | Ford invested 1 billion to produce electric cars in Europe. Now it will invest money in laying off 1,000 employees

its first reusable spacecraft

by

Vehicle reuse is the future of the space race. Not only for the economic savings. Also because emissions derived from the manufacture of new vehicles here on Earth and the amount of garbage there in space are reduced. SpaceX has been working with reusable vehicles for some time and Blue Origin has also done the first tests with a similar rocket. Some other private agencies have reached similar milestones. But no public agency has achieved what the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to do with its reusable Space Rider craft. A heat resistant structure. The two main challenges facing a reusable spacecraft are resistance to the heat of re-entry on Earth and controlled landing after the return trip. ESA has to overcome both handicaps with its Space Rider, which is why it has recently launched a series of thermal resistance tests. As announced in a statementthey have gone perfectly. The ship is prepared to face the heat of reentry. A laboratory that returns home. Spice Rider will basically be an unmanned laboratory that will remain in low orbit performing various kinds of experiments for 1-2 months. Afterwards, it will return to Earth with the samples or results that must be analyzed by scientists. Therefore, it is expected that it can be launched and reused numerous times. Extreme temperatures. To test the heat resistance of reentry, ESA scientists have placed Space Rider’s thermal protection system in a plasma wind tunnel. Once there, jets of gas have been shot at it at a speed 10 times the speed of sound. With this, a temperature of 1,600ºC has been reached, to which all the components have resisted with flying colors. Also with damage. The protection effect is achieved thanks to the use of a special ceramic material. But what would happen if it suffered damage, for example, from the collision of micrometeorites? To answer this question, the experiment has been repeated, simulating all these breaks. The results have been equally positive. The landing. This ship will not land in the ocean. The objective is for it to land on the runway, with the help of a type of adjustable parachute. The ship contains software with which this damping system can be guided and controlled, predicting the landing site much better and adapting it to external conditions such as wind. Important dates. At the moment, the landing system has not been tested. However, it is expected that a first prototype can be tested at the end of this year. It will be done in Sardinia, with the help of a helicopter, which will raise it high enough to land later. There will be no exit from the atmosphere; but, at least, thanks to the experiments that have just been carried out we know that the ship would resist the inhospitable conditions of the return. If all goes well, it is expected to launch the complete ship and begin its first mission at the end of this decade. There are still a few years left, but everything is going smoothly. Or ship in orbit, rather. Image | THAT In Xataka | Europe still has a lot to say in the space race: the launch and loading of the Ariane 64 are the best proof

literally urinating in the same bathroom

by

In 1961, Italian artist Piero Manzoni sealed 90 small metal cans claiming they contained his own excrement and sold them as a work of art under the name “Merda d’artista”. Decades later, some of those cans would reach hundreds of thousands of euros at auctions and would become one of the most famous examples of how contemporary art can transform the eschatological into an object of worship. Venice and its strangest attraction. The Venice Biennale It is often sold as the great showcase of world contemporary art: national pavilions, monumental installations, political debates and artists trying to capture the attention of hundreds of thousands of visitors. However, this year the city has ended up finding its great phenomenon in something very more absurd and eschatological. As hundreds of thousands of tourists walk through the canals and exhibitions, the longest lines are not in front of the United States, Russia or Israel pavilions, but in front two portable toilets blue ones installed in the Austrian pavilion. There, visitors are literally invited to urinate to keep a human performance alive. The idea, developed by the artist and choreographer Florentina Holzingerhas turned something as mundane as a chemical bath into one of the most talked about, uncomfortable and viral experiences in all of Venice. A surreal system. The “Seaworld Venice” installationpresented by Austria, functions as a kind closed circuit between tourists, waste and human bodies. The urine collected in the bathrooms goes through a complex filtering system before being pumped into a huge transparent tank where a naked woman remains submerged for hours breathing through a diving mask. A few meters away, another room exhibits deposits of faeces and pipes filling with brown sewage while visitors, artists and the curious observe the process with a mixture of fascination and repulsion. Not only that. The entire pavilion has been partially flooded and completed with deliberately excessive scenes: there are naked women spinning on jet skisperformers climbing rotating metal structures and almost apocalyptic musical shows in the middle of the Venetian lagoon. All this under an (il)logic that mixes ecology, bodily decay and extreme visual provocation. Art and virality. The great irony of this edition of the Biennial is that many of the political and cultural controversies that seemed destined to monopolize the conversation ended up eclipsed by some simple chemical baths. The death of the main curator of the event, the tensions due to the presence of Russia and Israel or the criticism of the American pavilions have taken a backseat to the endless queues to participate in this kind of “urinal orgy” of the Austrian work. Even artists historically associated with scandal, as Maurizio Cattelan (famous for installing a solid gold toilet at the Guggenheim), appeared orbiting around an installation that literally turned tourists’ pee in central part of the artistic experience. If you like, the situation sums up perfectly. an uncomfortable reality of contemporary art today: in an era dominated by social networks, virality and mass tourism, the ability of a work to generate conversation and selfies can end up being as important as its conceptual content, or something like that. Provocation as language. As for the artist, Holzinger has spent years building her career precisely on that border between grotesque spectacle and artistic reflection. His previous works included nuns skatingperformers suspended through hooks embedded in the skin or scenes of simulated incontinence related to aging. In Venice he once again uses bodily fluids, nudity and uncomfortable situations as a mechanism to break taboos and force the public to react. His defenders maintain that under the scandal there is a serious discourse about the human relationship with waste, pollution, the environmental fragility of Venice and the contemporary obsession with purity. own partial flooding The Austrian pavilion aims to function as a reference to the rise in sea level and the vulnerability of a city built on water. To achieve this, the team even had to collaborate with environmental engineers and technical specialists to design a filtration system capable of operating without damaging the historic building from 1934. When to go to the bathroom is the news. The final scene perfectly sums up the surreal tone of this Biennial. While some national pavilions remained practically empty and others were consumed by political protests or diplomatic debates, hundreds of visitors they were still waiting their turn to enter some portable toilets that have accidentally become the great attraction of Venice these days. in a city saturated with tourismlines and experiences designed to be photographed, the Austrian facility ended up functioning almost like a perfect caricature of the Biennale itself: masses of people moving to voluntarily participate in an eschatological performance become a global cultural phenomenon. Venice, a city accustomed for centuries to living off spectacle and foreign fascination, has just discovered that even something as basic as going to the bathroom can be transformed into an artistic experience capable of eclipsing half the art world. Image | Wolfgang In Xataka | In 2024, Venice invented an entrance fee for tourists: it has turned out so well that it has doubled and expanded it In Xataka | Venice spent 5 billion euros on flood barriers. Five years later they are already “unsustainable”

