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we have just discovered that it contained a material ‘impossible’ for physics

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

In July of last year an academic investigation shook materials physics with an unexpected protagonist: a space rock collected in Germany three centuries ago. Inside it housed a mineral whose thermal behavior does not fit into any known classification. The most disconcerting thing is not the material itself (that too), but that it had been gathering dust in a glass case since 1724: no one had looked at it with the appropriate instruments until now. The meteorite of 1724. Called the “Steinbach meteorite” after the German region of Saxony where it fell. The remains quickly joined museum collections due to their exotic origin and beauty, without attracting special attention from the scientific community. Among them, in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, where the fragment that was used for this research is located. What that fragment contains is meteoric tridymitea form of silicon dioxide extraordinarily rare on Earth. It is a polymorphism of quartz that is only generated under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, conditions that do not occur in ordinary terrestrial geology, but do occur in meteorite impacts or volcanic environments. Why it is important. In a phrase: because of its properties. The tridymite from the Steinbach meteorite maintains a practically constant thermal conductivity between −193 °C and 107 °C (80 and 380 kelvin), something that beyond meaning that it conducts heat the same whether you are in the cold winter of Iceland or in a heat wave in the desert, it has a peculiarity: no known material behaves like this. This thermal stability is a rarity in itself in materials technology and gives it clear applicability for thermal management: it allows designing electronic devices that do not overheat and aerospace insulation systems with an efficiency unthinkable under the laws of classical physics. Context. In 2009 the physicist Michele Simoncelli together with Nicola Marzari and Francesco Mauri developed a unified equation based on the Wigner transport formalism capable of simultaneously describing the thermal behavior of crystals, glasses and any intermediate state. That equation theoretically predicted the existence of materials with temperature-invariant thermal conductivity like this one. The problem is that no one had found that material in the real world. In the universe, most minerals form under Earth’s pressures and temperatures that force atoms to adopt standard crystal lattices. But in the asteroid belt, the remains of distinct protoplanets undergo cooling processes and catastrophic collisions that generate mineral phases that do not exist naturally in the Earth’s crust. Tridymite is common in volcanic rocks, but this one of meteoric origin has the advantage of having been thermally stabilized in space for millions of years. Something doesn’t add up. Until now, science assumed that a solid material must be either a crystal (ordered structure) or a glass (ordered structures) and its thermal properties depended on that structure: the thermal conductivity of a crystal decreases with increasing temperature because the vibrations of the crystalline lattice (the phonons) disperse among themselves with more intensity. Just the opposite happens in glass because its internal disorder facilitates additional ways of transmitting heat when heated. They are opposite trends, robust and well documented experimentally for decades. The Steinbach meteorite breaks the rules and behaves like both at the same time. Steinbach meteoric tridymite has an atomic structure that presents order in the chemical bonds like a crystal and geometric disorder in the arrangement of those bonds like a glass. This combination generates an exact compensation between both transport mechanisms, the propagation mechanism (typical of crystals) and the tunneling mechanism (typical of glass), which is what the research team calls PTI conductivity, propagation-tunneling-invariant. How they discovered it. The discovery it has been possible thanks to thermoreflectometry, which measures variations in the optical reflectivity of a surface when it is thermally excited with a pulsed laser, allowing thermal conductivity to be inferred with high resolution. What they saw was that the silicon atoms were not in perfect rows, but they were not random either: they followed a “middle-range order” sequence that previously only existed in mathematical models, confirming point by point the predictions of the Wigner equation. Yes, but. The Meteoric tridymite is disruptive in materials technology, the problem is reproducibility and scarcity. So far we have only found this material in the Steinbach meteorite, a limited sample of an astronomical milestone that occurred three centuries ago. Obtaining it from meteorites is simply not feasible and the challenge of manufacturing this glass-crystal synthetically is not exactly small. A curiosity: the paper explains that in the Gale crater Martian tridymite has also been detected, raising questions about how it has influenced the geological history of the red planet or opening the possibility of eventual space mining. On the other hand, and although it is true that the material defies the laws of physics, it is important to highlight that we are talking about current physics: it is not that the laws were false, it is that they were simply incomplete. In Xataka | In 2023 an asteroid disintegrated off the coast of Normandy. At that time we were not aware of how lucky we were In Xataka | In 2011, a collector bought a meteorite in Morocco. It has turned out to be direct evidence of thermal water on Mars Cover | Fred Kruijen and Batu Gezer

How Albert Camus, the great symbol of the philosophy of the absurd, had the most absurd of deaths

