In Spain, Christian baptisms are in free fall. There are those who have found a substitute: civil baptisms

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There was a time when children arrived with something more than a bread under their arm. They did it with an invitation (almost mandatory) to the baptism. They were their parents more or less believers, more or less practitioners, most babies passed through the baptismal pia. Not today. Just like Not all The couples who marry do so before a Catholic priest. As society It is secularized New rituals gain strength, such as civil weddings or “Baptisms Lacios”, which two decades after their premiere in Spain They continue to expand. They may not be a majority option or have reached the level of popularity of civil links (which do have a legal character), but lay and symbolic baptisms have gone making his way Little by little in the Spanish geography. Civil baptisms? The concept may be shocking, but It has been a few years old extending through Spain and there are still municipalities that incorporate it into its service portfolio In full 2025. A civil christening It is neither more nor less than the secular alternative to Christian baptisms, a secular ceremony, usually free of religious connotations, during which a child’s entry into society is represented. Nothing else. Nothing less. And although it lacks legal value, in some cases it is accompanied by A symbolic title. The former mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, in May 2023, during the first “welcome ceremony to the citizenship” of the City Council. Is it something new? No. at all. There are those who go back their origins to the “civil sponsorship” that were held in France from the late eighteenth century. In Spain they are not a novelty either. Its history can go at least to Autumn of 2004when the first “foster care” was held at the City Council of Igualada. Since then the formula has been extended to other municipalities in the country. In 2007 Rivas Vaciamadrid began to celebrate them, Madrid and The Borge They joined in 2009Albacete In 2011Moaña In 2013 and Vigo In 2018… and thus a long (and growing) list of municipalities distributed throughout the country. How many? Difficult to specify it, although the number of municipalities that celebrate them exceed the hundred. In 2018 only in Catalonia they were offered in 71 municipalities. In 2022 Cullera Laya had accounts and calculated that in the whole of Spain at least 150 municipalities willing to organize ceremonies of “civil foster care”. The same figure shared it in 2023 Religion in freedom. The truth is that the list has followed (and continues) growing over time. In May 2023 The first civil christening was organized in Valencia and shortly the payroll of municipalities that deliver citizenship letters to babies will increase with a new incorporation: Lovesa Galician people of 32,800 inhabitants that It has just approved The ordinance that regulates them. “Although they may seem simple symbolic ceremonies and without legal validity, their existence represents a step towards a model of coexistence in which all families can participate,” defend A councilor. Year Catholic baptisms Number of births 2008 335,484 519,779 2012 268.810 454,648 2017 214,271 393,181 2022 159,129 329,251 2023 152,426 320,656 Are many celebrated? Another difficult question to answer. There are no global or official balances, but the data that has been shared in account in the press suggest two trends: the first, that the “civil christening” has been gaining weight in the Spanish geography, expanding to dozens of locations; second, which is far from reaching the reception level of Catholic ceremonies. In 2017 Albacete digital He revealed that since 2011 they had been held in the town about twenty of civil receptions. That same year, at the time the service premiered, Vigo added Several tens of applications. His success has also been marked by political fluctuations. In Valencia, for example, only For a few months. After the change of government, the new team decided to do without them without apparently having great impact. As it transpired then, seven requests had been registered. Civil ceremony held in 2023 in Valencia. Are there more clues? Yeah. The confidential published on Tuesday A report in which he spoke with professionals in the sector that confirm an increase of interest in the format. “I have been in the business business for new years and lately demand for civil baptisms, a strong fashion also in the United States,” An organizer recounts of events. A quick search for #Bautizosimbolico, #Ceremoniadebienvenida or #bautizocivil on Instagram or Tiktok It shows that lay acts continue to be held, both in Spain and in other countries. What is your goal? Celebrate. Introduce. Welcome. During civil baptisms the arrival of newborns, their “entry” in society is celebrated. Sometimes it is done in the municipalities, with the participation of mayors. Others not. The normal thing is that during the ceremony Articles are read Related to the protection of childhood, such as the Spanish Constitution, the United Nations Constitution Rights Convention of 1990 or the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959). “It’s not that people don’t have faith, they want to make baptism something more intimate and emotional,” Share The same professional. “Everything I do depends on what parents choose, although the ritual usually develops around a table. Usually, the godparents sign an act with their commitment, a document that is not registered anywhere or has legal weight, but rather symbolic.” Is it an isolated phenomenon? No. The civil christening is not understood without the context and more specifically the secularization of society. After all, baptism (or foster care) is not the only sacrament that has been stripped of religious value. The clearest case is that of marriage. In 2009 the number of civil links exceeded for the first time to the Catholic weddings, with 94,993 ‘yes I want’ pronounced before civil authorities and 80,104 before priests. The situation has changed. In 2022 79.9% of links held in Spain they were civilians and only 20.1% religious. And that that last was the highest percentage recorded since 2019. The number of … Read more

