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In 1611 Brueghel the Elder painted a baroque painting full of birds and bats. Without knowing it, he was 400 years ahead of modern science

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The god Apollo crosses the firmament aboard his chariot drawn by steeds, the muse Urania shows us an armillary sphere while resting on a cloud and, in the distance, we see a cloudy sky full of birds. The painting ‘Air’, painted in the 17th century by Jan Brueghel the Elder It shows a mythological scene that served the artist to make clear his ability with brushes and colors. Now a group of Spanish researchers has confirmed which is something more: a treatise on zoology that was 400 years ahead of modern science. It turns out that Brueghel the Elder was also a skilled chiropterologist. The value of details. Beyond its composition or technical quality, something must be recognized in ‘Aire’, a allegorical painting painted around 1611 by Jan Brueghel the Elder and preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon: it is full of details. It is something that is verified with the naked eye but is (re)confirmed by observing the study of detail published by the French institution. In it we see, in addition to Urania, the central figure of the painting, an enormous number of birds. The experts have counted 60 different species. There are specimens of ostrich, turkeys, swans, flamingos, cranes, owls, chickens… and a vast etcetera of winged creatures that either rest perched on the ground or branches or cross the sky. The latter also include three species of bats, including at least one Nyctalus lasiopterus or “giant noctule”, a large bat that can reach 46 cm wingspan. Much more than art. For the vast majority of people, pieces like ‘Aire’ are basically works of art. There are, however, those who have seen something more in them: valuable (and above all graphic) clues to study the fauna of centuries ago. That is the case of Pedro Romero-Vidalan ecologist at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD), who embarked on a project to identify animals in historical paintings. When he came to Brueghel the Elder’s 1611 work, he noticed a detail that activated his instinct: “I had never seen a similar scene in any of the many paintings I had examined.” admits to ScienceNews. But what the hell is that? What caught Romero-Vidal’s attention was a detail located in the upper right margin of the painting, almost at the edge of the composition. There the artist depicted a large bat flying away from the rest of the figures. The creature that came out of the brushes of Brueghel the Elder has been there, clearly visible, since the 17th century, but when the CSIC experts analyzed it they realized something: It doesn’t fly alone. In its jaws it carries a small bird. “Pedro saw the bats and it seemed that one of them was a noctule carrying a bird in its mouth,” explains to elDiario Miguel Clavero, researcher at the Doñana Biological Station and one of the authors who sign the article (just published in PNAS) in which they report their discovery. To understand its scope, one fact must be taken into account: science did not document until well into the 21st century how noctules hunt passerine birds and are able to devour them while they fly, which makes Brueghel the Elder ahead of his time. four centuries before. As recognize EBD-CSIC itself, the painting by Brueghel the Elder reveals that “the hunting of passerine birds by nocturnal bats was already known in the 17th century, 400 years before science was able to demonstrate it.” Zoologists obtained the first “solid evidence” that Nyctalus lasiopterus They fed on small passing birds several decades ago, observing their feces. However, we had to wait until 2025 to obtain a definitive study on its behavior. That confirmation did not arrive until October and it also did so at the hands of a scientific team led by the EBD-CSCI. “He managed to demonstrate that the great noctule, the largest bat in Europe, could hunt and consume birds in mid-flight,” points out the CSICwhich recalls that researchers captured for the first time the sound of a specimen preying on a European robin during flight in Doñana. “The first direct evidence of this behavior.” Or so they believed until someone noticed a painting from 1611. Pioneering scientist… with nuances. Of course, it is one thing to capture a scene observed in nature with brushes and another, very different, to document animal behavior with 100% scientific criteria. In fact, the CSIC itself clarifies that what Brueghel the Elder shows in his painting “does not exactly coincide” with what we know today about these animals and their strategies. “Carrying it in its mouth like a raptor is unfeasible. Bats at night are guided by sound and make calls,” Elena Tena clarifies to elDiarioone of the scientists who studied this habit. “To be realistic, the bat would be holding the bird with its hind legs and bringing them forward toward its mouth.” In any case, this does not detract from the painter’s merit or from the fact (confirmed by the CSIC) that art galleries can be valuable sources for zoologists. Images | Wikipedia and EBD-CSIC In Xataka | The mere existence of donkeys has been a mystery of natural history for decades. One we have solved

Samsung is ahead of the presentation of the Galaxy Z Fold8 by showing the design change of the foldable. At last

