Spain is preparing a data center specifically designed to have AI for war. The surprise: it is in Soria

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More than two thousand years ago, on the hill of Numanciaits inhabitants preferred to resist to the end rather than surrender to the siege of the legions of Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. That story of defiance against a superior enemy has remained engraved in Soria’s memory as a symbol of resistance. Now, a few kilometers from that place, in the Valcorba industrial estate, the Ministry of Defense wants to build another kind of fortress: a data center named Numant-IA, where defense will no longer be measured in walls or swords, but in servers, algorithms and artificial intelligence. A unique project. While we live a technological-military schism in the USSpain accelerates in a project that precisely combines both sections. The Government has launched Numant-IA, a data center with a notable investment and totally dedicated to offering computing for AI. Here there are, yes, two notes that stand out. The full name of the project will be the Center for Advanced Defense Technological Capabilities, and its investment is part of the Annual Contracting Plan of the Ministry of Defense (Pacdef) from 2026. It includes 7,868 proposals and 156 framework agreements with a combined value of 10,102 million euros. Soria, new technological capital. The data center announced by the Government last September and that already it was outlined months before, it will have its headquarters in Soria. The project will take advantage of a space provided by the Soria City Council and that covers an area of ​​almost four hectares in the Valcorba industrial estate. Lieutenant General José María Millán, director of CESTIC, already warned then that said center will carry out the “incorporation of artificial intelligence systems for the benefit of the Armed Forces.” Military applications. The initial investment, which was 70 million euros, has been increased to almost 130 million euros according to El Heraldo de Soriaand will be assumed by the Ministry of Defense. Its resources will be used for applications that will process classified data in the area of ​​operations and logistics, and military applications will be an integral part of its mission. This project confirms other movements of the Armed Forces such as the development of Gonzalo, that “ChatGPT” for the army which is precisely designed to support this type of tasks safely. Employment and template. About 20 people will be a permanent part of the staff of this center that will operate 24/7 once it is operational. The construction of the data center, the Department of Defense states, will generate “a significant economic and employment impact on the city.” We know when, but we don’t know what. The Ministry of Defense has indicated that the project has a construction period of 24 months, and therefore they hope that it will theoretically be ready by early 2028. What we do not know is what type of infrastructure it will house or what the real capacity of the data center will be. 67.88 million euros will be dedicated to information systems and servers – unspecified, perhaps because they are not yet defined – while construction will be allocated 58.68 million euros and a third item of 1.65 million euros has no specified purpose. Sovereignty and decentralization. Choosing Soria as the location for this data center responds to the decentralization strategy of the Armed Forces. The defense budgets demonstrate this with a distribution of these funds throughout Spain in different projects that try to avoid the danger of excessive centralization of critical centers. The movement also answers to others that we have been seeing for months and that make it clear that in Spain and Europe they are trying to find solutions that allow us to have the highest possible degree of digital sovereignty. Image | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Spain’s main problem is not weapons, fighters or drones: it is the number of hands it lacks to use them

What the hell is C-RAM, the most “science fiction” system that the US has?

