Mobile Tech & Gadgets

If we don’t see aliens it is because of our “epistemological limitations”

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What if aliens are everywhere, but we are cognitively unable to perceive them? A Serbian philosopher has proposed a disturbing solution to the Fermi paradox: The answer is not in the universe, but in the limits of our own brain. Where is everyone? The Fermi Paradox is one of the most famous questions in modern science. The universe is immense and very ancient. The lights we see in the sky are billions of galaxies and trillions of planets. By mere statistics, intelligent life should be common. If this is so, why haven’t we found the slightest evidence of it? Why haven’t we seen its megastructures, caught its signals or received visitors? “Where is everyone?” physicist Enrico Fermi asked in 1950. The Great Filter. There are many brilliant minds who have dared to use the Fermi Paradox. Many of the answers fall under what has come to be known as “The Great Filter”: something that prevents the development of a higher level civilization in the Kardashev scale. Perhaps advanced civilizations tend to annihilate themselves in nuclear wars, or perish in the face of lethal climate change before they can colonize the galaxy. Perhaps the conditions that allowed life here are an unrepeatable cosmic coincidence. We are alone because we are a rare bird. The ego can get us. All of these solutions have a root problem: they are deeply anthropocentric. They assume that other intelligent life forms are like us, that they use technology that we can detect. What if the great silence of the cosmos was nothing more than the result of searching for radio signals when the intelligent life we ​​seek communicates across dimensions we cannot even imagine? We are dumb as worms. This is where the proposal of the Serbian philosopher Vojin Rakić, published in the International Journal of Astrobiology. Rakić calls it the “solution to enduring human epistemological limitations.” The key is in the term “epistemological”, which in the theory of knowledge is how we know what we know and what the limits of our perception are. Extraterrestrial life could be so radically different from us that it simply our brain is not equipped to recognize it. We are to aliens what worms are to us. So? Well, if Rakić is right, there isn’t much to do. We look for little green men in flying saucers, but intelligent life could exist as a form of non-physical consciousness, an interdimensional energy network, or an intelligence based on dark matter. Rakić uses very powerful terrestrial analogies. We know that octopuses are incredibly intelligent, but their nervous system is completely foreign to ours. Fungal networks demonstrate a complexity that goes unnoticed by us. And few would have imagined that a handful of silicon chips would give rise to AI. How can we explain to someone from a couple of centuries ago that we have taught stones to speak? SETI is already at it. This idea, which might seem like pure philosophy, is catching on in the scientific community. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) itself has made an appeal to “abandon the anthropocentric perspective” in their exploratory work. It is not about stopping searching, but about expanding our definition of life and intelligence, thinking that “other minds” might have nothing to do with terrestrial biology. For now, our best weapon to stop being dumb as worms is to advance our own science and improve our own cognition. Image | NSF/NSF NRAO/AUI/B.Foott

The future of artificial intelligence is not in the cloud, it is in the nucleus of the atom

