Mobile Tech & Gadgets

a scar that “splits” the peninsula with water

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We have had 2026 going through water. Christina It brought strong winds and covered the central part of the peninsula with snow. Then, the storm Leonardo left torrential rains and strong winds in Andalusia and we didn’t finish saying goodbye to Marta and Nils is here. So much water has fallen that the state’s reservoirs store 117% more hydroelectric energy that a year ago, classes have been suspended in almost all of Andalusia and municipalities such as Grazalema have been evicted in the face of the threat of almost 600 liters of water per square meter, a figure that beats any previous record. Not only Spain has suffered the intense rain, Portugal has also taken its share: affected areas include Alcácer do Sal and the Tagus River basin, in the southern part of the country. Luis Montenegro, Prime Minister of Portugal, has declared the state of calamity in 68 municipalities until mid-February due to unprecedented rains and floods. Visually we have seen how rivers and reservoirs reached unusual heights, but from space the image of the trail left by the train of storms in the southwest of the peninsula it is also impressive. Below these lines, the radar image of the European Space Station based on data captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1 with the extension of the floods around the Tagus River and its basin. The extent of flooding around the Tagus River and its basin. THAT To create this composition, ESA has superimposed an image taken on February 7, 2026 over one taken on December 27, 2025. The area marked in red indicates how far the water level has risen in the Tagus basin and surrounding areas. This synthetic aperture radar is capable of operating even in unfavorable conditions, such as low sunlight and dense cloud cover, allowing continuous monitoring. The map that we see below shows the accumulation of rain in the Iberian Peninsula in a few days: from February 1 to February 7, 2026. For this, the European Space Station has taken the data of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) missionan international network of satellites that provides global observations of rain and snow. Those areas in red indicate a record of more than 250 millimeters of rain in just one week. Accumulated rain from February 1 to 7. THAT As can be seen, North Africa, southwest Portugal, Galicia and the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz bore the brunt, which explains the situation of saturation of the land and why several hydrographic basins increased their flow significantly. By combining both systems it is possible to relate how intense the precipitation is with its physical impact and its real extension. In Xataka | Google flood risk map: so you can see if you live in an area that is at risk In Xataka | Map with the level of reservoirs: how to check their status and the dangers of river overflowing with infoAGUA Cover | European Space Agency

