In Singapore, luxury is not having a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. True luxury is simply driving

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Singaporethat small city/country-state between Malaysia and Indonesia where there are barely more than five million inhabitants, is a place of contrasts. While the enclave has a high degree of government control and certain practices that can be classified as repressive, on the other hand, new technologies are embraced to the point of being a world reference in the public sphere towards AI. There, having a car is not a practical necessity, it is a statement of status. Driving in Singapore. The story was told a year ago. the new york times. In Singapore, owning a car is not practical, it is more of a statement comparable to wearing a designer suit or sporting a luxury watch. The reason? He property certificate system (introduced in 1990 to control congestion and pollution) requires citizens to pay astronomical sums just for the right to buy a vehicle. These certificates, known as certificates of entitlement (COE), can reach up to $84,000raising the total price of common automobiles to exorbitant figures more typical of a supercar. As insurance agent Andre Lee, who in 2020 paid $24,000 for a Kia Forte Second-hand, having a car was simply part of his professional image, although he later recognized that the expense was not justified and chose to sell it. The price in 2026. This year, the COE system has prices that exceed usually $100,000 Singaporeans (about 70,000–85,000 euros) just for the right to circulate for ten years. The different categories oscillate in that range, with large and premium cars reaching the highest figures, while even commercial vehicles and motorcycles have seen notable increases compared to previous years. This volatility, with biweekly auctions that can move prices by thousands of euros, reflects a deja vu: an extremely stressed market where artificial scarcity imposed by the State continues to be the dominant factor, even above the cost of the vehicle itself. An unnecessary luxury. The underlying problem is also explained from another side. With a public transport network affordable and effective, few residents They really need a car to get around the city. Long rides cost less than two dollars and transportation apps like Grab are available. widely available. Despite this, twice a month they celebrate COE auctionswith limited quotas set by the government. This policy has been very effective: Singapore has only 11 cars per 100 inhabitants, far below countries like the United States or Italy, where the figure exceeds 75. Other cities have adopted anti-congestion measures, such as urban tolls in LondonStockholm or New Yorkbut none charges as much to own a car as Singapore. The car and social classes. For the richest in the country, purchasing a vehicle with all the associated costs does not represent a problem. Su-Sanne Ching, a businesswoman, said that paid $150,000 by a Mercedes-Benzincluding a COE of $60,000. On the other hand, for the middle class, especially families with children, the car becomes a luxury that is difficult to sustain. Joy Fang and her husband told the Times that they bought a used Hyundai Avante in 2022 for $58,000 to take his two children. Every month they allocate more than 10% of their family budget to maintain the vehicle, which has forced them to reduce outings and trips. Even so, they consider that the alternative (moving with small children and bags on public transport) is unviable. Help for electricians. Regarding “electrification”, the main aid (EEAI) has been reduced by half. Previously up to 15,000 SGD, and now it has a maximum of SGD 7,500. Not only that, apparently, it already has a date of disappearance by 2027. Plus: the VES system too has been adjusted and has progressively reduced incentives. In other words, this year, the nation seems to be in the phase of progressive withdrawal of aid to electric vehicles. Sometimes not even the symbolism. There are more extreme cases. Even for those who purchase a car for symbolic or professional reasons, as Andre Leecumulative expenses can cause the decision loses meaning. Maintenance, gas, parking and insurance end up exceeding initial expectations. Lee, for example, sold his car three years after purchasing it and now commutes by public transportation, or borrows his father’s vehicle when he needs to meet clients. In his opinion, there are other priorities that ended up outweighing the image projected by having your own car. Rational choice versus chaos. Singapore’s restrictive model contrasts with that of other Southeast Asian cities like Jakarta or Bangkokwhere extreme traffic turns travel into an odyssey. For many Singaporeans, giving up the personal car is a reasonable price to enjoy clearer streets and fast journeys. In this regard and according to sociologist Chua Beng Huatthe choice is cultural and practical: the population prefers to avoid long hours behind the wheel. The man himself, despite owning a BYD SUV to transport his grandchildren, says he uses the subway when he goes downtown. Ultimately, the car in Singapore appears to have become an aspirational rather than a functional commodity, one reserved for those who can afford it without compromising their finances. Unlike other parts of the world where the vehicle represents an almost imperative need for mobility or independence, in the island-state it is, for many, a luxury that compares with the most ostentatious objects. Driving there is like having a Rolex, or almost. Image | William Cho In Xataka | Guide to know if your car will be able to circulate in the ZBEs of Madrid in 2025: labels, registrations and areas In Xataka | How to make an appointment at the IMSS online in Mexico A version of this article was published in 2025. We have updated its content with everything that has happened since then.

