Testosterone levels have plummeted by half in the last 50 years. The mystery is why it is happening

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If we analyze the blood of an average man today and compare it to that of his grandfather at the same age, the results reveal that testosterone levels have been reduced by half. This is something that for years has been a rumor or an isolated finding in local studies, but now an important study has given it much more rigor. It’s proven. The study, presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, sheds light on what scientists They consider it a “silent epidemic.” And it is that the investigation has focused on analyzing data from 118,593 men from six longitudinal studies in Israel, the United States, Brazil, Finland and Denmark between 1972 and 2019. After analyzing the progression of testosterone levels, a drop of 54% on average in total testosterone levels has clearly been seen. We are talking about a decline of more than 1% per year on average, which has been accelerating since 2000. Aging. The first logical reaction when reading this data is to think about life expectancy. If we live longer, it is normal for the population average testosterone to drop, but the researchers anticipated this hypothesis. Its results have made it clear that the decline detected is independent of aging, since the data have been adjusted for age. This means that a 30-year-old man in 2019 has significantly lower levels of testosterone than a 30-year-old man had in 1980. And if it’s not age, the science points directly to our environment and how we live. Obesity. If we look for the culprits, this is one of them, and without a doubt one of the more decisive. We must know that adipose tissue is not inert, but rather functions almost like an endocrine organ that converts testosterone into estrogen through an enzyme called aromatase that is present in fat. In this way, the more fat there will be a greater conversion and, therefore, a lower amount of testosterone. However, the most recent studies go one step further and warn that type 2 diabetes has surpassed obesity as the leading risk factor for low serum testosterone. The reason is that insulin resistance creates a vicious cycle that blocks the normal production of this hormone. Endocrine disruptors. We live surrounded by chemicals and substances present in plastics (such as bisphenols), food packaging, pesticides and personal care products that act as “hackers” of our endocrine system. And although the evidence on specific substances continues to be built due to the difficulty of isolating their effects, the scientific community assumes that chronic exposure to these chemicals is interfering with fertility and testosterone synthesis at a global level. The lifestyle. Currently we are living in a society where a sedentary lifestyle is the order of the day, and this lack of exercise and excessive hours in a chair slow down hormonal production. But in addition, sleep deprivation is also a big problem, since little or bad sleep destroys the circadian rhythms necessary to secrete testosterone, which occurs mainly at night. Beyond reproduction. We usually associate testosterone with fertility or muscle development, but its role is systemic. Here it is important to know that chronically low levels are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, depression and cognitive decline. That is why a change in life is essential to maintain high levels of testosterone that act with that protective profile to achieve much stronger health over time. Images | Julia Larson In Xataka | For years we blamed testosterone for men living shorter lives. Now we know that the culprit is a chromosome

