Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Spain wants to show that it can live without nuclear weapons. The problem is that he is still testing how

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Spain is experiencing a decisive moment in its energy policy. While the Government defends an orderly closure of nuclear power plants and relies on an experimental digital system to stabilize the grid, large electricity companies warn that the transition It is being faster than safe. At the epicenter of this tension is Almaraz, the Extremaduran power plant that refuses to turn off its reactors and that has once again divided technicians, politicians and neighbors. The nuclear dilemma. The closure of the Almaraz nuclear power plant in Cáceres is officially set for 2027 and 2028, but the debate over its future has returned with force. Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy agreed to present to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition a formal request to extend their activity until 2030. They will do so, they say, out of “responsibility with the supply” after the voltage failures recorded in recent weeks that “they reactivated the risk of blackout”. Companies have, for the moment, given up asking for tax reductions. Their message is different: Spain, they argue, is not prepared to disconnect from the atom. “Nuclear is the system’s anti-blackout shield,” says the CEO of Iberdrola Spain. However, the Government does not move. The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has reiterated the commitment to the closure calendar agreed in 2019, which foresees the nuclear blackout between 2027 and 2035. Only if three conditions are not met: security, guarantee of supply and zero cost for the taxpayer, will the Executive would reconsider his position. A model in testing. The core of the controversy is not only political, but technical. The Executive’s plan involves replacing the stability offered by nuclear and thermal plants with a digital voltage and frequency control system based on renewables. In theory, wind and solar farms will be able to simulate electrical inertia —the ability to resist sudden changes in frequency— through advanced electronics. In practice, the model is still in the testing phase. According to Energy NewsRed Eléctrica (REE) is developing new control tools to integrate non-synchronous generation, but still without complete validation. Additionally, new digital control algorithms have not been tested on a national scaleand its reliability at high power has not yet been demonstrated. Sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition cited by El Periódico They admit that full stability of the system “will only be possible when all renewable plants are digitally synchronized with the operator”, a process that – they acknowledge – “will still take time.” The network under surveillance. Aware of these risks, the CNMC approved an emergency modification of the operating procedures (OP 3.1, 3.2, 7.2 and 7.4) to reinforce the stability of the system. In practice, they are standards that determine how Red Eléctrica must react to variations in voltage and frequency, and allow it to act with more flexibility in times of risk. However, not everything went as planned. As energy expert Joaquín Coronado explains on his networksthe CNMC stopped the complete approval of OP 7.4 when it detected that the new model required responses that were impossible for many conventional plants to comply with. Several generators alleged that too rapid a reaction could damage the machines or generate additional oscillations, something the CNMC acknowledged in its resolution. The regulator asked Red Eléctrica to “intensify coordination and temporarily make the requirements more flexible”, making it clear that the problem was not one of inertia, but rather speed of response. A pulse of time. The electricity companies’ proposal to extend the first Almaraz reactor until 2030 and the second until 2029, would give three additional years to the current calendar. However, the Nuclear Safety Council requires that documentation be submitted before November 1 to begin the decommissioning process. In parallel, the Government of Extremadura has announced that it will reduce the regional “ecotax” by half if the plant remains operational, a gesture that the central Executive views with suspicion. “Taxpayers cannot pay more to maintain a plant that had to close,” recalled the Government delegate in Extremadura, José Luis Quintana, in statements to Canal Extremadura. Mobilization in the streets. While the technical and political debate becomes entangled, the residents of Almaraz took to the streets. Last Marchhundreds of people marched under the slogan “Yes to Almaraz, yes to the future,” in a protest supported by mayors of nearby municipalities and nuclear sector associations. In their arguments they defend their position in favor of nuclear power for fear of job loss, a population exodus and the fall of the local economy. But not everyone shares that enthusiasm. Ecologists in Action criticized the presence of local authorities at the protest and asked to accelerate a “just transition” that generates employment alternatives. “You cannot continue tying the future of a region to an industry that promotes environmental and health risks,” the organization said in a statement. Europe looks at Spain. While France and Belgium extend the life of their reactors until 2060, Spain remains firm in its nuclear closure. The Enresa fund to dismantle the plants drags a deficit of 11.6 billion euros. The electricity companies cite this as proof that closing early makes the system more expensive; The Government replies that extending it would jeopardize the ecological transition. The peninsula remains an “energy island” with only 3% interconnection with France, which amplifies any failure. And more and more experts repeat the same thing: the problem is not the speed of the transition, but that the network and the rules They are not getting stronger at the same rate.. A still uncertain future. Almaraz has become much more than a power plant: it is a symbol of the tension between climate urgency and energy security. The Executive insists that Spain will be able to sustain its network with renewable technology and digital control; Technicians and electrical companies ask for caution. Meanwhile, Red Eléctrica engineers fine-tune algorithms, the CNMC approves regulatory patches and the residents of Almaraz prepare for a future that, for now, continues to depend on its two reactors. Spain wants to turn on … Read more