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There are a few days left to see Samsung’s new folding phones, but the South Korean company has decided that the speculation is over. In a series of videos, they have begun to show what the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 will be like, but they have done so in a rather peculiar way. Instead of showing the design like others do (Google with the Pixel before presentations, for example), they have decided indirectly show the most important change of the new folding: the form factor. With phrases like “A new way” and strange videos, Samsung makes one thing clear: we must welcome passport-style foldables. As a curiosity, one of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 and the foldable iPhone It seems like they will have quite a bit in common. And I say “one of the Galaxy Fold” because everything indicates that we will have two versions: the true successor of the Galaxy Z Fold7 and the one who for a time It was known as Galaxy Fold Wide. The design change of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Of all the videos that Samsung has shared, there are three in which this idea of ​​design change is clearly explored. From a traditional elongated format since the first Fold, it seems that we will move to a more square one both when the mobile is folded and when we unfold it. There are three videos that show this design change and they are quite revealing: There is another one cutting out a photo and another in which instead of a puzzle it is a chocolate bar. As I say, the three explore the idea that we are preparing the body for a design change, and the leaks have not been long in coming. While it is expected that there will be a Galaxy Z Fold8 with an elongated format (surnamed Ultra, perhaps), these Samsung videos seem to confirm that we will have a simply squarer Fold8. The leaks talk about a mobile phone with a 7.6-inch interior screen with a more square aspect ratio of 4:3. The external screen will be compact, with 5.5 inches and a 16:10 aspect ratio. To get an idea, the Fold7 had a 6.5-inch external screen with an 8-inch internal one with aspect ratios of 21:9 and 6:5 respectively. The translation is that the Galaxy Z Fold8 will be much more compact when closed, and when opened, it will practically be square. Very similar, as we say, to a passport. What has been leaking about the supposed iPhone Fold (or whatever it ends up being called) is very similar, with a more compact format that would share lines with Samsung’s. Obviously, neither one nor the other has been presented, so this is all speculation, but what we do know is that, in 2025, Apple chose to Samsung as the supplier of flexible OLED panels for its foldable iPhone. Thus, and as happened when the iPhone made the leap to OLED screens, there will be two competing mobile phones that will have the same screens and the changes will be calibration between one brand and another. It makes perfect sense for Samsung to take advantage of the fact that it has developed a panel with a new aspect ratio for Apple to create a third foldable (the other would be the Flip) that would mount that panel to compete, directly, against its historic great rival. In the end, it will be up to the consumer to decide whether they prefer Android or iOS, but they will have to choose two foldables with a very similar (if not identical) form factor. And it seems like a change that makes complete sense to me. ‘Passport’ foldables = the best foldables Now, this design is not new and, in fact, has been in place for years. In Spain, the book-type foldables that are most seen are those that share a form factor with Samsung’s: elongated when folded, small tablets when we open them. They are not the most comfortable to use with one hand when they are folded and we are walking down the street, really. It’s not official, but this is supposedly what the iPhone Fold will be like But then there are the Pixel Fold with an external aspect ratio of 17.4:9 or my favorite of all foldables: the Oppo Find N. The screen of the latter is 5.49 inches 18:9, and they are form factors more similar to what these two new folding devices from Samsung and Apple are estimated to have. The translation is that using a mobile phone like the Oppo Find N on the street is extremely comfortable because, in practice, It is as if it were a compact mobile. In fact, if the leak that the external screen will be 5.5 inches is true, we would be talking about diagonals that we have not usually seen for years, when the Zenfone 10 With its less than 6 inches it was considered a compact mobile. It’s already a few years old, but if you want to imagine what this new batch of foldables will more or less be like, take a look at the video we published about the Oppo Find N: That one-handed operation was the detail that we highlighted the most at the time and what represents a real change compared to the rest of the foldables on the market because we still have a large screen when opening it, but if we don’t want to do so, we have a very manageable external one in which the thumb covers the entire diagonal with ease. Now, will the market accept that design? In the case of Samsung, if the rumors are true, the consumer will have three options to choose between the Flip and the Square Fold8 and the more traditional Fold8 Ultrabut in the case of the iPhone, Apple will only have one bullet. In any case, as we have already mentioned, they are rumors (especially in the case of the … Read more

