BYD has built a megafactory in record time. And it’s not just a car factory: it’s a city

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The chinese automotive industry has one goal: flood the west with their cars. BYD is one of the companies that, while wanting to take over the national market, wants a good slice of the international pie. For this you have as many employees as a small countryand to carry out its vision it has the most beastly car factory you can imagine. This is the Zhengzhou plant, and more than a factory, it is a city. Gigafactory? Best Uberfactory. Everything that surrounds the Zhengzhou plant It is imposing. Starting with the times, BYD and the Henan government they signed the project in September 2021, in just one month the works began and less than two years later the factory began production. His ability It is imposing and, already in its first operational phase in April 2023, it demonstrated that it could have a ability 400,000 vehicles annually. Not only did they get it up and running in record time: its dimensions are also impressive. The plant is estimated to have an area of ​​10.68 square kilometers in factories alone, but when the project comes to completion, it will occupy about 130 km². Context. Ten times more than Tesla Gigafactory in Nevadawith its 12 km², and larger than the area of ​​the city of San Francisco (it is approximately 120 km²). It is not unusual for large technology companies to have “cities” under their control and, without leaving China, Huawei has a similar campus (and another that copy different European cities). But BYD is overwhelming. More than cars. The factory is a “living” project of which four phases have been completed so far. The first two have focused on the production of cars, but as we said, we are talking about a factory that goes beyond vehicles. The third phase launched a plant for the battery manufacturing and the fourth has the necessary facilities for the production of semiconductors. They are underway new phases to expand production to two million vehicles annually and it is estimated that the facility generates a complete vehicle every 50 seconds. Technology. This is achieved thanks to an automation rate of 98%, one of the highest in the automotive industry worldwide. For example, the welding process is carried out with 91% robot labor and there are hundreds of them operating in other sectors, such as assembly or logistics. It is not due to a lack of human work, since the factory currently employs about 60,000 people, 90% of them coming from Zhengzhou or its surroundings and there are plans to reach up to 200,000 employees in 2026. Imagine all of Salamanca working in the same factory. Independent Republic of BYD. That is why we are not just talking about a factory: it also has housing and everything necessary is being built to make it a full-fledged city. Apart from housing blocks for employees, the megafactory has canteens, commercial areas, recreational facilities such as soccer fields and other areas for playing sports, as well as an internal transportation system. It also has additional facilities to carry out tests on their vehicles, such as a 1,758 meter circuit with nine curves, sand dunes to carry out off-road tests, a 70 meter pool (this is where you can see the Yangwang U8 in action) and multifunctional areas to carry out braking, acceleration and other more specific tests, such as autonomous parking. Apart from testing, it is like an amusement park for those who want to see the benefits of the brand’s EV cars. International connection. In the end, it is a mix between ambition and space (something that is abundant in China), which gives rise to a city focused on a single task: producing new energy cars with which China is setting the standard globally. In addition, it is an economic engine for the region and such a strategic element that, in 2024, Zhengzhou inaugurated the International Land Port with a one kilometer railway line to the BYD base. In this way, BYD can produce cars and instantly send them by train to the international market. It is also easier to load them into RO-RO boats with capacity for reach Europe in three or four weeks. Such is the importance of Zhengzhou for the company that its seventh ship car carrier was named after the city. Images | BYD In Xataka | Volkswagen is determined to copy China to make its electric cars attractive in Europe: put a gasoline engine in them