AI has been great for Satya Nadella. His salary this year exceeds 96.5 million dollars

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s salary has reached a new record in 2025: $96.5 million. According to collected Bloombergthe Microsoft executive received a 22% salary increase compared to 2024 that reflects the skyrocketing stocks from the $4 trillion tech giant. Underlying this salary increase lies a debate that has been on the table for some time: the accelerated increase in the wage gap among senior managers of a company and its employees. Work well done pays off. The last fiscal year has been historic for Microsoft and its CEO, Satya Nadella, who will receive the largest salary package since he took office in 2014. According to what Microsoft made public in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the total compensation awarded to Nadella amounts to $96.5 million. This remuneration represents an increase of 22% compared to the previous year, in which a salary of $79.1 million for the CEO. If Microsoft does well, so does its CEO. As stood out Fortunethis salary increase goes hand in hand with the good stock market performance that Microsoft has had in recent months, and the prominence of artificial intelligence in its products and services The company’s board of directors indicates that more than 95% of Nadella’s compensation is linked to the performance of his shares, highlighting financial results, the creation of value for shareholders and leadership in AI as key elements to grant that salary increase to the executive. It’s salary, but not everything is cash. The majority of the compensation Nadella will receive comes from stock awards worth more than $84 million. The bonus that the CEO will receive in cash for different incentives will amount to 9.5 million dollars. For his part, the manager’s base salary It remains at 2.5 million and will obtain $196,000 in other benefits, such as per diems or private jet services. This implies that about 90% of their remuneration is variable and dependent on stock market performance, which means that it is only a valuation that is made at the time it is assigned, but it is an asset that can increase or lose part of its value. depending on your management. This remuneration strategy linked to shares represents an important incentive for the CEO to continue meeting objectives. Salary escalation. Since Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, his salary has continued to increase at the same rate as the company’s stock price. According to the published data by Business Insiderin 2015 Nadella’s total salary was $18 million. By 2022, his compensation had multiplied to $55 million, and increased by 63% in 2024 to $79.1 million. With the 96.5 million, the Steve Ballmer’s successor At the head of Microsoft he has broken his own record. Salary gap and layoffs. This year of prosperity for the CEO of Microsoft occurs in a context of complex internal adjustments in the company he leads, which has announced layoffs that will affect up to 15,000 employees. The difference between Nadella’s salary and that of an average Microsoft employee is significant: the CEO earns 480 times more than the average annual salary of his employees, which is around $200,972. This gap between managers and employees does not only occur at Microsoft, but is another example of an upward trend in large technology companies. According to a study that has analyzed the main companies of the S&P 500, in the last five years the salary of managers has been increased by 35%. A much higher percentage than the salary of its employees has increased. In Xataka | The highest paid Spanish manager in the world does not work in a large technology company: he sells “sugar water” Image | Microsoft

