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Thousands of people have fallen in love with seven dogs abandoned and on the run in the middle of China. It was just another AI video

March 28, 2026 by usatoday24

The image was undeniably powerful, almost cinematic. In the freezing darkness of the night, with temperatures below zero, a pack of seven dogs walked in formation on the shoulder of a highway. The video of just 11 seconds, published in chinese platform Douyinshowed a motley crew: a German shepherd, a golden retriever, a Labrador, a small corgi, and several mixed breed dogs. The clip went viral, quickly racking up more than 230 million views. The audience, saturated with news about wars and disastersfound an emotional balm in these animals. But what the network hailed as a miracle of loyalty and survival, the real version of the Disney movie Homeward Bound or the children’s series Paw Patrolturned out to be a completely prefabricated story. The birth of a viral myth. It didn’t take long for the internet machinery to build an epic narrative. From there, speculation became “truth.” Rumor spread that the seven dogs had escaped from a traffickers’ truck that was taking them to a dog meat slaughterhouse, and it was even claimed that they had walked 17 kilometers together. The anthropomorphization of the pack reached extraordinary levels. As illustrated by the comments of Internet userssocial networks assigned a role to each dog in this pack: the injured German shepherd was the “General” whom everyone protected; the golden retriever was the “guard” that was placed near traffic to shield them; Chinese rural dogs were the “guides” with a sense of direction; and the little corgi was the brave leader and “nurse” who walked 50,000 steps—twice as many as the rest—retracing his steps to make sure no one was left behind. The truth behind this story. The event, however, was much less romantic and lacked villains. Extensive field research carried out by reporters City Evening News dismantled the theory of the great escape. There were no meat traffickers, no kidnapping trucks, nor a 17-kilometer trip. Reporters located the village in Shuangyang district where the animals came from. Three of the most famous dogs belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Zhang: the corgi, affectionately called “Big Fatty” (Dapang); the German Shepherd, “Four Treasures” (Sibao); and the golden retriever, “Long Hair.” As the family explained, around March 13, the German shepherd simply went into heat. Since the dogs in the village usually roam freely, the males in the area were attracted to her and began to follow her, going just 4 or 5 kilometers away until they reached the highway. The rescue was not out of a movie either. Although volunteers from rescue bases such as Tong Tong or Bitter Coffee (led by Professor Liu) used drones to search for the herd, the resolution was purely customary. As detailed City Evening NewsMr. Zhang had a dream in which he was feeding his dogs. Convinced that they were alive, he went out to look for them in neighboring towns and found them safe and sound in the walled patio of a house where they had entered to take refuge. The other dogs in the video turned out to be pets of other neighbors in the area, such as Messrs. Guo and Jing, who returned home on their own. The engine of deception. If the story was so simple, how did it become a global phenomenon full of false details? The answer is in technology. According to an in-depth analysis of cnnalthough the original clip of the dogs walking on the highway was authentic, the story was hijacked and inflated using Artificial Intelligence. After the video went viral, AI-generated “spin-offs” proliferated: cinematic posters of the seven dogs, fake trailers showing their “exciting escape” and hyper-realistic images of the animals tearfully reunited with their supposed owners. The reason is purely economic, since “attention is money on the Internet”, as TJ Thomson explainsassociate professor of digital media at RMIT University. Content creators saw a golden opportunity to capitalize on a trend. As Tama Leaver, a professor at Curtin University, adds, inventing or embellishing these stories using AI is “a very effective way to increase an account’s numbers quickly.” The implications beyond. Although it may seem like an endearing and harmless anecdote, this viral hoax has tangible consequences. On the one hand, it perpetuates stigmas. Although since SCMP contextualizeciting the Dalian Animal Protection Association, that pet theft for meat is a real problem in some areas of northern China (which prompted genuine concern from many), in this specific case the false narrative fueled the fires of racism. As pointed out cnnthe invention of the “meat factory” fueled negative stereotypes against Chinese citizens, something especially dangerous in a climate of growing xenophobia. On the other hand, there is the damage to our information ecosystem. Chinese state media and the Jilin tourist office had to intervene to deny the rumor. as quote Guardianauthorities warned that this incident “reflects deficiencies in the dissemination of information online, where subjective speculation is easily taken as fact.” Professor Tama Leaver warns about danger of complacency: If we let our guard down and accept AI-generated images without questioning them because they are “cute dogs”, our critical skills will be atrophied when faced with false images about serious topics, such as war conflicts. @cnn A viral video showed a group of dogs in China who were purportedly captured to be eaten, escaped, and made the long journey home. The problem? The story’s not real. CNN’s Jessie Yeung explains how this kind of misinformation can spread. #cnn #news ♬ original sound – CNN The fragility of our eyes. The ending of “The Adventures of the Seven Dogs” in Changchun did not require an epic soundtrack, but a leash. Owners now leash their dogs during the mating season. However, the trail they leave on the network is deep. In an era dominated by AI and the desperate search for clicks, our need to consume happy endings it makes us deeply vulnerable to manipulation. The true story of the German shepherd or the corgi teaches us a hard journalistic and social lesson about the contemporary internet: as Professor Thomson … Read more

