How wellness marketing turned a vegetable into a potion

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From time to time, the algorithm decides which will be the new elixir of eternal youth. He did it with him water with lemon, with coconut oil on an empty stomach, with shots of weed and with apple cider vinegar. Now it’s the beet’s turn. On TikTok and in wellness magazines is presented in format shot morning that promises energy, luminous skin, sports performance and—of course—preventing premature aging. But is it really the new miracle superfood or just another example of health marketing wrapped in scientific language? All part of social networks. In just a few weeks, the so-called beet shots —the traditional beet shots—sneaked into the breakfasts of influencers and wellness devotees. The nutritionist Itziar Digón, in an interview with Vogueargued that this vegetable is “anti-inflammatory, improves circulation and helps prevent premature aging.” His recommendation was simple: a small glass, about 250 milliliters of blended raw beets every morning, to “activate the production of nitric oxide” and strengthen the immune system. The proposal did not take long to go viral. On social networks, the story fit perfectly with that modern idea of ​​quick and natural health: a miraculous molecule, a morning gesture and an almost immediate effect. The nitrates in beets, enthusiasts explained, are transformed into nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels and improves oxygenation. In practice, it promised more fluid circulation, less inflammation and extra energy to start the day. Under the promise. There is some truth behind fashion. Some studies —published in Frontiers in Nutrition either ScienceDirect— have seen that beet juice can slightly lower blood pressure or improve physical performance in certain cases, especially in athletes. Also Healthline explains that its red pigments, betalains, together with natural nitrates, provide a slight anti-inflammatory effect. Besides, according to WebMDthese compounds help reduce inflammation by removing reactive substances from the bloodstream and protecting cardiovascular health. In short, beets are healthy, rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals, and have real benefits for blood pressure and vascular function. However, it is one thing to include it as part of a balanced diet and quite another to believe that a morning shot will rejuvenate the body or strengthen the immune system. The other side The clinical studies are clear: there is no evidence that beets “prevent premature aging”, “reduce inflammation of the gut-brain” or “strengthen the immune system” directly. An essay collected in PubMed showed thatafter 13 weeks of regular consumption, no significant cognitive or metabolic improvements were observed. There is also no scientific basis to claim that it “detoxifies” the body. As we have explained in Xatakadetoxification is a function carried out naturally by the liver and kidneys; It does not blend in a blender. And, as if that were not enough, excess beets can have unwanted effects. According to Healthlineits high oxalate content can increase the risk of gout in predisposed people. So no, not everything natural is harmless. The pattern repeats. If the script sounds familiar, it is because we have already seen it with other express remedies. It’s not that beets don’t have benefits—they do—but because the discourse surrounding them exaggerates, simplifies, and generalizes. The mix of scientific jargon (“nitric oxide,” “microbiota,” “low-grade inflammation”) and aspirational testimonials builds an illusion of rigor that sells more than reality. Behind the craze for morning shots is something deeper than a vegetable smoothie: a culture that seeks quick, instant, and visually shareable results. In an environment dominated by immediacy, well-being becomes contained; and the content, an emotional commodity. The critical point. The beet is not the problem. The problematic thing is believing that well-being fits in a 250 milliliter glass. Incorporating it into your diet may be a good idea—because of its fiber, iron, and antioxidants—but it won’t magically make you age slower or make your cells work better. So, if you really want to take care of your body, it’s better to stick to the usual things: eat a variety of foods, move, rest and not believe everything that shines magenta in your feed. Image | FreePik Xataka | Silicon Valley’s silent obsession is not AI: it is beating death

The ‘trash’ has become the hot potato of Madrid politics. One that has forced the City Council to rectify