He is tired of giving it away to Big Tech AI

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Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, has been getting creative on Twitter. Through a message almost as long as the one that his colleague Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox, took the opportunity to communicate the dismissal of 3,200 people just a week ago, Nadella has shared something that disturbs him: in the age of AI, information is power, and You don’t like others benefiting from your data. Nadella cites the phrase coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Kenneth Arrow, whose paradox of the information market was that “the buyer does not know the value of that information until he has it, but by then he has acquired it, in effect, at no cost.” In Arrow’s formula, for the seller to convince the buyer of the value of the information, he or she must reveal enough of it to make the buyer interested. The problem is that at a certain point, the buyer will already know so much that they will not need to pay for that information. For Nadella, in the age of AI the problem is the other way around because it is the buyer of AI services who runs the risk of transferring knowledge valuable institutional, simply, to use artificial intelligence tools. For Nadella, companies are paying twice. “One with money, but another with something even more valuable: the personal and confidential knowledge that you must reveal for that intelligence to be useful.” According to the CEO, “the better you want the model to perform, the more knowledge of that type you will have to feed it.” That, precisely, is the problem. And this is what Nadella has dubbed the ‘Inverse Information Paradox’. The Inverse Paradox of Information Following Nadella’s reasoning, as a company gives more and more information to the owner of the artificial intelligence model, the asymmetry between both parties becomes increasingly skewed. You can imagine why: the seller learns more and more about your company as you use what you bought, while you learn very little about what the seller is learning in return. Did Nadella just describe what all companies do with search engines and services that traffic in our information? Maybe, but what the CEO is clear about is that, just as intellectual property patents solve one of the aspects of the Arrow paradox, since the inventor can reveal the idea without giving it away, the Inverse Information Paradox would need its own legal framework that protects companies that buy AI services. As? Well, that’s what we should see, since Nadella points out that models learn from the prompts that people write, the agents’ tools and, above all, the corrections that users make when a model makes a mistake. But Nadella goes further, stating that “When you consume intelligence, you are creating intelligenceand what you create should belong to you. This is your particular intelligence, the knowledge of time, place and circumstance, something that no one else can possess.” The message is tremendously ironic, but the reflection is useful and makes perfect sense: “if learning flows in only one direction, the economic value converges towards the owners of the learning infrastructure instead of towards the creators of knowledge.” Therefore, according to Nadella, “it is imperative that we distribute the learning infrastructure to be able to control that learning loop.” Advice for the age of AI (for companies, of course) In short, Nadella continues developing an idea in which what he explains is that the true competitive advantage of AI in the business environment does not lie in choosing the best model, but in owning its learning cycle. What if Microsoft ‘rents’ Claude either ChatGPTbut then it is Microsoft users who train that external model, that knowledge stays in Microsoft and don’t flow to Anthropic and OpenAI. At least free. Of course, and this would end up… Azurethe Microsoft cloud. Because the models belong to others, but if users access them through the Microsoft cloud, then Microsoft should keep all that valuable information, such as the corrections they make to the different models that have been used, remember, thanks to the Microsoft cloud. “If learning flows in only one direction, economic value converges towards the owners of the learning infrastructure rather than towards the creators of the knowledge” On the sidelines, in his very long message, the CEO of Microsoft proposes five points to ensure the company’s profits. Because, if in the era of the cloud companies accumulated data, in the era of AI they accumulate learning, and that learning should not escape if the following advice is followed: Control: create private evaluations, retain ownership of the company’s memory, comments and institutional context. Ability– Build proprietary learning environments within the confines of your own server to train or tune models without exposing company knowledge. Choice: decouple that from any individual model and be able to adapt to any AI model. Cost: thanks to that decision, you can bring together the context, models and efficient and profitable tasks without sacrificing quality. Capitalization: bringing together the four elements above to create a continuous learning loop that allows AI investors to multiply the value of the company. In the end, another thing that Nadella seeks is that there is no competition in the choice of models. Claude, GPT and Gemini are already good enough, so what companies that do not have equivalent models must do is compete to obtain all that knowledge of the learning loops, that does not escape from those companies and that, specifically, are built in Azure. Others have the models, Microsoft, Amazon and Google the servers. Now, not everyone agreesand both OpenAI and Anthropic they assure that their workflows and updates do not depend so much on those loops, but on other issues to keep frontier models evolving for customers who are not big whales like Microsoft. Because learning loops can work if you have Azure ready to provide the service, since the client does not care which model you use because there will always be a working model, but not all companies … Read more

Today at Lidl (and half price) simple wireless headphones that are ideal for this summer

