age

“Neither swimming nor walking, from the age of 50 it is absolutely necessary to do bodybuilding”

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For decades, the medical and popular advice par excellence for people crossing the fifty-year-old barrier has been that they should walk every day, taking a walk or even sign up for swimming for being a really complete exercise. But we now know that they are completely insufficient if we want to achieve a good quality of life as the years continue to add up. The experts. The new tests that we have on the table make it clear that strength is essential, and the Spanish coach Álvaro Puche, a graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, point that “neither swim nor walk. From the age of 50 it is absolutely necessary to do bodybuilding.” A priori, this may sound radical to those who associate weights only with bodybuilding, but if we look at the current scientific evidence, Puche is not only right, but his warnings are fundamental for our longevity. The real enemy. The main argument for changing the pool for dumbbells has a clinical name, what is “sarcopenia“, which is nothing more than the loss of muscle mass with all the consequences that it has. Starting in our third decade of life, this process of muscle loss starts and steps on the accelerator once we cross 50 years of age. Walking or swimming at moderate intensity are excellent exercises for cardiovascular health, but they do not provide the stimulus necessary to stop muscle loss. Strength training, on the other hand, is the best clinically documented strategy for slowing and even reversing sarcopenia. And the sooner you start putting the brakes on, the better. The data. Science overwhelmingly supports the need to lift weight in adulthood, and we are not talking about isolated data, since a great meta-analysis showed that dedicating the minimum possible time to strength training reduces overall mortality by between 15% and 21%. Specifically, the risk of cardiovascular death drops by 19%. But you don’t have to live in the gym to do this, since science indicates that the benefit curve is “U” shaped. This means that the maximum benefit from exercise is achieved with just 60 minutes of strength exercise per week. Doing much more does not provide extra advantages, so the figure we have to achieve is not a great sacrifice nor a great expenditure of time. in women It is even more important if possible, since when menopause is reached, the loss of the ‘protective’ function of estrogen causes bone density to decrease, to the point that it can end up causing osteoporosis. This is why strength exercise becomes a great way to significantly increase bone density, especially with exercises focused on the hip. Lack of adhesion. Although in medical consultations it is increasingly common to ‘prescribe’ strength exercises, it is still a pending task for many. The problem may be the perception of older people, thinking that gyms or weight training are only for young people and that older people should only be left with the morning walk. A mistake that is blundering. On the other hand, there may be a lack of greater awareness on the part of health professionals when it comes to recommending this type of exercise, since clearly explaining the benefits of developing strength can be a good incentive for everyone to decide to start this exercise. Images | Andrea Piacquadio In Xataka | We were wrong about exercise after 60: why strength training is the true shield against aging

At the age of 15, he built an ocean generator with a PVC pipe and 10 euros. A decade later, it continues to spark interest in the sector