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For some time now, when night comes in the middle of wars or armed conflicts, there are sounds that remain recorded forever. They are not explosions or sirens: it is a mechanical noise that seems to come from another world. In fact, they remember a lot to the metallic roar that Spielberg imagined to announce the arrival of the aliens in War of the Worlds. Only, this time, it’s not cinema. And it’s really happening. The roar that is not forgotten. Occurred two days ago. At night in Baghdad, when the sirens sound and the sky seems calm for a few seconds, there is a sound that cuts through the air like a giant chainsaw. It is not a plane or a conventional explosion: it is the C-RAM going into action. That roar, often described by those who have heard it as an almost unreal metallic roar, is the sound of thousands of projectiles fired in a matter of seconds to destroy rockets, drones or mortars before they fall on a base or an embassy. Just a few days ago it was heard again at the American embassy in Baghdad, when a Katyusha rocket attack activated the defensive system. According to Reuterswas an attack by Iraqi militias aligned with Iran. The sirens sounded, the gun got started and one of the projectiles was destroyed in mid-flight before reaching the diplomatic complex. The result was the same as on many other occasions: no impact inside the venue. But the episode once again reminded us why the sound has become one of the most disturbing in modern warfare. The naval origin. He C-RAM (acronym for Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar) was not originally born to protect cities or embassies, but warships. Its technological heart comes from Phalanx system of the US Navy, developed in the 1970s to shoot down fast-approaching anti-ship missiles. That automatic defense was based on a simple and brutally effective concept: a radar detects the threat, calculates its trajectory and a rotating machine gun automatically opens fire to create a wall of projectiles that destroys the target before it hits. Over time, the Pentagon realized that the same principle could be applied on dry land to protect military bases exposed to attacks with mortars or improvised rockets, a constant threat in conflicts such as Iraq or Afghanistan. Shoot like a storm. The most visible element of the system is its M61 Vulcan cannona gatling gun six-tube capable of firing around 4,500 20-millimeter projectiles per minute. That bestial cadence is precisely the reason its characteristic sound. When the system goes into action, the rotation of the barrels and the continuous firing generate a mechanical roar that is reminiscent of a cross between a chainsaw and a turbine. It is not a simple acoustic effect: the weapon needs to launch a veritable cloud of projectiles to increase the chances of destroying a rocket or mortar in mid-flight. Each shot uses explosive ammunition with programmed self-destruct to prevent projectiles from falling intact on populated areas if they do not reach their target. A technological umbrella. Behind that cannon is actually an entire network of sensors, radars and command systems. The C-RAM is not just a weapon, but an adefensive architecture that combines mortar detection radars, fire control systems and command stations capable of analyzing trajectories in seconds. When a radar detects a rocket or artillery projectile, it calculates its path and determine if it will impact in a protected area. Only then does the system activate the cannon and fire automatically. Within seconds, the weapon tracks the target, corrects its aim and opens fire. This whole process happens so quickly that for those on the ground there is only one sequence: the siren, the metallic roar of the cannon, and an explosion in the sky. The defense of the Green Zone. The system was first deployed years ago in Iraq to protect the called Green Zone of Baghdad, the enclave where the American embassy and much of the Western diplomatic and military infrastructure is located. Since then it has intercepted hundreds of rockets and projectiles launched by insurgent militias. In tests and real operations it has proven to be able to destroy between 70 and 80% of projectiles within its coverage area, making it one of the most effective point defenses in the world. Each unit costs between ten and fifteen million dollars, but its true cost is in the ammunition: each interception can consume tens of thousands of dollars in projectiles. Science fiction of modern warfare. What makes C-RAM so peculiar is not only its effectiveness, but the experience that generates when it comes into action. In a matter of seconds, the sky is filled with tracers that draw lines of fire towards an invisible point while the weapon roars with an almost surreal intensity. To those nearby, the effect is so impressive that many describe it as a scene straight out of a science fiction movie. However, this technological demonstration has a very specific function: to prevent cheap weapons such as improvised rockets or mortars from causing casualties in diplomatic bases and complexes. Announcing the war. Be that as it may, the rocket attack against the embassy American in Baghdad this week has once again recalled the role of this system in current conflicts. Directly framed in the Iran warAlthough one of the rockets was intercepted before falling inside the compound and there were no casualties, the episode confirmed something that American soldiers and diplomats have known for years: when that metallic roar sounds in the night, it means that the defensive shield is working. And also that the war is much closer than it seemed seconds before. Image | United States Air Force In Xataka | Iran’s drones have aimed at the same target as the US. And now that they have pulverized it, they are going to unleash their most dangerous weapon In Xataka | Iran has spent decades excavating its “missile cities.” Satellite images have just … Read more

Spain is betting its future in the semiconductor industry on a single card: gallium chips