now it sounds like an imminent dress rehearsal

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It happened during the cold warwhen Soviet engineers and military personnel developed a powerful project whose purpose was simple but disturbing: to create a last line of physical defense capable of destroying objects that fall from the sky. Now that “the hypersonic and the terminal maneuvers once again put traditional defense frameworks in check, that forgotten experiment reappears as an unexpected piece of the contemporary puzzle: not even an anti-ballistic missile no space shieldbut a brutally simple idea that could help respond to threats that no longer obey the old rules. Origin and purpose. As we said, in the middle of the Cold War, the USSR explored an exceptional concept: an active defense system to protect intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos against terminally advanced enemy nuclear warheads. under the name Mozyr (izdeliye 171), developed by KB Mashinostroyeniya With the direct supervision of Minister Ustinov and the participation of 250 companies from 22 ministries, the objective was to create a kind of “shotgun-type” kinetic shield capable of shooting down American warheads that fell on the Soviet missile fields, compensating for the intrinsic vulnerability of the fixed silos within the nuclear triad. Technical architecture and mechanism. In essence, Mozyr consisted of a multi-gun battery (with sources varying between 80 and several hundred tubes) that fired rods of tungsten or high-strength steel to form a dense cloud oriented to the approach vector of the enemy warhead. The system integrated detection, guidance and control of own fire, calculating density and geometry of the salvo of projectiles according to threat, operating automatically. According to the documentsthe defeat of the target was achieved by kinetic closure at about 6 km/s in the lower atmosphere, a sufficient condition, according to Soviet engineers, to prevent the initiation of a nuclear detonation. Diagram in Russian showing the basic principle of operation of the Mozyr system. It also shows how key components of the system, including projectile launchers, were projected under rotating armored domes Tests in Kamchatka. Although it was not deployed operationally, it was built and tested. Between 1985 and 1988, tests were carried out in Kura (Kamchatka Peninsula), with a simulated silo and a remote command post. Demilitarized ICBMs were used SS-18 Mod 4 as targets from Plesetsk or Baikonur. Many of the testimonies describe night events in which the arrival of the reentry vehicle lit up the sky before fragmenting after the impact of the “swarm” of projectiles, verifying the interception. The radar integrated in the tests was the 5N65 (Flat Twin) of the failed system ABM 5K17. In 1991, state tests ended after funding was cut after the failed coup and the Soviet collapse, not because of technical infeasibility. Fairly basic diagrams showing parts of the 5N65 phased array radar from a CIA document Legal compatibility. It was one of the keys to the project and the sole idea of ​​implementing it. They counted TWZ analysts that Russian sources claimed that Mozyr did not contravene he ABM Treaty of 1972since it prohibited widely deployed systems, but allowed one ABM site per country, although the interpretation is debatable. In parallel, the United States evaluated a twin concept (Swarmjet) to protect silos from MX/Peacekeeper with thousands of unguided rockets, but it never went into hardware. After 2002, with death of the ABM Treaty, the legal straitjacket ceased to exist, which reopens the strategic relevance of low-cost solutions. Strategic relevance compared to MIRV. Mozyr would have had to deal even then with MIRV (like the SS-18 Mod 5 with ten RVs) multiplying targets and risk of saturation. Since then, the challenge is older: modern tactics penetration aidsdecoys, fake object armies, and hypersonic glider vehicles without terminal propulsion that maneuver and degrade discrimination. A silo APS today would face more density, more ambiguity and greater terminal kinematics. Even so, a “cheap kinetic wall” poses a different strategic return than expensive and scarce exoatmospheric interceptors. Nuclear context. The United States changes its strength Minuteman III for him LGM-35A Sentinelcontemplates returning to MIRV, and maintains in parallel the SLBM Trident D5 in Ohio and future Columbia. China expands silos and MIRV. Russia maintains SS-18 Mod 6 and UR-100N with Avangard. In echoes of 2012, there were allusions to reactivate a system analogous to Mozyr. What does it mean? That, in an environment where the volume of terminal threats skyrockets, and ABM munition is expensive, finite and attackable, that last-layer kinetic APS would be, if discrimination and synchronization are mastered, a multiplier of silo survival and, therefore, of the credibility of “second-strike” deterrence. Balance. If you also want, the Mozyr program tested in metal and fire a principle that today he regains weight: a cheap, local active silo defense, with simple physics and brutal fire density, which does not prevent the enemy’s arrival, but can deny his finish at the decisive point. On a planet that reenters the logic of nuclear parity and multiplication of systems that until recently seemed a preserve of science fictionthe Soviet notion (if reengineer for the 21st century) once again sounds less like a relic and more like a dress rehearsal for a plausible future. Image | MichaelINC In Xataka | Russia is beginning to run out of the weapons it inherited from the USSR. So it’s pulling North Korea’s In Xataka | In the Cold War, Norway devised a plan underground to stop the Soviets. The invasion of Ukraine has reactivated it

