The extinction of Neanderthals has always been a mystery. Science now believes that they are still with us

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For decades, the disappearance of Neanderthals has been one of the biggest mysteries of human evolution. It happened about 40,000 years ago, suspiciously coincident with our species Homo sapiens to Eurasia… But now we are thinking that they did not become extinct. What was thought. Classical theories paint a replacement scenario: either we wiped them out in direct competition, or they couldn’t withstand brutal climate change. But now a study published in Scientific Reports offers a much more fascinating answer: we absorb them among ourselves. And the key to all this is genetic dilution. The hypotheses. To go deeper, the competition hypothesis suggests that Homo sapiens We were simply superior: we had better hunting strategies, a broader diet or more advanced social structures that allowed us to monopolize all the resources, driving the Neanderthals to extinction. On the other hand, the environmental hypothesis blames the drastic climate changes that occurred just at that time. According to this idea, Neanderthals could not adapt to extreme fluctuations and their populations fragmented until they disappeared permanently. However, the new study presents a mathematical model that leaves both factors aside and focuses on the most basic of all: demographics and sex. The new model. The authors of the study propose an analytical model that demonstrates how Neanderthals could disappear without the need for the Homo sapiens had any selective advantage over them. The model does not require “catastrophic events” or cognitive superiority. Instead, it relies on a concept called “species-neutral drift” and a key factor: small, recurring immigrations of Homo sapiens in Neanderthal territories. There were many more of us. One of the first ideas pointed out in this case is that the population Homo sapiens that left Africa was much larger in number than the Neanderthal, acting as a “practically infinite demographic reservoir.” By going together, because friction makes affection, and between the species they began to intersect and had very fertile offspring. The model assumes that this was not a one-time event, but rather a “sustained gene flow” that occurred every time a small group of modern humans arrived in an area. So, adding that the Neanderthal population was much smaller and there was a constant influx of genes from Homo sapiensthe result is the dissolution of the gene pool. It’s literally like pouring a glass of Neanderthal water into an ocean of Homo sapiens. In the end his presence is completely diluted. The time. The most powerful thing about the study is that its calculations fit with the archaeological record. The mathematical model shows that this process of “almost complete genetic replacement” could have occurred within a period of 10,000 to 30,000 years, something that aligns with the long period of coexistence that both species had in Eurasia. Were they extinct? This is the question we ask ourselves. Know if the word ‘extinction’ is appropriate for this paradigm. This model offers what scientists call a “parsimonious explanation” (the simplest). In words we understand, it does not deny that other factors, such as competition or weather, could have contributed. But it shows that this genetic dissolution alone is something that may have explained the disappearance of the Neanderthals. That is why, rather than an extinction, we speak of a fusion by absorption. This perfectly explains why the Neanderthals disappeared as a genetically distinct group, but their legacy endures: modern humans of Eurasian ancestry conserve in our DNA a small percentage of their genetic heritage (although very diluted). Images | mostafa meraji In Xataka | Human evolution has not stopped: in fact, there are reasons to think that it is more accelerated than ever

The most German museum in Germany laughs at its visitors. And it is triumphing

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Imagine booking a guided tour of a museum and the guide being an arrogant, resentful and rude know-it-all. It certainly sounds very unpleasant, but there is a museum in Germany where people are lining up and paying to live the experience. Grumpy guide. This is how the museum Kunstpalastlocated in Dusseldorf, advertises this curious guided tour format, which they describe on their website as a “highly unpleasant” experience. During the visit, which lasts 70 minutes, the guide challenges visitors to name works, and then ridicules their knowledge. He does not insult the visitors directly or comment on their physique, but he does ridicule them as a group. He also scolds them if they use their cell phones or sit down and criticizes artists who, in his opinion, should not be on the walls of the museum. Waiting list. They count in Guardian that the grumpy guide’s visits have been a complete success and the waiting list extends until 2026. It is true that this guided tour format only takes place twice a month, so it is not that there are many tickets, but the museum claims that they have managed to sell them all out since they launched it in May of this year. Tickets cost 7 euros. Pay to be insulted. The museum director admits that he was inspired by Karen’s Dineran Australian restaurant chain where the waiters are very unfriendly and unpleasant to customers. There are more restaurants of this type in which you pay for an experience beyond the food, like a kind of dinner-show in which the fun is being treated badly. There are even more extreme cases such as This Japanese restaurant where waitresses slap customers in exchange for 3 euros. There is a goal behind it. The visits with ‘grumpy guide’ have not been a mere occurrence, but are part of a European initiative to attract young audiences and look for fresher and less elitist formats. The Kunstpalast museum has its unfriendly guide, but there are other curious initiatives such as Stuggart History Museum Nudist Tours or the sock tours of the Vooorlinden museum in Holland. Image | Pexels, Unsplash In Xataka | No wonder the theft of jewels from the Louvre has been so easy: the museum’s security has been a disaster for more than a century