Belgrade’s “liquid trees” are the fascinating biotechnological solution to clean the air in cities

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Today, the city of Belgrade has a significant problem in terms of air quality, which is already something quite typical of large cities. The situation here, the truth is, is quite critical, with some areas where the limits recommended by the WHO are exceeded by up to 5 times, and to solve it, the idea that we can have in mind is need to plant more treesbut the reality is that there is little space available to plant them, so they have had to choose to install what they have called liquid trees. The solution. Under the name of LIQUID 3this project has been operating since 2021 in front of the Stari Grad City Hall in the Serbian capital, and to the surprise of many it is not shaped like a tree, but is a simple glass tank that is filled with 600 liters of water inhabited by local microalgae. But just because it doesn’t have the shape of a tree doesn’t mean it doesn’t work as such, since it literally uses photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide from the environment and release pure oxygen into the environment, and the truth is that they are very efficient, since a single tank of LIQUID3 is equivalent to the absorption capacity of two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of grass. How is it possible? That a simple tank surpasses an adult tree when it comes to ‘purifying’ the air, the truth is that it seems strange, but biotechnology has achieved something incredible. Specifically, science has seen how microalgae have the ability to capture carbon dioxide and fix it between 10 and 50 times faster than land plants under controlled conditions. In fact, studies indicate that these algae can fix approximately 1.8 grams of CO₂ for every gram of biomass generated, achieving CO₂ removal efficiencies close to 50%. And designed for the city. Being in the center of a city is not easy, and that is why scientists have had to use strains of Serbian freshwater microalgae that grow with simple tap water and withstand extreme temperature fluctuations. And here the research indicates that these species are ready for the most hostile environments. And another positive point they have is that they hardly require maintenance, since it is limited to the fact that the biomass generated must be extracted every month and a half, and in addition, water and fresh minerals are added. The positive here is also that biomass can be used as a great natural fertilizer. More than a lung. The LIQUID3 is not just a laboratory experiment that has taken to the streets, but has been designed as multifunctional urban furniture, since, in addition to purifying the air, the structure functions as a bench to sit on and even adds solar panels to charge your cell phone or provide night lighting. It is not definitive. Although it seems incredible, the truth is that we must put our feet on the ground in the face of technological enthusiasm. Although right now the figures are very good, there is still a lack of studies that can validate the impact it has in the long term and measure whether they are really giving good results, and above all that they are real. But the most important nuance here is that these systems do not replace traditional trees or forests, which logically must remain where they are and promoting their implementation. In this way, we are left with the fact that this technology has been designed for dense and highly polluted urban areas where traditional planting is logistically impossible. Where the asphalt does not give an inch to the roots, the liquid trees rise like a high-tech green oasis, giving the city’s lungs a break. Images | LIQUID3 In Xataka | Tell me where you live and I’ll tell you how healthy your tap water is: the map of Spain that analyzes each municipality

The iPhone can do much more than we think. The key is in the Shortcuts and this way you can start taking advantage of them