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It’s not the only town hall of Spain that has been shaken by he ‘garbage’but the controversy surrounding the new waste collection rate has had a special impact in Madrid. Because of its reach. And due to the formula chosen by the City Council to calculate receipts, a system that the OCU has come to call “original and unfair”. Now the Government of José Luis Martínez-Almeida has decided to reconsider the calculation of the tax to take into account a fundamental factor: the number of people registered in each residential property. The question is… Will it settle the debate? What has happened? That the Madrid City Council has decided to change your calculation system for the new garbage ratea tax that has been forced to adopt (like the rest of the cities in Spain with more than 5,000 residents) to comply a law of 2022. As a backdrop are the guidelines set by Brussels to improve waste management in the EU. After the neighborhood criticism and organizations like the OCUthe Government headed by José Luis Martínez-Almeida has decided to rectify its initial criterion and give more weight to a key factor in the equation: the number of people residing in each home. In that way, they assure from Cibelesthe average increase in the garbage rate for next year will be minimal: from 141 it will go to €142.6. Why so much trouble with the rate? To understand it you have to go back to at least April. It was then that the deadline for the Law 7/2022 It gave Spanish municipalities with more than 5,000 residents to adjust to its guidelines, which basically oblige the majority of councils to provide themselves with “a specific, differentiated and non-deficit rate” for waste collection, one also based on “payment per generation” (‘Whoever pollutes, pays’) and that “reflects the real cost.” Some town councils, like Barcelona, ​​had been preparing the ground to soften the blow of the rate. In other parts of Spain they are far behind, in case of Malaga or the Balearic Islands. In Madrid the receipts began to arrive in september, not without stirsomething that is explained by three main reasons. The first, the impact that the capital has. The second, because in 2015 the then mayor (Ana Botella) had decided “eliminate” the tax for the sake of “less fiscal pressure for the citizen.” The third (and most important) factor was the calculation system chosen by the Madrid City Council to calculate the new rate, a formula that the OCU came to cross out “original… and unfair.” Why’s that? Due to the elements that the City Council took into account when calibrating the rate it charges each neighbor. Among them (in the case of residential properties) included the cadastral value, the generation rate of each neighborhood and the waste separation coefficient. I didn’t like the formula to the oppositionto part of the neighbors (who went beyond Madrid and charged against the law) and the OCU, which after knowing the calculation criteria launched a very critical statement. What do they criticize?. “The problem is that the criteria chosen in Madrid are not really fair. There are large price differences depending on the neighborhoods and it is the case that neighbors may have to pay for garbage that they are not actually generating,” warned the consumer organization. In his opinion “it is already quite new” that part of the rate is estimated based on the cadastral value of the home, but the rest of the criteria are also far from being perfect. For example, the OCU pointed out that if the tons of garbage collected in each neighborhood are taken into account, without further ado, the calculation ends up being distorted. The reason? “The incorporation of waste whose origin is not strictly residential, such as tourist apartments, shops or businesses whose collection is done jointly with the ordinary collection”, warns. “The result is a strong penalty for residents who live in more central neighborhoods, with greater tourist or commercial activity.” And what has happened? That after weeks of complaints and criticism, the Madrid City Council has ‘rectified’ taking into account part of the proposals brandished by the opposition. On Thursday the City Council revealed that next year “a new ordinance” of the Waste Management Rate (TGR) will be approved “as a result of the need to include new parameters, which will provide greater equity and legal certainty in its calculation.” Which is it? Specifically, one stands out: the number of people registered in each home, “an aspect that has resulted from great technical complexity.” “Thanks to this, rates will be established distributed in ten sections (from one registered person to ten or more) depending on the number of registered people in the property on January 1, 2026,” ditch Martínez-Almeida’s team. That variable is completed with others. “For the calculation of the basic rate, the information on the individual cadastral value of each home or premises has been taken into account, while for the generation rate, the amount of waste generated and the percentage of quality of the separation of each of the 131 neighborhoods have been taken into consideration.” Have you announced anything else? Yes. The City Council has clarified that, according to its calculations, the average collection rate received for 2026 will be 142.6 euros, “practically the same amount” as this year. The advertisement It has also come preceded by other developments in municipal taxation, such as a lowering of the IBI rate that will benefit more than 2.2 million properties. The City Council assures that in total the reduction in taxes and fees planned for next year will allow Madrid residents to pay 33.5 million euros less than in 2025. Matter settled? Not at all. The one known as ‘garbage’ has generated a considerable political stir that extends far beyond the capital and pivots around a key debate: Is the 2022 law that has led cities to review their garbage rates the result of the community guidelines that they aspire … Read more