This is how he arrived eleven days ahead of schedule to his first big stop

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The tunnel boring machine Mayrit This Tuesday, he crossed an important checkpoint in his journey to leave everything ready for expand line 11 of Metro Madrid. And it has burst into the gap of the future Madrid Río station, on Paseo de Yeserías, thus completing the first major geological section of the work, which is the crossing under the Manzanares River and the M-30 tunnels. The Minister of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Jorge Rodrigo, was present at the event to receive the machine. At a good pace. At around 5:30 p.m., Mayrit starred in the cale, the technical name given to the moment when the two excavation fronts (the one that starts in Comillas and the one carried out from the Madrid Río side) meet and are aligned. Just like they count From La Razón, first came a dull noise from the bowels of the earth, then some loose stones and, finally, the impact of the cutting head breaking the station screen. Rodrigo celebrated it as “a moment of joy and pride,” according to the media. The breakdown also occurred eleven days earlier than expected. Numbers. Mayrit began its journey on March 26 from the future Comillas station, in Carabanchel, and in just over two months it has excavated 1,116 meters of tunnel, equivalent to 21% of the total planned for this branch. In its progress, it has installed 656 concrete rings, each one formed by seven rhomboidal-shaped voussoirs, which constitute the definitive covering of the gallery. As well as point El Diario, to cross under the M-30 and the Manzanares, the machine had to descend following the maximum admissible slope in railway infrastructure, around 35 thousandths, and ascend again until reaching the level of the station. Why has it gone faster than expected. The average pace has been about 15 meters per day, with peaks of up to 35 meters at the most favorable times. The general director of Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Miguel Núñez, explained that the key has been the soil: peñuelas clay, a soft material that can be found in the underground of Madrid and that behaves “very well” under the pressure of the tunnel boring machine. “We have doubled the theoretical yields because the geological characteristics of the soil, the latest generation machinery, and the segment rings that we have changed have made it reliable and safe to advance at that speed,” counted Núñez in statements collected by Europa Press. The change in the design of the voussoirs also helped, which became more rhomboidal in shape to improve fit and installation speed. Qtechnical plowing. For the next two weeks, the machine will remain housed in the future Madrid Río station. And this Tuesday only the head has arrived, since the remaining 98 meters of the tunnel boring machine will finish entering in the coming days. The idea is that it undergoes an in-depth review. Technicians will replace the most worn cutting head tools, check all computer and structural systems, and get the machine ready for the next leg. The next stage is the longest. Once reviewed, Mayrit will head to the Palos de la Frontera station, its next stop, 1,613 meters away, which is the longest stretch between two stations in the entire expansion. The Ministry’s forecast is that it will arrive there before the end of the summer. Then it will continue towards Atocha and, finally, Conde de Casal, which is the end point of the branch. In total, Mayrit still has more than 4,100 meters ahead of the 5,227 planned between Comillas and Conde de Casal. The seasons. In addition to the front of the tunnel boring machine, it should be noted that the works at the Comillas, Madrid Río and Palos de la Frontera stations are around 70% completed, while Atocha is at 50%. According to they count from 20 Minutos, Madrid Río, specifically, has three levels that reach more than 20 meters deep. The overall progress of the entire work now exceeds 45%. The project in perspective. This section is just one piece of a much larger scheme. As already we have reviewed other times, the investment in this phase exceeds 740 million euros and Line 11 is designed to become the great diagonal of the Madrid Metro network: 33.5 kilometers from Cuatro Vientos to Valdebebas, with 20 stations, connecting points such as Atocha, the airport or the future Formula 1 circuit in Ifema. The total investment in the project exceeds 2.5 billion euros and the works will be carried out in phases until 2031. The General Director of Infrastructure estimates that the complete excavation will take between 13 and 14 months, which would place the end of drilling around May or June 2027. Cover image | Metro Madrid and Community of Madrid In Xataka | Spain and Morocco have been dreaming of a tunnel under the Strait for 40 years. The great enemy of the project is called Umbral de Camarinal

Anthropic has moved ahead of OpenAI in its race to go public. This is very bad news for Sam Altman

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Anthropic confirmed on Monday which has formally registered its application for its long-awaited IPO. The operation may become the largest in the history of its type, and reminds us of another singular moment. In August 1995, Netscape went public and marked the beginning of the era of the Internet and dotcom fever. That turned out to be a bubble, but “good”. The question is if it will be repeated what happened then. The original Netscape moment. When Netscape went public, the company had only been on the market for 16 months and had not made a profit in all that time. It didn’t matter. The shares went on the market on August 9, 1995 with an initial price of $28. On its first day of trading, the value skyrocketed quicklyreaching a high of $75 before closing at $58.25. In December of that year it would reach its maximum value, $171 per share. The rest, as they say, it’s history. Netscape’s IPO sent the Nasdaq technology index soaring… until the dot-com bubble hit in 2000. Source: Reuters. Anthropic could break all records. Anthropic’s spectacular growth in recent months has made the company in the pretty girl of the AI ​​sector. The recent investment round has raised its valuation to $965 billionan incredible figure considering that the company is barely five years old. It has also overtaken OpenAI, whose valuation It is currently around $850 billion.. Both were moving to go public this year, but Anthropic has gone ahead again, something that at first glance seems like another victory against its main rival. What Netscape taught us. The explosion of Netscape in 1995 gave rise to fierce competition: companies promising gold and moro did not stop appearing, and the dotcom bubble grew. Too many companies managed to attract investment without a clear business plan and the situation ended up leading to the bursting of the bubble. A few companies survived and managed to become the great giants of today’s technology. good bubbles. That bubble could be described as “good” because although many companies failed, those that remained and those that were created later ended up leading this revolution called the internet. For many, the AI ​​bubble exists, but it is similar to the dotcom bubble in that: many companies could disappear if it bursts, but the final result, they say, will be positive for the evolution of our planet. But Anthropic is very different from Netscape. Although these IPOs present certain analogies, the situation of these companies is very different. Netscape suffered greatly to monetize its software and would end up in the hands of AOL in 1999 when its stage was closing. Anthropic has shown that its approach to businesses works, and in fact this past quarter it surprised by achieving profits (with small print) when everyone expected losses. And still, total uncertainty. Anthropic’s projection—like that of OpenAI—is spectacular on paper, but we are talking about companies that in recent years have not stopped burning money to achieve the most powerful models on the market. All technology companies have been devoured by the AI ​​fever, but today the only ones who win (a lot) money are those that provide components for AI infrastructure. Milestone. The bet is that this infrastructure will be necessary because we will all use AI models on a massive scale, but it is not at all clear that this expectation will be met. It may not, but Anthropic’s IPO will certainly mark a milestone in the dizzying growth of this segment. And victory for Amodei. This year we will likely see three historic IPOs. SpaceX seems to be the first in breaking records, but both Anthropic and OpenAI follow in their footsteps. That the company led by Dario Amodei has formally confirmed its preparation for that exit is a symbolic victory against its great rival, Sam Altman, who is also planning the IPO of OpenAI. In recent months Anthropic has managed to turn the tables, and has gone from being the pursuer to the leader of a race that certainly is not over yet. Image | Wikimedia In Xataka | Anthropic is one step away from being worth as much as Samsung. And what the market is buying is not Claude

