Every time a megaship arrives at a port, the electrical grid collapses. The alternative already exists and does not need cables to the city

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Ports around the world face an urgent and unavoidable mandate: decarbonize. The requirement is to turn off the huge diesel engines of commercial and cruise ships once they dock, connecting them to the local electrical grid. However, in practice, port cities have hit a concrete wall: there is not enough capacity in the land network to plug in these giants of the sea. Faced with this bottleneck, the engineering response has been to take the problem off the ground. A consortium backed by the United Kingdom and led by the firm ELIRE Maritime has been successfully validated what they define as “the world’s first floating, grid-independent hydrogen energy center.” The end of endless port works? To understand the impact of this development, you have to look at the current logistical ordeal. As emphasized Enlitinstall traditional shore power supply systems (known in the industry as shore power) is a real nightmare. The process can take between three and seven years, as it requires massive reinforcements of the network, improvements in substations, complex civil works and permitting deadlines that paralyze any progress. All this consuming land space that most ports lack. By placing the energy infrastructure directly in the water, this obstacle is overcome in one fell swoop. Furthermore, since ELIRE Maritime highlight a crucial financial advantage– The system avoids the risk of creating “stranded assets”. Unlike a concrete substation that cannot be moved if shipping routes change, this floating mega plant can be relocated as market demand dictates, giving port authorities complete independence from the network. Technological radiography. Far from being a mere concept on paper, the technology has just passed a rigorous six-month validation program. The physical design, echoed by all the media, consists of three interconnected hexagonal floating platforms that occupy about 1,200 square meters. But how does it supply power without collapsing? The system does not use huge generators to inject shock energy into the ship, but rather works on the premise of a “giant floating battery.” Through continuously operating 1.3 MW modular fuel cells (supported by up to 146 kW of onboard solar panels), the system slowly charges a massive 45 MWh battery bank throughout the week. When a ship docks, this battery releases energy quickly, delivering 5 MW of clean, continuous power without flinching. To fuel this process, the system consumes between 7,500 and 8,000 kilos of hydrogen per week. It has seven tanks on board integrated into low-pressure containers, which require refueling a couple of times a week. This allows ports to gradually adopt hydrogen without having to undertake extensive work to build pipelines or permanent storage facilities on land. The real impact. To ensure its real-world viability, the platform has undergone stability and wave testing in tanks at the University of Strathclyde, while industry giants such as Schneider Electric and Ricardo UK have successfully validated its entire complex electrical architecture. The environmental lights: According to the feasibility analyzes of the Ricardo consulting firm, the system can reduce emissions from docked ships by 77% compared to traditional diesel generation. In tangible figures, this represents a saving of about 47 tons of CO₂ per ship each week (almost 2,450 tons annually), in addition to completely eradicating emissions of toxic particles, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur (SOx) that poison the air in coastal cities. The shadow of cost: Today, this solution is more expensive than plugging into the conventional network. The estimated energy cost of this hydrogen hub is between £0.25 and £0.50 per kWh, compared to £0.15 – £0.25 for the traditional ground system. However, the consortium argues that this initial extra cost is offset by the astonishing speed of deployment and they anticipate that standardization and the future drop in the price of hydrogen will equalize the trade balance. The potential is immense. The consortium estimates a global market of 62 TWh annually for grid-independent maritime solutions, with the potential to avoid the emission of 500,000 tons of CO₂ in the next decade. Next stops. As detailed ELIRE Maritimethe consortium is already in commercial talks to start the first real deployments in first-tier ports such as London, Singapore, Hamburg, Brisbane and Riga. The future of maritime decarbonization seems to have found a shortcut. It is not about inventing exotic technologies from scratch, but about integrating what we already know works (hydrogen, batteries and electrical power systems) in a much smarter way. If the mainland does not have enough electricity to power the giants of the oceans, the solution, ironically, has always been to go back into the sea. Image | ELIRE Maritime Xataka | The great challenge of drones was to transport loads for kilometers. A Chinese company has solved it with hydrogen