is to beat death

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For centuries, humanity has dreamed of stopping the clock. From the legends of the fountain of eternal youth to the Hungarian Countess Bathory, the myth of prolonging life has spanned cultures and centuries. Today, that promise is no longer spilled in blood or written in stories: it is negotiated in offices with investment funds. Biotechnology in the era of anti-aging. A company founded in California, Altos Labs, leads a new generation from companies that aspire to turn aging into another medical problem. The company has brought together elite scientists to develop partial cell reprogramming experiments, with the goal of reversing diseases and restoring tissues. In the words of its executive directorHal Barron: “The cell is capable of compensating for damage, and if we could recover that capacity, we would be buffering stress.” Although Altos is not the only one. Retro Biosciences has raised 1 billion dollars —with the participation of investor Sam Altman— for trials of drugs that can rejuvenate brain and blood cells. NewLimit, co-founded by Brian Armstrong (Coinbase), got another 130 millionand Cambrian Biopharma added 100 million more in 2021. The interest is clear: longevity has gone from speculative science to an industry with massive capital and the promise of profitability. From scientific utopia to business model. For decades, aging was considered inevitable. Today it is a technological and financial challenge. At a conference on aging in Copenhagen —to which the Financial Times had access— executives at Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, creators of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy, defined them for the first time as “longevity drugs.” The semantic change reflects a cultural and economic shift: longevity stops being a fantasy and becomes a market. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute on Aging at Albert Einstein College, he explained it like this: “To say that we don’t have drugs that reduce mortality is incorrect. We are successful; we just need to do better.” While scientists measure telomeres, technologists dream of exponential curves. The futurist Ray Kurzweil maintains that we will achieve the “longevity escape velocity” in 2029, the point at which life expectancy will increase faster than we age. What was once science fiction is now listed on the stock market. The business of beating time. The race to live longer is not just scientific: it is financial. How the Financial Times has had accessfunds allocated to longevity research now exceed $5 billion in the last three years. Investors like Jeff Bezos, Yuri Milner or Peter Thiel they have bet by biotechnology startups that promise to extend human life. In fact, Thiel has funded Unity Biotechnologyfocused on eliminating senescent cells, and Bezos, together with Milner, directly promotes Altos Labs. Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, has invested more than 430 million in anti-aging therapies and created the Ellison Medical Foundation. The risk is obvious. Enthusiasm could inflate a bubble. Primetime Partners Co-Founder Abby Miller Levy warned that “Money attracts talent, but not all companies deserve so much funding.” And as capital flows, the ethical question also grows: live longer or live better? Scientist Mehmood Khan, director of the Saudi foundation Hevolution, puts it this way: “People don’t want to live longer; they want to live healthy as long as possible.” Not everything that ages can be reversed. In July, Unity Biotechnology was delisted from Nasdaq after failing trials to eliminate senescent cells, a reminder of how far we are from “curing” aging. Still, progress exists: Northwestern University researchers have developed a biomaterial capable of regenerating high-quality articular cartilage, an achievement that until recently sounded like science fiction. This type of medical innovation—quiet, tangible—contrasts with promises of total immortality. The emotional root. Behind genetic engineering and million-dollar facelifts there is something more primitive: the fear of disappearing. Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, confessed that “Death has never made sense to me.” His investment in biotechnology was born after the death of his adoptive mother from cancer. For his part, Peter Thiel has said that he considers aging “an enemy that can be defeated with enough money and knowledge.” But the fear of dying It’s not just personal: It is also cultural, even political. During a military parade in Beijing, an open microphone caught a conversation between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin about “achieving immortality.” Far from the anecdote, the scene shows how the body has become a form of power. In this century, the body is not only biology: it is also ideology, territory and a symbol of control. While governments seek immortality for their regimes, individuals pursue it for themselves. Altos Labs scientists They study how cells They lose their resilience with age. Deep down, it is the same spiritual logic as always: restoring the lost balance, rewriting destiny. Science versus myth. In a world saturated with anti-aging promises, distinguishing between science and marketing is essential. In Financial Times describe that no regulatory body —not even the FDA—recognizes aging as a disease, which prevents the approval of drugs whose goal is directly to “rejuvenate.” That is why many biotech companies focus on specific pathologies, such as diabetes or Alzheimer’s. Scientist Michael N. Hall, pioneer in the study of cellular aging, I explained it like this: “I do not and would not take anti-aging medications. Eating in moderation is enough.” Calorie restriction, he says, activates the same mechanisms as some experimental drugs. At the opposite extreme, billionaire Bryan Johnson spends two million dollars a year in plasma transfusions and supplement. Between both extremes—the avant-garde laboratory and the almost esoteric ritual—the frontier of longevity moves today. The gender of youth. While powerful men finance laboratories, famous women they finance operating rooms. However, there is a paradox that runs through this entire market of eternal youth. When they try to stop aging, they are celebrated as visionaries. When they do, they are accused of being superficial. The same media that glorify Jeff Bezos or Larry Ellison for investing millions in biotechnology to “defeat time” scrutinize every wrinkle, filler or lift of the actresses who, for decades, have lived … Read more

The “best mechanic in Spain” says that leaving the car parked for a long time causes “irreversible damage.” It’s not as terrible as it seems