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On the outskirts of Palo, a farming town in eastern Iowa, you can still see the gray towers of Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant. They have been silent for years, but those who live nearby remember the constant hum that accompanied their childhood. For nearly half a century, that boiling water reactor was part of the landscape and power supply of the Midwest. Everything changed in August 2020, when a right —a wall of storms with hurricane-force winds—ravaged corn crops and damaged cooling towers. Duane Arnold went out and no one thought it would come back on. The plant, already aging and with a license about to expire, was permanently shut down. It seemed like the end. Five years later, that atomic silence will be broken again, driven not by the State or the traditional nuclear industry, but by a technology company: Google. “It’s alive, it’s alive.” Victor Frankenstein shouted in the 1931 film. Nine decades later, that cry echoes symbolically in Iowa: the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant will come back to life. The resurrection will come from Google and NextEra Energywhich will invest more than 1.6 billion dollars to return the pulse to the plant in 2029. According to ReutersGoogle will buy most of the energy generated for 25 years to power its artificial intelligence data centers, while NextEra will assume 100% control of the plant after acquiring the shares of its local partners. A restructuring never seen before. Reactivating a nuclear plant is not as simple as pressing a button again. In the case of Duane Arnold, Google and NextEra Energy plan to redo all critical infrastructure, modernize security systems and pass inspection by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before receiving a new license. The project is unprecedented: to demonstrate that a closed plant can be revived under current safety standards. “Reopening an existing plant is faster and cheaper than building a new one from scratch,” explain analysts cited by the Financial Times. If all goes well, Duane Arnold will be producing energy again in 2029, along with Palisades and Three Mile Islandthe other two pieces of the American atomic renaissance. It is not the first, nor will it be the last. Big technology companies are betting on reopening nuclear plants. On the one hand, Microsoft signed a similar agreement with Constellation Energy to reopen the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, which is expected to resume operations in 2028. On the other hand, Amazon is working with Dominion Energy to develop SMR reactors (Small Modular Reactors) in Virginia. Google itself I had already taken steps in that direction: Last year it announced a partnership with Kairos Power to build seven SMR reactors by 2030, with a total capacity of 500 megawatts. These modular reactors are smaller, more efficient and safer, and are presented as the future of civil nuclear energy. Additionally, SMRs can be installed near data centers, reducing electrical transportation losses and costs. The AI ​​energy fever. The trend is unmistakable: Big Tech they are betting on the atom to fuel the era of artificial intelligence. Each new generation of models—from ChatGPT to Gemini to Claude—demands thousands of megawatts of additional power. And the growth is just beginning. In this context, OpenAI – the creator of ChatGPT – has asked the US government for a national plan to drastically expand the country’s electrical capacity. As CNBC reportedthe company asked the White House to commit to building 100 gigawatts of new energy capacity each year, warning that China added 429 gigawatts in 2024 alonecompared to 51 in the United States. In its statement it concludes with a phrase that will become an energy motto of the sector: “Electrons are the new oil.” Risks and doubts. Despite the enthusiasm, the Google project is not without controversy. Physicist Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists warned in the Financial Times that Duane Arnold has “the same design as the reactors that melted down at Fukushima in 2011” and that it suffered “significant damage, including its cooling towers, during the right “Until a realistic estimate of the cost of reconstruction and safety guarantees is known, we will not know if it can generate affordable electricity,” Lyman said. Likewise, Wall Street Journal collect the criticism from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, which question the age of the reactor, the degradation of its components after years of inactivity and the management of radioactive waste. However, even among skeptics there is consensus on one point: AI’s energy appetite leaves no alternative to exploring all possible options. lhe electrons of the future. What is happening in Iowa is not a simple industrial reopening: it is a declaration of intent of the new technological capitalism. Google, symbol of the cloud and virtuality, turns to the most tangible and ancient atom to sustain its digital future. The paradox sums up the moment: artificial intelligence needs real matter, megawatts and electrons. The Duane Arnold plant, which once marked the rise and fall of the American nuclear dream, could be reborn as the energy heart of AI. And if OpenAI’s predictions come true, it won’t be the last. In the new global economy, electricity will be the oil of the 21st century. And in Iowa, Google just lit the spark again. Image | Unsplash Xataka | The amount of nuclear energy generated by each country, detailed in this interactive map

Real Betis Balompié has joined the space race to solve a pressing problem: collisions between satellites