Years ago, microbiota transplants seemed like something out of science fiction. Today they are already curing diseases

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Sometimes extreme situations require extreme measures, at least in the field of medicine and health. Perhaps to many, the idea of microbiota transplants It seems to them that it belongs to this range of extreme measures. Perhaps more so if we refer to this therapy by its first and last name, because we are talking about fecal microbiota transplants. Let’s start at the beginning, explaining what exactly these transplants are. Although its name is quite descriptive. The central idea of ​​this treatment is to take a sample of intestinal microbiota from a healthy person and transfer it to the patient’s intestine. For this, samples of fecal matter are used, feces from the donor that are treated for introduction into the recipient’s gastrointestinal system. The process begins, therefore, by taking a sample (or several) of the donor feces. First of all, it must be verified that these feces do not contain pathogens but that the “good bacteria” of our digestive system predominate in the sample. Once this filter has been passed, the sample is prepared in different ways depending on how it will be administered. One possibility is to dry, freeze and encapsulate part of these samples to administer them. through a pill. However, the most conventional options involve diluting the sample in saline water and then filter it and enter it into our system gastrointestinal, either through a tube introduced through the mouth or nose and that would reach our stomach; either through a colonoscopy, an endoscopy through the colon. Fixing the imbalance And all this, for what? Interestingly, if we are transplanting microbes from one person to another, the reason is to fight against a pathogenic bacteria, called Clostridioides difficile (C. diff). This is a bacteria that normally inhabits our system gastrointestinal without causing major discomfort. But not always. In these cases, C. diff It can take over the inside of our intestine, wreaking havoc on it. C. diff They feed on toxic compounds that they metabolize from some foods we consume and that can end up causing even more damage to our microbiota. This infection It is considered the main cause of diarrhea associated with medical treatments, but this It’s not your only symptom.These include fever, pain or tenderness in the stomach, loss of appetite and nausea, symptoms of gastroenteritis. Some more serious cases They can lead to dehydration, blood or pus in the stool, and kidney failure. One of the problems associated with this bacteria is the appearance of recurrent infections: many patients become ill again between two and eight weeks after the original infection. The potential of this tool is yet to be explored. A recent study, for example, explored the possibility of using this type of intervention to improve sports performance. A luck of “fecal doping” similar in some ways to existing techniques. Sport, and especially elite sport, can affect our microbiome, which in turn can be exploited in favor of the athletes themselves. These transplants have even been proposed in veterinary. Specifically, to help preserve koalas, as we saw in a studio also presented in 2019 in the magazine Animal Microbiome. Over the last few years we have been discovering new links between our gut microbiome and seemingly very distant aspects of our health. Now we even know that there is a connection between our brain and this one. Unfortunately, we still do not understand the causal relationships operating in this connection. In this sense, recently we came across a link between these transplants and autism. a study published in 2019 in the magazine Scientific Reports observed that symptoms linked to autism were reduced among those who had received this type of transplants. In Xataka | 50% of the population is infected with H. pylori. We are finally eradicating it and that has unexpected consequences Image | shameersrk / chriskeller