the Bethlem psychiatric hospital where the patients were fairground attractions

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Between brushstroke and brushstroke, Richard Dadd (Victorian painter) conceived the disturbing idea that his father was the reincarnation of a devil. During a summer walk through the countryside in 1843 he stabbed him to death. He ran away. Shortly after, the police arrested him in France. Fed up with claiming without anyone paying the slightest attention that he, in reality, was Saint Paul, at the beginning of 1790 John Frith He tried to attack King George III of England with a stone. The last drop of energy left in the veins of Eliza Josolyne It froze in the winter of 1857. The only servant in a house with twenty rooms, Josolyne (23 years old) had to ensure that every corner was clean and tidy. When in January he was also ordered to keep alive the 20 fires that heated his weak balance, he jumped into the air. The stories of Richard, John and Eliza have different characters, settings and dates, but they share the same ending: the Bethlem Royal Hospitalone of the most famous psychiatric hospitals in the world and the one that has contributed the most to creating the myth of the nightmare asylum. Also one of the oldest. Since its foundation, in the 13th century, and until its therapies began to modernize between the 18th and 19th centuries, the London sanatorium left disastrous chapters. For years more than a hospital It was almost a “human zoo”a gallery where the rich of London flocked to (after paying a shilling per entry) enjoy the spectacle of the “crazy ones.” In 1681 rulers shamelessly referred to patients as “lunatickes”, a mixture of “lunatic” and “tickets”. Added to the public humiliation were cruel treatment and deplorable conditions. Bethlem in 1739. The black legend of Bethlem has been replicated a thousand times in literature and in 1946 inspired Mack Robson for his film Bedlam, Psychiatric Hospital. Today it is a center respected in the United Kingdom, but has not yet managed to completely shake off that disastrous past. From time to time it appears from the most unexpected corner. Five years ago, workers working on London’s Crossrail (an underground train to improve the City’s communication) came across an unpleasant surprise: bones. A pile of human bones. Upon investigation it was discovered that they belonged to the old cemetery from the psychiatric hospital. Between the mass graves with Bethlem inmates and the corpses left by the Black Death, it is estimated that there could be 4,000 skeletons. Bethelem, the remote origin of everything The origin of the psychiatric hospital dates back to 1247. Simon FitzMaryformer sheriff of London, donated land in Bishopsgate to build an asylum which was named Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem. From that name the abbreviations Bethlem and Bedlam were derived, today synonymous of commotion and chaos. Liverpool Street station now stands at that location. Decades later, the center is already listed as a hospital and around 1400 it welcomed inpatients. In 1547 Henry VII made the decision to hand it over to the city of London to house its mentally ill patients. Over the centuries and as its activity increased, the psychiatric hospital changed locations. When the old medieval building became too small in 1676, the hospital moved to a new and opulent one located in Moorfields. Its creator, Robert Hooke, wanted it to be the Versailles of London and threw the house out the window: he planned a 165-meter-long façade, Corinthian columns, a tower with a dome, gardens… “It was a contrast: that grandiose façade and the somber interior,” explained in 2017 to the BBC Mike Jay, author of This Way Madness Lies. Great, but a total ruin. The heavy façade soon cracked and the hospital suffered serious damage. leaks. Writers like Thomas Browne doubted whether the “madmen” were the inmates or those responsible for that nonsense. The psychiatric hospital would be moved two more times. In 1815, to St. George’s Fields, in Southwark, to a building that has been occupied by the Imperial War Museum since 1936. And in 1930 Beckenhamits location even today. During his journey he passed through all kinds of hands. Towards the end of the 16th century, James I put his doctor Helkiah Crooke in charge of the hospital. It is suspected that the doctor he was so good with the scalpel as with the sack. In 1632, a decade after taking office, he was removed amid accusations of corruption and neglect of his duties. Bethlem is not remembered, however, for Hooke’s strident project or the corruption of those responsible. It is because of the chains, confinements and punishments that the patients suffered. Not always in the same way. Towards the end of the 19th century, pain therapy was “prescribed” within its walls. rotationa practice supposedly inspired by the theories of Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of the famous naturalist author of The origin of species: Sitting the patient in a chair suspended high so that he turned and turned during long sessions. William Hogarth’s “A Rake’s Progress” series of paintings ended in Bethlem. Throughout the 18th century, cold baths or shackles were not unusual either. Of Edward Wakefield (a pioneer in the colonization of New Zealand) is said to have spoken in horror of the naked, starving men chained to the walls he encountered during a visit to Bedlam in 1814. Fair attraction for the bourgeoisie For one shilling, visitors could tour the psychiatric hospital as if it were a zoo. For at least one period, inmates were exposed to the public. Nor was it unusual for them to be allowed to egg them on. “At that time (1610) there was nothing strange about encouraging such a spectacle: visiting Bethlem was seen as edifying for the same reasons as attending hangings was edifying,” explains to the BBC Jonathan Andrews, author of The History of Bethlehem. Tradition assures that up to 96,000 visitors in a single year. Different personalities also passed through the psychiatric hospital. In 1732 the painter William Hogart began a series … Read more

a Russian startup has hacked their brains to turn them into drones with wings

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Nothing more a priori innocent than a pigeon flying over the buildings of a city or perched in a square. Or not, because in addition to being just another city dweller (sometimes excessively so, which becomes a problem), pigeons have been used as discreet express messengers from the ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations. And also in war scenarios: in World War I, the United States Army created a carrier pigeon service called United States Army Pigeon Service for tactical messaging when all else failed or was destroyed. Now the Russian startup Neiry assures having given them one more twist: it has turned pigeons into biological drones. An electrode in the brain. What the Russian company proposes is not to biomimic a drone so that it resembles a pigeon, but to convert this animal into a transport vector by equipping it with implanted neural interfaces. More specifically, they implant electrodes in the brain, which are then connected to a stimulator attached to the head. That is, a kind of GPS that speaks with the brain of the bird. Neiry explains that the interface provides mild stimulation to certain brain regions, thus causing the bird to (artificially) prefer a certain direction. Otherwise, the bird behaves naturally. This system does not replace the bird’s will, but rather biases its sense of orientation to follow pre-established routes. Why birds? According to the Russian startupthe objective is to use biological carriers in situations where drones have limitations in range, weight or others such as a restricted area. Alexander Panov, CEO of the company, explains that birds can maneuver in complex environments, fly for long periods and operate in places where drones are restricted, such as collects Bloomberg. Anyone who has handled a drone knows that there is one critical element: the battery. Unlike unmanned aerial vehicles, a pigeon does not need to change its battery nor does it require frequent landings: its nature gives it everything necessary to carry out a long-distance flight. Millions of years of evolution make a bird beat any commercial drone and its 20-minute battery life in terms of flight stabilization and energy efficiency. In fact, up to 400 kilometers a day without stops. Pigeons with backpack. In the test flights that Neiry has carried out with these pigeon drones, the birds were equipped with this neural interface, in addition to a small backpack with the controller, solar panels mounted on the back and a camera. Of course, without giving as much singing as a drone, they did not go unnoticed, as can be seen in the video provided by the company. Pigeons are just the beginning. Panov has explained that although they currently focus on pigeons, “different species can be used depending on the environment or payload.” Bloomberg echoes of other similar implantations, such as the brain of cows for NeuroFarming, so that they produce more milk. And a rather spooky ultimate goal: “to create the next human species after Homo sapiens: Homo superior.” Possible applications. After the tests, the company ensures that the system is ready for practical implementation. According to Neiryhave no plans to use these birds for military purposes despite the fact that in a war or surveillance scenario their use is disruptive: the radars are programmed to filter out winged fauna as ‘noise’ or false positives. In short: they would go unnoticed. Among the ideas of use where they see an opportunity are infrastructure inspection, support for search and rescue, coastal and environmental observation or monitoring of remote areas in places like Brazil or India. Where is the ethics?. Mechanical drones are easier to control, they are capable of carrying larger loads and obviously, they do not need to feed nor will they defecate on you. And that’s not to mention the ethical implications of altering an animal’s behavior. Gizmodo details that after the surgery to implant the chip, the pigeons are almost ready to fly, so the risk “is low for the survival of the birds.” Of course, the startup has not provided independent third-party reviews, which makes specialists question the ethical implications of its technology. The bioethicist and law professor at Duke University Nita Farahany affirms that “Every time we use neural implants to try to control and manipulate any species, it is disgusting.” In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has become something absurd: there are drones shooting at Russian soldiers dressed as “penguins” In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is unprecedented: Russia is not launching drones, it is launching “Frankensteins” Cover | sanjiv nayak and Andreas Schantl