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Any object that uses mechanical components is something that should be used from time to time. Although we are talking about cars here, it is not exclusive to cars. If you have one bicyclesome automatic watch either photo cameras old, it is something that you most likely have in mind. And the thing is that, with the passage of time, the liquids dry out or become stuck and the components can begin to suffer from corrosion. That’s exactly what happens to a car. When a vehicle is not movingthe moving parts lose lubrication and the liquids always remain in the same places. It is also easier for corrosion to appear. In short, it is the same case as the previous ones. With the difference that a car is an object that usually weighs between one and two tons and is designed to move at high speeds on the road, leaving aside its maintenance clearly puts our health and that of the rest of the drivers we meet on the road at risk. But what should we fear and what can we not worry about? For the best mechanic in Spain in 2023, the problem is obvious: “irreversible damage may occur.” a long, long time In 2023, Javier Sendín, from Talleres Cardiocar de Salamanca, was chosen as best mechanic of Spain for The Official Workshop Community. This award delivered annually and over the years it has brought together more than a thousand participants. The winner is chosen after online tests in which theoretical questions are presented and, phase by phase, it ends up deciding who is the best in Spain. In The Vanguard They have contacted Sendín to ask him about some risks that we should not overlook when maintaining our car. Whoever was the best mechanic in Spain has remembered the importance of not forgetting of a vehicle because we cannot expect that after a long time without starting, the car will be in perfect condition. “Although it may not seem like it (leaving the car still for weeks), this can be harmful. Components such as the suspension are affected, since the silentblocks and other rubber pieces tend to dry out or warp when left in the same position for weeks or months. It is also very negative for the battery, both in thermal vehicles and, especially, in hybrids and electric vehicles (…) there is a risk of irreversible damage.” What “the best mechanic in Spain 2023” claims is undoubted. The question is how much time has to pass for the damage to be especially noticeable. The truth is that if a car remains stationary for a few weeks, the damage is still minor. For example, it is not good for tires spend a lot of time supporting the weight of the car in the same position as deformities may arise. Despite this, in less than a month you will not notice substantial changes. Of course, keep an eye on its pressure so that when you get going again everything is in the best state. The battery is the other problem that can appear when the car has not moved for a long time. Especially if its useful life is already on its last legs, it is not a good idea to leave the car stationary for a long time. Yes indeed, if only a few weeks passthe worst that can happen is that the battery is completely discharged. However, if the battery is in good condition, may take more than two months to download. If we contemplate this happening, a good idea is to unplug the battery completely. So, when should we start paying real attention to our car? The American Automobile Association recommends that we put more emphasis on car care when they pass more than 45 days immobile. In that case, you should try to keep the car indoors and in a dry place. In this way, the car is more protected from corrosion and components that suffer from changes in temperature and humidity, such as tires, are more protected. Among the advice given from RACE There is checking the levels of the car’s fluids: brakes, coolant or oil. And with the passage of time, part of them may evaporate or have dried out in some specific points. Keep in mind, however, that again we are talking about months with the car stopped and not a few weeks. In that case, do not force the mechanics excessively when putting the car back into operation since we will not be risking any breakage. In fact, it is estimated that until after three months Since the car came to a complete stop, the components will not start to cause real problems. That is why possible damage from having the car stopped is not the most common case. Yes indeed, from the RACC They also recommend paying close attention to gasoline. First of all, we should not rush the tank to the maximum since impurities always remain at the bottom of it and it is easier for them to end up damaging a component such as the spark plugs. But if the car has been stopped for a long time it is not good to leave it loaded with fuel either. Over time, it loses properties. If we have a classic car that we use a few times a year, it is best to leave some gasoline in the tank but renew it shortly after we get going. You don’t have to use up the tank but you also don’t have to leave the car forgotten with a full tank. We talked, once again, about leaving the car sitting for months. Photo | Felix Neudecker and Sten Rademaker In Xataka | The “one minute rule” or how to always keep your car ready and avoid breakdowns worth 3,000 euros

Now he’s going for something much bigger.

