Mobile Tech & Gadgets

The RAM memory crisis seemed to have its months numbered. Micron has a completely different perspective

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They say that there is never a bad time to do something you really want and that, many times, the only thing that stops us is finding the right excuse not to start. That idea can work in many areas, but today it doesn’t fit very well if what you have in mind is build your own PC. At least not without assuming that the current context clearly works against it. We are witnessing firsthand how the so-called “memory crisis” is pushing upand notably, the prices of NAND memories, key in SSD units, and of the DRAM used in computers and laptops. We have more and more reasons to be patient, because an actor as relevant as Micron already warns that the challenges for the sector will persist for quite some time. The memory crisis is still far from resolved The company has put a date on the table and it is not what many expected. In its communication of resultsSanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron, spoke of “tight conditions” in DRAM and NAND and said that they are expected to “persist through and beyond 2026“In other words, if today we are already seeing how memory is becoming more expensive, Micron is warning that it does not point to a clear return to normality in 2026. That nuance matters, because it changes the horizon of anyone who is thinking about building or upgrading a PC in the short term. There are numbers that help to understand why this phenomenon does not remain a simple market swing. The firm once again reported record revenues of $13.64 billion in the last quarter, compared to $8.71 billion in the same period of the previous year, driven by the push for AI. That does not mean that there is excess product in all segments, because capacity and industrial priorities do not adjust to the pace of demand. Micron says it expects to increase its DRAM and NAND shipments by 20% next year, but acknowledges that boost isn’t enough to catch up. To understand why the domestic market is more exposed, it is worth looking at the photo of the factory. Micron is pushing its business toward HBMa memory designed for high-performance systems in data centers, and that has an opportunity cost. It is a technology that uses three times more silicon wafers than conventional DRAM, which means that, with the same capacity base, fewer units can be produced for the rest of the segments. It is not that consumption memory disappears, it is that it has less priority. Micron is pushing its business toward HBM. The first consequence is already being noticed by those of us who look at prices to build or expand a PC. Memory is what is becoming more expensive and the effect is seen, for example, in DDR5 kits. From there, the tension begins to filter through the rest of the chain, not only due to price, but also due to availability. The decision with Crucial also fits into this shift in priorities. Micron will stop selling consumer products under that brandwhich means one less player in this market, and greater pressure for those who are still in the race in the domestic sector. If Micron makes one thing clear with its roadmap, it is that standardization is not around the corner. The company is accelerating investment and capacity, but with a calendar that moves in yearsnot in weeks, and that forces us to look at 2026 with another face. For those who are thinking about buying or building a PC, the prudent reading is simple: it is advisable to assume that memory will continue to be a sensitive component, both in terms of price and availability, for a good period of time. Images | Micron | Samsung In Xataka | RAM is so expensive that smartphone manufacturers already have a plan: return to phones with 4 GB of RAM

They found a cube-shaped skull in Tamaulipas and thought it was a migrant. Science has turned history upside down

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Modern archeology has just thrown us one of those pieces of the puzzle that forces us to rewrite, in part, what we knew about different ancient cultures of northern Mesoamerica. Something obligatory, since a team from the National Institute of Anthropology and History has identified a find in Tamaulipas that is as unusual as it is fascinating: a skull with an intentional deformation in the shape of a “cube”. “Parallelepiped” deformation. The discovery took place in the archaeological zone of Balcón de Montezuma, in the Sierra Madre Oriental. As detailed in the official INAH bulletinthe remains belong to an adult man over forty years old who lived during the Classic period between 400 and 900 AD Although the most surprising thing may seem given the curious deformation of the skull, for anthropologists the real news was in a modification of the “erect tabular” type. in its “parallelepiped” variant. How did it come to this? To have a skull with this peculiar shape, it is suggested that the ancient settlers of that area had to use wood compression devices such as slats. These would be applied to the back of the head (the occipital bone) and the forehead to restrict the natural growth of bones from childhood. Because it is precisely when they are malleable to adjust them to what you were looking for. Who was it? This is where hypotheses begin to emerge. Anthropologists point out that this type of deformation is more typical of the Mesoamerican southeast. But these bones have been found in the northern area. So the question was clear: Was this man a foreigner who came to the north? The answer, thanks to the analyzes of strontium isotopesit’s a resounding no. The conclusion that has been reached is that the bones belonged to a local man who was born and raised in the Sierra Madre Occidental area. And this is something that changes the narrative completely: we are not facing a migrant, but rather evidence of cultural adoption. Because. The fact that a local inhabitant decided (or his parents decided for him when they were very young) that the skull had to be modified with a technique that involved two splints makes sense. The hypotheses initially point to the membership in a local eliteand this modification could be a distinctive sign to indicate that they were in a higher stratum than the rest of the inhabitants. But it is also something that can suggest a cultural connection, since there was a great flow of ideas and aesthetic fashions that was much more fluid than previously thought between different cities in the area. That is why it may be that having a skull like this was an indication of beauty or it was simply ‘viral’ at that time. Its importance. Until now, archeology had recorded cranial deformations in the area, but they were generally more inclined backwards. The appearance of this more elongated upward shape is something that had not been recorded before in this area. This is something that a priori will help discard the old idea that the northern areas were culturally isolated. On the contrary, this “cubic skull” is physical proof that the northern border of Mesoamerica was fully integrated into the ritual and aesthetic dynamics of the rest of the subcontinent. Images | Chelms Varthoumlien In Xataka | If Spain believes it has a problem with droughts, it is because it does not know what led the Mayans to collapse: 150 extreme years