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It was 2015 when a high school student from Boca Raton, Florida, presented to a jury of scientists a prototype built with parts that anyone could find in a hardware store. Your project He was trying to solve how to generate electricity where power lines do not reach, taking advantage of the movement of the sea. There was no laboratory or company behind it, just 12 dollars in budget (about 10 euros at the current exchange rate). Interestingly, his idea is the principle on which an entire emerging marine energy industry is built. Who is he and what did he do?. Hannah Herbst was 15 years old when she devised BEACON (Bringing Electricity Access to Countries through Ocean Energy), a probe capable of transforming the movement of ocean currents into electricity. The device earned him the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” and $25,000 in the 2015 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, after competing against eight other finalists at the 3M innovation center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. How it all started. As Herbst shared at the time, she maintained contact by postal mail with a nine-year-old girl in Ethiopia, who lived with almost no access to electricity. “I can’t even imagine a day without light,” came to declare Herbst herself told Business Insider when recalling their conversations. She wanted to build something that could bring energy to communities like her friend’s, without depending on expensive infrastructure or conventional electrical grids. This is how your invention works. The mechanism is easy to explain precisely because its beauty lies in its simplicity. A 3D-printed propeller is placed on one end of the device; When the water current makes it rotate, a system of pulleys transmits that movement to a Pelton wheel, a type of hydraulic turbine widely used in engineering, connected to a generator. All housed inside a PVC tube. This means that clean and continuous electricity can be obtained, without depending on the sun or the wind. Herbst tested the prototype on the Intracoastal Waterway of Boca Raton, where he managed to light LED bulbs. It is not that Herbst suddenly provided a new physical principle, but it is very interesting how his proposal took that physical principle to a much smaller and cheaper scale. It didn’t stop at a school fair model. With the help of Jeffrey Emslander, a 3M scientist who served as a mentor during the summer before the contest, Herbst wanted to take his idea to a larger scale version. According to picked up Business Insider’s calculations suggested that the expanded design could generate enough electricity to charge three car batteries in less than an hour, enough energy to power water desalination pumps, blood centrifuges in rural clinics, or coastal navigation beacons. Why does it matter? More than ten years later, this approach (small, autonomous and cheap devices for areas where installing a conventional electrical network does not pay off) is exactly the direction that the marine energy industry is taking. The United States Department of Energy estimates that the technical resource available in US waters equals approximately 57% of all the country’s current electricity generation, according to data from its Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office, although it warns that the technology is still in an early stage of development. Between the lines. Turbine technology for marine currents already existed and was being researched on an industrial scale long before Herbst put it into practice. Although what is striking is that the direction in which the sector is now moving, with smaller, modular devices designed for areas without an electrical grid, instead of gigantic and centralized turbines, coincides with the idea that that teenager intuitively applied in her garage. In this sense, several companies already operate under this same approach, although on a very different scale. ORPC (Ocean Renewable Power Company) has deployed a hydrokinetic device in Igiugig, Alaska, since 2019 to supply that remote community, and is preparing new projects in rivers in Louisiana, Canada and France. Ocean Motion Technologies develops small wave generators controlled by artificial intelligence to power ocean sensors. and Hydrokinetic Energy Corp. works in turbines that take advantage of the Gulf of Mexico current. On the other hand, it should be noted that Herbst has never intended to patent his invention or keep it exclusive. “When I finish developing it, I’m going to release it openly… everyone in the world will be able to have access to the bill of materials and the data that I got, everything necessary to make this device,” explained Herbst to Fast Company magazine in 2015. And now what. Herbst has continued to broaden his horizons ever since. He trained in information systems at Florida Atlantic University, years later developed an antibacterial bandage inspired by shark skin and, now in the field of medical technology, created AutoTQan automatic tourniquet designed to save lives in severe bleeding situations. In fact, she is currently listed as founder and CEO of this medical initiative. Cover image | Medill News Service In Xataka | Europe has found an energy vein for the next decade: North Africa

Cancer in people under 50 years of age has been growing for decades. A macro study finally points to the big culprit: biological aging

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The increasing incidence of cancer in young adults is one of the most debated topics in recent oncology. In recent years, exhaustive reviews have warned of an increase in diagnoses in those under 50 years of agealthough medical science had long been searching for the underlying mechanism that connects the dots between modern lifestyle and the early onset of this hated disease. The answer. A new study recently published seems to have found a key piece of the puzzle, which is nothing more than that our cells are aging faster than our ID card. This is the conclusion of research published in the journal Nature that indicates that accelerated biological aging is associated with a greater risk of developing early-onset cancers, especially solid cancers such as lung, stomach and also uterine cancer. Two concepts. To understand the finding, we must first differentiate between chronological age and biological age. The first of these is immovable, since it is nothing more than the years that have passed since our birth. But biological age is flexible, since it is calculated by evaluating the physiological state of a person through blood biomarkers and metabolic profiles. It reflects how “old” our tissues and organs really are. How to measure them. To measure this, Tian’s team used models already consolidated in scientific literaturesuch as PhenoAge and the Klemera-Doubal method. With these tools, they crossed the data of more than 150,000 adults from the UK Biobank and approximately 10,000 program participants. All of Us of the United States. The result shows a dangerous imbalance. This means that those people born in more recent decades had a greater tendency to have a biological age higher than that corresponding to their date of birth. And this time “jump” has direct clinical consequences such as the appearance of cancer. To be more specific, it has been seen that every time we have a person with a biological age higher than their corresponding age, they have an 8% higher risk of having early-onset solid cancer before the age of 50. If we compare the extremes, individuals located in the tertile with the greatest biological aging have a 15% greater risk of developing the disease compared to those in the tertile with the least biological wear and tear. The context. The main thing is not to fall into alarmism, since, although it is true that cancer is increasing in the youngest people in society, it is also increasing in all remaining bands due to multiple factors such as general population aging and better screening methods that allow us to detect cancer earlier. However, the specific data on early onset are undeniable, since large studies point to significant increases in thyroid, breast, colon, kidney and endometrial tumors in the 20 to 49 age group. Colorectal cancer, specifically, is the one that worries the most due to its escalation in young adults. The lifestyle. That we are biologically aging much faster than we should is not magic, but rather it seems to be influenced by different factors related to lifestyle. These include rates of youth obesity, prolonged consumption of diets rich in ultra-processed foods, a sedentary lifestyle, and exposure to environmental toxins. What this new work provides is the quantification of the damage, since these risk factors accelerate the biological clock. We must keep in mind that the human body is exposed to pro-inflammatory factors for more years from early stages of life, which makes it easier for DNA damage to accumulate faster than cellular mechanisms can repair it. In Xataka | Experts agree about the sun and hair: “It is one of the most exposed areas and one of the most forgotten”

