Festivals turned food trucks into a money-printing machine. Now they have a problem: Ozempic

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During the marathon days of the past Coachellaone of the most important music festivals in the world where, paradoxically, music is the least important thing, an image caused a certain sensation on social networks: the total absence of lines at the food stalls. To the plethora of content generated by the festival, a showcase for social networks where only the show by Niece Carpenter and the revival by Justin Bieber caught some attention strictly musically, we had to add the “get ready with me” on Instagram and the usual parade of looks themed, generally quite unsuitable for the Californian desert. In the background a silent revolution was brewing. Because within this hyperaesthetic ecosystem there was a shadow. In the videos of many influencers and tiktokers We were able to observe a scene repeated day after day: non-existent queues to get food (even when it’s free), facing crowded lines to buy sunglasses or other accessories. For many, the reason was obvious: Ozempic. We can interpret it from irony or, on the contrary, as a clear cultural symptom that is deeper and difficult to ignore. Because, if something seems evident, it is that, in a festival where consuming aesthetics is much more important than consuming food, the Ozempic era has found its best showcase. Less hunger = less business Anyone who’s been to a festival, especially in recent times, knows what it’s like. Until recently we went with our eyes closed and our wallets open, assuming that, in addition to the increasing price of admission, we had to pay absurd amounts for a cold burger or a pad thai stale at Michelin star price. We got into the game and no one was surprised by the exorbitant prices, those 20 euros on average per plate were part of the ritual of the festival experience; but something has started to change at Coachella. To get an idea of ​​the importance of this change: the economic volume of its gastronomic industry covers more than 100 positions. Ozempic and derivatives are completely redefining the cultural codes of the last decade. Starting from the basis that each person does with their body what they consider, it is true that we were already noticing in red carpets and derivatives that curves are beginning to go out of fashion; with bloody examples because they are carried out by former standard-bearers of the movement curvy. Actresses and artists like Rebel Wilson, Barbie Ferreira either Meghan Trainor show a change in their figure that advances from photocall in photocall. Little by little this permeates society; and also leaves a side effect that someone may consider unexpected. It is not only transforming bodies but also habits and, among them, our relationship with food in spaces of mass leisure. This change in the psychological relationship that we establish with food and the hunger-suppressing effect means that this character is eliminated from the equation. hedonist and impulsive. If the desire for food ceases to exist, the key turn occurs. For years festivals were governed by a simple rule: the economic margin is not so much in the entrance, but rather in everything that happens inside. In this mechanism, food is a key element with these inflated prices, encouraging impulsive decisions in marathon days that invite consumption. This is where Ozempic has broken the model at Coachella, fully attacking that impulse. In this showcase where it seems that eating is “annoying,” a drug that controls hunger is not useful, but rather more than consistent with the environment. And yes, Coachella may not be the Cruilla or the Arenal Soundbut on a large scale what is at stake is not only what the companies can bill food trucks. What is relevant is something deeper: in an environment where excess was part of the festival attraction, a model is now beginning to prevail where control, especially of the body and image, redefines spaces designed for the opposite. Ozempic and the end of hunger The impact of this medication is such that we are no longer talking about a health phenomenon, but rather a cultural phenomenon. What began as a diabetes medication, later converted into a weight loss solution, is no longer the beauty secret of the celebrities. The pharmacological equivalent of “drinking a lot of water and sleeping eight hours” has spread with universal consumption, and with this it not only transforms bodies with their corresponding physical consequencesalso behaviors. What began as a resource for the elite is now heading towards a more affordable distribution and on a large scale. Because we are not talking about a diet, but about something much more radical, deactivating one of the most basic impulses of human behavior on a large scale, and the data begins to reflect that change. At a global level, about 46 million of people already use these medications. In the United States, the number of people without diabetes who start treatment with these drugs has grown more than 700% in just four years. Today, around 12% of adults use them, with annual growth close to 30%. This impact does not remain only in the body and, if we transfer it to the context at hand, we see that it is directly reflected in consumption; These users spend 31% less on food and drink, especially on everything associated with whim and impulse (snacks, chocolate, etc.). In Spain the trend points in the same direction, approximately 6% of households are already consumers of these treatments, thus representing an expense of 5.4 billion euros annually in food and beverages. And, again, the most relevant thing is not what you spend, but on what: this hedonistic consumption falls and basic and functional products increase. With these numbers it is logical that the conversation of “surely he has lost weight thanks to Ozempic” does not die, but it is no longer limited to celebrities like Oprah, Kelly Clarkson or the native Ibai Llanos. The same statement now slips and extends to much closer environments such as the office, the … Read more