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A few days ago I was in a cafe with a friend when, in the middle of the conversation, he took out his iPhone and showed me how much of a Shortcuts expert. At that time I thought more people should know that. Barely two weeks have passed since then and now I have to present to you this video that my colleagues at Xataka have made, a very good opportunity to start using the mobile “like a pro”. Ana Boriawhich has tested devices like the Plaud Note Pro or the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro and that even you have been encouraged to home automation your homenow wants to help us make life easier for iPhone users. This is a video in which he shares his experience with a tool that can be very useful and explains how to use it for tasks such as scheduling the sending of messages, reading news with a single click or creating a QR code to share the WiFi network. The video that we have just published on the Xataka YouTube channel It starts precisely with that last possibility. “You probably know that on Android, simply clicking on the Wi-Fi network gives you the QR code to share it with everyone. Well, then on iPhone it is not so simple”, says our colleague. How to do it then? With Shortcuts. We just have to add the shortcut that Ana left us and configure it exactly as she explains. In addition, it proposes three different options so that everyone can choose the one that best suits their needs. “If you have traveled, it may have happened to you the same as me, that when you go to another country they don’t speak your language, but they don’t speak English either. Well, for that, this shortcut has been great for me,” says our colleague when presenting her next recommendation. In this case You don’t even need to download any additional applications. All you have to do is take advantage of a shortcut that is also capable of detecting the language automatically. Ana also reviews other especially useful shortcuts, such as one designed to read the last 10 articles from our favorite websites, another to obtain a personalized note with parameters from the Health app and several automations for the iPhone to execute certain actions based on the time or location. It is true that launching these shortcuts requires following some steps, but In the video there are all the necessary links to download them and start playing with them. I hope you like preparing it as much as we do. And, of course, we invite you to leave your comments both here and on YouTube. Images | Xataka In Xataka | The foldable iPhone is getting closer every day: this is everything we know about it so far

Ryanair has grounded its passengers twice in one week. The culprit has a first and last name: EES

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For a plane to take off on time and end up leaving hundreds of passengers behind is something that does not happen often. However, it has already happened on several Ryanair flights in recent weeks, and the explanation, technically, has little to do with the airline really. The new border system. The European Union has launched the Entry and Exit System (EES), a digital border control that forces non-EU citizens (including the British, since Brexit) to register their biometric data every time they cross a Schengen area border. That includes facial scanning and fingerprints. The system began rolling out in October and was due to be fully operational in all Schengen countries from April 10. What no one calculated quite correctly is the time it would take to process each passenger at the controls. What happened in Milan. On April 16, a Ryanair flight bound for Manchester took off from Bergamo airport, leaving behind a group of passengers still stuck in border control queues. According to counted one of those affected, Adam Hassanjee, 18, told the BBC, they had not moved in the queue for an hour and a half when they saw the plane leaving. He had to make a living on his own: first a flight to Malta, then to Leeds. In parallel, to EasyJet something similar happened to him at Linate airport, also in Milan, where of the 156 passengers on a flight to Manchester only 34 boarded. It has not been the only case. That same April 10, the date on which the EES was to be activated throughout the Schengen area, another Ryanair flight between Tenerife South and East Midlands, United Kingdom, also left passengers on the ground. Among them, according to reported BBC, a 42-year-old teacher, his wife and two-year-old son, who had to spend £1,600 finding an alternative route home because the next available Ryanair flight didn’t leave for a week. Ryanair’s version: they didn’t leave anyone. The airline has rejected firmly the narrative that he “left passengers behind.” His argument goes through the fact that everyone who was at the gate when it closed flew away. Those who did not arrive on time simply missed their flight. They also explained that, once boarding is closed, the passenger manifest is legally signed and sent to the captain, from which point nothing can be done. The EES thing, according to the airline, is a border control problem, not theirs. Punctuality. Technically, Ryanair may be right. But the image it conveys is that of an airline that prefers to leave on time, without dozens of passengers, rather than wait for a new, slow and technically problematic border control system to let its people through. It is not that it is illegal or unusual in the industry, but after the general chaos due to the implementation of the EES, there was a striking lack of communication to travelers. Peter Walker, the teacher who was stranded in Tenerife, counted to the media that at no time was there anyone from the airline to inform them or help them with options. What Brussels says. The European Commission has defended that the EES “works very well” and that in the vast majority of countries there have been no incidents. He acknowledged, however, that in some member states technical problems were detected in the first days. Just like share According to the media, since it started in October, the system has recorded more than 56 million border crossings and has prevented the entry of 28,500 people, of which 700 were identified as a security threat. Cover image | Niels Baars In Xataka | Commercial aviation is based on very old aircraft. The Iran war is going to make it even worse

