80s

Japan was the king of semiconductors in the 80s. Rapidus is its only hope to compete in this market again

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In the 1980s, Japan did not compete in semiconductors and technology. It was devastating. In 1988, Japanese companies controlled more than half of the world semiconductor market, and NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi and Fujitsu were above giants of the time in the US such as Motorola, Texas Instruments or Intel. That golden era ended with the hyperspecialization that emerged both in South Korea and China and (especially) in Taiwan, but now Japan wants to make a splash again. what has happened. A year ago the technology industry was surprised by the birth of Rapidus Corporationa company born from the alliance of several Japanese giants (Sony, Toyota, SoftBank) with the aim of returning to Japan part of its relevance in the field of semiconductors. The initial plan was very ambitious: they wanted to jump directly to 2 nm by 2027. As we will see later, they have had to delay that forecast, but what has also changed (a lot) is the structure of the company. Japan like main investor. The Japanese government has decided to make Rapidus a centerpiece of national security, and is taking unprecedented control of the company. He will become the largest shareholder, although initially he will only exercise 10% of the voting rights to leave management in private hands. Of course: the State reserves the right to raise that participation above 50% if the company is experiencing difficulties. Total capital has skyrocketed to 420 billion yen ($2.7 billion), when in 2022 the investment did not exceed 50 million. The golden action. The Japanese executive has made use of a legal mechanism by acquiring the so-called “golden shares” with which he can exercise his veto in critical decisions such as changes in management or mergers. The objective is to shield Rapidus against foreign capital acquisitions and guarantee the sovereignty of the project. Which is exactly the same thing we are seeing around the world, of course: each country wants to have its own apples in its basket. Investors who are also clients. Financial support comes from the Japanese government, but also from some large Japanese business groups such as the aforementioned Sony and Toyota or Denso. In total, 32 companies have invested 167.6 billion yen (1.075 billion dollars) and will contribute to this commitment by also being customers of the silicon that Rapidus can produce. They remain just as ambitious… or more. Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike has adjusted the development plans for his chips, and has delayed the arrival of mass production to March 2028. That’s bad news, but not so much when we discover that the company has plans to go beyond 2nm and is preparing to be able to make 1.4nm chips and even 1 nm. Fast as gunpowder. One of the factors that want to differentiate Rapidus is its promise of rapid delivery of semiconductors. The project aims to automate both the manufacturing, packaging and testing of the chips. These last two are processes with great manual intervention, but at Rapidus they believe they have the key to making them much more autonomous. If they succeed, they could reduce the cycle time of semiconductors by 66% and thus beat even giants like TSMC by the way. Japan turns to chips. Japan’s aspiration is striking, and its Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, seems to be clear that the commitment to this segment must be notable. In fact, Japan is investing a proportion of its GDP (0.71%) in semiconductors much higher than that of the US (0.21%) or Germany (0.41%). Challenges. The strategy, of course, has its critics. Takero Doi, professor at Keio University, point “There are many cases in which public-private investment has led to systems that lacked accountability. It is important to clarify who will lead the project, the private sector or the government.” Plan B. Although the plan with Rapidus is ambitious, the country is actually playing both sides. While boosting its own business, the government has made commitments with TSMC to upgrade its manufacturing plants in Japan. This makes it have a hybrid ecosystem: it attracts the experience and knowledge of the semiconductor giant while on the other hand trying to create a national alternative. Image | Xataka with Freepik In Xataka | Panasonic was the bastion of 100% Japanese TVs after Sony’s step back. Now it has surrendered to China

Thousands of CEOs admit that nothing is changing (yet). The productivity paradox of the 80s resurfaces with force