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Walking into Lidl is, most days, finding a good deal on some type of device. Today’s is ideal for those people who are looking for good, pretty and cheap wireless headphoneswhether as an all-terrain option for traveling or for sports. These are these Anker Soundcore, reduced right now to half price: they go for 19.99 euros. Anker Soundcore Headphones The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Whether you don’t get this offer or prefer an alternative, you also have discounts on Xiaomi Redmi Buds 8 Lite. They are very economical headphones with good autonomy and active noise cancellation that are coming out right now. 19 euros. Wireless headphones for less than 20 euros at Lidl These Anker Soundcore are very simple headphones and ideal for the tightest budgets. They are perfect for less demanding users who simply want wireless headphones without spending too muchwhether for traveling, for sports or even if you want “spare” ones. What we can highlight most about these wireless headphones It is, without a doubt, its autonomy. They offer up to 10 hours of playback per charge, which we can increase to 30 hours if we add the battery in the case. Furthermore, the manufacturer promises Up to 2 hours of autonomy with a quick charge of 10 minuteswhich is ideal if you forget to charge them before leaving home. To all of the above we can add a simple design that makes them comfortable and a light case that has a carrying strap. They also have two integrated microphones for making calls and an AI system to reduce outside noise during calls. Besides, We can download an app on our mobile to configure the sound and use a function that will make them emit a loud beep in case we lose them. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Anker Soundcore offer ✅ THE BEST They don’t reach 20 euros: They are very cheap headphones, ideal for tight budgets or for users who are not at all demanding when listening to music. Very good battery life: Including the case, the battery of the headphones reaches up to 30 hours. And they have fast charging. ❌ THE WORST Without active noise cancellation: They do not have ANC, something that we will notice especially in noisy environments. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for very cheap headphones and you want them to have plenty of autonomy. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… Do you prefer an option that has active noise cancellation or do you prefer that it offers a higher level of sound. You may also be interested Soundcore P20i Wireless Bluetooth Headphones by Anker, 10mm drivers with Big Bass, Bluetooth 5.3 Headphones, 30H Playback, IPX5, 2 microphones for clear calls with AI, Custom EQ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2 Wireless Headphones with HiFi Sound, 50 dB Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation, 6 HD Microphones and Spatial Audio Effect, 2025 – Light Gray The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Lidl, Anker In Xataka | Best truly wireless earbuds (TWS) with noise cancellation. Which one to buy and seven recommended models In Xataka | Best wireless over-ear headphones. Which one to buy and five recommended models

Experts already fear an extraordinary heat wave next week

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“This is brutal. The main models would be hinting at a possible extraordinary Heat Wave next week with maximums of +45ºC and even other values ​​that I dare not mention,” the words of MeteoBadajoz speak on their own. In recent days, the bad news continues to accumulate. It is true that, “for now, it is better to wait, but the insistence is such that it is beginning to be very possible,” continued. And he is right. Let’s see why. What has happened? Since the AEMET weekly prediction points to temperatures above usual for next week, the dispersion of the models has been reducing. That is to say, what was a possibility begins to become a more than plausible scenario. The important thing right now is to distinguish what we know and what we don’t. What do we know? Today, in the words of Roberto Grandathere are already things that we do know: that “38-40 °C will be reached again in many areas” and the heat wave thresholds will be “comfortably” exceeded. What we cannot know is the temperature it will reach, where it will affect precisely and how many days it will last. These doubts are still so strong, in fact, that the two major models do not agree. While the American GFS sees a general and very intense wave, the European GFS concentrates the extreme heat in the eastern half of the peninsula. Be that as it may, it seems that it catches us completely. What we can expect. If the forecasts are confirmed, this extreme heat event would fall on a country (and a continent) that is already experiencing an extraordinary summer: it would be the third heat wave in a month, with the Mediterranean at 26.63 °C (2.6 degrees above normal) and after the second warmest June since 1961. In fact, mortality (as estimated by MoMo of the Carlos III Health Institute), would have amounted to 1,682 attributable deaths since May 1; around 500 of them alone during the five days of the second wave. But weren’t we going to the cold? Just a week ago, the networks were filled with maps that promised “the end of the heat” and we explained why they had to be read with caution. Now we have confirmation of our reading: a 15-day scenario cannot be confused with a prediction. And now what? Now we have to wait for confirmation. In the coming days, the uncertainties will disappear and we will have confirmation (or ruling out). In previous waves, special notices came about four days in advance. Whatever happens, one thing is clear: summer is looking really bad. Image | Meteociel In Xataka | Neither London nor the United Kingdom: the NASA map that reveals where the grayest sky in Europe is

Renfe thought of France as its great business for the future. Already looking at Portugal thanks to a 19th century decision