The country has no real alternative to Telcel

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The sale of Movistar Mexico to the Melisa Acquisition consortium (450 million dollars for an operator with approximately 15% of the market) closes a chapter of more than two decades in which the Spanish operator has invested more than 3,600 million euros to end up competing, in permanent structural inferiority, against a monopoly that has never ceased to be a monopoly. Why is it important. Anyone might think that the departure of Telefónica changes the Mexican telecommunications market, but the reality is that it does not change it much. On the contrary: it confirms it. Mexico has one of the most concentrated mobile markets in the developed world, with Telcel, owned by Carlos Slim, controlling almost 60% of users. No competitor has managed to gain share in a sustained manner so far this century. The strange thing is that Telefónica has taken so long to leave the country, because it has only done so in the context of a total withdrawal in Latin America after years of losses. The backdrop. Telcel inherited the commercial muscle, infrastructure and customer base of Telmex, the former state monopoly privatized in 1990. Since then, Mexican regulators have not been able to balance the market, or have not been willing enough to do so. AT&T has been trying for years with its own network and remains below 16%. In fact is also looking for a way out. Telefónica, which In 2019 it had to return its spectrum and relying on AT&T’s infrastructure to survive, it already operated in practice as a kind of “premium MVNO”: with its own brand, but without its own network and without room to grow. Between the lines. The buyer says a lot. Melisa Acquisition is not a typical telecommunications operator: it is the sum of Oxio (technological platform for virtual operators with barely 350,000 clients) and an investment fund. They are not there to build network infrastructure or to dispute Telcel’s quota. They simply arrive to manage what is there: an inherited customer base, an asset-light model, and the hope that Oxio’s technology will allow some more margin to be squeezed out of an operation that Telefónica no longer wanted to maintain. In figures. The ARPU (average income per user) tells in numbers the trap in which Telefónica operated in Mexico: 64.7 pesos per month per customer, less than half that of AT&T (141.1) and less than a third that Telcel (176). It is no longer that Movistar had few clients, it is that each client was worth little in terms of billing and profitability. A model like this does not allow for investment in the network, in spectrum or in the future. The sale is not an elegant strategic retreat: it is the logical conclusion of years competing in the cheapest segment of an already cheap market. Yes, but. The sale will generate heavy accounting losses for Telefónica, something inevitable given the historical outlay, but it fits perfectly into its strategy. In less than a year and a half, the telecom chaired by Marc Murtra has undone practically all of its positions in Latin America: Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia… and now Mexico. Only Brazil remains, the only market in the region where Telefónica has enough scale to truly compete and which has become one of its growth enginesif not the main one. Main loser? The Mexican user. With Telefónica jibarized, the Mexican market is even more unprotected in the face of Telcel. Effective competition in price, coverage and quality of service now depends almost exclusively on AT&T, which has also not demonstrated the ability to challenge Slim’s dominance and, as we have already said, look for a way out for a long time. Mexico doesn’t just lose one operator: it loses one of the few that at least had incentives to try. In Xataka | Mexico has an ambitious plan to be the tenth economy in the world and that involves technology: semiconductors Featured image | david carballar

