Mobile Tech & Gadgets

How Spain has achieved that one in every four series reproduced is its own

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The impact of Spanish series on the streaming market it is indisputable. a few years ago’The Money Heist‘ was on everyone’s lips, but in the same way that Korean fictions are much more than ‘The squid game‘, the Spanish are beginning to go much further than ‘Bella Ciao’. The latest data supports this: it may be that the streaming is hitting where it hurts the most to Spanish cinema, but in other aspects it is doing very well for the Spanish fiction industry. 25%. One in four of the most watched series on streaming is Spanish, according to a study by Parrot Analytics. It is a fact that reflects the international boom and consolidation of audiovisual content produced in Spain. ‘La casa de papel’ not only revolutionized the public’s perception of fiction in Spanish, but also paved the way for new Spanish productions. will conquer global audiences. Titles such as “Elite” or “Manual para senoritas” reach prominent positions in global rankings, confirming that Spanish content not only competes for local attention, but is capable of influencing and attracting viewers from multiple countries. Increase in demand. There is more notable data in this study: Spanish content has experienced notable growth in availability and global demand on streaming platforms between 2021 and 2023, with a 22% increase in the number of titles available. More than 200 Spanish productions are among the 10% most in demand on the main platforms, showing that interest transcends beyond the Spanish-speaking markets. And that is the genuinely relevant leap. In money. The economic value of this growth is significant: in the last four years, Spanish productions have generated 5.1 billion dollars in global revenue for the main streaming platforms. streamingwhich represents almost 9% of the total income generated by non-English titles. If we compile a ranking, Spain is in fourth place in the world in terms of income generated by non-English content, ranking only behind Japan, South Korea and India, all Asian countries. The importance of Netflix. Netflix has been leader in the global expansion of Spanish content: The role played by ‘La casa de papel’ and ‘Elite’ is indisputable, to which are added Spanish films such as ‘Nowhere’, among those that have acquired and retained the most subscribers on the platform in recent years. But Netflix is ​​not the only one: Prime Video and Apple TV+ are also joining this trend with Spanish titles such as ‘Red Queen’ or ‘Land of Women’ respectively. In fact, we are turning 10 years of the arrival of Netflix in Spain, and the figures make it clear to what extent it was key in turning around the situation of Spanish series: already in 2017 it premiered its first Spanish series, ‘The cable girls’, and that year the production of series in Spain doubled (from 11 to 22, not counting new seasons). Since the pandemic, the number has been growing consistently: in 2020 52 series, in 2022 53, in 2023 55, and there was a record in 2024 with 68 series, which has not been equaled. Netflix has partly led this trend: in 2022 it launched 15 Spanish series, the platform’s most productive year, and in 2025 it has already released 10 titles, the second best record. Spanish fictions are going further. It is almost a decade that has served to leave behind a stigma that had partly marked Spanish television fiction: despite the popularity of titles such as ‘Pharmacy on duty’, ‘Family doctor’, ‘Los Serrano’, ‘Cuéntame’, ‘No one here lives’ or ‘Águila Roja’, to list a few, they were considered series of lower quality than those coming from abroad. In recent years that perspective has changed: Spanish series, and the audience makes it clear, can be measured in technical and artistic quality with productions from abroad. The importance of Latin America. The Hispanic market has become a fundamental pillar for the expansion and success of the streaming in Spanish. In the United States, Spanish-speaking consumers dedicate more than 55% of their television time to streaminga figure in which, for obvious reasons, the content in Spanish is of great importance. This trend also moves to the south of the American continent, where the increase in subscribers and the expansion of streaming are transforming audiovisual consumption habits. In Xataka | The golden age of Spanish series: more and more is produced thanks to platforms and pay TV

Two students have the same university degree. One will go further than another: whoever comes