The best chollos on tablets during this prime day

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If you are looking for a tablet for your next vacation, the Prime Day of Amazon It is one of those moments when buying some of the best models on the market at a good price. These are some of the BEST CHOLLOS IN TABLETS that we have found during this Amazon campaign. Honor Pad X8A by 122.90 euros: With 128 GB and 90 Hz. 11 -inch iPad by 349 euros: With 11 -inch screen and chip A16. Lenovo Tab M11 by 184 euros: With 11 -inch screen and 128 GB. Acer Tablet Iconia Tab 11 by 189.99 euros: With QLED 2K and Android 14 screen. Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite by 199 euros: with 128 GB and charger and s pen. Honor Pad X8A The honor Pad X8A is one of the cheapest tablets that you can find during the prime day, since it is available for 122.90 euros. It has one 11 -inch LCD screen with resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels and with 16.7 million colors. Its soda rate is 90 Hz and mounts a processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 680. Its storage capacity is 128 GB, but you can expand it through Memory card. It weighs less than 500 grams and integrates four speakers. Honor Pad X8A Tablet 128GB * Some price may have changed from the last review 11 -inch iPad If you are a staunch fan of Apple, the tablet that your name has is 11 -inch iPadwhich during Prime Day is also on offer (something unusual in Apple products). Now you can take this iPad by 349 euros. This is the most recent Basic iPad launched to the market. Its screen is 11 -inch Liquid Type and comes with 128 GB of internal storage. Your brain is the A16 processor and is compatible with the Apple Pencil. 11 -inch Apple iPad: Chip A16, 11 -inch model * Some price may have changed from the last review Lenovo Tab M11 Another of the firms that are having a lot of success in the Tablets sector is Lenovo. Now you can take, during the prime day, this Lenovo Tab M11 reduced, by 184 euros. This Lenovo tablet rides a screen 11 -inch LCD Wuxga and presents a 90 Hz soda rate. Integrates four speakers with Dolby Atmos And it has an 8 GB RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, expandable by microSD card. Lenovo Tab M11 – 11 “tablet * Some price may have changed from the last review Acer Tablet Iconia Tab 11 Another of the tablets on offer that may interest you during this prime day from Amazon is this Acer iconia Tab 11. Its usual price is about 230 euros, but now it is reduced to 189.99 euros. Has a screen 11 -inch qled with 2K resolution. The brain of this tablet is the Octa-Core MT8781 processor, accompanied by an 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. Works under the operating system Android 14 and comes with a portfolio cover. Acer Tablet Iconia Tab 11-11.6 “2K QLED * Some price may have changed from the last review Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite Samsung is another of those references in the tablets sector. Now, during Prime Day, you can buy the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite reduced. Specifically, it is available for 199 euros. This Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite Mount a 10.4 -inch LCD panel with a resolution of 2,000 x 1,200 pixels. His brain is the exynos 9611 10 nm processor, accompanied by a 4 GB RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. It works under the Android operating system with Samsung One UI customization layer and comes with S Pen. Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024), 128 GB * Some price may have changed from the last review Note: Some of the links published here are affiliated and can report a benefit. Images | Samsung, Lenovo, Acer, Apple and Honor In Xataka | Fast loaders for your mobile phone or tablet: better models to buy for your power and safety In Xataka | Better Tablet in Quality Price: The recommendations of the Xataka editors

In South Korea there are parents voluntary in cells. There is a word that explains it: “Hikikomori”