Diza Consultores has insisted that you have something at home: a breakfast nook

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In each video of Diza Real Estate Consultants there is a moment that is almost a gag architectural. The salesman opens the door of a closet, shows a small space with wooden shelves and a coffee maker and says: “The breakfast nook would go here.” The networks have done the rest. The most unremarkable piece of furniture in the kitchen has become a viral icon, object of desire and meme at the same time. Where once there was a nondescript corner with a toaster, now there is a whole philosophy of life: hyggeminimalism and well-being concentrated between two folding doors. What began as a functional gesture—bringing together the coffee maker, cups and bread in one place—has ended up becoming the symbol of the aspirational home. Influencers like Ariane Hoyos they have popularized it under the concept of “my cafeteria at home”, while Almu Carrión talks about his coffee corner. In TikTok and instagramthe videos tagged with #desayunador exceed one hundred thousand references. But what is behind this aesthetic fever? When did a piece of furniture designed to hide the toaster become a cult object? ¿What is a breakfast room? In the words of design studios, a breakfast nook is a kitchen module dedicated to storing and organizing everything necessary for the first meal of the day. According to Himera Studyits function is clear: “hide small appliances, maintain visual order and free up the countertop.” Typically, it includes a small interior work surface, shelves for cups and integrated sockets for daily use of the coffee maker or toaster. Beyond the technical definition, the means of interior design they present it as a perfect example of how modern design seeks to balance functionality and aesthetics. The breakfast cabinet has ceased to be a decorative whim and has become a key piece in functional and modern kitchens, both for its practicality and its aesthetic value. From utility to trend. The phenomenon was not born in nothing. According to a report from El Paísthis trend arose from the desire to reproduce at home the coffee and tea stations so popular in hotel buffets. “Having a breakfast area in the kitchen is fashionable, and its demand is growing because it allows you to leave the countertop free and improve the aesthetics of the set,” the Mobalpa firm explains to the same medium. This mix of utility and visual pleasure has made the breakfast nook a symbol of everyday well-being. The architect Emma Guillén He details it simply: “It is the secret to starting the day in order and peace.” He recommends placing it near the microwave to speed up morning routines and providing it with indirect lighting that creates a warm and functional atmosphere: “An LED strip under the shelves transforms the space and helps differentiate it from the rest of the kitchen,” he points out. In short, you can see how the attraction lies in the promise of calm. Gathering everything you need for breakfast in the same space will allow you to enjoy more relaxed and stress-free mornings. The interior designers match in which this corner functions as a domestic refuge: a small sanctuary where the morning chaos stops for a moment to grind coffee, heat milk or open a jar of jam without haste. Fashion or necessity? The answer, as almost always, depends on space and budget. But, as interior designer Mireia Torruella explains to El Paísthe breakfast nook is above all an aspirational phenomenon: “On social media everything appears perfect, but in real life these elements complicate maintenance and detract from practicality. The breakfast nook is promoted as a mustwhen in reality it responds more to the aesthetics of a photo than to the true experience in the kitchen. Along the same lines, Himera Estudio remember that many times It is enough to “extend the countertop or install a small office” to fulfill the same function without making the renovation more expensive. Of course, they recognize its charm: “Visual cleanliness in a kitchen is basic. When the countertops are free of appliances, the space appears larger, more orderly, more zen.” A contemporary ritual. The success of the breakfast nook reveals something profound about our relationship with home. As Guillén points outhaving everything you need together in one corner avoids comings and goings and provides a more orderly start to the day. That order, he says, “translates into well-being.” Perhaps that is why the furniture triumphs: because it promises calm. A space where coffee is not prepared in a hurry, but as a small domestic ritual. A corner that summarizes our aspirations for an aesthetic, efficient and controlled life. And, of course, also because it looks very good on video. Image | Diza Real Estate Consultants Xataka | The best building in the world in 2024 has not been an airport or skyscraper. It’s a school in a suburb of Australia