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It sounds unlikely, but it is a fact. Real Betis Balompié has entered the space sector. And without leaving Seville. GMV’s new partner. The historic football club and the aerospace company GMV have installed in the Rafael Gordillo sports city a satellite surveillance and tracking antenna. The agreement makes Betis the first football club in the world to host a facility dedicated to the sustainability of the space. More specifically, at pressing space debris challenge and the increasing risk of collisions in orbit. Betis 1 – Space trash 130 million. Earth orbit congestion may not be the main concern of green and white fans, but it is a danger for the satellites we use every daywhether with the car navigator, to see the weather forecast or when we turn on the broadcast of a football match. Thousands of operational satellites coexist with up to 130 million fragments of space debris: pieces of dead satellites and rocket remains that travel at hypersonic speeds and have triggered the evasion maneuvers of the active satellites. It is “one of the great challenges that humanity faces in the orbital environment,” says Miguel Ángel Molina, of GMV. Monitor and prevent. This is where the new 2.7 meter satellite dish installed at the Betis training center in Seville comes into play. Its mission is to track space debris and predict collisions in order to avoid them. To this end, GMV internally developed a system called Focusear. It works by “listening” to the signals that the satellites themselves emit in the Ku band (the same one used by satellite television) from the geostationary orbit, about 36,000 km high. Nanosecond precision. Upon receiving these signals, the system uses radio frequency triangulation techniques (TDoA and FDoA) to determine the position and orbit of the satellites with a margin of error of about three meters, equivalent to 10 nanoseconds. These data are vital to inform satellite operators, who are in charge of managing the evasion maneuvers of their fleets. But also to expand the European Space Surveillance System (EUSST), a catalog of objects that helps prevent large-scale collisions. Why Betis. The Sevillian club had created the Forever Green foundation, whose name has a double meaning. In addition to being green for its kit, Betis has become the most sustainable club in LaLiga (and the second in Europe) in terms of energy efficiency, recycling and water reuse. Expanding this vision of sustainability to space is literally taking its environmental commitment “beyond the Earth,” says Rafa Muela, manager of the foundation. But there is something else. Seville is the headquarters of the Spanish Space Agencyso the choice is not accidental. Somehow the Andalusian capital must be placed on the map of national spatial development. Image | GMV, Real Betis Balompié In Xataka | Three large pieces of space debris reenter every day: “one day our luck will run out and they will fall on someone”

If you were expecting cheap electricity this winter, we have bad news: Holland

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Winter has not yet arrived, but the European energy market has already started to shake. And not because there are new problems with Russian gas pipelines. The winter that awaits us. The warning he issued the analyst Pedro Cantuel illustrates the problem: “The most important regasification plants in Europe, those in the Netherlands, are operating at maximum capacity.” It is not a positive fact. These terminals are the main gateway for liquefied natural gas to the industrial heart of Europe. Its saturation is the prelude to higher gas prices. And gas is what marks the electricity bill in much of Europe. And the Spanish regasification plants? Although Spain has the largest regasification capacity in the European Unionwith six active terminals, its ability to alleviate Europe’s thirst for gas is limited. The problem: the poor gas interconnection with France. The current bottleneck of the Pyrenees It barely allows the export of between 7,000 and 8,500 million cubic meters per year. Therefore, all eyes are on the Netherlands. Its terminals, mainly Gate’s in Rotterdam and Eemshaven, are the true entry point for Germany and European industry. In figures. Netherlands is the main LNG importer of the EU. Between June and August 2025 alone, it regasified more than 2,000 million cubic meters of gas. But according to the data of Gas Infrastructure Europeits terminals are constantly touching the all-time high. The Dutch ports are saturated, there is no more LNG. And this has a direct effect on Germany, which since the sanctions against Russia imports 25% of the gas from the Netherlands. With the terminals of the neighboring country at 90-100% of their capacity, the room for maneuver due to a peak in demand due to a cold wave or any delay of a LNG tanker will immediately strain the system. How it affects the invoice. As we have seen in recent years, any difficulty in accessing natural gas results in higher prices. The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators documents in your reports a direct correlation between the high utilization rates of LNG terminals in northwest Europe and the increase in volatility and spreads (price differences) in the gas reference index in Europe. We have changed dependence on a single supplier (Russian gas pipelines) for dependence on a single infrastructure that can now become the new bottleneck has moved from the gas pipeline to (European ports). Efforts are already underway to expand port capacity. Gate, for example, is building a fourth tank to reach 20,000 million cubic meters per year. But it won’t be ready until 2026, so the reality for this winter is what it is: the system is operating at the limit of its capacity. Image | Vopak In Xataka | The Castor project was Spain’s great idea to become self-sufficient in gas. Now he is selling it for pieces