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Where you come from matters a lot if we talk about “social elevators.” Without going too far, the problem nuclear of housing for young people is not such depending on the family that has touched. But these inequalities begin to be noticed much earlier. In fact, it has been found that even the university degree itself does not depend so much on the grade, but on your origins. Gap after the title. a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research with massive data on graduates from public universities in the United States show that, even when students have the same major, the same grades and leave the same institutions, those who come from low-income families finish five years later earning substantially less than their peers from families with more resources. In other words, this means that graduating (which for years was the central objective of equity policies) does not close the gap, it simply transfer to the labor marketwhere he reappears strongly despite having followed the same academic itinerary. The first job. When the researchers adjusted the data by including characteristics of the first job (starting salary, company size, average employer salary level and sector) the gap between poor and rich graduates fell by a third of its original size. This result indicates that a large part of the inequality does not occur years later, but in the instant of jump to the market: the first salary alone explains almost half of the income difference in year five, and other attributes of the first job destination added another substantial part. In other words, that first match between graduate and employer weighs more for future economic trajectory than most previous academic factors. The differences. There’s more, as research indicates that graduates from lower-income households tend to reach the end of their degree less likely to have a secure jobaccept offers with lower starting salaries and enter companies that, on average, pay less and offer fewer promotion and training options. Every extra thousand dollars in starting salary is associated with seven hundred dollars plus five years afterwards, and those who remain in first place for at least two years register several thousand more income in the medium term. This suggests that, even without differences in talent or record, the social origin determines the type of first job that is accessed, and that starting point chain conditions what happens later. Implications. In a political key, the picture that emerges the work forces us to shift the focus of intervention: it is not enough to guarantee access and graduation if inequality re-establishes itself just as we cross the door of the labor market. The researchers say that if the first job explains a good part of the gap, then the policy that aspires to real mobility must act explicitly about that transition (early information, networks, search preparation, paid internships, matching with better quality employers) because that is where today the nuclear difference is formed between equals on paper, but different in origin. Without that final layer, the title stops functioning as a ladder of equality and becomes a filter that validates inequalities that are already written before the first contract. The weight of origin. In short, the evidence suggests that inequality reappears in the transition to work because the resources that mattered before university (social networks, early information, financial cushion and room to wait for a better offer) continue to operate when the time comes to choose the first job. Those who can finance a few months without salary can reject bad offers and wait for a better one, and those who cannot, accept the first one. Those who have relatives or contacts in large companies obtain recommendations that reduce entry friction, and those who do not compete blindly. Even the most sensitive information about how, when and where to apply is unevenly distributed. From that perspective, the “first step” is neither chance nor pure merit: it is a translation in labor terms of the previous advantages that are not seen in the academic record, but that determine the quality of the first contract, and of a “bright” future or simply a future. Image | Pexels In Xataka | The paradox of the “American dream”: the place where it is least likely to be achieved is the United States In Xataka | The dream of young Spaniards is no longer buying a house: it is waiting for their parents to donate it to them

The Internet has become such a hostile place that there are people making drastic decisions: go back to MySpace