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

There are times when the line between tragedy, irony, absurdity and cruelty is so fine that it is almost impossible to appreciate it. It happened on the afternoon of January 4, 1960 in the Route Nationale 5 of France, near the town of Villeblevinin Burgundy, when a luxury car left the road and crashed into a plane tree. The impact was so violent that it immediately killed one of its occupants, the famous writer Albert Camus. That’s the tragic part of the story. The ironic (or cruel, who knows) thing is that this absurd death silenced a writer who had stood out precisely for its depth when analyzing the meaninglessness of the human condition. A fateful change of plans They say that Albert Camus he didn’t like them cars or speed. True or not, the reality is that his initial idea to return to Paris after spending the Christmas holidays in Lourmarin was to take a train. Even came to buy the ticket, which according to some versions he had in his pocket at the time of his death. If he finally chose to travel by road it was because Michel Gallimardhis friend and editor, convinced him to return with him and his family aboard his brand new Facel Vegaa French luxury car brand that fell in love, inter aliato Pablo Picasso, Ava Gardner or James Dean. That change of itinerary (now we know) was a blunder. On the afternoon of January 4, 1960, while driving through Burgundy, Gallimard’s Facel Vega FV3B suffered a puncture that caused it to lurch, according to a reconstruction published at the time by the magazine L’Automobile and rescued in 1961 by Atlantic. What exactly happened? The left rear tire is believed to have burst. The tire slid on the asphalt. The right front wheel went into a ditch. And the car went to the side. The Facel Vega ended up hitting a tree. The impact was so strong that the vehicle spun and suffered a second collision against another of the plane trees that flanked the road. The scene, which the drivers of National Route Number 5 soon approached, gives an idea of the violence of the accident: the engine and gearbox were thrown and the chassis ended up twisted. As for the people who were traveling on board, they all suffered the impact, but not to the same extent. Gallimard’s wife and daughter were bleeding after being thrown from the back of the car, although they were well enough to call the family pet. The driver was unconscious, so he had to be taken to the hospital, where despite all attempts to save his life (he was even transferred from Villeneuve-la-Guyard to Paris) he died days later. The worst off was Camus, who was traveling as a passenger in the right front seat. After the first crash and lurch, the Facel Vega was bounced and hit a second log, which hit the door located right next to the writer. It is believed that he died instantly. When the reporters began to arrive at the scene, after learning that this was not just another accident, but the accident that had deprived French literature of one of its great promises, they found a destroyed dashboard that left two figures to remember: the clock, whose hands marked 1:54; and a speedometer stuck at 145 km/hwhich raises the question to what extent speed played a key role in the tire blowout. “Unforeseen and absurd” Although Camus was only 46 years old (he had turned two months earlier) he was already a celebrity inside and outside France, both for the scope of his literary work and his prestige as an intellectual, activist and philosopher. As if that weren’t enough a few years earlier, in 1957had become the second youngest writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. This great fame explains why French public radio interrupted its musical programming to break the news, which ended up reaching media outlets around the world. The Korean newspaper The Chosun Daily dedicated multiple pages and in Spain the news was picked up by, among others, the newspaper ABCwhose correspondent I remembered that the blow had been so violent that the car was broken into three pieces. The chronicle the firm Federico García-Requena, correspondent in Paris, who chose a headline that went beyond simply informative: “The death, unforeseen and absurd, of Albert Camus.” The term ‘unforeseen’ is obvious, but to understand the term ‘absurd’ (beyond the fact that all deaths on the asphalt are absurd) it is necessary to know more about Camus’ philosophical legacy. If he explored something in his work, both from narrative fiction (‘The Stranger’) and from the philosophical essay (‘The Myth of Sisyphus’), it is the absurdity, the absolute meaninglessness of human existence. Although for the writer of Algerian origin, assuming that maxim is not equivalent to adopting a defeatist attitude. On the contrary: “This essay considers the absurdity, taken until now as a conclusion, as a starting point“, ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ startsperhaps the work in which he deepens his vision of existence the most. “All that can be said is that this world, in itself, is not reasonable. But what is absurd is the confrontation of that irrational and that unbridled desire for clarity whose call resonates in the depths of man,” Camus exposes on the following pages. “The absurd is born from this confrontation between the human call and the unreasonable silence of the world. This is what must not be forgotten. This is what must be clung to, since the entire consequence of a life can be born from it.” Faced with this suffocating reality, Camus reminds us that embracing the absurd is not equivalent to resignation. On the contrary. “This rebellion gives life its value. Extended throughout an entire existence, it restores its greatness. For a man without blinders there is no more beautiful spectacle than that of intelligence in struggle with a reality that surpasses it. The spectacle of human pride … Read more