The US has had an idea to reassure Europe. Instead of soldiers, he is going to bring his nuclear weapons very close to Russia

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In 1983, tens of thousands of women surrounded a British air base to protest the deployment of American nuclear missiles. That mobilization, known in time as Greenham Commonbecame one of the major antinuclear symbols of the Cold War and showed the extent to which the location of these weapons could alter European politics. Less soldiers, more “nuclear”. Europe has been trying to figure out what it really means for months the strategic turn of the United States. The reduction of troops, the withdrawal of some military systems and the increasing priority given to the Indo-Pacific have fueled fears that Washington is progressively moving away from the continent. However, conversations within NATO point to a very different response than expected. Instead of reinforcing the conventional presence, the United States would be willing to expand the deployment of nuclear capabilities in Europe to demonstrate that its commitment to the defense of the continent remains intact. The idea is simple but powerful: if there are fewer American uniforms on the ground, the nuclear umbrella must remain visible and credibleeven “closer.” The closer the interest is to Russia. There is no doubt, the allies most interested in this possibility are precisely those who observe Russia from the first line. Poland has been leading for years the list of candidates to host US nuclear capabilities and some Baltic countries have also shown interest in participating in future deterrence formulas. The invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s continued references to its nuclear arsenal have profoundly changed the perception of security in Eastern Europe. I remembered the financial times that, for these countries, hosting aircraft capable of using US nuclear weapons would have enormous political and military value, since it would turn any threat against them into an issue directly linked to Washington’s strategic credibility. The legacy of the Cold War. The proposal does not involve creating a new system, but rather expanding a mechanism that has existed for decades. Currently Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Türkiye and the United Kingdom participate in the program nuclear delivery of NATO, through which they store American nuclear weapons under exclusive control of Washington and train their air forces to operate within that scheme. This model was born during the Cold War to guarantee that European allies could participate in the Alliance’s nuclear strategy without having to develop their own atomic weapons. More than half a century later, the formula is once again gaining prominence in a continent that watches with concern the deterioration of the relationship with Moscow. Europe seeks to replace some capabilities, but not others. European capitals have assumed that they will have to spend more in defense and rebuild conventional capabilities that for decades were delegated to the United States. From anti-missile systems to strategic transportation to military intelligence, much of the current conversation revolves around how to fill those gaps. However, there is one area that many governments they consider it impossible to replace in the short term: the American nuclear deterrent. Although France and the United Kingdom have their own arsenals, Washington’s umbrella continues to be perceived as the central element of the European security architecture and as the ultimate guarantee against any military escalation. The signal that Washington wants to send. They told in the Times that for now there is no final decision and the conversations remain highly confidential. Still, the mere fact that the possibility is on the table reveals how Western strategy toward Russia is changing. For years the US military presence in Europe was measured in bases, brigades and deployed troops. Now the discussion increasingly revolves around another type of message. While Washington concentrates resources in Asia and requires its allies to assume a greater share of the defensive effortthe signal it seeks to convey is that nuclear protection remains intact. In a way, the new formula to reassure Europe is not to bring more soldiers closer to the Russian borders, but to bring closer what for decades has served as a last guarantee of security: American nuclear weapons. Image | Air Force, SJOERD HILCKMANN In Xataka | Spain’s great fear is not an invasion: it is a slow hybrid war with Morocco against its two most vulnerable cities In Xataka | To become technologically “independent” from the US, the European Union already has a plan: four desperate measures

The US opened the door to Nvidia’s H200 chip in China. The Chinese army has been waiting for a long time on the other side