they use Huawei and DeepSeek chips

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China’s race to get become technologically independent from the United States It is reaching the military sector. The military is accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence into its operations and most importantly: they are favoring national technologies. In the software, DeepSeek. In hardware, Huawei chips. what’s happening. the chinese army is using AI to support strategic decision making and target detection. According to an analysis of Reutersseveral studies and patents suggest that they are also applying it in new vehicles such as robot dogs and autonomous drones, all prioritizing the use of national technologies, both in software and hardware. Why is it important. China has already given steps to stop depending on Nvidiathe maker of the most powerful AI chips. This is one more step towards technological independence, but in a critical sector such as the military. The objective is to eliminate foreign influence in its defense infrastructure, just like the United States does. Huawei chips. Speaking to Reuters, the defense policy expert Sunny Cheungassures that since the beginning of this year the Chinese military has increased the number of contractors that exclusively use national hardware. That is to say, AI chips made by Huawei. Although the military still uses Nvidia chips (it is not known if they were imported before or after of the blockade), there is a movement towards the use of own chips. DeepSeek. At the beginning of the year, military experts in China assured that the military was testing DeepSeek integration. In May, researchers from Xi’an University showed a system based on DeepSeek capable of creating and analyzing 10,000 combat scenarios in just 48 seconds. Reuters analyzed several tenders awarded to various companies by the Chinese military and at least a dozen mentioned DeepSeek, while only one referenced Alibaba’s Qwen. It is clear which is the preferred model for the Chinese army. Robot dogs and drones. The documents analyzed by Reuters also suggest that the Chinese military is integrating AI into autonomous vehicles such as robot dogs. It is no secret, in 2024 the army itself published a video promoting robot dogs who moved in packs to eliminate explosives and other threats. The robots in the video were from the Chinese company Unitree, but there are also other national companies dedicated to the manufacturing of these vehicles such as Norinco, which confirmed in a technical report that they use Huawei chips. On the other hand, Deepseek is also being integrated into drones to give them the ability to recognize and follow targets with hardly any human intervention. Image | Wikipedia, Flickr In Xataka | Europe already has the future of war drones within its reach. And it is offered by a country accustomed to them: Israel

restore mobility to millions of stroke patients for 15,000 euros

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The Spanish company Robopedics has presented the final design of Awake, your bionic mobility assistance device. It is a unique product in the world and is developed with a clear and very specific objective: to help people who have suffered a stroke rehabilitate and regain the ability to walk. You have probably heard of this disease, but it is also very likely that you do not know its subsequent impact: 93% of those who survive end up having significant consequences, and in fact 82% end up having continuous dependence and permanent help in the chronic phase. Many lose their autonomy and ability to walk. And that’s where Robopedics comes in. From the storage room to a promising medical revolution TO Ivan MartinezCEO and co-founder of Robopedics, it didn’t occur to him that he wanted to create a company to help stroke patients walk again. The only thing he wanted was to help his father, who suffered a stroke before the pandemic that left him without that ability. Iván Ramírez, CEO and co-founder of Robopedics. With that illness Iván had a shock of reality. After the stroke came dependency, the slowness of the system and the frustration of seeing that the technology did not seem to be made for cases like his father’s. “He only had one leg affected, but all the solutions were for two.” That’s how it is. The solutions that we usually find on the market are bilateral clinical devices that are designed for spinal cord injuries. These exoskeletons are striking, but they have many limitations. The first, the price, which usually starts at 100,000 euros. The second, the weight: they do not weigh less than 20 kg and make handling complicated. In fact, Ramírez points out, current solutions barely have any scope: although it may seem more because of their popularity in the media, only about 500 units are sold a year, when there are more than 20 million people who would need them. Ramírez decided to build from scratch a unilateral bionic device (“it is not an exoskeleton,” its creators insist) that would be capable of helping those who had lost unilateral mobility after a stroke to walk. Ramírez tells us without drama: “during the first four years I was alone. I took notes from my degree, tutorials, papers, I went to events… I learned as I went.” Iván had the help of the medical staff who treated his father, for example, but the technological solution was entirely in his hands. Without resources or equipment, he began to design and test his first structures from home, with basic engines. “I thought it would be a three-afternoon project, and I spent four whole years on it.” And then something happened. His father died during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the blow was tremendous. “Ramírez kept the prototype in the storage room and forgot about it for months.” But then, “by circumstances and coincidences,” he confesses, he met his co-founders, Dionís Guzmán and Marc Serraand decided that this device could become a commercial product. One that would help improve the lives of many people, even if he would not be able to help Iván’s father. Get up and walk This is how Robopedics was born, which little by little developed its current solution, Awake. Until then, Ramírez explains to us, existing exoskeletons were bilateraldesigned for people with spinal injuries or who cannot move either leg. This engineer soon understood why there were no solutions for those who only had one leg affected: it was much more difficult. With two robotic legs there is always one resting on the ground, making balance and control easier. But with only one, the system has to coordinate the robotic leg with the patient’s healthy leg, which does not have sensors or assistance. “Doing it with one leg seemed simpler, but it was just the opposite: without instrumenting the healthy leg, everything is much more complex,” he explains. The result was a lightweight unipodal exoskeletonwith adjustable telescopic joints and an electronic system curiously based on a Raspberry Pi in its industrial model. The idea not only reduced costs – key in a market where prices are skyrocketing – but also opened the door to more accessible and modular manufacturing. With the start of the business project, Iván and his partners added physiotherapists and neurological rehabilitation specialists to the team. Sandra Torrell, a team physiotherapist who has been working with stroke patients for years, explains how in the initial tests “we saw that the device really worked. There were patients who arrived tired and left walking straighter, more confident. And that change was maintained over time.” The device has already passed the technical development and laboratory testing phases, and is now entering the clinical trials stage to achieve medical certification. This approval, in which they have spent four years, has been long but, curiously, fruitful: by having to meet the demanding medical requirements, the product “is much better than it was at the beginning of the process,” confesses Ramírez. In fact, if everything goes as expected, Awake will be available in Spain in the second half of next year. And subsequently the idea is to expand the market, first in the European Union and then in the rest of the world. For this expansion, Robopedics has been closing successive rounds of investment, raising two million euros in the past, to which another million more is added in a new recent financing round and another 700,000 euros that they hope to raise in an imminent round. Among its key partners, Iván Ramírez highlights, are the Mondragón group as the main investor, in addition to Erreka as in charge of global manufacturing. To develop the product they have worked in collaboration with the Valencia Biomechanics Institute and The CT Engineering Group. The funds are used, for example, to achieve regulatory authorization as a class IIa medical device and thus be able to launch it on the market. How does Awake work… and how much does it … Read more

