Mobile Tech & Gadgets

There is nothing to make blue in blue eyes. If we want to understand why, we have to resort to physics

by

Many of us learned first genetics lessons through peas and eye color. But there is more science when Explain the color that acquire our eyes. Not only does physics intervene but also a somewhat more complex biology than we believed in the beginning. Nature and blue. The blue color It is not one of the most frequent In nature. Perhaps that is why exceptions such as the flowers of this color, the plumages of some birds or the wings of certain insects are striking. A reason is in the optimization of resources. Blue pigments are molecules that reflect light in certain segments of the electromagnetic spectrum, those of blue tones, giving color to an object. The problem with these molecules is that They usually have a large size. This makes them difficult to synthesize by living beings so, if they do not offer a significant evolutionary advantage, they will not be created by our body. It is not chemical, it is physical. That is why when we see the blue color in nature, it is likely that its origin is not in a chemical compound but in some physical phenomenon. This is what happens, for example, in the case of the plumage of some birds, whose origin is in nanostructures whose shape is responsible for reflecting the light in short lengths of the visible spectrum, those of blue color. And it is also the case with blue eyes. Absence of pigmentation. Only that in the case of blue eyes it is not about the nanostructures but of the iris and of the Tyndall effectan effect similar to the person responsible for seeing the blue sky (and the red sunsets), Explain in an article in The conversation Davinia Beaver, expert in regenerative medicine of the Bond University, in Australia. When the light enters our eye, the suspended particles found in it interact with the shortest spectrum lengths, causing them to disseminate more, “bouncing” thus part of the blue color of the waves outside. The brown, quite the opposite. This effect does not occur among people with brown eyes because there is a pigment in this. This “catch” part of the light causing it not to escape so easily from the eye, giving darker tones. The pigment in question: melaninthe same responsible for darker skin tones. There are more eyes colors, such as green or “hazelnut color” eyes. These colors can be seen as the combination of the dispersion of the light of the Tyndall effect, modulated by a certain presence of melanin, either in small quantities or concentrated in some regions of the iris. Genetics is not so simple. The genetics we study in our school stage, of course, is simple, a simplified version of what we know about this field of biology. A field, in addition, that has been advancing over time, becoming more complex as we detract more and more details about its operation, Beaver remembers. Point out, for example, there are several genes that affect the appearance of our eyes, so family ins and outs that lead to one or another eye color may not be as perceptible as we believe. Eye color can also change as a result of other factors such as our age, as melanin accumulates in our eyes, which usually happens during growth. Certain medical conditions, Beaver adds, can also influence this color. In Xataka | We have been trying to decipher if all humans see the colors the same. We still have no response Image | Michael Morse

The FBI thought that burning the methamphetamine they had requisition was a good idea. They sent fourteen people to the hospital

by

If you have ever wondered what the police do with the drugs they requisition, surely the Montana Police method, in the United States, does not leave you indifferent. The last stash they have destroyed has made fourteen people have to be treated emergency and has forced to transfer more than 75 animals. What happened. They tell it in Associated Press. The event occurred in an animal shelter in Billings, Montana. The installation has an incinerator for animal corpses, which the authorities occasionally use to destroy illegal substances. In this case it was almost 1kg of methamphetamine. The problem was that, at the beginning of combustion, instead of leaving the extractor, the smoke began to fill the building. They should have had a fan by hand to avoid it, but nobody found it. It is also believed that they did not use the right temperature since, if he had done it, the toxins would have burned and would not have had major consequences. Consequences. Fourteen workers from Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter had to be treated at the hospital after inhaling smoke. The director of the refuge assured Associated Press that employees did not know that the incinerator was used for such purposes and did not give importance to smoke. Among the symptoms they presented had headaches, throat pain, cough and dizziness. They were not the only ones affected, the animals that were in the shelter also inhaled the smoke. At least 75 dogs and cats had to be transferred to reception houses. Fortunately there was no regret victims. Other cases. It is not the first time that drug burning has consequences of this type. In April of this year, Lice Police, in Türkiye, burned 20 tons of marijuanacausing dizziness, nausea and even hallucinations in some of the inhabitants. In 2015 Something very similar happened in Palmerah, Indonesia. How is it done in Spain. It is also incinerated, but more controlled through concessions with waste elimination companies. According to the independent, In 2022 Spain spent 300,000 euros a year on the destruction of shells on two floors that were in Asturias and Toledo. The Grande-Marlaska Minister did not see viable the construction of a specific incinerator for this because it would mean an even greater cost. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | A tooth has revealed the beginning of one of the oldest practices of the human being: when we begin to consume drugs