Spain has been without an essential weapon for war for years. Airbus has found the solution in Seville, and fires torpedoes and sonobuoys

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One of the most outlandish ideas of World War II was to convert old B-17 bombers into giant loaded drones. with almost ten tons of explosives. The pilots would take off, activate the remote control system and parachute before the plane continued toward its target without a crew. The project it was a failurebut it left a curious lesson: finding submarines and destroying hidden targets has always required the development of some of the strangest and most advanced technologies of each era. The capacity that Spain lost. Modern warfare still relies on highly sophisticated technologies, but some capabilities remain as essential as they were decades ago. One of them is the surveillance and pursuit of submarines. Spain lost that tool in December 2022 with the withdrawal of veterans P-3 Orionleaving a void that was especially striking for a country with thousands of kilometers of coastline, a strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and intense naval activity in its waters. Since then, the Armed Forces have lacked an aircraft capable of locating, tracking and attacking enemy submarines, a situation that is now beginning to be resolved. thanks to a program developed entirely in Seville. Cockpit of the new maritime patrol C295 The answer comes from Andalusia. Airbus advances in the construction of the new C295 MPAa version specifically designed to return to the Air and Space Army a capability that had been missing for years. The program has already passed several important industrial milestones, including powering up systems and commissioning the engines of the first aircraft. The company ensures that the deadlines remain as planned and that flight tests will last for more than a year before the delivery of the first unit in 2028. Beyond a simple replacement, Airbus considers this development the most ambitious project carried out on the C295 platform and aspires to turn it into an international reference within maritime patrol. View of the interior of the warehouse from the airplane ramp The return of the submarine chaser. The characteristic that distinguishes this aircraft from the rest of the C295 versions is its ability to combat underwater threats. The device will be able to carry between two and four Mk46 or Mk54 torpedoes and deploy up to sixty sonobuoys, small floating sensors that listen to sounds underwater and allow hidden submarines to be located. The combination of both systems returns to Spain a fundamental tool for contemporary naval warfare. For years, the country has lacked a platform capable of searching for submarines at great distances, classifying them, tracking their movements and, if necessary, attacking them. The new plane recovers precisely that function, one of the more complex and strategic within any modern air force. An arsenal of sensors. Anti-submarine warfare depends on both sensors and weapons. Precisely for this reason, the C295 MPA will incorporate a very extensive set of specialized equipment. Among them are synthetic aperture radarselectro-optical systems, magnetic anomaly detectors capable of perceiving the presence of large metallic masses underwater, automatic vessel identification systems and an advanced acoustic system to process information collected by sonobuoys. Added to this are self-protection equipment against missiles, encrypted satellite communications and tactical data links that will allow information to be shared in real time with other naval and air units. An industrial project. Although Airbus leads the program, development has also become in a shop window of the Spanish defense industry. Companies such as Indra, SAES and Tecnobit participate by providing self-protection systems, acoustic sensors and encryption equipment. The contract also includes simulators, infrastructure, training and logistical support, consolidating a technological ecosystem that goes far beyond the manufacture of the aircraft itself and reinforces Seville’s role as one of the main military aeronautical centers in Europe. Much more than a new plane. The acquisition of eight devices of maritime surveillance and eight of maritime patrol is part of an investment greater than the 1.7 billion eurosto which other contracts for new versions of the C295 have been added. The program reflects the extent to which Spain is rebuilding capabilities considered essential in an international context where submarines once again play a leading role. In essence, the history of new C295 MPA It is not just about a plane that has just come off a Sevillian assembly line, but rather about how a country that had lost one of the most important tools to control its seas is recovering the ability to find invisible threats underwater and respond to them with its own means. Image | Airbus In Xataka | The S-82 is Spain’s second new generation submarine: it has just completed a critical test before delivery In Xataka | Spain is selling military technology for scrap: the latest was a Navy submarine for 130,000 euros

