Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Japan was the king of semiconductors in the 80s. Rapidus is its only hope to compete in this market again

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In the 1980s, Japan did not compete in semiconductors and technology. It was devastating. In 1988, Japanese companies controlled more than half of the world semiconductor market, and NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi and Fujitsu were above giants of the time in the US such as Motorola, Texas Instruments or Intel. That golden era ended with the hyperspecialization that emerged both in South Korea and China and (especially) in Taiwan, but now Japan wants to make a splash again. what has happened. A year ago the technology industry was surprised by the birth of Rapidus Corporationa company born from the alliance of several Japanese giants (Sony, Toyota, SoftBank) with the aim of returning to Japan part of its relevance in the field of semiconductors. The initial plan was very ambitious: they wanted to jump directly to 2 nm by 2027. As we will see later, they have had to delay that forecast, but what has also changed (a lot) is the structure of the company. Japan like main investor. The Japanese government has decided to make Rapidus a centerpiece of national security, and is taking unprecedented control of the company. He will become the largest shareholder, although initially he will only exercise 10% of the voting rights to leave management in private hands. Of course: the State reserves the right to raise that participation above 50% if the company is experiencing difficulties. Total capital has skyrocketed to 420 billion yen ($2.7 billion), when in 2022 the investment did not exceed 50 million. The golden action. The Japanese executive has made use of a legal mechanism by acquiring the so-called “golden shares” with which he can exercise his veto in critical decisions such as changes in management or mergers. The objective is to shield Rapidus against foreign capital acquisitions and guarantee the sovereignty of the project. Which is exactly the same thing we are seeing around the world, of course: each country wants to have its own apples in its basket. Investors who are also clients. Financial support comes from the Japanese government, but also from some large Japanese business groups such as the aforementioned Sony and Toyota or Denso. In total, 32 companies have invested 167.6 billion yen (1.075 billion dollars) and will contribute to this commitment by also being customers of the silicon that Rapidus can produce. They remain just as ambitious… or more. Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike has adjusted the development plans for his chips, and has delayed the arrival of mass production to March 2028. That’s bad news, but not so much when we discover that the company has plans to go beyond 2nm and is preparing to be able to make 1.4nm chips and even 1 nm. Fast as gunpowder. One of the factors that want to differentiate Rapidus is its promise of rapid delivery of semiconductors. The project aims to automate both the manufacturing, packaging and testing of the chips. These last two are processes with great manual intervention, but at Rapidus they believe they have the key to making them much more autonomous. If they succeed, they could reduce the cycle time of semiconductors by 66% and thus beat even giants like TSMC by the way. Japan turns to chips. Japan’s aspiration is striking, and its Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, seems to be clear that the commitment to this segment must be notable. In fact, Japan is investing a proportion of its GDP (0.71%) in semiconductors much higher than that of the US (0.21%) or Germany (0.41%). Challenges. The strategy, of course, has its critics. Takero Doi, professor at Keio University, point “There are many cases in which public-private investment has led to systems that lacked accountability. It is important to clarify who will lead the project, the private sector or the government.” Plan B. Although the plan with Rapidus is ambitious, the country is actually playing both sides. While boosting its own business, the government has made commitments with TSMC to upgrade its manufacturing plants in Japan. This makes it have a hybrid ecosystem: it attracts the experience and knowledge of the semiconductor giant while on the other hand trying to create a national alternative. Image | Xataka with Freepik In Xataka | Panasonic was the bastion of 100% Japanese TVs after Sony’s step back. Now it has surrendered to China