The Earth has been providing heat for millions of years and now Google wants it for something very different from heating

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The race for artificial intelligence is no longer fought only in laboratories or chip factories. It is moving towards much more basic and, at the same time, more critical terrain: electricity. At a time when data centers are increasing their energy consumption and the electrical grid is beginning to show signs of saturation, an American geothermal startup has just closed one of the largest financing rounds in the sector. It is called Fervo Energy, it has raised $462 million and, among its investors, is Google. It is not just another financial movement. It is a clear sign of where big technology companies are looking to sustain their ambitions with artificial intelligence. First commercial project. The company has closed this financing in a Series E – one of the last phases of private investment before a possible IPO – aimed not at research, but at the deployment of large-scale energy infrastructure. The round, led by B Capital as lead investor, will serve to accelerate the construction of Cape Station, its geothermal plant in Utah, and advance the development of other projects. In other words, moving from technology demonstration to commercial production of firm electricity for the grid. In addition, the round has aroused the interest of a broad group of industrial, financial and technological investors. Among the new names are AllianceBernstein, Mitsui, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and, especially significantly, Google. As reported by TechCrunchFervo has raised nearly $500 million in equity and debt in the last year alone, reflecting an unusual investment appetite for a technology that for decades was considered marginal. The Google entry. Fervo is not just a climate bet or an impact investment: it is a direct energy supplier for data centers. The company already maintains an agreement with Google to supply geothermal electricity to its facilities, something that turns the technology company into a client and investor at the same time. This move fits with a broader trend. The big tech companies they have stopped trusting only in the traditional electricity market. The explosion of generative AI has multiplied the demand for continuous, stable and emission-free energy, a profile that neither solar nor wind power alone can guarantee without massive battery backup. On the other hand, geothermal energy offers firm electricity 24 hours a day. How does the Fervo bet work? Fervo’s key It’s in your technology of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Unlike traditional geothermal energy – which depends on natural hot aquifers – Fervo drills hot rock, injects water and creates artificial reservoirs that allow steam to be generated in a controlled manner. A direct adaptation of hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling techniques developed over decades by the oil and gas industry. It is no coincidence: many Fervo engineers come from that sector. The flagship project is Cape Station, located in Beaver County, Utah. According to the company’s planswill begin supplying 100 megawatts in 2026 and will reach 500 megawatts in 2028. One of the key factors is speed, as the company has drastically reduced the drilling time for its wells: from about a month in its first projects to a current average of about 15 days. As Sarah Jewett, senior vice president of strategy, explained, to TechCrunchapproximately half of the cost of a well depends on drilling time. Reducing it is synonymous with economic viability. AI as the engine of the new energy map. The rise of Fervo cannot be understood without the pressure that artificial intelligence puts on energy infrastructure. According to the International Energy Agencythe electrical consumption of data centers could double before 2030. An analysis by the Rhodium Group goes further and estimates that advanced geothermal could cover up to two thirds of new energy demand of these centers in the United States. Google is not alone in this race. The company is simultaneously exploring the reopening of nuclear plantsthe development of small modular reactors (SMR) and even experimental projects as solar-powered orbiting data centers. The logic is the same in all cases: ensure its own, stable, long-term electricity supply. In the words of the CEO of FervoTim Latimer: “There is a huge appetite to understand how the history of electricity demand is going to be resolved.” The answer, increasingly, lies in energy sources that previously seemed secondary. A sector that matters again. For years, geothermal energy was relegated to wind and solar energy. Today, United States live a true renaissance of the sector. The combination of new technologies, private capital, institutional support and demand from Big Tech is changing the landscape. Fervo is considered a pioneer within this new ecosystem. According to TechCrunchthe company is focused for now on the western United States, where the hot rock is closer to the surface, but does not rule out expanding to other states or abroad when its technology is even more optimized. The subsoil as a competitive advantage. While artificial intelligence is presented as the most ethereal technology of our time, its expansion depends on something deeply physical: constant, cheap and clean megawatts. In this context, Fervo represents more than just an energy startup: one more—but key—piece in the new infrastructure that supports the digital age. Google didn’t get here by chance. He has been exploring all possible avenues for some time to ensure stable power for his AI. And in that strategy of not closing any doors, while some look to the sky, others – like Fervo – look underground, kilometers underground, where the planet’s heat is beginning to emerge as one of the most solid responses. Image | FervoEnergy and freepik Xataka | The United States may win the AI ​​race, but its problem is different: China is winning all the others