Spain already experienced it between 1900 and 1912

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Many people in the world have never seen a solar eclipsedespite There are usually between 2 and 5 in a year. The reason is that yes, they are relatively common; But, unlike the lunar eclipse, which is seen in all places where it is night at that time, the solar eclipse is seen in a very small strip of territory. In general, They usually spend between 300 and 400 years for an eclipse to repeat itself in the same place. Therefore, that In 2026, 2027 and 2028 there will be three solar eclipses visible from Spain is most peculiar. It is true that not all of them will be total, since the third will be annular, and that they will not be seen from the same points in the country, but, even so, it is something rare. Now, just because it is rare does not mean that it is impossible, since in mainland Spain we already had another trio of eclipses a little over a century ago. The first was in 1900, the second in 1905 and the third in 1912. They were not three consecutive years, as will happen with this Iberian trio, but they were very close dates for what is usually normal. May 28, 1900: a total solar eclipse that left the railway without tickets The first of these solar eclipses took place on May 28, 1900with the onset of totality at 14:53 UTC. The strip of totality, in which the complete occultation of the Sun could be seen, measured 70 kilometers wide and It extended from the north of Extremadura to Elche. Although there was still a lot of superstition surrounding eclipses, they were already beginning to be seen as something positive and, above all, as a spectacle worth experiencing. For this reason, thousands of people traveled to the locations of the strip of totality to witness it. The strip of totality was from the north of Extremadura to Elche Two of the most visited places were Plasencia and Navalmoral de la Matain Cáceres. This last town was the one that attracted the largest audience, with more than 4,000 railway tickets sold from Madrid. The influx was so great that when the tickets were sold out it was decided to release another edition, with a 25% increase in price. Still, many people bought them. Nobody wanted to miss this event that attracted scientists from Spain, England, France and Ireland. In Spain, the photographs taken by Manuel Gil, a science professor at the Central University of Madrid (the current Complutense University) stood out. There was great media coverage and many anecdoteslike those who said that the bees revolutionized, the sheep bleated uncontrollably and the storks returned to their nests. Night fell shortly after noon and this baffled the animals and fascinated the humans. August 30, 1905, the eclipse that ended religious prejudices Although in 1900 religious prejudices were slowly beginning to be put aside, they were still quite present. However, possibly the fact of seeing a solar eclipse and the world not ending led to the 1905 eclipse being received much more calmly among the general population. Totality, which began at 13:03 UTC on August 30, was observed in a strip from the north of Galicia to the north of the Valencian Community, passing through Castilla y León and Aragón. It lasted more than 3 minutes in some of these locations. Specifically, The center of the strip was in the town of Quintanillain Burgos, although the places where it was best seen were Burgos capital and the Leonese town of Cistierna. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best, so there were many places where the clouds They prevented the viewing of the eclipse. Despite that, this total solar eclipse had great media and scientific coverage, with astronomers from all over Europe meeting mostly in Burgos and León. April 17, 1912, a peculiar eclipse The solar eclipse of April 17, 1912 It was quite peculiarbecause it was a mixed annular-total eclipse. There was a very small strip of totality, just a few meters long, in northwest Spain. Furthermore, that totality lasted only a few seconds, so very few people were able to see it. On the other hand, annularity was seen in a larger area of ​​land, from Porto to Gijón. During an annular eclipse it is not night, but rather the Moon hides the center of the Sun, which is seen as a kind of bright disk. It attracted the attention of many astronomers, both Spanish and French, who gathered mostly in the Leonese town of Cacabelos. However, being so short, it did not attract as much of the general population and much less the press, which was busy with international news such as the sinking of the famous Titanic. October 2, 1959: the Canary Islands It is often said that 1912 was the last total solar eclipse in Spain. However, this is an unfair statement, since in 1959 one took place in the Canary Islandswhich also attracted a lot of national and international press and scientists. Totality occurred from 9:26 UTC and could be seen in La Orotava, Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, La Matanza, Tegueste, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, el Rosario and Arafo in Tenerife, Las Palmas Santa Brígida, Ingenio, Telde and San Bartolomé de Tirajana in Gran Canaria and the Jandía area in Fuerteventura. That was the last total solar eclipse in Spain, but only until now. Soon we will be able to enjoy one more. And then another. And another one. How can we not be excited, releasing one news item after another? It is a very special period. Image | Wikimedia Commons colored with Gemini | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

You thought you ended up liking beer out of habit. Science has seen many ways to acquire this taste