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“Portugal is a great opportunity for Renfe.” These are the words that summarize the company’s intentions for the medium-term future, according to Expansion. The newspaper assures that the Ministry of Transportation aspires to turn the neighboring country into the company’s new big business. And the secret is in its track width. “A great opportunity”. “Portugal represents a great opportunity for Renfe. With the 15 units of the Series 106, it will have 30 high-speed trains of variable gauge to which the 13 compositions of the new Series 107 will have to be added in the coming months. In total, 43 trains that are also intended to be approved for circulation in Portuguese territory.” These are the words with which, according to Expansionthe Ministry of Transport defends the change in strategy outside the Spanish borders. The company has been looking for a place in France for some time but This country is putting up all possible barriers to hinder its expansion through French territory. The alternative now passes through Portugal and the gauges have a lot to do with it. The Avrils. At the beginning of July, Talgo and Renfe reached an agreement regarding their Avril trains. These trains have been a headache for Renfe because Talgo has delivered them late, they have presented numerous breakdowns and incidents and they even had to be removed from Madrid-Barcelona because they cracked. The great theoretical advantage is that they are trains that, with the necessary equipment, can jump between the Iberian and international gaugethe European standard for high speed. This allows them to be the only trains that operate the Madrid-Galicia without the need to transfer between trains. This gives it a strategic advantage over Ouigo and Iryo in the face of the upcoming liberalization of these routes. In the agreement, Renfe and Talgo decided that the Avril trains that operate with international gauge were going to be adapted to be able to make this track jump. The cost exceeds 130 million euros but it will allow Renfe to move its trains throughout the national territory… or the entire Iberian Peninsula. A strategic change. With the announcement of this agreement, from the Ministry of Transport they indicated that “Renfe “It will be the only operator with the capacity to provide international high-speed rail services with Portugal, which gives it a clear competitive advantage to lead the Iberian train market.” The phrase is not coincidental. The initial intention was to dedicate some of the trains received from Talgo to France, but the company is encountering so many problems in homologating them that it has shifted its projection to Portugal. And the Portuguese country seems to be a perfect market for the company taking into account its track widths. And the connection between Madrid and Lisbon, which should be completed in 2030 but reach minimum travel time in 2034it has to be built under instructions from the European Union using international gauge. However, the Lisbon-Porto line is being built with Iberian gauge, which limits the Madrid-Lisbon-Porto connection to a single train. The Iberian exceptionality. The situation is complex. The Portuguese railway, like the Spanish one, grew around the Iberian gauge. This isolated both countries from the rest of the continent in this sector but the European Union is working so that the exceptionality is, in part, eliminated. That is why in the agreement reached in October 2025 there is the obligation to bring the international width to Madrid-Lisbon. However, nothing has been said of the high-speed line that Portugal is building between Lisbon and Porto. This line is supported by Iberian gauge and will reach the Spanish border with said gauge. This makes it very difficult for new companies to enter.as we have seen in Galicia. But Renfe has the ace up the Avrils’ sleeve. And since these trains can jump between gauges, Portugal opens up as a very attractive market to expand operations, with trains that can cover Madrid-Oporto passing through Lisbon. Something that no other company in the world can do right now.. Photo | Annie Spratt and Nelson Silva In Xataka | Spain aspires to its most ambitious railway challenge: Madrid-Barcelona in less than two hours. And you have already taken the first step

OnePlus is preparing to leave Europe and the United States. I had been sending signals for months that this was going to happen.