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The war for satellite Internet is over, and Starlink has won by technical KO. Traditional operators that rely on geostationary satellites are not only unable to compete, they are seeing their customer base crumble. And what the company plans to unlock with Starship leaves no room for doubt: Elon Musk’s company is no longer looking at its former rivals. Its new focus is terrestrial broadband, including fiber optics. The old guard, erased from the map. The Ookla data They are devastating. With its megaconstellation of satellites 550 km above the Earth, Starlink’s connection is not only twice as fast as that of HughesNet or Viasat, but it offers an average latency of 45 ms, while its competitors in geostationary orbit move in the range of 680 ms. The market has responded accordingly. As Starlink surpassed six million customers worldwide, HughesNet lost 29% of its subscribers and Viasat plummeted almost 68%. They cannot compete with the verticality of SpaceX, which is the only company in the world that routinely lands and relaunches its rockets. Satellites like hotcakes. Thanks to its commitment to propulsive landing and the internal development of Starlink satellites, the Falcon 9 rocket has achieved an unprecedented launch rate in the history of the space industry. The company began deploying Starlink in 2019 and has just surpassed the barrier of 10,000 satellites launched. Although the first models have already re-entered the atmosphere, the active constellation is close to 8,700 satellites in orbit. To put it in perspective: Starlink satellites already represent 65% of all active satellites orbiting the Earth. There are more Starlink satellites than everything else combined. They’re not going to stay there. SpaceX not only has the technology to offer stable, global low-latency satellite Internet connectivity: it has the financial muscle to take it to another level. An analysis of TMF Associates compares Starlink’s revenue to the rest of the industry combined. To continue growing at this pace, Starlink needs to expand the market beyond traditional satellite users. Its objective is no longer just to connect rural areas: it is to convince the urban or suburban user that its service is a viable alternative to fiber or cable. The company has deployed a parallel Direct to Cell connection service to connect directly to LTE mobiles, and has made a historic move to acquire radio spectrumcornering competitors like AST SpaceMobile. Starship is the key. The current v2 mini satellites are “mini” because they are limited by the size of the Falcon 9 rocket. The real revolution will come with the V3 satellites, designed to be deployed by the gigantic Starship rocket. According to SpaceX itselfthese larger V3 satellites will be the ones that bring “gigabit connectivity” to users. Each Starship launch will add 60 terabits per second of download capacity to the network, which is “more than 20 times the capacity added with each V2 Mini launch on a Falcon 9,” SpaceX says. If Starship becomes a reality, there will be nothing to stand between Starlink and its goal of connecting everything. Image | SpaceX In Xataka | It is not normal to have more than 2,000 Starlink antennas on the roof. The suspicion: this is where Internet romance scams come from

For the first time in history there are mosquitoes in Iceland. And it was assumed that they couldn’t get there

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Iceland is being invaded. Not just for touristsbut because of something perhaps more undesirable: insects that had never been seen on the island. For the first time in their history, at least since records have been kept, Icelanders have encountered one of the bugs most undesirable and hated for all of us who have to sleep with the windows open in summer: mosquitoes. They have been few, but they can represent the advance of a full-fledged colonization. Unwanted guests. Bjorn Hjaltason is an amateur entomologist who was hunting for insects last week when he found something strange. On the wine-soaked rope he uses to catch moths and being able to observe it, three insects fell that have nothing to do with moths. They were mosquitoes, specifically two females and a male, but at first, Hjaltason described them as “some strange flies.” And as they count in BBCthe event was such that the local media opened with the news. Because yes, it is more serious than it may seem (and not because of the bites). Shelter. Iceland has remained one of the world’s mosquito-free bastions, one of only two mosquito-free havens. The other is Antarctica, and the reason is that these insects they don’t handle the cold well. Being cold-blooded, they need environmental heat to carry out their activity. When air temperatures are around 10º, their metabolism slows down so much that they become dysfunctional. Not only can they not fly, but they also cannot reproduce. In warmer climates, this is the time when they enter a kind of hibernation, looking for shelters in which to weather the storm until the heat returns. In Iceland it was not necessary because the average temperature was below 10º. BUT. Climate changethere is no more. Records from the Reykjavík observatory show that in the last 30 years there has been a gradual increase of temperatures, with average values ​​that have past from 2.4º to 4.1º. The average temperature has increased by 0.5º in the last decade, almost double of the planet average and there are areas that have broken all records. They are also occurring extreme episodeslike the 26.6º that in Córdoba would be pleasant and to go out with a jacket in the morning, but that in May of this year must have felt like real hell in Egilsstaoir. There were episodes like this before, but reports indicate that these events that were anomalies are becoming more common. You have to wait. Mosquitoes, of course, are at ease with those temperatures, but the big question is where they came from. Hjaltason found them in Kjós and speculates that they may have come on a freighter that landed at Grundartangi. The two cities are in western Iceland and the insect enthusiast points out that unusual ‘bugs’ usually come in those freighters. Another entomologist, Matthías Alfreodsson, to whom Hjaltason sent the mosquitoes confirmed that, although they belonged to a species that tolerates low temperatures somewhat better –Culiseta annulata-, they should not be in Iceland and we will have to wait until spring to check if the species has really established itself on the island. But Hjaltason is clear that if three of them went directly to his garden, “there will probably be more.” I feel sorry for you, fellow Icelanders. Images | Enzo Guidi In Xataka | The Japanese method to get rid of mosquitoes at home during the summer: katori senko

There are foods that literally hijack your brain.

