Mobile Tech & Gadgets

The US has put into service a new anti-satellite weapon. The most striking thing is that it doesn’t shoot anything

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For decades, when we talked about weapons against satellites, the mental image was almost always the same: a missile, an impact and more space junk. But space warfare doesn’t always need an explosion to be effective. Sometimes it is enough to act on what we do not see: the link that connects a satellite with those who depend on it. That is what makes the US’s latest step especially striking. We are not facing a system designed to shoot down an object in orbit, but rather one that aims at something less visible and much more everyday in any modern military operation: communications. Attack communications. US Space Force Combat Forces Command operationally accepted on June 8 to Meadowlands, a new addition to its family of electromagnetic warfare systems. It’s not an isolated program: the Space Force describes it as an upgrade to Counter Communications System 10.2 and says it can detect, deny, disrupt and degrade adversary capabilities in active defense of joint force objectives. Its operation remains in the hands of Mission Delta 3, Space Electromagnetic Warfare. The key is in the sign. A satellite is not just an object in orbit, but a chain of links, antennas, ground stations and users that need to communicate with it. Meadowlands acts on that less visible part of the system. L3Harris, program contractor, describes the Counter Communications System as a deployable ground platform aimed at denying communications from satellites in orbit, and presents Meadowlands as a more compact and mobile version. A change of era. Meadowlands fits into a broader transformation of conflict in space. The Secure World Foundation classify capabilities counterspace in several families, from co-orbital capabilities and direct ascent missiles to electronic warfare, directed energy and cyber capabilities. That distinction matters because not all of them seek to destroy a satellite. Some, such as electromagnetic warfare, seek to degrade services, limit communications or alter access to a space capability during a specific operation. Space Force itself places it in that first invisible line of the electromagnetic spectrum. Looking at the precedents. When an anti-satellite weapon physically destroys its target, the problem does not end with the impact: a cloud of debris begins that can continue orbiting for years. The US Space Command assured that the Russian direct ascent test against Cosmos 1408, in 2021, produced more than 1,500 traceable pieces. NASA had already documented something similar after the Chinese test against Fengyun-1C, in 2007, with more than 2,000 fragments of about 10 centimeters or more identified. Meadowlands belongs to another logic: act without adding more junk to the orbital environment. The paradox. The less Meadowlands looks like a conventional anti-satellite weapon, the better you understand why it matters. Its value is not in converting a satellite into orbital debris, but in acting on the layer that allows it to be used in a real operation. This difference helps explain the US movement and also the fundamental change that we are seeing in the military space. The battlefield is not only in the orbit or in the objects that travel through it. It is also in the signs, in the links and in the ability to maintain them when they are most needed. Images | United States Space Force In Xataka | “We are going to see more and more cases like this.” There are six mysterious spheres on a beach in Australia, and everything indicates that they came from space

We have spent decades blaming a lack of willpower for obesity. Genetics Just Proved Us Wrong