The subscription to avoid ads is now official in Europe

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The rumors had been circulating for a long time.but now we are no longer talking about speculation. Meta has confirmed that the ads will come to WhatsApp. The company thus introduces advertising in the most used messaging application in the world and, at the same time, opens the door to an alternative for those who prefer to avoid them: a subscription that will allow you to eliminate advertising from your mobile phone itself with a few touches. The change is not minor. In fact, everything indicates that we are facing one of the most important turns in the history of the platform. WhatsApp with advertising: what changes. With official confirmation on the table, the immediate question is where these ads will appear and to what extent they will alter the user experience. As explained by the company itself on its help pageadvertising will not invade private conversations. Ads will be displayed only in states and channels, while “personal messages and calls” will remain ad-free. In other words, the most intimate spaces of the application will remain intact, while advertising will be concentrated in the areas closest to public or shared content. How to remove WhatsApp ads. With the arrival of ads, another question inevitably arises: how to prevent them from appearing. If we do not want promotional messages to sneak between the states or the channels we follow, the only way will be to pay. Meta has chosen to introduce a subscription that will allow you to recover an ad-free experience within the application. It is a strategy that fits with the movement that the company has already started on Facebook and Instagramwhere it offers ad-free versions in exchange for a monthly payment. WhatsApp subscription. This is where the option to remove ads comes into the picture. According to the company, this subscription will be available in the European region, although not all users will be able to activate it automatically from the first moment. In order to subscribe, it is necessary to meet two conditions: have the WhatsApp account linked to the Meta account center and be over 18 years of age. The process to activate the subscription is done from the application itself and follows these steps: In WhatsApp, tap Settings > Account. Go to Ad Preferences for States and Channels and select No Ads. In the Account Center, tap Ads Preferences > Subscribe for ad-free use. Press Continue with subscription. Review the subscription and tap Continue > Continue Payment. Tap Pay Now to complete your payment through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Tap Close after seeing the confirmation screen. How much does a WhatsApp subscription cost?. The price is, without a doubt, one of the most relevant aspects, and for now it remains surrounded by some uncertainty. In our tests from Spain, the option to activate the subscription is not yet available, something that could be explained by a gradual rollout that Meta would be carrying out in phases. With a WhatsApp account linked to the account center, it is currently only possible to activate the subscription without ads on Facebook and Instagram, with a price of 5.99 euros per month for one account and 4 euros per month for each additional account if the management is done from a web browser. The specialized site WABetaInfo, a regular source to follow WhatsApp news, points out that the payments of this subscription will be monthly. As explained, the price may vary depending on the platform and the user’s location. Those who subscribe from Facebook.com or Instagram.com usually pay around 3 euros per month to remove ads, while doing so through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store would raise the figure to about 4 euros per month. It is advisable to take this information with caution. For our part, we have written to Meta to try to confirm the details and clarify what the final price will be. What happens to the privacy of chats. The arrival of advertising also raises another obvious question: what happens to the privacy of conversations. At this point, WhatsApp insists that the operation of the platform does not change. Messages are still protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning no one outside the conversation can access their content. As Meta explains, ad targeting will be based on limited signals, such as language, country, or user interaction with other ads within the platform. The conversations, at least on paper, will remain private. Images | Goal In Xataka | We already know how ads will work on ChatGPT. We have bad and not so bad news

Zuckerberg in the front row of Prada seems like a mistake in The Matrix, but it’s actually Meta’s biggest statement of intent