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OnePlus and Oppo are going to announce in the coming days a total withdrawal from two large markets such as the United States and Europe, according to the German media has advanced WinFuture. Neither of the two companies has confirmed it in public yet, but the evidence has been accumulating for months and this time they all fit. What has happened. WinFuture cites internal sources who speak of “fundamental changes in strategy” that will be communicated this week, a classic euphemism to say that OnePlus is going to stop selling new models in two of its historical markets. There have already been press conferences behind closed doors with specialized media in which neither OnePlus nor Oppo have wanted to explain the reason for the closure. There will be no new launches of mobile phones, tablets or wearables in Europe or the United States. He stocks What remains will be settled in the coming weeks. Devices already sold will maintain software support until the end of their life cycle. India and China are left out of the announcement, although the brand will lose its independence there and will become a cheap line within Oppo. The context. This doesn’t come out of nowhere. In January, a report –without clear sources– he was already talking about dismantling and OnePlus denied it. In March, 9to5Google public that the global withdrawal could come in April. In April, the brand itself admitted that it was “evaluating its roadmap” in Europe, while also cutting its workforce in the region, with layoffs focused on communication, marketing and sales. The team that explains, advertises and sells a brand to the public is not fired if that brand is going to continue to need to be explained, advertised and sold. Then came the rumor of a merger with Realme, the leak that OxygenOS would be integrated into ColorOS (Oppo’s software) and, finally, OnePlus’ own websites in Germany, Spain and France They began to redirect buyers towards Oppo products. Between the lines. The replacement plan has an obvious crack. Oppo wants to fill the gap left by OnePlus in Europe, but its phones do not cost exactly the same. OnePlus built its entire brand on the promise of delivering high-end specs at a mid-range price tag, the “flagship killer” with which it was born in 2014. Replacing that proposal with a more expensive catalog is not a change of logo but a change of a brand’s target audience. There is another fissure that is caused by those who are still their clients. In several EU countries Complaints about unfulfilled guarantees have multiplied: users whose OnePlus headphones damaged under warranty receive compensation a voucher of 199 euros for an online store that barely has stocksand which also does not allow the voucher to be applied to the few remaining discounted products. Some have already opened complaints with the European Consumer Center. When after-sales service begins to systematically fail months before an unconfirmed closure, it stops being a customer service problem and becomes an exit signal. We saw it in Spain with BQ. Yes, but. OnePlus already denied similar rumors in 2023 and did so again in January of this year. Neither of the two denials has aged very well. Neither OnePlus nor Oppo have confirmed anything yet an official confirmation. From Xataka We have contacted Oppo and their response has been to explain to us that they are in talks with the regional teams, waiting to get more information to share. They neither confirm nor deny it, something that says a lot after years of categorical denials every time this rumor arose. Meanwhile, the accumulation of coincidences (execution departures, website redirects, software merger, empty store, guarantees that They are paid with hardly usable vouchers…) leaves little room for the benefit of the doubt. Why is it important. OnePlus was born in 2014 selling the promise that you didn’t have to pay more to have the best, and that promise ended up costing it its own identity: the brand was absorbed by Oppo in 2021which pushed its co-founder Carl Pei to leave to found Nothing. Since then, OnePlus has been losing room for maneuver within the group until it has become, by all indications, more of a label than a company with its own criteria. Its disappearance in the West closes the cycle of an idea (that of the premium mobile without a premium) that the market itself has been eroding as the differences between ranges have become smaller and Chinese brands have preferred to compete by volume rather than by differentiation. And now what. He OnePlus 15 It remains as the brand’s probable last major launch in Western markets. In parallel, similar rumors are circulating about other second-rate Chinese brands, but this week we could have the official announcement of the OnePlus outcome. In Xataka | Nothing is the most fascinating mobile phone brand in years for a very simple reason: it doesn’t sell mobile phones Featured image | Xataka