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For decades we have heard about overweight and obesity that it is a problem of lack of willpower, of eating too much or moving too little. However, science has been trying to find more causes for years that we do not see with the naked eye about obesity to treat it as a complex, chronic disease with many different factors. Two great studies recently published studies have provided very important evidence that suggests that the way we relate to food and the size of our body in childhood are not always ‘choice’, but are, to a surprising extent, an inheritance dictated by our DNA and amplified by the environment. The weight of inheritance. The first of these studies published in PLOS Medicine analyzed to 86,000 children belonging to the Norwegian MoBa cohort. The goal here was to understand the extent to which parents’ BMI determines body size and the eating behaviors of their children at eight years of age. The results have exceeded what many geneticists expected, since, using structural equation modeling, researchers discovered that genetics explains about 79% of the association between the mother’s BMI and that of the child. When we look at the father, the figure is even more compelling, since DNA explains approximately 94% of the association between the paternal BMI and that of the child. Its importance. This means that when we see patterns of obesity that are repeated from parents to children and the determining factor is not mainly that “that house eats badly”, but that genetic variants are being transmitted that regulate key physiological aspects, from basal metabolism to the brain architecture that dictates the mechanisms of satiety and reward when eating. The environment. At this point, it is inevitable to ask a reasonable question: if genetics is so determining, why have obesity rates skyrocketed in recent decades if our human genome has barely changed? The answer the second study gives itpublished almost in parallel in PLOS Genetics where British researchers analyzed four large birth cohorts in the United Kingdom, namely people born in 1946, 1958, 1970 and 2001. The goal here was to measure how genetic risk interacts with the passage of time and changes in society. Its result. What they saw was precisely that the genetic variants associated with obesity have become much more predictive of BMI in more recent cohorts. That is to say, having a genetic predisposition to gain weight in the forties did not necessarily ‘condemn’ obesity, because the environment did not support it. However, being born with that same predisposition in 2001 exposes you to a much greater risk. Our genes interact with what epidemiologists call the obesogenic environment, which are sedentary urban environments, chronic stress, sleep disturbances and, above all, a constant, cheap and ubiquitous availability of ultra-processed, high-calorie-density foods. The modern environment acts as the trigger of a weapon that genetics had already loaded. Much further. This avalanche of empirical data collides head-on with social stigma. As organizations such as the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity have been warning for some time, it is urgent banish “Eat less and move more” is the only recommendation given in medical consultations. It is for all this that understanding that obesity is a condition with a very deep genetic root, strongly conditioned by the environment, completely changes the rules of the game. Images | i yunmai In Xataka | We thought that quenching hunger with Ozempic was the definitive remedy against obesity. Until we look at the muscle

manual shifting has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function”

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A study from Tohoku University (Japan) has put figures to something that many motor fans have been defending for years out of pure passion. And although there are not exactly a few enthusiasts who claim that driving with a manual transmission is more fun, now they could also have science on their side, since according to the study, they also could be healthier for the brain. And the person who claims it, curiously, is the scientist behind one of Nintendo’s best-selling video game sagas. 20 years ago, I trained our brain. The study is led by Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University. His name will be familiar to anyone who has played any of the Nintendo titles in which he stars, since he was the scientific person behind the Brain Age saga and Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training, the “mental gymnastics” games that Nintendo published between 2003 and 2020. What it says about the manual transmission. The neuroscientist’s research analyzes the brain activity of drivers behind the wheel of manual and automatic cars, and finds clear differences in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for memory, decision making and attention. According to collect Japanese media Best Car Web, Kawashima explains that when driving a manual “you have to judge and then choose the optimal gear according to the situation, and this places a greater burden on the cognitive functions of the brain than driving a passive automatic.” In the end, we must keep in mind that choosing the right gear, pressing the clutch, moving the lever and dosing the accelerator simultaneously forces the brain and body to constantly coordinate, something that anyone who has stalled a car while learning to drive can confirm. Between the lines. That small repeated effort, according to the professor, has benefits that go beyond the simple pleasure of driving. Kawashima holds that doing so regularly has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function.” So changing gears daily could act as a kind of low-level brain training, the kind that the brain stops receiving when the car does all the work for us. Any habit capable of keeping the brain active adds up. And in societies with increasingly aging populations, like the japanesehaving this stimulus is important, since cognitive deterioration and dementia are increasingly accentuated public health problems. And yet. The paradox is that, while science has reasons to defend it, the manual transmission begins to disappear from the market at full speed. In Japan and the United States it barely represents between 1% and 2% of new cars sold, according to the data collected in the study itself. The emergence of hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as the comfort offered by this type of transmission, has meant that the manual transmission is beginning to be seen less and less. Photography is still different in Europe, although we are also heading towards this future. In Spain, according to Engine1we maintain a rate of manual cars of around 41% of sales, only surpassed by Italy, with 48%. So you could say that in Spain we continue to maintain a good level of stimulation for our brain while driving. Cover image | Nils Keesmekers In Xataka | Anti-electrics lose an argument about car batteries: a study confirms that they are more durable than previously believed

There are people covering the LED on Meta’s glasses to record secretly. The company has just made a drastic decision