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SPARC Foundry is one of the best assets that Spain can cling to to get on a train, that of semiconductors, currently guided with a firm hand by USA, South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan. This Galician company, however, does not pursue producing silicon chips. In this area, competing with the five powers I just mentioned is essentially impossible. SPARC’s plan involves building a manufacturing factory in the Valadares Technology Park, in Vigo. next generation photonic semiconductors. The interesting thing is that these chips will not be silicon; They will be manufactured using gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP) or gallium nitride (GaN), and will most likely have a leading role in the telecommunications, defense, automotive, consumer electronics, quantum computing or the aerospace industry. Be that as it may, SPARC will not tackle the GIGaNTE project alone. Indra leads it with a 37% stake in SPARC Foundrywhich places the latter group as the majority partner of the company specialized in the production of chips. According to SPARC and Indra, the Vigo semiconductor plant will be operational during the first half of 2027 and will have the capacity to manufacture up to 20,000 wafers per year when it is able to work at full capacity. An interesting note: GIGaNTE, the name of this project, has been designed around the chemical formula of gallium nitride (GaN). Gallium aspires to be the protagonist of the next generation of chips Photonic integrated circuits use photons to process and transmit information. Photons are the elementary particles responsible for forms of electromagnetic radiation, including the manifestation of visible light. They have no mass and are capable of traveling in a vacuum at a constant speed: the speed of light. However, something worth not overlooking is that although we are referring to them as particles, they also manifest as waves, hence the existence of the quantum phenomenon known as ‘wave-particle duality’ to identify the wave nature of light. Although, as we have seen, SPARC will produce photonic chips, the core of its business will revolve around gallium arsenide and gallium nitride. Unlike silicon, They are not elementary semiconductors. And they are not because the latter are characterized by being made up of a single chemical element, while gallium arsenide (GaAs) is composed of gallium (Ga) and arsenic (As), and gallium nitride (GaN) is composed of gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N). SPARC is going to produce photonic chips and the core of its business will revolve around gallium arsenide and gallium nitride The term semiconductor is appearing many times in this article, so it is a good idea that we review what it is about before moving forward. A semiconductor is an element or compound that, under certain conditions of pressure, temperature, or when exposed to radiation or an electromagnetic field, behaves like a conductor, and, therefore, offers little resistance to the movement of electrical charges. And when it is found in other different conditions it behaves like an insulator. In this last state it offers great resistance to the displacement of electrical charges. In elements with electrical conduction capacity, some of the electrons in their atoms, known as free electrons, can pass from one atom to another when we apply a potential difference at the ends of the conductor. Precisely, this electron displacement capacity is what we know as electric currentand we all know intuitively that metals are good conductors of electricity. Curiously, they are because they have many free electrons that can move from one atom to another and, thus, they manage to transport the electrical charge. Gallium nitride and gallium arsenide are semiconductors, and this implies that under certain circumstances they are capable of transporting electrical charge. When the appropriate conditions exist, the mobility of its electrons is much greater than in semiconductors such as silicon or germanium. And this means that its capacity to transport electrical charge is also superior. Another very interesting property of these compounds is their high saturation rate. It is not necessary for us to delve into this parameter to the point of excessively complicating the article, but it is interesting that we know that it reflects the maximum speed at which electrons can move. through the crystal structure of these compounds. This maximum speed is limited by the dispersion suffered by the electrons during their movement. Gallium arsenide transistors can work at frequencies above 250 GHz This property has very important repercussions. One of them is that gallium arsenide transistors can work at frequencies above 250 GHz, which is a quite impressive figure. In addition, they are relatively immune to overheating and produce less noise in electronic circuits than silicon devices, especially when it is necessary to work at high frequencies. On the other hand, gallium nitride can work at very high voltages and reach extreme temperatures without its performance or stability being compromised. Besides, allows manufacturing compact and efficient transformers Because it dissipates little energy in the form of heat, it will most likely play a fundamental role in the charging infrastructure of electric cars and base stations for 5G communications. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | SPARC Foundry In Xataka | Spain steps on the accelerator in its particular chip race. And it does so with a total commitment to integrated photonics

The almond trees throughout Spain are already in bloom and that is fantastic news for the sector. Or also a disaster