The EU is beginning to suspect manufacturers’ plants

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The Chinese automotive industry has set out to conquer Europe. He is doing it bringing your cars directly from the factories in China, partnering with European groups and also in the most optimal way for the market: opening factories in our territory. It is the optimal way to avoid tariff packagesyes, but there is a problem: there are companies assembling their cars with removable kits. And that is not liked in Europe. Recently, Stéphane Séjourné, Vice President of Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, commented to the Italian media La Stampa who are attentive to the situation of some Chinese manufacturers. The focus, in fact, is on those who have settled in Spain. “Currently, there are manufacturers in Europe who assemble chinese cars with Chinese components and Chinese personnel. It’s happening in Spain and Hungary, and it’s not right”. It’s not the first time he says it. A little over a year ago, tariffs on electric cars coming from China came into force. They don’t have to be Chinese (the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai are included in those tariffs, for example), but the Asian country has designed a way to assemble cars in foreign countries with a double objective. These “removable” kits They are parts of cars that are manufactured and assembled in China to later dismantle them when they see that everything works, send them in pieces to the destination country and, on the new floor, the workers assemble them again. It’s not like building a car, but like rebuilding a giant LEGO. Ebro is an example. Assembly plant or manufacturing plant? a few months ago we already have that this “void” was something that they already contemplated from Europe, but there was a second reason. In July, China’s Ministry of Commerce held a meeting with a dozen domestic manufacturers who were given a maxim: the secrets of the electric vehicle industry must be protected as much as possible. That means key vehicle systems would be made in China, where it’s easier to maintain control. Valdis Dombrovskis is the executive vice-president of the European Commission and has already expressed his doubts about the value that will be created in the European Union with this way of proceeding. “What part of know-how Will it be stored here? Is it a simple assembly plant or an automobile manufacturing plant? “There is a substantial difference,” he said. Returning to Séjourné, he assures that he does not believe that tariffs are the answer because “they destroy the value chain and create trade tensions.” He does not give an answer about what should be done, but comments that we Europeans “need to be less naive and put ourselves back to the standards of all the major economies in the world.” The Chery factory in Barcelona, ​​for example, is one of the Chinese factories that have operated in SKD, or Semi Knock Down, mode. As our colleagues point out Motorpassionfrom China the car is sent half disassembled, without elements such as the steering wheel or wheels, and then they are assembled again on European soil. The idea is that pass to the CKD or Completely Knock Down mode. This implies that They will arrive completely disassembled and will be assembled in Barcelona completely, including welding, painting and there will be an integration of local suppliers that will improve that value chain and create wealth in the surroundings of the factory. What they criticize from Europe is that the operators are, sometimes, workers who come directly from China. An example, also on Spanish soil, is the CATL gigafactory in Zaragoza. They will create batteries to supply the Stellantis plant in Figuerelas and it is expected to generate 3,000 direct jobs. But, when it came time to build the factory, There will be close to 2,000 workers from China those who do the work. One eye on removable kits, another on hybrids Because the objective of the European Union is for the brands that reach our territory to generate wealth in the countries in which they are established. There are relevant examples of this. SEAT gives direct work more than 15,000 people between the Martorell plants, but indirectly generates thousands of other jobs. Similar happens with Toyota in Valenciennes. In the French plant they employ about 4,000 people, but they generate thousands of indirect jobs in the surrounding area because logistics, auxiliary industry, local suppliers, etc. come into play. In fact, they point that Toyota in Europe directly and indirectly employs 94,000 people. But although Europe’s focus on protecting community interests is focused on the electric car, we have already said on occasion that hybrids and plug-ins are the real threats. In May 2025, Chinese brands reached 5.4% market share, with more than 60,000 cars sold compared to 3% in the previous period. In that same time, the European market only grew by 1.3%. These figures were achieved thanks, above all, to the hybrids that brands like MG or BYD have brought to our territory. And this success does not come from nowhere: Chinese hybrids offer a good price-power-design ratio, with attractive and very competitive prices against which European and Japanese manufacturers barely compete. The solution? Complex. Séjourné also commented that Europe is “the only continent that lacks strategic thinking in terms of industrial policy”, and the solution may be to apply something similar to what, precisely, China did in the past. When foreign brands wanted to establish themselves in the Asian giant, they had to partner with local companies so that there was a transmission of knowledge and wealth. And, perhaps, that is the way for foreign brands to establish themselves in Europe. In fact, this is exactly what Josep Maria Recasens, president of Renault Spain, is asking for, who has also stated that Europe “cannot allow them to make four plates with wheels.” Images | Ebro, BYD In Xataka | Chinese cars are “indistinguishable in quality” from European ones. We don’t say it, the industry itself says it

A conflictive aesthetic is conquering the feet of thousands of Spaniards: “barefoot” footwear