SEGA revives the war of consoles with a remake of what they do and Nintendon’t

by

The console war ended. We are in an increasingly global segment with PlayStation publishing in Xbox, Xbox being one of the great Publisher of PlayStation and Sega publishing games in Nintendo for decades. Currently, who continues with that war is The Japanese soldier who continued fighting in World War II Untilly enter the Cold warbut Sega wanted to pull nostalgia to embrace his past more thug. Watch this video: This is the launch trailer for ‘Sonic Racing: Crossworlds‘A game of karts in the pure style of’ Mario Kart ‘, but with characters from the’ Sonic ‘saga and the Sega universe. It is not necessary to pay too much attention to realize that the game that appears on a flat TV (but with a few years behind it) is’Mario Kart World‘, the title of Nintendo Switch 2. Sega, just in case, it makes it clear by making allusions at the speed at which the races go in the Nintendo game, the open world or La Vaca, protagonist of one of the most iconic circuits of ‘Mario Kart’. It is a thug trailer that ends with a Fulano, squeaking something that may not understand the first, but that cry is the SEGA WAR GRITO IN THE ADVERTISING OF THE 90. And, therefore, this trailer is a genius. Sega is that Japanese soldier who continued fighting Currently, as I said, the ‘console war’ of a school patio is somewhat surpassed by the companies themselves. ‘Gears of War‘is the icon, next to’Halo‘, from Xbox, and just arrived at PlayStation 5. ‘2‘It is one of the Sony games that has best worked for them in recent years and also It has just landed in Xbox. The two companies have published on PC for years and paints that this collaboration will go from here on. Sega is one Publisher multiplatform from the disaster of Dreamcast and His relationship with Nintendo has been good all these years. But, for his new ‘Sonic Racing’, and in the middle of remakes and sell nostalgia (Nintendo with that Virtual Boy Replica freshly announced), The Japanese company has made a remake of one of its most iconic videos. Take an eye on this video: Exact: that of ‘Sonic Racing: Crossworlds’ is a remake almost 1: 1 of the SEGA video of the 90s to make fun that the Super Nintendo did not have the ‘blast processing’ and, therefore, could not show graphics as fast as the mega drive (or Sega Genesis in other markets). What was the ‘Blast Processing’? Marketing, pure and hard. It was not a chip or anything like that and was part of that all “Genesis Does What Nintendon ‘” campaign, a great word game that comes to say that the Genesis/Mega Drive does what Nintendo can’t. Advertising throughout this arch It was very aggressive Among the companies, but Sega took the palm with mythical campaigns such as the ‘Nintendon’t’, the ‘Blast Processing’, the announcement of the price of mega drive 50 dollars cheaper than the Super Nintendo or this mythical of the Game Gear against the game boy that still seems tremendously beast: The history of advertising among these companies is so mythical that it has inspired stories of all kinds, a great book called ‘Console Wars‘And pieces that will remain for memory thanks to both games and the ads themselves. It was the most splendid era in commercial creativity And a competition between companies that disappeared When the first playstation arrived. This hooligan communication has been seen since then (such as Sony mocking how to give games in Xbox A few E3 has already), but this new ad of Sega is nice, it is effective and a missile to nostalgia. In Xataka | The great enemy of the Nintendo Switch 2 are not the Sony or Microsoft consoles. It is the PC