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40 years ago, on January 10, the father of Simplisíssimus told him it would be a bad year for the almond. The reason was simple: when the trees flowered early, the almond embryo was exposed (“weak and sensitive”) to late frosts that could destroy entire crops. Therefore, the good time for flowering was March, he explained. And he must have been right, but in the last 44 years it has been increasingly difficult to prove it. According to an article published by AEMETSince 1981, the flowering of the almond tree has been advancing systematically and documented throughout the country. But it seems that, at least in some areas, this has changed this year. If confirmed, it could be good news. When do almond trees bloom? According to the work of the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Senckenberg Research Institute and AEMETin these 40 years, the median flowering date in the center of the peninsula has moved from February 12 to February 7. Of course, the progress has not been linear: it has accelerated in recent years. At a historical level, the most advanced in recent decades was in 1993 (around January 8). And why should we care? In general terms, because the almond tree is the most extensive woody crop in Spain and, in fact, it is growing: in the last decade the dedicated area has grown by 34%. The almendril madness in the country is such that, well, Spain leads the sector with 765,000 hectares productive. That is, it is an issue that matters to us as a country. So, we’re talking about good news, right? It will depend on how the weather goes from now on and, furthermore, we must not forget that It has not been like this in all places. However, as has been happening lately in the field, it can be (at the same time) good news and bad news. Good because a big harvest would help remove volatility that the almond has had in recent years, because it would help generate rural employment in a year which is expected to be complicated by flooding and will give a break to agricultural insurance. And yet, a good harvest can end up delaying a fundamental debate: that of varieties. The only way the sector has adapt to climate changes is betting on late or hyperlate variants. They are not a magic solution, but it is a solution. The question is whether the global almond giant, up to its eyeballs in debt, will understand that it has to make a move. Image | Tim Mossholder In Xataka | An end of February with 20 ºC, haze and full reservoirs is not “good weather”: it is the sign of a completely misplaced meteorology

In London more and more people lose money when they sell their house. The question is whether it is the canary in Europe’s mine

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Located north of the Thames, Tower Hamlets is one of the districts most emblematic from London. In fact, it covers a large part of the East End, the historic center of the capital. For years (like most of the city) it also represented something else: a juicy market for those who wanted to invest in housing and achieve high returns. Not anymore. In 2025 about 30% Of the owners who got rid of their homes in that neighborhood (mostly apartments) had to do so for less money than they paid at the time. And it’s not just something that happens in Tower Hamlets. What has happened? That in London housing is no longer an infallible business. This is suggested at least by the latest study published by Hamptons, which reveals that in 2025 Londoners were the Britons most likely to lose money from the sale of their properties. Even more than its neighbors in the northeast of the United Kingdom, who have spent years leading the ranking. “Rising London house prices are no longer the safe bet they once seemed,” concludes the report, which is supported by the Property Registry. What do the figures say? that last year 14.8% of people Those who sold their home in London did so for less money than they originally paid. It may seem like a modest percentage, but it is striking for several reasons. To begin with because it is the largest in the entire United Kingdom. The national average is 8.7% and there are British regions where this indicator is much lower, such as Wales (6.2%), East Midlands (6.7%) or West Midlands (6.9%). London has effectively ousted Nort Easth, which had dominated the sales ranking with losses for the last decade. Is Tower Hamlets a unique case? No. Tower Hamlets is the London district where the trend is best appreciated, but is not the only one in which a significant proportion of homeowners (28.2%) have lost money by getting rid of their homes. In the City, 26.2% of sellers closed transactions in “red numbers”, in Kensington & Chelsea 22.4%, in Westminster 22.1% and in Hammersmith & Fulham 20.8%. Curiously, in the cheapest district of London, Barking & Dagenham, only that indicator is much lower: 5.3%. “In some cases, even homeowners who bought a decade ago risk getting back less than they paid, something almost unthinkable in 2015. And for many the sums are small,” the study insists. “In the coming years it is likely that more sellers will have missed out on the price boom that London experienced between 2012 and 2016, as they bought at the peak of the market.” Is there more data? Yes. The Hamptons report raises some interesting ideas. For example, most of the sales with losses (close to 90%) were carried out by apartments. If we talk about houses, the photo is somewhat different. Hamptons technicians recognize that in 2025 the average seller in London pocketed 172,500 pounds more than what they originally paid when purchasing their home, but they insist on the increase in sales at a loss: if in 2019 they represented 5.9%, in 2025 “red” operations already represented 14.8%. Is it the only report? No. Over recent months, more analyzes have been published showing that the London property market is not going through its best moment. There is talk of a price drop of 5.1% at the end of 2025 (which takes the market even further away from the 2022 data) and even from a sluggish prime housing market that will not rise until at least 2028. “In London, the growth of house prices is no longer a safe bet,” he explains to Financial Times Aneisha Beveridge, Hamptons manager. There is studies which show that prices are declining in half of London’s neighborhoods, leaving a “two-speed” market: that of the most expensive (and volatile) areas and the cheapest, which has demonstrated greater resilience. In December Bloomberg warned that homes worth more than two million run the risk of depreciating, losing almost 5% of their value in one year. What is the reason? The big question. When explaining the London trend the analysts they point out several factors. One of the main ones is the regulatory change, marked by the end of discounts to the purchase of housing and a greater penalty for the purchase of second homes and houses as investments. The authorities have also focused on the prime segment, rethinking the status nom-dom for large foreign fortunes and raising local taxes for the most expensive properties. Added to the above is the influence of Brexit, the exorbitant prices that London reached in 2022 or how difficult it is for families to access the market, partly because the cost of rent neutralizes the ability to save. The question that some are already made is whether London is an isolated case or should be understood as a canary in the mine for other European capitals. Image | Benjamin Davies (Unsplash) In Xataka | Housing is getting so expensive that in the United Kingdom there are already people opting for plan B: living on boats