Countries are trying to prevent the accumulation of wealth of technological millionaires. Ancient Rome tried it too

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The concentration of wealth in a few hands that we see today in technological billionaires is not a new phenomenon. More than two thousand years ago, the Ancient Rome faced exactly the same dilemma that worries today to governments around the world: a few rich people accumulated land and resources, while the majority of citizens became impoverished to the point of bordering on misery. A young politician named Tiberius Sempronius Graceither He thought he found a solution to redistribute the wealth accumulated by the Roman patricians: his idea cost him his life. In the middle of the second century BC, after destroying Carthage and Corinth, Rome had become the dominant power of the Mediterranean. However, this expansion it didn’t make everyone rich equally. For the humblest Roman peasants, it brought a devastating social crisis. The small landowners, who for centuries had cultivated their lands and served in the Roman legions, were displaced by large estates exploited with slave labor brought from the new conquered territories. The long military campaigns had prevented the soldiers peasants return in time to harvest their lands, which affected the economies of their families. Furthermore, upon their return they discovered that their lands had been expropriated by millionaire aristocrats from Rome. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchusgrandson of Scipio Africanus, the general that defeated to the Carthaginian Hannibaland heir to one of the most powerful families in Rome, was guaranteed a brilliant political future. However, in the year 133 BC, being elected tribune of the plebs, he decided to propose an agrarian reform with which he attempted to redistribute the enormous fortunes that Roman landowners had accumulated. Something similar to what is trying to make California and other countries all over the world. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus With this measure, Gracchus was directly confronting his own people since he himself came from a wealthy family. Its law established that no citizen could own more than 500 iugera (about 125 hectares) of public land, the so-called ager publicus. The plots that exceed that limit will be expropriated and handed over to landless peasants. A measure that, de facto, ended with the large estates in the hands of the richest romans. The objective of the measure was twofold: to restore economic solvency to the Roman people and to ensure that Rome had enough citizens with assets to nourish its legions, since only the owners They could serve as soldiers. Making friends among the richest According to the ancient sources of Plutarch, written between the years 96 AD and 117 AD, Tiberius did not seek to start a revolution against the rich, but to restore old republican laws that had fallen into disuse. To defend his reform, Tiberius gave speeches in front of the impoverished people of Rome. In one of his most famous, which was collected by Plutarchthe young tribune declared: “Their generals deceive them when, in battle, they encourage them to fight for the temples of their gods and for the tombs of their fathers. This is because, of a large number of Romans, not one has his own domestic altar or family tomb. They fight and die to feed the opulence and luxury of others, and, when they claim to be masters of the entire world, they do not even own a piece of land.” The Senate, dominated by large landowners, tried to block the reform by all means. They persuaded another tribune named Octavius ​​to veto the proposal, but Tiberius responded with a bold and unprecedented maneuver: he called for the assembly to remove Octavius ​​from office for acting against the interests of the people. The reform was finally approved and applied by distributing the large estates of the landowners among the Roman peasants. However, when Tiberius attempted to run for a second term as tribune, a practice then considered contrary to Roman tradition, the aristocracy decided he had gone too far. According to the historical documentationduring the elections in the Capitol, a group of senators led by the maximum pontiff Scipio Násica, a relative of Tiberius himself, burst in with a group of followers armed with clubs and with the legs of chairs torn from the Curia. In the sacred place, where swords were not allowed, They beat Tiberius to death and about 300 of his followers. His body was thrown into the Tiber River without allowing his family to bury him. Death of Tiberius Gracchus Ten years later, in 123 BC, Tiberius’ brother, Gaius Sempronius Gracchustook up the cause started by his brother with an even more ambitious program. Caius approved the Lex Frumentariawhich forced the State to distribute wheat among the plebs at prices below the market, laying the foundations of the food subsidy system that would last for centuries. He also proposed extending Roman citizenship to the Italic peoples who fought in Rome’s wars but did not enjoy its benefits. The Senate used populist tactics, warning that Italian foreigners would reduce aid to Roman citizens, and when Caius lost popular supportwas pursued to the Aventine Hill near Rome, where he ordered his faithful slave Philocrates to assassinate him. Nearly 3,000 of his supporters died with him. The legacy that survived violence Although the Senate murdered both brothers, it could not erase their legacy. The reforms that the Gracchi had proposed would finally be implemented decades later by order of Julius Caesar, who had a powerful army that protected him from suffering the same fate. The historians Plutarch and Appian left record of what happened with the Gracchus brothers centuries later, both agreed to portray Tiberius as a politician with solid ideas who looked to Rome’s past to find solutions to the problems suffered by his people. Paradoxically, although the story of the Gracchus brothers happened more than 2,000 years ago, we could find very similar references today with just a quick glance at the news. In Xataka | Mark Zuckerberg is going to change the California sun for Miami. You have 11 billion reasons to do it. Image | Wikimedia Commons (Lodovico Pogliaghi, Guillaume … Read more