a battery that charges in six minutes

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CATL, literally the largest Chinese battery company in the world, has just presented its new technologies at its Tech Day, and has left us some very interesting gems, including its new ultra-fast charging batteries. And the manufacturer has managed to develop a battery capable of charging the car in just over six minuteswith an autonomy that far exceeds current limits. The Achilles heel of the electric. The biggest psychological barrier for anyone considering buying an electric car remains the same: how long it takes to charge and how far it goes on a charge. CATL has been trying to eliminate this problem at its roots through innovation for years. What it has presented now has possibly been the biggest leap that the company has taken on both fronts at the same time. What you have presented. The company has announced two technologies main. The first is the third generation of its Shenxing battery, made of chemical LFP (lithium-ferrophosphate), which manages to charge from 10% to 98% in 6 minutes and 27 seconds. In just 3 minutes and 44 seconds it reaches 80%. The company claims that even at temperatures of -30°C, the battery can be charged from 20% to 98% in just 9 minutes. The key to these magnificent figures is the world’s lowest internal resistance for ultra-fast charging: 0.25 milliohms, half the industry average. On the other hand, there is the new version of its Qilin condensed battery, aimed at long-haul vehicles, which reaches 1,500 kilometers of autonomy on a single charge, according to affirms the company. That is more or less equivalent to going from Madrid to Paris without recharging, and on paper you would still have autonomy. The previous version reached 1,000 km. How is it compared to BYD. CATL’s main rival in the global electric vehicle battery market is BYD, and there is so much competition between both companies that they are pushing the pace of innovation to an unprecedented level. Just a few days ago we were in Paris at the European presentation of Denza, where BYD showed the capabilities of its Blade Battery 2.0capable of charging from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes. On paper, CATL’s new Shenxing improves that time significantly, achieving practically the same load in just over 6 minutes. In extreme cold conditions, the difference is also in favor of CATL: 9 minutes compared to the 12 minutes needed by the BYD system for similar loads at -30 °C. But hey, regardless of the manufacturer, the truth is that the figures being achieved today are quite spectacular. Together, both companies control more than half of the global electric car battery market. According to data From SNE Research, CATL closed 2025 with 39.2% of the global market, while BYD occupied second place with 16.4%. Other technologies. CATL has also announced relevant developments on other fronts. presented the second generation of its Freevoy hybrid battery, which mixes LFP and NCM chemistry at the powder level for extended range hybrid vehicles (EREV). This battery allows up to 600 km of pure electric range with ultra-fast charging as standard. By the end of this year, in addition, the company has promised to begin mass production of sodium-ion batteries, a technology that reduces dependence on lithium, cobalt and nickel. Charging points. In infrastructure, which is perhaps the part that most interests the consumer, CATL has announced which will build 100,000 battery charging and changing points in China before the end of 2028, in collaboration with several car manufacturers in the country. As usual, in Europe we have to wait. Mass adoption and infrastructure is one of the fundamental steps for the end customer to opt for an electric vehicle. In Spain we have plenty of charging pointsbut according to latest Anfac barometeronly 4% of the available charging points reach 250 kW of power or more, the threshold necessary to access this type of ultra-fast charging. In fact, BYD needs 1,500 kW of power, and they plan to bring about 3,000 points in Europe by 2026. So yes, there is still some way to go in this. Cover image | Zaptec In Xataka | Xiaomi or Xpeng car factories are so advanced that they have become the favorite destination of Chinese schools

Mexico’s real problem is that it is warming three times faster than a century ago

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Mexico is experiencing the first major consolidated heat episode of 2026 and there is more than 22 entities affected on the Pacific slope and the southeast. That’s highs of up to 45 degrees in a country that is warming up to three times faster than the last century. And, despite everything, no one seems too worried. Why would they be? Mexico closed 2025 with reservoirs at 72% and by April 15 only 12.3% of the territory is affected by drought. You only have to go to 2024 to find a spring with 76% of the country in a critical situation: no matter how much the heat is getting earlier, it is logical that no one takes it very seriously. Especially if we take into account that experts do not agree on the nature of the event. Once it has been ruled out that, technically, it is a ‘heat wave’; The National Weather Service says we talk about a ‘color wave’ and services like Meteored doubt whether that can even be talked about. The great Mexican mess. While the thermometers of Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, Guerrero, Michoacan, Chiapas and, occasionally, Jalisco will be placed above of 40 degrees; the rain will reach the eastern half of the country: It is a clear example that the asymmetry in how climate change affects Mexico means that the country begins to live in several seasons at the same time. And that is the central issue: Mexico is warming rapidly and that means innumerable problems. Heating up rapidly? According to the UNAM Climate Change Research Programbefore 2012 the warming rate per century was 1.9 degrees. Now that rate has catapulted to 3.5. This means that projections speak of 1.95 degrees only for 2026, while the average is 1.5. And El Niño is knocking on the doors. Therefore, the fact that there is water in the swamps does not solve anything: it simply makes us trust. But let’s talk about the problems. Because, although we do not usually emphasize it, heat has a direct impact on public health. Only in 2024 306 people died from heat stroke in Mexico. The fact that the heat is ahead is not good news. Above all, because as we already know, the hot Mexican season produces peak values ​​between April and May. In this way, it is reasonable to think that all this heat is nothing more than part of what is coming. Image | BenBaso | Xataka In Xataka | We are living in the hottest years on Earth and the consequences will be so severe that not even our grandchildren will see the end.