the strike has barely moved

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We have been hearing for years that artificial intelligence is going to destroy millions of qualified jobs. Dario Amodei himself, CEO of Anthropic, said last year that AI could affect half of administrative jobs entry level in the coming years. Mustafa Suleyman, head of AI at Microsoft, was more aggressive in your estimatesensuring that most professional work would be replaced within twelve to eighteen months. Now the same Anthropic publish a study which, without denying that the risk exists, forces these predictions to be greatly qualified. What the study measures. The research, signed by economists Maxim Massenkoff and Peter McCrory, introduces a new metric called “observed exposure.” The idea is that instead of asking what tasks AI could do in theory, the authors analyze what it is actually doing now in professional settings, using usage data from Claude in work contexts. The gap between theoretical capacity and actual use. Taking the computer science and mathematics sector as an example, language models would be capable, in theory, of executing 94% of the tasks associated with these professions. In practice, Claude covers 33%, according to the study. In office automation and administrative positions, the theoretical capacity is close to 90%; actual use is far below. The authors themselves illustrate their metric with an example: authorizing the refilling of medical prescriptions to pharmacies is a task that a language model could easily automate, but the study’s researchers have not observed that Claude was currently doing it. And the barriers to AI not automating these types of tasks include legal restrictions, the need for human verification, barriers with software integration, and more. That is to say, the researchers show that all of these tasks could already be done theoretically by AI, but they are not yet being done due to these restrictions that the human being himself imposes. Who are the most exposed. According to the studythe jobs with the highest observed exposure are computer programmers (74.5%), customer service positions (70.1%) and those who operate by entering data (67.1%). At the opposite extreme, 30% of workers have zero exposure: cooks, mechanics, lifeguards, or waiters. They are jobs that require physical presence and that, according to the study, no language model can replicate. For this we would still have to give robotics a lot of time. The demographic profile of the most exposed group also breaks with the usual imagination. According to the study, these workers are 16% more likely to be women, earn on average 47% more, and have significantly higher levels of education. Anthropic reveals in the study that it is not the warehouse worker who is in the spotlight, but the financial analyst, lawyer or software developer. Unemployment. This is the most striking fact of the investigation, because since the arrival of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 until today, the study says that there is no statistical evidence of a systematic increase in unemployment among workers most exposed to AI. The effect, according to the authors themselves, is “indistinguishable from zero.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics yes it projects that the most exposed jobs will grow less between now and 2034. We will have to wait a few years to study how the metrics progress. The youngest, the most affected. The researchers do detect a worrying sign among workers aged 22 to 25: the rate of entry into jobs in high-exposure sectors has fallen by approximately 14% in the post-ChatGPT era compared to 2022. The authors attribute this phenomenon more to a slowdown in hiring than to layoffs. But they warn that the signal is “barely statistically significant” and that the causes could be several: from young people who simply stay longer in their current jobs, to those who opt for other sectors or going back to school. What limitations does the study have? From Forbes, some analysts have pointed out that the research measures the use of Claude, not the use of AI in the economy as a whole. Companies also use ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini or own models, and those interactions do not appear in the data. The authors are aware of this and acknowledge it in the text. The conclusion that “AI is far from reaching its theoretical capacity” depends in part on the limits of what they can measure, and not just the actual limits of adoption. So should we relax? The authors themselves advise against it. The proposed analysis is said to be designed precisely for scenarios in which the impact arrives gradually and is difficult to detect until it is too late. They point out that the effects of AI on employment could be more like those of the internet or trade with China than those of COVID: slow, diffuse, complicated to isolate from other economic factors. They also warn that if the gap between theoretical capacity and actual use closes, as they expect to happen as models improve and adoption spreads, the most vulnerable groups will be precisely those who today have better salaries and more training. Cover image | Unsplash (charlesdeluvio, Emiliano Vittoriosi) In Xataka | NVIDIA has lost hope in China, which is why it has started manufacturing its own next-generation GPUs for AI