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Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, has been forced to “fight” with the US Department of Commerce for months, but he has achieved what he wanted: your company can now deliver some of its Chinese clients its chip to artificial intelligence (AI) H200. As we explain to you On May 14, Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com are four of the ten Chinese companies that already have access to this powerful GPU. And they have it because the US Department of Commerce, which is the institution that grants or denies export licenses, has authorized at least ten Chinese companies and several distributors, including Lenovo and Foxconn, to acquire the second most powerful AI chip that Nvidia has. This decision has come almost two months after the US Government confirmed which was going to allow the company led by Jensen Huang to deliver its H200 chip to its Chinese customers. However, Nvidia likely won’t have time to savor this victory. Once again, dark clouds are gathering over it that threaten to compromise, once again, its business in China. And, according to Bloombergat least seven Chinese universities linked to the country’s armed forces and defense industry are trying to obtain H200 chips. This disclosure comes from China’s public procurement records, so it is presumably reliable. Remote rental: the avenue that the Department of Commerce still does not know how to close In the US there is a pressure group that opposes the sale of advanced American AI chips in China. Chris McGuire, senior fellow on China and emerging technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations, holds that “any deal that allows Nvidia to sell more chips to China means fewer Nvidia chips for US companies and a smaller US advantage over China in AI.” Besides, McGuire argues that “it is surprising that President Trump continues to allow himself to be convinced to put Nvidia’s interests before those of America.” Chinese entities increasingly resort to renting airtime on servers equipped with restricted Nvidia chips What is happening right now with Chinese universities is the ideal breeding ground to reinforce the theses of this pressure group in the US. Two of the institutions that have expressed interest in H200 chipsBeihang University and Northwest Polytechnic University, are among China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense”, a select group of universities dedicated to supporting the People’s Liberation Army. Both have been included in the blacklist of the US Department of Commerce for their involvement in the advancement of Chinese military capabilities. And public procurement records reveal that the Beihang School of Cyber ​​Science and Technology, which claims to have “national defense characteristics and aerospace advantages,” is attempting to rent the use of Nvidia chips. Northwestern Polytechnic University’s School of Cyberspace Security is also trying to rent access to H200 chips, according to those same records. Chinese entities are increasingly resorting to time of use rental on servers equipped with restricted Nvidia chips as a way to access prohibited hardware without having to import it directly. This is the strategy that the US Government will surely try to dismantle. What is not clear at the moment is how he is going to do it. Image | Nvidia More information | Bloomberg In Xataka | The US remains committed to stopping China. Now it has targeted the second largest Chinese chip manufacturer

a laser that detects them and fries them

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A young Chinese engineer named Steven Cheng has built an amazing system to kill mosquitoes. Their project makes use of a laser emitter connected to a camera and a computer. By combining computer vision algorithms with deep learning, the system is able to detect and fry mosquitoes with surprising accuracy. This is indeed the “artisanal” version of a commercial product from a Chinese startup, but there is a whole story behind this unique laser weapon. From space missiles to lasers for mosquitoes. The idea of ​​using lasers against mosquitoes was probably born by Lowell Wood, an astrophysicist who was also the architect of Ronald Reagan’s anti-missile defense system. In a meeting with engineer and inventor Nathan Myhrvold—former CTO of Microsoft—the proposal arose to create a similar device to kill mosquitoes and thus fight malaria. failed attempt. Myhrvold got to work excited because mosquitoes weigh so little that a low-intensity laser was enough and could even be applied near (or on) humans and pets. Myhrvold’s company, Intellectual Ventures, created a prototype that showed in a TED talk in 2010but despite the attractiveness of the proposal, the idea and the product did not prosper. The commercial leap. A Chinese startup recently picked up the gauntlet and began offering a product that precisely applied that same idea with current technology. The startup Photon Matrix Lab already markets what they call “Mosquito Air Defense”, a portable system that is available on Indiegogo and that promises to eradicate mosquitoes through a detection system and a laser that fries these insects. On the official website the price is about 600 eurosand deliveries promised to begin this June for the nearly 4,000 people who have invested in the crowdfunding campaign. But there are those who cook it and put it together. Steve Cheng does not say what inspired him for the project, but he does sample in several tweets the videos in which you can see how your system has evolved. He also explains how for months he was collecting thousands of detailed images to feed his AI model. That, by the way, caused (always according to him) that he received various stings all over his body while he used high-resolution cameras to capture the insects in full feast. Anti-mosquito deep learning. The heart of their system is a deep learning algorithm that processes images in real time to identify static or flying mosquitoes. The system uses GPUs to analyze the environment and detect the mosquito, separating it from any visual background noise. To detect mosquitoes, it uses a digital SLR camera with a telephoto lens that allows zooming to identify mosquitoes from a greater distance. precision attack. The objective is to confirm that the target is indeed a mosquito before frying it with the laser. This engineer used a laser mounted on a gimbal capable of moving in milliseconds to act instantly. In the very striking video, you can see how the laser actually seems to kill the mosquitoes in a really satisfactory way. Many unknowns. The tweets and the existence of that business model are promising, but we have seen in the past how crowdfunding campaigns did not end well by delivering products that did not live up to the promise. The real effectiveness of these systems is unknown, but the idea is of course especially striking, especially when we are already beginning to suffer high temperatures: mosquitoes will not take long to plague us day and night, if they do not do so already, and there is still no 100% effective remedy against what Bill Gates described as the deadliest animals on earth. Image | Wolfgang Hasselmann | Steven Cheng In Xataka | Anti-mosquito repellents have been effective for 40 years. Now mosquitoes are learning to appreciate them