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In a thread on Reddit’s r/Millenials subreddit, a user named Blue_Bi0hazard counted that had signed up for SpaceHeya curious MySpace clone, and I was happy about two things. The first, due to the personalization that this new social network offered. “I can’t stand today’s social media,” he explained. “There is hardly any personalization, everything is gray and simplified. Remember how MySpace or Tumblr was: there you really felt that your profile represented you.” Second, because of how the algorithm has taken over everything: at SpaceHey, he explains, “your feed is chronological, rather than what Facebook or Twitter think you should see, plus the damn ads.” These criticisms are not new, and for some time they have caused a unique Internet revolution. Small communities are returning to using clones of myspace as SpaceHeyor of GeoCitiesas NeoCitiesand although their scope is limited, they are the symptom of something very worrying. Beyond nostalgia Behind these seemingly nostalgic gestures, something deeper is drawn. Not only the desire to return to a retro design, but to raise a kind of digital demand. A “I want to have my corner again” in a sea of ​​feeds that no longer belong to us and over which we have no control. The return to MySpace, or rather, to something that evokes it—like SpaceHey—is actually a critical and rebellious act. It is a gesture that says “I am tired of the current Internet turning me into a consumer rather than a user, that everything I do is subject to the algorithm, the subscription and the ads.” And that’s when that return to those rehashes of the past takes on that other meaning. That of a more or less silent protest. Twenty-five years ago, opening the browser was like doing digital zapping and extremely garish. Amateur blogs were interspersed with local forums, profiles with flashing GIFs, view counters (view counters!), and pages that didn’t open on their own, but also had music on autoplay. It was the internet of the 2000s. GeoCities, LiveJournal, ICQ, Friendster, Blogger and MySpace conquered users and they did so with hardly any algorithms. Was a more hippie internetmessy and unpredictable but full of personality. The profiles were their own spaces, not showcases optimized for clicking. Now we remember that time fondly and smile when we realize that the Internet was full of defects. Loading times were much longer, handling HTML was almost a craft, and mixtures of fonts and designs often resulted in strident and garish web pages. However, they also had virtues. They let you make mistakes without charging you for it. They let you be weird without having to ask permission. Nobody (or almost nobody) had to sell anything, and nobody yet knew that they would end up selling you (or your data). It was the internet as a workshop, not as a gallery or showcase. but then standardization arrived. With Facebook, YouTube, Google or later Instagram and TikTok, we were promised order, efficiency and global connection. The Internet went from being its own territory to a service platform in which profiles became uniform, timelines identical, and rules impersonal. The “enshittification” of the internet This is how we have reached the digital fatigue that many experience today. 20 tabs are opened and the same ads, the same formats and the same giants appear. The Internet is no longer so much a “site” as a “medium” in which we only consume, and what we do more than explore and navigate is end up being victims of doomscrolling. This is where the concept comes into play. “enshittification” (“shitification”, in a loose translation) coined by writer Cory Doctorow. This neologism, as recently explained in an interview with Voxdescribes the drift of many online platforms, although it is applicable to all types of companies: “At first they are great for the end users. Then they find ways to retain those users (switching costs, network effects, contracts, DRM) and once the users are trapped, the company makes the product worse to get more value. They then use that surplus to attract business customers (advertisers, sellers, creators), they trap them and start making the product worse for the business side as well. In the end, everyone gets trapped and the platform becomes a pile of garbage. You can see this in places so like Google, Facebook, Uber and Amazon. In other words: what started out promising becomes mediocre, predictable and profit-oriented, not user-oriented. Shitification clearly manifests itself on today’s internet in various ways. It does this with mandatory subscriptions, with algorithms that decide what you see, with constant advertisements and with data that no longer seems to be yours, but rather turns you into simple merchandise. Before, you opened a blog to publish what you wanted. Now the objective seems to be to gain clicks or provoke engagement. All of this has caused users to become target audiences, consumers and even simple data. It seems that there is no more time to browseand we only have it to consume what the algorithms offer us. On Reddit someone asked if others were nostalgic for the internet of the 2000s and the comments were conclusive. The first of them, in fact, made it clear: “nothing seems genuine anymore.” Reviving MySpace That’s where platforms like SpaceHey, which appeared in 2020 and it is totally inspired by MySpace. Its creator, a young German named Anton Röhm and nicknamed “An” on the platform, is in fact the contact that by default is added to your “friends” on the platform, as on MySpace you added that of its creator, Tom Anderson. Long live the wild and original internet. Like a good clone, the similarities between SpaceHey and MySpace go much further. In SpaceHey, personalization shines, and that aesthetic of early 2000 It is evident in strident and shocking designs. The social network — which has around two million users — does not intend to compete with Facebook or Instagram, but it allows its users to recover part of that feeling of freedom and control … Read more

These are just two examples of how China is buying Europe

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For more than a decade, Chinese capital has been buying hundreds of European companies, one after another. Centenary brands, technological leaders, industrial jewels. A map of acquisitions that has changed the ownership of some historic companies. This is the x-ray of the main European companies that are in Chinese hands, sector by sector. Automotive The Swedish and Italian assault. The automobile sector has been one of the main objectives from the beginning. Technology and robotics The German jewel. China has targeted strategic technology companies, especially in robotics and engineering. Agribusiness The Swiss giant. One of the largest Chinese acquisitions in Europe, and in the world. Energy and infrastructure Ports and nuclear. China has invested in strategic energy and port infrastructure assets. In some cases it remained an attempt that did not bear fruit. Tourism and hospitality The European tourism and hospitality sector has also attracted Chinese capital: Luxury goods and fashion European luxury brands have been another strategic target. Lanvin (France): Fosun acquired the French fashion house, one of the oldest haute couture brands in the world, in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Time after adapted the name of its fashion division. Telecommunications A sensitive sector where operations have encountered more resistance. Also in Spain. Missing? Sectors such as banking, where Chinese acquisitions have been more limited by regulation, and defense, practically shielded. Also the pharmaceutical sector, where they have barely achieved important operations. The context. This shopping list is a good reflection of the Chinese strategy of the last 15 years: Access to technology. Global brands. And strategic positions in Europe. But the panorama has changed. Large acquisitions have given way to ground-up investment, especially in electric vehicles, concentrated in countries like Hungary that offer tax advantages and somewhat more regulatory laxity. BYD is a great example. Just like CATL. turning point. Europe is tightening its surveillance now that China changes tactics. Spectacular purchases have been reducing. Now is the time for new factories, electric cars and a subtler battle for the continent’s industrial future. In Xataka | Alibaba’s strategy with AI is very simple: achieve the same thing that Google achieved with Android Featured image | Luca Massimilian

Spanish scientists have created a material that swallows 99.5% of light. And it is great news for renewables