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Today it is relatively easy to know when someone is recording us with a cell phone: we see it raised, pointing towards us, becoming an almost universal signal. The same does not happen with smart glasses. They may look like normal glasses, be on the face of someone looking in our direction, and go unnoticed for those who don’t know what to look for. In this scenario, the small white light that turns on when capturing photos or videos is not a minor detail: it is the visible clue that allows us to understand that those glasses are recording. The problem begins when that clue disappears. That’s just what Meta is trying to prevent now. The company claims that its AI glasses, a category that already goes beyond the Ray-Ban Meta, will disable the camera if they detect that the capture LED has been physically tampered with or destroyed, not just if it is covered. Until now, Meta said that, since its second generation of glasses, the system already blocked photos and videos when it detected that that light was covered. The novelty is that the protection is extended to more aggressive attempts to override the visible warning. It is not an absolute guarantee against all misuse, but it is a direct response to a specific crack in the product. The problem with glasses was not just blocking the light Meta calls that signal “capture LED”: a white light on the front of each pair of glasses that flashes when content is being captured for the gallery. According to the company, in the case of a photo the notice appears for a moment, while on video remains throughout the recording. On paper, its function is simple: let people around you know that someone is taking an image or recording a scene. In practice, that small light carries an enormous responsibility: making visible a camera that, by design, can be confused with conventional glasses. The leap is that it wasn’t all about putting a piece of tape over the light. Meta acknowledges that it has seen attempts that went further: efforts to physically modify or destroy the capture LED. Media like 404 Media and BGR have documented those types of practices in more detail. The first published the case of a service that offered to modify the Ray-Ban Meta to make the light useless, while the second included more rudimentary methods and other more elaborate ones, from accessories designed to hide it to physical interventions on the indicator area. The underlying issue was clear: if the signal could disappear and the camera continued working, the safeguard lost much of its meaning. In Spain we have already seen how far this gap can go. At Xataka we have been counting for just over a year the case of a young man detained in Barcelona after recording hundreds of women with smart glasses without their knowledge, an episode that turned a until then diffuse concern into a much more tangible problem. The key was not only the device, but the lack of social alarm about it: many people still do not react the same to apparently normal glasses as to a cell phone pointed in their direction. The company presents the update as a new layer of privacy, but it is also an admission that the LED had become an attackable point in the system. If the visible notice could be obscured, modified, or destroyed while the camera continued to operate, the promise of transparency was weakened. Now Meta is trying to turn that light into something more than an indicator: a condition for the camera to operate. Images | Goal In Xataka | Meta already has its rival for Nano Banana 2. Its problem is the same as always: mercilessly invading our privacy

On HBO Max you have the most brutal action comedy just a few weeks after hitting theaters, and it is already number one in 50 countries

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Asia Reaves needs a job and accepts the first one offered to her: housekeeper at The Virgil, an exclusive skyscraper in New York. But that building has been swallowing its tenants for years without leaving a trace: well, not the building, but the cult that hides behind its walls. That premise holds ‘They are going to kill you‘, action and horror comedy that tiptoed through the theaters a couple of months ago and is now one of the most refreshing and forceful proposals in the catalog of HBO Max. A whole hodgepodge of genres to which its director, Kirill Sokolov, is no stranger. His debut, ‘Why don’t you die?’, already stood out for its extreme use of violence. In “They Will Kill You” he repeats that approach but with a much larger budget and a visual work that links the film to aesthetes of the trumpet and the fountains of blood like Tarantino or Sam Raimi. All of this seasoned with a little bit of ‘The Devil’s Seed’ due to the Satanist element, its fabulous supporting cast (where Heather Graham and Patricia Arquette stand out) and the imposing prominence of the art-deco building. The film coincided in theaters with the sequel to ‘Wedding Night’, with which it shares more than one common plot detail: female protagonism, cults in mansions and a bilious forcefulness in his anti-rich message. A great double bill for one night that will send you to bed with a few bruises (you have ‘Wedding Night 2’ on Disney+, in fact). The film suffered a small and undeserved setback in theaters, but it has found its place on the Warner platform, where it started as number one in 51 countries just one day after its arrival on streaming. As happens with so many other films that find a place in digital after a lackluster track record in theaters, the playful, direct and second-round format suits it wonderfully in small spaces. Don’t forget the raincoat, the devil carries katanas. In Xataka | Today “a masterpiece that will go down in history” arrives on Netflix, thanks to an original approach to a unique science fiction story

