Mobile Tech & Gadgets

While everyone was looking at Hormuz, Russia has found a much bigger secret route. And drones do not stop arriving in Iran

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During the Cold War, Western intelligence services came to suspect that some Soviet freighters that apparently transported grain or machinery were actually hiding military equipment and technology sensitive under false covers. The problem was that, once inside certain internal routes controlled by Moscow and its allies, tracking them became extraordinarily difficult even for the greatest naval powers on the planet. While the world watches Hormuz. For months, the Strait of Hormuz has become the perfect symbol of Western pressure on Iran: US aircraft carriers, oil tankers diverting routes, marine insurance fired and constant threats on one of the great energy bottlenecks on the planet. However, while all international attention was focused there, Russia and Iran have been consolidating a much less visible and probably much more uncomfortable route for Washington: the Caspian Sea. It The New York Times said the weekend. This enormous space of inland water in northern Iran, usually ignored in geopolitical analyses, is being transformed into a true strategic highway to move goods, drones, military components and technology away from the direct reach of the United States. The photo. The most revealing image came when Israel bombed the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali, in the heart of the Caspian, in one of the most significant attacks of its campaign against Iran. The target was not in the Persian Gulf or Hormuz, but hundreds of kilometers further north. It was a clear sign that real logistical warfare no longer revolves solely around the most famous strait on the planet. The route that keeps Iran alive. The importance of the Caspian for Tehran has grown spectacularly since the pressure on Hormuz intensified. Russian and Iranian ships now transport wheat, corn, sunflower oil, animal feed and all kinds of of essential supplies who previously arrived via more vulnerable routes. Four Iranian Caspian ports are working at full capacity to absorb this growing traffic, while Moscow has begun to redirect millions of tons of goods that previously crossed the Black Sea. It turns out that the true strategic core is not in the cereal. According to US officials, Russia is using that route to send drone components to Iran to help it rebuild part of the arsenal lost during the last fighting with Israel and the United States. The relationship is especially symbolic because for years It was Iran that supplied Russia with Shahed drones for the war in Ukraine. Now the flow has partially reversed: Moscow manufactures its own versions under license and returns technology, components and military expertise to Tehran using the Caspian as a protected corridor. A perfect sea to avoid sanctions. The great advantage of the Caspian for Russia and Iran is that it is an extraordinarily difficult to control from outside. Unlike the Persian Gulf, where the US naval presence dominates much of the maritime traffic, in the Caspian they can only operate the five coastal countries. The United States cannot intercept ships there or impose direct blockades. Furthermore, a large part of the ships sail with transponders offdisappearing from satellite tracking systems and feeding an increasingly opaque network of “ghost ships.” In fact, Western analysts describe the Caspian as the ideal place for discreet military transfers and sanctions evasion. Dark shipping traffic has skyrocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and both Moscow and Tehran have perfected methods to hide real shipments, routes and operators. It is no coincidence that Ukraine attacked the Russian port of Olya in 2024, accusing it of being a logistics center for the transfer of Iranian drone components. Nor that Israel Bandar Anzali will hit. Everyone seems to have understood that a logistical rearguard is being built there that is much more resistant than it appears. Moscow’s strategic obsession. Plus: for the Kremlin, the Caspian is not just a temporary solution derived from sanctions or the war in Ukraine. Russia and Iran have two decades imagining a gigantic trade corridor that connects the Baltic with the Indian Ocean, crossing Russia, the Caspian and Iran to avoid routes controlled by the West. The project includes new portsrailway lines and renewal of aging fleets, although many of these plans remain on paper due to lack of resources and the geographical difficulties of the Caspian. Still, the war has accelerated the strategic logic behind that idea: creating an alternative system of commercial and military circulation outside the reach of Western sanctions. For Putin, furthermore, the balance is delicate. Needs to support Iran as a regional ally and military partner, but do so in an all-too-visible way could deteriorate even more so its relationship with Washington and with several Arab countries important for Russian energy trade. The Caspian offers precisely that: sufficient support, but far from the media and military focus that Hormuz dominates. America’s great blind spot. Much of the Western concern arises from a very uncomfortable feeling: for years, the Caspian hardly occupied any space in American strategic planning. Experts in Washington recognize that the region functions almost like a black hole diplomat divided between different military commands and bureaucratic departments. Thus, while the world observed aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf or drones over Ukraine, Russia and Iran took advantage of an immense, opaque and difficult to monitor geographic space to weave a logistics network that connects both conflicts. The problem for the United States is not that the Caspian completely replaces Hormuz, because it cannot do so, especially in massive oil exports. The real problem is that even under extreme military pressure, sanctions and naval blockades, Iran continues to find ways to stay connectedrearm and receive outside support. And each drone, each component and each shipment that silently crosses the Caspian reinforces an increasingly evident idea: while everyone was looking at the Strait of Hormuz, Russia and Iran they were building an alternative route much more difficult to stop. Image | PexelsNASA In Xataka | We sensed that Iran’s attacks on the US had been important. In reality, they were devastating In Xataka | While the whole world looks at … Read more