abandoned dog poop

March 12, 2026 by usatoday24

In Spain there are more pets what children Quite a few more. That is why it is not strange that more and more city councils pay attention to one of the problems derived from this ‘boom’ of domestic animals: the poop abandoned in parks, sidewalks, streets… at the mercy of clueless pedestrians who end up carrying it on the soles of their shoes. Recently Pablo Muñoz Gabilondothe creator of ‘Pipper on Tour’did the math and verified that in Spain there are already 87 municipalities who have opted for the DNA censuses to fine uncivil pet owners. and the number keeps growing. What has happened? That in Spain there are town councils that have declared war to abandoned dog poop is not nothing new. Nor that many of these consistories have found an unexpected ally in science. What is striking is the extent to which this measure has spread throughout the Spanish geography in a matter of a decade, reaching dozens of cities. Since 2018 Malaga started to create a bank of dog DNA samples to identify which animals the abandoned feces belonged to and (most importantly) fine their ownersmore and more cities have opted for a similar measure. One of the latest has been Tarragona, which in February launched an information campaign six months to raise awareness among dog owners. One figure: 87. Recently Pablo Muñoz, creator of ‘Pipper on Tour’did a search and came to the conclusion that in Spain there are already 87 towns that have opted for DNA censuses to put an end to abandoned dog poop. Not all of them are at the same point. 68 of those 87 municipalities have implemented genetic control systems to improve the cleanliness of their streets. The remaining 19 are working on it and have it more or less advanced. There are very different cases on the list. Malaga is included, for example, which already applied fines in 2018and others like Tarragona, which last October still I was looking companies capable of carrying out genetic analysis of canine excrement and is still in an initial phase. The overall ‘photo’ is interesting because it shows that the measure continues to spread throughout the country. In fact, in recent months, localities such as Alcala either Three Songs. An uneven map. The study de Muñoz leaves another conclusion: not all regions of Spain have been equally interested in canine DNA censuses. The 87 cities and towns identified by the expert are basically concentrated in 15 provinces. To be more precise, the majority are gathered in Barcelona (19) and Valencia (43), followed by Marid (5) and Málaga (3). There are regions where no locality has joined the measure, although that could change soon. For example, on the map drawn by Muñoz there is no council of the Basque Country, but the proposal already sounds in Donostia. What exactly does it consist of? The system is basically divided into two phases. Both equally important. The first consists of creating a database: pet owners take them to the veterinarian to have saliva samples taken that will then be included in a census that includes the animal, its data, a contact and the human responsible for caring for it. Normally, participating in the census is mandatory (just like the chipped), so failure to provide a sample of the pet entails fines. In any case, it is not unusual for councils to subsidize all or part of the analysis. Question of censuses… and something else. The genetic registry is an important piece, but it only works if it is accompanied by periodic controls in the parks, streets, gardens… of the cities. The agents are in charge of collecting samples of abandoned poop, detailing where and when they were removed and sending them to specialized laboratories where these depositions are analyzed. The goal: identify your DNA and search for matches with the profiles archived in the first stage. Muñoz explains that between 5 and 20% of the samples end up being discarded because they are contaminated, but in the rest of the cases reliable conclusions are obtained that allow the authorities to identify the pets to whom the excrement belongs and (most importantly) who their owners are. Once “hunted” they face fines that can vary from one location to another but usually range from between 60 and 600 euros. If the analysis of the feces does not yield any match with the registry (that is, the poop belongs to a dog that is not ‘registered’) the laboratory also prepares a report in which it details the data of the animal: color, size, shape, sex… a kind of ‘robot portrait’ that helps the authorities identify it. Lights and shadows. Muñoz’s study confirms that the canine DNA census convinces more and more municipalities, however the system also faces its own challenges. To begin with, and as the journalist acknowledges, whether it works or not depends largely on whether the census is representative and whether excrement collection campaigns are carried out frequently. On occasions the implementation of the system has also been frustrated by changes in local governments. There are also those who question whether it is an effective (or at least profitable) solution to put an end to abandoned poop. In an article on the topicelDiario.es specifically cites Gonzalo Moreno, current president of the General Council of Colleges of the Veterinary Profession. In 2018, before taking office, he prepared a critical report in which he threw out several ideas. The first, the profitability of the measure. Do the results justify the cost of conducting the census and collecting and studying samples? The second is that some of the analyzes may be frustrated by the degradation and contamination of the samples or simply because the animals are not registered. After all, in a town not only ‘signed’ dogs walk. There are also animals that arrive from outside, such as stray dogs or that belong to people passing through. Images | Jay Wennington (Unsplash), Kyleburning (Flickr) and Anna Dudkova (Unsplash) Via | … Read more