A town in Italy has declared war on tourists who walk around half naked

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Summer not only warm up the thermometers. The coming and going of tourists also increases, filling hotels, triggering activity in airports and tightening the rope in those destinations unable to balance the routine of their neighbors and the flow of visitors. It is something that they know well in Barcelona, ​​Malaga, Ibiza, or Tenerife and also in many cities in Italy, such as Florence either Venice. Varenna, a small town in Lombardy, is not so crowded, but it receives enough tourists that its mayor has done something: impose rules of decorum. And these include the prohibition of walking around the town bare-chested and in a bathing suit, under penalty of fines of up to 200 euros. In a place in Lombardy… Varenna is neither Florence nor Rome, but it knows well what mass tourism entails. I remembered it recently its mayor, Mauro Mazoni: although they live in the town only 650 peopleeach year it receives “hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world”, people attracted by its idyllic landscapes. and it’s normal. Varenna is located in the province of Lecco, on the shores of Lake Como, and is full of fishermen’s houses with the mountains in the background. “You can’t sacrifice yourself”. This flow of tourists comes accompanied by wealth, but it also strains coexistence between visitors who come to enjoy a relaxed vacation and neighbors who continue with their daily routine. Hence, the City Council has decided to make a move, tightening the regulations that apply to tourists. To be more precise, the June 26 approved two changes to its regulations that aim to “guarantee a more harmonious coexistence.” “We are proud to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. However, the quality of life of our inhabitants cannot be sacrificed for the sake of mass tourism. These new regulations are not born from the desire to curb tourism, which remains a crucial resource for our economy, but from the need to manage it in a more intelligent and respectful way,” argues Manzoni, who recalls that the changes in the regulations have already come into force. Be careful with swimsuits. One of the novelties that has caused the most expectation, inside and outside of Varenna, is the one that affects the dress code. No more walking around the center of town with your torso naked or in a bathing suit. No matter how hot it is or if you’ve just taken a dip in the lake, from now on you can only go that way in very specific areas of Varenna: the beaches, piers and piers. In the rest of the town you have to cover yourself. Breaking the rule involves fines of between 50 and 200 euros. Goodbye groups and speakers. It’s not the only thing visitors to Varenna will have to keep an eye on. To prevent the streets from becoming saturated with large groups, the City Council has decided that these should be limited to a maximum of 25 people. That is the limit that tour operators that organize excursions must respect. During your visits you should also remember another guideline: guides will not be able to use speakers or devices that amplify their voice. The goal: to put an end to the noise, something they have already done in Florence. Precisely to reduce inconvenience, groups will have to proceed along pedestrian paths and will be prohibited from standing still in certain “particularly sensitive and crowded” areas, such as Pizetta Brenta, Pizza San Giovanni or Via IV Novembre. Breaking those rules doesn’t come cheap. Guides risk fines of between 100 and 400 eurosa punishment that can be toughened in case of recidivism. Guidelines on group size and organization are only relaxed for educational and school visits. Is it something new? No. And that is the most significant thing. The diary The Republic public a chronicle a few days ago in which I explained that Varenna is not the only tourist town in Italy that has decided to tighten its rules to combat touristification: in Eraclea, Favignana, Levanzo or Marettimo (to name just a few cases) they have also renewed the rules that prohibit walking in a swimsuit or bikini through the historic centers and commercial towns. It is not a new restriction, but the municipal authorities have wanted to reinforce it, increasing the fines in some cases up to 500 euros. Sandwiches, beers, selfies and bikinis. The Italian newspaper recalls that in the center of Apulia, for example, the prohibition of walking in a swimsuit or with a naked torso is not limited to streets, avenues and squares. It is also applied in parks, gardens and public transport. Skipping this restriction can cost up to 500 euros. In other towns they even go further and have prohibited eating sandwiches or drinking beers in the street, lying on benches or become selfies in viewpoints. Italy is not even the only one that has declared war on visitors who decide to walk around half naked, in a swimsuit or bikini. In France they have done something similar and right here, in Spain, there are cities that punish severely walk through the streets and squares without a shirt. The torso in the air, it is better to reserve it for swimming pools, beaches and areas authorized by the regulations. Images | Ray in Manila (Flickr), Becks (Flickr) and Gerry Labrijn (Flickr) In Xataka | “Vacation rentals are losing their appeal”: real estate agencies face the bursting of the tourist apartment bubble