Spain is a country extremely loyal to its local supermarkets. A chain wants to change that: Action

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He already competitive and highly contested sector of retail Spanish has become complicated with the emergence of a new actor, one whom some already present as a direct competitor of Mercadona or Aldi, although its approach is slightly different. Your name: actiona Dutch chain that is expanding strongly throughout Europe. So much so, in fact, that he boasts of having more than 3,000 stores spread across 13 countries and serve 20.2 million customers every week. And among those countries Spain is included. What exactly is Action? A chain of stores. So far nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary. What has made him stand out is his expansion ratesomething it has achieved largely due to its approach: an aggressive commitment to promotions, prices and an offer in continuous review. To start (and how you can check in your website) the company offers a wide catalog of items that includes everything from household items to stationery, electronics, toys, tools, parapharmacy, clothing or sports. What it differs from, for example, Mercadona (or most supermarkets) is in its power line. While Juan Roig’s firm pays more and more attention to already cooked food and ready to goAction is limited to snacks, cookies, candy, soft drinks and some packaged foods, such as instant noodles or protein bars. Nothing fresh. No butcher or fruit shop sections. Is it their only difference? Its main bet is prices, a discount policy that leads it to launch weekly promotions with products under €15. The company gives it so much importance that it presents itself as “a chain of discount stores for non-food products” and assures that the majority of its products (two thirds) can be purchased for less than two euros. It is nothing exceptional, but it is an effective formula that has allowed other companies to grow before, like Temu. Action ensures that it always has 1,500 products for one euro and renews its catalog with 150 new items every week. And does it work for you? It seems so. At least if we look at your history and figures. Although the company is young (it opened its first store in Enkhuizen, Netherlands, in 1993) it has managed to spread throughout Europe to add more than 3,000 stores in 13 countries. Your last balance shows that its net sales in the first half of the year reached 7.3 billion euros, 17.9% more than in 2024. Regarding commercial expansion, during the same period it opened 125 new stores that now receive, on average, around 20.2 million customers every week. Its main markets are France and Germany, where this year it opened its 600th store. Its presence is also notable in Poland, with around 400 premises. In general, its progression over the last 20 years has been more than notable: in 2003 the chain added 100 storesin 2008 they were already double, in 2014 it added half a thousand and in 2022 it exceeded the 2,000 barrier. This year it has already celebrated a new brand (3,000 stores), with the jump to the Romanian and Swiss markets. And in Spain? The chain debuted in Spain in 2022 and two years later it advanced its peninsular expansion with your first store in Portugal. Here the pioneer was an establishment in Girona, although during its inauguration those responsible for the company already announced that they would continue advancing with a view to the rest of Spain. In fact, during the Girona premiere, Monique Groeneveld, director of the firm, already clarified that in a matter of “weeks” more stores would open in the rest of Catalonia. The passing of the years has confirmed that he was not just talking. Today Action has almost 90 stores spread throughout much of the Spanish geography and a notable footprint in the Community of Madrid, Catalonia, Murcia and the Valencian Community. At the beginning of summer, when it had 74 stores, its workforce already exceeded 1,400 people. Recently its expansion throughout the Spanish geography was expanded with new stores in Royal City, Gijón, Baena and Tárrega. Since June, this vast commercial network has also been completed with its first distribution center in the country, the sixteenth in Europe. A facility of around 59,000 square meters (m2) located in Illescas, in the province of Toledo, designed to supply 210 stores throughout Spain and Portugal. Are they all advantages? No. Although the Dutch chain shares part of the strategy of other firms that have achieved a wide presence in Spain, as a commitment to low costaggressive pricing policy, promotions and own brandswill not have an easy time beating other large chains. Its offer is not comparable to that of Mercadona, Aldi or Lidl (especially due to the differences in food), but Spanish retail is already highly contested and has giants such as Roig’s firm, which has a share of almost 30%. The Spanish customer has also demonstrated notable loyalty towards regional firms. Images | Action and Google Maps In Xataka | For Juan Roig, the key to Mercadona’s future is very simple: “Salaries above the sector average”