AEG has discounts of up to 46% this May

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Are you looking to renew any of your appliances? It doesn’t matter if you need a new vacuum cleaner, a washing machine or a refrigerator: right now we have a very good option with AEG’s May offers. Beyond the discounts (which there are and are quite interesting), the official store of this brand delivers in 48 or 72 hours, picks up your old appliance, has free shipping and, in addition, YoIncludes installation (except socket). 177 cm Series 9000 MultiChill American free-standing refrigerator The price could vary. We earn commission from these links And what about the offers? We have discounts ranging up to 46%, but we can also save an additional 10% if we use the code ‘10DOWNLOAD‘. Although there is a lot to choose from, we have selected five offers that we find especially interesting: Cordless vacuum cleaner 6000 by 144.50 eurosan option with good suction power and autonomy. 7000 Series Dishwasher by 539.10 euroswith third tray and satellite sprinkler. Series 6000 Freestanding Washing Machine by 426.65 euroswith 9 kg capacity and automatic adjustment of time and consumption. 5000 Series Induction Hob by 305.10 eurosa hob with four independent cooking zones. Series 5000 multifunction oven by 298.40 euroswith multilevel cooking. American free-standing refrigerator Series 9000 by 1,169.10 euroswith 594 total liters of capacity. Cordless vacuum cleaner 6000 The first offer that we bring you is starring this 6000 series cordless vacuum cleaner, an option with a very good quality-price ratio now that it costs 144.50 euros (to do this, you must apply the coupon ’10DESCAEG’). It has autonomy for 40 minutes, enough for a small or medium-sized home. In addition, it has a brush with LED lights to better see dirt and comes with several accessories. Cordless vacuum cleaner 6000 with 40 min autonomy The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 7000 Series Dishwasher If you need a dishwasher, this Series 7000 dishwasher might fit you, available for 539.10 euros if we use the code that we have already mentioned several times above. It has a third tray that allows you to have enough space for cutlery and other “odd” shaped utensils. In addition, since it has a satellite spray arm, the water reaches the entire load better. 60 cm Series 7000 GlassCare dishwasher for 14 place settings The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Series 6000 Freestanding Washing Machine This Series 6000 washing machine also has a good price, which costs 426.65 euros with the code ’10DESCAEG’. It has 9 kg capacity and reaches a spin speed of 1,400 RPMvery interesting so that your clothes come out almost dry if you live in an area where there is humidity and it is difficult for you to dry them. In addition, it has technology that allows you to adjust both the washing time and the water consumption depending on the load we put inside. ProSense® Series 6000 9.0kg Freestanding Washer The price could vary. We earn commission from these links 5000 Series Induction Hob We now move on to this Series 5000 induction hob, available for 305.10 euros If we use the code that gives us an additional 10% discount. It has four cooking zones and a function called ‘Powerboost’, which allows each zone to heat up faster. In addition, it has very intuitive and easy-to-use touch controls. 60 cm Series 5000 Induction induction hob The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Series 5000 multifunction oven We have an oven with a very good price right now: this Series 5000, available for 298.40 euros using the code ’10DESCAEG’. It has 72 liters of capacity and a multi-level cooking system that allows us to cook up to three trays at the same time, obtaining uniform cooking in all of them. This is not only helpful in saving time but also energy. Multifunction oven Series 5000 SurroundCook with LED Display The price could vary. We earn commission from these links American free-standing refrigerator Series 9000 And we come to the last offer of this selection, which is the American 9000 Series refrigerator. Its RRP is 1,599 euros, but right now it is available for 1,169.10 euros using the discount code that we show you for the entire article. Its capacity is 594 total liters and it measures 177 centimeters high. The refrigerator allows you to adjust the temperature of the drawers, thus being able to store different types of food and ensure that they are better preserved. 177 cm Series 9000 MultiChill American free-standing refrigerator 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 | AEG In Xataka | American refrigerator or 70 cm Combi? Be careful with making mistakes when buying liters that you may not be able to use In Xataka | With the fashion of American kitchens, a refrigerator that makes noise can be torture when watching TV. How to choose well to avoid it