feel. And in the process it has revolutionized the game

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It has taken ‘Minecraft’ 17 years to unlock one of the simplest actions for its players: sit down. And a few days after doing so, the striking thing is not that the players are sitting down. The thing is that the cushions on which they can do so have become, thanks to the ingenuity of the users, a rosetta stone that unlocks many other activities. It suits you or makes you feel. On July 7, Mojang incorporated into Minecraftboth in its PC version and in its console and mobile versions, an object called cushion (cushion). It is made with three slabs of wool of the same color, exists in 16 different shades and allows, for the first time in the history of the game, to sit without resorting to mods or tricks. The same package adds a straw bed that avoids setting the respawn point when sleeping, designed for long expeditions. Learn to sit. The need was not new. For years, the community has built fake chairs by hiding a mine cart inside a stair block, or resorting to saddled pigs, boats, and invisible armor supports to simulate a character sitting. The cushion once and for all solves a void that the players themselves had been filling for more than a decade with botched work. Mohjang has only formalized a need. What have people done? More than sitting, of course. The cushion is classified as an entity and not a block, allowing it to break free from the usual ‘Minecraft’ grid and be placed in heights that a normal block could not occupy. It was not a decision linked to the game mechanics, but it has opened the door to experimentation. For example, there is no cooldown (mandatory waiting time before repeating an action) to sit and thanks to the possibility of being activated remotely and in a similar way to how beds work, chaining several cushions allows you to move faster than walking. Some players have already built vertical elevators by placing a cushion every six blocks, with the trick of leaving an additional unit at the top to be able to get off. Others use the cushions to decorate the ice roads on which the boats slide, because since there is no collision they do not slow down the movement as any other building block would do. There are those who have integrated them into mechanisms of redstone (the “electrical cable” of the game) to build illuminated dance floors, and who has used them as roof tiles or as the base of furniture previously impossible without mods. They don’t stop, they don’t stop. And of course, many creative constructions: there are those who have recreated a döner kebab only with cushions, but it is not the first time something like this has been done, this pattern has precedents. The update of redstone 2013 added a handful of technical blocks, including the comparator and the hopper (when the first is pointed at the second, it emits a signal of redstone proportional to the number of objects it contains), and ended up giving shape to a entire engineering subculture. Years later, the honey blocks of update 1.15, intended almost as minor filler, ended up allowing larger and more complex piston constructions than had been seen until then. Give me cushions. The reception has been, in general, enthusiasticalthough the truth is that the cushions are still in the experimental phase. Mojang may decide that collisionless behavior is too powerful before the part reaches its final release, which will be in Drop 3 in 2026, scheduled for fall. It doesn’t matter, because if it’s not with this, it will be with another inane and harmless object with which the players will build completely unforeseen devices. Such is the greatness of this seemingly inconsequential game. In Xataka | 60 euros/hour to be a gardener in Minecraft: a tempting remote job offer for experienced players

How to watch Spain – France: date and time of the World Cup semi-final match, and where you can watch it on any device

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Let’s explain to you How and where you can watch Spain’s match against France. This is the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup, a match of the highest level that could well be worthy of the final, in which two of the great candidates for the title face each other. Let’s make the article simple. First we are going to tell you the date and time to which this match is played. And then, we will tell you what your options are to be able to watch it from any device. Date and time of Spain – France Spain’s match against France will take place today, Tuesday, July 14. Both teams will face each other at the AT&T Stadium in the state of Texas, which during the tournament is being called Dallas Stadium. This semi-final will be played at 9:00 p.m. in Spanish peninsular time8pm in the Canary Islands. There can only be one left, and the winner will face the team that wins England – Argentina in the grand final tomorrow. Where to watch Spain – France As we have explained to you when we told you where you can watch the 2026 World Cupas it is a match for the Spanish National Team, you will be able watch it for free live through La1. This will allow you to see it both on DTT and on mobile phones or browsers through RTVE Play. Obviously, the party It will also be issued in the payment options that you could have to watch all the World Cup matches. It will be broadcast on DAZN and you will be able to watch it on any device if you have it contracted. You can also see it on the DAZN Mundial channel, available on both Movistar Plus and Orange TV. In Xataka Basics | Apps for football results: the best 14 applications to receive notifications and see match statistics