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Jin Young-Hae is a fictional name. Your story is not. Last year this South Korean mother explained to the BBC Under the condition of the anonymity what has led him to – in a totally voluntary way – a blue monkey and spend hours and more hours held in a tiny, austere cell, not much greater than a closet and in which he did not have a company, mobile, or portable spent hours. Alone, with your thoughts. The only link with the outside from his peculiar prison was the small hole open at the door through which he was given food. Sounds strange, but there is a word that explains it: Hikikomori. Objective: to isolate yourself from the world. The choice of Mrs. Jin may seem extravagant, but she is not the only one who has made a similar decision in South Korea. BBC has spoken with other inmates and voluntary inmates. In addition to demanding anonymity, they all share two fundamental characteristics. The first, who are parents of young people who are between adolescence and thirty. The second, which have decided to participate in a special program that keeps them held during a brief period in isolation cells. And this last word can be understood in its most literal sense. Jin and the rest of the participants are housed in tiny habitats to which they cannot take or mobile phones. But … why? To understand. Jin or Park Han-Sil, another pseudonyms used by BBC to tell a real case, are mothers of South Korean youth who share another peculiarity: they have been isolated from the world. Jin is the mother of a 24 -year -old who lives withdrawn in his room, neglecting his cleaning and food. Park has a little older, 26 years old, who has already decided to cut all communication with society. Now he barely leaves his room and refuses to take the medication that doctors have scheduled. When voluntary, ladies Jin or Park try to better understand their offspring, put themselves into their skin in an extreme way and especially look for tools to communicate better with them. “I’ve been wondering what I did wrong … it’s painful,” Jin admits50 years. Now, and after passing through the cell, he claims to have “some clarity.” Park also recognizes that isolation has helped him understand the feelings of his offspring. “I have realized that it is important to accept his life without forcing him to fit into a specific mold.” “Confinement experience”. Neither Park nor Jin decided to be a good day in their homes, improvised. His have been planned experiences and the isolation have been done in the Happiness Factory rooms, where the inmates They arrive to experiment in their flesh the “confinement”. For this they can dress a uniform, leave their phones and laptops and be held in bare wall cells, without company. The BBC clarifies That since April there are other parents who have been participating in a 13 -week special education program funded by organizations such as Fundación for the Youth of Korea or the Blue Whale Recovery Center. The program has a clear, and complicated objective: show these fathers and mothers how to communicate better with their children. To this end, it includes a peculiar experience, a three -day period during which participants spend time in rooms in the province of Gangwon that replicate an isolation cell. The keyword: Hikikomori. Jin and Park are mothers of Hikikomoria term coined in Japan already decades ago and that identifies young people who at a certain time of their lives decide to be disturbed almost completely, cutting contact with the world that opens beyond their homes or rooms. The phenomenon is not new, but serious. At least according to the estimates that the authorities handle. Not long ago, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea conducted a survey between 15,000 young people between 19 and 34 years old and discovered that More than 5% They lived in isolation. If these figures move to the country as a whole, they would show that in South Korea there are hundreds of thousands of people in a similar situation: just over half a million (540,000). Understanding isolation. The program confesses Park, allows the parents of these young people to better understand the reason for seclusion. To her, for example, reading notes written by others Hikikomori He helped him understand his own son’s silences. The South Korean government also has studies that help become a clear idea of ​​the phenomenon of isolation among young people without going through an experience like Hapiness Factory. A study by the South Korean Ministry of Health reflects that 24.1% of young people between 19 and 34 years old who deconciate from the world do so by difficulties in finding work, 23.5% due to problems to relate and 24.8% due to family or health issues. Of backdrop is The competitive society Surcoreana, where from a very young age parents take their children to academies to end up accessing the most prestigious universities in the country. South Korea also stands out for its Work Days marathon. Concern beyond home. The one of Hikikomori It is a phenomenon serious enough to generate concern beyond families. In 2023 the government came to launch A campaign To encourage solitary young people to leave home and “reintegrate into society”, for which he did not hesitate to offer 450 euros designed for young people up to 24 years. Then there was talk that in the country there would be hundreds of thousands of people living in isolation. The advantages of a pause. The mothers and fathers of Hikikomori They are not the only ones in South Korea who seek voluntary isolation. In the country there are those who decide to confine themselves on their own choice, paying even hundreds of euros in exchange for the experience, simply to take a respite from their busy routines. The CBC chain told in 2018, which The case said From Suk-Won Kang, … Read more

Mexico City wanted to shine as Lisbon did. Now they have the same problems: Gentrification and Digital Nomads