If you spend more than 25,000 euros a year with your card, the PIN will not be the only information they ask for

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He cash is increasingly anecdotal for consumers, not only because of the lack of concern that comes with not having to be looking for a cashier to withdraw cash from time to time, but for the convenience that the mobile payments. However, from January 1, 2026, the Treasury will have stricter control over payments made with bank cards. If a card accumulates more than 25,000 euros in annual expenses, financial institutions will be obliged to “submit an annual informative return” on these movements to the Treasury. Payments of more than 25,000 euros must be declared. The new measure is included in the regulatory modification introduced by the Royal Decree 253/2025allowing the State to detect possible fraud and ensure that capital movements of a certain size are transparent and justified. This control comes at a time when most payments are made digitally and cash is increasingly used less. Therefore, the regulations that already required financial institutions to notify cash movements have been reinforced. The scope is expanded. Until now, the regulations required notification of payments with cards and Bizum of more than 3,000 euros per year to companies and professionals. However, the scope of the measure is now extended to all charges made by card in any payment method, both in physical establishments and online, as well as through platforms linked to telephone numbers. That is, it not only affects credit or debit card payments, but also extends the measure to Bizum or other mobile payment systems. “Banking or credit entities and other entities that, in accordance with current regulations, provide the collection management service through cards, with physical or virtual support, that offer cash, debit, deferred debit, credit and electronic money functions, in any currency, as well as through payments associated with a mobile phone number, to businessmen and professionals established in Spain,” the regulations specify. Differentiation between companies and individuals. The new regulations establish differences between business and private use, but in both cases entities must notify movements of more than 25,000 euros annually. For self-employed workers and companies, the new regulations eliminate the minimum limits to communicate card operationswhich implies that any payment, regardless of its amount, must be reported to the Tax Agency. This significantly increases the monitoring and traceability of all commercial operations carried out with card or mobile payment. On the other hand, for individual consumers, only those who have a high annual spending with cards will be subject to this more exhaustive tax control. What information is reported? In accordance with the provisions of article 38ter that modifies the new Royal Decree, financial entities must notify the Treasury of the following data about the holders and linked payment products of those who spend more than 25,000 euros per year in card spending: Contract number formalized by the entity for the issuance of cards. Identification data of the contract holders (or their authorized persons or beneficiaries), which will include name and surname or company name, tax identification number, country of residence, and date of birth for natural persons. In the absence of a tax identification number, the passport number or identity number valid in your country of origin and the country issuing the identification documentation will be provided. Card number (PAN) associated with the contract and type of card. Number of subscriptions and their total amount, registered on the card in the year, with indication of the number of cash recharges and their total amount, made on the card in the year (movements and total amount of the expense) Number of charges and their total amount, recorded on the card in the year, with an indication of the number of spending operations carried out with the card and their total amount, derived from payments made in establishments in the year and the number of cash withdrawals and their total amount, made with the card in the year. Identification of the account, if applicable, to which the card operation is linked, through its International Bank Account Code (IBAN) or, failing that, through the corresponding customer account code. In Xataka | In 2030 we will no longer have to enter card numbers in purchases. Mastercard already has a substitute Image | Unsplash (Nathana Rebouças)