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At seven in the morning, Fernando puts on his shoes barefoot before leaving for the school where he works. They are thin, soft, almost like a second skin. “Before I ended up with sores on my little fingers; now I can stand all day,” he tells us in an interview for Xataka. A few years ago you would have been looked at strangely for wearing sneakers with minimal soles and separated toes. Today, however, it does not go unnoticed as modern: the barefoot It has become a trend. From an alternative corner of the wellness world it has jumped to the feet of thousands of people. Influencers they recommend itshoe stores are multiplying and even Queen Letizia He wears them at public events. The phenomenon mixes fashion and physiology, and promises something as simple as it is powerful: walking again as we were born, barefoot. From niche to phenomenon. The rise of barefoot It has been meteoric. In just a couple of years, the concept has gone from health and natural parenting forums to digital catwalks. “At first they were ugly and almost no one used them,” remembers Fernando, 39, one of the first to try them in his circle. “But I saw people on Instagram talking about them, they said they were good for the feet and I decided to try them. From the first moment I felt very comfortable.” Like him, thousands of consumers discovered this type of footwear on social networks, recommended by social media accounts. physiotherapy either chiropody. Mar Oncina, owner from the shoe store DePeus in Alicante, confirms the change to Xataka: “When I opened, 80% of my clients were children. Now almost half are adults.” In just a year and a half, he says, interest has grown “hugely.” Schools ask for discounts for AMPAs and large chains, from Inditex to Mustang, have begun to launch their own minimalist lines. “People have understood that this is not just fashion, it is health,” he says. Walking ‘natural’. He barefoot proposes an idea as simple as it is radical: walking again without artifice. The difference with conventional footwear is in the structure. These shoes eliminate the heel (the so-called drop), cushioning and rigid insoles; Instead, they offer a thin, flexible sole that allows the foot to move and feel the ground. As explained in Podoactivathe main purpose of minimalist footwear is to promote a more natural gait and posture, strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the foot and promote proprioception. The foot, with its 28 bones and more than 100 tendons, is prepared to cushion naturally; What happens is that we have spent our entire lives enclosing it in rigid structures that atrophy it. a study published in Nature reinforces that idea: walking barefoot modifies the way the feet interact with the ground and how forces are distributed when walking. The researchers, led by evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman, discovered that people who walk without shoes develop thick calluses, but without losing tactile sensitivity. In other words, leather soles protect, but do not disconnect from the ground, while cushioned soles alter the natural way of walking and increase the impact on the joints. From children’s footwear to the adult boom. Paradoxically, the revolution of barefoot It started with the little ones. Mar tells us clearly: “It all started when my sister, an occupational therapist, decided that her daughter would only wear respectful shoes. She explained to us that children who go barefoot better develop gross motor skills, balance and foot strength.” From that family conviction, their store was born, and with it, a new market. Iraia, 36 years old, explains to Xataka that she discovered the barefoot looking for the best footwear for her daughter Alazne, who was unstable when taking her first steps. “I was convinced by the idea that the feet should move freely and without being deformed. Soon I started using them too and my posture changed. The lower back pain has disappeared, and my toes have literally separated.” Stories like yours are repeated in shoe stores and online forums. And although most started looking for health, many stay for comfort. “I no longer feel like coming home and taking off my shoes,” says Iraia. “It’s like going barefoot all day.” The view of the experts. Almost everyone agrees on the same idea: barefoot It’s not for everyone. “Whether it eliminates back or hip pain is questionable,” clarifies podiatrist Carles Espinosa interviewed by RAC1. “Yes, there are benefits if it is done with adaptation, but you cannot go from a shoe with a heel to a flat one overnight.” From the podiatry portal insist on the need of a progressive transition: gradually reduce the height of the heel to avoid injuries to the Achilles tendon or muscle overload. They also warn that hard surfaces, such as asphalt, are not the best to start with. Dr. Alberto Martínez Oller, from the MO podiatry clinic It’s even more concrete: “It is not recommended for people with flat feet, bunions, injuries or neuropathies. Nor for impact sports or uneven surfaces.” Their recommendation is clear: consult a podiatrist before making the change. Still, he recognizes the potential benefits: improved balance, muscle strengthening, increased mobility and prevention of deformities. In fact, some specialists fear, precisely, that viralization will turn a medical recommendation into a fast-moving fashion. “Walking naturally does not mean walking without control,” warn. The fever for well-being can lead to confusing minimalism with miracle, and each foot tells a different story. Digital fever and the power of the algorithm. If anything has driven the expansion of barefoothas been digital word of mouth. “The role of networks has been fundamental,” says Mar, from DePeus. “There are people who have known how to communicate it very well, such as podiatrists or physiotherapists who have reached thousands of people. The problem is that along with good information, many hoaxes also circulate.” “Transformation” videos abound on TikTok and Instagram: feet before and after months using barefoot, posture comparisons or 30-day barefoot challenges. … Read more

China needs garbage to burn and it needs it so badly that people are digging it up to sell it to incinerators.