Do you sneeze when eating dark chocolate? It’s not an allergy, it’s a “bug” in your DNA inherited from Neanderthals

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Buy a bar of chocolate with 90% cocoa to get home and put the first piece in your mouth to have that bitter and pleasant hit that many seek. But what you find is a series of sneezes as if it were an allergy. If you have identified with this microstory, you are not allergic to cocoa, but you are part of a curious minority victim of a neurological “short circuit” that science has studied and that could directly connect with Neanderthals. A crossing of cables. Sometimes the body gives us many surprises, such as sneezing when we get a bit of sun after leaving the house. But if we focus on chocolate, the reality is that We are not talking about an immune response with histamine involved. The explanation most accepted by the scientific community lies in the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve is one of the most important nerves we have and is responsible for transmitting sensitive information from the face to the brain. In the event that we eat dark chocolate, especially with a purity greater than 70%, compounds such as theobromine and caffeine intensely stimulate taste receptors. The theory. What is being proposed right now is that in certain people this signal is so powerful that the trigeminal nerve becomes “confused.” In this way, when passing close to the optic nerve and the respiratory tract, the brain interprets this explosion of bitter and intense taste as a nasal irritant or a powerful visual signal, triggering the sneeze to “expel” the supposed threat. The solar connection. As we have mentioned previously, there is a well-documented phenomenon in which 25-30% of the population sneezes when looking at bright light like that of the Sun. This is what is known as a photic sneeze reflex and science has strong support for stating that it is due to hyperexcitability in the visual cortex. Well, chocolate sneezing seems to be a variant or “first cousin” of this photic reflex. In fact, it is quite likely that if a person sneezes on chocolate, they will also do so when leaving the house on a sunny day. Both are failures in the filtering of signals in the trigeminal nerve. Neanderthal heritage. As explained by biologist Gerry Ward in an archived blog postthis trait is not a random error that exists in the population, but is a direct inheritance in our genetic material, and goes one step further by pointing out that it may come directly from Neanderthals. The hypothesis on the table is that, in prehistoric times, this reflex acted as a defense mechanism to clean the respiratory tract against unknown tastes or smells that could be dangerous. In this way, what today is a great nuisance when eating a simple dessert, 40,000 years ago could have been a great evolutionary advantage that marked the survival of certain individuals. It’s more complex. Although dissemination almost always falls into great simplicity, genetic data is complex. In this case, Ward’s theory placed the responsible gene in the chromosome 11but later data from 23andMe, the famous genetic analysis company, identified specific markers associated with this phenomenon on chromosome 12. But this later changed, since studies on the photic reflex pointed to variations in the chromosomes 2 and 3. This suggests that the trait is polygenic since there is not a single “switch” for sneezing, but rather several genetic components that increase the probability of suffering from it. How many suffer from it. Although a priori you may hear that this is a ‘problem’ that is present in 30% of the population, the reality is that this figure corresponds to the photic reflex related to sunlight. The sneeze caused specifically by dark chocolate is much more unique, since, according to data collected by 23andMe among its users, only about 1% of the population reports systematically sneezing after consuming dark chocolate. In this way, we are facing a select club within the largest group of those who sneeze for light. Images | Tetiana Bykovets Towfiqu barbhuiya In Xataka | Something strange is happening with the chocolate crisis in Spain: households consume less, but business improves