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At first glance they look like invisible needles, thin to the extreme and tiny like a thousandth of a human hair. A group of Spanish researchers has created ultra-black nanoneedles that absorb up to 99.5% of the solar radiation they receive, a record figure that not only sets an optical record, but will increase the efficiency of solar thermal plants. Made in Euskadi. The discovery comes from the Thermophysical Properties of Materials group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). There, the researchers have designed a surface composed of copper cobaltate nanoneedles—a mixed oxide of copper and cobalt—with exceptional optical properties. Its ultra-black tone and its resistance to humidity and high temperatures make it ideal for solar tower receivers. According to tests, the material achieves an absorption of 99.5% of sunlight, surpassing black silicon (95%) and carbon nanotubes (99%). “We are looking for ultra-black materials for more efficient solar towers,” noted researcher Íñigo González de Arrieta. A change for solar energy. In concentrating solar thermal power plants (CSP), hundreds of mirrors reflect and concentrate sunlight towards a central tower. There, heat is used to melt salts that retain thermal energy and allow electricity to be generated even when the sun has already set.The key is to take advantage of each photon: if the receiver material reflects part of the light, that energy is lost. And this is where the new nanoneedles come into play. Until now, the most used material was black silicon, with an absorption level of 95%. The new nanoneedles, on the other hand, could raise that figure significantly and, with it, make solar thermal energy, one of the most promising clean sources in countries like Spain, more competitive and profitable. Beyond the blackest black. Carbon nanotubes seemed unbeatable: dark as a vacuum, capable of trapping almost all light. But they had an invisible enemy: the heat and humidity deteriorated them quickly. The copper cobaltate nanoneedles, developed by the Basque team, endure what their predecessors could not. They withstand temperatures above 700 degrees without losing effectiveness and, in addition, they are more stable. In solar towers, that difference can translate into more energy and less maintenance. A real impact. Dr. Renkun Chen, from the University of California, San Diego, is collaborating with the Basque team and the United States Department of Energy to study the feasibility of applying nanoneedles to industrial solar plants. “We observed that these nanoneedles performed better than the carbon nanotubes used until now, and that their performance increased when coated with zinc oxide,” Chen explained.. However, González de Arrieta himself clarifies that there is still some way to go: the next pilot-scale tests will determine if the process is economically viable and if the material can be produced industrially without losing its optical properties. Darker, brighter. Ultrablack nanoneedles are an example of how nanotechnology applied to energy can have a direct impact on global sustainability. The UPV/EHU team plans to continue developing new compounds with better thermal and optical conductivity, designed to withstand the challenges of future solar towers. Promoting this renewable energy offers many advantages: it is totally clean and can also be used when the sun does not shine,” recalled González de Arrieta. And if everything goes as expected, the future of solar energy could be, paradoxically, darker than ever. Image | Flickr Xataka | In the midst of a trade war, there is a battle that China has already won: that the world depends on its new energy

A Harvard astronomer has accused NASA of hiding 3I/ATLAS images. has an explanation

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Avi Loeb, the controversial cosmologist of Harvard University, has accused NASA of withholding important data on the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, and is mobilizing the US Congress to demand its release. But this alleged concealment of evidence is not what it seems. Weeks without seeing the photos. In one post on your blogLoeb denounces that NASA has not made public images of the object taken with the HiRISE camera of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe from Mars orbit for weeks. These images, captured between October 2 and 3, when 3I/ATLAS passed within 30 million kilometers of the red planet, are, according to Loeb, “extremely valuable” scientific data. The reason is that they would have a resolution of 30 kilometers per pixel, three times greater than the best available image of the interstellar object, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This “side perspective” could be important for understanding the object’s geometry and its brightness, so Loeb asked US Congresswoman Paulina Luna to demand that NASA’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, release it. The explanation. NASA has justified the lack of images with a very earthly argument: the delays caused by the closure of the United States government since October 1. NASA is officially on “shutdown” and with 83% of its staff on unpaid leave due to the lack of agreement in Congress on the 2026 federal budgets. Only the International Space Station control room and the operators in charge of ship and satellite security, as well as a handful of critical jobs, continue to function. The rest (a large part of science, dissemination, aid processing, etc.) is on pause. Why so much interest in 3I/ATLAS. Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object detected in our solar system. Since its discovery, it has shown behavior somewhat disconcerting which has led Avi Loeb to defend the hypothesis that it could be an artificial extraterrestrial object. The latest anomaly occurred near its perihelion (the closest point in its orbit to the Sun) on October 29, when 3I/ATLAS shone brightly in blue and experienced an acceleration which cannot be explained by the gravity of the Sun. Most likely? That the comet was degassing as it warmed up, and the sublimated ice acted as propellants. If you don’t pay attention to it you get bored. Loeb has calculated the possibility that 3I/ATLAS is a natural object: “less than one part in ten quadrillion”. The astronomer highlights the trajectory almost perfectly aligned with the plane of the planets, an unusually large mass, a very low proportion of water (only 4%) and a surprising abundance of nickel as evidence. But this is not the first time that Loeb has proposed that an interstellar object is a technological and “possibly hostile” object. In fact, it’s the second time he’s done it (the first with ‘Oumuamua), and we only know of three interstellar objects that have visited our solar system. The scientific community does not play along. Compared to Loeb’s hypotheses, the vast majority of astronomers offer much more mundane explanations. The blue glow is consistent with emissions of ionized gas from other active comets. Other physical characteristics could be explained if 3I/ATLAS were the ejection of a piece of exoplanet by a natural collision far from Earth. As for the news that “NASA” activated its defense protocol against 3I/ATLAS, it also has a simple explanation: the International Asteroid Warning Network has chosen measure the position of the interstellar comet for an observation campaign that had been planned since 2024, not with the aim of defending ourselves from. an alien attack, but to improve astrometry systems. Image | Q. Zhang and K. Dattams In Xataka | The theory that says our Universe was created in a laboratory: when science merges with science fiction