Amazon Prime Day returns in Spain with confirmed dates and benefits

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Amazon announced weeks ago that during this month of June that we have just begun, a new edition of its Prime Day: several days full of bargains, exclusive for Prime members, with which we can save a pinch on technology, home, video games and much more. But it was not until today, June 2, when has confirmed the final dates. Amazon Prime – annual subscription The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Amazon’s Prime Day 2026 arrives at the end of June with four days of offers Specifically, will take place between the 23rd and 26th of this month June. That is to say: it will kick off at midnight from Monday the 22nd to Tuesday the 23rd and will last for four full days, ending at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 26. We therefore have four days ahead of us to take advantage of the thousands of offers that Amazon will launch, compared to two days in previous editions. That is to say, double the time to save us a pinchFor example, in that cheap television that we had been thinking about buying for some time to watch the soccer World Cup. Or in that phone with which to replace our old mobile phone and much, much more. Furthermore, another change that we see this year compared to previous editions of this summer Prime Day is the chosen month. In this sense, the usual thing in recent years was for it to take place in July, but This time it will be done in June. Right now, in fact: exactly, in three weeks. An exclusive campaign for Prime members Like the dates of this Prime Day, Amazon has also announced that It is an exclusive sales campaign for its Prime members. Contrary to what happens with the Spring Sale Festival a few weeks ago or the Black Friday November, whose bargains are accessible to any type of user. So, how to take advantage of the sales this Prime Day if we are not subscribed? Very easy: just enjoy the free trial that Amazon offers for new registrations, which not only opens the doors of Prime Day to us but also allows us to save the cost of shipping, access a wide catalog of movies, series and documentaries through Prime Video and more for thirty days. Amazon Prime – 30 days free trial The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Once we are Prime members, we will be able to access the Prime Day offers which, as in previous years, will have guaranteed discounts on Amazon devices (Kindle, Echo, fire tv…). And also in brands such as Braun, Puma, Samsung and Philips, among othersas they have already confirmed. More offers, now available on AliExpress In case we don’t want to wait until then, right now we have another very powerful one available. AliExpress sales campaign. From yesterday until next June 10, we found bargains in nintendo switch 2, PlayStation 5 Pro, garmin watches, Xiaomi’s best-selling phones and much more in their Summer Promo. Some Amazon deals that you can now take advantage of XIAOMI REDMI Note 15 Pro 5G The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Midea Portasplit Portable Air Conditioner 4 in 1 | 3000 frigories 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 | amazon In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Which smart air conditioner to buy. How to choose a connected air conditioning system and featured models

“Temperatures between 5 or 10 degrees above normal will continue,” says Rodríguez Marcos of AEMET.