from Barcelona to Seville direct for 22 euros

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Last April, Renfe began operating between Barcelona and Seville with a direct high-speed train. Without transfers, the company connects both cities in just under six hours, making some intermediate stops but offering a service that now does not require transfers. Coinciding with the arrival of the Christmas, Ouigo will also activate this service. In this case with intermediate stops in Zaragoza, Madrid and Córdoba where passengers will be able to get on or leave the train on a route that will last just over six hours but that offers some relevant changes compared to Renfe. Ticket simulation between Barcelona and Seville for 22 euros From Barcelona to Seville… passing through Madrid Starting today, October 23, Ouigo has launched the sale of train tickets between Barcelona and Seville. He has done it with an exit offer that leaves the possibility of covering this entire line for just 22 euros. Prices can reach up to 100 euros on specific days but most of the tickets that have been put on sale currently range between 22 and 55 euros. The exit campaign is very aggressive. It does so to promote a new route that aspires to impact the Andalusian and Catalan corridors. In the latter, Ouigo had gone presence and had focused on the southern areamore sensitive to ticket prices. However, AVLO departure of trains between Madrid and Barcelona It gives a new opportunity to the company that will take advantage of it with a train that leaves the Catalan capital shortly after 7:35 a.m. and arrives in Seville before 1:51 p.m. In six hours and 16 minutes, it is possible to move between both cities at a ridiculous price. At least on the way out. In addition to putting a very attractive connection on the map during vacation times, Ouigo makes its service more efficient since the high-speed train makes previous stops in Zaragoza, Madrid and Córdoba. In fact, this forces the company to lengthen the trip compared to Renfe, which with its direct train connects both cities in less than six hours. Where is the advantage for Ouigo? With this train, Ouigo remains alive in the high speed between Madrid and Barcelona without making a greater effort. However, it may be difficult for Renfe to make its offer between the Catalan and Andalusian cities more profitable because it has options that take less time but at the risk of do not stop in Madrid. In exchange, what is offered with the AVE is a much faster connection. Since this route, which does not pass through Madrid, was launched, you can travel between Barcelona and Seville in five hours and 37 minutes. That is, the AVE takes about 40 minutes less. A new chapter in the high speed battle. While Renfe is committed to joining both cities in the shortest time possible in exchange for raising prices and at the risk of making it more difficult to make the service profitable, Ouigo offers a cheaper option but in which some concessions must be made in terms of the time available. Photo | Tania Mousinho and Pourya Gohari In Xataka | Renfe has found a scapegoat for its problems on the Madrid-Barcelona line: Talgo and its AVRIL trains

Mercadona’s ready-meal supplier is investing 150 million more because we have given ourselves

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Familia Martínez, the group that manufactures packaged lasagnas, gratins and roasts for Mercadona, has announced aAn investment of 150 million euros in two new facilitiesboth in areas affected by DANA 2024: A 20,000 square meter plant in Buñol dedicated exclusively to roasted products. And a rapid distribution center of 3,500 square meters in Torrent with capacity for 1,000 pallets. Both will be operational between 2025 and 2026. In one of the openings there is a nod to the founding of the company: it started in the 70s with a butcher shop in Torrent. Qor what is important. This expansion responds to the explosive growth of fifth-range prepared dishes in Spanish supermarkets. We are not talking about food from the counter that is sold hot (the ‘Ready to Eat’ section), but about refrigerated packaged products that the consumer heats at home: cannelloni, lasagna, roast ribs… A few months ago The Spanish have consumed 17 kilos per person of prepared dishes in 20246.6% more than the previous year, and Mercadona has bet heavily on this category: Juan Roig said a few months ago that “in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens” and is transforming the chain accordingly. The figures. Familia Martínez closed 2024 with a turnover of 480 million euros (8% more) and a net profit of 31 million (15% more). Production exceeded 92 million kilos, with a growth of 6.2%. The group directly employs more than 1,900 workers in Valencia and Madrid. More than 600,000 gratin dishes and 200,000 roasts leave the Buñol plant every week. In total, it has invested 320 million euros in the last seven years. The context. The Martínez Family integrates four companies: Martínez sausages (minced meat and sausages). Traditional dishes (gratins, lasagna and fifth-range roasts). Five Forks (traditional roasts). La Pila Food (semi-finished products for industry). Mercadona represents 85% of its business. Last year, the group paid 68 million euros to the French group Fleury Michon to keep 100% Traditional Dishes, the jewel in the crown. The money trail. The investment in the new Buñol roasting plant is the most ambitious in the history of Familia Martínez. The center has been designed under criteria of energy efficiency and sustainability, with special attention to water savings. According to the CEO, Raúl Martínthe group is “in a moment of important growth, in line with the good progress of our main client”, in direct reference to Mercadona, which represents close to 80% of its business. The disappearance of kitchens that Roig predicts not only translates into more prepared dishes, but also a radical simplification of fresh products. During 2024, Mercadona has expanded its “reengineering” of the fishmonger’s section to offer products that do not require the intervention of a fishmonger in the store. Salmon nuggets, gluten-free hake sticks or clean sole are examples of this strategy. The rapid distribution center in Torrent will include semi-automatic shelving and two refrigerated warehouses with automatic management and robotization systems. This will shorten delivery times and improve the operational efficiency of the current Embutidos Martínez plants in Cheste and Torrent. In Xataka | The boom in prepared food in supermarkets has a blind spot: nutrition. Are we putting the foxes to guard the henhouse? Featured image | Martínez Family, Mercadona