the increase in abandoned oil tankers

February 14, 2026 by usatoday24

Abandoning an oil tanker or other commercial vessel has gone from being something rare to becoming a dangerous trend: in 2025 alone there are 410 vessels registered, an abysmal difference compared to the 20 cases in 2016, according to data from the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), a global trade union organization that tracks these incidents. What is causing this rebound? The first affected: the crew. An abandoned oil tanker does not only mean neglecting the vessel itself, but also more than 6,000 sailors abandoned to their fate, according to ITF global figures. The most affected are Indian sailors, with more than a thousand people affected representing the majority of the total. One case is that of Iván (not his real name), the chief deck officer of an oil tanker that has been abandoned for weeks outside the territorial waters of China, which recently declared for the BBC how this event has affected their health and the environment: “We had a shortage of meat, cereals, fish, basic things to survive.” And that’s not to mention the uncertainty of seeing the Chinese coast and not knowing if you’ll be able to set foot on it. The context: the ghost fleets. Over the last few months we have heard about “ghost ships” or “zombie ships”, that is, ships that legally barely exist, with owners hiding behind front companies. The objective is to operate outside the official financial and regulatory framework to evade sanctions through “prohibited” routes such as Iran, Russia or Venezuela. The Ukrainian War and the context of sanctions have created a B market for old ships that transport oil. The ideal candidates to become ghost banks are aging vessels, generally oil tankers that are around two decades old, a critical age at which the vessel is already headed for scrapping, which makes it easier for them to move into that clandestine scenario. Whoever buys it is not going to invest in long-term maintenance, he wants to pay it off quickly by transporting sanctioned crude oil. These types of boats lack complete insurance such as P&I Clubsso that in the event of any problem, the shipowner disappears before assuming repair or repatriation costs. The legal trap of rental flags. Here the “flags of convenience“, something like the tax haven of the seas. This is what happens when a shipowner registers his ship in a country other than his own to benefit from more lax regulations. There is a legal disconnection between the real ownership of the ship and the state that gives it the flag. And what does it have to do with abandoned oil tankers? According to the ITF82% of abandonments occur on ships that operate under flags of convenience. Among the states with flags of convenience are Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, which represent 46.5% of all merchant ships. But there is one country that deserves a special mention: Gambia. In 2023 it went from having no ships to having 35 sailing under its flag, a record time to create that infrastructure organically. In addition to softer legislation, many of these countries outsource inspections to private organizations and lack sufficient technical personnel to verify it afterwards, such as notes the International Maritime Organization in several reports. Prisons and floating time bombs. Ivan’s is just one case, but what an example: The ship is carrying almost 750,000 barrels of Russian oil that has a nominal value of about 50 million dollars (42 million euros). He left the Russian Far East for China at the beginning of November 2025 and there he is, at the gates of his destination and unable to enter. It is so that the alarms go off due to the environmental risk posed by a possible spill from an abandoned ship without responsibility. Furthermore, the safety of the vessel is compromised, as human error accounts for more than 80% of maritime accidents and these sailors are not exactly at their best. Fortunately, the ITF took charge of the situation in December, providing payroll arrears up to this point, providing groceries and other essentials, and planning repatriation. It is not an isolated problem. The drastic increase in abandoned oil tankers represents not only a violation of international sanctions and regulations, but also a human drama and potential environmental disaster for which there would be no legal responsibility to cover it. Although it is true that there are interventions and approaches and that there are states putting pressure on those countries that are banners of flags of convenience like Gambia and achieving something in the attemptthe reality is that this is a global phenomenon that requires stricter international regulation, serve as an example India’s blacklistwhich included 86 foreign ships in a database for abandonment of sailors and violation of their rights. In Xataka | Fewer and fewer oil tankers are being scrapped, and there is only one reasonable explanation: Russia’s ghost fleet In Xataka | The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones Cover | Jack Dong