More and more people work after 70 years of age

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The situation demographic of Japan is forcing the government and companies to adapt their regulations to maintain the balance between a very aged workforce and a serious labor shortage young man who has caused decades of drop in birth ratedropping to its historic low of 1.15 children per woman. One of the measures that is being applied most in companies is the extension of the mandatory retirement age. In this way, the most senior employees they can continue working even beyond the age of 70 if they wish. 9.14 million senior employees. According to data published by Nikkei Asia, Japanese companies employ more than 5.4 million employees aged 70 or over. If the focus is expanded to those over 65 years of age, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs estimates that 9.14 million people in that age group returned to work in 2024, approximately 25.3% of that population group. According to a report According to the Japanese Business Federation of 2024, the employment rate among those over 65 years of age in Japan is 25.2%, well above the 18.6% in the US, 10.9% in the United Kingdom or the 3.9% recorded in France. According to that same report, 99.9% of Japanese companies had measures to guarantee the employment of its workers beyond the age of 65, following the 2025 labor reform of the retirement age in Japan, which went from 60 to 65 years. However, Japanese companies have taken the legislation a little further: 29.7% of them have measures that guarantee employment up to age 70 and beyond. In Japan, 70 is the new 60. According to the data of a survey conducted in 2023 by the Japanese Ministry of Labor, 80% of workers of retirement age wanted to continue working beyond the legal retirement age. Of them, 70% of them would prefer to do it in their current job. Part of this desire to continue working beyond the age of 70 is due to the fact that Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates on the planet. According to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan published by Nippon.comJapanese life expectancy is 87.14 years for women and 81.09 years for men. This means that Japanese employees reach their legal retirement age in good health, which allows them to extend their working lives by adapting their working hours to their physical limitations. “60-year-olds are young. In this era of labor shortages, managers need to find ‘older men who add value,’” said Atsushi Morishita Morishita, 78, founder of Tenpos Holdings. Pensions in Japan. Another reason that is leading retirees to delay their effective retirement age as much as possible is the amount of their pensions. With an aging population, the pension budget balance suffers since there are more people in a position to receive them what contributors youths. Retirees can only receive from the Public Pension System a maximum of 831,700 yen annually (equivalent to about 5,100 euros), which are added to the allocations from the private pension funds that workers and companies have contracted (or not) throughout their working life. According to estimates Bloomberg, that leaves them with an average monthly public pension of 40,000 yen (about 245 euros per month). An income at all insufficient to survive. The Japanese government approved in June 2025 a reform of the pension system with changes that benefit those who continue working at retirement age. In April 2026 he entered in force The last change, which raises the income threshold from which the benefit is penalized or reduced, rising from 510,000 to 620,000 yen per month. This will allow some 200,000 active retirees to collect their full pension even if they continue working. The reform also extends the maximum age to subscribe to private pension plans to 70 years. Companies tailored to the elderly. According to the published figures by Nikkeiemployees over 65 years old represent around 15% of the company workforce in Japan. These employees are given the least demanding day shifts. “Rather than fitting people into a system, it is essential to manage work hours in a way that adapts to our diverse talent,” Kazushige Mori, president of Gashouen, a company that operates senior care centers whose workforce is made up of 15% people over 70, explained to Nikkei. Those who work 20 hours or more adopt the status of contract employees, which implies a higher hourly wage than those considered part-time workers. “Compared to young people, who have a high turnover rate, senior professionals who work with us for a longer time are the backbone of our company,” said Kimino Osada, president of Seisei Server. A version of this article was published in May 2025. In Xataka | Japan has the jobs, but it lacks the workers. So they are already paying up to 6,000 euros to go there In Xataka | Japan believed it had a demographic problem. Until he looked at his census and discovered that he was missing three million people Image | Unsplash (Jaipreet Singh)