mount a solar panel on top

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

Aragón is one of the autonomous communities of “energy Spain” and its capital is positioning itself as one of the leading European cities in the urban energy transition. Within your strategy “Zaragoza Smart and Climate Neutral City“, the capital of the Ebro has just start the works to increase its photovoltaic park within the city without altering the available space for other infrastructure. As? Installing photovoltaic canopies in four public parking lots. Parking lots converted into solar parks. The facilities are distributed in four locations: the Miguel Servet parking lots (780.64 kWp), Pignatelli (460.53 kWp), Parque de Oriente (963.9 kWp) and the Macanaz discretionary bus parking lot (279.65 kWp), reaching a total installed power of 2,484.72 kWp. In total, there will be 4,176 solar modules to cover 10,816 square meters of canopies and will produce 3,638.5 MWh per year, which is approximately equivalent to the consumption of a thousand average homes. according to city council data. The structures are not simple panel supports, but canopies designed to integrate into current urban aesthetics, so that they offer shade and protection to vehicles. In addition, of the 651 spaces that will be protected under a photovoltaic cover, 40 will incorporate charging points for electric vehicles. Why is it important. As explains the Renewable Foundationthe parking lots – photovoltaic parks are three in one: they provide shade for vehicles, provide “clean” electricity to electric car charging points and also make energy from renewable sources available for self-consumption or supply. The third point is especially interesting: there will be homes close to the parking lots (within a 5 km radius) that will be able to benefit from this energy without having to install panels in their buildings and all that this entails in terms of investment or bureaucracy. Furthermore, consuming energy where it is produced minimizes transportation and distribution losses. At an institutional level, the council will reduce its energy bill and advance its climate neutrality objectives for 2030. Architecturally, the relevance of this project lies in the efficiency of land use, since it uses existing infrastructure that is already sealed by asphalt, which prevents the degradation of natural or agricultural land. Context. The project is part of the European Commission’s mission of “100 Smart and Climate Neutral Cities by 2030” of which Zaragoza is a member, which forces the capital city to accelerate its energy efficiency and sustainable mobility policies. Zaragoza already has successful solar projects under its belt, such as host the first “solar neighborhood”“of the Spanish state. On the other hand, the Spanish regulatory framework (Royal Decree 244/2019) has facilitated the expansion of collective self-consumption through a simplified compensation mechanism for the energy produced and not consumed instantly by small self-consumers, which makes it technically and legally viable that, for example, the solar parking in Macanaz can provide energy to nearby schools or homes. The regulations allow an installation of up to 5 MW with consumption points up to 5 km away, which gives more breadth and flexibility. This legal certainty has allowed Zaragoza to be one of the most ambitious cities in the deployment of urban photovoltaics in Spain. chow they do it. Through a public-private collaboration where the city only provides the land. The project was awarded in January 2025 to Repsolwhich executes it through Solar360, a joint venture of the energy company and Telefónica Spain specialized in photovoltaic self-consumption. The investment is 5.66 million euros and is borne by the company: the City Council does not pay anything for the installation or maintenance. In exchange, Repsol operates the service for 25 years and pays the council a fixed fee of 6,000 euros per year for each of the four parking lots, plus a percentage of the energy generated in kind: 10% in three of the lots and 4% in the fourth. Yes, but. The work requires the felling of about 38 trees in the first two lots, which will be compensated with 55 new 16/18 caliber trees (not a seedling, but not an adult tree either) and a contribution of 23,990 euros. The problem is that they do not replace an adult tree and its functions (shade, water regulation, minimizing the heat island effect), something for which they will need decades. On the other hand, according to the Renewable Foundationthis type of installation is amortized over a period of four to eight years. With a 25-year concession, Repsol will recover its investment in less than a third of the period granted, which raises reasonable questions about whether the fee received by the City Council is proportional to the profit the company obtains. When the project is operational and we know real production data and participating homes, we will know the answer. In Xataka | Aragón already has cheap energy, so now it is going to activate the second part of the plan: attract the industry In Xataka | Zaragoza is so full of data centers that Amazon has decided to take one to… a town in Teruel with 900 inhabitants Cover | Saragossa and Pedro Sanz

Europe feared an apocalypse due to Hormuz. A cocktail of batteries, rain and reactors is saving us in extremis