Elon Musk says AGI will arrive in 2026. He said the same thing last year

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Artificial general intelligence or AGI is the great goal that AI gurus keep mentioning. From Sam Altmanpassing through Zuckerberg and his superintelligence teameven of course Elon Musk. The problem is that they are already beginning to repeat themselves and this whole thing sounds more and more like a huge déjà vu. Today he doesn’t trust, tomorrow he does. Surely you have come across this nice sign in some of those authentic bars or shops. The AGI is starting to sound exactly the same. They count in Gizmodo that Elon Musk has set a date for the arrival of the long-awaited AGI: 2026. He recently said that Grok 5, which will be launched next year, had 10% chance of getting the AGI and it seems like he’s now upping his ante. During an xAI meeting, Musk stated that he is confident that the company’s ability to scale its computing power will help them achieve AI that surpasses human intelligence. Everything good, except because in 2024 he said that the AGI would arrive in 2025. He hype and the calm. What happened to Musk is further proof of the disconnect between the discourse of the “sellers” of AI and the experts who make AI. Altman, Musk and Zuckerberg start from the idea that the more AI scales (that is, the more investment is made), the sooner AGI will arrive. From there exorbitant investment in data centerssome the size of entire cities. On the other side we have AI researchers and developers, whose speech is much more realistic. Yann LeCun recently saidconsidered the godfather of AI, that the path to achieving AGI is not language models, but world models. Research also points in that direction and recently we talked about how language is not the same as intelligenceso the current path seems more like a dead end. Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI, has also spoken out, and in his opinion the AGI will arrive, but it will take at least another decade. Musk’s other predictions. According to Business Insiderin the meeting with xAI employees, Musk also talked about the construction of data centers in space, an idea with which several companies are flirting in view of the energy problem. Musk related this infrastructure to his plans to colonize Mars and pointed to the possibility that Tesla Optimus robots were the operators of these infrastructures. It hasn’t always been so optimistic. In 2017 issued a warning: “It is urgent to regulate artificial intelligence before it becomes a danger to humanity.” Maybe 2017 sounds very far away, but we don’t have to go that far back. In 2023 signed a letter with other personalities from the technological world in which he called for AI laboratories to pause model development for at least six months due to the immediate danger of a replacement of humanity. Today he believes that AGI is imminent and defends that AI will do everything for us and that “working will be optional.” Musk’s speech on AI has taken a radical turn, especially now that he has an AI company. What things. Image | Gage SkidmoreFlickr In Xataka | Implanting a chip in your hand to perform magic tricks sounded spectacular. Until you forgot your password

Da Vinci was not only one of the most brilliant thinkers and inventors in history. It was also very good