After Germany did not rate Uwe Boll’s new film by age, Elon Musk decided to premiere it himself on X

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The German FSK, the German age ratings body (private, self-regulated by the film industry, not related to the government) has been denying age ratings to films of extreme violence for decades. This time a controversial decision with the latest film by one of the most disastrous directors of all time has ended up resulting in the richest man in the world publishing it on his social network as an act of resistance against state censorship. Let’s see who is right in all this hubbub. But who…? Uwe Boll is a German director and producer known primarily for his film adaptations of video games. Terrible adaptations: ‘BloodRayne’, ‘Alone in the Dark’, ‘In the name of the king’ (based on ‘Dungeon Siege’) or ‘Postal’ are some of them. Despite some occasional successes (‘House of the Dead’ has a very nice trotting edge), Boll has deservedly earned the fame of being one of the worst directors in history, a fame only surpassed by his ingenuity when it comes to organizing publicity stunts, such as sketching evenings against his critics. What is it about? A former American military man based in Europe inherits his father’s real estate business. After witnessing the murder of a mother at the hands of migrant criminals, he decides to take justice into his own hands and begins a violent campaign against criminals and corrupt judges that turns him into a viral phenomenon: celebrated by many, and also persecuted by law enforcement and powerful enemies. Citizen Vigilante. His new film, written, produced and directed by Boll himself, was released on June 19 in a few theaters in the United States and on digital through Quiver Distribution. The protagonist is Armie Hammer, a detail of the casting that adds murky layers to the film: it is Hammer’s most relevant role since his career sank following allegations of sexual assault and emotional abuse in 2021 (with unspeakable overtones of cannibalism), although the investigation concluded without charges. Hammer recognized that ‘Citizen Vigilante’ was his first job offer in five years, and that when Boll called him, he burst into tears. Boll, very cunning, chose Hammer deliberately. As explained“I hired him because he is a great actor and also because he had been canceled and wanted to work. They didn’t accuse him of anything, there was no lawsuit. He was just a famous guy who had behaved badly.” It is an important detail: the casting is already a political statement, as it could not be otherwise, anti-woke. The role of the FSK. The FSK denied the film an age rating in two successive rounds. And although Boll calls it state censorship, it is not. The FSK is an entity serving the film industry itself, not a government body. The State only intervenes when a work violates current criminal laws, so Boll could have released his film without going through the FSK. Of course, there are commercial consequences: without the rating, the film cannot be shown in multiplexes or sold on DVD in large stores, and platforms such as Netflix in Germany do not include it in their catalog. But of course: Boll himself welcomes this decision by the FSK: without this extra publicity, ‘Citizen Vigilante’ would have gone unnoticed. The scandal is part of the film’s dissemination campaign. Enter Musk. Since December 2025, X has been in open conflict with the European institutions. That month the European Commission imposed a fine of 140 million dollars to X for failure to comply with the Digital Services Act, the law that forces platforms to combat misinformation and illegal content. In February 2026, X filed an appeal with the General Court of the European Union, alleging serious procedural errors and bias in the investigation. The publication of ‘Citizen Vigilante’ in Musk’s TL It fits perfectly with that narrative: Europe censors, X is a territory of freedom. Of coursethe reactions of those close to Musk (Libs of TikTok, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos) were immediate. But we have already seen the reality of the matter: no one has censored ‘Citizen Vigilante’, which has simply been rejected at a private ratings board. To watch. As is usual in cases of films used as throwing weapons between political factions, opinions are dispersed: audience score of the 93% on Rotten Tomatoesbut only three critic reviews, all negative. Variety He said the film is “so astonishingly bad that it almost seems like Boll is deliberately sabotaging his protagonist, whose return can only be harmed by this project.” But thanks to Musk’s push, he is in the 31st place on IMDB. For now, until tomorrow the film will be able to be seen on X, on Musk’s own account. The movie is possibly horrible. But not everyone can boast of having Elon Musk as an enthusiastic distribution partner. In Xataka | Elon Musk is going to turn 4,000 workers into millionaires and himself into a billionaire thanks to one thing: SpaceX