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Any regular attendee of Milan Fashion Week know what to expect in the first row: a perfectly choreographed ecosystem of K-pop idols, internet stars and Hollywood actors with million-dollar contracts. However, at the presentation of the Prada Fall/Winter 2026 women’s collection, a figure appeared which at first glance seemed like a mistake in The Matrix: Mark Zuckerberg. As the magazine points out GQthe usual fashion audience is undergoing a metamorphosis and the technological elite is reclaiming its place in the spotlight, as demonstrated the appearance by Jeff Bezos in Jonathan Anderson’s debut for Dior. However, the founder of Meta did not finish blending in with the environment. As described The Times With a certain British irony, Zuckerberg looked tense in front of the flashes, like “someone who has ever heard of the concept of sitting on a bench, but has never tried it,” awkwardly spreading his fingers over his pants and not really knowing where to look as the models paraded. But what are the Silicon Valley elite doing there? Despite its recent change of image – which some have dubbed the Zuckaissanceleaving behind his uniform of gray t-shirts for Balenciaga clothes and gold chains—his presence in Milan does not respond to the mere whim of a shopping tourist. It’s a top-notch corporate chess move. As detailed The Timesthe key was in the seating arrangement (the coveted Frow either front row). Zuckerberg was not placed next to any random celebrity, but strategically shoulder to shoulder with Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s marketing director and son of designer Miuccia Prada. At his side, his wife, Priscilla Chan, shared confidences with none other than Andrea Guerra, executive director of the Italian brand. Besides, they fulfilled the aesthetic duties completely changing her style for the sobriety of Prada. lhaute couture as a Trojan horse. All this social choreography points in a single commercial direction. According to the CNBCMeta and Prada are collaborating closely to launch luxury smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence. The corporate bridge that connects Silicon Valley with Milan is already built. Goal has been collaborating for years successfully with EssilorLuxottica, the Franco-Italian giant that manufactures the current Ray-Ban Meta. Glasses that, by the way, will reach the not inconsiderable figure of 7 million units sold in 2025. Given that EssilorLuxottica has just renewed its licensing agreement with Prada until the 2030s, the triangulation of the business is evident. The goal of this maneuver is to legitimize personal surveillance technology through exclusivity. As explained TechCrunch, Bringing AI to high fashion fills a niche that more sporty or casual brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban can’t reach. Consolidating these glasses as a symbol of status and luxury is the definitive step to benefit the global image of the Meta brand. The technological muscle behind the design. For a Prada product to make sense, the technology inside cannot fail, and this is where the specialized technology media provides the crucial context. As explained in an in-depth analysis by my colleague Lacort in Xatakahe hardware The current Ray-Ban Meta is brilliant—fantastic as speakers and great as a discreet camera—but its software is the weak link. Your “Meta AI” assistant currently feels like a “clueless intern” suffering from a lack of context and erratic responses. To solve this and live up to a luxury label, Meta has taken out the checkbook. Another recent report by Xataka details that the company has just signed a multi-million dollar agreement with NVIDIA to acquire its new generation of server infrastructure (the Rubin architecture and Grace processors). Mark Zuckerberg knows that to sell the glasses of the future he needs to achieve what he calls “personal superintelligence”, processing data in real time without the current glitches, whatever the cost. The elephant in the room. Despite the change of look and multi-million dollar investment, Meta faces a challenge that fashion cannot easily hide. Just a few days before sitting on the catwalk, the owner of Meta was testifying in a Los Angeles courtroom in a landmark trial over social media addiction. Most ironic of all, the judge threatened to hold her team in contempt for showing up in the courtroom wearing Meta glasses equipped with a camera, in a place where recording is prohibited. As he warns TechCrunch, Prada glasses will arrive at a time of growing citizen rejection of constant surveillance devices. Society is beginning to react against invasive technology. The rejection is so real that, as the media highlights, there is already a developer who has created a mobile application exclusively to notify you if someone around you is wearing AI glasses. This raises serious doubts about whether Meta will dare to incorporate controversial features such as facial recognition, something that The New York Times He already suggested that it was under study. Does the devil wear Prada? At the end of the parade, one detail did not go unnoticed. As observed Business InsiderZuckerberg was not wearing his signature Meta smart glasses while sitting in the front row. And he didn’t need it. The photograph of him sitting next to Prada’s leadership was the message in itself. Silicon Valley has finally understood that to convince millions of people to wear a camera, microphone and AI on their faces every day, design matters as much as microchips. The next great technological revolution will not be announced in an aseptic California auditorium with a presenter in jeans; It is being decided right now, under the spotlight on the Milan catwalk. Image | José Goulao and Mark Zuckerberg Xataka | AMD wants to be the great alternative to NVIDIA in AI chips, and Meta has a plan that involves both

If China invades Taiwan, Taiwan will not notice because a drone has been disguised as an optical illusion for months

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In modern aviation, each aircraft carries a unique “digital license plate” that identifies it to the world in real time. It makes perfect sense. It is a system designed to provide transparency and security, but it also demonstrates a most disturbing paradox: what appears on a screen is not always what is really flying. China has just put it into practice. A bird, a fighter or a drone. A Reuters investigation has revealed that, since last August, at least 23 flights over the South China Sea have been registered under the callsign YILO4200, associated with a long-range Chinese military drone, although the signals it emitted told a different story. It happens that on civil radars it appeared as a sanctioned Belarusian freighter, also as a British Typhoon fighterlike a North Korean plane or even like a Western executive jet. These were not specific errors or programming errors. Was a deliberate impersonation of air identities by manipulating 24-bit transponder codes that identify position, course and speed. “We have never seen anything like this.” The middle counted that open intelligence analysts and those responsible for aerial tracking platforms agreed on something unusual: this pattern was unprecedented. It was not the classic drone flying “in the dark” without emitting a signal. It was just the opposite. He flew showing a false identity, changing it even in the middle of the journey, testing in real time to what extent he could “dirty” the aerial chart. “We had never seen anything like this,” summarized one of the experts who analyzed the data. It didn’t seem like an accident or a technical anomaly. It seemed like a conscious attempt at operational deception. The ultimate optical illusion. The drone, identified as a Wing Loong 2 With a 20-meter wingspan, it took off from Hainan and traced star- or hourglass-shaped patterns for hours over sensitive areas, including naval routes and areas frequented by submarines. In one of the missions the identity of a Typhoon of the RAF with that of three other aircraft in just twenty minutes before virtually “landing” like the Belarusian plane. On another occasion he posed as that same freighter while the real aircraft was simultaneously taking off in Europe. It was a full-fledged aerial optical illusion sustained for months. Taiwan as a backdrop. Not only that. Apparently, the trajectories were not random. Many were projected towards the Bashi channelcritical point between Taiwan and the Philippinesand when superimposed on a map of the island they crossed areas of military interest around Taipei and its southern coast. In fact, they also brushed against American and Japanese bases in Okinawa and the Ryukyu. It wasn’t just about surveillance. The pattern therefore suggests a digital rehearsal to a bigger stagea test of how to generate confusion in the early stages of a crisis in the Strait. Confusion in decisive milliseconds. They remembered in research that, in highly automated conflicts, milliseconds can separate detection from firing. Introducing noise, false identities and contradictory echoes can delay critical decisions and overwhelm chains of command. Although masking would hardly completely fool advanced military radars, it can sow doubts, hide intelligence missions, or fuel disinformation operations. The key is not so much to disappear. Is seem like something else. If China invades, the warning could be a fiction. Ultimately, the most disturbing idea is not only that a drone has been eight months in disguise in front of Taiwan’s radars. It is rather that that capacity has been tested with patience, repetition and apparent impunity. If you will, if China finally decides to go beyond in Taiwannot even the island itself is going to realize at the first moment what it is seeing on its screens. Because from now on, what appears might not be what actually flies. And that is the true revolution of the movement: a possible invasion that begins, not with missiles, but with a false identity flashing on the radar. An “ally” that comes close and that in reality is not so much. Image | 中文（臺灣）：​中華民國總統府, Mztourist – In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not to fish In Xataka | China has just mounted the largest cannon in its history on the bow of a ship. And that can only point in one direction