Trying to understand why human beings like alcohol so much, these scientists have just found a fundamental clue: drunken monkeys

by

More than two decades ago, Robert Dudley wondered how it was possible that we liked alcohol. In 2014, the evolutionary biologist of the University of California in Berkeley published “El Mono drunk”, a book where he explored The evolutionary roots of that transcultural hobby to alcohol. According to Dudley, it is the fans of primates to fermented fruits (rich in sugars and with a very light alcoholic content) what is behind all this. The problem, as with all the hypotheses of evolutionary biology, was to demonstrate it. Now we have found some tests. Because Science Advance magazine He has just published a study which shows that wild chimpanzees consume the alcoholic equivalent to one or two human cups. That is, exposure to this substance is regular and “probably” was also in our past as a kind, as Dudley said. How have you discovered it? The team analyzed the fruits consumed by the wild chimpanzees in Uganda and in Ivory Coast. Thus, they discovered that these 21 species had a concentration of 0.3% alcohol on average. To the extent that these animals consume about 4.5 kilos of fruit, the amount of ethanol consumed daily is more than the 14 grams that has a standard glass in the US. Of course, “by adjusting for body weight, which in chimpanzees is around 40 kilos in front of about 70 in humans, the exposure equals almost two glasses,” Explain in SINKSEY MARO, main author of the study. It is true, however, that as consumed throughout the day, researchers have not found signs of drunkenness in chimpanzees. So drink alcohol is something natural? This is a usual confusion when we put on the table lAs evolutionary explanationsbut evidently it is not prices. To start because there is nothing ‘natural’ per se. The Natural-artificial ‘distinction It is something that has very little scientific, philosophical or social basis. We have reached a point where everything is artificial. But, on the other hand, the world has changed a lot. Although the hypothesis can explain the origin of the taste for alcohol in all human societies, constant exposure to alcohol of great concentration such as the one we suffer today has nothing to do with that of our ancestors. Therefore, our taste for alcohol may have a certain evolutionary base; The abuse of ethanol and the health problems it causes are something else. Something much more dangerous. Image | Adam Wyles In Xataka | The greatest fear of the alcohol industry is summarized in just five words: being abstemious is fashionable

We always believed that the light guns fired invisible rays, but the reality is the opposite: it was the TV that shot

by

Recognize it: if you are old enough to have played withA Light GunFor a while you thought that this gadget worked by firing rays of invisible light that television detected. Was it the position of the gun? The distance? Did the glass of the screen really knew when the goal was in front? Actually the solution was much simpler and ingenious. The light ray is in reverse: the gun is the receiver. Guns of what. First, let’s remember the history of the device: the light guns in video games began to appear in the thirties in mechanical arcades and evolved towards electronic video games in the 1970s and 1980s. Nintendo already experimented with early versions with its video shooting series for famicom in 1984, whose gun was not futuristic, but it seemed like a western revolver With the theme of the game. Nintendo arrives. The device of this most popular type was Nintendo Zapper for Nespossibly because he was accompanied by one of the most iconic games of the genre, ‘Duck hunt’. The Zapper was already tumbos since 1984 with the version for Famicom, but in 1985 it became the Zapper of NES and left in the United States with the science fiction design we know, automatically becoming a pop icon. In 1988 it was redesigned with bright colors to resemble even less to a real weapon and comply with the legislation. There were up to 17 official games for Zapper. In Xataka This genius has transformed the ZNA Zapper is an incredible laser ray gun But … how did it work? Actually the Zapper and the rest of the light guns of the time were not emitters, but light receptors. The process that followed to work was: when the player clenched a trigger, the screen turned black during a Frame. In the following, the objects to which they have to become white blocks, and the rest remains black. The human eye can barely distinguish this pair of Frames Inside the gun was a light sensor that detected if the area to which it was aimed had changed to Blanco. The game determined what objective had been “shot” according to the time in which this white block appeared, since each white objective was sequentially shown in a different frame. And of course, if the sensor detected the white light inside the expected interval, the shot was counted as a success. Only for old people. The ingenious method only worked on CRT screens, as technology depended completely on the speed and characteristics (on the shortcomings, let’s go) on the soda speed of the cathodic tube. On LCD screens, plasmas and other modernities, the delay changes, and so does the soda technology. What makes ancient games “rare” on modern televisions is also what prevents the gun sensor from correctly capturing the light and location of whites. {“Videid”: “X9HMC3A”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “Nes Mini, Review and Spanish analysis”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “250”} More guns. Then, especially in the field of recreational, more sophisticated guns arrived, such as ‘Operation Wolf’, which was actually a command that determined where it pointed according to the position of the gun, fixed in the machine of the machine (a method as ingenious as that of the Zapper, playing with what the player who is happening is believed). And then they arrived, in fact they do in machines that remain in operation, increasingly sophisticated systems, and that use infrared sensors or cameras to determine where the player points out. But the adorable imagination and naivety of the Zapper give him a unique personality. In Xataka | The Nintendo PlayStation exists: this is the history of the hybrid console that never reached the market (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news We always believed that the light guns fired invisible rays, but the reality is the opposite: it was the TV that shot It was originally posted in Xataka by John Tones .