Europe has done the only thing it could do to compete with SpaceX and China in space: merge its largest companies

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Europe has grown tired of watching from the sidelines how SpaceX and, increasingly, Chinaredefine the rules of the game in space. The continent’s response was inevitable: a historic fusion. The three European aerospace giants, Airbus, Leonardo and Thales, have signed a memorandum of understanding to combine its spatial divisions into a single, colossal enterprise. Merge or die. This is not news that we break every day. It is the most ambitious move in the European aerospace industry since the creation of the MBDA missile consortium in 2001. And at the same time, it is not an offensive move, but a strategic survival maneuver. Given the agility of reusable rockets and Elon Musk’s megaconstellations, the fragmentation of Europe had become an unsustainable burden. Now, the plan is to create a European champion with the critical mass necessary to at least be able to compete. A colossus about to be born. The agreement, which It’s been brewing for months. under the code name “Project Bromo”, it will give rise to a new company that, if approved by regulators, could be operational in 2027. The figures used give an idea of ​​the scale of the operation: a combined annual turnover of 6.5 billion euros, and nearly 25,000 employees spread throughout Europe. Airbus will have the majority stake with 35%, while the Italian Leonardo and the French Thales will share the rest almost equally, with 32.5% each. Despite the majority of Airbus, the government of the new colossus will be “balanced” and under joint control, as reported by the companies. What does each one contribute? Each partner will contribute his crown jewels in the space sector. Airbus will contribute with its Space Systems and Digital Space businesses. Leonardo will bring its Space Division to the table, including its valuable stakes in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space. Thales will mainly contribute its shares in those same joint ventures (Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio) and Thales SESO. Why it was inevitable. The harsh reality is that Europe was falling behind, and very quickly. SpaceX’s disruption has been brutal, especially on two fronts: launch and satellites. While Europe continues recovering lost ground With the development of its Ariane rockets, Elon Musk’s company has not only radically lowered the cost of putting something into orbit, but has flooded the sky with its Starlink constellation and its military version, Starshield. Beating SpaceX is no longer possible. On October 19, the company surpassed a staggering number of 10,000 Starlink satellites launched in just over 300 launches of the Falcon 9 rocket. This network of small satellites has cannibalized the traditional market for large and expensive geostationary satellites, the pillar on which the business of European companies was based. The only thing Europe can do, and what this new giant is destined to do, is recover its technological sovereignty in space and, with it, its security. Image | Airbus In Xataka | “We are the company that has developed an orbital rocket the fastest”: PLD Space, one step away from making history from Spain

end reclining seats

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Canadian airline WestJet has announced that will eliminate the ability to recline standard economy seats on 43 aircraft in its fleet. In this way, passengers who want to put the backrest back they will have to pay an extra to access premium cabins or “extended comfort” seats. What exactly changes. The measure affects less than a third of WestJet’s narrowbody fleet, specifically the Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-800 from the defunct airlines Swoop, Lynx and Sunwing. On these planes, basic economy seats will have a “fixed recline,” meaning they will not be able to move. The first reconfigured aircraft will enter service at the end of this month, and the remaining 42 will be ready in early 2026. The airline’s justification. WestJet defend the change arguing that half of the passengers who participated in its user tests prefer a fixed backrest to “avoid feeling invaded by other passengers,” according to declared to ABC News. The company maintains that this reconfiguration seeks to “create a cohesive look and feel” in its aircraft, with a renewed design that promises a “bright and spacious environment”, although with less space between seats. What if you want to recline the seat?. Travelers who prefer to maintain the ability to recline their seat will have two payment options. The first is the premium cabin, which will incorporate 12 new seats of the same model as those of the company’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The second is the “extended comfort” section, with 36 seats that offer additional legroom, ergonomically designed cushions and reclining capabilities. Criticisms of the model. The decision has generated some controversy among experts in the sector. John Gradek, professor of aviation management at McGill University in Montreal, qualified the measure of “strategy to raise more money”, according to statements collected by CBC. “The imagination of airline marketers never ceases to amaze me,” said Gradek, who believes WestJet is trying to “create another tier of service that allows them to charge more” for something that has traditionally been standard in the Canadian market. In Europe it is not surprising. On the continent, this practice is quite common among cheap airlines. The main European low-cost airlines such as Ryanair, Easyjet or Wizz Air They have been operating for years with seats that do not recline at all, while WestJet is removing a feature that its passengers took for granted and making it an exclusive feature of premium fares. low-cost Canadian. WestJet, a pioneer in offering affordable fares to Canadian travelers, operates flights to 19 US states, including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Washington DC The airline justifies these changes as part of its strategy to keep costs down: “We need to be willing to try new products and see how they work for Canadians,” their spokespersons explained. Cover image | Suhyeon Choi In Xataka | “You can’t predict if there will be interference”: why airlines continue to force us to put airplane mode on in 2025