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AI will make us more productive, the studies said and AI advocates. It is a discourse that is already well known and seemed reasonable: models allow us to automate routine tasks and use that time on other productive things, right? Well, the truth is, (at the moment) no. And what is happening is curiously the same thing that happened 40 years ago. The productivity paradox. In 1987 the economist and Nobel Prize winner Robert Solow realized of a singular paradox in the so-called “information age”. The transistors, microprocessors, and integrated circuits discovered in the 1960s were supposed to revolutionize businesses and dramatically increase productivity. What happened was just the opposite. Productivity growth did not accelerate, but rather slowed down: between 1948 and 1973 it was 2.9%, but since 1973 that growth was only 1.1%. So much chip for nothing? It seemed that way, at least those first few years. History repeats itself: AI is of little use. As they point out in Fortunethat paradox has resurfaced just now that we are suffering exactly the same thing with AI. A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) reveals a striking conclusion after surveying no less than 6,000 CEOs, CFOs and other managers from several countries: they see very little impact of AI on their real operations. AI is not changing anything. Although two-thirds of the managers surveyed indicated that they used AI in their processes, this use was very limited: about 1.5 hours per week. 25% of participants indicated that they did not use AI at all at work. Nearly 90% of the companies that participated highlighted that AI has not influenced their hiring or productivity in the last three years. But they are optimistic. The use of AI by these executives appears to be very limited at the moment, but those same companies are still waiting for a substantial impact. In fact, they expect productivity to increase by 1.4% in the next three years. Another paradox: these first years AI was supposed to cut hiring by 0.7%, but respondents revealed a 0.5% increase in those hiring. The data confirm that at the moment, little. The truth is that the vaunted AI revolution has still not become a reality, at least in terms of productivity and economic return. Economist Torsten Slok recently indicated that “AI is everywhere except in macroeconomic data: you don’t see it in employment, productivity or inflation data.” His thesis: the impact of AI is currently almost zero. In fact, except in the case of technology’s “Magnificent Seven,” there are no signs of profit margins or revenue expectations. But these revolutions take time. The revolution that semiconductors brought us took a while to crystallize, but it ended up doing so: in the 1990s and 2000s were produced productivity improvements such as an increase of 1.5% between 1995 and 2005. There are experts who they point because in fact this change in trend has already begun to occur: in the US, GDP in the fourth quarter grew by 3.7% despite the fact that there were job cuts. That points to an increase in productivity. Slok also pointed to this possibility, and theorized that the impact could end up having a “J” shape, first slowing down and then exploding. Let them tell the steam engine. Previous industrial revolutions, such as the one that produced the steam engine or, even more importantly, electricity, took their time. The initial delay disappeared over the course of subsequent decades because these technologies needed time to spread to the rest of the productive sectors. Excessive optimism does not help, of course, and at the moment what is reasonable seems to lie somewhere in between: neither “AI is useless” nor “AI will do everything for us.” Perhaps the only thing AI needs—in addition to improving—is for us to give time to time. It is not in vain that many describe it as “the new electricity.” Image | The Standing Desk In Xataka | Until now “software was eating the world.” Now AI is eating software

The canonical “living room furniture” in Spain in the 80s and 90s is dead. That says more about us than it seems.