minimum age to ride a scooter, cyclists in the opposite direction and motorcycles on the shoulders

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It’s been a while since it was rumored but it was not until today when the Government has announced the modification of the General Traffic Regulations to implement important changes for the most vulnerable users. From scooter users to pedestrians, but there are also changes for taxi professionals. As the Government made known in a press conference after the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of the Interior thus welcomes the changes that have been taking place on the streets and highways of our country where the use of electric scooters has exploded. But in addition, it also modernizes some rules that were believed to be obsolete. All changes will come into effect on October 1. Now, in one fell swoop, changes are coming for users of personal mobility vehicles (PMV) but also for motorcyclists, taxi professionals and even pedestrians. Updating the standard Although the cities and the DGT itself have been including some patches to assimilate the explosion of electric scooter users on our streets, the truth is that we had been hearing rumors for some time that the Government was looking for a more in-depth review that entailed changes for different users. Today they have confirmed it and they are the following: Electric scooters Users will have to be at least 15 years old to drive an electric scooter At night or in low visibility conditions, users will be required to wear reflective vests, a helmet and lights. Professionals who use electric scooters will have to comply with this rule both day and night. They must always go on the road and outside of town they can only move on segregated routes, such as bike lanes. It is important to remember that scooters must comply with the technical demands imposed from Europe such as not exceeding 25 km/h maximum. Failure to comply with the rules will result in a fine of 200 euros. Bikers Motorcyclists must always use gloves, both the driver and the passenger. The motorcyclist at the controls will be required to wear closed-toed shoes, so flip-flops are prohibited. Motorists will be able to use the shoulder in the event of a traffic jam, as long as they do not exceed 30 km/h. The helmets will have to be approved and not just certified. Professionals who use motorcycles as a means of transportation in their work must wear a reflective vest. The fines for failing to comply with these provisions are 200 euros. Cyclists They will have to have mandatory lighting whenever they travel on interurban roads. Professionals who use bicycles as a means of transportation will have to wear a vest on both urban and interurban roads. On urban roads, the cyclist will circulate in the center of the lane to improve visibility. Cyclists will be able to travel in the opposite direction on one-way streets limited to a maximum of 30 km/h. Failure to comply with the rules will result in a fine of 200 euros. Drivers When a driver overtakes a cyclist on interurban roads, they will have to reduce their speed by 20 km/h with respect to the maximum speed of the road. On roads with only one lane in each direction, you must occupy the entire adjacent lane and never leave less than 1.5 meters of distance from the cyclist. Drivers must leave a safety distance of at least five meters within the city. Drivers will also have to leave the minimum separation of 1.5 meters and reduce their speed by 20 km/h when overtaking vehicles immobilized due to an accident, breakdown, assistance work and those involved in maintenance work or traffic regulation. In the event of snowfall, overtaking will be prohibited and the left lane will have to be left free for the circulation of emergency services. In traffic jams, when traveling at very low speed, it will be mandatory to turn left or right to leave a central fast lane in which emergency services can circulate. Professional drivers Professionals in taxis, goods vehicles and driving schools will be required to wear their seat belts fastened in any case, both inside and outside the town. The only exception contemplated is for the person who travels as co-pilot in an ambulance, assistance equipped for technical-health assistance as long as it is circulating in emergency service. Motorhomes Specific changes are established for your parking. They will be prohibited from extending objects that exceed the perimeter of the vehicle (such as awnings), from allowing the vehicle to rest on its tires, and from pouring fluids from the interior. Photo | JavyGo and André Mašek In Xataka | Spain has standardized a small trick to avoid rear-end accidents. The DGT is not very satisfied