a temporary robot with AI, drones and without labor rights

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The “robots eat us” is far away for some jobs. In others, that science fiction scenario became a reality a long time ago. Every time it is more common to see that department stores are operated by robots and that automated or remote-controlled machines they have made a space in a framework in which there is a lack of labor. The countryside does not escape from that reality and in a country as dependent on agriculture as Spain, there are already those who are testing self-employed seasonal workers with artificial intelligence who They work tirelessly. And the controversy is served. Temporary with AI. A few days ago there was XXX IRTA Fruit Daysa meeting in which agricultural companies present technical innovations for the sector. One of the participants was Moreno Intec del Pla, a distributor and manufacturer of agricultural machinery specialized in fruit harvesting that has to its credit the Tecnofruit: a picking platform with conveyor belts on which human workers manually place the fruit. At this year’s event, the company presented a robot that has been in development for four years. It is a kind of huge container that has the fruit tanks, diesel tank, engine and wheels, but that has eight drones hooked to its upper part. Each of them is armed with an arm that they use to pick up the fruit (apples, in this case) and place it in the containers. The main advantage? They don’t get tired and each unit has integrated lighting to continue working, whatever the time of day. How it works. Each drone has cameras that allow the specimens to be identified, and a artificial intelligence It is responsible for analyzing whether the piece fits the parameters predefined by the farmer. This system can be configured to harvest all units or to discriminate based on size or color, and although it has remote control so that a single person can control up to five harvesters with the tablet, operation is autonomous. Apart from harvesting, it can also perform other functions such as the selective elimination of small fruits and, although the system currently uses a diesel engine with the aim of guaranteeing long autonomy, there are plans to create electrified versions. Costs and labor. Lluís Asín is responsible for the IRTA Fruit Growing program and, as we read in Segrecomments that systems like this represent “an important leap in the competitiveness of the sector.” He states that between 30% and 40% of the production cost of a plantation corresponds to the harvest and that platforms like this can help improve the profitability of the fields. And, of course, the debate is on the table because the robot arrives to directly replace human labor. Sergi Moreno is the technical director of Tallers Moreno, promoters of this robot, and assures that “it replaces the human part of the process. Each drone acts as if it were a person, but with the ability to operate day and night without rest.” He continues by pointing out that “the main problem of the sector is the lack of labor at the time of harvest”, but it is not perfect and can be seen in the demonstration video: “the same productivity as in manual work has not yet been achieved.” Japanese impulse. Now, Moreno is clear that “the future of the field depends on this automation,” and although Tallers Moreno have been the promoters, the robot has the impulse from Kubota Corporation. This is a Japanese agricultural machinery manufacturer that is developing and marketing autonomous drones for fruit and vegetable harvesting. plantation care. It is not unusual for proposals like this come from Japansince the country is going through a deep birth crisis that is affecting all sectors of society, and work in the field is not left out of this. This automation, in addition to reducing labor costs by 30% (a figure that coincides with IRTA’s estimate), allows increase the height of trees so that they produce more and they claim that the return on investment occurs in just three weeks. World. The development of this machinery is not isolated and Kubota is working hand in hand with the Israeli company Tevel Aerobotics Technologies. Like many other countries, Israel has a problem with agricultural labor, which is why it is looking to accelerate the development of these autonomous drones. It is one of the epicenters of both development and testing, but there are other countries involved. In the United States, states such as California or Washington are already integrating drones in fruit and vegetable harvesting. lettuce. In Europe, Italy and Spain have pilot collection programs underway and are also creating development and collaboration platforms, such as Tallers Moreno. Chile is evaluating the implementation for apple and grape farms. Debate. There are other countries in which putting drones to work is being well developed or valued, and the debate is served for the reason you can imagine: it is something that directly replaces the human worker. There are already voices that warn of a future in which the majority of these seasonal jobs will be absorbed by local automation, threatening livelihood of thousands of workers around the world. Furthermore, there are those who point to a unequal access because it will be the large producers that, with more means, will access this machinery, further strangling the small plantations. There is also the opposite argument, the one that defends robotic labor, pointing that there is no one who wants to work in the field and that new jobs will be created, with people who will have to train to control and maintain these robots. We continually talk about robots in facilities like car megafactoriesdepartment stores of companies such as Amazon and even in the kitchenbut now the field can be that place where robots perform another silent surprise. Although it will be necessary to see if the collection speed improves, because currently it is far from optimal. Images | Tevel In Xataka | You cannot get on the … Read more