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He Da Vinci painter. The sculptor The engineer. The Tuscan wise man who devised flying machines at the end of the 15th century. The one with mirror writing and the muse with a disturbing smile. That of the enigma that does not go away five centuries after his death. With a long beard, sober look and clear forehead, Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci is by far one of the most magnetic characters in history. Hundreds of myths and theories have been founded on his genius, rivers of ink have flowed and bestsellers have even been written and movies made in the most genuine Hollywood style. The last helping of conspiracies was served a few years ago, when the Salvator Mundi canvas was sold. for the astronomical amount of 450 million dollars News followed that again questioned the authorship of the painting. However, before being a consummate artist, a curious man with a voracious appetite and even a modern scientist (some maintain that he was the first, anticipating Galileo), Da Vinci was simply a Sir from Tuscany. With his quirks and flaws, overshadowed by the fascination that the character arouses. A muscular, flirtatious Vinciano with a peculiar sense of humor, who hated meat and who liked to be a fan of things. This is the least known Da Vinci. Da Vinci, Renaissance gymbro The author of The Mona Lisa He was a good-looking guy, with a handsome face and athletic body. And to prevent the passage of centuries from erasing that image, there is plenty of evidence that reminds us that the Tuscan was a true beauty. “He was by nature courteous, cultivated and generous, and his face was extraordinarily beautiful,” wrote the humanist Paolo Giovio. Perhaps to curl the curl and elevate him almost to the category of Adonis, his biographer Vasari (who never met the Tuscan) describes him as a “tall, extraordinary beauty and infinite grace” gallant. There is no doubt that he liked to dress well and take care of his appearance. He used to dress up in pink tunics that reached his knees, fur cloaks and rings. Also carefully comb your hair, curly and long. In one of his notebooks he wrote advice on how to become a real dandy. Do you want them to turn around? square at your pace? Well (recommends the Tuscan) “drink fresh rose water and moisten your hands with them.” Da Vinci, liking himself, around 1478. In any case, it was best not to criticize his appearance. Although there are many testimonies of his pacifist spirit, the chronicles tell us of a Da Vinci endowed with a force exceptional. “With his right hand he could twist a horseshoe or the iron ring of a knocker as if they were made of lead,” explained Vasari, who once again seems inclined to exaggerate a bit of Leonardo’s qualities. The Tuscan’s fixation on elegance went far beyond his appearance. Da Vinci was a clean and conscientious man who liked to surround himself with rigorous order. “If you want to know how a person’s spirit inhabits his body,” reads one of his notebooks, “look at how he treats his dwelling; if it is disordered, in the same way the spirit will maintain the body in a confusing way.” The Full Pantomime of its time Leonardo is remembered as a thoughtful, severe, taciturn and reserved man. Although those were undoubtedly fundamental aspects of his character (this is how he showed himself in his very famous self-portrait from Turinin which she presents herself with a melancholic expression), was far from the only one. Throughout his life he dedicated great efforts to making people laugh. in the book Leonardo, the flight of the mindCharles Nicholl points out the irony that his most famous painting is The Mona Lisa (the jubilant one, in Spanish). There is no doubt that the Tuscan liked jokes. The satirical and sophisticated word games, but also the crudest ones. In his notebooks we find funny notes written down relatively frequently. One of them (which invites us to think of a Leonardo holding his stomach with great laughter and tears in his eyes) says: “They asked a painter why he painted such beautiful images, even though they were of dead things, while his children were so ugly. To which he replied that he made his paintings during the day and his children at night.” “Paparl, paparl, take me to the circus.” (Self-portrait of Da Vinci himself in his younger years) His sense of humor also appeared in his artistic work. Their cartoons They are very well known. Also the decorations and gadgets that he designed for the celebrations of the Sforza family or at the court of France, which in a way made him “the king of the party.” Vasari once again collects another anecdote that, this time, gives us a glimpse of Da Vinci’s humor. On one occasion a gardener gave him a large lizard that he had hunted. Leonardo decided to stick some wings he made with scales on its back. Every time the suffering reptile walked, those membranes trembled to the terror of the public. “He made it eyes, horns and a beard and then domesticated it,” says Vasari, “he used to keep it in a box and whenever he took it out for his friends to see, they ran away scared.” Da Vinci, pop star and veggie Yes, musician. Engineer, painter, anatomist, sculptor, architect… And musician! The Tuscan’s fingers not only showed his virtuosity with the brush. There are multiple references that there was nothing wrong with the lyre of braccioan instrument with which he liked to let inspiration take him from time to time. And just like Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) has its iconic two-neck GibsonLeonardo also showed off his peculiar instrument when he performed: an elegant silver lyre in the shape of a horse’s head, built by himself. Although Leonardo’s musical side is often overlooked, there are clues that indicate he played an important role. For example, it … Read more

A teenager discovered the ‘Málaga’ virus and ended up founding VirusTotal. The enigma that remains is the same since 1992: who programmed it