The Goya and almost all the nominated films, on Movistar Plus+. It has no permanence and you can share it with whoever you want.

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The month of February ends with the Goya Awards gala. This 40th edition is being held in Barcelona, ​​but you can watch it without leaving your couch with Movistar Plus+: a streaming platform that only costs 9.99 euros per month and has no permanence. What if what interests you are only the movies? You also have almost all of them in the platform catalog. Monthly subscription to Movistar Plus+ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links ‘Sirat’ or ‘Los Domingos’ are just examples of everything Movistar Plus+ has to offer Movistar Plus+ is a platform that we can contract regardless of the operator we are, so it does not matter if we do not have anything else from this company. Furthermore, since it has no permanence, you can try it for a month and, if it doesn’t convince you, unsubscribe. All without forgetting that you can share the account with a friend or family membersince it supports two simultaneous plays. Goya’s turn. Right now (and until next March 3) we have an active channel focused on these awards. There we can see the gala live, which will begin with a special preview at 7 p.m. After this, we will have the red carpet and at 10 p.m., the entire gala. Now it’s the nominees’ turn. On this platform we will be able to see many of them, among which ‘Sundays‘with 13 nominations,’Sirat‘ with 11 nominations and ‘Maspalomas‘ with 9 nominations. To these we must add others of many carats such as ‘Los Tigres’‘La Cena’ or ‘Very Far’, among others. Beyond movies, we also have series and a lot of football. That includes LaLiga matches such as the upcoming Real Oviedo-Atlético de Madrid (February 28) or Athletic-Barcelona (March 8), but also the semifinals of the Copa del Rey or Champions League matches. Everything together forms a great offer that, as we said above, costs 9.99 euros per month or 99.90 euros If we opt for its annual subscription, which is cheaper in the long run. 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 | Movistar Plus+ In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more In Xataka | The best streaming platforms 2025 | Comparison of Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Movistar Plus+, Filmin, Apple TV, SkyShowtime and Rakuten TV: catalog, functions and prices

The war between Anthropic and the Pentagon points to something terrifying: a new “Oppenheimer Moment”