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Until a few years, China was the dumping ground of the world. Voluntarily. Since the 1980s, garbage imports have helped China supply raw materials for its industry. Today, the situation has changed and China continues to have a very intense relationship with waste management. But a very different one. What they have left over now is not garbage, but incinerators to burn it. And that has caused old landfills to begin to be unearthed. Many plants of the country They are burning garbage from 20 years ago today. The great Chinese love affair with garbage. In 2016, China imported 7,350,000 tons of plastic and Hong Kong another 2,850,000. In total, they imported almost 70% of all the plastic waste moved around the world that year. That’s not counting paper, scrap or textiles. China was, for more than two decades, the world’s dumping ground. And it wasn’t an accident. In the 1980s, faced with the shortage of certain raw materials, the Chinese Government decided to start importing certain especially useful waste (plastic, paper, mineral slag or textile waste). “The most notorious case was probably the importation of electronic waste that was dismantled and reprocessed in terrible environmental conditions,” Erik Baark explained to us. Everything has an end. However, by the late 2010s, the Chinese situation had changed. In those years alone, the total volume of urban solid waste generated in the Asian giant increased from 158 million tons to more than 249 million. Suddenly, the Government understood that it was running out of space. So he took several measures. And what did he do? On the one hand, got serious about environmental regulations. In the summer of 2017, more than 800 companies were prosecuted for not complying with recycling standards. And, a few months later, authorities arrested more than 259 people for the illegal importation of 303,000 tons of garbage. But it wasn’t enough. And they prohibited imports. That was what affected us the most: the 2017-2018 decision plunged to the international garbage market (and especially to Western recycling systems) in a crisis from which we have not yet emerged. However, it was not the only thing they did. As Baark explains“the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) explicitly supported the incineration of municipal solid waste, with the aim of increasing the proportion of waste treated by incineration from 20% to 35% at the national level.” However, China does not know how to do anything by halves. In less than five years, incineration power plants experienced a real boom (from 428 in 2019 to 1010 in 2023). The goal for 2025 — a daily incineration capacity of 800,000 tons — had already been exceeded in 2022. And shortly after, this energy production system came to “process” 80% of the country’s waste. Today they have literally run out of trash. As I said, in recent months, Chinese and international media have reported on waste incinerators for energy recovery in large cities that operate at low capacity due to a lack of raw materials. It is the story of how the impressive operational capacity of the Beijing government goes too far, yes. But the consequences are very curious: because the plants continue looking for waste to burn. In fact, to the extent that plants compete with each other: the price of garbage is rising. And that seems to be causing in many areas of the country “old” garbage is being dug up. A present that is ending. But no one is aware that this is something temporary. If Chinese waste continues to grow so little by little (10% in recent years), the incineration model is going to enter a crisis. First, for the most obvious thing, of course: it is not sustainable. but also because It is still an emergency resource and not a rational waste management policy. The most interesting thing for us is that this more than predictable crisis It will also change our world. Image | 烧不酥在上海 老的 In Xataka | The European waste industry has been lying to us for years: in 2018 everything blew up and we still haven’t recovered

Cities are becoming theme parks. The “ship” that has landed in Madrid is the latest example