The wildest race on the Olympic tracks in Cortina was in 1981. A man launched himself dodging bullets and assassins on a motorcycle

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There are places that seem calm until someone decides to take them beyond reason. Scenarios conceived for precision and discipline that end up becoming, through a combination of ambition and audacity, within the framework of feats that border on the impossible and they leave a mark that is difficult to erase. The slopes of Cortina, in Italy, have seen all kinds of sporting feats, but few like the one that occurred in 1981. Return with the aroma of cinema. When the Winter Games They return to Cortina d’Ampezzothe tracks not only recover their sporting history, but also one of the sequences more wild and brutal never shot in the snow. The scene in question turned these mountains into the scene of impossible chases, shootings adrenaline in full descent and suicidal jumps that were etched in the collective memory long before he was once again at the center of the Olympic calendar, or even before Tom Cruise himself will amplify the scene in his Mission Impossible saga. The wildest chase. The story took place in 1981, during the filming of For Your Eyes Only which led to James Bond himself (then played by Roger Moore) to flee skiing of armed killers, motorcycles and even a biathlete who shot him while he was descending at full speed. In fact, the brutal sequence culminated with a maneuver as absurd as it was legendary: sliding down an Olympic bobsleigh track at more than 80 kilometers per hour and be thrown into the void as if it were a ramp. It was an extreme scene even for the saga, which came from sending the agent into spacebut which found in the Italian Alps a new limit for its formula of constant danger. Six weeks on the brink of disaster. The sequence in question required more than a month of filming, expert drivers inherited from The Italian Jobpiano wires, cameras mounted on bobsleighs and snow transported by trucks in the middle of the drought. Not only that. The team continued despite injuries from Roger Moore himselfburning bobsleighs and a level of risk so extreme that it was necessary to check every screw on the cameras before launching across the ice. Bogner and the men who did know how to ski. Behind the camera was Willy Bogner Jr.former Olympian and pioneer of ski filming, who decided roll the action back and designed double-tip skis to survive the challenge. Around them, specialists as John Eavesworld champion freestyle skier, learned to bobsled down the slopes again and again, while some actors struggled simply to stay upright on skis. Curtain, specialists and memory. Another of the key names was in the figure by Giovanni Dibonaa local specialist recruited to test whether it was possible to ski in and out of the ice channel, a feat that defined the entire final sequence. Decades later, The Wall Street Journal said that Dibona barely remembers why they were chasing Bond, but he remembers the titanic effort involved in filming in those conditions, an experience that made him understand that action cinema was not very different from extreme sports. Between glamor and tragedy. Plus: the filming was also marked by death. During a break for the 1981 world bobsleigh championships, an American athlete died in competition and, on the last day of filming, a young Italian stuntman He died when his sleigh overturned. All of this contrasted with the glamorous premiere of the film, a grand premiere attended by the then Prince Charles and Diana of Wales. Bond got off his skis, Cortina didn’t. The truth is that, over the years, the character of James Bond left the snow behind for other purposes such as hanging of trains and helicoptersbut Cortina remained a temple of vertigo, one shared by cinema and sport. There, those who lived through that filming know that the Bond films and the Olympic Games have something essential in common: they both look elegant from the outside, but they hide a hardness that only those who have ever gone downhill understand (or above) without network. Image | United In Xataka | One of the best comedies in history turned this simple scene into the most expensive. 9/11 and a highway were to blame In Xataka | In 1987 a death was filmed so savage that people had to cover themselves. The trick to achieve it turned RoboCop into a cult work