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There are many people who cannot stand certain foods, such as the hated broccoli or cauliflower, which for some is inedible and they do not even understand how someone could like that. This also happens when you first take a sip of coffee or a drink of beer whose strong flavor can put anyone off. However, a few years later, that same bitter drink is part of the daily routine or even a pleasure, as is the case with beer. How is it possible? This is the question we can ask ourselves about these sudden changes in taste, and the truth is that it is quite documented under the term “acquired taste“. These two words explain not only why our preferences change, but also how our brain is capable of rewriting its own danger alerts to transform rejection into a reward. Survive. To understand why we learn to love certain flavors, we first have to understand why we hate them in the first place. Much of the blame lies with food neophobia, which is nothing more than the fear or refusal to try new foods, since although in childhood we usually label it as “being picky”, from an evolutionary point of view it is a sophisticated defense mechanism. If we look back to prehistory, children put anything they found in their mouths; like a new berry or a bitter plant, they were very likely to end up poisoned. That is why any bitter taste for our brain is a sign of toxicity and, therefore, we must reject it. Although this is not the case, as is the case with many foods. It’s genetic. The interesting thing is that this rejection is programmed from the factory and has a very strong genetic component. This has been seen in studies done on twins who demonstrated that childhood food neophobia is highly heritable, estimating that heritability by up to 72% during early stages. This genetic predisposition is often associated with a lower acceptance of diverse flavors and textures, and a more restrictive diet in childhood. But genetics only deals the cards with which we will later play in a great environment, since 28% of the probabilities leave a margin for environmental factors. Hacking the brain. The question here is that if biology has programmed us to spit out coffee because it is bitter… Why are many people hooked on it? The answer lies in the brain mechanisms of flavor learning and memory, since our brain constantly evaluates the post-ingestion consequences of what we eat. This is what explains, for example, that if we vomit a lot after eating a tortilla, we begin to put it aside later because we associate it with illness. But if we drink something bitter and, instead of getting sick or dying, we get a boost of energy like with caffeine or a social disinhibition like with alcohol, the brain updates its database and points out that the risk was worth it and that we achieved something positive. Repeated exposure. In order to introduce new foods into a diet that is being developed, as occurs in children, science suggests that Consistency destroys this disgust that generates. However, visual exposure alone is not enough to break this ‘phobia’, rather repeated oral contact is necessary for the nervous system to adapt and accept the food. To facilitate this process, humans have thought of techniques such as, for example, sweeten foodand that is why the fact of adding sugar to coffee or drinking it with milk arises. This acts as a neuropsychological bridge to signal to the brain that these are safe calories. The social model It is one of the most important tools to intervene in our tastes. Here studies in infants suggest that seeing parents enjoy an unfamiliar food significantly increases acceptance in babies. And the reasoning is quite simple, since if the adult eats it and does not suffer damage, the food is considered safe to continue eating. And as you grow up, a large part of the flavors acquired in adolescence, such as beer or traditional dishes, are adopted because they are strongly linked to contexts of socialization and group acceptance, since if a friend takes it and nothing happens to him, it is because everything is fine. Images | Louis Hansel In Xataka | Not all processed foods pose a risk to our health. Some tricks can help us choose the best

the shadow business that moves VTCs in Spain

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Before the boom of Uber and Cabify, the acronym VTC They were an enigma. Now they have become almost a popular nickname. In Madrid, it is enough to see the sticker of the red flag with stars of the autonomous community on a car to think “it is a VTC”. The urban center is littered with this type of vehicles. But the VTCs, which respond to “transport vehicles with driver“, existed for decades. They were cars intended for luxury transportation, the typical car that was rented with a driver. These actors are still in the market and operate in the tourism sector or as transportation for companies, but they are a minority. Apps changed everything. Cabify, Uber and Bolt have taken VTCs out of their niche to bring them to a mass audience. Thanks to the immediacy they allow, these cars with drivers have become so close to the taxi figure that they now constitute direct competition. But unlike taxi drivers, who tend to be small self-employed, a large part of the VTCs are in the hands of large companies. And they do not correspond exactly to the apps. “There are three large groups, which are Moove Cars, Auro and Vecttor,” says José María Cazallas, Secretary of Organization of the Free Transport Union, which represents around 80% of the workers in the VTC sector and also has significant representation in the taxi sector. “These three groups come together more or less around the 60% of licenses VTC in Madrid.” They are different entities from the applications that the user knows, although Cabify and Uber have participation in these companies. VTCs vs taxis The rise of VTCs in Spain cannot be understood without taxis and the framework in which they traditionally operated. “The model of one license for each taxi driver was followed. It was a very interventionist model. I’m talking about the beginning of the 20th century until the end of the 90s, in which they tried to distribute the business,” explains Alejandro Román, professor in the Department of Law at the University of Seville and author of the book The legal regime for the transport of passengers on demand in tourist vehicles (Taxis and VTC). Román affirms that for a long time the granting of licenses was contaminated by the clientelism. In times where well-paid work was scarce and there were many arduous jobs, a taxi license was a safe option. “These people had a guaranteed job, with a guaranteed profitability, because they had no competition,” says the professor from the University of Seville. “The number of operators in the market was calculated so that all license holders could live reasonably well.” (Unsplash) In a limited market, which barely issued new licenses, these became a scarce commodity. Their buying and selling occurred at astronomical prices. But the panorama changed completely with the arrival of Cabify and Uber. License prices fellalthough later it has come back. Now, in a look on Wallapop you can see taxi licenses for sale for between 180,000 and 210,000 euros for Madrid. In Barcelona they have a similar price, slightly less than 200,000, although some advertisements exceed them. It depends on the schedule for which the license is scheduled or if the car is included. The history of VTC licenses is different: their price has not stopped growing and they have reached almost the same level. Again taking Wallapop as a quick barometer, you can see that a VTC license in Madrid is available for around 180,000 euros. In Barcelona, ​​where the sector faces regulatory uncertainty, the price is much lower, around 75,000 euros. But the most important change that Cabify, Uber and Bolt have brought is technological mediation. “In the VTC the model is different. What happens is that over time it has become increasingly closer to the taxi model,” says Román. The VTCs could not take clients on the street or at taxi stops, while the contracting of their services had to be done in advance. This is established by law to guarantee a market reserve for taxis, which in return are obliged to perform certain public functions, such as not rejecting clients or providing transportation support in situations of health emergencies. “With the arrival of applications, this required pre-contracting is diluted. The technology itself makes it immediate. Because you open the application, you pre-contract the VTC, but you can start using it five minutes later,” concludes Román. In practice, the two models provide the same type of transportation service, although they have different regulations. A sector of large companies The similarity of the service they provide, however, differs in their back room. The exploitation of VTCs is dominated by large companies with hundreds or thousands of licenses in their name. These companies are intertwined with some of the platforms. “Cabify is the owner of Vecttor. And Moove Cars and the Auro Group are owned by Uber,” says Cazallas, from the Free Transport Union. “While the number of licenses that each taxi driver can have is limited, in the case of VTCs there is no limitation on the number of licenses per owner. That is why a market of large companies that request many licenses has emerged,” emphasizes Román. And the number continues to increase. Cabify has deployed in Madrid 800 new licensespart of a package of 8,500 requested in 2018 taking advantage of a legal loophole. (Unsplash) The Estonian platform Bolt, the only one of the three that does not have its own fleet and claims to work with freelancers and small businesses, criticized the granting of these licenses as a form of market concentration. According to their calculations, the addition of 8,500 licenses to the Cabify/Vecttor fleet would put 70% of the active VTCs in the autonomous community under the control of a single company. One of the main figures behind Vecttor has been the Sevillian businessman Rosauro Varofounder of PepePhone. He built a VTC company that accumulated 2,000 licenses for later sell it to Cabifybecoming part of its shareholders. … Read more