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Anthropic has refused to bow to pressure from the Pentagon. Its co-founder and CEO, Dario Amodei, has just published a statement in which they make it clear that they are not willing to break their ethical principles. No massive espionage with AI, no development of lethal autonomous weapons with its models. And that reminds us of a terrible case: the one with the atomic bomb. From hero to villain. J. Robert Oppenheimer went from being the “father of the atomic bomb” and a national hero to become in an outcast. His sin was not betrayal, but his moral clarity. After witness the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer desperately tried to stop the atomic escalation and the development of the hydrogen bomb. Either you are with us, or against us. The United States, which had praised him in the past, took advantage of his former political affiliations and stripped him of all his privileges and influence. This demonstrated how the US government simply decided that scientific knowledge was state property and that any researcher who tried to propose ethical limits to their own projects would be treated as an enemy of the country. History is threatening to repeat itself these days. From Oppenheimer to Anthropic. He is doing it with a protagonist that is still there—the US Government—and another that is changing: the one who now defends the ethics of a scientific-technological project is not Oppenheimer, but Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Claude is increasingly vital in the US Government. Your company is between a rock and a hard place these days. Anthropic managed to make its model Claude become the pretty girl of the US Government. The ability of this AI has proven to be so remarkable that it was apparently used to plan the arrest of the former president of VenezuelaNicolás Maduro. red lines. But so that the Pentagon could use Claude, Anthropic imposed certain red lines. No use for mass surveillance of US citizens, and no use for the development of lethal autonomous weapons. And the Pentagon has ended up not liking those red lines, so they want to eliminate them and use Claude as they please as long as, they say, the Constitution and American laws are respected. The Pentagon wants AI without restrictions. That has ended up causing an enormously tense situation these days. The Pentagon threatened to punish Anthropic if it did not give in to its demands, and those threats from the Department of Defense have not been subtle at all. In fact, they have suggested that they could label Anthropic as a company that is “a supply chain risk,” a black label typically reserved for companies in rival countries like China or Russia. Contradiction. Dario Amodei himself explained in an entry on the company’s official blog that those two threats were self-exclusive: “These last two threats are inherently contradictory: one labels us as a security risk; the other labels Claude as essential to national security.” Can AI be nationalized? It’s a disturbing irony: the same government that considers Claude an essential tool for national security is willing to label his creators a public threat if they don’t hand over the keys to the kingdom and their AI. What the Department of Defense and the Pentagon want is to basically “nationalize” the AI ​​technology developed by Anthropic and appropriate it as they already did with the technology that gave rise to the atomic bomb. We know how that ended. Anthropic refuses to give in. The danger is enormous in both sections: mass surveillance, rather than defending democracy, can dynamite it from within, and the NSA scandal is a good example. But even more worrying is the Pentagon’s intention to use this AI to develop lethal autonomous weapons. Amodei insisted on this point, indicating that “The foundational models of AI They’re just not reliable enough. to power fully autonomous weapons. “We will not knowingly provide a product that puts American warfighters and civilians at risk.” Amodei even offers the Department of War/Defense help in the “transition to another provider” of AI models, but at the moment it is not clear which path the US government will take. Oppenheimer Moment. If the Pentagon finally execute his threat and ban Anthropic, the message for the industry will be chilling. In the age of AI there are no conscientious objectors: if a company develops a technological and strategic advantage at a military level, that company is at the mercy of the State. It is a new and terrifying “Oppenheimer Moment” that conditions the future not only of Anthropic, but of the development of AI models itself. In Xataka | “The world is in danger”: Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry

