Not everything is Kindle. Five great alternatives to devour digital books in an ereader

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The Kindle have been the most popular ereader for years, but there is life beyond them. Although in general all models are very good, other brands also offer a very complete experience. Therefore, already the eve of Book Day, we wanted to review Five alternatives to Kindle to enjoy the passion of devouring books. Kobo Clara Colora standard format ereader whose most differential point is its color screen. Pocketbook see pro coloranother ereader with color screen, but also comes with buttons to pass the pages. Woxter Scriba 195 San ideal ereader if what we are looking for is a very compact and very cheap model. Kobo Libra Colora seven -inch ereader with color screen and physical buttons. Pocketbook inkpad 4an ereader with almost eight -inch screen that comes with 32 GB of storage. Kobo Clara Color If we are looking for a compact ereader, with a good price and color screen, the Kobo Clara Color It is an interesting option – it is also available With black and white screen-. Mount one Six -inch screen with Fastglr and dark mode offered by 300 PPP in black and white and 150 ppp in color. It has 16 GB to store books, includes its own store to buy and download digital books and comes both with adjustable lighting and with light control and letter customization (format, font, size …). Also You can play audiobooks, it is water resistant and its autonomy is weeks. You can play digital books with the following formats: EPUB, EPUB3, FLEPUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ and CBR) * Some price may have changed from the last review Pocketbook see pro color With a similar format, a great alternative to the Kindle is the Pocketbook see pro color. It comes with one Six -inch color screen and offers 300 PPP. It is also compatible with audiobooks, front lighting can be adjusted and has Darkmode to select a dark reading mode. It also has IPX8 certificationcomes with an app to select digital books as a loan and allows you to pass the pages – and navigate the menu— by the touch screen or through the physical buttons that we can find in the lower part of the ereader. You can play digital books with the following formats: ACSM, AZW, AZW3, CBR, CBZ, CHM, DJVU, DOC, DOCX, EPUB, FB2, FB2.ZIP, HTM, HTML, MOBI, PDF, PRC, RTF, TXT, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF. In the case of audiobooks: M4B, OGG, OGG.ZIP, MP3, MP3.ZIP, WAV. Pocketbook see pro color * Some price may have changed from the last review Woxter Scriba 195 S On the other hand, if what we are looking for is a very cheap, very small ereader, but with the ability to give us hours and hours of reading, the Woxter Scriba 195 S It is an interesting purchase option –The same model, but larger, also has an adjusted price-. Without a doubt, the most remarkable thing is that it rides a 4.7 -inch screen and? Weigh only 100 grams. Its screen is not tactile, so to pass the pages and navigate the menu we must do it through the physical buttons. Includes 4 GB of storage to save books, Allows you to read horizontally and vertically and has adjustable frontal light. You can reproduce digital libors with the following formats: EPUB, PDF, FB2, HTM, DOC, TXT, RTF, TAR, TCR, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG. * Some price may have changed from the last review Kobo Libra Color From the hand of Rakuten, we can also find other ereader with somewhat larger screens. He Kobo Libra Color It is ideal for those looking for a more generous screen, since in this case it is seven inches. It comes with Fastglr and dark mode, offers 300 PPP in black and white content and 150 ppp in color content and has 32 GB of storage. Its battery offers a Autonomy of up to 40 daysit is water resistant, includes automatic brightness and color adjustment, reproduces audiobooks and the pages can be passed by the touch screen OA through the buttons we find on the right side. On the other hand, the Kobo Libra Color can reproduce the following formats: EPUB, EPUB3, FLEPUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ and CBR. * Some price may have changed from the last review Pocketbook inkpad 4 And if we want to make a leap more about the size of the screen, the Pocketbook inkpad 4 It is a very good purchase option. Mount a generous 7.8 -inch screen which offers 300 PPP, is water resistant (IPX8 certification) and has 32 GB of storage to save a large number of digital books. Besides, The screen has scratch protectionIt comes with an integrated speaker, it also includes a public loan library of books and you can pass the pages with the touch screen or through the physical buttons that are located at the bottom. The Pocketbook inkpad 4 is capable of reproducing the following formats: ACSM, CBR, CBZ, CHM, DJVU, DOC, DOCX, EPUB, FB2, FB2.ZIP, HTM, HTML, MOBI, PDF, PRC, RTF, TXT, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, M4 OGG.ZIP, MP3, MP3.ZIP. * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Image | Amanz in UnspashRakuten, pocketbook, woxter In Xataka | Best electronic books. Which to buy and nine recommended models In Xataka | What Kindle Buy: Purchase guide with recommendations to succeed with Amazon electronic book readers