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A spaceship has parked in the center of Madrid. No, you don’t have to you start running like you were Naruto because it will be there for a few days. This is not a real ship, but the Sol station. And the reason why the design of the subway entrance has been changed to that of this ship is because it is a PlayStation advertising action. And more than something special, it is part of a phenomenon. That of converting part of large cities into theme parks. what has happened. Last Tuesday, November 4, one of the entrances to the Sol station in Madrid appeared “tuned.” Representing a “crashed” ship, PlayStation itself gave some details about the action on your blog. Streamer The Grefg is involved in a campaign that will be resolved on November 19 and in which four PlayStation 5 Pro. It is not a celebration of the launch of any game, but rather a big raffle for which PlayStation has decorated an emblematic point in the city. Experiential Marketing. These types of interventions are not new, although in Spain it is one of the largest marketing movements seen in recent years. It is a strategy designed to create links with users beyond those that can be traced with traditional advertising. A giant LED screen or a billboard is something that we have so internalized that we even ignore it in many cases, but when the station you pass by every day becomes something else, it inevitably draws attention. It is something that reconfigures the perception of the urban environment and can manifest itself in multiple ways. Transportation stations are some of the favorite centers of companies because they are points where many, many people pass through. Sol, without going any further, was “Vodafone Sol” for many years and, although it is a different example, it serves to identify a place and a brand. Advertising outside the advertising space. It has come to be called “visual pollution of a commercial nature” by generating advertising exposure that the citizen cannot avoid. You are going to see it, whether you want to or not, but beyond the subway users themselves, it is an advertisement that generates a conversation on social networks. Public landscape = advertising canvas. As we said, Madrid is becoming an example of how public settings are converted to support a commercial narrative. Next to the PlayStation ship, and literally at kilometer zero of Madrid, the watch brand TAG Heuer placed a few weeks ago a giant clock with a countdown indicating the 365 days left until the Formula 1 returns to Madrid (something with which the neighbors also have their pluses and minuses). It is not very different from what happens with the Olympic Games, but there are other bloodier examples. Without leaving the metro, in 2016 the Chueca station was transformed with the colors of the rainbow. It was not something promoted by political movements in favor of the LGTBI+ collective, but rather an advertising action by Netflix under the slogan “Rainbow is the new black“The campaign was temporary, but the collective managed to keep the colors after Netflix withdrew its brand. And Puerta de España has also been personalized in the past. Pragmatism. This, obviously, does not come for free. Madrid, under Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, approved an ordinance that regulates outdoor advertising in Madrid by which advertising banners in Puerta del Sol and other central environments would be placed exclusively in buildings with certain characteristics. That is why Puerta del Sol is wallpapered with advertisements from big brands, series or movies, for which companies they have to pay a large fee to the city. In the end, looking at it from the most pragmatic point of view, these public-private activities finance infrastructure and furniture that municipal administrations could not afford. That is to say: cities obtain income through these advertising permits and companies gain a scenario that hundreds of thousands of people see every day. In a context in which many cities are attracting tourism and investment, it is a win-win if we think with a cooler head. The mentioned contract of Vodafone Sol was three million euros for changing the name of the station between 2013 and 2016, as well as the name change in the red line public address system. And, when the contract was not renewed, it was Vodafone that bore the management costs. Reactions. Now, while cities like Madrid, Barcelona or New York allow these activities, others restrict them. An example is Lyon, which has decided reduce outdoor advertising in public spaces by up to 75%, eliminating above all digital screens. Outside of the previous pragmatism, it is something that exerts a tension between municipal revenue, commercial freedom and the protection of the urban landscape. In the case of the PlayStation ship, varied reactions have been seen, from enthusiastic voices to those who criticize this conversion of the city into an amusement park. The truth is that PlayStation is a company that carries out very imaginative advertising campaigns in several cities and in Spain nothing this big has ever been seen. Another recent action also had much angrier reactions in the subway, when the company Uber Eats changed the name of the emblematic Goya station to… yes, you’re guessing: Gyoza. Or the former name change of the Blue Line to Stonewashed Blue. and the future Santiago Bernabéu station customized by Real Madrid. Images | PlayStation Spain In Xataka | Japan has an amusement park dedicated to Spain. And it’s as wonderful as it looks

James Bond is literally dead. And apparently that’s a problem for his next movie.

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James Bond has not been an easy franchise for years, decades perhaps. The latest incarnation of 007, played by Daniel Craig, took a turn from the classic incarnation of the character, ending in 2021 in ‘No time to die‘ and tragically. Now that Amazon owns the rightsis encountering a considerable obstacle to launching a new installment. He died. The death of James Bond in ‘No Time to Die’, the last incarnation to date of the character, has generated an enormous creative challenge for Amazon MGM Studios, current owners of the rights. For the first time in sixty years, 007 died on screen after a missile attack and poisoning by nanobots. Now Steven Knight, creator of ‘Peaky Blinders’must find a way to continue the franchise while respecting that final death. What seemed like a bold ending has become the biggest obstacle to Bond’s future. Dead end. According to sources close to the production, the franchise’s producers are “pulling out hair“because Bond did not disappear or fake his death, as he has done in other installments. He was literally torn to pieces before the viewer. To Anthony Horowitz, author of three recent Bond novels, It is not difficult to believe in these difficulties: “The last time we saw Bond he was poisoned and torn to pieces. It was a mistake, because Bond is a legend.” Why is it a problem? There are authors who talk about the fact that a death scene as explicit as the one seen in the latest Bond film undermines the legendary nature of the character, who has lived an impossibly long arc of time (he fought in the Second World War, but remains fit today) and has changed his face as his performers rotated. This gives 007 a halo of a mythological hero, in the style of the classics, which clashes head-on with the idea of ​​him dying. Furthermore, it is a decision with an economic ingredient: a reboot It would open the door to continuous and unconnected versions, which would devalue the brand. We must bear this death. Where is the franchise? There is still little known information about this new installment: Denis Villeneuve, director of ‘Dune’, will direct this twenty-sixth Bond adventure, with Knight as screenwriter. In March 2025, Amazon MGM obtained complete creative control of the franchise after an agreement with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, ending decades of control by the Broccoli family, and the studio aims for a premiere in 2028. Casting is paralyzed until the problem of Bond’s death is resolved, but names like Tom Holland (finally discarded), Jacob Elordi and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (also discarded). Possible solutions. With the franchise in danger, many fans and experts have provided possible solutions. The first is an idea that has always been floating around since it became clear that the character’s longevity was meaningless: “007” and “James Bond” are code names given to the best agent, and when one dies or retires the next one receives the title. Of course, there is the possibility of a complete reset. You can also propose a prequel and set the film, for example, in the sixties, showing Bond’s rise in MI6. EITHER use the already canonical character of Mathildethe daughter that Bond has with Madeleine Swann in ‘No Time to Die’, and changing the character’s gender. In Xataka | These researchers have watched all the James Bond movies to see how exposed to infectious agents a 007 is and the result is nonsense