there are parking lots full of abandoned luxury supercars

November 8, 2025 by usatoday24

In the middle of the Dubai desert, where luxury and excess seem to be part of the urban landscape, a legion of supercars that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars but now lie silent. they are abandoned as if they were scrap metal. As you can see in some videos On the subject, those machines are in perfect condition, with intact bodies, unburned tires, but their owners they have abandoned them without looking back. The magnitude of the abandonment. According to a recent statement According to Dubai authorities, between January and June 2025 alone, 1,387 abandoned high-end cars were seized. According to published data by Gulf News2023 resulted in 2,053 vehicles confiscated for this reason. In 2018, this figure was exceeded with 3,577 recalls of high-end cars abandoned to the rigors of the desert. In addition, Dubai City Council has issued 6,187 additional recall notices for other cars that it has detected with clear signs of abandonment in parking lots, streets or areas bordering the airport. Paradoxically, behind the abandonment of these supercars that cost real fortunes, there are economic problems. Why is the city council removing them? The Dubai Municipalitythe competent authority in the urban management of the city, has established protocols for the removal of abandoned vehicles: When a car is parked for a long time without a valid license plate, with flat tires or visibly neglected, a notice is placed on the owner and, if he does not act within the period (between 3 and 15 days), the vehicle is towed to the depot. The purpose is twofold. On the one hand, prevent these vehicles from becoming a source of waste, wildlife or vandalism. But, on the other hand, the authorities want to preserve the image of the city as a clean metropolismodern and orderly and having cars in a clear state of abandonment, no matter how Ferrari, Porsche and even Bugatti, does not give a very good impression. Tap on the photo to go to the original message Living in full luxury…even if it is temporary. Have a tax system very lax and permissive with capital has turned Dubai into a very attractive place for big fortunes and expatriates looking to make their financial breakthrough. This means that the country has become a magnet for workers and investors foreigners who settle temporarily your residence in the United Arab Emirates. As and how they counted in Mojogripsome of these investors and new rich come to the country with the intention of living fast and large, but when their stay ends or their investments do not turn out as expected, selling or exporting a supercar may not be viable. In these cases, the most practical (although therefore less painful) is to abandon them in an open field. at the mercy of the implacable desert. The price of the supercar is the least important. Buying a luxury car in Dubai is almost the least of the problems. In this part of the world, the costs of insurance, maintenance, registration and extreme conditions (sand, heat, seasonal use) mean that the simple fact of having a car in perfect condition is already a huge cost. When these expenses exceed what was expected, some owners who begin to suffer financial problems abandon the idea of keeping the vehicle, which is why it is not strange to see a Lamborghini, a Ferrari or a Bentley gathering dust in parking lots of the city’s shopping centers. Dream turns into nightmare. The phenomenon of luxury cars being abandoned in vacant lots and parking lots in Dubai is not something new. But it has intensified when there have been major financial shocks: drops in oil prices, falls in the stock market or, as has been happening lately, the economic uncertainty caused by tariffs that the United States imposes or withdraws for no apparent reason. When this scenario occurs, large investments fluctuate with great intensity, turning many into millionaires, but ruining others. Those supercars covered in desert sand are silent testimony to those fluctuations. Debts, loans and legal consequences. When the economic situation becomes complicated, incurring non-payments or delays is the order of the day. However, in the UAE, defaulting on loan payments or issuing bad checks can lead to serious criminal penalties. That is why, for some owners of those supercars, taking that risk is more expensive than abandoning the vehicle and leaving the country. And why don’t they sell the car to pay off their debts? That is one more condition to leave them behind. The second-hand market for these models does not always compensate for the initial investment: finding a buyer, obtaining the required documentation and transferring ownership. can be complicatedespecially when debts and time are against you. In addition, one of the requirements to execute the sale is that the car be free of financial charges or pending fines. This scenario makes it easy for very high-value cars to become wasteland fodder. In Xataka | Sleeping in the most luxurious room in the world comes at a price. Specifically $100,000 and a flight to Dubai Image | Xataka (Nano Banana)

LineageOS 23 brings Android 16 to a wave of abandoned mobile phones, with more difficulties than ever. Google put a wall in the way