It has taken years of development to give them a V6 engine

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“The Quadrifoglio is the most authentic expression of sportiness at Alfa Romeo and our cars are designed by true driving enthusiasts, we always put the focus on the driver” The words are from Santo Ficili, CEO of Alfa Romeo, who confirmed With them the Italian company once again put on sale the most special versions of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. And the company has resurrected the Quadrifoglio version, the one with a four-leaf clover on the side, four exhaust pipes at the rear and a brute V6 under the hood. The movement is the consequence of another mistake at the time. Stellantis has decided to put the sportiest and most special versions of its brand’s flagships back on the streets. The problem is that this movement is only the visible part of the iceberg. The one that is submerged is a real problem. A problem. The trees that don’t let you see the forest Yes, Alfa Romeo will bring the Quadrifoglio versions of its Giulia and Tonale to its European configurators. The sedan and the SUV will once again have specific sports versions, with all the aesthetic features but, above all, with an engine 2.9 liter V6 520 HP and 600 Nm. We are the first to celebrate it. But although the company has emphasized that the focus is once again placed on the most passionate about the brand and those seeking pure driving sensations, the truth is that the movement is simply a concatenation of errors. Just a year ago, Alfa Romeo confirmed that stopped selling the more performance versions and the 280 HP gasoline engine of its Giulia and Stelvio. A stage was closing. A few months before, Carlos Tavares had resigned (or had been resigned) from Stellantis. Another stage was closing. The Portuguese had become a kind of Carlos Ghosn in tiny A new “cost killer” had taken the reins at Stellantisthe largest automotive group in the world by number of brands in its portfolio. Brands that, since the company was born, have had to demonstrate their profitability. And Alfa Romeo was one of those that had the most complicated role. Tavares made decisions that, over time, are considered more than controversial. The first was to keep the brand portfolio intact. Of course, forcing companies to demonstrate how far they were capable of going and confirm for themselves that they were profitable. His inflexible hand ended up sending cars to the United States for which there was no outlet despite the fact that from the other side of the pond they already told him that there was no way to sell, for example, an electric Fiat 500. Solution? Little less than giving them away. The second was to bring the entire group into line. Same platform for what was to come, with a clear focus on electrification. The immediate result was a brutal cost reduction. The consecutive was a total loss of identity. Believing that the same plan could be equally successful for Citroën, RAM, Alfa Romeo or Maserati did not bode well. And so it has happened. The company has seen how billions were thrown away of euros in development. And how its sales have suffered until assume an impact on the accounts of 22,000 million of euros. The European Union has left a loophole open to combustion, has made medium-term objectives more flexible, The United States has lifted any environmental restrictions. Along the way, many of its brands have lost their identity. Maserati has run into a problem: the rich don’t want electric sports cars. And they have had to cancel a project in which They had invested more than 3,000 million euros. In the United States They had retired their well-known HEMI V8 engine and they have also had to back down because the path to complete electrification of brands like RAM was up in the air. Now, the same has happened with Alfa Romeo. Stellantis opted to completely electrify it and he made the same mistake as with Maserati or RAM, he lost identity. Alfa Romeo has generally had worse finishes than its premium rivals but was supported better or worse by a loyal public that accepted risky and different designs, a distinctive driving feel and engines like the V6 Busso which was, among other incentives, the company’s assets. Strip Alfa Romeo of any identityfrom any minimally aspirational halo to shoehorn it onto the same platform that all Stellantis’ small or medium-sized cars mount and make a Opel Frontera with the Italian brand’s bodywork it didn’t seem like the best idea. Especially if the ultimate intention is to sell cars. The results are being calamitous for Alfa Romeo. Junior doesn’t sell much and Tonale He is almost missing in action. The Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio are cars with a decade behind them, which makes them anticompetitive in the market. Giving them back their V6 engine is a small marketing exercise to boost sales of two cars that seem to have left the collective imagination when looking for a new car. The company, at least, once again has those halo cars that can attract the public and, at least temporarily, put the brand on the market. But if they are with us it is because Stellantis has thrown away the development of the future fully electric models that were going to replace them. These Quadrifoglio versions are also born with an expiration date. In a few months they will have to comply with Euro 7 and nothing confirms that with pure combustion they can be sold without making any adjustments. In 2027, if the plans end up being fulfilled, a completely renewed Stelvio should arrive with a new generation. Considering that they should ride the same platform, the same should happen with the Giulia. Yes, we welcome that both cars can be available. But it’s just a band-aid to stem the bleeding from a much deeper wound. Photo | Alfa Romeo In Xataka | Europe has been filled with Stellantis … Read more

An end of February with 20 ºC, haze and full reservoirs is not "good time": it is the sign of a completely misplaced meteorology

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If we take a brief look at how February 2026 is ending (the sun, the 20 degrees, the haze, the candy-like reservoirs), it is difficult not to say to ourselves: “Finally some good weather!” Above all, if we take into account that after these days of calm, a front will enter from the northwest, inaugurating meteorological spring in style. And yet, it is inevitable to raise an eyebrow. But let’s start at the beginning…. The arrival of a front from the northwest is not only synonymous with rain, but with a progressive drop in temperature and the return of the frosts after disappearing for a few days. Of course, the southern half is not going to notice it too much. Otherwise, the haze has been there for days causing problems (and locust rains in the Canary Islands) and, in the background, a DANA starts to give signs about what will approach Andalusia on Monday or Tuesday. In Xataka After the rains, Spain faces the same problem as a year ago: a devastating fire season Where is spring? If that’s the question, the answer is that it’s already here. Not just because this weekend ‘astronomic spring’ beginsbut because the meteorological dynamics have made everything accelerate in a strange way. Neither the processions deceiveneither allergies disappear. And that means the trap is already here. Because, although the reservoirs are full, they are not filled homogeneously. While Spain is at 83%, there are many basins with many problems (the Segura is at 47.2% and that of Júcar at 63.7%). And, starting in March, both evaporative demandas consumption (agricultural irrigation, urban peaks, tourism) skyrocket. Therefore, with the history of poor management that we have in the country and this feeling of “false security” that is spreading, having the reservoirs full unfortunately means nothing. Absolutely nothing. {“videoId”:”x7zoac4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Climate change and the influence of humans”, “tag”:”Earth”, “duration”:”304″} More problems, many problems. To all this we must add that we do not know what is going to happen from now on. We will never know, it is true: but this precipitation scenario is so new and unusual that all scenarios are open. The only thing that is clear is that, if we do not start managing the forest, forest fires are going to mark the country as soon as the heat arrives. The new normal? That is the second big question because the pan-European studies agree that we are going towards an earlier start of spring compared to previous decades. But no one is very clear if this is an anomaly or a first step. What is clear is that, no matter what happens, this is especially noticeable here in the south. And that is the first big question: Are we prepared? Are we willing to do what we have to do? Image |AEMET In Xataka |In China they are deploying metal firefighters. Maybe they are more useful than robo-waiters (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news An end of February with 20 ºC, haze and full reservoirs is not “good weather”: it is the sign of a completely misplaced meteorology was originally published in Xataka by Javier Jimenez .