They have developed their own language

by

New York and rats is a long story. Also disgusting. But above all it is a struggle without barracks for trying to end a plague that does not stop reproducing from God knows when. Last year the photo was, if possible, a little more tremendous: they were no longer rats, They were super -trarates and a notice for the rest of large cities. In 2025 a red line was reached: they were growing at 300% And nobody had the slightest idea of ​​how to avoid it. Now we have a clue: it turns out that they have their own language. An unexpected emblem. From its origins as new Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, New York has accumulated iconic symbols that identify it in the collective imaginary: the “I ❤ NY” shirts, the pizza, Broadway. But he has also lived with a much less glamorous companion and persistently associated with his identity: The damn rats. It is calculated that today Three million are arounda figure equivalent to a third of the human population of the city, and that are an inseparable part of the urban ecosystem. That ubiquitous character makes them object of study privileged to understand how animal life adapts to the city and how the limits between the human and the wild blur in large urban concentrations. An innovative study. Thus, a team of scientists from New York and Germany it was proposed to analyze the behavior of the Rattus norvegicus New York using avant -garde technologies. Namely: artificial intelligence to identify movement patterns, thermal cameras to follow ultrasonic displacements and recordings to capture their vocalizations. The objective was to verify to what extent these urban rats differed from the profiles described in general studies on the species. The results, published in The Biorxiv platformthey have shown that rats modulate their “language” dynamically, adjusting their ultrasonic chillidos to The intensity of ambient noise that surrounds them. On the surface, in parks and sidewalks, they communicated with less power, while in the bustle of the subway the intensity of their vocalizations shot to be heard among the rumble of trains and crowds. An adapted language. Thanks to deep neuronal networks that allowed to analyze spectrograms and measure acoustic differences, the researchers verified that the vocalizations of New York rats They were of shorter duration and were outside the frequency ranges typically described for the species in other contexts. It was, in short, own languageborn of the need to be heard in a deafening metropolis. One of the researchers, Emily Mackevicius, He related an example Revealing: In the full step of an ambulance, the ultrasonic squeaky of rodents appeared in the spectrogram above the siren, inaudible shouts for the human ear but effective in their universe. The rats, in other words, had learned to raise your voice about the noise of the city. Amazing (or acongojante). Social dynamics. Plus: the Video observations They also contributed keys to the social life of rodents. Young specimens, even in learning of fodder strategies, They moved in a groupin contrast to adults, more lonely. This difference suggests a flexible social structure adapted to experience and the need for protection. The researchers They underline That, beyond the usual cartoon of the New York rodent as a plague, its behavior reveals complex cognitive and social dynamics that deserve to be understood in their own ecological context. The biology of cities. He Rat study New York points to a broader challenge: understanding the biology of urban environments as an essential field of research for the future. If by 2050 almost seven out of ten people They will live in citiesthe interaction with species adapted to these habitats will be, if it fits, more and more intense. Animals that survive and thrive in the city, from rats to pigeons, foxes or mapaches, are not mere uncomfortable companions, but actors of a shared ecosystem. The finding that New York rodents have developed own languageadjusted to the noise of the metropolis, not only illuminates its ability to adapt, but also raises a most disturbing mirror: the city itself molds the voices and behaviors of those who inhabit it, humans and animals equally, in a continuous biological experiment that defines the present and anticipates the future of urban life. Image | G. Scott Segler, Caruba In Xataka | Rats are growing to 300% in some cities in the world. And the problem is that we have no idea how to avoid it In Xataka | NEW YORK LIVES A PLAGA OF SUPERRATES. It is a notice for the rest of the big cities