a macro study reveals the exact heart rate to minimize the risk of stroke

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Nowadays we monitor our vital signs, such as heart rateon the wrist itself thanks to smartwatches and activity bracelets that constantly tell us how many beats per minute our heart beats at rest. This information is vital, since traditionally it is believed that having an excessively high number is an indication that something bad is happening in the heart. The middle point is the best. In medicine, both due to excess and scarcity, we can find a scenario that is pathological, and that is why, although we relate high heart rate as something very negative, we must keep in mind that having them excessively low It is not always positive. This is the main conclusion of a pioneering research presented at the European Stroke Organization Conference, and although it has yet to undergo review, its foundations are extraordinarily solid, based on the analysis of 460,000 participants over 14 years. Crossing data. Of all these people analyzed, the researchers were especially interested in their medical histories and the diseases they presented, highlighting the registration of a total of 12,290 cases of stroke during the decade and a half of follow-up. But what is truly important here is when these records were crossed with the resting heart rate data of the participants, discovering a very clear pattern by showing a risk graph in the shape of a ‘U’ and not a straight line. Its meaning. The fact that a graph with this shape has been generated tells us that the optimal heart rate level is between 60 and 69 beats per minute, since these people were the ones with the lowest risk of suffering from a stroke. The problem is that, when the heart rate at rest exceeds 90 bpm, the risk of suffering a stroke increases by up to 45%, both ischemic and hemorrhagic. But in the case of having excessively low heart rate, the risk also increases, so we cannot be completely calm if we have 50 bpm at rest. Atrial fibrillation. Until now, medicine was very clear that severe arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation They were determining risk factors for suffering a stroke. But now this study adjusted the data specifically to separate people with and without atrial fibrillation, showing that resting heart rate is, on its own, an independent prognostic marker. Because? Although this study gives us a lot of information, the reality is that previous medical literature already offered a fairly rigorous explanation as to why a low or high heart rate had implications for strokes. In this case, an excessively low frequency can alter cerebral hemodynamics, causing blood to pass too slowly through the brain, and facilitating the formation of thrombi in certain contexts, especially when there are more risk factors. On the other side of the scale, when the frequency is chronically high, we have the layer of our blood vessels exposed to blood flow, exposed to constant mechanical stress that favors inflammation, hypertension and vascular damage, as has been shown in previous studies. Preventive medicine. These findings are good news for patients, especially older patients, since it is a new parameter that can predict the possibility of something as serious as a stroke occurring. This allows, especially in primary care, to better control the heart rate and not miss when it goes too fast or too slow, since the consequences can be fatal. Images | freepik In Xataka | We cannot predict a stroke, but we can avoid its main risk factors: reducing the danger is in our power

The chip crisis is leaving no stone unturned. Motherboards seemed untouchable, but their time has come