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We’ve known this for weeks. AEMET believes that the June-July-August quarter of 2026 will be in the warm tertile throughout Spain and the truth is that it is not a very risky bet. Of the 10 heat waves that AEMET has been counted in June in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands since 1975half are concentrated in the last decade. The underlying problem is that, as we are seeing, June has ceased to be a ‘transition’ month to join (statistically and climatically) the summer ‘in a chemically pure state’. Like ‘June’ is ‘summer’? Climatologically it already was, of course. The climatic summer began on June 1. The difference is what the AEMET tells us: the same definition of heat waves was calibrated taking into account the highest temperatures of July and August. That it is increasingly common for June to begin to exceed these temperatures is a clear indication of what we are talking about. Above all, because the wave of June 2025 (from June 18 to July 4) It lasted 17 days and affected 40 provinces: the third longest and the third most extensive of the series. It’s not that this isn’t “the heat from before”, it’s that the situation is out of control. What does this translate into? As explained Francisco Javier Rodríguez Marcos of the AEMET, what the models say is that the temperatures this quarter will be among the 30 highest on record. This will especially affect the northern area, the east of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. The line to overcome is clear: the 46 ºC that El Granado (Huelva) reached on June 29 of last year. It is, so far, the highest temperature ever recorded in Spain in the month of June. But in 2026 isn’t that ‘weird’? It is true that we are coming from the wettest winter in 47 years, but it is also true that April was the warmest April in the historical series. That is, no one knows what is ‘normal’ in 2026 and, in this sense, no one can say that the scenario that is drawn is strange. The important thing is to prepare. In some ways, early waves have a potentially greater health impact because the body is not yet acclimated to the heat at the beginning of the season. In this sense, it is best to advance the preparation of the homes (insulation, cooling, night ventilation) and start preparing our daily lives. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | There are areas of Pakistan and India touching 50º C: human beings are discovering where their physiological limit is

In the battle for high speed in Italy, someone has passed Renfe on the right. Someone called France