China has a gigantic desert in Tibet with countless hours of daylight. And he’s filling it with solar panels

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A year ago we had in Xataka how a huge solar park in the Chinese province of Qinghai, in the heart of the Tibetan plateau, served as an ecological experiment: under the panels, the shade retained moisture and made vegetation sprout in the middle of the desert. Today, that same place – the Talatan Solar Park – has become something much greater. It is the largest clean energy facility on the planet, a “blue sea” of silicon that already covers more than 600 square kilometers at three thousand meters above sea level. Where before there was nothing, China is lifting an energy ecosystem without comparison in the rest of the world. The scale has multiplied. Where last year there was talk of a 1 gigawatt solar park, today a complex extends that reaches 15,600 and 16,900 megawatts and continues to expand. Its area – between 420 and 610 square kilometers – is seven times that of Manhattan. Furthermore, it is not alone since 4,700 megawatts of wind energy and 7,380 megawatts of hydroelectric dams are deployed around it, completing an unprecedented hybrid system. The result: enough renewable energy to supply almost all of the plateau’s needs, including the data centers that power China’s artificial intelligence. According to CleanTechnicaevery three weeks China installs as many solar panels as the entire capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in its history. A global clean energy laboratory. The Tibetan plateau, with its pure, cold air, has become the most ambitious energy laboratory in the world. There, China is experimenting with an electricity production model based exclusively on renewables. Electricity generated in Qinghai—40% cheaper than coal, according to the NYT— powers high-speed trains, factories, electric cars and data centers. In fact, the region is home to new computing centers dedicated to artificial intelligence, which consume less energy thanks to the altitude and low temperatures. “Hot air from servers is used to heat other buildings, replacing coal-fired boilers,” explained Zhang Jingang, vice provincial governor. In the words of Professor Ningrong Liu, in his column for the South China Morning Post: “China is not only leading the transition to green energy; it is building the 21st century energy scaffolding that sustains its industrial leadership in electric vehicles, batteries and solar technology.” Three sources that beat in unison. The magnitude of the project is only possible thanks to centralized planning that combines three main sources: solar, wind and hydroelectric energy. During the day, Talatan panels capture more intense solar radiation than at sea level; At night, thousands of wind turbines collect the cold breezes that sweep across the plains. When both systems fluctuate, hydroelectric dams balance the grid. Also, from the New York Times They described a system reversible pumping: excess solar energy during the day is used to raise water to reservoirs located in nearby mountains, which release that water at night to generate electricity. And under the panels, life returns. The shade of the plates reduces evaporation and soil erosion. According to China Dailythis year the vegetation has recovered up to 80% and 173 villages have benefited from the associated livestock farming. A local shepherd, Zhao Guofu, said: “My flock has grown to 800 sheep and my income has doubled since I grazed between the panels.” The perfect geography for the sun. No other country has taken solar generation to similar altitudes. The altitude plays in favor of physics, at 3,000 meters the air contains fewer particles that block light and the low temperatures reduce the thermal loss of the panels. This efficiency is multiplied in Qinghai, one of the few areas of the Tibetan plateau with large plains, where it is possible to build without the limits of the mountainous relief. The Talatan Desert, once an arid and worthless land, has become an energetic jewel. local authorities offer symbolic leases and have developed roads and high-voltage lines connecting the plateau with the industrial centers to the east. That energy travels more than 1,600 kilometers to factories and cities. According to CleanTechnicaChina already operates 41 ultra-high voltage transmission lines, some longer than 2,000 miles and up to 1.1 million volts. The global scale: no one comes close. Other countries have tried to generate clean energy at altitude, but with modest results. Switzerland, for example, inaugurated a small solar park in the Alps, at 1,800 meters, with barely 0.5 MW. For its part, in the Chilean Atacama Desert, a 480 MW project operates at 1,200 meters. By way of comparison, the Talatan complex multiplies the capacity of the Bhadla Solar Park in India, and for more than seven that of the Al Dhafra Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates, which until recently held records. The superpower of clean energy. China produces and consumes more renewable energy than any other country on the planet. In 2024, was responsible of 61% of new solar installations and 70% of global wind power. That same year, it achieved the capacity targets it had set for 2030. In the first six months of 2025added 212 GW solar and 51 GW wind, and the country’s carbon emissions fell for the first time. In this context, Talatan Park is both a symbol and an infrastructure. China is exporting its renewable technology around the world, from Asia to Africa, following the logic of Belt and Road Initiative. For the academic Ningrong Liu: “China wants to stop being the world’s factory to become the engine of the world’s factory.” It is not just about manufacturing panels, but about selling the complete model: engineering, financing and know-how to build green networks in other countries. The less visible side of the miracle. It’s not all clean energy and pastoral harmony. In its report, The New York Times recalled that access to Tibet remains strictly controlled by the Communist Party, and that Western media were only allowed to visit Qinghai on a government-organized tour. There are also human and environmental costs. CleanTechnica documents how the giant power lines that transport energy from west … Read more