the techniques they use to detect it and block you

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Let’s explain to you How can websites know if you use a VPN to navigate through it. Because we can use the VPN to make our browsing more private or to make the websites think that we are browsing from another country. We can do this with the best vpn services as NordVPNand also with the free vpn. But web pages also have tools at their disposal to detect when we are doing it. Many websites use these VPN detection technologies as part of their fraud prevention strategies. Services use them for things as varied as enforcing internal pricing policies, protecting content with a copyright that establishes where it can be consumed, or even in some cases complying with strict requirements that force them to detect and restrict the use of VPNs. Be that as it may, VPN detection technologies exist, and although not all pages use them, it is always interesting to know about them. This way, if you ever come across a page that asks you to disable the VPN or blocks your access, you can know how they managed to know that you are using it. In addition to VPN use detection techniques, at the end of the article we will also tell you a couple of them that are used to identify yourself even if you use a VPN. Thus, it will not matter if you have this privacy layer active, because they will still be able to know that it is you. IP address blacklists One of the most popular VPN detection techniques is to look up the IP address you are using in databases of addresses that these services are known to use, something like a blacklist of IP addresses that are attributed to VPNs. These databases are typically maintained and managed by specialized commercial discovery services. All VPN services have their own servers in dozens of countries around the world, and These servers have specific IP addresses. There are companies that detect these addresses and put them in a database that they then offer to other companies that need to verify if there are connections of this type. To detect these addresses, they can look for those that are used by a very large number of users, or because they are addresses from data center ranges and not residential ISPs. ASN analysis and network type In addition to this, you should know which IP address in the world belongs to a block managed by a specific network operator, identified by what is known as the Autonomous System Number (ASN). From that data, a web server can easily determine which internet provider the user is connecting to. This opens the door to something called ASN fingerprint, with which commercial VPNs can be identified. They do this by crossing the information with databases that distinguish between IPs of residential operators and IPs of data centers. If your IP address is registered to a hosting or cloud infrastructure provider instead of a home ISP, red flags go off immediately. NordVPN with 76% discount The price could vary. We earn commission from these links DNS, WebRTC and IPv6 leaks Despite having an active VPN, sometimes a glitch can cause queries to translate domain names into their IPs don’t go through the encryption tunnelbut rather they go to the DNS server of your ISP or operating system. If when this happens a website detects that your apparent IP is from one country but your browser’s DNS queries are from an ISP in another, the inconsistency makes it obvious that you are using a VPN. Leaks due to failures in WebRTC They are more subtle and browser-specific. It is the technology that allows real-time communications between browsers, and to establish that connection you need to know your real IP. Sometimes, to achieve this, you can bypass the VPN tunnel with queries to STUN servers, and if the filtered IP does not match the public one, you can also deduce the use of a VPN. The particularity of this type of technique is that it does not require an active call: any page with JavaScript can launch a STUN request silently without the user knowing. IPv6 leaks are one of the most common and least known techniques to detect VPN usage. Many VPNs only tunnel IPv4 traffic but leave IPv6 uncovered, exposing your IP address. Discrepancies between latency and time zone Some platforms may look for temporal patterns that do not fit typical user behavior. For example, a website may detect a higher latency than normal for the country you are connecting from, which would indicate that you are routing your connection from a distant location. Although It is not a completely reliable verificationas latency spikes can be due to legitimate reasons. I could also compare the browser’s time zone with that of the associated region to your IP address. Thus, if you connect from China but your browser uses the Spanish time zone, it can be deduced that you use a VPN. Although it is not a reliable method either, because it is easy to change the time zone when you browse and you are going to use a VPN. VPN protocol detection Each VPN protocol has unique and recognizable characteristics. OpenVPN, WireGuard or IKEv2 They have a different behavior when establishing a connection, as well as a different structure of the headers and byte sequences. They also use specific ports to establish connection. And with this data, it can also be detected if you use a VPN. ISPs and network administrators can monitor the ports that VPNs usually use and detect if there is a lot of encrypted traffic on them, and they can also look for the rest of the characteristics of each VPN protocol to detect that you are using one. Cookies, logged sessions and cross-platform tracking The VPN protects your connection, but not your identity. If you are connected to an account, such as Google or Netflix, the platform will recognize you even if … Read more