There is an industry losing 42,000 jobs and bleeding before us: Hollywood

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The entertainment industry in Los Angeles is going through its worst crisis in decadeswith a dizzying drop in the number of productions and jobs, which has caused a feeling of “economic disaster” in the creative heart of California. It seems like a well-known story that we recover cyclically every few years, but this time some abysmal figures, never seen before, accompany: the media have detected how companies are entering a real emergency situation. Are we contemplating Hollywood’s last great crisis? Two years of chaos. According to The Wall Street Journalthe crisis that Hollywood is going through not only affects the large studios and production companies, but also has an impact on thousands of indirect jobs and the commercial fabric of the city: restaurants, technical services, prop stores and housing have seen how the activity linked to film and television is drastically reduced. In the last two years, more than 40,000 jobs have been lost in the sector, leaving animators, technicians, scriptwriters, operators and small businesses in a precarious situation, and raising the local unemployment rate above the state and national average.​ Some data. These 40,000 direct jobs disappeared represent a drop of more than 20% of the sector’s total. With this, the unemployment rate in Los Angeles County for industry professionals has reached 5.7%, exceeding not only the state average of California (5.5%) but also the national average of the United States, around 4.3%. All this has led to a drop in local production to historical record numberswith a decrease of at least 30% in film and television projects recorded in Los Angeles, continuously since 2023.​ And how is that reflected for practical purposes? In it production exodus: The number of Hollywood projects filming outside of California, primarily in states with more competitive tax incentives such as Georgia and New Mexico, has risen 25%.​ The signal from the sets. The occupation of the Hollywood sets It is perhaps the clearest sign of how the area’s economy has fallen. In 2024, the average occupancy of sets in Los Angeles fell to a historic 63%, a significant decrease from the average of more than 90% that remained constant between 2016 and 2022. And there is another fact: only 20% of the activity on sets was destined for television, down from 30% in previous years. The cause, as we will see below, is the reduction in expenses that the platforms of streamingimmersed in extreme savings policies.​ But why does it happen? First of all, prolonged strikes of scriptwriters and actors since 2023, which paralyzed a good part of local production, generating million-dollar losses and discouraging new investments from being generated. Added to this is the considerable increase in the cost of living and production in Los Angeles, which has led many studios and production companies to seek alternative destinations with tax incentives and more attractive subsidies, such as those mentioned above, Canada or other emerging markets.​ Another significant cause is the transformation of the entertainment economic modelparticularly with the proliferation of platforms streaming. These platforms, faced with market saturation and pressure to maintain profitability, have reduced their budgets and the number of projectstaking away part of the total production volume in Los Angeles. The combination of lower demand and budgetary adjustments has pushed the industry into a prolonged contraction.​ And finally, there is the emergence of artificial intelligencewith its challenge to traditional labor, especially in fields such as animation, visual effects and post-production. And now what. To begin with, an immediate effect: The position of the United States as a global leader in audiovisual production is in danger. Not only are a significant number of productions moving to other regions and even countries, attracted by better fiscal conditions, lower costs and cheaper technical equipment. It is that thanks to the globalization of entertainment that has brought streamingticket offices like those in Korea or China They are no longer secondary. This week’s highest-grossing film worldwide it has been an anime. The animation phenomenon of the year has been a k-pop idol movie. The throne is more disputed than ever. Header | Braden Egli in Unsplash In Xataka | While Hollywood goes through a slump, one film industry is constantly filling theaters: the Chinese one