Cold War spy satellites

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Ander Izaguirre is the author of Return to the country of Elkano. It is a book that mixes travel chronicle with adventure narration. The story begins in Guetaria, where he returns after touring the Basque country by bicycle, taking as the backbone of history the figure of Juan Sebastián Elcano, considered the first person to complete a complete circumnavigation of the world. An idea is repeated several times in the book: the world has always been much more connected than we think. The starting point, in this case, is something that happened more than 500 years ago. What could the life of a person who crossed the planet five centuries ago be like when there are still people today who do not go beyond the borders of their country or their hometown? In its pages it talks about the connections between empires and geopolitical struggles to control trade routes. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand how in those days a person could travel thousands of kilometers and metropolises could trade with each other. But, personally, I find it much more complicated to imagine JUlius Caesar traveling along the Nile or Cleopatra living in Rome on the edge of the new year count with its Julian calendar. We are talking about a handful of years prior to the supposed birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Imagine if we go back further. As much as 4,000 years. That is, around the year 2,000 BC In two leaps we have begun to ask ourselves how our world could be interconnected just 500 years ago to how it would be more than 4,000 years ago. And to that question, some archaeologists believe they have found an answer. A river highway in Mesopotamia And our colleagues Motorpassion They bring us the story of one of those discoveries that will delight history fans. For many years it has been known that mesopotamian cities They have been using an intricate system of tunnels and water management for their irrigation for thousands of years. The invention was so effective that by adding all the conduits that have been active at some point, it is believed that it may have the same distance as there is between the Earth and the Moon, according to National Geographic. These tunnels were used, as we say, to move water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers but also to serve as a refuge for the inhabitants of these cities, both from the scorching heat of the desert and from possible enemy invasions. This has been, until last year, what was thought. And using spy images and the use of LiDAR, research has continued to advance until making sense of a new use of these channels. According to the researchers who have developed Identifying the preserved network of irrigation canals in the Eridu region, southern Mesopotamia, published by the University of Cambridge, These canals would also serve as a river highway to trade between towns. In the 1960s, the United States launched a spy satellite project called CROWN. These satellites took photographs of the terrain in the middle of the Cold War and the declassified file has allowed researchers to detect subtle changes in the terrain that are impossible to detect from the ground. The photographs revealed small differences in the vegetation, which shows commercial roads and passenger traffic for millennia. But using LiDAR, researchers have also managed to bring to light some cities that were hidden, as was the case of an extension near Abarkuh where those famous canals were discovered. The great discovery, however, has been to verify that these canals were not only used to transport water through complex hydraulic systems or to cool the environment. Everything indicates according to the latter research which were also used to move goods, resources and wealth between city-states such as Ur, Uruk, Lagash or Eridu. With this discovery, it is considered that we are facing one of the oldest and most extensive logistics networks in history and the key to understanding how grain, copper, wood or precious stones were traded then thanks to flat-bottomed ships that would move through these canals and not only through the visible bed of the Tigris and Euphrates. Photo | Semhur and Ali sabih kadhim In Xataka | When there was a lunar eclipse, Babylon trembled. Texts from 4,000 years ago announced all misfortunes