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In recent weeks, Mexico City has been the scene of a wave of protests that have put in the center of the debate the coexistence of its inhabitants. The increase in housing prices, due to the gentrification of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, and the uncontrolled tourist They have put the Digital nomads In the spotlight causing an unprecedented social reaction in the Mexican capital. Mexico City is thrown out. Thousands of people went to protest through the streets of the most central and busy colonies (neighborhoods) like Rome and Countess, where rental prices have increased above 100% In the last three years. What began as a peaceful manifestation against the gentrification and the increase of life in those colonies, soon took a more violent look: Several businesses frequented by tourists and digital nomads were attacked under slogans From “Gringo, go home!” Some protesters carried banners with “gringos written messages, stop stealing the house”, while demanding laws to regulate the tourist and policies that allow access to a home at affordable prices for the premises. “They are expelling us from our own neighborhoods,” the protesters shouted. The government responds and the US does not lose Comba. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, He expressed his outrage before the violence registered in the demonstrations and condemned Xenophobic attitudes that the protesters showed against the digital nomads and tourists who found in their path. “It cannot be that due to a lawsuit, however legitimate, that is gentrification, the demand is ‘any nationality of our country,’” said Sheinbaum. “Mexico is a country open to the world and is not discriminatory; then xenophobic attitudes cannot be justified.” The increase in tension against digital nomads, mainly Americans, also have a response component from citizenship to deportation policies That the Government of Donald Trump is applying, expelling many Mexican citizens from the US, while these digital nomads now occupy the homes in which the protesters lived. “Gentrification is colonization!” Some of the banners exhibited in the demonstration. For its part, far from showing a conciliatory message, the US National Security Department, on which mass deportations depend, threw more firewood by the fire by publishing In his X profile The message: “If you are illegally in the United States and want to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home application to facilitate your departure.” THE ORIGIN OF THE PROTEST: Gentrification. Such and As I pointed out The president of Mexico in her speech, the origin of the discomfort of the population of Mexico City has as a backdrop Gentrificationa process that has accelerated in recent years. During this period, the local government promoted the investment of foreign real estate funds and the Use of platforms such as Airbnbracing the way for the arrival of professionals with high purchasing power from the global northern. As a result, the price of housing in central colonies It has doubled In the last decade, and the cost of living has become unsustainable for many residents resulting from the pressure of investment funds for removing maximum profitability to their real estate investments. “When talking about real estate cartels, it is rightly said, because between cartels there are disputes over a territory or square, and today the (colony) Juarez is the center of a similar dispute,” assured In 2023 a BBC Neighborhood activist Sergio González. The average rental of an house in Mexico City went from 16,100 pesos per month (about 738 euros to change) in January 2018 to 20,426 pesos (about 936 euros) five years later, although this figure shoots more than double in colonies such as the Countess. The minimum monthly salary in Mexico City is around 8,364 pesos, the equivalent of just less than 384 euros. Digital nomads are not the (unique) responsible. Although US digital nomads have become the main objective of protests, Expert voices like that of the lawyer and activist Carla Escoffié indicate that her presence is only A part of the problem. The mere presence of a few thousand people with high purchasing power in a city like Mexico City does not elevate prices alone, explains Escoffié in his book ‘Country without a roof’. The true Gentrification Motor They are the real estate fundsthe greats LESSORSand the Tourist Rental Platformswhich modify the nature of the neighborhoods building luxury homes and replacing the local trade by multinational chains. President Sheinbaum pointed out that foreigners rejection is a response to mass arrival of digital nomads After the pandemic, mainly from the United States. These “visitors” have much greater purchasing power than the local population and its presence It increased In 60% compared to figures in 2019, and currently, some 700,000 Americans live in Mexico. The precedent: Portugal. Lisbon would have served of Canarian in the mine For the Mexican government to anticipate what would happen in the colonies of Mexico City, since Lisbon has suffered the same symptoms that the Mexican capital now presents. Such and as analyzed in The Guardian The researcher at the University of Lisbon Agustín Cocola-Gant, Portugal promoted for years a low taxation for real estate investors foreigners and launched “golden visas“To attract digital nomads and investors, granting tax advantages over local inhabitants. These policies caused a 105.8% increase in the price of housing in Lisbon between 2015 and 2023, according to published data by The confidential. The result was the expulsion of thousands of Portuguese of its traditional neighborhoodsunable to face the increase in life and housing. As Cocola-Gant explained, Portugal went from occupying the 22 of the 27 countries with the most expensive housing in 2015, to occupy first place today. In Xataka | Cities full of empty houses and neighbors incapable of finding housing: the cities of “Las Persianas descedas” arrive Image | Unspash (Keith Helfrich)