ChatGPT voice mode has learned to listen, shut up and respond better

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Greg Brockman started the OpenAI live doing something very simple: talking to ChatGPT and cut him off while he responded. What mattered was not the questions, but the system’s reaction. Instead of stopping with a sharp cut, as could happen in previous experiences, in the demo the voice seemed to adjust the interruption in a more natural way. It was a short demonstration, but it served to show the promise of GPT-Live– Let ChatGPT’s voice mode not only speak better, but know when to respond, when to wait, and when to shut up. GPT-Live is the name chosen by OpenAI for this new stage of ChatGPT’s voice mode. It’s not just a more polished sound layer, but a family of models designed to process speech differently. An architecture called full-duplex allows AI to listen while generating a response, something the company says reduces the rigidity of traditional shifts. Since 2022, OpenAI has been moving the relationship with its models from the keyboard to increasingly closer forms of interaction. ChatGPT marked a before and after in the massive relationship with text models; early voice features added a more natural layer; and GPT-4o took that ambition to a much more expressive experience, inevitably associated with ‘Her’. The GPT-Live announcement comes after that tour. Its promise is not just to sound more human, but to solve a less spectacular and more important friction: how to have a conversation. without it looking like a sequence of commands. ChatGPT voice no longer works only in turns To understand the change you have to look at how previous generations worked. OpenAI explains that ChatGPT’s first voice mode was a cascade system: one model transcribed the voice, another generated the response, and a third converted it back to audio. Advanced voice mode It reduced that friction by processing and generating audio within a single model, but still operated in turns. GPT-Live changes that logic: you no longer work just with separate messages, but with a continuous interaction that allows you to decide several times per second whether you should speak, listen, pause or use a tool. So what can we do in practice? Well, the company led by Sam Altman gives several examples. We can interrupt with a question, pause to think or ask the system to speak more slowly. The voice can also respond with brief signals such as “mmm” or “yes” to indicate that it is still listening, and the company says it has improved its ability to focus on the user’s voice when there is background noise. Added to this are the nine ChatGPT voices remastered for GPT-Live, visual responses in the form of cards for queries such as weather, sports, stocks and other quick data, as well as support for search, memory, images and file uploads. The other important piece is what happens when the conversation demands more than a quick response. OpenAI explains that GPT-Live can delegate web searches, reasoning or more complex tasks to its frontier models, while keeping the conversation with the user alive. At launch, that support layer will be GPT-5.5although the company says that it will update the model used in the background as it publishes new generations. ChatGPT’s voice mode will also allow you to choose between reasoning levels: Instant for quick responses, and Medium or High when you need to spend more time thinking. The company maintains that the jump is not limited to an impression of use. In their internal evaluations, the GPT-Live-1 and GPT-Live-1 mini (the smaller version of the model that lands on free accounts) appear above the advanced voice mode in comparative five- to ten-minute conversations, both in overall preference and fluency, interruptions, turns, and natural feel. OpenAI also cites advances in scientific reasoningagent search and simulated telephone support tasks. Of course, these results serve as an initial reference, but they come from OpenAI itself and we will have to see what impact they have in real life. GPT-Live starts rolling out today for ChatGPT users on iOS, Android and ChatGPT.com. OpenAI speaks of a global deployment and does not mention a specific exclusion for the European Union, although it is worth maintaining the nuance: in other deployments of AI functions there have been doubts or delays in the region. GPT-Live-1 will be the default model for Go, Plus and Pro users, while free accounts, as we say, will use GPT-Live-1 mini. The API will arrive later, without a specific date for now. Now, there is also an important limitation at launch: GPT-Live does not currently support voice with video or screen sharing in ChatGPT, although OpenAI says it is working to introduce those capabilities later. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | Meta already has its rival for Nano Banana 2. Its problem is the same as always: mercilessly invading our privacy