The world’s most expensive coffee cup costs 300 euros and is sold in the only country willing to pay something like this: Japan

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He price of a cup of coffee It is an excellent socioeconomic indicator. That “1.20 euros” of a coffee with milk in a conventional bar is the measure of measuring with which many Spaniards in recent years have compared the Daily Products Pricebut that rod has long since broke. The boom of chains like Starbucksspecialty coffee shops and trembling reality of the coffee market has caused the price of this delicious and healthy drink increase dramatically. But even if we pay more or less depending on the place where we live, there are so exclusive cafes that does not matter where we take it because its price will continue to be crazy. And one of those expensive coffees occurs on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The price? 315 euros. The cup, not the kilo. And even the most coffee experts do not know if it is worth it. Coffee that costs a third of the minimum wage We are talking about asking for a donut of a couple of euros to accompany a cup of coffee of more than 300 euros. It is complicated that many of us imagine something like that, but it is what happens with some coffees such as Nakayama Estate. And, within that it is a barbarity of money for a cup of coffee, I will turn to that xataka meme: it makes sense. Put the quotes you want here. Okinawa is just at the north limit of the so -called ‘coffee belt’, which makes it one of the most extreme areas where it can be cultivated. We have already told that coffee occurs mostly in what we know as the “coffee belt” and that, although the Climate change It is allowing coffee to develop in areas Like Sicily either Spainit is still a peculiarity that coffee occurs so to the limit of the optimal zone. In addition, Nakayama is not too high above sea level. To grow coffee, especially the Arabic varietywhich is usually used in the specialty coffee, the altitude to which it is grown must be between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level. In Nakayama, farms are between 150 and 500 meters. To round the formula, it must be taken into account that they use sustainable practices without pesticides and with Japanese employees who charge higher wages than those that farmers from other coffee producing areas can collect. In summary: they are not the ideal conditions, it is difficult to harvest and the wages are high, which directly impacts the price, but there is more. Nakayama Café is not only exclusive for the achievement of carrying out such a harvest, but for the low production they get every year. Brazil is the main coffee producer and in 2022 that production was more than 3,100,000 tons. Vietnam is the second, with almost 2,000,000 tons that same year. New Caledonia is one of the most producers weakwith two tons of coffee. Nakayama would not enter the graphics, because its production is 300 kilos a year. And if we add that very scarce annual production with the factors mentioned above since coffee has distinctive notes thanks, precisely, to that low height crop, we result in a cup that is exceptionally expensive. I would be unable to distinguish a cup of this select coffee from my coffee in Costa Rica every morning, but someone can: James Hoffman. We have ever talked about him, since he was named better barista in 2007, he has such interesting recipes –I have tried this– like that of a Donut coffee and, in addition, It is coffee toaster. It has, in short, a palate qualified enough to analyze something like a cup that costs more than 300 euros. To do this, he went to one of the most expensive coffee shops: Shotin one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in London, to try this coffee. There are only special coffees, such as private crops of islands like Kona in Hawaii, Santa Helena Café (one of the most remote islands in the world) coffee Kopi Luwak that is extracted from excrement from an animal and, of course, that of Nakayama. The letter has no prices, and we already know what this usually implies. Ok, very good, but … is it worth it? According to HoffmannNo. Not quite. “It is more acid than I expected and has a good texture, a touch of wood and is very fruity,” says the British YouTuber. “The barista has done really well, there is a good barista after this coffee and it is a mature coffee, well -processed, well roasted and well done, but I do not think that its flavor and its price are connected.” In addition, he adds that he does not think he has distinctive characteristics of other low -altitude coffees that he has tried. And, although this may seem devastating, really, as I said before, it makes sense. Because, as Hoffmann, the price and perception of those 300 euros for a cup of coffee (espresso, in addition, without milk), depends on the value that we give to things, something that is linked to the size of the portfolio. It occurs with virtually any product whose price is not objective and depends on what we are willing to pay. This Okinawa coffee, better or worse, is like an exclusive wine, fashion brands, chocolate, watches, cars and What can occur to us. Because, obviously, Shot has not cost so much money, but has revalued to the extreme the price of that coffee due to the aura of exclusivity that has to be of the few coffee shops in the world that has those grains in particular. The truth is that, after writing this, I still escape from my head to pay 315 euros for an espresso and I don’t know how many Bernabéus equivalent. But I know that for the price of that espresso, you can buy three games of Nintendo Switch 2 and you have left over for a coffee from the street end. … Read more