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The RAM memory crisis is no longer a RAM memory crisis. Emulating what happened at the end of 2020, we are immersed in a new component crisis that, unlike that of five years ago, has not been caused by a combination of factors but by something very specific, the AI ​​industry. It is very difficult to buy any component with a NAND chip at a fair price and it is something that It is affecting all devices. The PC was already affected, but now the four largest motherboard manufacturers predict the worst. A shipment contraction of almost 30% on motherboards. Focused away from consumption. To understand why the crisis is impacting motherboards when, a priori, they could continue to be produced at the normal price, you have to look a little further. Nvidia and AMD are fully focused on the artificial intelligence segment, pausing their consumer GPU renewal plans for 2060. For example, the RTX 50 Super series neither is nor expected for this year and already speaks of some RTX 60 that would be released by 2028. Intel, for its part, also recently confirmed that consumer processors were taking a back seat in its priorities, since They were going to focus on the Xeon for servers and data centers. It is a strategy aligned with the great objective: become the great American foundry and sneak into the conversation they dominate TSMC and, at a good distance, Samsung. Update paused. With three manufacturers of the three key components having the focus away from the user and with the three main memory manufacturers (Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix) focused on memory for AI, what had to happen is happening: not only is buying new parts for a PC very expensive, but sometimes there is no stock, and the enthusiastic user who renews a PC every generation has no reason to do so, even if he had the deepest pockets in the world. That is why they are putting these PC updates on hold, clinging to current devices that they will have to get more out of because the market, directly, is broken. motherboards. And if PCs cannot be built and the companies that build computers themselves have already reported that they are having problems due to the price of RAM and storage, the foundation of the computer stops making sense. That’s where motherboards come in as those ‘foundations’. As we read in Tom’s Hardwarethe four main ones in the market (Taiwanese, too) are shipping units well below expectations. According to the media, ASRock will ship 37% fewer boards, Asus 33% less, MSI 24% less and Gigabyte 22% less. In total, the big four in this segment will ship 28% fewer units than they moved last year, which will push prices up for components that had not yet suffered the blow. In fact, the fact that the four companies are reviewing its shipping and sales predictions for this period could cause a parallel crisis. In a hypothetical scenario (because at the rate we are going it is very difficult for the crisis to be resolved in two days), if tomorrow it is possible to buy RAM and SSD memory at their normal price and people start building PCs again, what would be missing would be motherboards, so the shortage would cause price spikes. No end in sight. But hey, I already say that it is a hypothetical scenario because everything indicates that the NAND chip crisis is not even close to being resolved in the short term. The hyperscalers have the vast majority of the team unemployed full time, but they continue to demand new platforms to continue developing AI. That is why the entire segment has turned its head to look only at a market that is guaranteeing them an unprecedented peak in income. And no, don’t think that Asus, MSI, ASRock or Gigabyte are having a hard time, since they point that manufacturers are also offsetting declining profits in the user segment with growth in data center platforms. In the end, although ‘rare’, they are computers that need motherboards. When will the storm pass? Namely. There are sources that point to 2027 to start seeing green shoots, but others go to 2030 and Nvidia, which in the end has some hand in this mess, considers that there are seven or eight years of wild investment left. Image | Sitraka, Luis Gonzalez In Xataka | There is a shortage of RAM because of AI. That will make your next console much more expensive.

The day a small dispute over the Tab key ended up revealing the big difference between IBM and Microsoft