The US launched a pulse to China with the tariffs and China has responded not buying soybeans. It is wreaking havoc

by

China is hungry. We have seen it recently with fish, sweeping sides of South Americawe also see it with The taste for coffee they are developing And with a product very culturally linked to Asian countries: soy. The problem is that the amount of soybeans that produce is marginal (about 20 million tons) and esteem that need between 120 and 130 tons to meet their demand. Who do they buy it? To Brazil and the United States, but with the tariff pulse of recent months launched from the administration of Donald Trump, China has decided that its response would be to make the emptiness to the American soy. And it is causing the silos of the farms to be burst. Brazil and Africa are delighted. Bassoon. To understand the current situation, you have to look a few years ago. Makes one decadeChina was an undisputed ally of the American soybean market. It is estimated that about 40% of the soy of the United States went to China, but with the arrival of different commercial vetoes, things began to change. In 2024, China bought about 20% of its soy to the US. It supposes more than 27 million tons of soybeans with an approximate value of about 12.8 billion dollars, but Things began to twist With the new commercial war. Due to Tariff crossing Applied by Washington and Beijing to their respective imports, there were doubts about what would happen to that star product and if, with high tariffs, it would remain equally appetizing for Chinese importers. We already have the answer. The photo in 2025. From January to July of this year, it is estimated that China imported 16.5 million tons of American soybeans, a ridiculous figure compared to that of previous years. The worst is comingsince a virtually zero soybean import from the United States for the last quarter in which we are going to enter, contrasting with the more than ten million tons in the same period of the previous year. In fact, if in 2024 20% of China’s agricultural imports from the US were only soybeans, this year it is estimated that the figure will remain in 12% imports for all agricultural products. North Dakota. As they point in New York Timesin a typical year, the United States would send more than half of its soy to China, having states like North Dakota that would sell 70% of its production to the Asian giant. With this change of course in the market, farmers face the risk of blockbuster, filling silos, but without the possibility of giving way to so many tons of product. The consequences are what we already know: brutal prices falls, loss of land value and rural economy, while farmers have to continue paying mortgages. In the 2019 commercial war, the administration offered aid to farmers to support the pressure of a China that did not buy them, but it remains to be seen in the near future while senior US and China officials will They gathered This week in Spain to discuss commercial decisions (With Tiktok’s highlight). As NYT points out in NYT report, farmers expect that of soybeans to be one of the issues to be discussed, since there are examples of farms that will lose up to $ 400,000 only this year, being an inasumable situation in some cases. China looks at Brazil. But of course, China is not stopping buying soybeans for both human consumption and for the consumption of livestock, what happens is that they are buying it to other producers. The US is the second worldwide, but above it has someone who is living a totally opposite situation: Brazil. With the commercial war of 2019, China has already begun to diversify looking at the Brazilian market, but these years has been combining both for mere interest: as noted ReutersUSA sent its soy between September and January, before the Brazilian harvest that starred in the rest of the months. In the middle they point out that China has gained soybeans so as not to have to buy the United States this season. HE esteem that the South American soy will cover 95% of the October China demand. Also to Africa. In parallel, China is exploring new origins for soybeans, especially in Africa. Although we talk about modest volumes, imports from Nigeria either Mozambique They have increased in recent months, being part of China’s strategy to diversify, minimize risks and, in addition, invest directly in areas with agricultural potential and in which they can have greater control. Because this strategy is something that we not only see with soybeans, but also with infrastructure both in Latin America (among it, Railways and ports) as in Africawhere they are investing in projects that allow access to critical minerals and metals. It is something that reinforces its position geopolitics in front of the United States while diversifying their sources for ensure stability and continuous supply. In Xataka | There is so many demand for fish in China that has opted for drastic measures: two “aircraft carrier” as a hatchery