ad blockers are still there

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When in June 2024 Google began the transition to Manifest v3a possibility arose on the horizon: the disappearance of ad blockers. The Mountain View-based company touted this architecture as more secure and efficient, but along the way it limited the effectiveness of adblockers. However, it would make sense: Google’s main business it’s advertising. It works even better blocking ads. An independent study by Goethe University Frankfurt has revealed that, contrary to what was initially thought, Chrome’s new architecture does not reduce the effectiveness of ad blocking and privacy extensions. There is no statistically significant reduction in ad blocking. In short, the performance of Chrome’s MV3 architecture is more or less similar to MV2. But it also brings advantages in fluidity and tracker blocking. Why is it important. To begin with, because this finding is independent: it is not a press release from Google, which has an obvious conflict of interest, but an academic study reviewed by Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies. Furthermore, because it denies that MV3 is a tool designed exclusively to protect Google’s advertising business model by disabling adblockers. Finally, leave the ball in the court of users: the difference between using a blocker in Chrome or Firefox is barely perceptible, so if this is a differential criterion, in this sense there is practically equal conditions. How Manifest V3 and V2 worked. The old standard allowed extensions to stop network traffic, examine it, and decide whether or not to block it in real time. It was powerful, but it could slow down browsing, and one malicious extension could read all your traffic. The new standard no longer intercepts traffic directly, but rather gives the browser a list of rules and it is Chrome that executes the blocking, which leads to improvements in performance and privacy (against third parties), but reduces flexibility. Survival tricks. Going from asking for permission to giving a list of rules seemed like a handicap at first, and yet the blockers have emerged stronger overall for three reasons: The adaptability of blocking extensions (actually, of the dev team behind it), translating their complex filters into the format required by Google without losing effectiveness. Blockers are the brain and the browser is the execution arm: now it’s the browser that does the dirty processing work, resulting in faster and smoother execution of ad blocking. The new rules are stricter on spies. The study discovered that MV3 blocks even better those scripts that try to collect data in the background. Now the system is more rigid and that in terms of security makes it more difficult to circumvent. But it’s not perfect. However, the study points out the fine print of this change, such as the limit of rules that MV3 imposes, or the lack of dynamism when updating its rule book. Likewise, and although it is fluid at blocking ads, they did not measure whether it loads websites faster than MV2. On the other hand, it is worth remembering that this is a photo from today and that Google has the power to modify the limitations of the API, thus modifying these results. In Xataka | In its fight against adblockers, Google has made a Solomonic decision: make watching videos on YouTube a nightmare In Xataka | Modern algorithms decide for us what to watch. YouTube is the last stronghold where the algorithm does not choose for you Cover | Growtika in Unsplash

sport has been disguised as therapy to charge you more money

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There was a time when gyms smelled of liniment and rusty iron. Success was measured in guttural screams and soaked T-shirts under the military motto of the no pain, no gain. That era is dead. If you walk into a fashion studio today, you will smell like incense and see pastel colors. The industry has understood that to capture the masses it had to stop selling exhaustion and start selling “connection.” As explained by trend magazinesWe have entered the era of strong Elegance. This new concept, far from being a brand, is defined as a natural evolution of training “better, not more.” The goal is no longer to destroy muscle, but to “connect with your body” through softness and technique. It is the birth of Cozy Fitness or gentle training. However, behind this facade of Zen calm, the economic projections are dizzying. It is estimated that the global market for Pilates and Yoga studios will reach 520.61 billion dollars by 2035driven by a population that values ​​mental health over gross physical appearance. Redefining effort The paradigm shift is not accidental; responds to a post-pandemic demand for mental health. According to a report by Les Mills99% of respondents say they feel “happier” after training, and 42% prioritize exercise specifically to improve their mental well-being. This has caused low-impact disciplines, such as Pilates, to be the most booked class for the second year in a row. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that “soft” means “easy.” Specialized media They warn that disciplines like sweep (a fusion of ballet, pilates and yoga) generate a real metabolic and mechanical overload. By working with isometry and bringing the muscle to fatigue without heavy weights, strength and postural improvement are achieved. This is where the narrative turns perverse. Under the promise of “liberation” and “self-care,” the industry has commodified the management of the self. An in-depth academic analysis on the philosophical dimensions of medical sciences suggests that modern fitness It is a byproduct of neoliberal ideology. We are instilled with the notion of the “entrepreneurial self”: health and aesthetics become an individual responsibility for success or failure. Wellbeing is sold as a commodity, and the individual is forced into constant “self-optimization.” If you are not healthy and radiant, it is because you are not managing your body “company” well. This pressure manifests itself in new obsessions such as Protein Chic. We have gone from eating out of necessity to consuming protein-enriched products (even popcorn or water) as a status symbol. The protein shake has become in a religious ritual, a tool to feel that we have “fulfilled” the mandate of physical productivity. Furthermore, sport has become a class filter. Fashion competitions like Hyroxwhich combine running and functional exercises, have become at an exhibition of lifestyle where you pay a high registration fee (about 70 euros) to show that you can afford to suffer in a way cool and gamified. The drivers of change: loneliness, identity and fashion To understand how we got to this point, you have to look at who is filling the rooms. Generation Z has turned the gym into its new bar, desperately seeking a tribe instead of cold machines. A report from 2025 reveals that 36% of young people regularly go to these centers, not only for the physical, but to combat loneliness and find community. Their priority is belonging, which explains the mass exodus toward group classes versus solitary training. The large chains have read this emotional need perfectly and have changed their business model: they no longer sell an hour of exercise, they sell identity. The success of brands like Brooklyn Fitboxing, which expects to invoice 50 million eurosis based on gamifying that community. In the same way, Pilates Club has skyrocketed his income 60% in Spain by focusing on “operational quality” and selling the feeling of belonging to a select and exclusive club. This aesthetic obsession has permeated everything, even technology, which has abandoned crude plastic to disguise itself as high jewelry or become invisible. “Technological minimalism” is the new norm: bracelets like the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 They are now launched with ceramic straps to be worn as fashion necklaces, while devices such as smart rings or heart rate sensors Whoop they bet on “silent monitoring”. It is the triumph of constant but discreet data: the obsession with measuring the body 24/7 without looking like a cyborg. Where are we going: From aesthetics to biology The immediate future of the industry delves into this sophistication. Trends for 2026 point to ‘Body Literacy’: according to elleusers no longer want generic recipes, but rather understand their own biology, hormones and stress response. We move from aggressive “bio-hacking” to personalized and clinical understanding. In Spain, the market is entering a consolidation phase. According to reports from consulting firms such as BDOlarge operators will stop opening centers indiscriminately to focus on increasing the average income per customer (upselling) and offer comprehensive family services. The gym wants to be the center of the social life of the entire family. However, there are cracks in this perfect pastel world. While the sector premium talks about connecting the soul, the segment low cost go on being a battle of prices and efficiency, reminding us that “spiritual well-being” remains, in large part, an affordable luxury. Even technology is showing signs of exhaustion. Technology analysts They point out which devices like him Apple Watch They seem to have reached their ceiling in sports. They have become excellent “entertainers” of well-being (Wellness), but they lack the technical depth of a real coach, remaining on the surface of motivation with synthetic voices that congratulate you for closing rings. As Ale Llosa, founder of one of these new success methods, summarizes, in Vogue: “Soft is fashionable, but without strength there is no resilience.” The question we have left, as we close the locker room locker, is whether this new era of fitness is really making us freer and stronger, or if it has simply built us a prettier, … Read more