Alsa has gone ahead of Iryo and Ouigo with a radically different proposal

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Alsa, one of the most important companies in the transportation of passengers (if not the most important) is getting back on the tracks. The company, beyond buses, has a lesser-known business that also goes on wheels but off the road. They are their tourist trains. And now the CNMC gives it the go-ahead to operate yet another service. There is no competition. It’s what the CNMC has concluded about the new Alsa tourist train and the possibility of it competing with Renfe on its new Galician route. For regulators, Alsa’s new business “does not affect the economic balance of Renfe’s public service contract.” It is concluded that although Renfe provides services in the same place or to reach the same locations, both proposals “do not compete with each other” since Alsa trains will only be available in summer and are “between three and seven times more expensive” than Renfe trains. For now, Alsa has indicated in its documentation that the tickets will have a price of 17.28 euros while Renfe public services range between 2.51 euros and 5.40 euros. New historic train. During the summer months, Alsa will put into service a new historic train on two Galician routes that will have the following route: Orense – Barra de Miño – Os Peares – San Estevo de Sil – Canaval – Monforte de Lemos Monforte de Lemos – San Coludio-Quiroga – Montefurado – A Rúa-Petín The train, for which specific schedules and details are not yet known, is known as Galaico Expreso and Alsa Rail, the subsidiary that operates its trains, took it out last April from Galician Railway Museum (Muferga), based in Monforte de Lemos. The train was towed by an Alsa machine to pass the exam in Renfe workshops. They explain in The Voice of Galicia that the material consists of two first-class apartment cars, one with restaurant service and a generator van. This last car is property of the museum and the others were donated by Adif with the condition that they be used for tourist services. The Galaico Express. This train that is being reviewed in the Renfe workshops is, as we have seen, a historic one in our country. At the beginning of the last decade, an attempt was made to resume a tourist service with a walk through the Ribeira Sacra that you can see in this link but its use was discontinued in 2011. In his previous attempt To offer this tourist service, the line only made two stops between Ourense and Monforte de Lemos and had a maximum of 200 passengers. Furthermore, they explain in Vigo Lighthousewas an opportunity to revitalize local tourism since train tickets were sold with additional packs to buy or eat at associated businesses. It’s not the first. By no means is this Galician train the first tourist experience in Spain that takes you back to the past aboard trains operated by Alsa. The company has different offers and packs available with trains of all types for prices starting below 20 euros. This is the case of the one known as Blue Train to link Zaragoza and Logroño through the Ebro valley and the 80’s trainwith which you can travel between Madrid and Cáceres and from Cáceres to Valencia de Alcántara. It also has a round trip train to San Lorenzo del Escorial from Madrid known as the Philip II Train and the Train of the Three Wise Men in Madrid and Zaragoza. Other type of tourism. As we said, these tourist train offers in Spain are affordable and are perfect for spending a day with the family. However, there is another type of tourism that has found a rich source in Spanish historic trains. Specifically, luxury tourism. Probably, The most famous case is that of the Transcantábricowhich departs from Santiago de Compostela to reach San Sebastián (with bus routes) and prices that start above 2,000 euros but can reach 10,000 depending on the room. But the latter is not the only one nor the most expensive. Renfe has its Al-Andalus availablewhich in seven days passes through large Andalusian, Extremaduran and Castilian cities such as Cádiz, Seville, Córdoba, Cáceres and Toledo, before arriving in Madrid. Its price, from 5,000 to 14,000 euros. And also operated by Renfe you can get on the Costa Verde Express or the La Robla Expreso. Of course, prepare thousands of euros. Photo | Muferga In Xataka | The AVE to Galicia has achieved what seemed impossible in a Santiago-Madrid: airlines that throw in the towel