This is the new pCloud promo

by

I don’t know about you, but I have storage problems every so often. No matter how much I delete photos, videos or even applications, my phone is already full (and the laptop continues on the same path). Does it happen to you too? I go further, does it happen to your friends too? Well pCloud has a promo that may interest you for International Day of Families: you can share one of its plans with four friends and have cloud storage for life. 2 TB, for example, comes out 449 euros (instead of 1,119 euros). 2TB of lifetime storage The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Shared cloud storage, but with separate spaces pCloud is a good cloud storage option if you are looking a European cloud that is an alternative to others in the USlike Google Drive or iCloud. But why choose lifetime cloud storage? Well, in essence, you have two advantages: It is a single payment (so it is not just another subscription to add to the ones you already have) and you forget about possible increases or changes in prices. Below, we leave you the prices of the three plans that this company has as a summary: 2 TB of cloud storage: 449 euros (instead of 1,119 euros, a 60% discount). 5TB of cloud storage: 599 euros (instead of 1,698 euros, a 65% discount). 10 TB of cloud storage: 1,099 euros (instead of 2,478 euros, a 56% discount). Several things to keep in mind. The first is that this subscription is for up to five people, so you can share it with whoever you want. Furthermore, each of the members you will have your own account and separate spaceso no one will be able to see each other’s files (although you can share them among yourselves without any problem). As a bonus, these three plans include ‘pCloud Encryption’ for free. It is a tool that will allow you encrypt your files before uploading them to the cloud. In fact, not even pCloud itself will have access to them, so they will have a very high level of security. This cloud is very versatile, since you can use it on both Windows and Mac, as well as Android and iOS. You can configure it to make an automatic backup and it even has a cloud photo editor. It also has a multimedia player, so you can watch videos or listen to songs without having to go to a third-party app. A very complete cloud whose family plans are on sale, although, yes, only until May 24. 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 | pCloud In Xataka | Google Drive alternatives: the best cloud storage services for your files In Xataka | Best VPNs 2026: guide with the 17 best services to protect your online privacy

More advanced chip factories are being built in China and Taiwan than anywhere else. It’s only good for them