November 5, 2025 by usatoday24

There is a feeling of betrayal that runs through the most veteran Android community. The reason is Google’s strategy, which has been closing a system that was born completely free: the development of AOSP (the source code of Android) now it’s more privateand the publication of the source code suffer delays that didn’t happen before. While many feel that “the soul of Android has disappeared”the community responds. And the biggest banner of that Open Source resistance has just been updated. In the image, Murena’s /e/ OS alternative ROM, which is based on the popular LineageOS Lifesaver for an abandoned mobile. The life cycle of an Android smartphone is usually not as long as the competition, although that is changing in recent times. From this premise, alternatives emerged such as LineageOS, which is actually the spiritual heir to the mythical CyanogenMod. For many users, it is the only way to have the latest version of Google’s OS and extend the useful life of their devices. LineageOS 23 expands. The LineageOS team has announced a new batch of devices that receive official support for LineageOS 23, its version based on Android 16. This update not only brings the news of Android 16, but also self-developed improvements. For example, “Catapult” and “Aperture 2.0”. The first is a new launcher for Android TV with a clear objective: replace the Google TV interface with a clean, fast and ad-free one. Instead, Aperture is the ROM’s camera app that has now been rewritten from the ground up with support for Ultra HDR and RAW capture. Google has changed the rules. The LineageOS team has confirmed on their official blog that this has been a complicated launch. As we have been saying, the more closed development of AOSP and the fact that Google no longer publishes the Pixel code with total transparency, has caused Google phones to no longer be as easy to support compared to those of any other manufacturer. Despite the difference with respect to the extinct Nexus, the Pixels have been the reference for Open Source development. That’s over too. Consequences. The change in strategy has materialized in delays to the Android 16 code: Google released Android 16 QPR1 for the Pixel (first quarterly update) but never published the source code on AOSP. For this reason, LineageOS has been forced to launch its version 23.0 based on the initial version of Android 16. In practice, ROM users do not currently receive news as notable as the Material 3 Expressive redesign. There are also uncertainty regarding security. Google has changed the way it releases system security patches. They are no longer monthly and complete; most corrections are now quarterly. For its part, the team behind LineageOS warns that this means that its ROM security patch levels could inevitably be delayed. The basis of Android “resistance” without Google. Despite all these difficulties, LineageOS continues to be one of the pillars of the “degoogleized” community. Not only is it an alternative view for the end user, but its AOSP code serves as the basis for privacy projects like the popular GrapheneOS either the European /e/ OS. Keeping LineageOS alive is keeping alive the possibility of an Android without Google in an increasingly controlled ecosystem. New devices. The latest batch of devices that join the official support of LineageOS 23 focuses, curiously, on the Google family and flagships from OnePlus and Xiaomi. Some of them are the Pixel 6, 7, 8 and 9 series, the OnePlus 13 or the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G. They add to the long list of those that debuted when LineageOS 23 was released a few weeks ago. Cover image | Composition with LineageOS images and generated by Nano Banana In Xataka | Google believes it has the key to compete with Windows, Linux and macOS in laptops. That key is called Android

Spain has dozens of abandoned unique roads. Now he wants to save them making them “historical roads”

October 5, 2025 by usatoday24

If we have the roads we have today, it was because 125 years ago A Scottish and a Welsh were fed up with the dusty roads In those early years of the car. We start to asphalt those paths, some of them part of the country’s spinebut over time they were abandoned when they were advanced by the highways. The Government of Spain wants to give them a second life. Throughout geography, there are Kilometers of national roads that are in a deplorable state. He Maintenance of highways and roads More used is the one that takes the budget, while others are at your fate. Therefore, this 2025, the Government launches a program that aims to recover and enforce those roads. And the first ‘historical road’ will be a section of the N-IV that passes through desaperros. Spain and its new “historical roads” At the beginning of September this year, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the foundation of the Spanish Railways They signed A collaboration agreement with an objective: recovery of the historical roads of the State Road Network. The idea is to catalog certain ways as “Historical assets linked to transport”which implies that these roads, at some point before being replaced, helped territorial expansion with population or merchandise movements. To do this, the agreement has a budget of 300,000 euros (200,000 by the Ministry of Transportation and 100,000 covering by the Foundation of the Railways) and, during the next four years, they will have to Identify which roads are suitable to become “historical road.” It is an action that will follow the example of the Program of ‘Green Roads’ which has managed to transform more than 3,500 kilometers of old railway paths for non -motorized use. There are numerous towns and cities that have some of these kilometers of ‘Green via‘With trees, some park, pícon areas and roads to hiking or bike. And it is something similar to what is proposed for these historical roads with the objective of curbing the situation of deterioration and loss to which certain pathways are exposed, as well as to value their contribution to the historical infrastructure of the country. The project has the name of Ivapchete And, in addition to identifying the roads, it must hierarchize the sections according to the patrimonial value of the paths of their linked elements. In principle, the initiative focuses on the Spanish road network, but can be expanded to study roads that are competencies of other administrations, provided they have that historical link with the state network. Perhaps the Map of the National Special Firm Circuit of 1926 can give us a clue what other candidates would be Apart from the initiative, There is already a pilot project: The Deseñaperros. During the coming months, the General Directorate of Roads of the Ministry will promote the elaboration of a recovery project of the Posqued of the old N-IV. It is a segment of 28.6 kilometers between Almuradiel in Ciudad Real and Santa Elena in Jaén. It is not surprising taking into account your Historical importance being the main access between Castilla-La Mancha and Andalucía, Territorial Unity Symbol which facilitated both trade and mobility between the plateau and the peninsular south. For centuries, before being called N-IV, of course, it was an essential artery, but the opening of the most convenient A-4 highway left the N-VI in the shadow. Now, will return to life as the first “historical road”becoming a way associated with non -motorized mobility and valueing its cultural importance. It remains to see what the impact of the project will be and, above all, what other ways can recover in this way. Images | Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada, Concepcion Amat orta In Xataka | These are the roads where we can suffer more jams in summer. If you have to take the car, you are in time to plan

200,000 abandoned radioactive barrels are sought off the coast of Galicia: we have only found 1,000