Three essential pieces of current cinema depend on its success

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There are hardly a few days left for the premiere of ‘Superman‘, a movie whose premiere we have been waiting since James Gunn announced the plans for his renewed DC universewith which Warner would borrón and new account with respect to everything that his superhero cosmos had meant so far. That is, ‘Superman’ plays much more than it seems. Its success or failure can bring consequences that do not dissipate for many years. Good prospects. To begin with, it should be clarified that a flattering future is opened to Gunn’s movie. It is true that your Budget has been very considerable (It is estimated that between 225 and 363 million dollars). To be profitablesome sources point out that they would need to exceed 500 million global dollars to be considered a success, and others raise that figure to more than 700 million to justify the relaunch of the DCU. Gunn has rushed to Define the size of those figures. In any case, the forecasts are good but not extraordinary: in principle, and depending on the source, there was talk of collections between 125 and 200 million dollars, but the presale has reduced expectations a bitthat now are between 90 and 145 million. The first receptions of criticism, yes, They have been excellent. Essential for three key pieces of current cinema. In short, the success of ‘Superman’ can affect three important cinema pieces mainstream Hollywood. On the one hand its success is key to Warner’s maltrecha. On the other, it is the starting point of a new superhero universe, with all that implies. And finally, ‘Superman’ is framed in the genre of superheroes, which has been going through ups and downs. The success or failure of ‘Superman’ will mark the future of all these variables. Warner needs it. Warner has been submerged in a Very delicate financial situation. His caresses with HBO have long since They bring tailbut they don’t raise their heads Nor in the film division: In the first quarter of 2025, Warner Bros. registered net losses of 453 million dollars. And eye, it is still a 53% reduction compared to the same period of the previous year, since in 2024 the losses were fired up to 11.3 billion dollars, compared to the 3.100 million of 2023. Because despite adding 110.5 million users in Max, the streaming business fails to compensate for losses from other areas. Superman, that symbol. More specifically within Warner, ‘Superman’ has special relevance within the superhero universe of DC. It is not surprising that the first film of this relaunch of the seal is ‘Superman’ (not Batman or Wonder Woman): the Kryptonian is a clear symbol of Warner’s vision of the genre (different from Marvel’s, more realistic, those of DC are full heroes, of a piece, more fantastic). A box office failure would be not only a puncture for this film, for this hero, but for a whole philosophy: Superman, as a symbol of the DC universe in its entirety, needs to succeed to boost the seal. What comes behind. If Superman is successful there are already future prepared premieres, such as ‘Supergirl’ (June 2026). Very sensitively, the DC calendar is being deployed much more slowly and carefully, Warner clearly wants to be cautious and distance from what has ended up condemning Marvel: excess premieres. This long parenthesis until the next premiere of DC makes it clear to which Superman is not a link in a chain, but a founding stone that Warner needs to work and make badly forget badly too recently as disastrous’The Flash‘ either ‘Black Adam‘. The emporium of the superheroes. For a long time, the one who was the Dominant genre in Hollywood It crosses a serious phase of ups and downs. It is true that there is still a box office, but we are no longer facing the great guaranteed successes of Marvel’s early days, and that Disney itself was responsible for burning. We have gone through one year of Impasse (where there was only one premiere, ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’, which was a capital success, yes, but Out of the continuous MCU), And Marvel has returned this year with ‘Captain America: Brave New World‘ and ‘Thunderbolts‘, which add the whopping of 800 million dollars of collection … but they are insufficient to be profitable. And now we are faced with great expectation: ‘Superman’ starts a new stage for Warner, and ‘The fantastic 4: first steps‘It also opens this year, with very good expectations and a possible face washing for Marvel. And in 2026 two possible box office pumps such as the new sequel to Tom Holland’s’ spider-man and the Return of the Avengers with ‘Doomsday’. Despite these expectations, superheroes are no longer the dominant force in the box office, as demonstrated by films like ‘NE ZHA 2‘,’Lilo and Stitch‘ and ‘A Minecraft movie‘, away from superhero cinema but that have been the greatest successes of 2025. Little heroic superheroes. That is the superhero cinema situation, after two years of very specific successes. Hence the importance of ‘Superman’ and ‘The Fantastic Four’, not only for their respective franchises (as seen in the case of Superman), but for the Hollywood industry itself and the public, which begins to be tired of cyclic stories and people with super powers. Superman, essential piece. In the same way that happens in his fictional universe with the character, the ‘Superman’ film is perhaps the most important film of the year from the point of view of the industry. The relevance as creative of James Gunnwho is trusting to give a face washing not only to the DC universe, but to the whole superhero genre, turns this film into a very special bet. The great investment that Warner has made, one of the largest in recent years for the company, also puts in check the accounts of the producer. A series of bets to which the entire industry now looks closely. In Xataka | We have analyzed the scores of Marvel and DC movies to solve … Read more

Mercedes wanted to jump into the electric car in record time and is clear that they were wrong