It’s just what the military power wanted

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We are experiencing a very well-funded nuclear renaissance thanks to the small modular reactors (SMR). The recent agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom to build 20 of these mini-reactors is just the tip of the iceberg. Companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft They have bet on them. They are said to be faster to build, more flexible, cheaper, and vital to decarbonizing the grid. But the numbers don’t quite add up. There is a cat trapped. As researchers from the University of Sussex point out in an analysis for The ConversationSMRs are not only “the most expensive source per kilowatt of electricity generated” when compared to natural gas, traditional nuclear and, above all, renewables. Many designs have not yet left Power Point. So, if they are not the best or the cheapest option, if the majority of designs have not been commercially built anywhere in the world, why this political and financial boom? The answer has little to do with the electricity bill and a lot to do with military power. Subsidies. The markets already know all this: they support SMRs because they are a way to take advantage of billions of dollars in government subsidies. The factor that is ignored in almost all energy debates is the military’s dependence on the civilian nuclear industry. Maintaining a nuclear weapons program or a nuclear-powered submarine armada requires constant access to reactor technologies, specific materials and, most importantly, highly qualified personnel. Without a civilian nuclear industry, supporting this military capability becomes astronomically more expensive. Submarines. The United States operates 66 nuclear submarines; the UK has nine. These vessels require a robust national and nuclear industrial base. This is where a company like the British Rolls-Royce becomes the key player: it already builds the reactors for British submarines and is ready to build the new civil SMRs. Rolls-Royce he openly admitted it in 2017: a civilian SMR program would “free the Ministry of Defense from the burden of developing and retaining skills and capability.” With a strong industry, military costs are “masked” under civilian programs. Thus, the money to maintain the submarine fleet does not come entirely from defense budgets, but from energy budgets, paid for by taxpayers and consumers through higher electricity bills. A global pattern. In the United States, the Pentagon sees mini nuclear reactors as an essential part of its future energy strategy on the battlefieldas well as space infrastructure and the development of new high-energy weapons, such as anti-drone and anti-missile laser systems. But the military push of the SMR is not exclusive to the Anglo-Saxon world. It is the modus operandi of all nuclear powers. In China and Russia they do not even hide the inseparable links between its civil and military programs. And in France, President Emmanuel Macron put it bluntly: “without civil nuclear energy, there is no military nuclear energy; without military nuclear energy, there is no civil nuclear energy.” And the renewable ones? The irony of this matter is a letter that has just been published Guardian signed by retired senior European military commanders. It is a letter in favor of investment in renewable energies coming out of the Defense budgets. These former NATO leaders argue that the climate crisis is a threat to national security. They maintain that investing in solar and wind energy would make us more resistant to threats from aggressor countries like Russia. “We must end our dependence on foreign oil and gas,” they write. “A dependence on fossil fuels makes our countries less safe.” Energy sovereignty, after all, is a matter of national security. Image | Rolls-Royce In Xataka | The reason why China is winning the nuclear race: it takes half as long to build and costs six times less

It is something more worrying for Spain

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“This is not just an Atlantic storm,” they said in Meteosureste and, despite the skepticism of some, they were right. Although the models had been warning for days of a possible storm with subtropical characteristics, no one seemed to believe it. And, in fact, no agency has decided to name it. However, on the morning of October 29, things have accelerated. What has happened? It is no longer that an organized convection has been transformed into a mesoscale convective system with clear tropical characteristics (signs of internal circulation and bands of precipitation rotating about its center); is that, as MeteoBadajoz has been explaining, the system has started to become in a whole “convective train” with a line of storms in crescendo from the coast AEMET has activated the red notice and, as we speak, a good number of municipalities on the Huelva coast are suffering its impact. Why is it interesting? As explained Adrián Corderocoinciding with the anniversary of DANA in Valencia, “the atmosphere, capricious, leaves us a new convective chimney that, from the satellite, is very reminiscent of the one from a year ago.” Fortunately, as he also explains, “the orography and hydrology of both areas are not comparable.” It is not something comparable to Dana neither in intensity nor in its consequences: however, it is not a minor phenomenon. The ‘tropicalization’ of Andalusia. That area of ​​the Gulf of Cádiz is prone to low convergences that, with adequate shear and sufficient humidity, They organize convectively very easily. That is to say, it is nothing strictly new: but it does represent a warning to sailors. After all, mesoscale convective systems are very efficient rain “factories” that can anchor bands of precipitation over the same territory for hours, multiplying the accumulation and the risk of rapid flooding. As connections with the Gulf of Mexico (the famous ‘rivers of moisture’) become more common, these systems will become more frequent and more intense. And worst of all: it’s a matter of time before a dangerously tropical storm is planted at the gates of Doñana. In Xataka | The threat to Spain brought about by Hurricane Danielle has a name: extratropical transition