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

The world seems to be burning from all sides and global logistics has gone into panic. We had been holding our breath for weeks before the Third Gulf War, the fear of a crisis identical to that of 2022 has materialized in tangible disasters: airlines like Lufthansa they had to cancel up to 20,000 flights for this summer due to the shortage and extreme rise in aviation fuel prices (jet fuel). However, in the midst of this oil cataclysm, something counterintuitive is happening that defies all predictions. As the expert Javier Blas sharply points out In his recent opinion column for Bloomberg“despite the oil shock due to the Iran war, Europe’s electricity markets are calm.” This is the great anomaly of 2026. Breaking down the phenomenon To understand the miracle, you must first understand the threat. In a normal scenario, the logistical shock that means that 20% of the entire planet’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cannot pass through the Strait of Hormuz should have shredded European domestic economies. The contagion mechanism has a clear theoretical culprit: the marginalist system of the electricity market. In this model, the most expensive technology that comes in to cover demand (historically, gas) is the one that sets the final price of all electricity. Therefore, if the missiles in Qatar make global gas more expensive, the electricity bill in Madrid, Paris or Berlin should be through the roof. But surprisingly, this time the drive belt has broken. The invisible shield The backbone of this European resistance focuses on what energy analyst Javier Blas defines it as a miscalculation: many continue to look at the market “through a filter focused only on oil that belongs to a bygone era”, when today electricity is the true pulse of the economy. The current shielding is the result of a conjunction of factors that act as a providential recovery. First, the rescue in extremis of French nuclear energy. If in 2022 the French country had dozens of reactors stopped due to cracks and was operating at 30-year lows (less than 21 gigawatts), Today it is injecting between 45 and 55 GWproviding a vital energy base not only for France, but for its neighbors, including Germany. Added to this is the end of the drought. The heavy rains in southern Europe and normal rainfall in the rest of the continent has revived hydropower, the EU’s fourth largest source. But the real protagonist is someone else. Solar energy is breaking records, sinking short-term prices to negative levels on weekends in Germany, or to just 18 cents in Spain. In fact, the “fiscal shield” of the Spanish Government, together with the record deployment of 30 GW of solar and wind energy since 2022, have managed to sink the wholesale market to a low €41.5/MWh, allowing the regulated rate to drop by almost 5% year-on-year. The final piece of this puzzle is provided by a report from the IRENA agency: the miracle of batteries. Its cost has plummeted by 93% since 2010. Today, the combination of solar and wind farms with batteries is already capable of offering uninterrupted electricity at prices that compete head-on with Chinese coal or new global gas plants. The cracks in the shield. Despite this triumphalism, European armor is not titanium; It has significant cracks. Although Javier Blas emphasizes that the post-2022 investments in the electricity grid are bearing fruit, the system hangs by a thread every day when the clock strikes eight in the afternoon. Our “Spanish green shield” has a blind spot: the sunset. As the sun disappears, and as there is still no massive deployment of batteries nationwide, the gas combined cycles have to be turned on to sustain the network, returning tension to prices (with nighttime peaks that in March reached €247/MWh). Furthermore, experts agree that the hydroelectric mattress It will evaporate with the heat of the imminent summer. To this we must add that the French nuclear “miracle” hides some worrying fine print. France has broken its historical record by exporting 92.3 TWh, but it has done so, in part, because its internal consumption is stagnant and they continue to lag enormously behind in electrification. Worse still, in its eagerness to protect the profitability of its pharaonic atomic industry, the Elysée acts as a protective wall: it deliberately blocks interconnections with the Iberian Peninsula to prevent hyper-cheap Spanish solar energy from flooding Europe. Finally, structural problems plague the entire continent. According to platform data Earth40% of European transmission lines are more than 40 years old. They were designed for large fossil plants, not to integrate millions of solar rooftops. Without urgent modernization, the network could become our biggest Achilles heel. The new security doctrine. What this Third Gulf War makes clear is that the ecological transition has mutated. It is no longer a mere question of saving the planet; It is a matter of geopolitical survival. Renewables are being explicitly redefined as “weapons of energy security.” The figures speak for themselves: in the first weeks of the war in Iran alone, the European solar fleet saved more than 110 million euros per day in imported gas costs. This is why the European climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, insists in statements to Euronews that Europe must be “more radical”. This involves accelerating electrification using heat pumps and betting on deep geothermal energy, capable of replacing up to 42% of current fossil generation operating 24 hours a day. War as a catalyst. As Blaise’s central thesis concludesEurope is resisting what many call the worst energy shock in history with an electrical fortitude that was unthinkable four years ago. However, catalysts alone do not guarantee results. Inflation and interest rate increases derived from this same war threaten to make more expensive financing future clean infrastructure. It is clear that we have bought a valuable truce thanks to the rain, the efforts of French nuclear power and the sweat of solar panels. This crisis has impressed upon us a definitive lesson: always It will be infinitely … Read more

Your Gmail inbox has been filled with emails obviously written with AI. Google wants to fix it with more AI