After launching the cheapest Mac in history, Apple is preparing three ‘Ultra’ products. Wants to go for both ends of the market

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A few days after the arrival of MacBook Neothe cheapest Mac in history, we know thanks to Mark Gurman in Bloomberg that Apple is preparing three products for this year. All three aspire to be the most expensive in their category. And that contrast says a lot about Apple’s strategy for the immediate future. The panoramic. Gurman is the journalist with the best history of leaks about Apple. And he has published in his newsletter Power On that Apple plans to launch at least three products with the Ultra surname, or at least with its essence (the most powerful and expensive in its range): A foldable iPhone. We have been listening to it for years and It seems that 2026 is going to be the year. Expected price of around $2,000. It does not replace the Pro Max, but rather points to another form factor and to those who want to have the most advanced device in the line. AirPods with camera sensors. They would be above the AirPods Pro in price. Its differential would not be in the audio but in space capabilities that the cameras would provide. Macbook Ultra. Although it is not confirmed that it will be called that. With OLED touch panel and M5 Ultra chip. It would be the most expensive and powerful laptop ever launched by Apple, aimed at those who already spend similar amounts on a mac studio plus a monitor. All this in the same year that Apple launches the MacBook Neo for $600. He counted. They are complementary movements. The Neo lowers the barrier to entry into the Mac ecosystem, and the Ultra raises it for those who are already inside and can (and want) to go further. Apple has been trying a similar logic for some time. He first Apple Watch Ultra It arrived in 2022 for about double the price of the current Series. Without being a radically different product, it found its buyer: who wanted the best Apple Watch possible without the price being a major obstacle. It worked. Between the lines. The touch screen on a Mac deserves separate attention, because Apple justified not incorporating it a few years ago, when there was some pressure for it to do so, explaining that touching a computer screen is uncomfortable due to the position of the arm. The question. Just because the strategy is coherent on paper does not mean that all products will be able to sustain it. The foldable iPhone will arrive after seven years with other foldables on the market, without anyone being able to turn it into a bestseller. AirPods with cameras are going to have to offer something that justifies the spending premium, not just a gimmicky demo for the first few days. And the MacBook Ultra will have to justify its price with something that only that laptop can deliver. Apple knows better than anyone that a premium line demands that premium products truly deliver. In 2026 we will see if it is up to the task with this new shipment that seeks to raise the ceiling of several lines. In Xataka | Apple has only found one option to make a cheap laptop: make it a mobile Featured image | Tatiana Steve, insung yoon, dlxmedia.hu