The daily menu has been in an existential crisis for some time. Now Mercadona threatens to take it ahead

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“This is more practical and faster. You eat for 6 euros and I don’t spend 45 minutes. I haven’t eaten off the menu since summer.” The phrase It is from David, 35 years old, technical director of a gym in Madrid. The World He interviewed him recently while having lunch at a Mercadona in the capital. His comment may seem like a simple anecdote, but it summarizes a phenomenon that in the coming years threatens to transform the healthcare sector. retailhospitality and even our eating habits: the struggle between the ‘menus of the day’ of bars and supermarket dishes. For now the figures are clear. Why are you going to the supermarket? A few years ago (not that many) that question would sound like a truism. You go to the supermarket to buy fruit, meat, preserves, milk… whatever you need to fill the pantry. At most you leave there with toiletries or perhaps home decorations, if we’re talking about stores. hypermarket type. However, more and more people go to the supermarket with another purpose: to eat. Literally. Go to a Mercadona, Carrefour or Alcampo (to name just three chains with a presence in Spain) and buy ready-to-eat dishes. Some stores even offer tables, chairs and microwaves. “Merchants” they call them. If you look splendid you can even buy a cup of freshly ground coffee. And do they work? Yes. A few days ago a reporter from The World visited a Mercadona in the center of Madrid, and found that, in addition to people shopping, there was a dining room full of customers eating dishes prepared in the supermarket itself. Three caregivers were having lunch together. At another table a woman was eating a hamburger while looking at her cell phone. Tables. Unknown. Dishes. Exactly the same as in a bar. And it is not something that happens only in Madrid. Not even in Mercadona. In another neighborhood, a retiree waits in line at a Carrefour to buy a rice and hake salad in green sauce. It is the menu of the day from the store, although his idea is actually to take it home. What does the data say? That the above are more than simple scenes of customs. It is proof that something is changing in the sector. retaila change that connects with our eating habits and threatens to hit traditional hospitality completely. According to data from the consulting firm Circana, the distribution sector already accounts for almost the fourth part (23%) of spending on food outside the home. And it is not the only indicator that points in that direction. Another recent NIQ report estimates that the prepared food sector in supermarkets, a broad category that includes everything from refrigerated dishes to other ready-to-eat dishes, recorded year-on-year growth in 2025. 11%well above the 5.8% at which the food distribution as a whole grows. In net terms, this translates into a turnover of billions of euros. In general, Asefapre, the association of manufacturers of prepared dishes, estimates that in 2025 per capita consumption amounted to 18 kg per person, 5% more than in 2024. Its most popular products are refrigerated pizzas, frozen potatoes and pasta-based dishes, so it does not exactly coincide with the foods offered in sections such as ‘Ready to eat’ from Mercadona, but it still gives a valuable clue about consumer trends in Spain. Which chains stand out? In Spain, brands with higher weight In distribution by value quota they are Mercadona, Carrefour and Lidl. The ‘photo’ is not very different when we talk about spending on food. At least that is what the data from Worldpanel by Numerator (Kantar) suggests, which recently disclosed a report which shows that the Valencian chain accounts for a value share in food and beverage consumption of 19.7%. Carrefour reaches 6% and Lidl 5.1%. The study leaves another interesting reading: with its share of almost 20%, Mercadona far exceeds the sum of bars, cafes and terraces (with a 11.2% share of total value) and independent restaurants, which remain at 8.6%. That Roig’s chain occupies such a prominent place is no coincidence. Beyond the gap that has been made in the sector retail thanks to the white labelthe group has been betting on its line for years ‘Ready to eat’in which it offers already cooked dishes that can often be enjoyed without having to leave the store. Today the section is implemented in 1,469 stores distributed throughout Spain and Portugal. Only throughout 2025 did the model expand to 210 new premises. What about the menu of the day? As Víctor, the young man from Madrid with whom we started this report, implies, this new offer of ready-to-eat dishes (many of them based on “traditional recipes”) represents direct competition for bars that offer daily menus. That’s interesting in itself. However, there is another reason why it is worth paying attention to this struggle between ‘merchants’ and bars: catch the traditional hospitality ‘menu’ in the middle of the crisis. Its format is largely based on affordability, but the escalation of costs in recent years (and which may yet be yet to come) makes it turn out every time more difficult keep them at attractive prices. At least if hoteliers want to maintain their margins. Have daily menus become more expensive? Yes. The data from the employers’ association show that every day in Spain they continue to serve millions of menusbut that does not mean that they are getting rid of price escalation. Between 2016 and 2024 They became more expensive on average by 19.5% (they went from 11.7 to 14 euros), but even with that increase the increase accumulated by the general CPI is not equal. A quick Google search arrives to find recent news that warns that in the last decade this increase in prices it’s already over 21%complicating the possibility of finding menus by less than 15 euros. What does that mean? That things get complicated for hoteliers, forced to maintain a profitability margin that guarantees their businesses and compete … Read more

In 1968 a man had the idea to create the first tablet in history. The problem is that he was decades ahead of his time.