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

We’ve all spent several minutes staring at the cursor, thinking about how to respond to that important email; Find the tone that is forceful and kind at the same time, but not too kind. With Gemini integration into Gmail We don’t have to think so much anymore, we can say just that and the AI writes it for us. The cost is that all emails sound like AI, and Google knows it. Help me write. It is a function that Google integrated into Gmail a long time ago and that allows us to compose emails from a prompt. Google just announced improvements for this feature: contextualization of the theme (you can now connect with Drive and Gmail to extract relevant information) and customization of tone and style. Google says it creates drafts that “reflect your personal writing style.” It is a way of recognizing that AI is homogenizing everything, including how we communicate. All emails sound the same. Automatic reply suggestions and writing aids have been a blessing for those who have to write and respond to many emails a day. When it comes to “cold emails” that seek to attract the recipient’s attention, in the end none of them stand out. A marketing manager has on Reddit that before it used to read them all, now it deletes them directly. It only reads them if it looks like a human wrote it. The problem goes beyond our inbox, social networks like X or LinkedIn are full of posts written with AI. It is even being noticed in the works submitted by students at the university. Humanize AI. This is where we are: we use AI constantly, but we don’t want it to be noticed. a search It gives us dozens of tools that promise to humanize our texts generated with AI. And it doesn’t just happen with texts, an illustrator friend told me that a client presented her with some illustrations so she could improve them. They were AI illustrations and the problem wasn’t that they were bad, it was that they said they were AI too much and I wanted them to look handmade. Plus, I wanted to pay him less because I just had to remake them in his style. He refused. Non-communication. The novelty that Google has announced is based on your writing style of previous emails, but what happens when all those previous emails were also written with AI? It’s an endless cycle: you write an email with AI, they respond using AI, you read the summary that the AI has made of the email and you respond again using AI. The writer Tim O’Brien said: that if “no one has written it, no one has read it.” This is not just a stylistic issue, it is a bigger problem: we are delegating something as basic as our own communication. In Xataka | From chaos to calm: this is how I manage my email using the “inbox zero” technique Image | Google

There are those who want the V-16 beacon to be optional. The director of the DGT has a message: “There is no going back”

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

126 days. That is how long the V-16 beacon has been mandatory in our country. A period in which, due to the DGT’s own unclear information, it is not clear whether the agents are fining or not for not having it in the car. What is certain is that there are still those who doubt its effectiveness and try to get the triangles to return. For them, Pere Navarro has a message. “There is no mark behind”. The statements are from Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, who in the forum Pedestrians and road safety organized in A Coruña and in which the city council and the Galician Federation of Municipalities and Provinces have participated has assured the following collected by Motorpassion: “(The beacon) is here to stay, there is no going back. It is an important safety element and is mandatory. And it also serves to avoid accidents” The director of the DGT has thus tried to settle a controversy that continues to rage despite the fact that since last January 1 This signaling element is mandatory, replacing the classic emergency triangles. Because? Pere Navarro’s response obeys the amendment that Vox has registered in Congress to try to reverse the use of the connected V-16 beacon. Or, at least, significantly modify its use. The intention of the political group is that the V-16 beacon is only an optional addition to the emergency triangles but that the latter are the ones that are really mandatory. Vox also searches end connectivity of the device, a focus of controversy despite the fact that the signaling object cannot be identified with the driver who activates it. “Everything is advantages”. For his part, Navarro is clear about it and has made it known in the forum: “everything is an advantage.” In words collected by elDiario.eyesthe director of the DGT defends that not getting out of the car in the event of a breakdown before signaling the danger is a step forward. Let us remember that From 2023 it is mandatory to stay in the car in the event of a breakdown unless the driver and passengers have access to a safe place to wait for emergency or help services. Navarro has also pointed out that “we should be proud” of the use of the beacon, after the European Commission confirmed that it is an object fully in line with European law although at first it was doubted how it was implemented. Surrounded by controversy. Since the connected V-16 beacon project was launched, the DGT has had to face all kinds of controversies. Various associations have questioned its effectivenessproducts were sold that have been invalidated by lack connectivity and along the way we have seen it flourish a very lucrative business to companies based in China. Furthermore, it is also not clear whether an agent would fine us or not if we do not have it. In a press conference, the Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska pointed out that was not going to be fined for a “reasonable” period of time but it was never determined what time window that definition includes. However, we know that just a few days after the new signaling system became mandatory there were already agents who fined the drivers. In Xataka | “We have not done it well”: the DGT assumes that something has failed in the arrival of the V-16 beacons

Graphing calculators are very expensive, so a 15-year-old boy from Almería has declared war on them with open source