There is nothing more French than a baguette. And even the French have gotten tired of them

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That in France the baguette is a symbol, an icon, an institution (almost), is beyond any doubt. Just three years ago UNESCO included it on its list of intangible cultural heritage and together with the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and a handful of other symbols (not many) it is part of the iconic heritage of Paris. Despite all this, the French seem less and less interested in taking baguettes home, which coincides with a general drop in bread consumption. There are those who already warn that the popular bar is presented with a “uncertain future” or even, going further, he wonders: Can French baguette die? France, less and less panera. France may have turned baguettes into a national symbol, but even that has not prevented bread from facing a complex crisis there. The demand data shows this clearly, as CNN recalled this week in an analysis on the topic. If after the Second World War the French consumed an average of 25 ounces of bread per person per day (about 700 grams), in 2015 that figure had already dropped to four ounces (113 g). The trend does not seem to have reversed in the last decade and today this average consumption indicator is even lower, standing at 3.5 ounces (almost 100 g). In practice, that amounts to less than half a baguette. Is there more data? Yes. And most of them are not what they say are encouraging for the sector. In 2023 the Confederation of French Bakeries and Pastry Shops published a survey which reveals that, of the thousand consumers interviewed, more than a third (36%) acknowledged having reduced their bread consumption during the previous five years. The decline was also especially pronounced among middle-aged people (35 to 49 years old). In his case the ‘puncture’ reached 43%. In the lower cohort, young people between 25 and 34 years old, one in four interviewed (26%) declared that they had increased their consumption of bread, although this trend has some important nuances. Young people are beginning to see bread as part of the meals they eat outside the home and are banishing it from their breakfasts, a time of day when it was previously common to consume baguette bread with butter, jam or chocolate and hazelnut cream. Among those under 24 years of age, 57% maintain this habit. It is a considerable percentage, but it is far from the 83% that reaches among the population group of 55 to 65 years. “Coucou, tu as pris le pain?” The decline of bread in France is nothing new. In 2013 the trend was already clear enough for French bakers to launch a campaign to encourage its consumption. His slogan was “Coucou, tu as pris le pain?” (“Hey, did you pick up the bread?”) and was plastered on billboards, bus shelters and shop windows across the country with a clear purpose: to get French families to buy baguettes on the way home. They didn’t have it easy. The change of scenario facing the sector responds to a cocktail in which both internal factors and changes at a social and cultural level are combined. And what factors are those? To begin with, the offer has changed (a lot). It is not the same bread that the French found in the 50s or 60s as those of 2025. CNN remember how there are new professionals (“neo-bakers”) who are choosing to remove baguettes from their shelves and opt for other products, aromatic sourdough and whole-grain breads, made with cereals, organic flour and sold by weight. The reason, beyond their flavor: they stay fresh longer, an important factor for a generation that has lost the habit (or simply does not have time) of going to the bakery every day. Added to this is the popularity of other competitors, such as processed sliced ​​bread from the US. The data is once again incontestable. A study by the Federation of Bakery Entrepreneurs reveals that nine out of ten French (86%) admit to consuming industrial white plan bought in supermarkets. In May the Sirhafood medium I remembered that the market for packaged industrial sliced ​​bread moves more than 500 million euros annually, which has meant that the format (soft bread) has even aroused the interest of artisan workshops. Beyond the industry. The drop in bread consumption is also linked to something more complex: changes at a social, cultural and demand level. Simply the young they cook less and they eat more outside the home, where they also find a greater gastronomic offer, with alternatives in which bread is not a central piece. It’s not a coincidence. Yes in 2005 88% of French people Respondents saw bread as the basis of a balanced diet, in 2023 that percentage was already 66%. In its day, the baguette also offered a series of advantages (an easy-to-store format, availability, price and flavor) that may be less appreciated in the market today. The bar must be consumed the same day it is purchased, which requires going to the bakery daily. In a society in which time is scarce, this is a handicap and explains the implementation that supermarket bread has achieved. Beyond France. The phenomenon is not in any case exclusive to France. In Spain it happens something similar. Data from the Ministry of Food show that per capita consumption has plummeted in recent decades: from 56.4 kilos per year in 1990 we have gone to 27.4. The most curious thing is that the fall is once again focused on fresh bread, which (although it remains the most popular) is the one that has suffered the greatest ‘puncture’. The consumption of industrial bread has grown, although not enough to compensate for the collapse of traditional loaves. Images | Sergio Arze (Unsplash), Mohamed Jamil Latrach (Unsplash) and Shalev Cohen (Unsplash) In Xataka | We knew that freezing bread was convenient, cheap and fashionable. What we are not clear about is that it is “so good” for health