The Phantom 3500 wants to break the mold by changing the windows for screens. And he’s close to getting it

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A year ago we told you the story of Otto Aerospace and its Phantom 3500, a windowless plane that aims to turn its walls into a panoramic view to the outside. As counterintuitive as it may sound, the company has had an idea: that on a plane without windows we can see better than ever what is around us when we fly. A year later, the project has been taking shape Otto Phantom 3500. Otto Aerospace’s Phantom 3500 is a project that should begin to come together next year. Last year we told you This curious project that aims to fill the fuselage of the plane with screens, eliminating all traces of windows. They called this concept Super Natural Vision, a system of screens that should show the outside in real time thanks to the use of cameras. This futuristic concept has, according to the company, the advantage of improving aerodynamics and thus the consumption of the device but also of simplifying the construction of the fuselage, saving costs. What’s new? To begin with, if you have entered the previous link you will have seen that the company has changed its name and is now no longer called Otto Aviation. Now, the company has adopted the name Otto Aerospacewhich gives an idea that its objective goes far beyond commercial transportation medianet private jets. But the most important thing is that the company has reached an agreement with flexjetwho operate huge fleets of private jets, to make the Phantom 3500 part of their fleet. The agreement contemplates a firm order for 300 aircraft and deliveries starting in 2030. It has not been made public how much the purchase figure is, which Yes, it is estimated in specialized media that the plane will cost about 19.5 million of dollars per unit but there is no confirmed figure for the purchase package of 300 aircraft of this type. Is it possible? According to its creators, of course. And with the purchase of 300 airplanes ahead, it had better be so, they will say at Flexjet. According to the company, the first flights of this private jet will begin in 2027 with a view to approval by US regulators. In his statement, Flexjet points that the purchase of 300 units of this device is one of the largest that has been recorded in private aviation and that it will serve to redefine what it means to fly using a service of this type. Can it be approved?. When launching this project, there is an important question that Otto Aerospace will have to answer. If you want to deliver the first planes in 2030, yes, you should have it under control. To approve an airplane, the Code of Federal Regulations of the US Government points out that “each emergency exit must have means that allow viewing the conditions outside the exit when it is closed.” That is, there must be a window or a reliable system that guarantees viewing of the outside without problems. And isn’t it very expensive? The other big question that Otto Aerospace will have faced is the issue of how much to fill the entire fuselage with screens. And to do this you will have to use high-quality flexible panels with a connection to your external cameras that is fast enough to not generate any type of dizziness as a consequence of a possible lag between the image and the movement of the vehicle. Likewise, filling the plane with screens also entails a cable management problem that will multiply compared to any other type of system and will add weight to the whole. Yet, The company claims to reduce consumption by half of fuel from other private jets that are currently in operation. Photo | Otto Aerospace In Xataka | Billionaires tried to hide their private jets. Now they have another problem: anyone can follow their superyachts

No one had ever launched a commercial nuclear satellite. SpaceX and City Labs just did it with Transporter-17