participate in our tournament and choose your favorite retro product

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The Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025 They approach slowly, but without pause. In these awards we choose (and you choose) the best technology products, the best innovations of the present that underpin the future, the crème de la crème, Oh. But in this edition there will also be space to look to the past and fondly remember those products that marked our childhoods. From Xataka we launch the Xataka Retro Award and we do it with a twist. It is not a new category in the Awards, but a tribute to the technology of yesteryear. Instead of the usual voting (xatakeros and jury vote for their favorite candidates through forms, here you have them all), this prize will be decided with a tournament through Instagram and Instagram Stories. So grab your PDAs, dust off your Walkman and look for your memory cards, there’s a real shot of nostalgia coming. when and where Duel of nostalgic titans Over the next few days it will take place in the stories of the official profile of Xataka on Instagram the Xataka Retro Prize Tournament. Through the stories we will show the intersections of the products and you, our xatakeros, will have to choose your favorite products by voting in the polls. NordVPN offers you a fast and stable connection thanks to your more than 6,300 servers in more than 110 countries. Enjoy advanced cybersecurity tools with Threat Protection Pro™, securely access your streaming platforms favorites wherever you are and enjoy the best offers on flights and hotels. Advice offered by the brand We have arranged the products into four categories, each corresponding to a junction. In the video game console category, the Game Boy will compete against the PlayStation 1. In the music category, the Walkman against the iPod. In computers, the legendary ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Finally, in telephony, the Nokia 3310 against the Motorola V8. Here we leave you the crossings and the days on which they will take place. Quarter finals crossing vote results Game Boy vs PlayStation 1 Monday, October 27 Tuesday, October 28 Walkman vs iPod Wednesday, October 29 Thursday, October 30 ZX Spectrum vs Commodore 64 Monday, November 3 Tuesday, November 4 Nokia 3310 vs Motorola V8 Wednesday, November 5 Thursday, November 6 Semifinals crossing vote results Semifinal 1 Friday, November 7 Monday, November 10 Semifinal 2 Monday, November 10 Tuesday, November 11 grand finale crossing vote results Semifinal 1 Tuesday, November 11 Wednesday, November 12, and at the Xataka NordVPN 2025 Awards gala You still have time to get your tickets for the gala Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025 on November 20 in Madrid! Join us and discover the best technological products of the year in a free event full of gadgets, humor and surprises. Advice offered by the brand The winners will be revealed on November 12 and they will also have a space in the Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025. The first crossing has already begun, so take a look at the stories from Xataka on Instagram and choose your favorite product. I wish I could have done it on MySpace or Tuenti, but it is what it is. Thank you very much for participating!

Renfe has its AVRIL trains ready to put them back on the tracks. You just have to show that they don’t split