using goats in Age of Empires II

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Can an artificial intelligence model “feel” and be “self-aware”? It seems like an absurd question, but there are people who are beginning to think that this is the case. Technology is becoming more compelling and precise, and conversations with many models can raise questions for those who use them. And to disprove them all, someone has created a goat in ‘Age of Empires II‘. Believe us: the idea makes sense. The men who believed that AI was conscious. Richard Dawkins is not just any scientist. This biologist and zoologist is one of the most renowned experts in his field. Precisely for that reason his statements of May 2026 They surprised everyone and everyone: after having multiple conversations with Claude, he came to say: “You may not know that you are aware (of yourself), but I already believe that you are.” An old debate. Many criticized those statements, but the message was not in fact new. In June 2022, months before ChatGPT made its appearance, Google engineer Blake Lemoine stated that already at that time chatbots were developing their own consciousness. Google suspended him from his position. Anthropomorphism in the 21st century. A Microsoft researcher named Adrian de Wynter collaborated with New York University to try to answer that question. The result was a study with a promising title: ‘If LLMs have human attributes, so does Age of Empires II.’ De Wynter argues in it that the conversational capabilities of chatbots have caused that people anthropomorphize them: ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude are no longer machines: they are almost like people. No? No. The goat from Age of Empires II. In his study, this researcher wanted to demonstrate this phenomenon with a unique analogy. He showed how he had built an Age of Empires II map editor to create NAND gates using goats. As I explained, “The goal of the paper is to formally demonstrate that we tend to anthropomorphize too easily and that sometimes the claims we make about the capabilities of large-scale language models (LLMs) are too strong. This is not an easy task, given that the concept of ‘human-like attributes’ is a somewhat abstract term.” A super basic and very revealing LLM. The Age of Empires II map or scenario editor has an isolated ‘sandbox’ mode in which players can create their own maps and objectives taking advantage of the video game’s digital resources. De Wynter used these resources to create NAND logic gates in the game, so that in this “raw LLM” the grass was a 0, the jumpers were a 1, and the goats were the bits. Games to create simple LLMs. The operation, explained on their GitHub pagewas unique. De Wynter took advantage of the concept of the perceptron, the simplest neural network that exists: an algorithm that sorts an input into binary classes. People, as explained in 404 Media, have been taking advantage of the idea for some time. in other games like Minecraftso de Wynter came up with the idea of ​​taking advantage of the concept in Age of Empires II to try to answer the question of whether AI can be conscious. AI inside. No matter how complex ChatGPT or Claude may seem, behind it there is nothing more than a gigantic network of mathematical operations based on logic gates and perceptrons. These operations are carried out on chips like those from Nvidia, but Wynter changed them for the map of a video game. He was able to replicate the structure of a basic AI in the scenario editor and revealed something important: If you interact with an AI through a chatbot and the machine responds to you empathically, you tend to humanize it and think that it is conscious because the interface imitates a human conversation. But if you remove the chatbot and put that same neural network to work in a game of Age of Empires II, the only thing you see on your monitor is a bunch of goats moving in a virtual meadow. Conclusion. For the Microsoft engineer the conclusion is clear: the underlying software is the same in both cases. If the illusion of consciousness disappears when we replace ChatGPT’s conversational interface with virtual goats, the supposed consciousness is not in the system: it is something we assign to the persuasive interface of ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. The AI ​​doesn’t understand you; just pretend it. An essay by Ted Chiang published in The Atlantic At the beginning of June 2026 he also denied the idea that AI could be conscious. The author made his conclusions clear: “The only reason a large language model (LLM) generates phrases like ‘I understand’ is to make it more attractive than a search engine and increase the likelihood that the user will return; that is, it is another way to maximize customer engagement. This benefits the company marketing the LLM, but not the users.” In Xataka | As far as we know, the agency that supervises AI in Spain is not supervising anything. What it does have is an Ideas Laboratory

“It is very difficult for a worker to reach 67 years of age in full capacity”