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There is an object that disappeared from Spanish homes within a generation or two, without almost anyone noticing: the living room furniture. I’m not talking about a base for the TV but about that solid wood architecture that occupied an entire wall, with its display cases, shelves, drawers, space for the TV and, in the most ambitious models, even an integrated minibar, the only thing in my childhood home that seemed like a luxury to me. For decades that piece of furniture was the nerve center of the home. It housed books, television, mini chain (another vestige of another era), family memories and the boy’s judo medals. Today it is a relic that no one millennial buys and that Generation Z doesn’t even recognize. The obvious explanation is practical: televisions grew much faster than the space that these pieces of furniture reserved for them. It became impossible to fit a 42 or 55 inch screen where barely 21 could fit.. Apartments shrank while prices skyrocketed, and dedicating four square meters to a cherry monolith no longer made sense. Furthermore, moves have multiplied because job insecurity forces people to change cities more than in the past, and no one wants to carry a piece of furniture that requires a truck and three rocks. But That doesn’t explain why no one misses them.. What died with the living room furniture was something deeper: the idea that the home should display who we were. These displays were, in addition to functional display cases, a showcase: the good dishes that were only used at Christmas, the collection of porcelain figurines, the religious motifs if the family was a believer, the bound volumes of encyclopedias that no one read but that let visitors know that culture is valued in this house. The shelf with the VHS carefully arranged, the crystal glasses, the framed photos. It was all there to be seen by those who came to see us, to say, “This is our family, this is our status, this is what we value, this is who we are.” That today is, at best, a piece of melanin furniture with some funkos and the Switch. Image provided by an acquaintance. In this case, a 55″ TV covers more than what the furniture manufacturer had planned and there is no room for more. In this case, the tradition of furniture and tea sets coexist with the modernity of consoles, the yoga mat or souvenirs definitely different from those of yesteryear, such as the Japanese torii or the Mexican mask. Where was the ceramic with ‘Memory of Torrelavega’. Today we exhibit on Instagram, or in our profile photo and WhatsApp statuses, but not in the living room. Identity is no longer constructed through physical objects arranged in a display case, but through selected images on a screen. It is no longer necessary to demonstrate to visitors that you have good taste (visits, in fact, are increasingly rare) because your followers They have already seen it in the stories. The other thing is a matter of our parents and in-laws. The living room furniture was a gesture of permanence and stability: We bought one that we knew would last a lifetime, we even inherited it. Now we live in forced flexibility, in rental apartments with annual contracts, in Ikea as religion and in the imperative to travel light. It’s not just that it doesn’t fit. It is that its very logic (the solid, the definitive, the expository) belongs to a time that no longer exists. The space where the furniture used to be is now occupied by a giant television mounted on the wall, a minimalist shelf from Amazon or, directly, nothing. And that absence is not coincidental. It is the symptom of a culture that stopped believing in the idea of ​​the home as a personal museum. and he began to conceive it as a provisional set for a life that happens, above all, elsewhere. On the screens. In Xataka | The 17 photos that explain the 90s as if you had lived them Featured image | Xataka

Cabo de Gata explodes against an electrical network from the 80s that cannot withstand the wind