build 2,000 apartments on top of other houses

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The Basque Country wants more public housing. Quite a bit more. And you already know how to get it without having to go through cumbersome bureaucratic procedures that take forever in the offices. The Department of Housing and Urban Agenda just announced which will triple its current supply of accommodation, expanding the height of 65 VPO buildings that already exist. That is, to the current 937 apartments (and 253 under construction) another 2,000 will be added that They will ‘sprout’ on the roofs. To achieve this, it will rely on construction with wood and modular parts. What has happened? That the Basque Country has found a formula to reinforce its public housing stock in an agile and fast way, without the need for complex administrative procedures that would lengthen the deadlines. The announcement was made this week by the Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Denis Itxaso, who explained that what the Basque Government is considering doing is building new apartments on the roofs of public buildings that are already built. To be more precise, the Executive has set its sights on 65 properties in which, it estimates, it will be able to build 2,000 accommodations. What exactly do you want to do? Gain endowment housingflats built on public land and which usually offer temporary accommodation to vulnerable people. Right now the Basque Executive has 937 in use and another 253 under construction. Its objective is to boost this supply with 2,000 new homes spread over the roofs of 65 public blocks already built. It is not just theory or a statement of intentions in the medium or long term. The Department of Housing and Urban Agenda is working on six pilot projects that will allow it to create between 210 and 250 new accommodations (about 10% of all those planned) for temporary and rotating rentals, housing designed especially for young people who have just emancipated themselves and are looking for employment. Of these actions, two are distributed in Vitoria-Gasteiz, another two in Bizkaia (more specifically in Bilbao) and the remaining two in Gipuzkoa. The measure has been adopted after technicians have confirmed that in “most” of the public rental buildings with flat roofs it is “viable” to add heights. “In most cases around two floors set back.” Why is it important? Because it opens a quick and agile way to expand the housing supply, a message that the Basque Government has been responsible for underlining. The formula, however, is designed for a very specific type of housing: public and for rotational rental. “These residential units, being considered residential equipment, do not increase urban buildability and, therefore, can be undertaken without the need to modify the general planning,” clarify. How is it possible? The project is contemplated in the Law on Urgent Measures for Housing, Land and Urban Planninga legal framework that is already being processed in the Basque Parliament. “The new rule provides that these lifts can be carried out through a detailed study, the processing of which is simpler and more agile than the approval of a special plan, as is currently required,” Itxaso clarified during his speech at the Regional Chamber, where he spoke of “a novel way.” “In short, it is an initiative that will allow us, without consuming land or modifying planning, to triple the number of public accommodations. Two thousand new accommodations for young people will be possible thanks to the reforms introduced by the Law on Urgent Measures for Housing, Land and Urban Planning”, the leader insistswho claims that the commitment “combines innovation, sustainability, social cohesion and effectiveness in the public response to the challenge of access to housing.” Do you know anything else? Yes. Beyond the regulatory framework, the figures and the selection of the first properties in the program, the Basque Government has explained how it plans to build its new endowment offer. It will opt for industrialized housing, a formula that the Executive has stood out already in the past. “We have opened a line of collaboration with the kabian projectlinked to social initiative cooperatives, which proposes a light and modular construction system in wood” explains Itxaso, who trusts that the use of industrialized techniques will allow “reducing costs, execution times and impact on the environment.” And beyond Euskadi? The Basque Country is not the only one that has looked at the roofs of buildings to gain housing. At least with a social focus. A few months ago the PSPV proposed in the Urban Planning Commission of the Valencia City Council to touch up the local planning so that the buildings could grow taller to add public housing. The plan did not prosper, but according to the calculations of the socialists it would allow the construction of more than 70,000 protected apartments. The height and the possibility of reinforcing the housing supply have also been raised in other large cities, such as Palm, Madrid or Barcelona, ​​where they have granted licenses to increase the buildability of existing blocks. Images | Yves Alaire (Unsplash) and Neil Martin (Unsplash) and Irekia In Xataka | A 40m2 “capsule” for 25,000 euros: the Chinese solution to housing that is beginning to gain followers in Spain