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If I tell you to think of the oldest tablet you remember, you may go back to the first iPad, which was released in 2010 (and, by the way, I turned seven last week). Or, if you’ve been following the world of technology since before the turn of the century, you might be familiar with the Microsoft Tablet PC from HP Compaq that was announced in 2001. In reality, there was someone who already tried to create one and it was much earlier, in 1968before the term “tablet” was even coined. At that time, Alan Kay was a young worker at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center who had been mulling over the concept of a personal computer for some time (in contrast to the military, business and professional use that reigned among manufacturers at the time). After speaking with other colleagues who were beginning their research on how the programming language Logo could help younger children advance in math, Kay came up with an idea: “This encounter finally made me see what the real destiny of personal computing was going to be. Not a personal dynamic ‘vehicle’, as Englebart’s metaphors had it as opposed to IBM’s ‘railway tracks’, but something much deeper: a dynamic personal ‘medium’. With a vehicle, one could wait until high school to take ‘driving lessons’. But if it was a medium, it had to extend into the world of childhood.” In 1968, Kay created the Dynabook conceptwhich he would spend several years profiling. in the book “Tracing the Dynabook: a study of technocultural transformations” They define it like this: “Kay called it the Dynabook, and the name suggests what it was going to be: a dynamic book. That is, a medium like a book, but one that was interactive and controlled by the reader. It would provide cognitive scaffolding in the same way that books and print media had done in recent centuries but, as Papert’s work with children and Logo had begun to demonstrate, it would take the advantages of the new computing medium and provide the means for new kinds of exploration and expression.” “A personal computer for children of all ages” With the idea of ​​its function clear, Kay then began to shape it into cardboard prototypes (as can be seen in the image at the top of the article). In 1972, the researcher presented his paper “A personal computer for children of all ages” in which he offered more details not only about his motivation and his vision of personal computing at the time, but about the own device that I had in mind. His idea was to get a kind of tablet-shaped personal computer aimed at education. This would have a reduced thickness, a liquid crystal touch screen and a keyboard. Like a regular notebook in size, with a graphical interface (a revolution for the time) that allowed the reproduction of graphics, music and text, and with internal storage for 500 pages. The keyboard would not be the only way to enter information: it could also be done via voice. In the image that Kay drew, the word “stylus” can also be seen, although he did not comment on it in his paper. Kay’s idea is that the Dynabook that could be connect to other systems to “copy” information to it (among them, the ARPA Network) and even predicted the existence of content “vending machines”, which could not be accessed until payment had been made. “The books can be installed instead of being bought or loaned,” he said. Regarding digital “ownership”, Kay said the following: “The ability to easily make copies and own the information yourself is not likely to weaken existing markets, as has happened with xerography, which has strengthened publishing; and just as tapes have not hurt the music industry but have provided a way to organize one’s own music. Most people are not interested in being a source or a smuggler, but rather like to trade and play with what they have.” According to Kay’s calculations, the components to manufacture it could cost $294, so it was not unreasonable to be able to sell it for $500, something expensive for the time. “The average annual amount spent per child on education is only $850,” he said, and that is why he even proposed a different financing model: “perhaps the device should be given away as if it were a notebook, and only sell the content (cassettes, files, etc.). “This would be quite similar to the way TV packages or music are now distributed.” “Let’s do it!” he said to finish his paper. Unfortunately for Kay, the Dynabook never materialized. Despite Kay’s enthusiasm, the Dynabook itself was never manufactured for lack of support at Xerox and due to the technological limitations of the time. Do you remember what computers were like then? Well, imagine what it would be like to build a tablet. Two Xerox PARC engineers, Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson, asked for permission to try to replicate a similar machine on their own, and so it came to light. Highwhich was also known as “Interim Dynabook”. It was not a tablet, far from it, but it maintained some of the ideas that Kay had raised in her publication. He Xerox Alto was one of the first personal computers of history and Steve Jobs and Apple engineers they were inspired in some of its innovations and concepts, such as the use of a graphical interface for its own computers. Starting at Minute 2:27, the Xerox Alto graphical interface in action Kay is not only remembered for the Dynabook itself, but for the educational vision he gave to the project, for his peculiar vision of the personal computing paradigm and for how he came to anticipate some of the problems (and even technologies) that would come later. Not only that: in 2001, Microsoft presented its Microsoft Tablet PC, a project that Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson had led. Yes, the same ones who once tried to implement … Read more

Google has borrowed money to repay in 2126. AI is already financed with debt for a century ahead