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The vast majority of employees over 63 have something in common: they can’t wait to retire. However, with each passing year, retirement seems a little further away. In reality, it is not a perception, but it’s a reality which has been occurring since 2011, when the regulations were approved that delay the retirement age by a few months each year. Alfonso Muñoz Cuenca, Social Security official specialized in pensions, counted from her YouTube channel the case of an acquaintance who was 65 years old and had 25 years of contributions who couldn’t wait to retire. For the expert, this feeling is the symptom of a problem that is repeated more and more as they harden retirement requirements: There are people who reach the final stretch of their working life without the real ability to sustain the pace required of them. Age increases, but the body does not always accompany. As and as highlighted Trendsthe Social Security reform of 2011 established in the Law 27/2011 established the progressive delay of the retirement age, while the requirements to access it were also increased. In 2026, only those people who can prove a minimum of 38 years and 3 months of contributions will be able to retire at age 65. Whoever has not paid for that time will have to wait until the 66 years and 10 months to retire. The current pension system was designed in a very different social and health context, in which workers lived an average of seven years after retiring. According to INE data Today life expectancy exceeds 20 years on average after retiring. However, the fact that life expectancy is longer does not mean that the most veterans reach the end of their working life in full physical condition to meet the demands of the position, which makes the latter especially hard for them. Burnout does not always have a diagnosis. Muñoz Cuenca summarizes it in his video, stating that “there are workers who can barely reach the age of 67 standing on a scaffold, or doing endless shifts in a hospital without rest.” The problem is that this wear and tear rarely appears in a medical report. There is no declared disability, but rather accumulated fatigue, loss of rhythm and a body that no longer responds the same who did it when he was 40 or 50 years old. The burnout data in Spain collected by Unobravo confirm that 55% have suffered total exhaustion at some point. The health sector and care professions are those most affected by this situationwith sectors with chronic staff shortages and high workloads. He UGT report of 2025 He adds that job insecurity increases the probability of developing depression by 61%. The exhaustion of employees in the last years of their working career that Muñoz Cuenca describes has, apparently, a lot of statistical support. The problem of the years listed. In his video, the expert comments on the case of a 65 and a half year old worker who wants to retire, but only accumulates 25 years of contributions, which closes the doors to early retirement. Just to have the chance to access early retirement On a voluntary basis, you need to have contributed for at least 35 years. Whoever does not reach those figures has few options. Muñoz Account says that, after a career marked by the precariousness of temporary contracts, the years dedicated to caring for her children, not adding these minimums is more common than it seems. He Labor Market Report for those over 45 in 2026 Prepared by the Occupations Observatory, there are more than eleven million people over 45 years of age employed or affiliated with Social Security, more than half of the total. Many arrived late to the labor market or have accumulated careers with many bumps, which makes them serious candidates for not meeting the minimum requirements to access retirement at age 65. Partial retirement as an escape valve. Muñoz Cuenca proposes what he calls “work slowdown”: reducing the workload progressively as the end of active life approaches. Not as a new right, but as a change of mentality in companies to facilitate generational change. The legal tool already exists in the form of partial retirement with relief contract. From 2025, you can apply up to three years before the ordinary age, with a minimum of 33 years of contributions. This mechanism allows the employee’s working hours to be reduced by between 25% and 75%, and collect part of the pension, while the company hires someone to cover the remaining hours and train them to take their place when retirement is final. However, far from being the norm, this type of progressive retirements They are the exception since not all companies are obliged to accept it, so the employee has no choice but to force the machine beyond its capabilities, resulting in an increase of 43% in the number of leave among employees between 55 and 65 years old. Gina Aran, human resources consultant, confirmed in an interview for The Vanguard that “retirement should be one’s own choice, made judiciously, taking into account the state of health, and insists that it should not be something abrupt and obligatory.” In Xataka | Social Security has published the data on sick leave in 2024 and we have bad news: we have broken a record Image | Unsplash (Sweet Life)

“If a person over 70 years of age walks 20–30 minutes five days a week, benefits are already obtained”