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In a place known for its calm, the sound of metal hitting metal became a cry for help this Sunday. Carmen F. Peña, president of the Neighborhood Association of San José and El Pozo de los Frailes, describes the reality of the area: “The blackouts are silent, everything stops and is silent.” However, to break this paralysis, the neighbors decided it was time to make noise. In the words of Peña collected in a local opinion columnthe protest was “the metaphor of a scream”, a sound action to combat the darkness that paralyzes their lives. The scene experienced this weekend reminded, according to the graphic description of the local pressto a “herd of fifty heads of cattle” crossing the population centers; an “infernal melody of protest” composed of pans, pots and saucepans that thundered in unison to send a clear message: satiety is absolute. Although the atmosphere was vindictive and to a certain extent festive, as the chronicles tellthe background was marked by a “deep malaise.” Living disconnected in the 21st century. The problem transcends the inconvenience of not being able to turn on a light bulb; It is a matter of economic survival and security. Juan, spokesperson for the El Playazo de Rodalquilar Neighborhood Association, explained to the press the anguish of isolation: “The last outage was on Thursday and we were without electricity for 24 hours. There is no electricity supply, there is no telephone, we are totally cut off.” This neighbor tells how he tried to call 112 and 062 without success due to lack of signal, forcing them to travel by car to obtain information. The economic impact is direct and devastating. According to the Almeria pressRestaurant 340 had to throw away all its fish after a whole day without power, just after opening for the season. Dataphones stop working and appliances “burn out” due to the constant surges and drops in voltage. The feeling of abandonment is such that the Neighborhood Coordinator describes the situation as “third world” and typical of “the Middle Ages, with candles and oil lamps.” They warn of the real risk to healthIf a dependent person suffers an emergency during a blackout, the lack of telephone coverage prevents them from calling for help. The excuse of the weather versus the reality of the cables. While it is true that the recent storm “Kristin” hit the province With winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour, aggravating the situation and causing poles to fall, residents and the City Council insist that the weather is only the excuse, not the root cause. According to those affectedthere is no need for a big storm; cuts occur with simple wind or rain. This is a structural problem: the electrical infrastructure in the area is “30 or 40 years” old. In addition to the major blackouts, the towns have been enduring “dozens of daily microcuts” for more than a month and the lack of a private television signal for almost two months. The mayor of Níjar, José Francisco Garrido, has pointed out that the problems in centers like Agua Amarga are a “constant in both winter and summer”, which suggests that the network is unable to support seasonal demand. The “great national traffic jam.” What is happening in Níjar is the local symptom of a national disease. Spain faces to a “great electrical traffic jam”: the country has accelerated the installation of wind and solar parks, but the system has hit an invisible wall, the lack of cables to transport that energy. The Spanish electricity grid has administratively “collapsed” and, for practical purposes, is closed to new projects in many areas. This bottleneck explains why solutions take so long. There is a chronic lack of investment in the basic infrastructure: while Europe invests on average 70 cents in networks for every euro of renewable generation, Spain remains at just 30 cents. This has unleashed an open war where the large electricity companies accuse Red Eléctrica of having invested below what was planned, causing the current precariousness. The situation is so critical that the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has had to delay three months the publication of capacity maps due to the panic that 90% of the network nodes will appear with zero capacity. That is to say, although improvements are demanded in Níjar, the national system is experiencing a bureaucratic and physical “thrombosis” that makes any rapid progress difficult. Patience has run out. The Neighborhood Coordinator has started a collection of signatures on the Change.org platform demanding an immediate action plan and supply guarantees. They warn that, if there is no progress, they do not rule out “intensifying the protests with the call for a unitary demonstration.” At the institutional level, the Níjar City Council has sent a formal letter to the distribution company, E-Distribución Redes Digitales SLU (a subsidiary of Endesa), demanding explanations. Sources from the electricity company have indicated to news agencies that a meeting is scheduled this week to detail the reform programs, ensuring that “many of which have begun to be processed.” However, skepticism reigns among the neighbors, given that it has already remained a similar meeting in July 2025 without tangible results. A problem that goes beyond Níjar. The situation in Cabo de Gata is not an isolated case, but appears to be part of a broader pattern of energy poverty and lack of investment in infrastructure in southern Spain. According to journalistic investigationsneighborhoods of Seville and Granada, as well as areas of Almería capital such as La Chanca or Pescadería, suffer daily power outages, especially in summer. In these cases, as in Níjar, residents denounce that “Endesa does not have any maintenance” and that the facilities are obsolete, leaving thousands of people unprotected in the face of extreme temperatures. The difference in Cabo de Gata is that the blow directly affects the waterline of a key tourism industry. As the mayor of Níjar emphasizes“we cannot normalize continuous cuts in a municipality that has a strong dependence on … Read more