June 26, 2025 by usatoday24

The Atlantic Ocean is one of the world’s largest nuclear cemeteries. It is estimated that more than 200,000 barrels with nuclear waste sent to the seabed rest Between 1946 and 1990. The mission to recover them is already underway. First days of work. The French oceanographic ship L’Tarante has begun to work in the search for abandoned drums in Atlantic waters. It arrives with the work of locating some of these barrels and evaluating whether they have caused some kind of impact on marine ecosystems in the area. The team has enforced their work since the first day. According to The local press reportsthe researchers managed to identify the first 1,000 drums and map their location. They have not yet transcended the first images of these barrels. The mission, called Nodssum-I, has an expected duration of one month. The ship arrived a week ago in the area where it will perform its work, located in international waters about 650 kilometers northwest of the coast of Galicia. It is estimated that the more than 200,000 barrels distributed throughout the exploration area are found between 3,000 and 5,000 meters. 200,000 drums. According to Explain the responsible team From the project, barrels contain nuclear residues of low or medium radioactivity. These include sludge, contaminated metal parts, cation exchange resins and even office equipment. In order to resist the high pressures of the ocean fund, these materials would have been encapsulated in bitumen or cement, Add the American Society American. Throughout the years that these waste has passed underwater, their radioactivity would have fallen significantly, it is added from the project. However, some long -term elements could still maintain a good part of this radioactivity. In addition to identifying and locating these barrels, the mission will take photographs of these in order to evaluate their status and integrity. For now the plans do not include the possibility of recovering these barrels. Evaluating the impact. Locating and studying drums is just one of the objectives of the mission. The team will collect water samples, sediments and even marine life to study the presence of radioactive or radiosiopo isotopes in them. Thus they also intend to study the interactions between marine ecosystems and these radioisotypes; Also understand the transport of these atoms in the seabed through processes such as erosion and sedimentation, and also through marine currents. Uly X. For this work the team will feature the instruments aboard L’Anchantante, including a 4.5 meter autonomous submarine called Uly X. This vehicle will allow researchers to photograph and study closely the lost drums in Atlantic waters. Nodssum-i and nodssum-II. The mission of one month of L’Atalante will be only the first part in a project that will encompass two trips to the search area, Nodssum-I and Nodssum-II. For now, Nodssum-II is in the planning phase, but we know of it that it will be a monitoring mission that will take detailed samples thanks to a submarine remotely operated like the Victor ROV, or a minisubmarine like the Nautile. In Xataka | Japan’s energy gauge: after trying to become independent from its nuclear, it has had to back down Image | French oceanographic fleet / Navire Océanographique L’Tarante

Elon Musk turned an abandoned US factory into the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Nobody thought of the neighbors

May 25, 2025 by usatoday24

It would be said that Elon Musk has created A perfect circle Around what until recently it was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Memphis. There has installed Colossusthe most monstrous supercomputer on the planet to boost AI to new limits and that it defines the future of cars (of Tesla). In order for the combo, it is complete to the richest type in the world, everything is in turn fed by the megabaterías of Tesla. A Win Win For Musk’s framework, although with a problem: the neighbors. A colossus … toxic. The story brought it This week the CNN. In the summer of 2024 Musk transformed an old abandoned factory in southwest Memphis into what he himself proclaimed as “the most powerful supercomputer on the planet.” The project, promoted by its artificial intelligence company XAIpromised to turn the city into a New Technological Mecca (The so -called “Delta Digital”) with Quality jobs and dozens of millions in taxes. However, for Botxtown residents, a mostly black and impoverished community that has lived with decades with Industrial pollutionXai’s arrival has meant a déjà vu environmental: A new source of pollution settled without clear permits, with an apparent contempt for public health. A computer that consumes. To feed “Colossus”, XAI installed 35 gas turbines capable of generating Up to 420 megawattsreleasing toxic gases Nitrogen oxidesultrafine and formaldehyde particles. The problem? Who did Without licenses of air required, welcomed to a legal exemption for temporary machinery, which according to experts does not correspond to it. The area already houses 17 polluting facilities, and various studies indicate that the risk of cancer in the area quadrupple acceptable levels For the EPA. Memphis also has the higher rates of children’s hospitalizations by asthma in all Tennessee. Realities. While the mayor of Memphis, Paul Young, celebrated the transformative potential of the project and anticipated more technological investment, local leaders such as state representative Justin Pearson They have denounced have been excluded from the process. The lack of transparency adds to an obvious regulatory collapse: an installation with the power of an electric plant operating without permits in the middle of a residential neighborhood. To this we must add the most recent thermal snapshots (image below) that indicate that at least 33 of the turbines They were operational in April. Following the controversy, XAI finally requested permission for 15 of them and withdrew 12, but, as CNN counteddamage to trust is made. Promises Project defenders say that “leading standards in emissions” will be achieved, but residents see the employer repeat: Employment promises well paid that do not specify (because the reality is that the data centers use very few), while the environmental load falls on those who have less resources to defend themselves. Plus: The story of Botxtown It is not new. Already in 2021, its inhabitants achieved stop a pipeline that would cross their lands, and in 2023 they closed A sterilization plant that emitted ethylene oxide. For them, therefore, XAI is simply the last chapter of a long struggle for the right … to breathe. Innovation or regression. It is the last of the legs to be treated with the controversy. XAI installation reflects a broader national dilemma than We have counted before on the rise of artificial intelligence and its real cost. Amid the enthusiasm for turning the United States into the “Global Capital of AI” (according to New EPA Guidelines Under the government of Donald Trump), the expansion of data centers Devoradors of energy advances without a serious evaluation of its environmental implicationsespecially in vulnerable communities. The unconditional support of the Executive to Musk, one of Trump’s closest advisors, coincided with the Weakening of environmental policiesthe elimination of ecological justice programs and a rhetoric that prioritizes economic efficiency over human health. The first “stone.” The contradiction seems clear: IA is promoted as the future, but it is fed with fossil technologies of the past, generating private benefits while the risks and damage are socialized. “If innovation chains you to fossil fuels, that’s not progress,” Keshaun Pearson remembereddirector of Memphis Community Against Pollution. Thus, residents fear that what happens in Memphis is just a general essay of what could soon be replicated in similar neighborhoods throughout the country. A tireless struggle. He counted An NBC report That in Botxtown, indignation coexists with fatigue. Many, such as Sarah Gladney (respiratory and resident patient to a few km from the installation), feel they live in a perpetual battle. The possibility of a second meginstalization of XAI, already projected in the city, only increases the sensation of siege. “It seems that we are always at war,” He underlined. A paradox, since while local officials speak of economic transformation, neighbors simply speak of survival. In the background, the collision between the promises of peak technology and the old reality of systemic pollution raises an uncomfortable question: Who pays the price of this digital revolution? In the southwest Memphis, the answer seems sadly clear. Image | Southwings for the Southern Environmental Law Center In Xataka | Musk has created the perfect circle: Tesla’s megabers feed the AI that will define their next cars In Xataka | Some researchers have disassembled the batteries of Tesla and Byd. You know which one yields better and is much cheaper