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A potato chip crunches, the salty flavor mixes with the sweetness of the soda, and the brain asks for more. It’s not a coincidence. What seems like a simple craving is actually a programmed reaction: a dopamine rush as powerful as that caused by some drugs. More and more scientists argue that certain foods are hooking us. A new approach? For a long time, obesity and eating disorders were seen as simple matters of will. However, advances in neuroscience are changing that perception. Psychiatrist Claire Wilcox explains thatlittle by little, scientists agree on something surprising: some foods activate the brain almost the same as drugs like nicotine or alcohol. “Eating certain products—cookies, soft drinks, industrial pastries— activates the brain’s reward centersgenerating a feeling of immediate well-being. And the more we repeat that stimulus, the more we need it,” he details. The problem is that, unlike tobacco or alcohol, we cannot stop eating. What happens in our head? addictions They share three brain systems clue: The reward system, which releases dopamine when something gives us pleasure. The stress response system, involved in tolerance and withdrawal. The executive control system, which regulates impulses and helps make rational decisions. When we eat very tasty foods, the brain releases dopamine into the reward network. Learn to associate that flavor with a pleasant sensation and seek to repeat it. Over time, the circuit is “rewired”: more is needed to feel the same effect, and rational control decreases. Wilcox explains it like this: “Over time, damage to areas of executive control becomes more difficult to resist cravings, just as it is with drugs.” The science behind the debate. In recent years, research into food addiction has exploded. An article from Nature Medicinewhich analyzed almost 300 studies in 36 countries, concluded that ultra-processed foods can “hijack” the brain’s reward systems. The result: cravings, loss of control, and persistent consumption, even when there are negative consequences. Neuroscientist Mark S. Gold and psychologist Ashley Gearhardt, from the University of Michigan, they go further: “We don’t get addicted to apples, but to products designed to hit the brain like a drug.” However, medical consensus has not yet arrived. Neither the WHO nor the American Psychiatric Association recognizes food addiction as an official diagnosis. “Eating is a physiological need —remembers teacher Elisa Rodríguez Ortega—and the boundaries between addiction, bulimia or binge eating remain unclear. In the center of the bullseye. For years, sugar was identified as the great villain of the modern diet. Today, studies point to a more complex scenario: it is not just sugar, but the combination of ingredients, textures and additives in ultra-processed foods. which can make them addictive. These products—industrial blends of fats, salt, sugars, and flavor enhancers—are designed to generate immediate pleasure and encourage repeated intake. According to the Nature reviewthis “hyperpalatable” composition activates the reward system more intensely than natural foods, which would explain why it is so difficult to stop after the first bite. For its part, sugar continues to play a key role. Research, cited in JAMA Internal Medicineshow that an excess of added sugars not only increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, but also alters the dopaminergic response, reinforcing dependence mechanisms. Qero nor we are all equally prone. Psychologist Michelle S. Hunt, a specialist in food addictions, details that there is a combination of genetic, emotional and environmental factors. “Foods rich in carbohydrates, fats or sugars activate the same areas of the brain as drugs or alcohol. Over time, the brain adjusts its receptors and requires higher doses to feel the same well-being,” he points out. Stress, anxiety and early exposure to ultra-processed foods are other triggers: the brain learns from a young age to associate pleasure with highly tasty products. “People who use food to deal with discomfort are the most vulnerable,” Hunt warns. The border with other types of disorders. Distinguishing food addiction from other eating disorders is not an easy task. According to the Eating Disorder Hope portalin both cases similar signs appear: loss of control, guilt, anxiety and, often, social isolation. a study published in Nature observed that people with bulimia or binge eating episodes present similar changes in the areas of the brain that regulate dopamine. That suggests there could be a common neurobiological basis. Dr. Mark S. Gold sums it up clearly: “Obesity and binge eating are not just behavioral problems; they also share brain mechanisms with other addictions.” For this reason, current treatments combine cognitive-behavioral therapy with cessation programs and emotional support. Reeducation with food. Unlike drugs, total abstinence is not possible: we all need to eat. For this reason, current treatments seek to reeducate the emotional relationship with food. Psychiatrist Kim Dennis runs a clinic where it combines models of addiction and eating disorders: patients learn not to restrict calories extremely – to avoid the rebound effect – but to identify the so-called “trigger” foods, those that unleash uncontrollable cravings. In parallel, drugs are also opening new avenues. Dr. Gold highlights the use of medications such as naltrexone and bupropion, or the newer GLP-1 (such as Ozempic or Mounjaro), which interrupt the link between pleasure and consumption, reducing both food intake and the desire for addictive substances. The final question. Although science has not yet settled the debate, the evidence is increasingly clear: some foods not only nourish or make you fat, they also shape the brain and habits in a profound way. Each bite leaves a mark on the pleasure circuits and the way we learn to eat. It is not about demonizing food or denying pleasure, but about accepting that eating today is an act conditioned by factors that go far beyond appetite. In a world where every flavor is optimized for hooking, true willpower may lie in knowing how to stop before the next bite. Image | Unsplash Xataka | When it comes to meat, science knows there’s something better than protein shakes: lean pork