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There are companies that have lived so long that their story is no longer told only through big launches, acquisitions or business battles. It is also told in small details, in those seemingly minor scenes that, seen over time, end up explaining an era better than many official statements. Microsoft and IBM belong to that category. Their paths crossed when the personal computer It was still defining many of its rules, and some of those discussions, even the most minute ones, revealed something deeper than a technical difference. The scene has been recovered Raymond Chena veteran Microsoft engineer who has been linked to the evolution of Windows for more than three decades and who for years has gathered in The Old New Thing some of the most curious stories of the Windows and Microsoft ecosystem. Chen does not present the episode as his own experience, but as the memory of a colleague who was assigned to the IBM offices in Boca Raton, Florida, during the collaboration between both companies in OS/2. OS/2 was much more than just another name lost in software history. IBM and Microsoft presented it in 1987 as an operating system designed for the IBM PS/2 line and intended to take the PC beyond the limitations of DOS, with a more modern base and ambitions typical of computing that was beginning to look further afield. The collaboration came from a joint development agreement signed in 1985when the project was not yet called OS/2. In that context, any interface decision could have more weight than it seems today, because many conventions of the modern PC were still being established. Two very similar and also very different companies The problem is that that collaboration brought together two companies at very different times in their lives. Microsoft was still a young company, very attached to software and a more direct way of working, while IBM arrived with decades of history, a huge structure and the weight of a much more established corporate culture. Chen sums it up like a clash of perceptions: from Microsoft, IBM was seen as trapped in a meaningless bureaucracy, and from IBM, Microsoft was seen as undisciplined hackers. Its own nuance is important: there was probably something right in both readings. The specific anecdote begins in Boca Raton, where a colleague of Chen’s worked assigned to the IBM offices. At some point a discussion arose about which key should be used to move from one field to another within the dialog boxes. The Microsoft engineer made a decision that is almost invisible to us today because of how assumed it is: use Tab for that function. IBM was not convinced by the choice and asked that the matter will be escalated to the person responsible from that engineer in Redmond, a reaction that already hinted at the extent to which the discrepancy went beyond the key itself. In Redmond, the petition was not understood as an issue that deserved to be raised much higher. The engineer’s manager responded with a very clear idea: if Microsoft had sent someone to Boca Raton, it was so that they could resolve decisions like that there. Translated into a more institutional tone, the message that came back to IBM was that Microsoft supported the choice of the Tab key. IBM’s reaction was just the opposite. Instead of shutting down the discussion, the company elevated her up its own chain of command to a vice president, several levels above those who were programming. IBM had not only elevated the discussion, it also wanted a response to the same hierarchical height. If its vice president was against using Tab, Microsoft had to find someone equivalent to argue the opposite. Chen’s colleague then responded with a wonderful phrase, translated here into Spanish: “Bill Gates’ mother is not interested in the Tab key“It was a pretty nice way of saying that it wasn’t worth going up the corporate elevator anymore. It wasn’t necessary to go to the heights of Microsoft to decide how to move from one field to another in a dialog box. The phrase worked, at least according to Chen’s account: apparently, after that response, the discussion ended and Tab remained the key chosen to advance between fields. The detail is funny because today almost no one stops to think about it: we simply press Tab and wait for the cursor to jump to the next available space. But there was a time when that convention was not so closed. And what we see in this story is just that: a small interface decision turned into a clash between custom, hierarchy and technical criteria. The exact date, however, does not appear in Chen’s account. We know that the episode belongs to the years of collaboration between Microsoft and IBM around OS/2, whose joint development agreement dates back to 1985 and whose Public arrival occurred in 1987. This allows us to limit the context, but not to set the day or year of the discussion by Tab. There are many decisions behind the products and services we use every day. Some are huge and visible, but others fly under the radar: a key, a gesture, an interface convention that we learn once and repeat for years without wondering where it came from. Surely many have a story behind them, although most never transcend and others would not be particularly interesting. From time to time, however, an anecdote like this appears and allows us to peek into something we almost never see: how things are handled within the companies that build the technology we use. Images | Kaatvrtg (Wikimedia Commons) | In Xataka | In 1993 Microsoft created Encarta to revolutionize knowledge. Twenty years later it would be devastated by a tsunami

Some bones found in Mexico have revealed a new facet of the Mayans: traders of “exotic” dogs