An unexpected buyer is turning houses, temples and abandoned factories from Japan into tourist accommodations: China

April 22, 2025 by usatoday24

Something is happening in Japan for a while to this part, a phenomenon that began with waves of Chinese tourists who came to the nation To stayand then extended through zones, where the proliferation of “new chinatowns” was giving rise to neighborhoods with Chinese than Japanese. The theme became something more serious when this “chinification” reached one of the national bastions: Pop culture. The latest: Beijing is buying its most traditional architecture and turning it into Resort tourist. Kyoto as shuttle. He told him Nikkei weekend In an extensive report. In a Japan where modernity threatens to eclipse centuries of tradition, the figure of Yuichi Ishikura embodies a phenomenon as unexpected as decisive: the Rescue of the architectural heritage traditional by Chinese citizens. Born in the province of Fujian and raised from adolescence in Kyoto, Ishikura found her vocation after a personal experience in a guest house during her university studies in the United States. Upon his return to Japan in 2015, with just 23 years, he acquired his first Machiya (Typical narrow and deep wood housing built since the EDO period) for just over 10 million yen. He transformed it into a tourist accommodation and, in just three years, he had recovered his investment. Since then he has renewed More than 60 properties Similar, including the Shichikutei house, near the Kyoto station, and has declared its intention to become the number one operator of Machiyas throughout Japan. The threat of the Machiya. It is not a trivial theme in Japan. The Kyo-Machiya are architectural jewelry of the old capital, and are disappearing to the alarming rhythm of about 800 a yearpressed for the high cost of its maintenance, inheritance taxes and the real estate voracity that replaces them with apartments and floors. And while the Japanese seem to resign themselves to that disappearance, foreign investors (especially of Chinese origin) They are turning that crisis into the opportunity. Here, like Nikkei explainedFigures like Lee Wendy, a native restorative of Shanghai who have rehabilitated 40 Machiya and perfectly reflect this trend. The phenomenon has grown so much that, according to a study by the city of Kyoto, a 30 % of the accommodations Under municipal license are in the hands of some 500 foreigners, many of them Chinese buyers who have converted these traditional houses in tourist accommodations without losing their aesthetic or historical value. Temples for sale. The phenomenon is not limited to houses. In rural areas such as Shiso, in Hyogo Prefecture, Buddhist temples They have also started Change hands in the absence of successors priests. One of these temples, acquired by a Chinese buyer after the death of the main priest in 2017, has generated local controversy for the informal use of the enclosure. Meanwhile, other temples have had to publicly go out to Define rumors Sales disseminated on platforms as Rednotea Chinese social network in which deceptive ads circulate that promise tax benefits for acquiring religious properties. One of the most popular cases was the Jisso-in Monzeki templewith 800 years of history, which He denied categorically Be for sale, after detecting false publications aimed at Chinese investors. The fiscal attractiveness. Behind this fever for acquiring temples, sanctuaries and Japanese traditional houses Nikkei had That there is a double attraction: on the one hand, the cultural and architectural value that represents for many Chinese citizens a difficult heritage in their native country. On the other, and equally important, the favorable fiscal conditions For religious institutions in Japan, which attract investors with commercial vision. Real estate sector executives in Osaka confirm that they have intermediate in the sale of religious properties to companies based in Hong Kong and are currently promoting other enclosures in Kyoto and Nara. And the sake. The phenomenon has gone much further. The conservation of the cultural legacy has also reached other spheres. In 2019, Zhou Chunbao, Shanghai businessman, Matsuoshuzojo acquireda historic Sake distillery in the saga prefecture that was on the verge of closing due to management problems. Motivated by their desire that the Chinese people know the Japanese culture through the Sake, Zhou revitalized the company and its production, which in 2022 reached regional recognition by winning the highest award in the Junmai Daiginjo category. Zhou’s intervention saved from oblivion a local institution whose history goes back at the end of the Edo period, at a time when the sake industry is It has drastically reducedwith a 40 % decrease in the number of distilleries and a 20 % drop of its historical volume of national sales. The “soul” of Japan. Thus, and while the tangible heritage of Japan (from traditional houses to centenary temples and ancestral distilleries) faces a slow but constant disappearance due to the lack of successors, it seems that it is a generation of Chinese investors who are willing to assume the challenge of keeping it. What for some represents a loss of cultural control, for others it becomes an unexpected form of continuity. Thus, in the face of the passivity or inability of certain local sectors, new heirs (Chinese) are arranged not only to invest capital, but also to revalue with sensitivity and pragmatism that for centuries has been the material essence of Japanese identity. Image | GIVE CRUSE In Xataka | Japan is living something unpublished in its most emblematic neighborhoods: the “chinification” of anime and video games In Xataka | A phenomenon that has already happened in New York is spreading throughout Japan: neighborhoods with younger than Japanese