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

It was 2003 when I started college with great enthusiasm and an old Casio calculator from high school that I ended up replacing shortly after with a Texas Instruments TI-86 graphing calculator. At that time it cost me 150 euros, but I spent it because there was no other option and it was going to make my life easier with graphs and matrices. My old TI-86 is already a relic, but those who start engineering this 2026 will spend at least those 150 euros on a more current model like this either this other one from HP. They have a slightly more modern aesthetic and a color screen, but the essence and prices have barely changed. So to a young developer from Almería an idea has occurred to him: build a professional level scientific and graphing calculator for about 20 euros using open source software. And as its creator, Juan Ramón (alias El-EnderJ), explains, at 15 years old he still doesn’t need it: “I did it simply because of that great injustice.” A DIY calculator with open source. The project is barely a couple of months old and its premise could not be more ambitious: NumOS (its operating system) runs on the ESP32-S3 microcontroller and aims to break the monopoly of commercial models that cost around 150 euros. It is not a mobile app or a website: it is a piece of physical hardware that the user assembles and programs from scratch. Knowing how difficult it is for the education system to accept a DIY calculator for exams, El-EnderJ has in mind a “factory-sealed version that is completely legal.” Disclaimer: the final product will use ESP32 S3 N16R8 and a 3.2″ IPS screen. Grapher app. Via: GitHub Why is it important. The educational calculator market is controlled by an oligopoly: Texas Instruments, Casio and HP, with devices whose hardware has not been significantly renewed for decades and a price range that has neither changed much over the years nor differs too much from each other. But the underlying problem is also one of access: this is the case of fantastic free and quality tools such as GeoGebra and Desmos. As El-EnderJ explains: “To use them you must use a mobile phone, a tablet or a laptop, which is completely prohibited in most classrooms. The educational system requires dedicated devices that do not have an internet connection to avoid cheating.” On the other hand, on a technical level it is notable that NeoCalculator integrates a complete CAS engine within such a low budget as manufacturers such as Casio, HP and TI reserve only their high-end models. And be careful, this engine shows the intermediate steps of derivatives, integrals and solving equations. The eternal? calculator oligopoly. Juan Ramón says that, encouraged by what he saw people doing with graphing calculators (like programming), he looked up the price and was surprised: “I was shocked when I saw that a calculator from more than 30 years ago cost more than 150 euros. So I looked a little more and realized that the cost of producing them is below 20 euros, so you are paying a 130-euro premium.” Free software has been democratizing tools that were previously either expensive or exclusive for decades, but in hardware everything has been slower. The clearest precedent is NumWorksthe French calculator founded in 2015 that was the first to completely open its source code and allow anyone to modify its operating system. NeoCalculator goes one step further: not only is the software free, but so is the hardware design. From Shanghai to Almería: the ESP32-S3-BOX-3 chip from Espressif How it works. The base is the microcontroller ESP32-S3which according to its official documentation incorporates a dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor capable of running at 240 MHz, with 512 KB of internal SRAM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 connectivity, as well as support for vector instructions aimed at accelerating neural networks and signal processing. It is a chip designed for IoT converted into the brain of a high-performance calculator. El-EnderJ is critical of what it replaces: “The ESP32-S3 is from 2020; the Zilog Z80 of the TI-84 Plus is from 1976. There is a clear difference.” The mathematical core of the project is not development from scratch, but sophisticated integration. “The biggest challenge has been putting the Giac engine, which is the same one used by the HP Prime, in a chip that has thousands of times less memory than a computer.” In fact, Giac is an open source symbolic calculation engine originally developed at the University of Grenoble and indeed, it is the engine that equips the HP Prime G2. For the graphical interface, the project uses LVGL, an open source embedded graphics library widely used in the industry. Combining hardware SPI with LVGL, NeoCalculator maintains a smooth interface at 60 FPS, which is a demanding performance target for a microcontroller in this price range. Yes, but. The incipient project of the Almeria developer has important technical and regulatory limitations. The most important is precisely the connectivity of the ESP32-S3, something strictly prohibited in exam contexts. This implies that in its current state NeoCalculator could not be used in official university exams (not the EBAU, which generally restricts graphic models). On the other hand, this fantastic project is still very green: it lacks an integrated physical keyboard and is still pending receipt. OSHWA certificationessential to ensure transparency, the ability to customize or repair each component of the device. In Xataka | Someone has passed 12,000 laws and reforms to source code and now searching the BOE is no longer an ordeal In Xataka | The “ChatGPT for lawyers” exists, it was born in Spain and has just reached a milestone: becoming a unicorn Cover | Anoushka Puri and El-EnderJ