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We knew that the Mayans wove important commercial networks and? they used to market with food or items as precious as jade, obsidian, cocoa either shells. What we did not know is that in their markets there was another good as or even more precious that led sellers to invest resources, time and effort in transporting it over hundreds of kilometers: dogs. Just as we are willing to pay large sums for certain pedigree species, the Mayans of the Classic period (200-900 AD) they traded dogs that they fed with care. At least that’s what it suggests. a new study. Some lost bones. Moxviquil and Tenam Puente They are two Mayan sites located in Chiapas where, some time ago, archaeologists found remains of bones. So far nothing surprising. The curious thing is that among the remains there were fragments that belonged to dogs and deer, a valuable material that has allowed Dr. Elizateb Paris, from the University of Calgary, to compare their chemical characteristics to find out where the animals came from. The conclusions has published them in Journal of Achaeological Science and they leave a few surprises. An isotopic map. What Paris basically did, with the help of the rest of the colleagues who signed he paperwas to analyze the remains of strontium preserved in bones and tooth enamel. The reason is very simple: for researchers it represents a key clue to understanding what humans (or animals, in this case) ate and drank when they were alive, which in turn reveals the places they passed through. Once this information was collected, Dr. Paris and her colleagues compared it with a isotopic map which shows the proportions of strontium in all of Mesoamerica. What did they discover? That while the deer bones showed strontium levels consistent with the area in which they were located, suggesting that they were probably wild animals hunted in the local forests; The skeletons of the dogs told a very different story. “We discovered that the dogs in our sample were not from the area, but came from Mayan kingdoms in very distant lowlands,” share the anthropologist. The second surprise. It wasn’t the only thing Paris found out. The bones located in Moxviquil and Tenam Puente held yet another surprise. By thoroughly analyzing the carbon and nitrogen isotopes of the bones, the researchers discovered that the dogs enjoyed a privileged diet. So much, in fact, that they largely ate the same foods as humans: corn and meat. The archaeologists admit that the dogs may have been searching through the remains of what their owners consumed, but they also believe that this protein-rich diet was the result of “deliberate feeding.” In summary: it is not only that the dogs identified in the Mayan sites had traveled long distances, their diet was also taken care of. The question is… Why so much effort? The answer: trade. For Paris and his colleagues, the explanation is clear. The remains of Moxviquil and Tenam Puente reveal that Classic Period Mayan societies “traded” live dogs. And they were even willing to move them hundreds of kilometers, such as those between the central regions of Chiapas and the north of the Yucatan Peninsula. This not only shows that pre-Columbian peoples had customs not so different from those we maintain in 2026. It also confirms that they created “solid” marketing networks in Mesoamerica. The great unknown. The study de Paris helps us better understand Mayan society (and trade), but it leaves up a fascinating question: Was there any race that was especially valued? To which did the bones located in Chiapas belong? From the University of Calgary they recognize that this is still a mystery that they have not been able to completely clear up. At least for now. Researchers are already working with DNA samples to clarify it, although they have a hypothesis. The anthropologist remembers that the Aztecs had several special races and among them was the Xolotizcuintli (xolo), a dog that can be found in various sizes, but is always characterized by the lack of hair and premolars. “This breed could be present in the Mayan site, since the selective breeding of these dogs causes mutations that give rise to a strange shape in the teeth, a characteristic that many dogs in Chiapas have,” reveals university before remembering that there are indications that dogs were “highly appreciated” creatures among the Mayans. And not only because of what we now know about the distances they traveled or their diet. They are preserved representations in which rulers appear in hammocks with small dogs. Images | Secretariat of Culture of Mexico City (Flickr) 1 and 2 and Alex Azabache (Unsplash) In Xataka | We had always thought that the Mayans disappeared due to an environmental “apocalypse.” Turns out we were wrong

Science has a new magic number (and a golden rule about how to give them)