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Alphabet has just closed the largest debt transaction in its history: $20 billion in bonds. And it is preparing something even rarer: an issue in pounds that includes a 100 year bond. Expires in 2126. Why is it important. No major technology company has issued a centenary bond since IBM in 1996. That Google is doing it now says a lot about the scale of investment AI requires. And that this race is financed with wild debt. The background: A bond is borrowed money. The company pays periodic interest and returns the principal at maturity. The routine is terms of 5, 10 or 30 years. The extraordinary thing is to ask for money from a century into the future. Investors lined up: demand exceeded 100 billion, five times what Google was asking for. Alphabet planned to raise 15 billion, but raised the offer to 20 billion due to the flood. Between the lines. A century-year bond is a statement of intent: “we are building infrastructure that will last generations.” Google is thus conveying that AI is not a three-year fad or something that we will forget after the puncture, but something that will transform the economy in the long term like railways or electricity did. Yes, but. Michael Burry, the investor who anticipated the 2008 crisis, has issued a warning that has gone viral: the last technology company that issued a centenary bond was Motorola in 1997. And according to him, that was “the last year in which Motorola mattered.” In 1997 it was a top 25 company in the United States, but a year later, Nokia overtook it and then the iPhone, Android, Chinese manufacturers arrived… and now, in the hands of Lenovoit barely fits into the top 10 mobile manufacturers. Burry asks: is this trust or the gesture made right at the top, before everything changes? The figures. Alphabet’s spending on infrastructure this year may reach, according to figures published by the companyat 185,000 million dollars. More than the previous three years combined. They are data centers, chips, computing capacity for AI… The five other large companies that have increased their capex (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle; Apple has reduced it) issued 121,000 million in bonds last year. Four times more than the annual average for 2020-2024. Main winner? Google, without a doubt. Issuing very long-term debt locks in favorable interest rates for decades. If they go up, Google already has its financing. If they go down, you can buy back the debt sooner. Plus, the interest is deductible, so it’s cheaper than using your own cash. And it does not dilute shareholders. Win-win-win. What is happening. The era in which technology companies grew solely by turning to their profits is over. The enormous expense required by the infrastructure for AI makes them use financial instruments that until now they had barely needed. They are no longer software startups. They are the largest infrastructure builders of the 21st century. And they need a lot of capital. The big question. Is giving bonuses for a century vision or overconfidence? Probably both: What is certain is that technology companies now compete in the debt markets like banks and large industrial companies. And that defines what our industry has become. In Xataka | The intellectual luxury of our era is sustaining our attention, AI is making it worse Featured image | Mitchell Luo

has many obstacles ahead

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The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced from Dubai a package of five measures with the intention of regulating digital platforms, among which stands out the total prohibition of access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age and criminal sanctions against the manipulation of algorithms. The proposals will still need to go through Congress. Advertisement. Social media has become a “failed state where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated,” counted Pedro Sánchez this Tuesday at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. It is not the first time that the president has attacked the platforms, since less than two weeks ago he already proposed in Davos end anonymity on networks and hold their owners criminally responsible. Now he has finalized legislative measures that, according to Sánchez, will begin to be processed “next week.” The five measures announced. Package Included: Prohibition of access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age, forcing platforms to implement effective age verification systems. Criminal liability for platform managers if they do not remove hateful or illegal content. Legal punishment for the manipulation of algorithms and the deliberate amplification of illegal content. Creation of a tracking system, referred to by Sánchez as a “footprint of hate and polarization”, that will quantify how platforms amplify social division and will serve as a basis for future sanctions. Collaboration between the Government and the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by Grok (X’s AI), TikTok and Instagram. Qprohibition of minors. Spain would thus follow in the footsteps of France or Australia, which have already legislated in this direction with age limits of 15 and 16 years respectively. The preliminary draft of Organic Law for the Protection of Minors in Digital Environmentsapproved in June 2024 and currently being processed by parliament, was already contemplating raising the minimum age to open a network account without parental consent from 14 to 16 years. What the Government is now proposing is to introduce an amendment that expressly reflects this total prohibition and forces platforms to implement age verifications. The President of the Government justified the measure stating that children are exposed “to a space of addiction, abuse, violence, pornography and manipulation.” Criminal liability for directors. Although the European Union already holds large platforms accountable through the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), which until now has allowed fines to be imposed as the 120 million euros to X Due to breaches of transparency, the measure announced by Sánchez differs in attributing direct criminal responsibility to the directors. According to the announcement, this will be articulated through an Organic Law Project that must pass through Parliament. Algorithms and illegal content. Criminalizing algorithmic manipulation is perhaps the most ambitious and least detailed measure. Sanchez stated that “no more hiding under the code and saying that technology is neutral”, pointing to platforms whose algorithms amplify misinformation “in exchange for benefits.” The initiative will also begin through an Organic Law Project, although the president has not specified what exactly he means by “manipulating algorithms” or how this manipulation will be proven. The “Footprint of Hate” as a measurement tool. The proposed system aims to quantify and reveal how platforms “fuel division and amplify hate,” something Sánchez recognized which until now was considered “invisible and impossible to quantify”. This tool would serve as a basis for defining future sanctions, establishing that spreading hate must have a “legal, economic and ethical” cost that platforms cannot ignore. However, no details have been provided on how it will technically work or what metrics it will use. Platform-specific investigations. The Government will work with the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate possible crimes by Grok, TikTok and Instagram. Just like points out The Country, in the case of Grokthe Ministry of Youth and Children already sent a letter weeks ago to the Prosecutor’s Office requesting that they investigate whether The controversy motivated the European Commission to open an investigation. Union with other countries. Sanchez recognized that it is “a battle that far exceeds the borders of any country” and announced that Spain has joined forces with five other European countries in a “Coalition of the Digitally Willing”, which promises to impose stricter, faster and more effective regulation. From the media El Confidencial they count that the first meeting of this coalition will be held in the coming days, although the details have not been revealed or which countries comprise it. Many obstacles. It is not the first time that the President of the Government has leaned towards the regulation of social networks. Just like account El Mundo, a year ago in Davos, already pointed out that platforms are “eroding democracies”, and in November it announced an investigation against Meta for alleged violation of the privacy of millions of users. The complication of this package of measures is finding a practical implementation, on the one hand by the parliamentary minority of the Government, and on the other the technical complexity required to effectively implement systems such as age verification or the detection of algorithmic manipulation. To all this we must add a big melon: What is a social network? Which are considered social networks and which are not? More and more governments want to limit them, but implementing practical measures will be a difficult task. Cover image | The Moncloa (Flickr) In Xataka | Instagram has wreaked havoc on tourism in half the world. AI has arrived to multiply it by a thousand