the German electric beast that devours 17 m³ of rock per shovelful

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

The transition to electric mobility is not exclusive to passenger cars and motorcycles: heavy machinery is also embracing electrification. Beyond leaving diesel behind, the real challenge is to find a viable alternative to internal combustion in terms of power and torque. A few weeks ago an imposing Liebherr excavator started to operate in a copper mine in Bulgaria. What is striking is not only the machine itself (that too), because it is in fact the fifth electric excavator that the German manufacturer delivers to Assarel-Medet, but that the Bulgarian mining company is becoming one of the most advanced heavy electric fleet operators in the world. The new electric excavator Liebherr. The model R 9350 E It is a large tonnage mining excavator, with 330 tons of operating weight, which integrates a 1,200 kW electric motor, approximately 1,600 HP. In nominal power it slightly exceeds 1,120 kW. its diesel counterpartbut the real difference in performance is greater: an electric motor delivers that torque constantly throughout the operating range, while the diesel only reaches its maximum power in a narrow band of revolutions. It will be powered by a high voltage cable whose voltage has not been specified, although this type of machinery is custom designed of the client’s needs. According to the manufacturer, this engine offers advantages over combustion engines: it reduces vibrations and noise, prolongs the useful life of the components and lasts the entire useful life of the machine, reducing operating and maintenance costs. The excavator is equipped with a customized 17 cubic meter bucket, specifically designed to maximize productivity under the operating conditions of the Assarel mine in Pazardzhik. Why is it important. To begin with, because it operates with zero greenhouse gas emissions and does so while maintaining productivity compared to the diesel version. In open pit mining this eliminates direct emissions at the extraction front and considerably reduces fuel logistics within the deposit, two factors that in operations of this scale have a significant economic and operational impact. In fact, the R 9350 E offers superior power, performance and durability compared to the equivalent G6 diesel version and does so with lower maintenance and operating costs. Although the environmental advantage is evident, what truly tips the balance is the economic aspect: if the electric one performs the same or better and costs less to operate, the decision is made on its own. Context. The delivery of this unit is not an isolated milestone, but is part of the long-standing alliance between Assarel-Medet, Alki-L and Liebherr-Export, which dates back to 1993. Within the Bulgarian mining company’s strategy to decarbonize its operations, this is the fifth electric excavator that it has incorporated into its fleet: it is no longer a prototype or a pilot test, but rather a consolidated commitment that indicates where the sector is moving. On a global scale, the electrification of heavy mining machinery has been accelerating for years. Large manufacturers such as Volvo or Caterpillar have been exploring electrical solutions for heavy machinery for years and beyond regulatory green objectives such as the EU’s achieve climate neutrality by 2050there are the numbers: according to a report by IDTechEx As collected by Mining.com, a single 150-tonne mining truck can save more than five million euros in fuel over its lifetime if electrified. In those with larger tonnage, the savings are even greater. How have they done it. The technical key is direct power supply from the electrical network. Unlike battery solutions common in light vehicles, an excavator of this caliber is connected by high-voltage cable to a dedicated substation within the mine. This eliminates the problem of autonomy and allows it to operate 24/7 without having to stop to recharge, something that no battery can offer on this scale. Yes, but. The fine print of such an electric excavator has similarities with the old price debate between combustion and electric cars: the electrified versions have a higher acquisition cost, although Komatsu estimates Up to 50% savings on total cost of ownership of your electric excavator versus the equivalent diesel one. In machinery that can cost around five million euros in its diesel version, long-term accounts can tip the balance. On the other hand, an excavator with a 1,200 kW engine is conditioned by the available electrical infrastructure: it needs a substation and high voltage wiring within the mine itself. Furthermore, this model works well in large-scale open pit operations, but cannot be extrapolated to underground deposits or smaller mines without an equivalent investment in infrastructure. The electrical transition in heavy mining is a reality, but its pace is determined by the geography of the deposit and the investment capacity of the operator. In Xataka | While Europe discusses the electric car, China is mass introducing the next level: the electric truck In Xataka | From devouring diesel to being 100% electric: the incredible transformation of a 650-ton mining excavator in India