In Spain, a huge electric carload network has been created in the shadow: Mercadona’s

by

The expansion of the electric car depends on several factors. Autonomy is fundamental, but so important is reduce friction when loading. That is why they are applying Wireless load solutionsbut it is also necessary a Expansion in the loading network. And there is someone who has positioned himself as the great network of free cargoers in Spain. Mercadona Short. Loading the car while making the purchase is a comfortable way to give an impulse of kilometers to the accountant. In that sense, Mercadona hill 2024 with almost 5,000 active recharge points if we add the more than 4,800 of Spain and the almost 140 of Portugal. It is curious, but this positions the supermarket as one of the most extensive networks in the country. The network. To reduce that friction, On this website We can see a list of the Mercadona that have recharge points with a breakdown of the most important data: Population and street. Load places. Power. Asterisk. Although the number of recharge stalls That they have deployed in a short time, there is an important detail to consider (not to mention those that park combustion cars in these places focused on plug -in electric/hybrids), it is the loading power. Currently, Mercadona offers two powers: 3.7 kW and 22 kW. They are clearly scarce powers. Load at 3.7 kW for free for 60 minutes. Load at 22 kW at € 0.25/kWh. What Mercadona proposes is a support for that day, with a free recharge of about 15 kilometers of autonomy, enough for daily urban activity, hugging the CA network while rejecting, for now, the fastest stations of CC. It is also important to take the cable in the trunk. And model. The good market is competition, and if other chains see that users perceive Mercadona chargers as an important value added to experience, they will begin to offer their own solutions. Carrefour, for example, too It has a map in which we can find loaders of a much more limited network, but with options of 50 kW and 150 kW. Savoramás has projects Undergoing to expand its network by EDP and Lidl has More than 215 stores with 654 recharge points in total with Compatible loaders With Chademo, CCS and AC type 2 and free recharge for half an hour, but without a detail of what type of speed is handled in each of those chargers. And the English Court more of the sameeven with some exclusive points for Tesla. As we say, in the end it is a way to reduce friction when betting on the electric car, but beyond supermarkets, we see that little by little the network is expanding in stores such as Decathloneither McDonald’swhere We have seen some Ferrari by throwing morro. In this case, with powers up to 150 kW. Images | SMNT, Carloss In Xataka | Installation of an electric car charger in neighboring communities: step by step, legislation and everything to know