Meeting the energy demand of AI is leading to desperate measures. How to reuse old airplane turbines

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The AI ​​race has put the electrical infrastructures of half the world in check. Data centers need more and more megawatts, and they need them now. But the energy industry does not play at the same pace, which explains why there are companies installing airplane engines next to these huge graphics card farms. Two options, two problems. When a company builds a new data center for AI, it has two options. The first is to connect to the electrical network, but according to IEEE Spectrumpermits to carry out interconnection can reach eight or even ten years in some regions. AI, however, advances in a matter of months, and cannot wait a decade. Hence, many companies, like Elon Musk’s xAIopt for option 2: build their own power plant on the site. This is not without problems either. Global demand for gas turbines has skyrocketed, and not just because of AI, but because of economic growth in Asia and the Middle East. Manufacturers such as GE Vernova or Siemens Energy have waiting lists of three to five years, and for larger models, the period is longer. As noted in a report by Public Powera new gas plant project commissioned today could begin operating in 2032. Aircraft engines as power plants. This bottleneck has caused, on the one hand, that turbine manufacturers rub their handsand on the other, that companies sharpen their ingenuity. And this is where aeronautical engineering and the reuse of aircraft turbines come into play. The concept of using aircraft engines to generate electricity is not new. They are known as aeroderivative turbines: they are smaller, lighter and easier to maintain than heavy industrial turbines. What is new is the scale and urgency with which this solution is being implemented. From a Boeing 747 to the data center. An American company called ProEnergy has become a protagonist of the trend with a simple plan: buy used jet engine cores, specifically the CF6-80C2 model of the iconic Boeing 747, and adapt them. These engines, after decades of service in the air, are disassembled, reviewed piece by piece and rebuilt for a second life on dry land. The result is the PE6000 unit, a gas turbine that, as detailed the popia companyis capable of generating 48 megawatts (MW) of electricity. A single one of these units can power a small or medium-sized data center, or a city of up to 40,000 homes. A bridging solution. The reality is that these converted aircraft engines are not the definitive solution, but rather what the industry bridges for the first years of operation of its data centers. “Both projects are designed to provide bridge power for five to seven years, which is when they hope to have interconnection to the grid,” says the CEO of ProEnergy. But business is good. The company has already sold 21 of these turbines for two projects, adding more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity thanks to its speed of delivery. Companies can buy a turbine from ProEnergy by 2027 or wait a decade to build a conventional plant. Everyone wins. Except the environment. It is gas that ends up burning in order to have these data centers operational in record time. Image | ProEnergy In Xataka | If the question is “how does having a data center next to my house affect me”, in the US they already have an answer: 267% more expensive electricity

While OpenAI takes all the media glory with ChatGPT, Alibaba is already taking important clients with Qwen. The latest: Airbnb