A woman from 7,000 years ago suggests that gender was not an immovable barrier

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For decades, our vision of European prehistory has been dominated by a fairly rigid idea regarding the division of labor in communities: men were assigned certain tasks and women others. However, bones have a fascinating habit of disproving our prejudices, as has now happened after analyzing some human remains found in Hungary. What has been seen. This new analysis of human remains Dating back to more than 7,000 years ago, it has revealed an older woman buried not only with typically “masculine” grave goods, but also with marks on her bones that show that she did the same physical work as them. Something that has marked a before and after in gender roles in prehistory. The rule and the exception. To understand the magnitude of the find, an international research team thoroughly analyzed 125 adult skeletons which came from different cemeteries in Hungary. Here the researchers already knew that there were structured gender norms, since the funerary “law” was very clear, indicating that men were buried lying on their right side and accompanied by polished stone tools. In contrast, women stood on their left side and their trousseau was usually composed of belts made of shells. Up until this point, everything seemed to fit into a perfect binary system, until researchers came across the skeleton of an elderly woman. And, unlike the rest, she had been buried with polished stone tools, the classic “masculine” status symbol of her culture. They went further. If the grave goods on this corpse were already an anomaly by the standards of the time, the biomechanical analysis of the skeleton ended up surprising the scientists. In this case, the researchers did not limit themselves to looking at what objects accompanied the dead, but they crossed these data with the patterns of physical activity imprinted on the bones, such as the natural wear and tear of the different parts of the bones. Basically, the bones adapt and deform according to the postures and loads that we endure throughout our lives and that is why they can give us a lot of long-term information about our jobs. Here the researchers discovered that the men of this community tended to have marks associated with prolonged kneeling and intensive use of their arms, probably due to the use of specific tools or carrying work. Something that women did not have because they did not carry out those tasks. The surprise. Here the study skeleton that attracted so much attention revealed the same bone marks and joint wear resulting from kneeling as the men had. In this way, not only was this woman buried as a man, but she lived, worked, and moved like one of them. Neolithic genre. This study brings to the table a fascinating conclusion: Neolithic societies did have marked gender roles and a structured division of labor, but it was not something set in stone that ‘condemned’ a person to a job for being a man or a woman. As science now points out, the roles were “generalized but flexible.” This means that the fact that this community has decided to bury a woman with the honors of a man, recognizing the role she played in life, shows that in Europe seven thousand years ago there was room for exception. Images | engin akyurt In Xataka | 2,000 years ago Epicurus had already understood the secret of pleasure: “Nothing is enough for those who have enough is little.”

OpenAI wanted to make ChatGPT the ideal GP. The problem is that he’s wrong half the time.

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OpenAI started the year with a new release: ChatGPT health mode. Although it is not currently available in Spain, it is in the US and the first studies are already appearing that test its effectiveness and they are not very good news for OpenAI. It’s not that big of a deal. A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine and collected by NBCNews has revealed that ChatGPT Health failed to classify the urgency of 51.6% of the emergency medical cases analyzed. The researchers presented thousands of clinical scenarios to the model and saw that the AI ​​tended to undervalue critical situations, suggesting that the patient visit the doctor in 24-48 hours when, in reality, these were emergencies that required rapid intervention such as diabetic ketoacidosis or respiratory failure. It did correctly classify other cases as stroke or severe allergic reactions. It doesn’t make sense. Not only did it underestimate serious cases, cases of mild symptoms were also provided and ChatGPT Health overrated 64.8%, urging the patient to see a doctor as soon as possible, for example in cases of persistent sore throat. Dr. Ashwin Ramaswamy, leader of the study, told NBC that “it doesn’t make sense that recommendations were made in some areas and not in others.” Suicidal ideas. There is still more. The cases presented included some with suicidal ideations. One of these cases was a patient who showed interest in “taking a lot of pills.” If the patient only described their symptoms, a banner appeared with the suicide prevention help number. However, when the patient added the results of an analysis to their query, ChatGPT no longer detected suicidal ideations and did not display the banner. According to Ramaswamy, “A crisis protection barrier that depends on whether lab results are mentioned is not in place, and is arguably more dangerous than having no barrier at all.” Why it is important. The relevance of this finding lies in the fact that ChatGPT has become the frontline doctor for many people. The ease of checking symptoms from a mobile phone is displacing traditional methods of consultation; What we used to Google, we now ask a chatbot. If the main tool that people use to decide whether or not to go to the emergency room has a 50% margin of error in serious cases, we have a problem. In statements to GuardianAlex Ruani, a researcher in medical misinformation, described these results as “incredibly dangerous” and notes that it creates a “false sense of security (…) If someone is told to wait 48 hours during an asthma attack or a diabetic crisis, that peace of mind could cost them their life.” OpenAI responds. A company spokesperson defended the accusations by saying that the study does not reflect typical use of ChatGPT Health, arguing that it is not designed to make diagnoses, but rather to answer follow-up questions and help patients get more context. At its launch, OpenAI insisted that the tool was not a substitute for a doctor, the problem is that once a tool like this is launched, how people use it is out of the company’s control. Flattery and hallucinations. Chatbots have a flattery problem and they tend to agree with the user. On the other hand there is the phenomenon of hallucinations. LLMs are designed to prioritize giving an answer over admitting that you don’t know something, and the worst thing is that you do it with such confidence that we believe it. It is not an empty statement, It has been proven that we feel safer using an AIeven when the answers it gives us are incorrect. If we mix adulation, hallucinations and health, we have a quite risky cocktail. Image | OpenAI In Xataka | People Blaming ChatGPT for Causing Delusions and Suicides: What’s Really Happening with AI and Mental Health