Webb telescope has been looking for extraterrestrial life for years. He just found the strongest signal so far in K2-18b

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The finding. An international team of scientists, headed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, has just made public sulfide detection or dimethyl disulfide in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2 –18B, which has been observing the James Webb space telescope. On earth, these molecules are only produced by living organisms, mainly marine phytoplankton. It is the strongest evidence so far of a biofirma, a sign of possible extraterrestrial life, outside the solar system. To confirm it, they will take between 16 and 24 hours of observation with the Webb Telescope, according to the study published by The Astrophysical Journal Letters. What is K2-18b. It is what is called a “subneptune”, a planet of 8.6 times the dough and 2.6 times the radius of the earth that orbits a red dwarf in the habitable zone (receiving a flow of energy from its star similar to the earth). It is 124 light years from us, in Leo’s constellation. He is also a candidate for planet Hacéano, worlds that could house global oceans under hydrogen -rich atmospheres. Webb’s first observations have already detected methane and carbon dioxide, which fits with this scenario. Reasons for optimism. When the planet passes in front of its star, part of the stellar light crosses its atmosphere. Each molecule leaves a pattern in the spectrum that scientists associate with molecules. Scientists They have seen twice the same pattern since 2023 With the Miri instrument of the Webb. We are facing the first coherent biofirma on a planet outside the solar system. Life could be more common than we think of planets greater than Earth. The planets made us would enter our external life search radar, today focused on rock worlds such as superstierras. Reasons for caution. Although on earth dimethyl sulfur is biological, researchers admit that in a world under high pressure and with an atmosphere of hydrogen, it could be the result of exotic geochemical reactions. They will need laboratory experiments and models to check.

The trade war threatens to cut his wings in full takeoff

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The aeronautical sector It is emerging as one of the great victims by the Commercial War between the United States and China. At Growing tariff barriers imposed by both powers now adds Beijing’s alleged attempt to block the delivery of new Boeing aircraft in its territory. The information, Posted by Bloomberg earlier this weekalso points out that Chinese airlines will not be able to acquire equipment or pieces related to aviation to US suppliers. When a scenario like this is raised, it is easy to think that the closure of doors to Boeing and other American manufacturers can translate into an opportunity for firms such as Airbus or Comac. And, in part, it is. However, it is convenient to clarify: while Airbus’s main challenge is to increase its production capacity, in the case of Cabel the difficulties are deeper. The United States, in fact, could dynamite its most ambitious project overnight. As? Let’s look at the details. A plane with too many pieces borrowed In recent years we have seen how China has managed to make a decisive leap in multiple industries. One of the most obvious examples we have in front of our eyes: the automobile sector. For a long time, Chinese cars dragged a questionable reputation and a little competitive offer. Today the situation is very different. Something similar could be happening in commercial aviation. Although Airbus and Boeing continue to lead with slack, Cabe has been trying for years A hole in that historic duopoly. One of the key pieces in this important objective is the Comac C919a plane designed and assembled in China with an eye on competing directly with the Boeing 737 Max and the Airbus A320. With capacity for between 158 and 192 passengers and autonomy that ranges between 4,075 and 5,555 kilometers, its current deployment is still limited. However, if we attend to the growth rate of the Asian giant, everything indicates that it is a matter of time that the C919 is also consolidated outside its origin borders. But the project drags, at least for now, an Achilles heel that often goes unnoticed: a deep dependence on American technology. That’s how it is. The pride of Chinese aviation, the most ambitious development of its entire history in this sector, works thanks to key components manufactured by a rival country. For years, these pieces have crossed the ocean without major obstacles. But a block could hit the very heart of the Chinese dream of having its own regional reference plane. So what pieces are we talking about exactly? To understand it, it is convenient to go to Leeham News and Analysis worka specialized firm that has been closely following the ins and outs of the aerospace sector. Flight data recorders – General Electric (United States). Meteorological radar – Rockwell Collins (United States). Communications and Navigation Systems – Honeywell (United States). Antihielo Ala – Liebherr (Germany) system. Aluminum components for fuselage – Arconic (United States). Motors – CFM International, a joint venture between GE (United States) and Safran (France). Thrust investors – Safran (France). Fuel System – Parker (United States). Fire detection – Kidde (United Kingdom). Wheels and brakes – Honeywell (United States). Tires – Michelin (France). Landing train – Liebherr (Germany). Cola y Alas – Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) (China). Just check the previous list to measure the blow that would mean the lack of any US component in the C919 assembly chain. Leeham News and Analysis already warns that the trade war threatens the project. In the same line is Ron Epstein, Bank of America analyst, who declared Reuters: “If China stop buying aeronautical components from the United States, the C919 program will stop or die” The current situation and future perspectives In recent days, the commercial war has intensified with rapid and unpredictable movements. And the truth is that half the world – individuals, companies, governments – still tries to understand how far their effects come. If we focus on the order of the Chinese government on aeronautical components, everything indicates that, for now, it affects only airlines. That would leave manufacturers such as Comac with margin to continue buying the pieces that need the United States. At least for the moment. However, The 125% retaliation tariff (that, added to the previous 20 % in the fentanyl case, leaves the invoice at 145 %) governs for imports from the United States. That includes engines, plane or brakes that Comac buys for their C919. The practical result is that each US component would cost me almost twice and a half its original pricea scenario hardly aware of any manufacturer who aspires to maintain the viability of your business. It is time to wait to see what all this flows. If the barriers imposed by both powers will fall and the trade will be reactivated. But there is also another scenario: that the United States imposes export controls on key components for Chinese aviation. He already did it with the Nvidia chips to stop his advance in artificial intelligence. This situation could reinforce China’s bet to develop your own key technology, although it still has a long way ahead. Images | Comac In Xataka | Before panic for US tariffs there are technological ones doing something uncommon: product collection