Jesus was not born in the year 1 or on December 25. Here’s what we know about his actual and exact date of birth

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With Jesus of Nazareth something curious happens. Few characters have been more celebrated, discussed and reviewed throughout the centuries. Today historians they usually coincide in which (although there is no material evidence of its existence) was a historical figure that can be framed in the Galilee of 2,000 years ago. However, despite all the attention he has received over the last 20 centuries, there are certain key details of his biography that remain shrouded in shadows. For example the date of your birth. And by “date” we don’t just mean the day, but also the year. When discussing, we could even question where was he born. The usual thing is to think that Jesus came into the world on December 25 in Bethlehem of Judea and that six days later humanity (at least the West or the West of Christian influence) entered into a new eraone in which history was dislocated into two stages that we still use today in the 21st century, whether we are Christians or not: the one before and the one after the birth of Christ (Anno Domini). Totally normal, right? That is, why else would we celebrate Christmas every December 25th, a word that comes from the Latin “https://www.xataka.com/magnet/nativitas” (“birth”)? And why do we talk about years BC and AD if it is not for the birth of Christ? Reality is more complicated and has some chiaroscuros. What do we know about the birth of Jesus? The answer to the previous question is very simple: little. Historians usually agree that there are basically two sources to address the topic of the birth of Jesus and both are reflected in the same work: the New Testament of the Bible. The evangelist gives us a clue Matthew. The other, Luke. The problem is not only the scarcity of information, but that both texts were written many decades after the events they narrate. To be more precise, around 80 and 90 AD, half a century after the crucifixion. Of course in the New Testament there are older texts (such as the letters of Paul or even the gospel of Mark, written around 70 AD), but they are of little use if what interests us is the childhood (and especially the birth) of Jesus. Taking into account the few references there are and the importance of the topic (we are talking about the birth of the central character of one of the most influential religions in history), it would be logical that Matthew and Luke coincide in their stories. It’s not like that. In their texts both offer us what experts call “chronological anchors”references that help us date the birth of Jesus, but those clues are scarce and do not quite fit together. What exactly do they tell us? Let’s see. “And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen his star in the east, and we have come to worship him. When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and Jerusalem with him.’ Matthew 2:2-4 “And it came to pass in those days that an edict went out from Augustus Caesar, that all the land should be enumerated. This first enumeration was made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And they all went to be enumerated, each one to his city. Then Joseph went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be registered with Mary, his wife, who was betrothed to him, who was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the days were fulfilled in which she was to give birth.” Luke 2:2-7 Although it may not seem like it a priori, both passages hide a small discrepancy, as explains in Wake up Ferro Professor Javier Alonso, philologist, historian and biblical scholar. The evangelist Matthew (and Luke) tells us that Jesus was born in the time of King Herod, but then Luke specifies that Mary was counted while she and Joseph were traveling to fulfill the census ordered in the time of Augustus. If we review history we see that both “anchors” they collide with each other. Herod the Greatruler under the orders of Rome, ruled Judea more or less between 40 and 4 BCyear of his death. As for the census that Luke tells us about, historians believe that it coincided with the census carried out by Quirinus in the time of Augustus, a fact mentioned by Flavius ​​Josephus. The problem, remember Alonsois that Quirinus ruled around 6 AD the region that covers Judea, years after the death of Herod. Conclusion? Both evangelists are actually drawing a fairly broad time frame, of a decade, that could be set between the years prior to the king’s death and 6 AD “There is a difference of at least 10 years between Matthew and Luke,” explains Alonso. Why do we say that Jesus was born when he was born? At this point that is the most reasonable question. If the evangelists point to a time horizon that begins several years before our era (Anno Domini), because devils Do we say that Jesus was born a few days before the 1st AD? Who and how set that date? To answer these questions we must go back a few centuries, although without reaching the era of Herod. Our attention will focus on beginning of the 5th ADwhen at the request of the Pope the Scythian monk Dionysus ‘the Exiguous’ He launched into a difficult task: calculating the date of Christ’s birth. It may sound strange that so many centuries later the followers of Jesus would worry about this question, but at stake there was a primary issue: clarifying when Easter should be celebrated (Computus paschalis), the main celebration of Christianity. Its date … Read more