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SNCF will compete for the Italian high speed network from September 2027. For a few weeks now, the French company has had the go-ahead to operate on the Italian network and stand up to the state company Trenitalia and the private company Italo. With this movement, France once again gets ahead of Renfe. Although it’s not all bad news. What do we know? The SCNF company, the public railway entity in France, will compete for high speed on Italian soil from September 2027. At least, those are the deadlines according to their latest announcement which specifies that the corridors they can use have already been assigned. In his statementSCNF explains that its trains will offer up to 13 round-trip services on the Turin – Naples and Turin – Venice corridors. The company boasts that this new activity on the lines will result in the creation of 4,000 jobs with the addition of direct and indirect workers. What does it offer? With its proposal, the French company ensures that the Italian railways 15 TGV M trains will be available. They are Alstom trains that the company has not yet been able to test because deliveries have been delayed in recent months. They hope to have them in operation first in France starting next July on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille line. The trains have had to be modified slightly since much of the Italian high speed It does not allow driving at more than 200 km/h. The company will offer four round trips on the Turin-Venice and nine on the Turin-Naples. This last corridor is key because it passes through cities like Milan, Florence and Rome, which is undoubtedly a very juicy cake for a company that intends to gain volume in the coming years. A tough battle. SCNF’s landing comes after a battle in the courts. They explain in the French media that Italy has tried to torpedo the company’s attempts to compete with Trenitalia and Italo. According to these media, the Italian subsidiary of the company has been in an open battle since 2021 with Italian Railway Rete (RFI) that manages the Italian roads, would be the Italian Adif. After numerous disagreements, the Italian subsidiary of the French company ended up denouncing RFI to AGCM, the body in charge of ensuring free competition in the transalpine country. Finally, this body has given the approval so that SCNF can compete with local companies on its roads. To compete, the French company will once again bet on offering lower prices and they assure that the medium-term objective is to gain 15% market share. In the French mediain fact, Spain is pointed out as the example model that SCNF wants to implement in the Italian country, trying to maximize trips on already consolidated routes. And Renfe? Renfe also has its own plans in Italy and although it has not been officially confirmed that it wants to make the leap to high speed, the truth is that the Spanish company has been taking positions that give us an idea of ​​the extent to which it wants to offer this service. And it is that Renfe bought 33% of Arenaways in 2024an Italian company that provides railway services. Of the rest of the shareholders, the Spanish Serena Industrial Partners It also has 33% so most of it is Spanish. This purchase has allowed Renfe to operate the Cuneo-Saluzzo-Savigliano regional line from 2025 and will do the same with the Ceva-Ormea line when the works are completed. But, furthermore, in Expansion They already pointed out then that the company has certifications to operate throughout the Italian network, which should facilitate the arrival of Renfe to the high-speed corridors. Spain-France-Italy. The triangle formed by Spain, Italy and France is leaving us with an intense battle for European high-speed services. In our country, the roads have been opened to Ouigo (SCNF) and Iryo (Trenitalia) and the battle has even reached the use of workshops. In Italy there has been an attempt to torpedo the entry of SCNF but after four years of fighting, the French company has ended up receiving the go-ahead to take its trains to compete on the Italian expressways. Renfe, at the moment, has not confirmed plans to take this step and only operates on regional trains. In France, Renfe has complained that the neighboring country is creating innumerable obstacles to reaching Paris, a key objective when it comes to offering a profitable high-speed service to the north of the Pyrenees. Trenitalia, however, Yes, it has managed to operate in France connecting Paris with its large local cities. Leisurely. All in all, it must be taken into account that Renfe’s forays abroad are not reaping bad results as far as its accounts are concerned. Last year he managed to invoice 20 million euros with the AVE of Meccawhere it moved 10 million passengers, like main promoter of Renfe International Projects. There, Renfe has high-speed services running but its projects outside our borders They are varied. It operates, for example, on the regional train network of the Czech Republic and on Rail Baltica (Latvia and Estonia) and It is also part of what is known as the Mayan Train. Photo | Fernando Meloni and Phil Richards In Xataka | There is a fight between the railway operators to get the best drivers and Renfe is winning it

“People are not ready for this”