The recipe of generation Z against exhaustion consists of not waiting at 65 to retire

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Young people from generation Z are increasingly unlikely to retire, so They are breaking with the traditional idea to work tirelessly until 65 to retire. Instead of waiting for decades to enjoy life, generation Z is promoting a trend that redefines the balance between work and well -being: Microjubilation. Live to work or work to live. This phenomenon, which He has gained strength Thanks to social networks, and proposes strategic pauses in the professional career to recharge energies, explore personal interests and prioritize mental health, all while you still have youth and vitality. As published The Guardian, The concept has its origin in the book ‘The 4 -hour work week‘Timothy Ferriss, in which the author prioritized to lead a happy and full life over professional careers dedicated to making others the dreams of others. You will rest when you retire … or not. According to A survey De sumimbuilder.com, 13% of American retirees expect that during 2025 they will have to return to the labor market Due to the high cost of life, and 22% are already working to subsist. In Spain, on the other hand, the panorama is just the opposite. According to a study From the BBVA and IVIE Foundation, the rent of those over 65 in Spain is 6.4% higher than the European average. Both scenarios are equally bad for those who begin their work career now. In the American case, generation Z has discovered that reaching the retirement age does not imply stop working, even when you have spent all your life doing it. On the other hand, in the case of Spain, the sustainability of pensions and the progressive aging of the population, does not guarantee that, who just begin their work career now, they will have such a wealthy retirement Like who retires now. In either case, the idea of ​​being able to rest when you retire from a thread. Marathon or sprints. Given this dilemma, generation Z is not only rethinking when and how to rest, but also how to build a more sustainable and satisfactory professional life by interspersing sabbatical periods as a “microjubilation” throughout your professional career, As they point out in Bloomberg. Unlike traditional sabbatical periods, which are usually linked to agreements with the employer and may include some type of salary, many young people choose to leave their employment temporarily and finance these brief periods of disconnection with their own savings. The objective is clear: take advantage of the energy and health of youth to travel, learn new skills or devote yourself to personal projects, instead of postponing these dreams to old age. Dominating remote work and precariousness. This new approach to generation Z also responds to a labor reality in which the instability and precariousness They are the order of the day. With the advancement of technology and the normalization of remote work, reinstatement to the world of work after a microretiro offers less friction than in previous generations, when an employee remained In the same company for decades. Generation has proven not to be afraid of change jobs oftenand interspersed a short period of rest between work and work can be a way of applying this model. The possibility of working for projects, part -time or remotely allow these breaks not to necessarily mean a setback in the professional career. In fact, according toThe published by The conversationIn Australia, for example, some companies offer their workers a paid permit when they have been working for them for seven to ten years. A kind of parental permit, but take care of oneself. The value of mental health and well -being. He physical and mental well -being It is one of the main concerns of generation Z, and one of the incentives of these microjubilaciones. StudiesThe World Health Organization revealed the direct relationship between the long working days and the 29% increase in deaths from heart disease and stroke between 2000 and 2016. Before this panorama, young people prefer to prevent exhaustion programming prolonged breaks, instead of waiting for health problems to accumulate over the years. Business Insider HE echoed In the case of Anaïs Felt, a senior manager in a technological company in Silicon Valley who, overwhelmed by the stress and fatigue caused by his work, decided to make a small pause in his career. “I came home so exhausted that I just knocked down on the couch to recover, drew and then lay down,” he said about his routine. “I had no energy to run, or to spend time with my partner, or to laugh,” Felt said in one of the videos he has hung In your Tiktok profile counting his experience. Trend with many “Peros”. Although the microjubilation approach is shown as a way to balance the Self -care with professional careersreality is sometimes stubborn and insists on making it unfeasible. As Felt remembered in the description of his video, before taking one of these breaks he had already paid his student loan and covered some basic needs, making special emphasis on the nuance of “If you can afford it, in my opinion, it is totally worth it.” Belgium State recognizes In his Labor Law the right to disconnect, offering a pause pause. However, previous studies To this measure they recognized that making this pause could have an important impact on the professional career, and became more persistent the younger they were the ones who requested it. Before some fired rental pricesthe cost of up to rise and Added salaries makes the age of emancipation in Spain place at 30.4 years, According to data of Eurostat. If the Z generation is committed to microjubilation, it could make that age superior in the future, depending for a longer time of family support. In Xataka | The Z generation is facing precarious salaries and triggered rentals: it will soon be the richest generation in history Image | Unspash (Keegan Houser)