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In 1965, a Japanese company launched a pedometer on the market called Manpo-Kei. That is, a “10,000 step meter.” That is the first time in history that the idea of ​​10,000 steps appears and, for years, many have wondered where that figure came from. The answer is, according to Japanese researchersfrom nowhere: they chose that number because in Japanese (万) is similar to a man who walks. That is, the most repeated advice about walking was born in a marketing meeting and not in a laboratory. Therefore, it is essentially a lie. Especially if you are over 70 years old. 70 years? What happens to those over 70 years of age? Not only has it dismantled the myth of 10,000 steps, it has shown that older people are capable of “capturing” the benefits with many fewer steps (around 6,000). Hence some coaches, as Rafael Hidalgoensure that it is enough to walk half an hour five days a week to obtain the cardiovascular, mobility and well-being bonus. and it’s true: at these ages there is a non-linear dose-response. Walking more does not bring more benefits. It is also true that, after 70, walking is not enough. The trend we fight against. Sedentary lifestyle in Spain is greater the older the person is. If we look the National and European Health Surveys (1987-2020) The highest prevalence of this sedentary lifestyle occurs among those over 65 years of age. In fact, if we analyze the data in detail we see that, even in those people who do not have limiting pathologies, there are high rates of sedentary lifestyle and overweight that lead to a poor perception of health. The bottom line is that it is something relatively easy to solve. Beyond accumulating steps. After 70, the goal cannot be adding steps. Or not only that. Any training or physical activity plan must optimize one thing: remain functional. That’s why, The WHO asks those over 65 years of age several linked activities: balance exercises, strength exercises at moderate intensity three times a week and 150 minutes a week of aerobic activity. Combine these types of exercises reduces the risk of falls by up to 23% (which are one of the main problems as we age). Additionally, as far as we know, it has positive impacts on mobility, mood, and sleep quality. Image | Age Cymru In Xataka | The trap of walking for the sake of walking: “Japanese walks” are much more effective than your daily hour-long walk

Walking 20 minutes a day after age 55 is very good. The secret of healthy maturity is to do it much earlier

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An increasingly repeated idea is that, to have a quality retirementyou have to keep moving throughout maturity and with adequate physical activity. The problem is that many times people wait until they are 55 years old to start taking care of themselves and in many cases because they already have a metabolic disease. And this should make us aware that the sooner we start taking care of ourselves, the better. Walk It has been crowned as the star exercise for older adults, and the scientific evidence that supports it is overwhelming. A study from the year 2023 points out that walking 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week reduces the risk of age-related diseases, although it is especially emphasized that it must be done at a high speed and that requires some effort for the body and not as a simple walk. If this is done, we will be significantly reducing the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, but also protects against dementia. And if that were not enough, a review conducted this year with 180,000 participants demonstrated an 18% to 30% reduction in mortality from all causes with moderate levels of physical activity. In figures. It’s not that Olympic records need to be broken, but simply taking 5,694 steps a day is associated with a 13% lower risk of mortality from all causes. And as we have said before, if it is done a speed high, a greater benefit is achieved. When to start. If the benefits in middle age are so incredible, why does science demand that we start much earlier? The answer lies in sarcopenia, which is the process of loss of muscle mass that we face when we begin to age without doing any type of strength exercise. And that is why the deadline of 30 years is set to begin to remedy it. Because? From this age onwards, it has been seen that between 3% and 5% of muscle mass is lost per decade. according to the NIHand other studies suggest that this figure can be between 3% and 8% per decade after age 30. AND from 60 years old the rate of decline becomes even greater. With all this information, it is estimated that right now between 10% and 20% of older adults suffer from sarcopenia, and lack of exercise is the main factor that worsens this progressive muscle loss. The recipe. The WHO here is very clear in its guidelines and, curiously, it does not make reductions upon reaching retirement, so it does not understand a specific age from which you must exercise no matter what, but rather it points out that you should always do it. That is why their recommendations are exactly the same for adults from 18 to 64 years old as for those over 65 years old: relativize. Between 150 and 300 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity (such as walking), or between 75 and 150 minutes of vigorous intensity. Furthermore, the WHO asks to incorporate muscle group strengthening exercises at least two days a week for all adults. In the specific case of adults over 65 years of age, the only difference is that activities that improve balance must be added to the general recommendations three or more days per week to avoid fatal falls. Images | Emma Simpson In Xataka | There’s a reason why working out for an hour a day at the gym doesn’t give you results. And that reason is evolution In Trends | The trainers agree: “From the age of 55, you should walk every day for at least 20 minutes, preferring stairs, doing gentle stretches and working on balance.”

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