Productivity science says it’s not just inches that matter

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It has happened to me and it may happen to you too: you have a monitor and you notice that it is no longer enough. You could take a leap and swap it for something a little larger, but just adding inches to the equation isn’t going to change things too much. To change our experience, we need something different, like opting for an ultrawide monitor or adding one more monitor to our setup. What is the best option for you? Both are great, but both may not suit your needs in the same way. For this reason, we are going to take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of these two configurations so that you know what to choose according to your priorities. Choosing an ultrawide monitor An ultrawide monitor is larger than a conventional one, but we cannot stop at that alone. These monitors usually have a 21:9 format, which means they are wider. This means that we have a longer horizontal space, which is a wonder for productivity. And not only that: being a single screen, there is no type of barrier or frame that cuts off the visual experiencesomething ideal for working with long lines of code or spreadsheets with countless columns. Also three windows with documents or applications open at the same time. Your entire workspace, without interruptions. And for gaming, they are the best because you have a larger field of vision and the immersion they provide is not comparable to that of a normal monitor. To this elongated screen we must add another factor, which is the curvature. There are options for flat ultrawide monitors, although if you dare to take the leap, I would recommend opting for a curved one. The reason is very easy to understand: the small curve of the monitor helps you see the entire thing at a glance. What does this imply? You don’t have to turn your headsomething you will appreciate when you finish your day. In addition, the ultrawide allows you to work centered and with a straight spine. With two monitors, your “center” will be the frames of both. Therefore, more neck movements. Another element that works in favor of the ultrawide: Fitts’ Law. This, in short, predicts that the time needed to move to a target depends on its distance and size. And how does this apply to monitors? With two of them, we will have the frames as a “barrier” separating them both. that the brain will understand as an interruption. That does not happen with the ultrawide, since the mouse and everything will move fluidly across the screen. Without constantly jumping from one monitor to another, the cognitive load is reduced and that is great for less fatigue. It is not the main reason to choose one of these monitors, but I have friends who have opted for an ultrawide because they prefer a more minimalist and tidy space. In the end, it is a continuous visual experience that you place on your desktop, which, of course, also has its downside: you need a large desktop background. I will leave for last two more cons that, without being a drama, I would value a lot before opting for this option. Since it is a screen, if one day you start the computer and the monitor does not turn on, you will be left with nothing (having two monitors clearly wins there). In addition, by having many more pixels than a traditional widescreen monitor, you are going to need a medium powerful graphics card if you don’t want your games to drop below 60 FPS. Choose two monitors The other side of the coin: two monitors, side by side. If I had to define this setting in one word, it would be versatility. To build a setup with two screens, we can go ahead and buy them both or simply purchase one and add it to the one we already have, whether identical or of a different size and characteristics. And not only that: we can also change its height as we wish or rotate one of them to make it vertical. The latter is great for reading long documents or taking a look at social networks while, at the same time, you have another horizontal screen for a normal experience. I have been working with two monitors for years and it is my choice because it offers the feeling of having two separate spaces. For example, I usually have a document open on one screen where I write and email or Slack on the other. In return, there is one thing in which the ultrawides win by a landslide: you are going to find a frame in the middle and you are going to have to move your neck more. I’m going to stop at this last point for a moment. It is very necessary that the two monitors are well placedsomething that is not as simple as it sounds. If they are identical it is easier, but it can be an odyssey as they are different sizes or manufacturers. If possible, I would pull a monitor standalthough that adds to the bill. And it is better not to skimp there, since they will have to support the weight of the monitors all the time. The good and the bad of both options, face to face ultrawide monitor two monitors THE GOOD 🟢 You work without frames in between. It is ideal for editing video (infinite timeline) or having 3 legible columns of text, and it helps you avoid straining your neck. Allows you to have two separate workspaces THE BAD 🔴 They are not for all desktops: you need a robust stand, table background and a good graphics card They involve more neck movement and there are black frames in the middle Ideal for: Have all your documents or apps on the same screen to see them at a glance More versatility: you can put one vertically (ideal for … Read more