This is what we know after the versions of a possible cyber attack

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Have you tried to listen to your uslist always this Wednesday and did not carry? It was not your mobile or your connection: Spotify has once again suffered a generalized fall that has affected users in different parts of the world. The streaming platform, usually stable, He already lived an important interruption at the end of September last yearwhen both their website and the player stopped working for several hours. Problems with Spotify. According to Downdetectorthe interruption of the service began shortly before 15:00 (Spanish peninsular time). As usually happens in these cases, X quickly filled with user messages that sought to confirm the failureshare your frustration or simply understand what was happening. They pointed out that the service did not work both in applications and in its web version. 27 Spotify tricks – Control your whole music like nobody! Cyber ​​attack versions. Shortly after the failures began, Hackmanac (@h4ckmanac) He echoed an alleged claim by a group called Dark Storm. According to this versionthe interruption was caused by an attack of denial of service (DDOS), which the apparent attackers sell to interested parties. At no time was data theft or a larger scale infiltration. The message posted by the alleged group of attackers A DDOS attack (distributed denial of service) blocks a service by launching thousands or millions of simultaneous connections from different points. The objective is not to steal information, but to prevent legitimate users from accessing. It is a form of digital sabotage that, in many cases, can be rented or purchased in the Dark Web. Spotify denies a cyber attack. The Swedish company was clear about it: “The reports that it is a security attack are false,” published in x. On their community page, they added that their technical team continued to investigate the situation and that they were aware of the failures that were affecting the service. Of course, they did not offer details about the origin of the problem. The service returns to normal. After 6:00 p.m. the official Spotify status account again publishedthis time with an encouraging news for users: “Everything in order. Thank you for your patience. If you still have problems, contact @spotifycares.” The company offered no more explanations, and the question about what could have happened is still in the air. Services can fall for several reasons. In an increasingly connected world, that a platform like Spotify suffers an interruption does not automatically mean that it is being a victim of a cyber attack. In fact, in many cases, the origin of these failures is much more everyday: human errors, routine updates or simple configuration problems that are more complicated than expected. One of the most common causes are errors in content distribution systems (CDN) or domain name resolution (DNS) services. When they have problems, the user can find that the application does not load, the music does not reproduce or directly cannot log in. On other occasions, a bad configuration of the servers or a defective deployment can leave an entire platform out of service. It may also happen that the entire system works correctly … until an unexpected traffic peak arrives. If the infrastructure is not prepared to manage an avalanche of simultaneous users, the result are intermittent errors, slowness or even a total fall of the service. Although, it should be noted, the latter can also occur precisely by an attack of denial of service. Images | Spotify | Screen capture In Xataka | What is cloudflare, how it works and why a fall or block makes half the Internet fail In Xataka | Agents are the great promise of AI. They also aim to become the new favorite weapon of cybercounts