your dream of putting AI data centers in space is probably not feasible

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The possibility of setting up data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) in space is very attractive. So much so that several CEOs of some of the largest technology companies in the US have not hesitated to get wet and ensure that support this strategy. Jeff Bezos predicted in early October 2025 that data centers will reach space over the next two decades with the purpose of solving in one fell swoop the power supply problems currently posed by these facilities on Earth. Elon Musk did not take long to encourage the discussion even more. Shortly after Bezos’ statement posted a tweet in X in which he assured that SpaceX only needed to scale its Starlink V3 satellites equipped with high-speed laser links to bring this idea to fruition. In fact, he closed his tweet with a forceful statement: “SpaceX is going to do it”. However, the laws of physics are implacable. And SpaceX has had no choice but to acknowledge to its investors the daunting challenges that this project entails. Orbital data centers may not come to fruition According to ReutersSpaceX has delivered an official document to its investors in which it recognizes that both orbital AI data centers and human settlement on the Moon and Mars depend on technologies that have not yet been developed or tested, and that, therefore, may not be viable from a commercial point of view. SpaceX is preparing its IPOand this evaluation puts on the table the caution required by the legal obligation to be extremely honest with the risks to avoid future lawsuits from new shareholders. “Our efforts to develop orbital AI computing and in-orbit, lunar and interplanetary industrialization are in the early stages and involve significant technical complexity and the use of technologies that have not yet been tested. For these reasons they may not be able to achieve commercial viability,” SpaceX clarifies. There is no doubt that the challenges that need to be solved for data centers to reach space are colossal. The challenges that need to be solved for data centers to reach space are colossal One of them is the impact of the ionizing radiation about the hardware. This form of radiation is a type of high-frequency energy, such as X-rays, gamma, alpha or beta, which is capable of tearing electrons from atoms, thus altering the structure of molecules. In space, server chips are not protected by the Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field, which makes them very vulnerable to ionizing radiation, which has the ability to permanently degrade them. To solve this problem it will be necessary to develop some type of shielding capable of protecting the hardware of the servers of the cosmic radiation. This requirement leads us to the next critical challenge: in space it is not possible cool servers using convectionas on Earth, because in the vacuum of space there is neither air nor water. In addition, it would be necessary to use enormous radiators. It is possible to propose several solutions to these problems, but we must not overlook that it is crucial to minimize the weight and complexity of the material that needs to be put into orbit. Otherwise its commercial viability will be non-existent. The two challenges we just delved into are probably the most difficult to solve, but orbital data centers pose more difficulties. One of them is that to deliver the gigawatts per hour they require, it would be necessary to use enormous solar panels. Furthermore, in some applications the latency that these space installations would introduce would probably be unaffordable. And, on top of that, maintaining an orbital data center would be extremely expensive. In fact, it probably wouldn’t even be economically feasible, forcing its owners to introduce massive redundancy that would push it away from profitability. Image | freepik More information | Reuters In Xataka | Elon Musk knows that TSMC is overwhelmed: Terafab is his idea to completely change the global chip industry

The Iran war has disrupted the jet fuel market. So Lufthansa has canceled 20,000 flights