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It seems that the soap opera of Renfe’s AVRIL trains is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The company has already received the completely repaired trains from Talgo, according to The Economistwho claim that the company has confirmed this point to them. The first question is what will be the new destination of these trains. The second is whether they will pass the litmus test: proving that they do not split. Back. Renfe already has the S106 trains affected by the cracks suffered in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor while providing AVLO service. That is what the company itself has confirmed to us, which, when asked by Xataka has confirmed that the replacement of the bogies has now “been successfully completed”. The trains have returned three months after being sent for repairs to the railway company’s facilities. They have done so after having completely replaced the affected bogies. Instead of being repaired, they have been completely changed to avoid greater evils. What happened? At the end of July, Renfe began to receive signals that something was wrong with its AVRIL trains that provided the AVLO service (Renfe’s low cost line) on the Madrid-Barcelona route. Those signs were, directly, cracks in trains. Although first there was talk of one train, we finally know that there were five that ended up affected by cracks of different magnitudes. After a tug of war between The Economist (which advanced the news) and the company itselfRenfe ended up suspending the sale of AVLO tickets on the Madrid-Barcelona route and ended up redistributing the AVE service to customers. Now the company recovers those affected trains but it does not seem that Madrid-Barcelona will be their destination. Whose fault is it? It is one of the great unknowns. Renfe has pointed out Talgo as the culprit of the cracks, reminding him that the trains are under warranty and that, therefore, they were not going to pay for the repairs. Talgo, for its part, blames Adifensuring that the maintenance of the line is insufficient and that this has caused excessive vibrations that have led to the famous cracks. Everything indicates that the problem is in the section between Madrid and Calatayud. In fact, the company even considered that it would continue operating with its AVLO service in the corridor but at a reduced speed which, it is assumed, did not generate the vibrations and therefore should not have an impact on structural damage to the train. Ultimately, this option was discarded. Fire test. The return of the affected AVRIL trains is a litmus test for Renfe… but above all for Talgo. And it is that Renfe has already been looking for trains in Germany to look for an alternative to the S106, known as AVRIL, which only Talgo manufactures. Giving a good image with a unique train in the world is essential to a company that is in financial trouble. The S106 trains were to be a leap forward for the company. They are the only ones who, given the railway peculiarities of Spainthey can “jump” from Iberian gauge to international gauge. For Renfe they are key because this allows them to position themselves ahead of Ouigo and Iryo facing a future opening to competition in the Galician corridor. However, the S106 have arrived late and They have garnered numerous bad reviews. And where are they going? It is another of the doubts that remain to be cleared up. According to Alberto Puivecinoresponsible for infrastructure and mobility at CCOO in Catalonia, it is possible that these trains will be used for AVANT (medium distance high speed) services in the region. A line that joins Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona, ​​Girona and Figueres. The information was made public after a meeting between CCOO and the Generalitat of Catalonia. In Xataka We have asked Renfe in this regard but they assure that “the service that the currently immobilized units 106 will provide has not yet been determined. In any case, wherever they are finally going to operate they will do so with full safety guarantees.” For now, the fate of these units remains to be revealed. What we do know is that it is a litmus test for Talgo that must demonstrate that its S106 trains are once again reliable and, above all, are safe enough. Photo | Miguel In Xataka | The countries with the most kilometers of high-speed train, displayed in a graph with a brutal dominator: China

The Nubia Z80 Ultra is not only a beast with 7,200 mAh battery. It also has a photography kit that transforms it into a camera

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Nubia does not fail its annual event and has just announced its new high-end, the Nubia Z80 Ultra. The ZTE subsidiary follows in the footsteps of the Nubia Z70 Ultra and opts for a technical sheet that practically has no room for more cutting-edge features. Furthermore, this year they are jumping on the bandwagon of photographic mobiles with a kit that transforms it into a retro camera. Let’s see everything it offers. Nubia Z80 Ultra technical sheet nubia z80 ultra DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 164.5 x 77.2 x 8.6mm 227 grams screen 6.85 inch OLED FullHD+ resolution (2,688 x 1,216 pixels) 144Hz 2,000 nits No notch processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 ram memory 12/16GB LPDDR5x internal storage 256/512GB/1TB UFS 4.1 rear cameras Main: 50MP, 1/1.3″, 35mm, OIS, f/1.7, OV50H Ultra wide angle: 50MP, 1/1.55″, 18mm, f/1.8, AF, Macro 5.5cm, OV50E Telephoto: 64MP, 70mm, f/2.48, OIS, OV64B front camera 16MP battery 7,200 mAh 80W fast charging (wired and wireless) operating system Nebula AI OS 2.0 Android 16 connectivity 5G, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS L1+L2+L5, NFC USB type C others Camera under the screen Fingerprint reader under the screen Face unlock DTS:X Ultra camera button Artificial intelligence Water resistance IP68, IP69 price To be confirmed Without a camera in front, with a super camera in the back It was 2020 when ZTE hid the front camera under the screen of the phone for the first time. ZTE Axon 20. It has already become a hallmark of its high-end range and in its Nubia range it was not going to be any less. Thanks to this, The front of the phone is all screen, specifically a 6.85-inch panel with brightness of up to 2,000 nits and a refresh rate of 144Hz. In addition to the front camera, the screen also hides a fingerprint reader. When we turn it over we find its other hallmark, the camera module that resembles the appearance of a retro camera. It is rectangular and occupies the entire width of the phone. Furthermore, unlike other cameras that usually place the sensors together in a square or circular arrangement, here we have the main sensor that stands out from the rest, with the telephoto one below and the angular one further to the right. All three sensors are OmniVision. The main one, 50 megapixels, is the largest, brightest and has an optical stabilizer. The wide angle also offers the same resolution, but the sensor is smaller and the lens is not as bright. Finally, the telephoto lens has 64 megapixels of resolution and also has an optical stabilizer. The photographic kit. Speaking of cameras, the Nubia Z80 Ultra comes with a photography kit sold separately and consists of a housing to which we can attach an external telephoto lens. The housing has controls on the top that make it almost a compact camera. No details have been given about the telephoto lens, but it is very reminiscent of the Vivo X300. The latest from Qualcomm and battery for a while Under the hood of the Nubia Z80 Ultra we find the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 which Qualcomm announced just a month ago. In addition to the most advanced chip, it also has 12 or 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and storage up to 1TB UFS4.1. Comes standard with the cape Nebula AI OS 2.0 based on Android 16. For the battery, it is surprising that the new model shares almost the same dimensions and weight as the previous one, but its battery is much larger. Are 7,200 milliamps and 80W fast charging, whether we use a cable or a wireless charger. Versions and prices of the Nubia Z80 Ultra The Nubia Z80 Ultra goes on sale in Spain on November 6 and will arrive in several versions depending on color and memory. In addition to the black and white versions, Nubia repeats one more year and brings a ‘Starry Night’ version, decorated with a drawing reminiscent of the well-known work of Van Gogh. At the moment, they have not revealed the prices for Spain, but we will update as soon as they are confirmed. The versions that will go on sale are these: 12+256GB: black. 16+512GB: black, white and ‘Starry Night’. 16+1TB: black. Images | Nubia In Xataka | Google finds it difficult to continue boasting about the best photographic processing: Vivo has surpassed the Pixel on its own field