His reasoning models finally do what until now was impossible for them

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For more than half a year, users of Chatgpt – and also those of the API – we have access to two types of models: the GPT models, such as GPT-4Oand reasoning -oriented models, such as O1. The problem is that, until now, we were forced to alternate between them for tasks that require complex thinking, web navigation or interpretation of images. As of today, that begins to change. New models on stage. O3 and O4-mini models, presented this Wednesdayshorten distances with GPT models. For the first time, reasoning -centered models access tools that, so far, were exclusive to classic models. Namely: Analyze images (and think with them). Analyze files. Generate images. Navigate the web. Do research. Use advanced voice mode. The keys to “visual reasoning”. The interesting thing is not that O3 read what is in a photo. It decides how to look at her. He knows if he has to turn it, expand a detail or ignore the irrelevant. That process is now part of its reasoning chain. He does not describe an image, but “think” about it to give us a better answer. A remarkable jump. We are facing a series of improvements that the most demanding users will undoubtedly know how to appreciate. The reasoning models, it should be remembered, “think” before responding. They generate an internal chain of thought before offering us an answer. They are not the best option for those looking for texts with literary dyes or quick responses on any subject. But they are ideal to code, reason scientifically and plan complex workflows, especially in environments where several steps are involved and Agents. Taking this into account, and as expected, Openai has also improved the main capabilities of these models, making them more capable and precise. OpenAI O3: This model achieves a prominent performance in Swe-Bench verified (without customization), a test that measures coding skills, with a score of 69.1%. According to OpenAI, in evaluations carried out by external experts, O3 makes 20% less important errors that OPENAI O1 in difficult real -world tasks. OPENAI O4-MINI: It offers similar yield, with a score of 68.1%. To put it in context: O3-mini obtained 49.3% in the same test, while Claude 3.7 Sonnet reached 62.3%. This model is optimized for rapid and profitable reasoning, and yields especially well in mathematical, coding and visual tasks. The model that was not going to launch. OpenAi has changed their minds. In February, Sam Altman ruled out launch O3 as an independent product. But just a few weeks ago, toHe gave a “change of plans”. This turn materializes today with the arrival of O3 and O4-mini, the new models that mark a new chapter in the company’s strategy. On the way to chatgpt. From today, users of Chatgpt plusPro and Team can already start using O3 and O4-mini. In the coming weeks, O3-PRO will arrive, a more powerful version of the reasoning model, which will be available for subscribers of the Pro Plan. Meanwhile, these users can continue working with O1-PRO. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | Openai’s hypothetical social network does not want to connect people. Want your data to train your AI

The happy outcome of the Nero Alpha that almost ruins an island

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Few Stories about yachts They have caused both stir and the one that has as the protagonist the Alfa Nero and his unexpected relationship with the small Caribbean island of Antigua. This luxurious ship, valued at more than 120 million dollarsbecame an authentic nightmare for the government of the island, after its seizure by order of the US government for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What they never imagined that a Symbol of wealth and glamor I could put the local economy in check. The sale of Alfa Nero not only was a financial relief, but also brought with it an unusual reward: the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda for the buyer of the yacht and for his whole family, As published Luxurylaunches. The nightmare of Alfa Nero. The alpha nero is a superyte of 81.3 meters long and 14.2 manga capable of moving at a cruise speed of 15 knots. It has half a dozen suites and capacity for 12 people, in addition to almost thirty crew. Its price reached exceed 67 million dollars In some auctions. In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and as part of international sanctions to Russia, the Russian assets abroadincluding mansions, yates and others Properties that Russian millionaires They had all over the world. Destiny wanted the majestic Alfa Nero to be anchored in the port of Antigua, and there he was already waiting to be auctioned. The problem: a yacht is a luxury. The Government of the small Caribbean island took very little to discover why having a yacht is considered a luxury. Superryate maintenance cost an average of $ 28,000 per week and consumed some 2,000 dollars a day in fuel to keep the air conditioning on and prevent the interior wood finishes deteriorating. A ruin! Having seen the cats it generated, the local government pressed the step to find a new owner for the Alfa Nero, before the yacht ate the island’s budget. However, the yacht already had an owner and demanded lifting the blockade Judicial route. This judicial process caused Millionaires like Eric Schmidt, the Exce of Google, to withdraw its purchase offer for the Alfa Nero. However, the Government managed to sell the yacht with an important discount. 40 million for a yacht and a passport. Finally, and despite the judicial process undertaken for its supposed owner, the controversial sale of the yacht It was signed in March 2024 for an amount of 40 million dollars to a Turkish entrepreneur. Of those 40 million, the government had debt of more than four million for maintenance and mooring expenses for the more two years that remained tied on the island. As they revealed Information of the specialized environment The Yatch Reportthe ancient and Barbuda government included a clause in the sales contract in which the Turkish billionaire Ali Riza Yildirim was rewarded, and his whole family with citizens. This clause is not only unusual, but demonstrates the thanks of the island for having removed a problem that threatened to ruin its finances. A round business. After more than two years without furrowing the seas, the Alfa Nero is already undergoing a complete renewal of its machinery, cleaning the air conditioning ducts and adaptation of the materials and interior spaces. However, the new life of Alfa Nero will not be dedicated to the private enjoyment of a single millionaire. Northrop & Johnson’s brokerage firm confirmed to Boat International That the superyte would be rented in the charter market, and will be put for rent during the summer of 2025 with a price of $ 81,500 per week. In Xataka | Ultrararicos change the ground for a superyte during the summer: so are some of these floating mansions Image | Oceanco Yacht