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Four years now meet. It was a summer of 2021 when Mercedes launched his ordinance: in 2030 they would be an exclusively electric brand. They wanted to do it by building eight gigafactories to go out to their electric cars and batteries. Today they are clear that they were wrong. “They will last more than expected”. “We have changed the course, electrified combustion engines will last more than expected.” They are the words of Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes, in Auto Motor Und Sport Confirming what was an A Voca Secret: Mercedes will not fulfill the deadlines planned in the electric car. The company, therefore, will continue to bet on combustion engines that are key. It is not that he was going to withdraw overnight but that self -imposed obligation of being electric in 2030 led them to significantly reduce their offer until they focus exclusively on the electric car. Two symptoms (1). Although he had been rumored for a long time and in winter Mercedes already said that “There was too much optimism in the industry”there are two great symptoms that came to tell us clear that the time of combustion engines had not died. The first was The failure of EQS as flag bearer of the electric car in the company. The great electric Berlina, “the electric class” has been a failure and confirmed that the customer of a luxury car continues to bet mostly on combustion. Time will say if it is something exclusively linked to the autonomy or there is also a certain political positioning behind. The truth is that the company took advantage of the car to give a wash in the face of the image, sell the maximum refinement with the latest technology and its most advanced software with a Hyperscreen that surprised by groundbreaking. The truth is that the Mercedes client has continued to prefer the most classic class S. Two symptoms (2). The second symptom that advanced that Mercedes had changed course was given by its AMG sports division. The wealthy customer is especially complicated to convince when it comes to electrifying the fleet. To meet the European demands, Mercedes opted in its sports division for A four hybrid cylinders and although He got 680 hpcars that have mounted it have failure in sales. The solution has gone to return to these luxury cars the V8 engines. The company confirmed that will continue working on them And although they will be electrified, the potential car customer of more than 100,000 euros and extremely sports seem to continue asking for huge engines. It is no accident that, in his day, BMW already announced that he would continue to focus efforts on developing combustion engines. Specifically in those of six and eight cylinders. If you want gasoline, you pay it. Everything indicates that, as will happen with lower ranges, we will begin to see Two product categories clearly differentiated in Europe. Pollution policies will lead us to see An extensive electrification (with plug and electrical hybrids) in the low and medium range and a fence to the Combustion engines in the most expensive or luxury offer. In the case of Mercedes, everything indicates that they will continue to develop combustion engines but fenced to their most unattainable offer or Markets where hurry With the electric car are not so many. The confirmation that, in addition to the V8 for AMG, also They will continue selling the huge V12 Limited to the Maybach versions of its class S is a good example. But it is also that Mercedes has focused on “democratizing” its electric cars. He Electric Mercedes It will not be the cheapest car but the German company does want it to become its first great super electric success. And the formula is clear: improve the autonomy. “Rational”. For Källenius, in addition, this strategy is the most “rational.” Yes, the same one that Toyota has been holding so far, to sell the most demanded technology where they ask or let it sell. That is why they continue to focus on hybrids but ensure that the electric car will be key … in Europe. And Källenius knows that multienergy strategy helps them stay afloat. Its hybrid mechanics and huge engines will continue to be key in the United States and in Europe (who can pay it), while needing competitive electric cars in China. “It is our most important and crucial market for our technical innovations,” CEO himself pointed out from Mercedes a few months ago. A product that passes not only through the engine. Here, the latest generation software is essential because without it they do not think they can compete in China. They are aware that “Chinese clients not only use the car to move from A B. For many, it is also a second living room.” And there Mercedes needs to make differences if he does not want to star in a free fall. One that has already begun. Photo | Mercedes In Xataka | The Mercedes Class wanted to overcome the discomforts of the electric car. It is incompatible with a multitude of loaders

The weird event that humanity has witnessed on average, each billion the age of the universe

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Year 2019. In an underground laboratory, A kilometer and a half under the Masso del Gran Sasso in Italya dark matter detector witnessed something extraordinary: the radioactive disintegration of an atom of Xenon-124. It is the slowest process (And therefore, more rare) Never registered. They touched the cosmic lottery. The Xenon-124 has a semi-width of 1.8 × 10²² years. That is 18 followed by 21 zeros: 18,000 trillions of years. To put it into perspective, the universe has “just” about 13.8 billion years, so that the process that Italian scientists could observe in 2019 is a billion times more durable than the universe’s own age, as The researchers described it In Nature magazine. A little context. The “semi -experience” is a statistical measure similar to half -life, but specifically defines the semi -dear period of a radioactive substance. Uranium-238, for example, has a semi-width of 4.5 billion years. In the case at hand, the semi-experience tells us how long it has to pass so that half of a very large group of Xenon-124 atoms disintegrate and become another element, the teluro-124. For an individual atom, its disintegration is a purely random event. A concrete atom could disintegrate in the next second or be stable for a much greater time than its semi -experience. For a group of atoms, the semi -experience is a very reliable prediction of its collective behavior. If you had a container with a large number of Xenon-124 atoms, you would have to wait 18,000 trillions of years for half of the atoms to transform. How did they do it? With a very large container, which contained 3.2 tons of ultra -overthopuro liquid xenon. We refer to Xenon1t experiment of the National Laboratory of Gran Sassoin the center of Italy. A dark matter detector designed for the direct search for hypothetical Massive weak interaction particles (WIMP). The detector was designed with extreme sensitivity and built under a mountain to isolate it from cosmic radiation. But what he captured was not dark matter, but the whisper of an atom of Xenón-124 decomposing; transforming into Teluro-124. The weirdest event ever witnessed. It is not a hyperbole. It really was a milestone of experimental physics that we should not have seen even in a billion lives of the universe. But although the probability that an atom of Xenon-124 disintegrate in a year is practically nil, the detector contained almost 10,000 billion xenon atoms in the two tons of volume that were analyzed. With such an overwhelming amount of “lottery tickets”, the probability that at least one disintegrate during the observation period increased dramatically. During the 177 days of data collection, the team observed not one, but a total of 126 events that could later confirm how the decay of the Xenon-124, a type of radioactive disintegration allowed by the standard model of particle physics, but practically undetectable. What did they see. An atom of Xenón-124 disintegrates when its nucleus simultaneously captures two electrons of the innermost layers. This causes two protons to become neutrons, transforming the atom into Teluro-124. But the energy released is carried by two neutrinos, which escape without being detected. What the Xenon1T photomultipliers detected up to 126 times was the X-ray waterfall and omer electrons that occur when the electrons of the upper layers of the Xenon-124 fall to fill the gaps that have left the two captured electrons. This is the energy firm, the “flash” that betrays the weird event of the universe. Has it served for something? For more than it seems. Although there was no luck with dark matter, the detection showed that Xenon1T can capture an incredibly weak and rare signals, validating its design. But the measurement also provided experimental data to test and improve the theoretical models that describe the structure and stability of atomic nuclei. This observation is a general trial for an even more ambitious goal: the search for double electron catches without neutrinos. If this hypothetical process was detected, it would demonstrate that Neutrinos are their own antiparticles (What is known as Majorana particles). This would explain why the universe is made of matter and not of antimatter. Image | Lngs In Xataka | When no result is a good result: Xenon’s story and the search for dark matter