This is the recipe with which they want to turn around the energy map

by

Against all forecast –And in the middle of Trump was in the White House– California is demonstrating that the sun can with the night. The recipe has no technological mystery: a lot of photovoltaic, many batteries and an increasingly fine demand management. The result is that natural gas, for decades the king of the evening peak, yields ground quickly. The key is in batteries. And the state of California is more than clear. The solar generation has increased in this half year by 18% compared to the same period last year and the discharge of batteries grew by 63%, allowing to cover up to a third of the maximum night demand, According to Ember. That cocktail allowed to cover the maximum night demand, a space that until nothing dominated the combined cycles of gas. The impact has been fulminant: the production of gas plants fell 25% in one year and 43% in just two. During the summer, in 41 of the last 49 days, the Californian network was able to meet the entire demand exclusively with solar, wind and hydro, sometimes for more than nine consecutive hours. In several days, the renewable supply exceeded 140% of the demand, with surpluses exported to neighboring states, As explained by Professor Mark Jacobson in an interview with Bruce McCabe. The kitchen of success. The key to the Californian turn can be summarized in a word: capacity. In just four years the state went from having 0.6 GW of batteries at a network scale (2020) to 11.7 GW in 2024, almost half of the entire National Park. That year it installed more storage (3.8 GW) than large -scale solar (2.5 GW), a milestone that reflects the change of priorities, as they have detailed in an Ember report. However, we are not talking only about the hardware of the matter. The Caiso operator He opened the door that the batteries arbitrate intra -diagram prices – cargar when the energy is abundant and cheap, sell in expensive hours – participate in regulation services and reserve part of their capacity for the so -called “critical hours” in the afternoon. In 2024, even with more moderate price peaks, its role in the Net-Peak was consolidated, displacing the gas turbines that used to dominate that section. Two factors that have helped. On the one hand, solar roofs already produce the equivalent of 13% of the electricity sold in the state, reducing the daytime demand of the network and, when combined with domestic batteries, also the nocturnal. On the other hand, the Demand-Side Grid-Sport (DSGS) program has given rise to one of the world’s largest power plants in the world, with more than 200 MW operations and 720 MW of customer batteries. In the summer of 2024 it was activated 16 times during heat waves and tested its stabilizer effect. However, its future is uncertain: the state budget deficit and a cut of 18 million dollars put both DSGS and the Microredes Deba program at risk, warns PV Magazine. The impact on prices. The most immediate result for consumers is that prices have relaxed. The renewables sank the wholesale cost: the spot fell 53 % year -on -year and many noon sections recorded negative prices, damping thanks to the fact that the batteries already absorb 15 % of the demand in those hours. According to Jacobsoncomplete electrification can save between 60% and 65% of the annual energy invoice compared to the current fossil -based model. All pink color? No, California still faces challenges. Demand response programs depend on public budgets that are not guaranteed. As Jacobson has pointed out In a study published in Standfordthe network needs to continue improving its flexibility: move hydroelectric to the night, accelerate marine wind and strengthen demand management are essential steps. Spain: The other face of the currency. While California wins the gas battle, Spain lives the opposite paradox: it produces more renewable than ever, but cannot only trust them. After the blackout of April 28, 2025, Red Eléctrica activated a reinforced operational mode which prioritizes combined cycles. The problem is not the lack of sun or wind, but storage and flexibility. Without enough batteries or hydraulic pumping, the network lacks mattress to transfer the noon surplus at night peak. The Government knows and has reacted with an “antiaps insurance”: Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 He opened the door to capacity markets that remunerate firm technologies for being available. The objective is to maintain 9,000 MW of combined cycles that were at risk of closing. But those are temporary crutches. Structural solutions – batteries, hydraulic storage, micro -redes and demand management – will take at least until 2026 to deploy. Two roads, the same lesson. Mark Jacobson He foresees California will reach 80% renewable between 2026 and 2028 and 100% between 2030 and 2033. Ember He estimates that in 2025 A batteria GW will be installed for every 1.7 GW of solar, further accelerating gas replacement. The moral is clear: California demonstrates that miracles or futuristic technologies are not needed: with solar, wind, hydro and batteries enough to bend gas. Spain, on the other hand, remembers that the transition is not improvised: without sufficient storage or management, renewables cannot sustain the network alone. The road is clear; The question is who will travel faster. Image | Rawpixel Xataka | 99% of the Internet travels through submarine cables. Now there is a much more ambitious plan in progress: join the electricity grid

70 years ago the United Kingdom took the most remote islet in the world to frustrate the USSR. Today is a huge headache