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SpaceX has launched the first commercial nuclear satellite in history. This is BOHR, a CubeSat developed by the City Labs company, and has been completely successfully placed into orbit as part of the Transporter-17 mission, from Elon Musk’s space company. This is intended to demonstrate that the use of nuclear energy to power vehicles, satellites and space probes is not just a matter for large public agencies. Tritium to make history in space. Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability (BOHR) is a CubeSat in which a nuclear reaction similar to the one that has been used for decades takes place. to propel the Voyager probes through space. Although there is a difference. While these obtain energy from the heat generated by the disintegration of plutonium, in this case the beta particles released by the disintegration of tritium are used. Afterwards, these They are transformed into electricity through a semiconductor. The use of tritium is an advantage, as it emits much less radiation, making its pre-launch handling safer. Speaking of the launch. This nuclear satellite was one of the 81 payloads that were part of the Transporter-17 mission on July 7. A Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX propelled all of them into space after launching from said company’s platform, located at the Vandenberg base. Just 50 minutes after launch, each of the payloads, including BOHR, were placed into their respective orbits. Two possible uses. The use of nuclear energy in space is something that has been studied a lot for two reasons. Firstly, because it can be useful for ships that are going to travel very far, so that they cannot carry enough fuel on board. It is precisely the reason why this energy source was used with Voyager probes. On the other hand, nuclear energy is useful when solar energy is not an option. The Voyager probes traveled a long way from the Sun, but you don’t have to go that far either. The lunar south pole It is constantly in shadow, so in the future, when the Artemis bases are built there, nuclear power could be very necessary. A project with many supports. The development of BOHR was funded under a contract from the United States Department of Defense. In addition, it is the first nuclear mission that has received nuclear launch approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, specifically under the Presidential National Security Memorandum 20 of Donald Trump. Therefore, despite being a private project, it has received all the public support necessary for its implementation. That, along with its inclusion within a SpaceX mission, shows that there are many powerful eyes on this project. It’s just a test. In fact, BOHR has been used to prove that this way of obtaining nuclear energy is viable in space and that it can be used commercially. Currently, the satellite is in orbit, ready to launch the test reaction. However, the CubeSat uses solar panels to obtain energy for its own operation. The next step could be a satellite that exclusively uses tritium decay. For now, this first proof of concept has marked what may be the future of many commercial space missions. Image | SpaceX In Xataka | NASA’s lunar base begins here and now: an investment of hundreds of millions and a date on the horizon

In the Mediterranean it no longer makes sense to talk about a “tropical night” because almost all of them are.

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On June 21, the thermometer at Almería airport did not drop below 30.8ºC throughout the night. In fact, at seven in the morning the temperature was exactly the same as it would have been on an August afternoon twenty years ago. It seems like an isolated event (after all, it is the first time that we have encountered a minimum like this in the Mediterranean in June), but it is not. Just a handful of days later, the AEMET experts made it quite clear: it no longer makes much sense to talk about “tropical nights” in the Mediterranean because almost all summer nights already are. That is, almost no drops below 20 degrees. The June heat wave was (quite) exceptional. Not only because the 22nd and 23rd were the warmest June in the country since at least 1950; nor because the average peninsular anomaly was 7.1 ºC. The most striking exceptionality occurred in the early morning: according to the same AEMET24 of its 86 main stations marked the highest minimum in the historical series. That was the symptom. But the problem is another. A problem that has to do with an indicator that jumps so much that it has stopped meaning something just when we need it most. Or, at least, when we are most aware of the lack of it. In 2025, A CSIC research team published a work in Environment International in which he analyzed 178 cities, separating the effect of warm nights from that of warm days. Their conclusions indicate that nocturnal heat is associated with an increase in mortality of up to 3% and that this effect is independent of daytime heat. The mechanism is also dramatically simple: if the early morning does not ease, the body does not recover, sleep is degraded and cardiovascular or respiratory pathologies worsen rapidly. Why should we care? Because southern Europe is among the regions hardest hit by temperature changes. But there is something else: the same CESIC studyexcess mortality due to nocturnal heat in Spain is concentrated in the interior (Granada, 3.56%; Madrid, 3.45%; or Córdoba, 3.44%) while the Mediterranean coast is holding up much better (Barcelona, ​​0.56%; Alicante, 0.55%; or Almería 0.46%). That is, the problem is adaptability to these types of phenomena. Something in which the coast wins because it has been suffering from it (to a lesser extent, but suffering from it) for many years. The future we are going to. AEMET projects to go from the current 22 heat wave days per year to 47 at the end of the century with intermediate emissions. Preparing is no longer an option if we don’t want to. paint the windows of half the country with chalk or white yogurt. Image | Christian Van Der Henst In Xataka | Beyond gazpacho and salmorejo: Spain’s hidden summer dishes that are crying out to become popular

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