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Alibaba has been investing in its family of open language models for quite some time.qwen‘, which are gaining increasing acceptance between developers and users. Although OpenAI takes all the media glory with ChatGPT and the rest of the services, the Chinese firm is not short and already is overtaking him with some clients. The latest example: Airbnb, which has chosen to rely mostly on Alibaba’s Qwen AI model for its automated customer service, leaving ChatGPT in a secondary role. Airbnb’s decision. Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of the tourist accommodation platform, explained Bloomberg this week that his company “heavily relies” on Alibaba’s Qwen model. As he admitted to the outlet, ChatGPT’s integration capabilities “are not quite ready” for Airbnb’s needs. On the other hand, Chesky assured that Qwen is “very good, fast and cheap.” It is curious, especially considering that Chesky is a personal friend of Sam Altman, head of OpenAI. How the system works. Airbnb’s customer service agent, which the company deployed to all its users Americans in English last May, is built on 13 different AI models, including those from OpenAI, Google and open source providers. However, Chesky recognized that, although they use the latest OpenAI models, “we usually don’t use them much in production because there are faster and cheaper models.” Just like point the company, the system has allowed them to cut their human workforce by 15% and claims to have saved average resolution time, going from almost three hours to just six seconds. Open source is gaining ground. Open source models, which developers can modify as they wish, are increasingly challenging closed systems like those from OpenAI. Although the company also has an open model (gpt-oss), Chinese tech companies are releasing models much faster, more cost-effectively, and open source. Joe Tsai, president of Alibaba, declared recently that the winner in AI should be determined by “who can adopt it the fastest,” not “who creates the most powerful model.” A future integration with ChatGPT in the air. Although Airbnb is awaiting the development of ChatGPT app integrations and could consider a collaboration in the future, similar to those of its competitors Booking and Expedia, the platform is not currently among the first applications available on the OpenAI chatbot. Chesky even advised to OpenAI about its new ability for third-party developers to integrate their applications into ChatGPT, a feature that the company announced this month and which he described as a “developer preview.” And now what. Airbnb plans expand its AI agent with support in Spanish and French this fall, and 56 more languages ​​next year. Meanwhile, the company claims to be betting on new social functions to foster connections between users and improve travel recommendations within the application. For Chesky, these features are “probably the most differentiated part of Airbnb.” Cover image | Unsplash (Oberon Copeland), Wikimedia In Xataka | OpenAI is no longer a startup. Now it is a black hole of 500,000 million that threatens the world economy

that supernovae are behind two mass extinction events on Earth

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When we think about mass extinctions, we almost always The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs comes to mind. But the universe has much more spectacular ways of reconfiguring life, as pointed out a scientific study which suggests that at least two of the ‘Big Five‘Earth extinctions were not caused by space rocks, but by the lethal radiation of stars exploding very close to our solar system. The study. The research, led by Alexis L. Quintana of the University of Alicante, has complicated the most complete census to date of OB type starsthe “heavyweights” of the galaxy. These stars are incredibly large, hot and luminous, and they live fast and die young, ending their lives in titanic explosions known as core collapse supernovae (ccSN). Space bombs. The team in this case has mapped 24,706 of these stars within a radius of 1 kiloparsec (about 3,260 light years) around the Sun. And with this map, they have been able to calculate something crucial: the frequency with which one of these cosmic bombs explodes in our neighborhood. The key fact is chilling: they estimate that a supernova close enough (about 20 parsecs or 65 light years) to wreak havoc on Earth that occurs about 2.5 times every billion years. This figure, which may seem low, fits eerily into the fossil record. A death mechanism. How exactly would a nearby supernova kill you? It’s not the blast wave, but the radiation. Such an energetic and upcoming explosion would bathe our planet in a torrent of gamma and cosmic rays, tearing apart our ozone layer. Without that protective shield, ultraviolet radiation from our own Sun became lethal, sterilizing the planet’s surface and causing ecological collapse. Specifically, the study points out that this rate of 2.5 events per billion years is “consistent” with the fact that one or more of the mass extinctions recorded on Earth were caused by this mechanism. Specifically, they point to two devastating events: Both extinctions have been linked by other studies to periods of intense glaciation and, crucially, a drastic reduction in atmospheric ozone, a “murder weapon” that points directly to a cosmic culprit. Updates. Beyond the threat to Earth, the new OB star census has allowed the team to recalculate the overall supernova rate for the entire planet. Milky Way. And here there has been a surprise: it is lower than we thought. Previous calculations put the rate at 1 or 2 explosions per century. The new study lowers it to 0.4 – 0.5 supernovae per century. The authors attribute this difference to the fact that their census is more precise and reliable thanks to Gaia data, since the models of how stars evolve have improved. This new figure is not just an astronomical curiosity; It is fundamental data for other fields of physics. For example, it is vital for calculating the frequency with which we should be able to detect gravitational waves coming from these explosions within our own galaxy. Our protection. Fortunately, a look at our current stellar neighborhood is reassuring. Although there are massive stars that we know will explode “soon” (in astronomical time), such as the famous red supergiants Antares and Betelgeuse, both are hundreds of light years away. They are too far away to fry us with their radiation, but close enough that when they finally detonate (which could happen tomorrow or 100,000 years from now), they will give us a light show in the sky that will last for weeks. Meanwhile, we now have a new suspect to blame for some of the worst catastrophes in the history of life, long before humans came along to witness it. Images | Aron Visuals 愚木混株 Yumu In Xataka | We could think of space as a place without climate threats to Earth. We could ignore the “space tornadoes”

If anyone thought that no one was going to want the statue of a 300 meter bull in Spain, it is because they know very little about Spain.