Serial murderers had their boom in the 80s. Today they are a statistical rarity

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If there is a genre of entertainment that has emerged strongly in recent years, that is certainly True Crime. There are series, podcasts and even documentaries made with AI On real crimes. Many of them deal with the stories of dreaded serial killers; Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy… They all have their series. However, although serial killers have become a cultural phenomenon, the figures show that their activity was concentrated in a very specific period of time and in a special country. Why are there no serial murderers? An American phenomenon Number of serial murderers per country. Source: Radford University He FBI defined the serial killer as the one who has killed more than two people on two different occasions. According to him Annual series murderers report and victims of the University of Radford of 2020, 67.7% of registered cases came from the United States. There are countries that have registered more than a hundred cases such as Japan, India, South Africa, Canada or England with almost 200 cases. However, we talk that the United States has 3,690 documented cases, while the rest of the countries in the combined list reaches 1,168 cases, the difference is abysmal. Because There are more serial murderers in the United States? A reason is that there is More records and statistics that in other countries, so the real percentage could be biased. The media impact and glorification From some of these murderers it would also have been a determining factor for others to act as imitators. In addition, the ease of geographical mobility within the country facilitated that these profiles could act without being detected. Three decades of “fashion” Cases of serial murderers in the United States. Source: Radford University, Graphic of Vox.com The graph represents the moment in which the murderers began to kill and we see how most of the most notorious cases They are concentrated in a period of three decades. Here the crimes of Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Alan Gore or Tommy Lynn Sells occurred, to name a few examples. The wave began to rise in the late 50s, when the criminal records were improving, rose radically in the 70s and reached its peak in the 80s. According to IFL Sciencein the 80s there were 254 active serial killers, with its maximum peak in 1987 where there were more than 400 victims. In the 90s the figure dropped to 227 active murderers. The trend was falling pronounced and in the 2010 only 66 cases were recorded. Why there are no serial murderers Researchers blame the decline of serial murderers to several factors, especially related to Advances in criminal investigation. Police records are more exhaustive and communication between the different security forces is better. This allows to find similarities in cases and facilitate the identification of possible serial profiles. Research methods are more sophisticated. The DNA test It began to be used in cases of murders In the mid -80sbut the first techniques were more rudimentary, the analysis took a long time and there was not a wide database to compare. Technological advances are another determining factor. The presence of Security cameras In shops and public places he has helped resolve countless crimes worldwide. For example This study He concluded that the British transport police could increase its crime resolution rate from 23 to 48% thanks to the security cameras material. The Internet searches They have also been decisive in many cases, such as Brian Walshethat when his wife disappeared he looked on Google “how much time passes until a body begins to smell” and “10 ways to get rid of a corpse.” This, together with images of the suspect buying cleaning material and an ax in Home Depot, led to their arrest for murder. But perhaps everyone’s greatest advance has been mobile telephony. In addition to the images of the cameras, the triangulation of the signal of mobile phones It allows to locate both the suspects and the victims, being able to reconstruct their movements. Mobiles are key tools in many investigations and we have seen it in notable cases such as Asunta Basterrahe Urban Guard Crime or that of Diana Quer. The decline of serial killers coincides with a Generalized fall of violence since the 90sbut without a doubt all advances in research and technology have made it easier for today to catch the culprits. In potential serial murderers, in many cases They do not commit a second crime. Cover image | Netflix In Xataka | A person has made Media Spain hook the most horrendous crimes: Clara Tiscar and ‘Criminopathy’

This disastrous adaptation of one of the most beloved series of the 80s was a box office failure. But he’s sweeping in Netflix

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He caught the attention at the time for two very different issues: on the one hand, it is the adaptation, hopeful, of one of the most legendary anime of the eighties, one that, in Spain, in addition, ignited the fondness of Japanese animation as significantly as his contemporaries ‘Dragon Ball’ or ‘Champions’. On the other, it was notorious for his Capital failure: only seven million dollars at the box officea completely improper collection for an adaptation of such a known series. We talk, of course, ‘The Knights of Zodiac’based on the legendary manga of Masami Kurumada and its running anime version, and now it is Available in Netflix. Interestingly, and although the number 1 in films is occupied by the (either very brilliant) ”Electric status‘, has reached a surprising number 2. Once again, films that are shipwrecked in cinemas find their space on the platforms of streamingwhere spectators find it easier to take a risk in search of content. In this new version we will meet Seiya, a teenage conflicting who makes a living fighting for money while looking for her kidnapped sister. When In one of his fights, mystical powers are revealed that he did not know, The young man discovers a world of saints at war, magical training and a reincarnated goddess who asks for her protection. It has a reserved place within the Knights of the Zodiac. The quality of the film was compared at the time with the disastrous adaptation in real image of ‘Dragon Ball’, although ‘The Knights of Zodiac’ is, perhaps, a step above. The sympathetic presence of a couple of stars in low hours (Famke Janssen and Mark Dacascos) and some, despite everything, overwhelming combat choreographies, make the disturbing disturbing in times: between horrendous digital effects and sub -sub -branches of a devastating ramp, a completely unworthy film of the epic touch and the adorable ingenuity of the original mangain. In Xataka | The anime triumphs in Netflix, and the figures sing: the platform is already one of the world’s Japanese animation