Salamanca has a problem and that problem is not being controlled

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In Spain we have a problem and they are called ticks. In recent weeks, the Junta de Castilla y León has confirmed two cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (FHCC) in Salamanca, both linked to tick bitesone in a 68-year-old man and another in an 84-year-old man, admitted and isolated according to protocol at Gómez Ulla. Previous epidemiological reports already placed Salamanca as the Spanish province with the highest number of CCHF diagnoses in recent years, with several cases in 2024 and 2025, which has led to it being described as a risk area within national maps. Worst? That is spreading. Going to the countryside, risky sport. In the Béjar region they talk about the “proliferation” of ticks and warn that certain rural environments have become hot spots for the genus. Hyalommathe main vector of Crimea-Congo in Spain. “You can’t go there to the countryside, come on, in no way,” says Antonio Muro, professor of Parasitology at the University of Salamanca, within the framework of the 24th Congress of the Society of Parasitology. The problem is that the risk is not homogeneous and depends on the ecosystem, humidity and fauna present. Spain today registers more ticks, in more places and during more months of the year, with a presence both in rural areas and in urban parks and peri-urban areas. The fault? Various factors; climate change and the favor of the entry of wildlife into cities. City ticks. In Madrid, the concern has spread to the Sierra de Guadarrama, Miraflores, Buitrago and to the south, such as in Aranjuez, where veterinarians warn of proliferations linked to the heat and spring rains. Anecpla also maintains that the presence is no longer limited to the countryside and it is also easy to find outbreaks in parks, urban gardens and even coastal areas, because its biological cycle is lengthening, with activity earlier and later in the year. Researchers from INIA (National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology) such as Felix Valcácel They point out that there are now ticks in metropolitan environments because rabbits, hedgehogs and wild boars approach garbage cans, beaches and green areas, depositing the parasites, which then settle on people who are walking or having a picnic. The activity season has also been extended: previously it was concentrated between March and October, with the peak in June and July. Now it is easy to spot specimens throughout the year because temperatures exceed 10 degrees. This means that the risk of being bitten exists both for hikers in Béjar and for families who go with children and dogs to the park. Although not all ticks are the same. Lyme and Crimea-Congo. These are the two diseases that worry the most. The Lyme disease It is transmitted mainly by Ixodes ricinusa wet climate tick that feeds on wild animals infected by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. From there, to humans. After the bite, the first symptoms are usually a rash (skin erosion), headache, fever and fatigue. Of course, the clinical picture varies greatly between people and can become chronic if it is not diagnosed and treated in time, with joint, neurological or cardiac involvement. This is how they emphasize it from Health. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a serious virus that in Europe it is associated with ticks of the genus Hyalomma -above all H. marginatum and H. lusitanicum— widely distributed in dehesa areas and drier climates, such as parts of Castilla y León and Extremadura (Cáceres). Symptoms: high fever, muscle pain, intense discomfort, digestive symptoms and, in severe cases, bleeding and liver disorders; lethality in hospitalized patients can around 30%. In the last decade, around twenty cases involved a third of deaths. Identify them and take action. In the humid and forested north they predominate Ixodes ricinus and Haemaphysalis punctata. They are small, dark in color, found in bushes and tall grass and are mainly responsible for the risk of Lyme. To the question about whether a tick can kill you We already know that it is, so it’s better not to take it as a joke. In the Meseta and drier areas, such as part of Salamanca, Soria and Ávila, there are abundant Hyalomma lusitanicum and Dermacentor marginatus: they are larger, with ringed legs, “with visible eyes”, very mobile and capable of following a host over the ground for a certain distance. Is it affecting tourism in the area? What’s going on: in March records were set about a series of historic figureswith a total of 129,387 travelers and 101,924 overnight stays in the first quarter in May alone. The general photo of the market depends a lot on weekends and short getaways, yes. Associations like ANECPLA agree that the key is not to cancel trips, but to change the way you go to the countryside: long, light-colored clothing, pants tucked into socks, closed boots, appropriate repellents, walking in the center of the trails, avoiding sitting on the grass and keeping the dogs dewormed (flea pipette, collar, pills on duty, etc.). Recent guides estimate that, while in central Europe there are about five relevant species, in Spain between 15 and 20 are detected, which complicates the risk message and forces more emphasis on prevention. In fact, the recommendation is that, after a trip to the countryside or to areas of dense vegetation, you check your body, whether it is an adult, child or pet, paying attention to the groin, armpits, waist, scalp, behind the ears and navel, where ticks look for thin skin and good blood flow. What to do if you have been bitten. If a tick attached to the skin is detected, it must be removed as soon as possible with fine-tipped tweezers (eyebrow tweezers usually work, if done carefully), holding it as close to the skin as possible and gently pulling upwards, without twisting or crushing the body, without applying alcohol, oil or Vaseline, and then cleaning the area with soap and water or antiseptic. In the following four weeks, it is key to monitor for fever, … Read more

If France loses against Spain, at least it can console itself by recovering Spanish territory in the Basque Country. Will do it in 16 days