tie it to a Honda CBR1000RR and pray

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Since the wheel was invented, humans have wondered what was the maximum speed they could achieve if they incorporated it into another device. As a recurring question, throughout history we have seen steam car racing, jet bikes or bicycles at 272 km/h. Bicycles at 272 km/h… Wait. That? Yes, you read that right. Bicycles at 272 km/h. If the question is “why.” The answer is: you can stop reading. Because? Because no one in their right mind wonders why someone decided that it was a good idea to get on a bicycle and go at such a speed. Because the answer is as absurd as the fact itself. Because the answer is: because yes. Because you can. The real question is: how did they do it? Simple and very dangerous When it comes to reaching extremely high speeds with a bicycle, there are only two ways: rely on pure aerodynamics or strap a bicycle to another vehicle. And for the two options there are two Guinness Records. The first option We already told it in its day. It’s a challenge which has been worked on since the beginning of the last century. In this case, the cyclist can pedal and takes advantage of the fact that another vehicle cuts him off from the wind. First, tests were carried out in velodromes using motorcycles to mark the pace. Finally, even Porsche participated in an attempt. First in the 70s and then taking a bicycle over 200 km/h protected behind a Porsche Cayenne. The second case is that of Elias Schwärzler, a cyclist specialized in mountain descents who holds the Guinness Record for “towed bicycle” speed. In this case, the cyclist does not pedal, he just lets himself be carried by another vehicle that pulls him along a chain. Of course, in this case the bicycle does not undergo any type of modification either since the usual thing in the first case is to make changes to generate more development when pedaling, win “battle” between the wheels and therefore stability or lighten the whole. Click on the image to go to the original post In this case, Schwärzler did none of this. Here the only thing that was done was put this Austrian on a mountain bike, strap him to a Honda CBR1000RR and throw him to the end of a straight line on the circuit. Lausitz-Ring. The record, explained by Guinness Records, has been in force since 2022, when the test was carried out but the cyclist did not reach the expected speed. Schwärzler’s intention was reach up to 300 km/h to which this motorcycle originating in competition is limited. To do this, he had done his own tests because he didn’t quite trust that the tires would hold up to the pressure. However, the real problem was the wind. And it was blowing strongly in the face which prevented the motorcycle from being able to drag the bike at the desired 300 km/h before the end of the straight. Once the curve is close, the rider releases the rubber that hooks him to the mountain bike. From there, Schwärzler simply lets himself go. He explained Since the wind conditions were so bad, his intention was to acquire the best possible aerodynamics, but once launched he could no longer make any movement. In your Youtube channel You can see all the details of the challenge. In the end, he had to settle for a top speed of 272 km/h. Photo | Elias Schwärzler In Xataka | We thought we were very modern, reinventing the bicycle. Almost 100 years ago they already saw it all in Paris and Chicago