In 1986 a man parked on the wrong side of the gas station. That day he solved an embarrassing problem for all drivers

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The history of innovation It’s full of big names and epic breakupsbut also of silent advances born from minimal errors, from everyday mistakes that anyone could have made. Sometimes, a small mistake reveals a problem so common that no one had thought of it or knew how to formulate it, and it is enough to look at it differently to find a solution that ends up benefiting millions of people without it being barely noticed. In this case, one man saved millions of drivers from embarrassment. A universal problem. Maybe his name doesn’t sound familiar to you, but the story of Jim Moylan It is more important than it seems. The story begins with a scene as trivial as it is recognizable: a Ford engineer (Moylan) soaked by the rain, standing at a gas station, realizing that he has parked in the wrong side of the pump. Where anyone would have felt frustration or perhaps some embarrassment, he saw an everyday problem that could be solved elegantly, cheaply and definitively, and in a matter of minutes. wrote a memorandum proposing a small symbol on the instrument panel to indicate which side the tank was on, a simple idea born from personal experience and the conviction that eliminating that doubt would save time, inconvenience and, yes, small humiliations for millions of drivers. The path to a great idea. Moylan was not a media figure or a senior manager, but an engineer with a long and discreet career within the all-powerful Ford Motor Company, a man, yes, professionally obsessed. with instrument panels and with making them as clear and useful as possible. Thus, after sending his original proposal in 1986, the man did not think about it again, but the company did: the symbol he had scribbled on a page quickly went into development, it was approved without much resistance. and ended up integrating in the first models of the late eighties, demonstrating that in large organizations there was still room for a good idea, no matter how small and coming from whoever it was, to cross the hierarchy and become a reality. From Thunderbird to the entire world. Months passed until the first public appearance of the arrow came, an almost imperceptible moment, hidden in the instrument panel of a Ford Thunderbird 1989. It didn’t matter, its power lay precisely in that simplicity. It was so obvious and useful that the competition It didn’t take him long to copy itand in a very short time it went from being an internal Ford solution to becoming a de facto standard in the global automobile industry, and it did so to the point that today it appears in practically any car in the world, including electric ones, where it points to the side of the charging port with the same unbeatable logic. The inventor without a patent (or ego). Unlike other innovators, Moylan He never patented his idea nor did he ask for financial compensation or public recognition, content simply to see how his arrow worked and helped people. For decades, millions of drivers benefited from his invention without even knowing his name, while he silently watched as that little “walk of shame” at gas stations disappeared, getting closer sometimes to strangers to explain the usefulness of the symbol, but without ever mentioning that it had been his doing. Late recognition. I remembered a few weeks ago the wall street journal which was not until many years later, thanks to a chance investigation from a podcast and to the rescue of internal files, when Jim Moylan’s name came to light and he was publicly recognized as the author of one of the most discreet and universal innovations in the automobile. The man died without having sought famebut he left a legacy that lives on every time someone stops at a pump and, with a simple glance at the instrument panel, knows exactly where to stand, reminding us that sometimes true genius lies in solving the obvious in the simplest way possible. Image | Josh In Xataka | An engineer decided one day to put the BMW airplane engine in a car. The result was tremendous In Xataka | When an engineer wanted to cross Africa by car, he invented a wooden one. It would be the beginning of the end

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