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in summer we count the beginning of something that was difficult to catalog. The Spanish Academy of Bullfighting launched the proposal to build a monumental sculpture of none other than 300 meters in the shape of a bulla statue that aspired to become a tourist and cultural icon comparable to structures such as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty, taking as its hallmark a symbol historically associated with Spanish imagery. If there was any doubt about the reception, there are already cities giving everything for “their” bull. A symbol. What we know: that the project foresees an open metal structure, of a modular type, with viewing points on the horns and a commercial and cultural complex at its base, financed with private capital but conditional on the receiving municipality giving up a large plot of land (at least 650 meters long) and assume urban integration and permits. Although the idea started as a sectoral initiative aimed at reinforcing the public presence of bullfighting, the mere announcement, of course, has generated opposite reactions: while for some it is an opportunity for international projection and an economic claim, for others it is an aesthetic and ethical provocation that aims to whitewash a controversial practice with art. The race begins. At this time we know something else: there are “cakes” to be obtained monster. After the initial rejection of Madrid, Castilla y León has taken advantage by concentrating the majority of the candidates and placing Peñafiel and Valle de Valdebezana in an advanced phase by having delivered specific location plans, which places them ahead of other municipalities that have only expressed political will without proving technical feasibility. Peñafiel, with a deep-rooted bullfighting tradition and an urban environment that already has the Plaza del Coso as a singular element, it has claimed to have a “privileged” location that would meet the requirements and that could also be provided with complementary services in the future, avoiding the need for provincial or regional support by having a PGOU that allows it to grant licenses on its own. Extra ball. The Academy demands, as a next step, the higher institutional support except in those cases in which municipal planning allows acting without this filter, which has redoubled the interest of competing municipalities in ensuring their administrative legitimacy as soon as possible. The economic argument. The promoters defend that the structure would be a tourist attraction engine capable of activating commerce, employment and notoriety for the host town, especially in territories of inland Spain with problems of visibility and population flight. It is proposed that the monument would act not only as a visitor attraction, but also as a consumption anchor in its immediate surroundings thanks to restaurants, shops and thematic cultural programming that would allow the tourist flow to leave local income and prolong the stay in the destination. Hence municipalities like Peñafiel or interested towns in Zamora and Salamanca see this option as a way to complement or reorient their tourist offer beyond seasonal campaigns or specific events, without direct budgetary cost if the bulk of the investment ultimately remains in private hands as the promoters promise. What people say. The initiative is not exempt from rejection: Opposition public officials consider it extravagant, disproportionate and out of context, while animal rights groups and critics of bullfighting denounce that the sculpture constitutes a symbolic glorification of a practice associated with animal suffering, disguised as monumental art and intended to provoke rather than unite. This front further argues that the scale distorts the landscapeimplies extreme visual impact and transfers to the public space an identity icon that does not have social consensus, which would turn the monument into a permanent focus of dispute. The tension between both narratives (territorial revitalization vs. symbolic imposition) has already accompanied the project since its embryonic phase, anticipating a debate that could intensify if the choice of headquarters crystallizes in a specific location. Peñafiel one step ahead. Thus, Peñafiel is currently positioned as one of the more serious candidates by having that bullfighting tradition, explicit political will and apparent urban planning capacity to house such a structure, to which is added the identity argument of being able to go from being known for its unique Plaza del Coso to hosting what would be the greatest architectural symbol of modern bullfighting. Meanwhile, local authorities recognize the magnitude of the challenge logistical and anticipate a long process, although they consider that the reputational and economic return would justify the bet. The Bullfighting Academy continue evaluating plans, accessibility, impact and viability, while other localities finalize institutional support to avoid losing position. The project thus enters a decisive phase in which vision, land, permits, social legitimacy and strategic impact are confronted before a destination is selected for an object that, not yet built, already produces political, aesthetic and cultural effects. Image | Spanish Academy of Bullfighting In Xataka | Someone thought it was a great idea to propose a sculpture of a bull over 300 meters high. There are already cities waiting to welcome it In Xataka | The “cayetans” are going to make noise in the squares. And it’s not just because of the love of bullfighting.

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