It was a huge failure that now has another chance

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At the end of August, ‘Gran Turismo 7‘ received a update. The video game of PlayStation 5 He received five sports cars with the peculiarity that one of them was a minivan and, in addition, it was a huge commercial failure 20 years ago. It is about the Renault Avantimea very beloved model in some circles that took over a French company that manufactured sports cars and of which some 8,500 units were manufactured. Curiously, it is an ideal car for the United States, and now that it turns 25, it will finally reach that market due to a controversial import rule that was born due to… Mercedes. Minivan coupe. Let’s go with a little story about the Avantime which, as its name suggests, was a car that was born before its time. Presented as the CoupéSpace In 1999, Renault’s idea was to combine the spaciousness of a minivan with the sportiness of a three-door coupe. Manufactured by Matra (a company that was born in the 1940s as a sports car manufacturer), the Avantime began to be sold in 2001 with a single engine: a three-liter V6 with 207 HP. Then other engines came out, such as the 2.0 with 163 HP with turbo and the 2.2-liter, 150 HP diesel. The door The car was a boat: 4.64 meters long (a lot for its time, currently compact), 1.63 meters high and a great aerodynamic coefficient if we take into account its size. It weighed a lot, and much of the blame was on the two huge doors, 1.40 meters long and 50 kilos each. To open them without looking like the wings of an airplane, Renault and Matra engineered a double hinge that “folded” the door at another point. Your market? Europe, although it had all the earmarks of being an ideal car for the United States. Mercedes and the gray market. Renault never officially launched it in the North American country, but you might think that if someone liked it, they just had to buy it, homologate it and that’s it, right? That is, like this It has been made in Europe with some units of another recent commercial fiasco, the Cybertruck. Well no, and it all comes from Mercedes that began to be sold uncontrollably in the 70s. During that time, the United States experienced a boom in vehicle imports in the gray market. Americans discovered that they could buy European cars directly in Europe at prices significantly lower than those the Europeans themselves officially sold in the country. It is estimated that, in 1985 alone, 60,000 European gray market vehicles entered the US, and a fifth of registered Mercedes they were importing of Europe. The roof had to weigh a quintal The 25 year rule. The Germans, with an official presence in the country, were not amused because, furthermore, the cars being sold did not come directly from a European dealership. Mercedes herself did the test buying a model on the gray market, the 500SEL from 1985. It was a model with airbagsbut what they received was the ’84 model without airbags and with parts added later in a non-approved manner. Citing security reasons, and because the practice was harming the market, the company spent millions trying to push through Congress a law that would stop the private importation of vehicles that were not officially destined for the US market. They won: in 1988 approved the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act that prohibited these imports. There was one exception: vehicles over 25 years old would be considered classics and would therefore be exempt from the restrictions. Come on, it was not so much an issue of road safety as of preventing gray market sales from taking away part of the pie. Logical reason, on the other hand. Ahead of its time. That those stipulated 25 years will be fulfilled in 2026 means that Americans, those who like wide carsyou will be able to enjoy some of the most unique European creations of recent years. And seeing how the market is, in which it seems that if you are not an SUV you are nothing, surely one of the most unique of the times to come. Furthermore, that original version with the V6 gasoline is the most interesting version for that market. We will have to keep an eye on whether they begin to import some units that, why not say it, are not too expensive considering how scarce the model is due to the morrocotudo failure it was for the French. Specifically8,557 units were produced (taking into account the three engines) of the 80,000 they wanted to manufacture because they had difficulties with the doors and the heavy roof (a lot of glass and no pillar), but it would not have mattered: they sold very little because, in addition, it was an expensive car. In the United Kingdom it cost 24,000 pounds in 2022 and only 450 units were sold in the three years that it was available. This slap impacted Renault, but it took out a Matra Automotive that depended directly on the production of this car. I have to admit that I never liked it, but my partner Alberto does have his eye on a model that, beyond taste, is unique. So much so that even Renault itself has put him in his place. Images | Renault, Zvonimir Jurcic, Patrick Charpiat In Xataka | Is the myth that “older” cars were safer true?

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