by

Rockall is a sharp stone in the middle of the Atlantic. Literally. Small, inhospitable, isolated, The islet It seems molded on purpose to repel any human presence. No one lives there and the few adventurers who have challenged the island, tried to spend as long as possible on their surface, have endured as much a month and a half. However and despite all that, Rockall stars in an exciting story that Even today It is marked by the controversy. After all, it has gone from being an important piece for the national defense of Great Britain (and the whole of NATO) to an important economic asset. In a (remote) place of the Atlantic … Throughout the Atlantic there are countless islands, archipelagos and rocks, but few are as inhospitable as Rockalla small rocky promontory of the North Atlantic. He arrives with reviewing a few data to get an idea of ​​to what extent he is isolated and is the last place on the planet in which one would want to spend his vacation. Rockall is among the coasts of Scotland, Ireland and Iceland, hundreds of kilometers from anywhere inhabited. To find houses and population you have to look at 370 kilometers From there, a NORT UISTin the Exterior hebrids (Scotland). “The most isolated rock”. It is not just that Rockall is far from everything. It is directly thought to repel the presence of humans. The islet measures only 25 meters wide and rises 17 m above sea level, which explains that its slope is often shaken by the waves of the Atlantic. There is no one to live there, but the few people who have tried to try their luck have encountered an inclined and rocky surface, a granite block in which there is hardly any space of 3.5 x 1.3 m level enough to stand. In the middle of the last century the British naturalist James Fisher described Rockall as “the little most isolated rock of the oceans of the world.” Even more graphic was a few years ago Lord Kennet, torque and exmarinero than He referred to the islet as the “most desolate, most despair and more horrible” place on the planet. The person who has spent more time on his sharp rocks was the surveyor Nick Hancock, who endured 45 days on its surface. A few years ago a teacher and veteran of the British army wanted ‘Solo’ a month. A rock with an intense story. Given its characteristics, one might think that Rockall is a rocky point without any interest in the middle of the North Atlantic, an islet away from political debate or territorial disputes. Not at all. Its history can go back several centuries agobut he became especially intense in the mid -XX. It was then, at the end of the summer of 1955, to be more precise, when Queen Elizabeth II authorized the annexation of the islet and ordered the British Royal Navy to “take possession of the island.” That same year, Remember the BBC chaina commander reported the successful “conquest” of Rockall. An indomitable island. That episode has already demonstrated how indomitable the rock islet is. The HMS Vidal, a recognition ship by the British Royal Navy, arrived in the area on September 15, 1955, but the sailors It took several days to be able to raise your flag. The reason: the very strong and violent wind gusts. The BBC Slide which was the last territory claimed by the British Empire. Years later, In 1972Parliament voted in favor of incorporating (already formally) Rockall into the United Kingdom, integrating it into the Western Islands of Scotland. But … why? 70 years ago Rockall was the same inhospitable, uninhabited and isolated rock that is today, so why the hell was Great Britain interested in his possession? What was lost there? To understand it you have to keep in mind the complicated geopolitical map of the 50s, In full cold warwhich conferred to Rockall a special value. With the NATO submarines and the USSR patrolling the North Atlantic, its possession became a festive issue. Not just that. Rockall may be isolated from everything, but less than 400 kilometers from there, in the exterior hebrids, London had its first Test field For American guided nuclear missiles. The islet may be hell on Earth, an sharp rock in which it was impossible to live more than a few weeks, but … what if “hostile agents”, as spies at the service of Kremlin, managed to settle in the area to monitor British tests? Beyond the Cold War. The USSR collapsed in the early 90s and London’s priorities in defense became others, but Rockall did not lose interest. Of course: this went from the military strategy to the field of economy and resource management. On the island the geologists identified a special type of granite, but if for something he stood out it was the potential of their marine bed and its waters. They interested their possible oil reserves. And interest (and much) the fishing richness that hid their waters, where rappes are captured, North Gallo, haddock or squid, among other species of high value. The problem is that this wealth not only interested London. He also did Islandia or Ireland. A headache. In 1982 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convent) established that rocks without population or economic fabric, as was the case of Rockall, could not be used as a basis for territorial claims. In other words, the islet could no longer be used as ‘key’ to argue the theoretical legitimacy of the United Kingdom over the surrounding waters. However, a Google search arrives to verify that in recent years law and fishing in the area have been a reason for friction With Ireland, Iceland or even Denmarkas representative of the Faroe Islands. The ‘Roces’ of 2019. One of the most tense episodes was lived before the pandemic, in 2019, when Scotland warned the Irish ships on the “illegal” drag fishing that … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.