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There is a term that we have normalized in the world of technology and video games: “hype”. I don’t like this anglicism at all and prefer “engorile”. That enrogile is an essential part of today’s marketing because so many things are thrown It’s been so many years since we have to create expectations as soon as possible and it’s going to be amazing. There are games like ‘The Witcher 4’ that don’t need it, but even so it just received a portion of gorillaism from someone who knows something about RPGs. A veteran of Larian Studios, the geniuses behind the fantastic ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘, which ensures that we are not prepared for what they are cooking with ‘The Witcher 4‘. The CD Projekt of the Galacticos. Video game studios have a high staff turnover. It doesn’t just have to do with layoffs, but something much more practical: some of them want the best to be on their ship. An example is Valvewhose employees can, from the first day in their new job, recommend developers from other studios. For developers, a project like ‘The Witcher 4’ is striking both because of the history of the saga (especially after the fantastic ‘The Witcher 3‘) as if it were a game of the minds after ‘Cyberpunk 2077‘. that game it came out how it came outbut the Polish studio has redeemed itself based on patches and content updates. For the new Witcher game, CD Projekt is reinforcing with developers from related studios like Warhorse (creators of ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance‘) or Larian Studios (the ones from ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ who are now with the new ‘Divinity‘). Things are coming. Working at Larian implies stability because the games they make are more or less the same. If in a Ubisoft you are either in an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game or in a ‘Far Cry’ game, in Larian they do one thing, and they do it very well: CRPGs. And one of the Larian veterans who has unpacked his bags at CD Projekt RED is Felix Pedulla. Pedulla was the cinematics designer for ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’, this being an impressive section in the game and seems which will have the same role in the Polish study. After the first six months at CD Projekt RED, Pedulla has seen things and this week he made a decision: light the fuse of the engorile with a typical “things are coming” statement. After a long message on LinkedIn in which he looks back, the vertigo of change and reviews those first six months in his new home, Pedulla concludes with a “Do you know what we’re doing for ‘The Witcher 4’? People aren’t ready for this.” There is a lot left. Basically, Pedulla has not said anything at all (nor can he, since the confidentiality clauses in these works are extremely strict), but while these types of statements are not foreign to the world (we have seen them with many other games, with examples like the highly anticipated ‘GTA VI‘), they do not usually come from sources directly involved in development. At least, not in such a public way. But, although I don’t particularly like these practices, I understand that from time to time these messages are launched because we have to keep the enthusiasm and attention alive for a project that arrives at a time when everything competes for that attention. Because there is still a long time left to have ‘The Witcher 4’ in our hands and we have to warm up the atmosphere. This week the non-E3 is celebrated, a week full of video game conferences and who knows if in any of them we will see a real video of a ‘The Witcher 4’ of which we have only seen a cinematic (the Pedulla field, curiously) and a technical demo in Unreal Engine 5. Or maybe we won’t see anything because before the fourth installment of the Witcher there will arrive a new expansion of the veteran ‘The Witcher 3’. In Xataka | There are already video games so hyperrealistic that it is difficult to differentiate them from a video. ‘Unrecord’ is the best example

The European Union is successfully demolishing hundreds of dams across the continent. It’s for our good

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When Tore Sorebakken and a team of workers reached the Vinstra River in the heart of Norway in December 2025, no one knew what they were looking for. But when they emptied the pond, drilled dozens of holes and installed 750 kilos of explosives, local authorities stopped them and asked them what why were they trying to destroy that natural waterfall. Sorebakken, surprised, had to explain to them that this was actually a dam built at the beginning of the 20th century to facilitate the transportation of wood and generate a minimum amount of hydroelectric energy. The locals had completely forgotten about it: as I say, they had no idea that it was a human infrastructure. And that is a beautiful metaphor for the enormous abandonment that European rivers have suffered for decades. Free the rivers. Six years ago, the demolition of old dams and clogged weirs was anecdotal in Europe. But in 2024 it came into force European Union Nature Restoration Regulation. It sought to return 25,000 kilometers of river to “free-flow” status before 2030. Since then (since before, really, because there were countries that began to implement it before it came into force) we have had five consecutive years of historical highs. In 2025, according to Dam Removal Europe annual reportat least 603 barriers were removed on the continent. This allowed more than 3,740 kilometers of river to be reconnected. The ‘more’ in the previous paragraph is because reconnection data is only available for 198 of the 603 barriers removed. But why do we want to ‘reconnect kilometers of river’? There are many data, but one that is especially clear is that More than 42% of European freshwater fish species are threateneds and about two-thirds are at risk of being so. Whether we like it or not, 9 out of 10 natural disasters in the European Union in the last decade have had to do with water. And having the rivers full of forgotten structures is part of the problem. ‘Taking back control’ of rivers is essential to reduce the risks of contemporary European society. But that will have consequences, right? This can be read in many places: that European policies of “dam demolition” aggravate droughts. The problem is, of course, that is inaccurate. At least, if we go by the majority of the demolitions. Almost everything that is being torn down are weirs of less than two meters. That is, small barriers that do not store water, but rather raise the sheet to divert flow to an irrigation canal, hydroelectric plant or mill. In fact, most of them should already be demolished because the concessions that allowed them have expired, but no one has paid special attention to it. Until now. Image | Red Zeppelin In Xataka | “In the next ten years, Spain and Latin America are going to suffer (a lot) with water,” Robert Glennon (University of Arizona)

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