It turned out so well that he doubled and expanded it

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

Tourism equals overcrowding in Venice. It is nothing new and, in fact, the enclave has been a pioneer in some regulations that have sought to put a stop to the hordes to reconcile the lives of the locals and ensure that its ecosystem does not end up swallowed up as a victim of its own success. Its geography simply does not allow for more, and that is why they have imposed caps on large groups with fines to whomever passes, or even They have tracked phones. They also imposed a pioneer tollan entrance fee that went so well that the days doubled. Now also the price. The experiment is consolidated in 2025. As we said, Venice is a pioneer in the imposition of an entry fee for single day visitorsand the success has been such for the administration that They decided to double the rate in 2025, raising it from 5 to 10 euros for those who enter without an accommodation reservation. Furthermore, and as we explained in the past, The measure was applied on 54 days of the year, almost double the 29 days selected in 2024. The dates included a continuous block from April 18 to May 4, followed by every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of July. The charge will remain between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:00 pm, and those who reserve at least four days in advance will be able to pay only 5 euros. And it will be updated in 2026. Yes, because the system extends to 60 daysnot 54. Now it practically covers every weekend and several long weekends between April and July. Of course, the double rate is maintained: 5 euros if you reserve at least 4 days in advance, or 10 if you reserve later. Furthermore, the official schedule checkpoint remains from 08:30 to 16:00, the mandatory QR system is now much more consolidated and controls are more frequent, and fines can still reach between 50 and 300 euros if you do not have the QR or do not pay. Extra ball: the exemption is maintained for those who sleep in hotels or apartments within the municipality of Venice, although they must still register online. Impact on tourism rate. In 2024, almost half a million tourists (485,062) paid the entrance fee, that is, generated 2.4 million euros in income to the public coffers (The cost of the system or the destination of the funds raised have not been revealed). Registration data indicates that, after Italians, the main tourists were Americans, Germans and French. In addition, the measure achieved a slight reduction in the number of visitors coming from the Veneto region, although the authorities have not provided figures. We also remember that despite this rate increase, access remains free for those who spend the night in the city, although You must register online at cda.ve.it to obtain your exemption. Travelers who only transit through Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto or Stazione Marittima are also exempt, as well as those who visit the outer islands of the lagoon (Lido, Murano and Burano) without passing through the center. The future in Venice. It’s the big question. The authorities admit that the tax alone is not enough to manage mass tourism, but they do consider that The system created lays the foundation for future regulations stricter. Venice, which receives tourists from 194 countriesremains one of the destinations most affected by tourist overexploitation, which has led to the implementation of increasingly restrictive measures in an effort to protect its fragile urban ecosystem and preserve its historical character. A more than difficult equation. Image | Hervé Simon In Xataka | Venice spent 5 billion euros on flood barriers. Five years later they are already “unsustainable” In Xataka | The citizens of Venice staged a small rebellion over Jeff Bezos’s wedding. Now it will be held at another point *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2025

Best MediaMarkt deals on technology and entertainment, today May 9

May 9, 2026 by usatoday24

This week MediaMarkt has launched a good assortment of discounts through its campaigns. There is a lot to choose from with Apple computers at quite a discount, the Nintendo Switch 2 with a free video game and even a very attractive Samsung television. Do you want to know which are the best offers? We are going to review them in this article. Mac mini M4 by 679 eurosone of Apple’s best value for money devices. Samsung TQ55S93FAEXXC by 949 eurosan excellent TV to enjoy movies and series. nintendo switch 2 by 479 eurosthe hybrid console along with a video game from the Super Mario saga. HyperX Cloud III by 49.99 eurosone wired headphones almost at the lowest price in the store. ‘Star Fox’ (Nintendo Switch 2) by 49.99 eurosthe remake of the iconic Nintendo saga. Nintendo Switch 2 + Super Mario Bros. Wonder + keychain The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Mac mini M4 He Mac mini M4 It remains one of Apple’s best value devices, especially when it’s on sale. It is so small that it fits in the palm of your hand, does not make noise even in the summer heat and rides the M4 chipthus offering excellent performance at all times. It is ideal for studying and even for working (it is the computer that I use every day) and now it is on sale for 679 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung TQ55S93FAEXXC If you are looking for a good television to enjoy movies and series, be careful because MediaMarkt has the model Samsung TQ55S93FAEXXC by 949 euros. It is a TV with OLED panel technology and anti-reflective treatment, its diagonal is 55 inches and its audio system is compatible with Dolby Atmos. In addition, it is compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant. Samsung TQ55S93FAEXXC (55 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 There are only a few days left for MediaMarkt to finalize the offer it has in the nintendo switch 2. The console can be purchased for 449 euros or in a pack for 479 euros. In the latter case it includes the video game ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder‘ along with a ‘Mario Kart World’ keychain. In any case, we are talking about two of the best offers that the store has had to date on the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo Switch 2 + Super Mario Bros. Wonder + keychain The price could vary. We earn commission from these links HyperX Cloud III If you are looking for good wired headphones to enjoy your favorite video games, MediaMarkt will have the HyperX Cloud III by 49.99 euros. They are wired headphones compatible with 3.5 mm, USB-C and USB-A (includes adapters), works on computers, on consoles PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, also on Nintendo Switch (1 and 2), on consoles Xbox Series XXbox Series S and Xbox One and, of course, on mobile phones. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links ‘Star Fox’ (Nintendo Switch 2) One of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises returns in ‘Star Fox‘, a remake of ‘Star Fox 64‘ and you can now reserve it in some stores. MediaMarkt has it right now in physical form for 49.99 euroswhich is what the digital edition costs. It will be released for Nintendo Switch 2 next June 25but you can reserve now. Star Fox (Nintendo Switch 2) – Physical Edition The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Image | MediaMarkt and Compradicción (header), Apple, Samsung, Nintendo, HyperX In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best wireless headphones. Which one to buy and 21 models from 15 euros to 470 euros

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