Microsoft no longer sells software: it sells inevitability

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OpenAI is no longer an entity with hybrid control and is now a fully fledged company. That is, for profit. Microsoft, which had special rights and a seat on its board, give up that position in exchange for something more stable: Guaranteed and perpetual access to OpenAI models (current and future). Freedom to create your own foundational models without restrictions. Gain independence without losing technology. Why is it important. This does not make Microsoft the owner of OpenAI, but rather the platform that turns its AI into a mass product. OpenAI can continue investigating, but Microsoft remains the one who controls access to users and companies. Distribution defines power today, even above invention. The general overview. Microsoft has been transforming its business from selling licenses to selling continuous dependency for more than a decade: Office 365 eliminated or relegated the option to purchase the software only once. Windows 10 introduced mandatory updates that turned the operating system into permanent service. Azure has tied enterprise infrastructure to its cloud. The pattern is consistent: turning tools into platforms, products into subscriptions, and options into inevitabilities. The agreement with OpenAI is not an exception, it is the culmination. In detail. Microsoft maintains something that no other actor has: Direct integration of Copilot in Office, Teams, Outlook and Windows. Large-scale business contracts that turn AI into the structural cost of digital work. Control over the point of entry: the place where millions of people work every day. The new agreement ensures that OpenAI cannot turn off the tap, and that Microsoft can expand or replace its models without depending on third parties. The strategic background. Until now, Microsoft could not develop its own AGI. Now yes. This allows you two parallel routes: Use OpenAI models in your ecosystem. Develop your own (or integrate with others) if OpenAI gets sidetracked or delayed. Gain technological freedom and commercial stability. But above all, you gain something more valuable: the certainty that AI will not be optional in your software. Between the lines. The move consolidates Microsoft as the main consumer channel for AI at work. Not by contract, but by market position. Millions of users already pay for Copilot without expressly choosing it. Companies assume it as part of the normal cost of productivity. There is no real alternative: if you work in Word, you use Copilot. If you manage emails in Outlook, you use Copilot. If you coordinate teams in Teams, you use Copilot. Yes, but. This is not the traditional technological domain. Microsoft doesn’t need to have the best AI. You just need to have the most integrated one. OpenAI can be brighter, Google can be faster, Meta can be more open (or not so open). It doesn’t matter, because none of them are inside the software where the work is done. AI is no longer an add-on. It becomes invisible infrastructure. The contrast. Other technological giants continue to bet on the excellence of the model: Everyone competes to have the best technology, but Microsoft competes for something else: to be the place where that technology is used, regardless of who created it. In summary: OpenAI is freed to grow as a company. Microsoft makes sure that no matter what happens, AI runs through its software. The rest of the industry competes to invent. Microsoft has won by distributing. Does not sell AI. Sell ​​inevitability. In Xataka | AI works better if you are edge Featured image | Microsoft

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