Green hydrogen consumes huge amounts of water. A new incredibly simple invention allows you to use seawater

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Green hydrogen is the missing piece in the puzzle of decarbonization. In a day like today, in which Spain It has produced 107.3% of the country’s energy demand From renewable sources, a greater storage capacity (batteries or pumping centrals and a more flexible demand is needed. Produce green hydrogen When electricity is very cheap It is the country’s commitment to take advantage of that surplus. There is a problem. While green hydrogen It occurs with solar or wind energy (That is why it is said that it is an energy vector that stores clean energy), the process to produce itwater electrolysis consumes huge amounts of fresh water, an increasingly scarce resource for billions of people in threatened regions For chronic drought. The obvious solution is to use seawaterthe most abundant resource on the planet. But of course, salt and impurities run the equipment and reduce the efficiency of the process. External desalination makers are needed, adding costs and energy consumption; or super -resistant electrolyzers, which are still under development. There is a third way. MIT researchers, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University and Michigan State University joined forces to find an alternative that nicknamed the “triumph of sustainability.” The system, detailed in Energy & Environmental Scienceproduces green hydrogen directly from sea water. It does so using solar energy with impressive efficiency, and generating drinking water as a byproduct. How they have done it. Taking advantage of the entire solar spectrum. The central idea of ​​this new approach, officially called HSD-We (Hybrid Solar Distillion-Water Electrolysis), is to squeeze the maximum solar energy. We know that photovoltaic panels convert only part of sunlight into electricity (The most efficient are around 25% efficiency). The rest of the energy dissipates as a residual heat. What if that heat, instead of wasted, will be used for something useful? Eureka! Simpler than it seems. Like many other systems for the production of green hydrogen, the HSD-We integrates solar panels that turn light into electricity and an electroly of protons exchange membrane (PEM) that breaks down the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The secret is at the rear of the solar panels, they are where the HSD-We has an interfacial thermal distiller coupled that uses the residual heat of photovoltaic cells to evaporate seawater. A simple membrane that absorbs salt water. It is a genius. The best thing is that it works. The electricity of the solar panels directly feeds the electrolyz. At the same time, the residual heat of the panel heats sea water in the interfacial distiller, evaporating it. This pure water vapor (already without salt) is transported by a small air space to the electrolyz, where it is directly condensed in the anode, adding ultra -patrol water for electrolysis. The prototype, tested by the MIT both in laboratory conditions, under simulated sunlight, and outdoors, on a partially sunny day, threw impressive figures. They achieved 35.9 liters of dry hydrogen per square meter of solar panel per hour, using real sea water. In terms of efficiency, The system turned 12.6%a comparable rate or even above current green hydrogen production technologies with drinking water. Cheap hydrogen finally? Beyond technical feat, preliminary economic analysis is also promising. Not depending on external supplies of electricity or purified water, the operating cost is minimal, so the price of hydrogen produced with this system could drastically fall with the scale. While conventional electrolysis fueled by the electricity grid and using drinking water It costs about 10 per kilothis HSD-We system, in exchange for a slightly larger initial investment, could reach 5 dollars per kilo after 3 years of operation and lower the kilo at 1 dollar in 15 years. A price that would undoubtedly change the rules of the game. Image | Nickelgreen In Xataka | Europe waste so much renewable energy that needs green hydrogen. And the country that leads it is Spain