a giant 17 meter nail drill

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After years of comings and goings, on January 15, 2025, they began some works that are both expected and necessary in Madrid: the burial of the A5. It is one of the arteries of the city, an urban highway on which 80,000 vehicles circulate daily and which, after being completed in 1968, separated the residents of the neighborhoods of Aluche, Las Águilas and Lucero from those of Batán and Casa de Campo. The works will not be simple or quick, but there is a trick: the ‘cut and cover’ technique. This technique is nothing revolutionary. It is one of the oldest and most used methods for tunnel construction superficial. When a tunnel has to be excavated to a certain depth or that passes through complex elements, the ‘boring machines’ or tunnel boring machinesbut when it is not necessary, this false tunnel is simply made. In essence, the ‘cut and cover’ technique consists of excavating a trench from the surface, building the new road inside it and, later, covering it with fill material. And there are two variants: From bottom to top: The trench is excavated with the necessary support from the ground and the tunnel is built inside. Once the structure is completed, the trench is backfilled and the surface is restored. From top to bottom: First, the lateral retaining walls and the crowning beams are built at ground level. Subsequently, the roof is excavated and prefabricated beams are installed. Thus, the surface is reinstalled early to restore traffic as soon as possible while the excavation work and construction of the permanent roof are completed. In the video above, a piloting machine in action. Basically, like a giant “drill”. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and are used depending on the terrain and conditions, but for tunnels at depths of about ten meters, these ‘cut and cover’ methods They are more economical and practical than tunnels drilled with deep tunneling methods. The ‘cut and cover’ of the A5 and Castellana in Madrid As we say, the technique was designed to hinder daily traffic as little as possible, and even more so on such essential and busy roads, but the reality is that on the A5, the works have converted one of the entrances to the capital into a ‘Mario Kart’. Through a series of detours, a succession of tight curves have been created at very slow speeds that have provoked that the Madrid City Council collects multiple complaints. Such is the commotion that a guide to avoid getting lost with this burial of the A5but in any case, both the highway and part of Castellana have a few months of noise and excavators ahead of them. In the case of the A5, 3.2 kilometers of the highway are being buried using the construction technique of concrete containment screens to then install the covering slabs. There are 600 people who work daily on the site along with a hundred machines such as the striking ‘pilots’. These machines are specialized in the construction of “piles”, which are nothing more than buried columns that can be built in the ground by injecting concrete into a metal reinforcement or that can be prefabricated. On the route of the “new” A5, there will be more than 6,000 piles of reinforced concrete. But the highway is not the only area of ​​the city in which this technique is being implemented. In the Parque Castellana project, a tunnel of about 675 meters long is also being built that will have 2,041 piles. In the end, and as we mentioned, it is not a new technique (in fact, it was used to build the Paris metro in 1900), but of the possible options for creating tunnels, it is one of the least disruptive to traffic in cities. Although those who are suffering from the works on Parque Castellana and the A5 will surely see it with different eyes. Images | Xofc, Madrid Diary In Xataka | 20 years later, Europe faces one of the greatest engineering milestones in its history: the longest railway tunnel in the world

what you need and how to get the most out of it

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Let’s explain to you how to take advantage of your old Android using Gemini as an assistantGoogle’s artificial intelligence. This comes after Google has extended the use of its AI to older devices, so you can reuse them in another way. We are going to start the article by telling you what are the minimum requirements to be able to use Gemini on a mobile phone from about five years ago or more, and then we will tell you what you will be able to do with it. Requirements to use Gemini on Android In order to use Google’s artificial intelligence on your mobile, you need to have a version that is at least Android 9 Pie. This version of the operating system is from 2018, so if you have a mobile phone after that year, it is normal that you have this update. If your old mobile phone has this version of Android or a later one, you will have an update with which you can use Gemini instead of Google Assistant. In the event that your mobile is seven years old but not this version, then you would have to try to search if there is any ROM that you can install, like LineageOS, so that its operating system is newer. In addition to this, you will need your phone to have at least 2 GB of RAM, and you should have it linked to a personal Google account. Obviously, you will also need to reside in a country where Gemini is available, as is the case in Spain. Complying with this, you just have to download the Gemini application, available on Google Play. Once you do it, Gemini will ask you if you want him to be your assistant instead of Google Assistant, and with that you will have it up and running. If it doesn’t ask you, you can also configure it by hand in the settings, in the default applications section or assistant in the applications section. How you can take advantage of Gemini First of all, You can use Gemini for the same thing as with a new mobilesince the functions are the same. Perhaps the application is not as fluid and may be a bit jerky, but you will be able to write and receive responses as normal. Gemini will also allow you to generate images or videosplus code, graphics and everything you want. As long as the Internet connection is good, the operation will be smooth. Voice conversation will also work without a problem, and even the Gemini Live function to exchange phrases while having a natural conversation. A 5 or 6 year old cell phone may not have the best camera in the world compared to current ones, but you can also use Gemini’s functions to recognize the content of the photos, and take screenshots to ask the assistant for information about the content, or to do translations or whatever you want. Furthermore, you can also create your own Gems and use any existing one. Also remember that everything you do with Gemini will be stored in history through your Google account, so you can interact with conversations you have had on the PC with the browser or with another mobile phone. An old cell phone as a smart speaker But if it is an old mobile phone that you no longer use, there is also another interesting use that you can give it. Can turn it into a kind of smart speaker to be able to interact with Gemini by voice whenever you want. To do this, once Gemini is configured as a voice assistant, you just have to go to its settings and adjust the voice command “Hey, Google” so that it also works with the screen off. So, simply put your phone on a stand, keeping it plugged in at all times and that’s it, you can ask it for whatever you want with your own voice. In Xataka Basics | How to create reminders with ChatGPT and Gemini: differences and how to configure your artificial intelligence to notify you

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