The “foodies” have turned the historic centers of Italy into hell, so the cities are getting serious

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Italy is at war. In a not so particular one that it shares with other countries and cities: the battle to stop mass tourism. He is trying with all his might through higher rates, entrance fees that they folded After initial success, a veto key boxes and even taxes on tourist dogs. Now, several cities have agreed on one thing: stop the ‘foodies’. As? Prohibiting the opening of new restaurants in historic centers. In short. Going through the historic center of any Italian city is like entering a culinary amusement park. There is not only restaurants wherever you lookbut these constitute a fair in which eye-catching posters appealing to tradition and artisans who prepare fresh pasta in front of the windows of the premises, like circus animals, are a constant. Now, cities like Rome, Turin, Florence, Palermo and Bologna have launched restrictions when opening new restaurants in their historic centers. Displacing the population. Although Italians love their traditional cuisine as much as anyone, they are getting tired of their city centers becoming theme parks. There are especially bleeding streets, like Via Maqueda in Palermo or Via del Pellegrino in Rome (to a lesser extent), which are basically a succession of premises. As he comments The New York Timeshundreds of new restaurants have opened over the last decade in just a few streets of those tourist spots, establishments that dress in tradition, but are not and displace the local population far from their homes. It is something that is seen in many other cities in the world in which the tourism is doing that the price of land rises in very specific points, also that of rents, and the locals see how traditional businesses disappear while others linked to that consumerism flourish. “We must protect the center”. In the case of Italy, the aim is to fight against gastronomic gentrification, which is replacing historical markets and local stores with businesses aimed at mass tourists, and they also want to protect the authenticity and daily life of citizens. But we also want to preserve tradition and diversity compared to more homogeneous or franchised models. Luisa Guidone, Councilor for Commerce of Bologna, comment that “the center must be protected, maintaining the mix of existing stores that allow citizens to have their daily experience when shopping.” Everyone makes their war. As we say, the prohibition or limitation on opening premises is not part of a national initiative, but rather of each municipality. In Palermo, new restaurant licenses have been expressly prohibited in emblematic areas such as Via Maqueda. In Florence, no new openings of bars, restaurants or any food establishments in more than 50 streets in the center and some peripheral ones. In the aforementioned Bologna, until June 2028, new projects aimed at commercial activities that want to open in the historic center and in Rome or Turin will be carefully studied. more of the same (especially around the Vatican). Then, there are exceptions. For example, Florence allows you to open establishments such as art galleries, bookstores or crafts, anyone that is not focused on mass hospitality. Not just food. But this goes beyond gastronomic gentrification. In it Corriete di Bologna we can read that the restrictions They imply that, until 2028, it will be prohibited to open new money exchange stores, call centers (which are telephone centers, Internet connection points and money transfer points) in the historic center, as well as “buy gold” or automatic cash machines.slot machine‘. Debate. Now, promoting something like this is complicated when tourism represents almost 12% of the Italian economy and the gastronomic tourism It is an important source of income. In fact, in the NYP article they include statements from tourists who only want to eat. Also those responsible for FIPE, the Italian Federation of Food and Tourism Companies, who point out that “sometimes, the Coliseum is an excuse for an American among a cacio e pepe and one amatriciana“In addition, it is criticized that each city is waging war on its own and there is no law promoted at the national level. In any case, as we said at the beginning, it is evident that Italy has a problem with this mass tourism that is displacing the population that really lives in those cities. Traditional businesses have closed or have been converted, going from selling useful foods for citizens to traditional dishes wrapped in a striking way for tourists. And finding the balance seems tremendously complicated. Images | Anna Church, Maxime Steckle, Matej Buchla In Xataka | “Fodechinchos free”: in a bar in Galicia, tourismphobia is being redirected against Spaniards from other regions