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Bernardo Quintero (@bquintero) was 14 years old and his first PC, an Amstrad PC-1512, had just arrived home. It was 1987, and the co-founder of VirusTotal He was excited by this machine that allowed him to exploit his computer curiosity. His hobby ended up being trying to circumvent the copy protection systems of some games, and he was there one day when something suddenly happened. A little white ball moved on your screen. By itself. Without him having done anything. He soon discovered that it was a computer virus. One that he ended up studying to know how to detect and eliminate it. He succeeded, and over the next three years he ended up improving his first antivirus, a tool that allowed him to recognize and eradicate seven different viruses he had encountered. It didn’t seem like that project was going to go much further, and Quintero began his studies in Computer Science at the Polytechnic University School of Malaga. In one of the first classes, a professor asked if anyone wanted to raise a grade with a Pascal programming project. He signed up, and when talking to the professor, he asked him if he had done any previous projects. “Well, yes,” he replied. “An accounting program, disk utilities, an antivirus…”. The teacher cut him off. “Did you say antivirus?”. When he answered affirmatively, the professor asked him to accompany him to his office. There he showed him how the entire IT department had been infected by a virus that the antivirus did not recognize. Fragment of the code in Turbo Pascal 5.5 of the antivirus that Bernardo Quintero developed to eliminate the “Málaga-2610” virus (1992). Source: Bernardo Quintero. Quintero soon detected where the problem could be and went home with an infected disk to work on an antivirus. It took him more than he thought, but after a few hours he managed to figure out how to detect it and delete it. That helped him pass the subject, but it also ended up being the definitive seed of the professional project that would end with the founding of Virus Total. He tells it all in more detail in his novel, ‘Infected‘, which he published at the beginning of the year and in which he narrates those beginnings and how that ended up leading him to create VirusTotal, the Malaga company that would later end up being bought by Google. That virus in his faculty was called “Málaga”, and Quintero spent years without paying much attention to it again. So, three years ago, this expert posted a message on Twitter (X) to try to solve the mystery of who would have created it. Already then he discovered that according to several sources the virus had been created at the Polytechnic School of Informatics. The objective, I counted thenit was not about bringing the name to light, but about chatting with that person and remembering those times. He failed to reveal the mystery, and that mystery remained unsolved again. But Bernardo Quintero never forgot that and returned to the fray with a new attempt a few days ago. After first publishing a message on X, the next day he published a summary of that story on LinkedInand asked for help in that post to try to solve the mystery once and for all. We contacted him, and he told us how while in the past he had focused on discovering how it infected and creating the disinfection tool, he never tried to find out who had created the “Malaga” virus. But he told us that “now, looking at it with new eyes, I have seen a couple of interesting details and I have discovered the motivation.” In fact, he adds that thanks to those messages on X and LinkedIn “I have received stories from several people who studied those years at the Polytechnic of Malaga and who believe they know the author.” Of those candidates, he explains, “I have ruled out 3 or 4, but there is one that fits very well with the new data I have.” The mystery seems to be close to being solved. “I just need to clear up one unknown to confirm the author.. And if it is confirmed, there is a beautiful and sad story that will be worth telling.” Everything therefore indicates that it will finally be known who was the author of that virus, and Quintero has promised to tell more details these days. We will be attentive. Image | Mika Baumeister In Xataka | The computer with the most malware in the world: this is MICE, the challenge of Bernardo Quintero and VirusTotal

Óscar Puente wants to connect Madrid and Barcelona in less than two hours. The fastest solution goes through China