It was an abandoned nuclear power plant. Now he has a second life as the most silent acoustic laboratory on the planet

April 15, 2025 by usatoday24

Two gigantic cooling towers of almost 150 meters high flank what clearly seems to be a nuclear power plant in a rural Washington area. It is actually the acoustic laboratory NWAA Labs, one of the most silent buildings on the planet. An abandoned nuclear power plant. The laboratory was built on the vestiges of a pharaonic project that never saw the light, the nuclear washington Projects of Elma. Plants 3 and 5, part of what was intended to be the largest nuclear energy complex in the United States, were abandoned in the 80s without fissting a single atom. Designed to resist all kinds of impacts and earthquakes, the structures would have been extremely expensive to demolish, so the NWAA Labs adapted to them. The reactor is the reverberation chamber, the turbine room is the anecoic chamber and the old reactor control room is the laboratory control room. The facilities, still marked, remain a “disturbing” maze. The ideal facilities. The NWAA Labs is a project by Ron Sauro, an electrical and mechanical engineer formed in Stanford that combined its beginnings in NASA with being the keyboardist of the group The Rivieras, authors of a gold record in 1963. After a life designing sound systems, Sauro saw the unique potential of this nuclear power plant abandoned to bombing proof. The outer structure, with walls of 1.5 meters thick and eight layers of reinforcement bars, is designed to support an earthquake of magnitude 10 and the direct impact of an explosion of 10 megatons on its roof. The interior structure is isolated from the surrounding terrain by a ditch that minimizes the transmission of vibrations and noise. In another ditch within this, a circular and steel circular container is erected, originally intended for the nuclear reactor. The entire installation rests on a sandstone layer of more than 3,000 meters thick. An almost absolute silence. Thanks to these structures, the NWAA Labs presumes to have the two largest reverberation cameras in the world. Salas where the sound bounces up to 28 seconds without absorbent material, which allows to measure the sound power of a source or the absorption capacity of a material. In addition to the reverberation cameras, the laboratory has anechoic cameras designed to absorb sound and simulate a space without reflections. In these rooms, silence is almost absolute. The background noise is -43 dB (below the human hearing threshold). In the old turbine room, 198 meters long by 106 wide by 24 high, the reflections take so long to arrive (more than 160 ms) that do not interfere with some measurements. Who uses this laboratory. The NWAA Labs performs tests for the audio industry. The speakers are 20% of their business: over here more than 3,000 speakers of some 300 professional brands and high fidelity have passed. But it is also offered to other industries, which prove construction materials, acoustic insulation here, and even noisy washing machines or aircraft cabins. The laboratory also attracts musicians, video game and filmmakers, fascinated by their acoustics and post-apocalyptic aesthetics. Image | Walter Siegmund (CC By 2.5)

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