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If France loses against Spain in the World Cup semi-finalsin just 16 days you will have a little consolation. Yes, on August 1 it will recover, in a completely peaceful and automatic manner, the administration of a Spanish territory in the heart of the Basque Country. It will not be a sporting revenge or a conquest, but rather the replacement planned for more than a century and a half of Pheasant Islanda tiny islet that has become one of the most unusual symbols of peace in Europe. A curious “revenge”. While Spain and France once again measure their strength on the playing field, there is a place where the rivalry between both countries is resolved in a way much less common. If the French are defeated, the calendar reserves them a curious compensation: next August 1 they will take over for six months the administration of Pheasant Island, an islet located in the Bidasoa River, between Irun and Hendaye. In essence, it does not change ownership or nationality in the strict sense, but it does authority changes who manages it, in a ritual that has been repeated every year with almost clockwork precision since the 19th century. As small as it is enormous in symbolism. Pheasant Island is barely between 130 and 200 meters long and its surface changes slightly depending on the riverbed, oscillating between about 2,000 and 6,800 square meters. It is completely uninhabited, closed to the public almost all year round and does not even house pheasants, despite what its name indicates. However, its historical importance is immense because for centuries it was the setting chosen to resolve some of the most delicate diplomatic episodes between the Spanish and French crowns. Meeting of Louis XIV and Philip IV on Pheasant Island in 1660 (Meeting of the two kings on Pheasant Island, painting by Jacques Laumosnier) The islet that ended a war. Long before becoming a shared territory, the island was already considered an neutral ground. There the exchange of King Francis I of France for his children took place in 1526 after the battle of pavia and, decades later, the exchange of princesses between both monarchies. But the decisive episode came in 1659, when Spain and France negotiated and signed in that same place. the Treaty of the Pyreneesthe agreement that ended more than two decades of war and established much of the border that both countries continue to share today. A year later, the island also hosted the wedding between Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Philip IV, definitively becoming a symbol of reconciliation. In 1861, the two neighboring countries erected a monument on the island in commemoration of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. The solution was to share it forever. That symbolic value ended up legally crystallizing almost two centuries later. The Treaty of Bayonne of 1856 established that the island would belong “individually” to both countries, giving rise to what is usually considered the smallest condo of the world. Since then, Spain administers the islet between February 1 and July 31, while France does the same between August 1 and January 31. The handover is not simply administrative: authorities from both countries celebrate an official ceremony in which the transfer is formalized, maintaining a tradition that has been carried out without interruptions for more than 160 years. There are others, but none of them work like that. The concept of international condominium is not exclusive to Pheasant Island. There are other territories jointly administered, such as some river areas between Germany and Luxembourg, the Gulf of Fonseca shared by Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, the Brcko district in Bosnia and Herzegovina or even Antarctica under the Antarctic Treaty. However, none of them reproduces a system as striking as that of Bidasoa: a strict alternation every six months, ceremonial and perfectly regulated, in which management passes from one country to the other without disputes, claims or diplomatic tensions. An example of cooperation. The idyllic image of the islet contrasts with some of the current problems on the Franco-Spanish border. In recent years the Bidasoa River has become at a passing point for numerous migrants trying to reach France, and several of them have lost their lives trying to cross its waters. This reality reminds us that the border continues to be a sensitive spacealthough precisely for this reason Pheasant Island retains an even greater value: it demonstrates that a territory born of a war can be transformed, over generations, into a mechanism of peaceful cooperation. The biggest victory between the two was never played in a stadium. Semifinals, finals and sports rivalries always end with a winner and a loser. Pheasant Island represents just the opposite. It was born from one of the great European conflicts of the 17th century, but today it works thanks to an agreement that neither of the two countries questions and that is renewed twice a year with absolute normality. Therefore, if France ends up falling today against Spain, it will always be able to say that the defeat was short-lived: Just sixteen days later you will once again administer a small piece of territory located between both countries, the same place where centuries ago they decided that the best way to end a war was to learn to share the map. Image | ZaratemanJacques Laumosnier, Iñaki LL In Xataka | Spain does not wait for France: it is studying a huge submarine cable with distant Ireland to stop being an energy island In Xataka | It’s in France and the sea swallows it twice a day: this is the road where you risk your car if you don’t look at the clock

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