They are suffering from delusions of grandeur

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Aaron Levie, founder and CEO of Box, has realized something: AI is causing some managers to suffer a certain disconnection from real work and believe that AI does things that in reality (for now) can’t do. for him it’s clear that what the CEOs of technology companies are experiencing is an “AI psychosis.” AI myths and realities. This year we are experiencing frenetic movements in the technology industry. Stock market valuations of technology companies skyrocket, but at the same time Mass layoffs accelerate. There seems to be an explanation gaining momentum in Silicon Valley: those in charge of technology companies are suffering from what Levie calls “AI psychosis.” There are in these moments some cognitive disconnectionand CEOs and senior officials believe that AI can do tasks today that in reality still require being under human control and expert judgment. There is a long way from saying to doing. According to the CEO of Box, managers are sensitive to this “delirium” because “they are sufficiently removed from that last stretch in which the work is done.” That is to say: a CEO sees a prototype of an AI model that generates a contract or a line of code and believes that is enough to declare that the work is done. However, it is not these managers who have to review that code in search of flaws or analyze contracts in search of misleading or false clauses that the AI ​​has invented. 100x Organizations. There is a particularly surprising case in this area. Zeb Evans, CEO of the project management startup ClickUp, recently said in X that had laid off almost a quarter of its employees after deploying 3,000 AI agents to do their job. According to him, the human employees who have remained in the company simply have to supervise the machines, forming what Evans called a “100x organization.” What the CEO sees vs. what he should see. The triumphalist messages of some companies and CEOs like Evans can be quickly contrasted with the data we have today. The decisions being made – for example, in the area of ​​layoffs that are often hidden behind the adoption of AI – should be based in improved productivity which at the moment does not exist. Some studies made it clear: A study from the University of California at Berkeley evaluated several investigations in this regard and concluded that “there is no robust relationship between the adoption of AI and an aggregate productivity gain.” Other investigation of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicated that AI had indeed improved productivity, but found “a productivity paradox, whereby perceived productivity gains are greater than measured productivity gains.” Finally, MIT researchers They created thousands of agents to work on various tasks and concluded that in many cases they did not perform those tasks with human quality. According to their estimates, AI models will be able to complete many tasks “with 80-95% success in 2029 with adequate quality,” but they will not yet surpass human workers. The new bottleneck. The danger of this “psychosis” is that by automating the production of content or code the problem does not disappear. It just moves. If everyone uses AI to produce more things, the bottleneck is precisely the managers who must manage and control the review of a volume of data that did not exist before. It is in fact just what Harvard Business Review denounced in a recent analysis. Levie made it clear: CEOs must “go down into the mud” and see what AI can and cannot do, because otherwise what they will end up having is true organizational chaos. Image | Hunter Race In Xataka | It is normal that CEOs of technology companies like AI. They are using it to “clone” themselves and not go to work

How to review the PAU syllabus using NotebookLM and prepare for the selectivity exam