OpenAI is obsessed with making ChatGPT the best financial AI, and it makes all the sense in the world

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OpenAI has launched a secret project to train its artificial intelligence models on complex financial tasks, according to Bloomberg quotea medium that claims to have had access to internal documents. As the media shares, the company led by Sam Altman has recruited more than 100 former employees of large investment banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to teach its AI to build financial models, one of the most time-consuming jobs for junior analysts. Project Mercury. As pointed out by documents to which the media has had access, this initiative pays $150 per hour to these contractors to write instructions and develop financial models of different types, which can range from corporate restructuring to IPOs. Sources Bloomberg assures that participants also have early access to AI that is being trained specifically to replace these types of financial tasks. A selection process almost automated. As well as detail From sources close to the company, candidates go through a 20-minute initial interview with an AI chatbot, followed by tests on financial statements and a final modeling assessment. Once in the program, contractors are expected to submit one model per week, prepared in Excel following industry standards, from margins to percentage format. Another way for OpenAI to become profitable. Although OpenAI recently reached a valuation of $500 billionthe startup still has not been able to be profitable. And the company is burning money to invest in all kinds of projects, while large data centers are built with excessive consumption of energy and water. And all this while the subscription of your users It is one of the few ways through which the company obtains direct income, something that currently does not pay off. Mercury can enable its AI to penetrate a key sector such as consulting and finance, while providing a new avenue for income. Investment banking. Just like point In the middle, banking analysts usually work more than 80 hours a week, especially when it comes to managing active operations, building detailed models in Excel for all types of tasks. For this reason, allowing them to choose a reliable language model for their tasks could save them a lot of time. The same old dilemma. According to some experts to whom he has had access the Fortune mediumconsider that a transformation is more likely than a direct elimination of employment. “I’m not convinced we’ll get rid of junior workers anytime soon, but I could imagine a world where the skill set we need them to have is different,” explains to the medium Shawn DuBravac, economist and CEO of Avrio Institute. The first wave of automation in banking. DuBravac esteem that in the next year firms will try to automate between 60% and 70% of the time that analysts currently spend on routine tasks such as cleaning data, formatting spreadsheets and building basic models. However, according to a McKinsey survey published in March, only 38% of organizations using AI predict that generative models will have little effect on their workforce size in the next three years. AI in banks. OpenAI already has important links with the financial sector. In fact, Morgan Stanley uses its technology in its wealth management division, and Altman’s company recently obtained a line of credit of 4 billion dollars from JPMorgan Chase, among other examples. What is also interesting is that JPMorgan itself is actively working on becoming the first “completely AI-powered megabank” of the world. Cover image | OpenAI and Lo Lo In Xataka | Anthropic has seen what OpenAI is doing with its circular financing and has decided that you only live once

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