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One of the mantras that has been repeated on numerous occasions is that yes or yes you have to take 10,000 steps a day in order to enjoy good health. Our activity bracelets are partly to blame, since they even give us prizes for reaching this goal or remind us that we have not managed to reach it. But this number was born as a marketing strategy in Japan in the 60s and now science is making more and more nuances with respect to this figure to give more importance to how it works. The study. The most recent evidence we have in this regard is found published in the prestigious magazine The Lancet in July 2025, which combined 57 studies and analyzed 31 different cohorts of people in order to reach the most robust conclusion possible. The results. In short, we can affirm that the mantra of taking 10,000 steps is more than dismantled, since already reaching 7,000 steps a day means having 47% less mortality from any cause, and 25% less risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease compared to those who only take 2,000 steps a day on average. This is what different reference organizations in the world of cardiology also point out, such as the American College of Cardiology, who claim that the health benefit follows a curve in which the biggest drop in mortality risk occurs before reaching 10,000 stepssetting the new goal at 7,000-8,000 steps per day. It’s not worth the walk. For many, all the steps on the physical activity counter are the same, whether they are the first ones in the morning to go to the bathroom or the ones we take while window shopping at the mall. But the reality is that they are not ‘productive’ steps, since to reach these 7,000 steps that do not ensure a reduction in mortality, the intensity of the walk matters much more than the number. How to get here. Here Harvard Health sums it up perfectly aim that walking becomes a moderate aerobic exercise only when we increase the intensity until we notice a higher pulse and more demanding breathing. To get an idea, if we are here, we can put ourselves in the situation where we can still speak, but only in short phrases. If we want to have a figure on the table, we can stick to reaching 100 steps per minute, which can be around 4.5 km per hour if we also want to do it on a treadmill in the gym. It’s important. Doing these steps daily is important, since it has been shown that adequate walking speed is directly linked to a significant reduction in cases of heart attack, stroke and heart failure, especially in people who already suffer from hypertension. Images | Drazen Zigic in Magnific In Xataka | Tell me how fast you walk at 45 and I’ll tell you how your brain ages: The science behind the ‘sixth vital sign’

The problem with eating chocolate at 11 at night is not the calories, it is what it does to your sleep

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There are people who follow authentic rituals before going to sleep, such as a good shower to release all the tension of the day, but also take a little black chocolate so you can sweeten your mouth before going to sleep. A practice that for many is something that is an aberration, but to know if it is really a bad idea to do it, we have to turn to science and the studies that exist about chocolate. A principle against. For the detractors of nighttime chocolate, the enemy is not sugar as such, but the chocolate itself and how rich it is in the methylxanthineswhich are alkaloids that stimulate the central nervous system. And here are two that stand out above others, such as the caffeinewhich is quite well known, and theobromine, which is the main stimulant in dark chocolate. Here the scientific reviews they point that these substances act by blocking the receptors where adenosine binds to act. And it is no wonder, because adenosine is the molecule that it accumulates in our brain throughout the day to generate “sleep pressure.” But if methylxanthines block the point where they have to bind to act, the brain does not receive the signal that it is tired. Your problem. Although it is true that theobromine is “milder” than caffeine, its half-life in the body is long. This means that that 11pm chocolate could still be blocking your desire to sleep at 2am, increasing sleep latency and causing more nighttime awakenings. The importance of time. Science has now stopped looking only at calories to focus on chrononutrition, since it is suggested that chocolate influences circadian rhythms depending on the time at which it is taken. Here the studies they point Because chocolate can be a great ally to resynchronize the biological clock if it is consumed during the active phase in the morning, but taking it outside of this phase, when the body is preparing for rest, makes it difficult to synchronize our peripheral clocks. In short, we are sending contradictory signals to the body. Not everything is negative. In science there are not only extremes, but we can find a great spectrum of grays in the middle. This is because there is also evidence that qualifies the message that chocolate causes insomnia, because in animal models cocoa can improve certain sleep disorders induced by chronic stress. This suggests that, in high-stress contexts, the antioxidant and neuroprotective components of cocoa could help adjust the sleep-wake rhythm. However, researchers warn that this benefit is observed when cocoa is part of the general diet, not necessarily when it is consumed as a “bomb” of sugar and stimulants just before turning off the light. It is not universal. The effect of chocolate does not occur in everyone in the same way, meaning that each person can experience it differently, depending on the amount of chocolate consumed and also on sensitization. We must keep in mind that each person metabolizes at a different rate, so there will be people who can eat a lot of chocolate and these molecules will not affect them at all. Images | freepik In Xataka | Something strange is happening with the chocolate crisis in Spain: households consume less, but business improves