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Let’s explain to you how to review the PAU syllabus using NotebookLMthe tool artificial intelligence from Google. NotebookLM It allows you to use Google AI but based only on the data you upload, such as your notes, which opens many doors to help you and even gamify your learning. We are going to start by explaining what it is and why it is useful to study this tool. Then we will tell you the previous steps to be able to use it to help you with your studies, and we will end by summarizing its main functions when it comes to helping you with the PAU What is NotebookLM and what makes it useful for studying NotebookLM is a Google tool based on Gemini. It is a platform where you can create notebooks, and in each of them upload specific sources. These sources can be files that you upload by hand, but also links or even YouTube videos. Once you have your notebook configured with your own fonts, you can ask Gemini questions, and the AI ​​will answer you based solely on information from your sources. Come on, it won’t look for information on the Internet, but only in the sources that you upload. This means that you will be able upload the selectivity syllabus and ask questions or create content based solely on your notes and the syllabus. You will not get information from any other site. You can even create different notebooks where you can upload notes by subject. Thanks to this, you will be able to ask the AI ​​for content that you do not understand, but also you can ask him to ask you questionssummaries, outlines, or test yourself by creating exams. In fact, by proxy you can even create podcasts with which you can listen to your notes or specific lessons whenever you want. How to configure it before starting To use NotebookLM for this purpose, you first have to configure it. To do this, start by entering notebooklm.google.comand create a new notebook. NotebookLM is a tool that you can use for free, although with a limit of 50 free fonts. If you want your notebook to have more, then you will have to pay. When you’re creating your first notebook, you’ll be able to upload your first font. You can upload fonts in several waysusing a website whose data you want to use, uploading files that can be PDFs, images, documents or audios, YouTube videos, Drive folders or copied text. Here, what you will have to do is upload your syllabus and/or your notes as sources. You can do it with all the formats you think are necessary, and you can decide whether to upload them all, upload only those of one signature, whatever you prefer. To give you ideas, you can upload the following elements: PDFs from your notes or textbook Google Drive Documents directly class presentations in PDF format Web pages (pasting the URL) Copied text directly if you have notes in another format All the topic in case you have it in some format The more complete the material you uploadthis platform will work better later. Upload your textbook in PDF, upload it in its entirety. If you have notes, upload them, and the same with any other material. NotebookLM processes everything at once and cross-references information from all sources when you ask a question or request. How to use it to review the syllabus Once you have uploaded all your notes and data, you can now enter the Chatwhere you can ask Gemini any question. Google’s AI will answer you using only your notes as a source to find the answers. You will also have the column of Studiowhere you will find other options such as creating an audio summary as if it were a podcast, a video summary, or a presentation. You can also create flashcards to review, reports, etc. In addition to this, these are other things that you will be able to do with NotebookLM once you upload your notes: Ask him questions from the syllabus as if he were a teacher: The AI ​​will have all the data, so if there is something you don’t remember, you can ask it to explain it to you so you don’t waste time searching for information. Request a summary of a topic: If you have uploaded the textbook or your notes, you will be able to ask it to make summaries of specific topics. You can tell the topic number or even the theme. Come on, you can ask him to summarize topic 3 of Biography or the Second Spanish Republic. Ask exam questions: This is one of the most powerful functions to prepare for the PAU, because you can test your knowledge by asking the AI ​​to generate an exam. You can ask him X specific questions on a topic, and even have them be multiple choice. You can ask them to ask you the questions one by one so you can answer them individually as if it were a chat, or whatever you prefer. An audio to review without looking at the screen: We’ve mentioned it before, and it’s one of the most popular features of NotebookLM. It is about Audio Overviewa function with which you request that a podcast be generated with two voices discussing the topic, explaining and debating it. It is perfect to review while doing sports or other things. Create a study guide: You can also ask it to generate a structured study guide with key concepts, important dates and possible exam questions. You can copy, print or save the result to continue reviewing without having to have the tool open. Limitations and what not to expect from NotebookLM As we have seen, NotebookLM is a very useful tool to help you study for the entrance exam. But it has a series of limits that should be known and taken into account when working with it. The first is that He will … Read more