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Last month we learned that the Ministry of Transport tendered for 2.3 million euros two studies that analyzed the possibility of increasing the speed in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor to 350 km/h. Minister Óscar Puente’s promise was to reduce the travel time between both cities to less than two hours. However, to achieve this it is not enough to improve the infrastructure. Rolling stock capable of running at those speeds is needed, and that is where the capacity of China’s trains comes into play. The problem is in the deadlines and prices. In Spain and Europe we have a large railway industry, although delivery times are reducing the local choice compared to other alternatives such as China. Deliveries are around 60 months and the prices offered by European manufacturers are higher. “Chinese manufacturers deliver trains at half the price within six months to two years,” counted Bridge to the SER Chain. Renfe urgently needs to renew its fleet, especially after the Avlo disaster in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor, and China seems the only viable alternative according to the searched criteria. China dominates global high speed. With 48,000 kilometers of high-speed roads compared to 4,000 in Spain, the Asian country leads the sector by far. Its star manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, produces the Fuxing platform and has developed the CR450 prototype, capable of reaching 400 km/h. These trains already circulate in China at 450 km/h, although they would need adaptations to operate on the Spanish network. The minister and the president of Renfe, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, recently made a visit to the facilities of the Chinese giant to learn first-hand about its production capabilities. Europe looks askance the entry of china. The European Commission investigate CRRC for alleged state subsidies that would allow it to compete with artificially low prices, a case similar to that of Chinese electric vehicles. Bulgaria already tried to buy 20 trains from the Asian company for more than 600 million euros, but the investigation by the European organization forced the manufacturer to withdraw from the contest. Spain, however, is pressing to facilitate the entry of these trains or, failing that, to create an “Airbus model” that improves the competitiveness of the European railway industry. European alternatives are on the table. In addition to CRRC, Renfe is considering options such as Siemens’ Velaro Novo trains, which can reach 400 km/h but have yet to demonstrate mass production. There is also Hitachiwhose ETR-1000 is used by Iryo in Spain, although underused because the network does not allow speeds to exceed 300 km/h. Alstom, CAF and Talgo complete the list of candidates for the tenders that the public operator will launch at the beginning of 2026. It is estimated that each unit will cost around 27 million euros and that Spain will go to the European Investment Bank to finance the purchase. The infrastructure also needs changes. The studies They include new variants of access to Madrid and Barcelona, ​​a high-speed station in Parla with connection to Cercanías, another in El Prat de Llobregat linked to Rodalies, and a direct Lleida-Barcelona section that avoids passing through Camp de Tarragona. The current route is already designed to withstand 350 km/h, according to the Ministry, and Spanish Aerotraviesa technology will be used to allow these speeds without increasing maintenance costs. The renewal of the line will begin when the Madrid-Seville line ends. It remains to be seen whether Europe will allow it. Puente’s institutional trip to China has served to strengthen commercial ties and explore cooperation with the manufacturer. The Ministry of Transport defend that the country is “at a time of enormous expansion” of its railway network and needs quick solutions. And right now China is possibly the only country that can offer the material in the desired times. Cover image | Miguel In Xataka | In the race for autonomous driving, China is ready to literally take the next leap: L3

The Academy has discovered that being relevant matters

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The Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has signed an agreement that, beyond the specific broadcast of its awards gala, marks a turning point in the entertainment industry: from 2029YouTube will broadcast the oscars exclusively and free for everyone. The story underlying this movement is not so much the demise of cable television (a phenomenon that in Spain we perceive from a certain distance) but the confirmation of a fundamental change: if the content is not available in a simple and instantaneous way, it does not exist for the majority. The deal. YouTube will obtain exclusive worldwide broadcasting rights from the 101st edition of the awards, scheduled for 2029. The deal extends until 2033 and the transmission will be free worldwide, including the main ceremony, the red carpet and exclusive material from the backstage and the Governors Ball. Until now, Disney paid $100 million each year for broadcast rights on ABC, a very tight economic dealsince this year, for example, it only earned 127 million from advertising during the broadcast. Little thing compared to YouTubewhich recorded advertising revenue of $36 billion in 2024. Worse and worse audiences. The break between ABC and the Academy comes from progressive worsening of audience data. The 2019 ceremony brought together 29.6 million viewers; In 2020, the figure dropped to 23.6. But the real collapse came with the 2021 edition in the middle of the pandemic, which sank to 10.4 million viewers. In 2025 there were signs of recovery with 19.69 million viewers, the highest audience in five years, thanks to simultaneous streaming on Hulu and the return of Conan O’Brien as host. Possible solutions. To improve the numbers (and the friction between ABC and the Academy) the network proposed changes inspired by the Grammys: moving technical categories out of the main broadcast, prioritizing musical performances and reducing the total duration. The Academy resisted, but in 2018 announced the creation of a category of Outstanding Achievement in Popular Filman idea so bad that it was canceled just 29 days later. Instead of actually cutting the Academy added two new categories (casting in 2025 and stunt coordination in 2028). It was seen coming. In fact, the jump to YouTube is the inevitable step that certifies the agony of cable. In fact, this is demonstrated by the Academy’s own decision to incorporate streaming simultaneous on Hulu this very 2025, despite a good number of technological difficulties. YouTube is the inevitable next stop: instant distribution, unrestricted global reach, and free (or, at most, dependent on a single subscription to the platform’s premium option). Taking into account the traditional difficulties in watching the ceremony, YouTube’s proposal has a certain radicality: from anywhere you can watch the ceremony without downloading applications or bypassing blocks. The lace There is one more detail that certifies that the grudges come from afar. In May 2024, YouTube hired Justin Connolly, a veteran who had spent a quarter of a century at Disney, to oversee the platform’s media and sports operations. The signing triggered a legal battle: Disney filed a lawsuit trying to block Connolly’s incorporation, in a dispute that was resolved through an out-of-court settlement. A former Disney executive, speaking to The Wrap, stressed: “Do not underestimate the importance of the hatred and resentment between Justin Connolly and Bob Iger. The dispute continues.” And we just saw the last blow. In Xataka | The “ghost” category of the Oscars: it exists but it is so demanding that there have never been films that compete for it