four times faster than in the 80s

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2023 and 2024 were extremely warm years globally. Atmospheric temperatures beat records and exceeded the limits self -imposed by the international community in global warming. This is only part of the story. Climate acceleration. Because the oceans are not far behind in this rise in temperatures. According to a new study, the oceans are not only heating, but they heat up at a much greater pace What years ago. If during the 1980s the average surface temperature of the ocean surface was 0.6º Celsius per decade, the current rhythm reaches 0.27º per decade. This represents a 350% increase in the last 35 years. “If the oceans were a water bath, then in the 80s, the hot water tap would release water slowly, heating the water only a fraction of one degree every decade. But now the hot water tap works much faster and heating has accelerated. The way to reduce this heating is closing the tap, reducing carbon emissions and addressing zero-8, explained in a press release Chris Merchant, who led the elaboration of the study. Balance issue. According to Explain the team Responsible for the study, the problem can be interpreted as a lack of energy balance: solar energy captured by Earth is greater than that which leaves our planet to the outer space. Therefore, the system is progressively heated. There are different factors that influence this accumulation of energy, such as the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or a reduction in the amount of sunlight that our planet reflects abroad. Factor interaction. Within the system itself, we can also observe the interaction of various phenomena. The marine surface temperature affects, for example at the atmospheric temperature and that is why, at least in part responsible for the increase in global temperatures observed in the last two years. For example, we know that the child, a phenomenon associated with the surface temperature in a Pacific Ocean strip but with global weather repercussions. The child is a periodic phenomenon so we can break its impact on other phenomena. Comparing The last period (marked by the El Niño phenomenon) with the previous cycle, and could estimate that 44% of the increase in global temperature was attributable to this acceleration in the accumulation of heat by the ocean. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Environmental Research Letters. Also risk on the mainland. The surface temperature of the sea has repercussions on the weather and the recurrence of extreme phenomena. The case of hurricanes is paradigmatic. The thermal energy of the ocean is the “fuel” of these phenomena, so their frequency and force depend in large part on the heat on the marine surface. Closer, the impact of the last Dana was also associated with climate change. In this case, the heat of the marine surface and the adjoining air generate a greater accumulation of moisture in the air and open the road to a greater thermal contrast that in turn generates storms of greater magnitude. In Xataka | Climate change has left Japan a 90,000 million dollars hole: only China, India and the US exceed Image | Copernicus Climate Change Service

Spend a moment of real panic with these books that review the grotesque world of 80s horror and horror noire

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We peer into terror in ‘paper maze‘, the fantastic literature podcast that we do at Xataka in collaboration with Minotauro, and we do it with a couple of new features that combine classic and modern. On the one hand, an essay that delves into the disconcerting and insane world of horror paperbacks from the eighties. And on the other, a compilation of stories focused on black horror, the subgenre most concerned with the most terrible and chilling side of racial conflicts. For this he accompanies us Bernard J. Lemanan expert in horror literature with whom we break down these two volumes edited by Minotauro, and which confront the past, present and future of the genre in a unique mix. Paperbacks from Hell is the work of Grady Hendrix, author of novels that we have already talked about here, such as ‘How to sell a haunted house‘. Here he writes a wonderful essay analyzing with detail and a sense of humor the incredible panorama of brutal and exploitative horror literature of the eighties. With a chilling selection of covers and a good edition by Minotauro, which has taken care of the translations of the titles that have been published in Spain, it is an essential volume for anyone who wants to find out more about how the horror genre has gotten to where it is right now. . Jordan Peele, director of films like ‘Let Me Out’, ‘Nope’ and ‘Us’ is responsible for compiling the stories of ‘out there screaming‘, a volume of horror noire perfect for entering very uncomfortable areas of the genre. All the stories in the book have a racial component, and all genres are explored: from pure and simple satire to new meat, including horror of manners. Varied and very combative. How can you subscribe? If you liked this episode of the second season or if you want listen to ‘Paper Labyrinth’ from your favorite podcast applicationyou can subscribe through the main platforms: You can also listen to us and see us on our Youtube channel. In Xataka | Overpopulation taken to the limit, ultra-space thieves and other science fiction milestones by Harry Harrison

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