three hospitals on board to have exclusive medical care

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There are many luxury superyachts …and then there is the Al Salamahwhich more than a yacht the size of an eight-story building, actually serves as a floating royal palace with own entrance on Wikipedia. When in 1998 the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saudcrown prince and deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia, made his list of requirements for what would be his personal yacht, the list was so long that it was necessary to build a 139-meter-long boat valued at more than 280 million dollars at the time, and whose annual maintenance cost It is estimated between 15 and 28 million dollars. However, beyond the shine of the marble and luxury equipmentwhich makes the unique Al Salamah It is your medical equipment. Instead of having a well-equipped infirmary to deal with medical emergencies that may arise during voyages, the Saudi prince’s superyacht It had three independent hospitals located on different decks: a hospital for the prince, another for his guests and a third center to care for the crew. The epitome of exclusivity and protocol. Ogres have capes, so do yachts He Al Salamah It was born under the name “MiPos Project” (from Mission Possible) and ended up becoming a naval monster of more than 12,000 square meters with 22 luxurious suites covered with teak wood and ostentatious decoration very much in the Arab taste. Its size and internal distribution not only sought to impress with its ostentation of luxury, but also intended organize life on board according to protocol which requires taking the heir to the Saudi crown on board. One of the interior rooms of Al Salamah In this way, the space on board was distributed in layers, so that the royals and the prince occupied the seventh deck, where he had his office, the secretariat and rooms for his trusted staff. For their part, VIP guests and senior Saudi officials remained on the sixth deck and up to 96 crew members necessary to operate the yacht worked and lived on the lower decks. The distribution has its logic, of course, because if one orders to build his own floating palace for him to act as an extension of his kingdomthe last thing you want is to have to share space with your subjects. This separation of spaces extended to all aspects of daily life. The yacht has five kitchens and, of course, three hospitals. Each of them located near the patients they are going to care for. That is, one on deck seven next to the prince’s suite; another on deck six to care for guests, and a third on the lower levels to care for the crew. Sultan’s private hospital, with an underwater treadmill As you can imagine, the best equipped infirmary is the prince’s, which even has an underwater treadmill specially designed for physiotherapy. More than a yacht, a floating kingdom In addition to having exclusive medical care, the yacht’s guests could use a beauty salon, private cinema, library, meeting room, spa, gym, four auxiliary boats, a rescue boat, heliport and even a dressing room for the artists who performed on board exclusively for the Saudi royal family. Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was not just any heir. For years he was minister of defense and aviation, and in 2005 he was named crown prince, so his relationship with the hierarchical structure, order and the powers that be was not exactly casual. He was also known as “the humanitarian prince”, for financing medical projects in Saudi Arabia through the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Foundation. Among the projects he carried out, it stands out that the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, inaugurated in Riyadh in 2002 at a cost of 320 million dollars. It is the largest rehabilitation complex of its type in the world, with ten major operating rooms, eight minor ones, a rehabilitation center with a capacity for 250 beds and another for seniors with 150 beds. What this prince did with health care was worthy of study. The Saudi president passed away in 2011 at 86 years old, but Al Salamah, and its three hospitals on board, is still in the power of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In Xataka | The Emir of Dubai bought a 500 million superyacht but discovered that it had a serious problem: there was no mobile coverage inside Image | Lurssen, Wikimedia Commons

cover them with garbage bags

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Several American cities have resorted to a solution that may seem rudimentary, but which works wonders to curb surveillance of their own license plate cameras: cover them with black garbage bags. The last to do so was Daytonin Ohio, a city that is beginning to regret having installed them. What has happened? Dayton has covered its Flock cameras, automatic license plate readers installed throughout the city, with trash bags. The reason, according to account deputy municipal director Joe Parlette in a plenary session, is that the city council is not entirely clear if the cameras are still recording or if it can remove them directly. So, while it finds out, it has chosen to cover them as a provisional measure. The media 404Media, which has followed the case, confirmed with several neighbors that cameras covered with a garbage bag can be seen throughout the city. They don’t know what to do. The picture may seem comical, but the truth is that city councils do not know how to disconnect a surveillance infrastructure that they themselves have installed. The cameras are owned by Flock Safety, a private company, and the contracts signed with the municipalities are so convoluted that the cities are not clear if they can turn them off, remove them or even stop recording without violating the agreement. Covering them with plastic is literally the only thing they feel they can do on their own. The trigger. In Dayton everything exploded when it was discovered that the data from its cameras had ended up in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security and ICEthe US immigration agency, through the national Flock network. The city assures that it was not its intention and that a specific agent did not activate the protections that he himself had helped design; All you have to do is press a button to prevent data from being shared. The police chief, Kamran Afzal, assured that “disappointing” was an understatement and that the word he would use would be “disgusting”, as he declared at a press conference. collection through the middle. The police ended up suspending the use of these readers “indefinitely” on May 1. It is not an isolated case. Evanston, Illinois, did exactly the same thing late last year. After terminating its contract and getting Flock to remove the cameras, the city reported that the company replaced them without permission and sent it a legal notice. While waiting for them to be removed again, he covered them with bags. A municipal spokesperson explained to 404Media that the cameras are from Flock and only the company itself could remove them, so they covered them while they waited. In Menominee (Wisconsin), the mayor even stated that the cameras had been activated without the approval of the entire municipal council. The other version. flock defend that any city can turn off its cameras whenever it wants, although it clarifies that the legal conditions of each contract may prevent it from being canceled without justified reasons. The company attributes much of the rejection to misinformation circulating on the internet and maintains that surveillance works, citing an uptick in car thefts in Richmond, California, during the period in which its cameras were turned off. Regarding Dayton, he has made it clear that he wants to continue working with the city. And now what. The question is whether Dayton will actually remove the cameras or if the program will remain in limbo. For neighborhood groups like DeFlock Dayton, covering the cameras is just an intermediate step. Melissa Bertolo, member of the platform, counted to the media that their demand is not to cover them but to remove them, because as long as they remain standing they could continue to capture data. Cover image | Sydney Dawes In Xataka | Concern over mass video surveillance has created a new product: anti-facial recognition glasses

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