two satellites have come within just 3 meters and no one knows why

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Two russian satellites They have been observed carrying out very sophisticated behaviors that attract attention for two reasons. On the one hand, due to its commendable technical difficulty. On the other hand, because they could have a hidden purpose that, for the moment, has only been possible to speculate on. It’s not a coincidence. The American space monitoring company COMSPOC has been the one that has caught red-handed Russia carrying out this curious maneuver. As they have explained in your X accountOn April 28, the Russian satellites COSMOS 2581 and COSMOS 2583 approached to within 3 meters of each other. This requires great precision, but also gives a lot of food for thought. More satellites involved. Both satellites were launched together with COSMOS 2582 into low Earth orbit last February 2025. All of them participated in the maneuvers that led to the approach on April 28. Even a subsatellite called Object F was also part of this satellite dance. However, it is true that COSMOS 2582 remained in the distance, just under 100 kilometers away. In a simulation carried out by COMSPOC the entire maneuver can be seen perfectly. spying on spies. Russia launched these satellites with some secrecy. At no time was it indicated what its function could be. However, now that this curious maneuver has occurred, there are certain suspicions. And, in reality, everything is reminiscent of what COSMOS 2542 was seen doing in 2020, another Russian satellite that was detected following a US spy satellite very closely. It is not clear if these new satellites are being tested for the same purpose, but it is undeniable that there could be military objectives behind the mission. If the suspicions are corroborated, considering how much they have improved in accuracy, they would be much more dangerous in that sense. Other countries. In reality, Russia is not the only country that tries this type of maneuvers. As explained from Spaceother great powers have satellites with similar capabilities. For example, Chinese or American satellites have been seen closely following satellites or probes from other nations. Basically, spies are spied on too. Other possibilities. It should be noted that, in reality, proximity maneuvers They can also have other purposes. For example, they can be used to carry out maintenance work from one satellite to another or to remove debris. In fact, it is a very useful maneuver to being able to clean up space debris that is a bigger problem in low orbit every day. In short, we have no idea what those Russian satellites were doing. There has been a lot of room for speculation, but it could be anything from a hidden military mission to something completely harmless. Image | Bill Ingalls In Xataka | Russia wants to know how trips to Mars will affect us, so it is going to launch a thousand flies and 75 mice on a rocket

The reality is that only 0.1% wins and almost everyone loses

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In recent years, so-called prediction markets such as Kalshi and, above all, Polymarket. Here you can bet on all kinds of things happening today and get rich, or that’s what they advertise. The reality is very different. 67% for the 0.1%. A Wall Street Journal analysis has revealed that in Polymarket, as in the world in general, only a small group shares most of the profits. The analysis, which covers 1.6 million accounts and took data from 2022, concludes that 67% of all profits generated have been distributed among only 2,000 users, which represents 0.1% of the total. In figures, we are talking about about 500 million dollars, so each of these users amounts to 250,000 dollars. Not bad. The rest. What is left over from the profits is much more competitive and is distributed among approximately a third of the total users analyzed. The striking thing is in the largest portion of the pie, which are users who not only are not earning, but are losing money. At Kalshi, a competitor of Polymarket, the ratio of profitable to unprofitable users is 1 to 2.9. That is to say, for every person who earns money, there are almost three who are losing. In other words, many finance the party of a few. The winners. Who is behind that 0.1%? They are not ordinary people with a good eye, but professional traders and ‘quant firms’ that work as a team and buy data sets in real time at very high prices. With this information they feed algorithms that execute tens of thousands of operations a day, hunting for price microvariations that a normal user would miss. Many also act as ‘market makers’: they constantly set purchase and sale prices, pay fewer commissions and even charge incentives for providing liquidity. The losers. The typical Polymarket user is in the red between $1 and $100, but of all of them there are 10% with losses of $4,000 on average. They are casual users who make decisions guided by intuition or by what they want to happen, based on superficial information. What ends up happening is that your money ends up in the hands of that small professional group. Disguised gambling addiction. Prediction markets like Polymarket have managed to give a financial appearance to what is essentially still a game of chance. Lifelong bets are presented as informed investments, disguising gambling addiction under trading language. We can call it whatever we want, but the reality is that for many users, the losses are very real. Image | Xataka with Gemini In Xataka | We have a problem with Polymarket: it has become the Bet365 of geopolitics without any regulation

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