Now reinforces your safety while GPT -5 appears on the horizon, according to ft

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The irruption of Deepseek In the market it did not go unnoticed. On January 20, 2025 he put his Free chatbotand in a matter of days climbed up to the top of the ranking in the American App Store, surpassing Chatgpt. The impact was such that it even affected directly to the stock market value of NVIDIA. This success soon generated friction. Towards the end of that same month, Openai launched a serious accusation: the Chinese startup would have used its closed models to train its open source alternative. In statements to Financial Timesthe company directed by Sam Altman He claimed to have evidence of a distillation process that pointed to his Chinese rival. OpenAI reinforces your security measures Since then almost six months have passed. And if something has become clear, it was not allowed to pass the episode overlooking. According to the aforementioned British newspaperthe company initiated a thorough review of its internal practices and reinforced their security measures to reduce the risk of leaks or what internally they already refer as “corporate espionage.” “The episode motivated Openai to be much more rigorous,” said someone close to the security team. The American company has intensified its efforts to shield inside: it has not only expanded its cybersecurity workforce, it has also reviewed its protocols and hardened its internal policies. Among the most relevant measures is the isolation of much of its patented technology, which is now managed in out -of -line environments or separated from the rest of its networks. It has also implemented biometric controls of access to your offices, reinforced the physical security of your data centers and applies a policy of “Denegated output by default“To protect the weights of their models. If you wonder what this last measure consists of, the answer is quite simple: it implies that any critical data transfer is blocked by general norm, and it is only allowed if it has been expressly authorized. Thus, any attempt to extract the models – or sensitive parts of them – is automatically denied unless it is manually enabled, minimizing the risk of escape. This armor comes at a key moment for the company. The career for leadership in artificial intelligence has accelerated, and Openai is no longer seen as an unattainable force. The competition narrowstalent is expensive –Goal has begun paying exorbitant figures by their engineers– And all eyes are put on the arrival of GPT –5. Although OpenAi has not confirmed the exact date, Sam Altman has said that The new model is on its way and that will be “a great evolution” with respect to what we know. Everything indicates that GPT -5 will unify the best of the previous versionswith greater reasoning capacity, better customization, and, presumably, a broader context window. The pressure to launch it without errors, in an increasingly competitive environment, is maximum. Images | Solen Feyissa | Xataka with Grok In Xataka | Huawei and Alibaba’s grudge threatens to transform into a real war: that of AI between Chinese companies

In Chrome and Edge there are extensions with thousands of positive valuations. Many are part of malicious campaigns