Verdeliss’s latest challenge reminds us that impossible challenges are huge business

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Before we get into the matter, let me ask you an indiscreet question: What did you do between seven in the afternoon on Wednesday and the same time on Thursday? Most likely several things, including eating, sleeping, and stretching your legs. Of all of them Estefanía Unzu, better known by her alias ‘Verdeliss’he only did the last one. And in an unorthodox way. During 24 hours the influencer He dedicated himself to running on a treadmill installed behind a shop window in Madrid. It is the umpteenth proof of two trends that they walk run hand in hand: business and the fever generated by impossible challenges, a field that Verdeliss know well. What has happened? If in the last few hours you have stopped by the Decathlon store in Nuevos Ministerios (Orense Street, Madrid) it is quite likely that you have been surprised. On Wednesday the 25th at 7:01 p.m. in its window you could see a treadmill with a runner taking strides. At 2:00 a.m. the image was identical. And at 6:59 p.m. on Thursday the 26th, the same thing happened. The surprising thing is that during all that time (the 24 hours from 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday) the person who ran on the treadmill was always the same: Verdeliss. His balance: 24 hours of walking and more than 250 km. Why did he do it? Advertising. The challenge is part of the campaign orchestrated by Decathlon to promote the sneakers Kipride Maxof Kiprunthe brand with which the French chain aspires to expand its space in the growing business athletics and amateur running. In fact, the company has been in charge of giving visibility to the Verdeliss challenge on its networks, with videos, photos, interviews with passers-by and of course to the influencer herselfwho before starting to run assured that his objective is to test his limits. The underlying purpose: to take advantage of the challenge to give notoriety to the new Decathlin sneakers and provide them with a place in a hypercompetitive market, in which large multinationals such as Adidas or Nike work in different price ranges and frequently launch promotions. Kiprin introduced the Kipride Max ago just a monthpromote them as daily training shoes “designed to offer the brand’s most cushioned and comfortable ride.” Why Verdeliss? Because of his public profile. Runners there are many. Influencers, too. Estefanía Unizo Ripoll (‘Verdeliss’) has however managed to gain notable fame. And it has done so with two ingredients: an unconventional profile and a commitment to extreme challenges like Decathlon. The influencer Navarre has 40 years, eight children and combines his love for extreme sports with his businesswoman facet and media figure (he reached go through Big Brother). Since he joined YouTube in 2008, his profile has also changed: from basically publishing family content he has turned towards extreme sports. If his name sounds familiar to you even if you don’t follow current events running maybe it’s because in 2025 he went for it World Marathon Challengea test that consists of seven marathons in seven days and different continents. And that is just one of the challenges he has conquered. Another is the national championship 100 km on the road. Why is it important? Because Decathlon’s challenge not only tells us about it. It also tells us a lot about the fever (and business) generated around impossible challenges. People like to explore (or see how others explore) physical limits, whether climbing skyscrapersjumping from heart attack distances either swimming and running enormous distances with hardly any breaks. Behind many of these initiatives there are sponsorships (also campaigns with a more or less solidarity approach) and above all a huge media exposure for those who star in them. Verdeliss, for example, adds some 1.6 million of followers on Instagram and others 2.1 million on YouTube. The organization of extreme events also opens a business avenue: without going any further, participating in the World Marathon Challenge requires paying tens of thousands of euros. With yesterday’s campaign, Decathlon manages to position itself in a hypercompetitive market and the influencer (beyond the promotional agreement itself) feeds her image as an athlete capable of conquering extraordinary challenges, traveling 255 km in 24 hours. In the background there is another debate: to what extent facing challenges like this pushes the body to its limits. In the past Unzu herself has recognized having done “savages” and who does not seek to be “exemplary.” In fact, he even warns his followers: “Don’t do this in your house.” Images |Decathlon (IG) and Verdeliss In Xataka | The Winter Olympics leave Italy with a debt of 7.8 million dollars. Not to organize them, to win them

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