Public transport faces 2026 with extended aid and the approved Single Pass: there is still one step ahead

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Public transport enters 2026 with two decisions already made and an important nuance still pending to be resolved. The Council of Ministers has approved the extension of current aid throughout next year and has given the green light to the Single Passa new flat rate that will begin operating in January and that seeks to simplify access to state-run trains and buses. The announcement consolidates a policy that the Government has been implementing since 2018, but also leaves the final procedure pending. The key date is January 1, but not for the arrival of a new system, but for the continuity of the current one. From that day on, the bonuses remain in force. The Single Pass, which does introduce a different model, will have a later start and will not be available until the second half of January. The entire plan has planned financing of more than 1,371 million euros by 2026. Extension with changes. Although the aid is extended, the scheme does not remain intact. The main novelty for 2026 is in the way of financing them in regional and local transport: the Ministry of Transport will cover the 20% general bonus for the rest of the subscriptions without conditioning that contribution on the competent administrations adding another 20%. {“videoId”:”x8d81cm”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Free Renfe passes”, “tag”:””, “duration”:”30″} In practice, users will find in 2026 a scheme very similar to the current one, with nuances depending on the territory and the operator. State-owned buses will maintain free child tickets and the main subsidized passes, including reinforced discounts for young people. Renfe: continuity and new incentives. Bonuses on Renfe services will continue to be one of the central pieces of the system in 2026. Commuter passes with reduced rates, free children’s tickets and discounts on Media Distancia and Avant are maintained, in line with what has been applied until now, while new features are introduced for recurring travelers. The Ministry emphasizes that these measures have had a notable impact on the use of the railway: more than 14 million tickets sold since their implementation and an estimated saving of around 1.5 billion euros for travelers. Pass Via enters the scene. Renfe will introduce some changes in 2026 aimed at recurring travelers. The main novelty is the new quarterly “Pase Vía” subscription for Avant services, which will apply progressive discounts (from 45% to 72%) depending on the number of trips made and will allow you to pay for each ticket without an initial outlay. Added to this is the Cronos Cercanías system, which will offer a 40% discount from the fifth trip when access is made by paying with the bank card directly at the turnstiles. The new Single Pass. The new state flat rate adds to the mosaic of existing aid with a different logic. The Single Pass will allow unlimited travel for 30 days on Renfe Cercanías, Rodalies and Media Distancia and on state-owned interregional buses for 60 euros, or 30 euros in the case of those under 26 years of age. It will be available from the second half of January and will require prior user registration. In Xataka The single public transport ticket promises to change the mobility of our country for 60 euros. We have many doubts Although the measures have already been approved by the Council of Ministers, the institutional path is not completely closed. The extension of the aid is articulated through a royal decree-law, a figure that allows its immediate entry into force but that requires subsequent validation by Congress within the constitutional period. On this occasion, the text is processed independently and is not included in a broader decree, a decision that would facilitate its parliamentary validation. Images | RENFE | Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility In Xataka | There will be no insurance or registration for electric scooters on January 2, 2026: the DGT has confirmed it (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news Public transport faces 2026 with extended aid and the approved Single Pass: there is still one step ahead was originally published in Xataka by Javier Marquez .

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