We had a very serious problem with our resistance to antibiotics. Now we are closer to solving it

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One of the great threats that humanity faces today is without a doubt the antibiotic resistancewhich leads to emergence of bacteria that are resistant to all pharmacological weapons that we have. This forces science to have to look for new antibiotics and new ways to ‘attack’ a bacteria. And at the moment it seems that we are approaching this great milestone with a new antibiotic that was hidden in plain sight. The problem. Having bacteria that you cannot compete against is undoubtedly a death sentence for the person who is unlucky enough to be its host. Something that responds to the mechanisms that these microorganisms have to evolve and develop ‘tactics’ that allow them to escape our antibiotics. A very typical situation in a hospital, especially where a bacteria that has been exposed to a treatment, but has survived, will adapt to that environment. This makes the WHO categorize antimicrobial resistance as “one of the top 10 threats to global public health.” Put another way: we are running out of antibiotics that work, since bacteria are evolving faster than we are discovering new drugs. And this is something that is also magnified by our own fault by taking antibiotics uncontrollably or not complete treatment guidelines appropriately. That is why the discovery just made by a team from the University of Warwick and Monash University is so spectacular: have found a “silver bullet” that had been hidden in plain sight for 50 years. The discovery. Published in it Journal of the American Chemical Societywe are talking about an antibiotic that, in early tests, has been shown to be up to 100 times more powerful than existing drugs against high-priority resistant bacteria, such as feared Staphylococcus aureus methicillin resistant (MRSA). The molecule in question is called pre-methylenemycin C lactone (compound 5), and it has arrived to try to save humanity from this pandemic we are experiencing. But the most surprising thing is where they found it: in the Streptomyces coelicolora soil bacteria that is literally the “model organism” for the production of antibiotics and which has been studied endlessly since the 1950s. That is to say, we had a possible solution before our eyes and we had not realized it until now. This bacteria produces a well-known antibiotic called methylenemycin A that is low potency and is not used clinically. However, scientists decided to investigate not only the final product, but the intermediate steps of its biological “assembly line.” This is where it was seen that it intermediately produced methylenemycin C, which has much more powerful antimicrobial effects. And this is a lesson for science: we are always left with the result of the reactions (that is, the final product). But now what should be done is analyze everything that happens between the first substrate and the final product. Because we are seeing how methylenemycin A was discovered 50 years ago and it was not until now that one of its intermediate products has been a protagonist in this fight. As. To achieve this, the team used genetic engineering. Basically, they “sabotaged” the bacteria’s production chain by creating a mutation that eliminated the gene. mmyE. When this piece is missingthe bacteria could no longer complete the process and began to accumulate the “intermediate steps.” Something similar to when in a production line we remove one of the tapes and an intermediate version of what we were manufacturing begins to accumulate. The tests. When they tested the activity of the new molecule, the results were astonishing. Compound 5 (pre-methylenemycin C lactone) was “one to two orders of magnitude more active” (i.e., 10- to 100-fold) than methylenemycins A and C (the final products). In this way, it was finally possible to see that the result was up to 256 times more powerful than even some drugs. Something that is revolutionary. The great hope. Being powerful is all well and good, but the real battle is against resistance. That is, when the bacteria come into contact with this antibiotic, they can develop a system to get rid of its lethal effect. And this is where there is good news, since after subjecting the bacteria E. faecium At increasing concentrations of the new antibiotic for 28 consecutive days, a standard method for forcing the emergence of resistance, no resistance was detected. A new way to search. Until now, the intermediate products generated in the production of different medicines had been ignored. Now this study puts an end to this custom, since it has become clear that the identification and testing of the intermediate elements of biosynthesis can lead to a great revolution. Now with this new treatment, preclinical tests with animals remain to assess its safety with the aim of subsequently moving on to tests in humans and the evaluation of its side effects. Images | CDC Myriam Zilles In Xataka | AI has opened a chest that had been closed for almost 4 billion years: the salvation of antibiotics

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