At El Consultorio de Xataka Xtra we answer you

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In the almost twenty years that I have been dedicating myself to technology journalism, the world has changed a lot, but there is something that has remained the same: we all have questions. Whenever a brand launches a new smartphone, anyone looking to renew their phone wants to know if it is a good buy or how one of its star features works. It happens with any type of product, even when you’ve just brand new it: how do I get the most out of it? Am I using it correctly? Is it normal that it works like this or has it turned out to be defective? At Xataka we have been covering events for more than two decades, doing interviews, reviews, comparing products with others, and specializing in technology and all the intersections that exist to understand it. That’s why when someone asks us what phone I should buy, what electric car I might be interested in, or how I can make AI do something for me, we usually have a pretty clear answer. And all that knowledge is what we want to share in a much more direct way with you. From you to you. welcome to The Office of Xataka Xtra. What is the Xataka Xtra Office You send us a question and we answer you. No chatbots, no generic answers or AI hallucinations. One of us will respond to you personally and understanding your specific case. If you have a question about a mobile phone, the person who has tested it or who knows the most about that mobile phone within the Xataka team will answer. The same applies to any other technological product, be it hardware or software, and other topics in which we are also specialists, such as science, energy or productivity, to name a few. In other words: The Office is a direct route between us so that we can help you with any questions you may have about technology, science and innovation. It can be useful for: Purchasing decisions. Whether it’s a cell phone, a laptop, a car or even a washing machine, we can help you choose your next technological product. Always with the experience we have and what we know about the sector. Technical advice. Not only with products and their operation. Imagine that a law changes, that you want more information about a space launch, or that one company has bought another and you want to understand how it could affect you. Specific queries. There are as many questions as there are use cases, and for that it is necessary to have specialized knowledge, to have tried a product or even to have faced that doubt ourselves. The Office is one of the exclusive advantages of Xataka Xtraour new community for subscribers that includes giveaways, discounts, exclusive newsletters and more. How to send a question to El Consultorio? Once you are part of Xataka Xtrait’s very easy: you can write to us by email at xtra@xataka.com or ask us our Discord. From that moment on, the best person who can answer you from Xataka will ensure that your question is resolved. We will always assign the person who knows the most about that topic. Please note that if you write to us during a weekend or holiday, it will take us a little longer to respond because we also stop to rest. We ask for your patience in these cases. What we can’t help you with at El Consultorio We are not technical support. If your device has broken, you have warranty problems, or you need an advanced configuration, the manufacturers and stores where you purchased it are the ones who can help you. We do not make investment recommendations. We tell you trends and the context of what is happening in the technological world, but the decisions about your money are yours alone. We don’t have answers for everything. We are not the oracle. There are many products that we surely have not tried or that are outside our specialty and, therefore, about which we do not know enough. If this is the case, we will notify you and try to guide you in the best way we know how. There will be no question about El Consultorio that we do not answer, but we cannot promise a specific response time either. Many times we are on press trips, sometimes we get sick or, simply, everyday life is intense. In those cases, we prefer to take a little longer to respond, but we want to be able to dedicate the time to do it right. Every week we will give examples At El Consultorio what we want is to help, so every week we will select one of the questions you have asked us and we will publish an article with our answer here on Xataka. Maybe it will help other people, even if they are not part of Xataka Xtra, and that motivates us a lot. Do you dare? You can join now Xataka Xtra.

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