Renfe is obliged to compensate for delays of more than 15 minutes starting January 1. The Government wants to prevent it

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Renfe will have to compensate users whose trains are delayed more than 15 minutes. It has to do so by order of the Congress of Deputies that approved the amendment that included this detail within the Sustainable Mobility Law. Now the Government wants to torpedo it and is looking for solutions to avoid it. He claims to have reasons for this. The facts. A little over a month ago, The Congress of Deputies approved the Sustainable Mobility Law. in it were collected guidelines to guarantee support for aid for public transport or the first step for a new bus concessional system. But among the amendments that were made to the law, one was also carried out so that Renfe will compensate again to users whose trains were delayed by more than 15 minutes. It was a decision that reversed the decision which the company had taken a year earlier, when it expanded the criteria for returning part or all of the tickets. What had happened? In 2024, Renfe confirmed that it was rectifying its criteria for returning money for tickets. Until that year, the company was committed to returning part or all of the money spent under the following conditions: Delays of more than 15 minutes: payment of 50% of the ticket Delays of more than 30 minutes: 100% payment of the ticket With the changes applied in 2024, Renfe is operating as follows: Delays of more than 60 minutes: payment of 50% of the ticket Delays of more than 90 minutes: 100% payment of the ticket That is, in the first 59 minutes, the user currently does not receive a single euro of the price of their ticket. Previously, if delayed between 30 and 59 minutes, the customer received a full refund of the ticket. Now, by mandate of the Congress of Deputies, Renfe has to return to the previous compensations. That is, it will start returning money after 15 minutes. If nothing changes. And the Ministry of Transportation is looking for legal formulas to prevent this from happening, according to reports from Five Days. When the measure was announced, Óscar Puente, head of the Transportation portfolio, He already announced that they would look for solutions so that the current system does not go backwards. They point out from the media that Transportation lawyers are working against the clock to find judicial support that allows them to maintain the current situation. If not, as of January 1, 2026, passengers and consumer associations will have free rein to claim their money. What about Iryo and Ouigo? To understand why Renfe expanded its punctuality commitments, we must look at the return conditions of its competitors. Ouigo compensates in the following cases: Delay of more than 30 minutes and less than 60 minutes: 50% refund of the ticket in a non-refundable purchase voucher. Delay of more than 60 minutes and less than 90 minutes: 50% refund of the ticket in a refundable purchase voucher. Delay of more than 90 minutes: 100% refund of the ticket in a refundable purchase voucher. Iryo partially or totally refunds the money in the following situations: Delay of more than 30 minutes and less than 60 minutes: refund of 50% of the ticket in purchase voucher or cash. Delay of more than 90 minutes: 100% refund of the ticket in purchase voucher or cash. Inferiority. Since the amendment was approved, what the Ministry maintains is that with this new scheme the company competes under inferior conditions compared to Iryo and Ouigo. Renfe feels that it is being discriminated against in the market because it is the only company that is required to make these compensations while the Italian and French companies have room to play with them. The Government already pointed out this when the measure was approved, pointing out that the amendment (promoted by the Popular Party and approved with its support and that of Vox, Junts, ERC, Podemos and BNG) It was a political maneuver to focus on an alleged chaos in Renfe that, in his opinion, is not such. Furthermore, they point to another argument. The previous punctuality commitments were designed for a structure where only Renfe acted. Now, The trains on Spanish tracks have multiplied and the paradox may arise that a small delay caused by one of its competitors forces Renfe to return the money to its consumers and not to the company originating the problem. a hole. If the change ends up being effective, Renfe needs to make a piggy bank for possible refunds. And if we take into account the antecedents, the returns can amount to tens of millions of euros. In fact, four out of every 10 AVE trains In the summer they were delayed and up to two million travelers who previously obtained some type of refund were left without it. According to the calculations of The WorldIf the situation experienced this summer were to be repeated, the company will have to pay 79 million euros to its travelers. Money that was saved this summer in just three months. The problem has also been increasing because in Five Days They point out that the volume of these compensations remained at 42 million euros in 2023. However, since then Renfe services and traffic on the roads have increased, which increases the risk of delay. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | “There are no places for 10 days”: taking a train to go to work in Barcelona or Girona has become an impossible mission