The aid seemed the only way to sell electric cars. Germany is demonstrating that we were wrong

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Electric car sales do not take off without state aid. And it has logic if we take into account that we are talking about a technology that forces the driver to Make some adaptation And, according to what cars we buy, force him to plan your trips. The electric car has many advantages. In Spain, with current prices and rates, an electric car can be much cheaper That one of combustion shortly time. In fact, The more trips and kilometers dothe car comes out. To this we must add the advantages Undoubted for day to day such as the absence of vibrations, of noise, the comfort of having the entire torque to a throttle pedal … but they are advantages that the client has to discover and that it is normal that it does not encourage it when the disbursement will be of tens of thousands of euros. To foster change, states have focused on giving purchase aid. It is a good way to lower the price and leave it at a cost closer to combustion models, especially when electric were sensibly more expensive than gasoline or diesel. They are decisions for which the reference countries have opted in the electric car market. He did it Norway, he did (and he does) China And Germany did it. And the German case showed us that without purchase aid, Electric car sales are deflated… or deflated. Because they have grows again. What if we have been looking at the wrong place? Direct aid to purchase At the end of 2023 justice forced Germany to withdraw aids to the purchase of electric cars. The reason is that funds had been diverted to combat the crisis derived from the coronavirus to the promotion of the electric car. Without destiny for that money, the government had preferred to reinvest it in the game of electric mobility. For justice, this was illegal and therefore I ordered the aid to immediately withdraw. Overnight, aid fell to the purchase that extended to all cars up to 65,000 euros. Last year, in 2024, a reduction in subsidies was already expected but buyers could expect a mattress of 4,500 euros in cars of up to 40,000 euros and 3,000 euros in which a price of between 40,000 and 65,000 euros appears. The help was complemented by manufacturers with 2,250 euros and 1,500 euros, respectively. That is, savings in the first case could be up to 6,750 euros and in the second of up to 4,500 euros. Figures similar to those we see in Spain with the MOVES III PLANrecently reimputed until the end of the year or exhaust the funds available. Last year, the fall in electric car sales was considerable. In its first year of direct aid to the purchase, Germany enrolled 27.4% less electric cars. A blow to European accounts with the main electric car market by volume falling from 524,219 tuition from 2023 to 380,609 units enrolled in 2024. By market share, the German electric car fell from 18.4% to 13.5%. However, everything has changed in these first months of 2025. They collect in Motorpasion than the 17% of cars Enrolled in Germany are electric. Compared to the month of March of last year, 35.5% have been grown and the trend indicates that it will continue to grow. It is very good news because they lack direct aid to the purchase of cars of this type. What the State is doing is to encourage the purchase of this type of fleet cars. Companies can deduce up to 40% of the value of the car in the purchase of new cars. A decision that has triggered sales since company vehicles reflect 67% of new car registration in Germany. The strategy is not new in Europe and focuses on the importance of aid beyond lowering the price of cars. In Norway, they stood out that if they have made the electric car Your best selling technology It has been because for years they have given themselves constant subsidies related to the property of the electric car. Not paying some taxes or road toll have been definitive attractive for implementation. Yes indeed, 1.8 billion euros have been raised. Belgium has been the other great country where the electric car has exploded in sales in recent months. In Belgium they already exceed 30% quota electric car market. Last year, to February 2024, they exceeded 20% market share and in 2022 they barely exceeded 8%. The secret is in the aids that, again, are given to companies. Depending on income, a company can be deduced up to 100% of the electric car fee. The percentage will fall over the years but prevent maintaining this economic incentive until 2031. In Bloomberg They explain that in a country where the company car is usually used as an incentive when changing work, promoting the purchase of this type of cars is key to popularize them and reach sectors that did not expect to make the leap for a few years (or did not expect it at all, as one of those interviewed in the article recognizes). The strategy contrasts with the one we have been carrying so far in Spain. Our country has also joined the delivery of purchase aids but, in addition to not being direct at the time of signing the contract, Each extension It has been a birth. The suspension for two months In the last extension of the Moves III Plan it has been the best example. Photo | Volkswagen In Xataka | The electric car is sweeping so much in China that the natural step is already raised: stop calling it “electric”

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