by

According to SEMI, an international organization that looks after the interests of the electronics and integrated circuit industries, only six of the 64 new factories of semiconductors that are going to come into operation in Asia before 2029 will reside in Southeast Asia. The remaining 58 They will be located in China and Taiwan. These two countries have compelling reasons to strengthen its chip industry and develop its integrated circuit production capacity. It is essential for China to set up new plants equipped with cutting-edge photolithography equipment. And that is precisely what SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor and other Chinese chipmakers are doing. Currently this nation is limited by the difficulty of going beyond 7 nm without being able to use the extreme ultraviolet lithography (VVE) of ASML. Even so, Huali Microelectronics, the division of Hua Hong Semiconductor specialized in manufacturing chips for third parties, is preparing to start the production of 7nm integrated circuits at its Shanghai plant. Taiwan also needs to expand its semiconductor industry, although its motives are very different from China’s. The two largest Taiwanese integrated circuit manufacturers, TSMC and UMCthey need to develop more cutting-edge plants in order to satisfy the growing needs of their customers. TSMC’s 2 and 3 nm nodes in particular cannot cope, so it is essential for this company to expand its production capacity in the midst of the boom in data centers for data applications. artificial intelligence (AI). SEMI is concerned about the vulnerabilities of the chip industry Ajit Manocha, the executive director of SEMI, assures that “we want to see more centers emerge in related countries. We want more plants to be established to reduce the risk derived from vulnerabilities.” What worries the spokesperson of this organization is that the geopolitical tensions maintained by the US, China and Taiwan end up threatening the integrated circuit factories that reside in these last two countries. TSMC’s in Taiwan are especially sensitive to a possible conflict with China due to the undoubted strategic importance that they have not only for Taiwan, but also for the US and its allies. Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand are candidates to host new cutting-edge chip plants Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand are strong candidates to host new cutting-edge chip manufacturing plants. In fact, Several centers already reside in Malaysia Intel’s advanced packaging and verification software. However, Manocha You are also concerned about other types of vulnerabilities. The most critical of all is the shortage of critical minerals, as well as bromine and helium, two fundamental gases in chip manufacturing processes. What is happening with helium in particular is very worrying. This gas is a byproduct of natural gas processing, and its price skyrocketed in March shortly after the war that the US, Israel and Iran have been fighting since then began because Qatar was forced to stop production of liquefied natural gas. In the current unstable scenario, SEMI argues that Southeast Asian countries should aim to build more semiconductor manufacturing plants over the next decade to help the sector diversify and reduce supply risks. Image | TSMC More information | Reuters In Xataka | The US’s problem in the AI ​​and humanoid race is not China: it is all of Asia and it is greatly disadvantaged

wants to eliminate the limit of eight-hour days a day

by

The working day in much of Europe has been established for more than a century with a maximum limit of eight hours a day. This limit represents the maximum number of hours an employee can work per day. However, Germany is about to change that scale to make it more flexible and eliminate the daily work day as a metric in the work organization to establish the weekly schedule. As and as I advanced the german newspaper Weltthe bill will reach the Bundestag in June 2026. The idea is not that the Germans work more hours in total, but rather making the working day more flexible so that those hours can be distributed differently throughout the week. Count hours by weeks, not days. What the government proposes is seemingly simple: that the legal reference ceases to be the eight hours a day and becomes the 48 hours per week established by its legislation. With this change, it would no longer matter how many hours are worked each day, but rather that the total number of hours worked throughout the week does not exceed the legal maximum allowed. In this way, an employee could work more hours one day in exchange for working less on another, or concentrate all the load on the first days of the week and spare the rest. The government presents it as a measure to make the working day more flexible and facilitate family conciliation, especially for employees with children. Furthermore, this change would give carte blanche to companies to reinforce the hours on those days with more demand, and reduce (or close) their activity when the workload decreases. What German law says about it. In its article 3, the Arbeitszeitgesetz (Working Day Law) establishes that no employee can work more than eight hours a day as a general rule, with an exception of up to ten hours on specific days, as long as the average of the last six months does not exceed eight hours a day. The maximum limit for the weekly working day, including overtime, is 48 hours. However, the law also sets other limits that indirectly condition the daily work day. For example, you establish that between two work days, there must be at least 11 hours of rest and, if more than nine hours are worked in a row, the worker has the right to an additional minimum break of 45 minutes. These rules are not negotiable by collective agreement and apply without exception to all sectors. They are, precisely, the ones that the government wants to touch with the reform. why now. The definitive impetus for this reform came with the sentence of the Court of Justice of the EU of 2019 and is supported by the European Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) imposed by the EU, which imposes the maximum weekly limit at 48 hours, and obliges all European employers to record the daily working hours of their employees. Germany, which until now did not require such registration in general, has to adapt to this obligation. The Minister of Labor, Bärbel Bas (SPD), has included electronic time registration in your project precisely as a safeguard. Without this control, Bas warns, flexibility can become a mechanism of exploitation in sectors with little union representation, such as last-mile delivery and parcel delivery. It is an implicit recognition that the standard, on its own, is not enough to protect those who work in more vulnerable environments. What unions and experts say. According what was published by the German media Handelsblatt, The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has been the first union platform to oppose the reform. Its president, Yasmin Fahimi, declared that “We are seeing attempts to question the eight-hour work day or to undermine social security systems. Don’t touch the eight-hour work day.” The unions assure that, without a daily limit, workers without a strong collective agreement are exposed to increasingly longer hours without any legal barrier to prevent it. For unions, real protection is not in the weekly total but in control of what happens each day. That is where the limitation of eight hours a day had its strength. The labor law experts of the Hans Böckler Foundation have calculated how much could be worked in the most extreme scenario allowed by European regulations: 73.5 hours per week. A theoretical figure, but possible if there is no daily limit to stop it. Several studies on occupational health document that long hours sustained over time are associated with a greater risk of errors, accumulated fatigue and decreased productivity, effects that the reform does not contemplate. In Xataka | Germany tried working four days a week: seven out of 10 companies no longer want to work five days a week Image | Unsplash (Maheshkumar Painam, Spencer Davis)

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.