Ukraine’s biggest problem is not Russia. There are three European countries trapped in a perverse mechanism: type C accounts

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Europe faces a decision that goes far beyond an accounting discussion and that defines its strategic credibility: what to do with the more than 210,000 million of euros of Russian assets frozen since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. The problem is twofold, because it is not just about figures, but about what comes after activating the operation. The European crossroads. Yes, because the question is not only whether that money should be used to support kyiv at a critical moment, but whether the European Union is capable to take the risks political, legal and economic implications of doing so. As Washington presses for a quick exit to the conflict and reduces its financial support, Brussels finds itself caught between the urgency of avoiding a Ukrainian defeat and the fear of unleashing a russian retaliation that directly hits several of its Member States. Putin clearly. Statements this week by Vladimir Putinloaded with contempt for European elites and confidence in a protracted war, are not simple rhetoric. Moscow makes it clear that it is not contemplating real concessions and that it considers the use of its frozen assets as theft that demands a response. That response would not be symbolic, but surgical: selective seizures, accelerated nationalizations, endless litigation and the use of the Russian financial system as a weapon. The message, a priori, is unequivocal: if Europe crosses the line, Russia will not only punish Ukraine on the battlefield, but also European countries that still have exposed economic interests within their territory. The real blockage. I remembered this morning the financial times he crux of the whole situation. Although the debate is presented as a struggle between hawks and cautions, the real blockage comes from a handful of countries specific, with Belgium, Italy and Austria at the head. It is not a question of ideology, but of direct vulnerability. Belgium hosts Euroclear, the warehouse that guards most of the frozen Russian assets, and fears becoming the first target of retaliation judicial and economic. Italy and Austria, for their part, maintain banks and companies with billions trapped in Russia, benefits included, which they cannot repatriate. For these countries, authorizing the use of Russian money is not an abstract foreign policy decision, but rather an immediate risk to their financial and corporate systems. Type C accounts: the ace of Moscow. At the center of this fear are the calls type C accountsthe mechanism created by Moscow to withhold dividends, interest and assets from Western companies. That money, formally owned by European and American companies, is under Russian control and can be frozen, redistributed or directly transferred to the state budget with a simple decree. For the Kremlin, these accounts are a retaliation tool fast and effective, far superior in agility to slow Western judicial processes. For Europe, they are an invisible chain that binds entire governments when making strategic decisions, because any false step can translate into lost billions and internal political crises. Germany pushes, Europe hesitates. Germany has become the main political engine of the plan to use Russian assets, convinced that without that money there is no realistic way to support Ukraine for another two years without skyrocketing the European debt or depending on impossible unanimity. Berlin insists that the risk must be shared among everyone and that failure to act would send a devastating sign: Europe is not capable of defending its own security. However, this logic collides with the reality of countries that feel that the risk is not distributed, but rather concentrated in their national balance sheetsits banks and its courts. A (bad) peace as a threat. This financial blockade occurs in an even more disturbing context: European fear to an imposed peace on terms favorable to Russia. For many capitals, an agreement that consolidates Moscow’s territorial gains would not only leave Ukraine defenseless, but would force Europe to prepare for a scenario direct confrontation in the medium term, with longer borders, a strengthened Russian army and a weakened European deterrent. In this framework, the frozen Russian money stops being a tactical lever and becomes a strategic investment: either it is used now to support Ukraine, or it is paid for later in the form of massive rearmament and risk of war. The final dilemma. In short, the European Union has frozen Russian assets to prevent them from returning to Moscow without reparations, but now it must decide whether it dares to give the next step. Without that money, Ukraine could run out of liquidity in a matter of months, losing all negotiating power and forcing a deal from weakness. With him, Europe is exposed to reprisals, litigation and immediate economic losses, concentrated in a few countries that are currently holding back the decision. The crossroads are clear: assume the political and financial cost now, or accept that the fear of type C accounts determine European security policy. Not only the future of Ukraine is at stake in that election, but also Europe’s ability to act as a coherent geopolitical actor when your own interests are at risk. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | A missile has been bombarding Ukraine’s defenses for weeks. What no one could imagine is that he is not Russian: he is from the West In Xataka | A day later the satellites leave no doubt: Russia fortified a bridge, and a Ukrainian drone made science fiction a reality

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