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The war in Iran has punished many sectors, but few have been as shaken as aviation. First for the closure of much of the Middle East airspace, causing the worst crisis that airlines have suffered since the pandemic, and later due to fear of an escalation in the price of flights. Now to these fears we have added another one that is already taking shape: the cancellation of thousands of servicesconvicted of the scarcity of jet fuel. Lufthansa just demonstrated How serious is that threat? The (other) hangover of the Iran war. That the war in Iran threatens to impact airports around the world is nothing new. In fact he already did it in its first barswhen Tehran launched a series of attacks on the rest of the Persian Gulf countries that they blocked part of the region’s air traffic and hubs as important as the terminals in Doha or Dubai. Over the last few weeks, however, two major threats have been taking shape, especially considering that we are on the verge of summer and the international flow of tourists. has been growing for years: that the war skyrocket the price of flights or (even worse) that forces Cancel services. Checking the grills. Proof of how real (and well-founded) these fears are is that between March and April several airlines have acknowledged that they will have to retouch their grills. On March 17 for example Reuters revealed that SAS, a Scandinavian company, planned to cancel a thousand flights due to the rise in fuel prices. Delta Airlines, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific either Air New Zealand They have taken similar measures, tweaking their operations. Even the Dutch KLM has had no choice but to suspend 160 services scheduled for April. One figure: 20,000 flights. If there is a company that has shown how critical the situation is, it is the German Lufthansa, one of the largest airlines of the world. Financial Times (FT) has advanced that the company will cancel around 20,000 flights between May and October to save fuel, which represents one of the biggest cuts in the sector to adapt to the war in Iran. To be more precise, the German company will eliminate 120 daily flights starting next week and will dispense with those routes departing from Munich and Frankfurt that are not profitable. Trimming will be applied well into the fall. “The price has doubled”. “In total, about 20,000 short-haul flights will be eliminated from the program through October, equivalent to approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, the price of which has doubled since the outbreak of the conflict with Iran,” explains the company, which has confirmed the cancellations coinciding with a summit of the EU focused on war. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Fuel for six weeks. Lufthansa’s decision is much better understood if one takes into account the latest wake up call of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which a few days ago warned that the jet fuel reserves that Europe manages guarantee operations only in the short term. The notice came from the mouth of the organization’s executive director, Fatih Birol, who took advantage an interview with the Associated Press to warn of the coming panorama. “We are in a critical situation and this will have serious consequences for the global economy. The longer this continues, the worse it will be for economic growth and inflation around the world. Some countries may have more energy than others, but none, absolutely none, is immune to the crisis,” Birol reflected. before stopping at the specific case of Europe and the aeronautical sector: “We have perhaps six weeks of jet fuel. Is it the only warning sign? No. Apart from Birol or the trickle of cancellations announced by airlines such as KLM or Lufthansa, there are other indicators that reveal the extent to which the sector views its jet supply with concern. The EU is already being considered impose a mandatory fuel distribution, in an effort reminiscent of that deployed during the pandemic. Not only that. In Brussels it is already spoken to look for alternative supply sources, such as jet fuel produced in the US, or the release of strategic reserves. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Tickets 24% more expensive. In the United Kingdom, airlines have asked also to the authorities to relax noise regulations or reduce taxes on flights to address supply shortages. It makes sense considering how the war is impacting prices. The BBC has disclosed a study by the consulting firm Teneo that estimates that the conflict is already being felt in air fares: on average, it estimates that the cheapest tickets are 24% more expensive than a year ago, which is explained both by the price of fuel and the route diversions caused by the war. A percentage: 40%. If the war in Iran has served anything, it is to understand (remember, rather) the strategic role that the Strait of Hormuz plays in global supply chains. Its waters not only circulate the fifth part of the world’s oil and LNG, as well urea moves for fertilizer, helium for technology industry…and (exactly!) good part of aircraft fuel. It is estimated that more than 20% of the jet fuel transported by sea last year was channeled through the strait. If we talk about Europe, that percentage is even bigger. The war has not only hit that traffic, strangled by the closure of Hormuz, it has also paralyzed supplies from Kuwait, heavy weight of the sector, and has led other countries to apply protectionist policies. For example, China it did not take long to prohibit exports of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. As if all of the above were not enough, kerosene itself and its nature complicate the picture: Fuel cannot be stored for long without degrading, making their supply chains more sensitive to disruptions like those caused by war. Are these all warning signs? No. With summer just around the corner and a million-dollar … Read more

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