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Many times we install extensions without thinking too much. They serve something concrete, they occupy little and are there when we need them. Some even have thousands of opinions, good assessment and years of presence in the store. Now we know that An investigation has uncovered that several of them hid a surveillance system capable of following our steps through the network. They were not obvious scams: they were useful, well -made tools and, above all, silent. The extension that uncovered the problem. “Picker color, Eyedropper – Geco Colorpick” was one of many useful extensions. Allowed to select colors from anywhere on the screen and worked well. More than 100,000 users had it installed, with positive valuations and verification seal included. In the eyes of anyone, there was no reason to distrust. According to Koi Security researchersfor a long time it was completely legitimate. Until it was not. In one of its updates, without warnings or visible changes for the user, the extension began to register pages visited and send that information to a remote server. It also maintained an active connection with a control infrastructure. It was just the beginning. When deepening in the case, the researchers detected common patterns in their code and behavior. What they found was a broader and more coordinated network that they baptized as ‘reddirection’. According to the report, at least 18 different extensions were part of this operation. All were available in Chrome and Edge stores, and together they accumulated more than 2.3 million facilities. Some were passed through productivity tools, others for entertainment profits. There were emojis keyboards, speed controllers for videos, time extensions, dark or supposed VPN issues to unlock services such as Tiktok or Discord. All with something in common: they offered a legitimate function … while spying in the background. What they did was not to install classic malware. These extensions implemented a browser kidnapping system that was activated every time the user opened a new tab or sailed to another page. The malicious code was hidden in the extent substance service and did not interfere with its main functionality. The mechanism worked like this: every time a website was loaded, the URL was sent to a remote server next to a unique user identifier. From there, the attackers could order an automatic redirection towards a false page or simply register the activity. Everything happened in the background, without alerts, without emerging windows, without visible failures. Extensions were not malicious from day. And that is what makes this campaign especially dangerous. According to the researchers, many of them spent months – or even more – offering their functionality without any suspicious behavior. Everything changed in an update. The technical team maintains that the malicious code was introduced into subsequent versions, when the extensions already had the confidence of thousands of users. And as browsers update automatically, the change was applied without anyone noticing. No one click was needed. Nor Social Engineering. Neither phishing. And the mechanisms designed to protect the user? Several of the malicious extensions were verified or appeared as highlighted on the Chrome and Edge platforms. Others accumulated positive reviews and a solid user base. All that contributed to the unnoticed when they changed their behavior. These are the extensions directly linked to the Reddirection campaign, according to the analysis carried out by Koi Security researchers. All of them offered apparently legitimate functions, but were identified as part of the same browser kidnapping scheme: PICKER COLOR, EYEDROPPER – GECO COLORPICK Emoji Keyboard Online – Copy & Paste Your Emoji Free Weather Forecast Weather Speed ​​Controller Video – Video Manager UNLOCK Discord – VPN Proxy to Unblock Discord Anywhere UNBLOCK TIKTOK-Seamless Access With One-Click Proxy Unlock YouTube VPN Dark Theme – Dark Reader for Chrome Volume Max – Ultimate Sound Booster Volume Booster – Increase Your Sound Web Sound Equalizer Flash Player – Games Emulator Header Value Unlock Tiktok Volume Booster Web Sound Equalizer Flash Player According to Bleeping Computersome of these extensions have already been removed from Chrome and Edge stores, but others are still available for discharge. Both Google and Microsoft have been notified by the Koi Security team, but for now they have not taken general measures on the complete set of extensions detected in the campaign. Images | Koi Security | Screen capture In Xataka | There is something that we are not doing enough and we should for our own security: eliminate old accounts

His sediments unprotected us in front of the next drought

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Thanks to the data provided by the authorities and on initiatives such as reservoirs.netwe have at our disposal complete information of the state of the hundreds of reservoirs that populate our environment. However, for some time the experts have noticed us with a problem that make this data in principle precise and observational into something more similar to estimates. It is the problem of sediments. Decades of accumulation. The reservoirs, in addition to accumulating water accumulate sediments. This involves a problem since they occupy a growing proportion of the volume of Spanish swamps, with the aggravating fact that it is very difficult to estimate the exact proportion in each case. Fortunately, the echoes of drought have abandoned us (for now), but during the last months of water bonanza, some swamps even had to release water after their filling. Part of that water could have been used if their place had not occupied these sediments. It is for all this that the sediments have come to be called The “silent thief” of the reservoirs. Difficult solution. This accumulation is due to dynamics associated with the very nature of these great reserves and the architectural barriers that create them. That is why impossible to prevent this accumulation from being more or lesser extent, so we only have two options left: living with sediments or performing periodic dredging operations to clean up these sediments occasionally. Living with sediments. Coexistence with sediments is not synonymous with ignoring the problem. Quite the contrary, it requires more accurately to document the magnitude of this phenomenon. The speed at which sediments accumulate in the reservoirs in the form of sludge, sand and other materials depends great Considering all these variables is complicated, so observational studies are also an option. The study of the lacuestre bed through batimeters would allow us to know the status of the bottom of the reservoir without having to empty it or resort to indirect estimates. Knowing the degree of accumulation of sediments in reservoirs can help us adjust your real capacity and to know more accurately what are the real water resources we have and what is the rhythm to which we spend them. Of course, this solution does not solve the problem of loss of reservoirs capacity, but at least allows us to work with it. Studies. We do not have a general idea of ​​the state of the sediments in our reservoirs but we do have a record of some studies and estimates carried out over the last years. The problem today is that the number of studies is limited and its diverse results. We have an example in the study conducted in 2018 by the Tajo Hydrographic Confederation, which estimated An insignificant accumulation of sediments. At the other extreme, a batimetry study conducted by the Segura Hydrographic Confederation indicated a loss of capacity in the basin of Between 10% and 40%. A third study offers us a somewhat more global vision. Made through 110 reservoir analysis, this third work estimated a loss of capacity of our reservoirs of about 5%an intermediate result between the aforementioned. Dranging the reservoirs. The solution to the problem I could be in the dredging of the reservoirs. This option would allow them to recover their original capacity but at the same time raised a challenge due to the number of swamps existing to the country. A challenge and considerable investment. These types of operations are not, however, a mere utopia. In 2024 the Ebro swamp began some dredging operations To release one of the disaggers of the dam, useless as a result of the accumulation of sediments. The budget of the work: 2.5 million euros. In Xataka | The time of truth of the Spanish reservoirs: how are they going to endure the heat after rains that has left them overflowing Image | Pilar Flores

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