air

Now we know that the Iranian Air Force did to the US what Ukraine could not do to Russia with drones: an abysmal hole

by

During the Vietnam War, American commanders discovered that some of their most protected bases they could be hit unexpectedly due to coordinated attacks low costforcing to reinforce defenses that until then were considered sufficient and making it clear that, in war, the feeling of security is usually more fragile than it seems. The blow that no one expected. For decades, the US military architecture in the Middle East relied on in a network of bases designed to surround and contain Iran, a direct heir to the Cold War doctrine and designed to project power quickly. However, a report that came to light this weekend on NBC News has revealed a radical inversion of that logic in the war of 2026: what was supposed to be a shield has become a set of exposed objectives, hit in a coordinated manner by Iranian attacks that hit more than a hundred targets in several countries. We are talking about critical infrastructures such as runways, radars, hangars, command centers or defense systems were damaged or destroyed, and the impact was neither marginal nor symbolic, but structuralaffecting the very functioning of the US deployment in the region. The fence that ended up surrounded. The system of bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia was designed to suffocate Iran, but its ability to attack key logistics nodes turned the equation around. How much? It appears that critical facilities were left disabled or evacuatedincluding the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet in Bahrainwhile multiple bases in Iraq and Kuwait had to be abandoned or rendered inoperative. The pressure was such that even the resupply became problematicleaving the American forces themselves in a position close to the siege they intended to impose. The encirclement strategy, which seemed unquestionable for decades, suddenly showed its fragility in the face of an adversary with saturation capacity through missiles, drones and aviation. The hole that changes war. What is most revealing is not only the extent of the damage, but what they represent for Washington: for the first time in years, a rival has managed to systematically drill US military infrastructure at multiple points at once. Iran not only hit bases, but achieved something that until now seemed beyond the reach of other recent conflicts: opening a deep and sustained hole in the defensive framework of the United States, affecting radarsair defenses and strategic assets. That ability to simultaneously degrade multiple layers of the system is reminiscent of what other actors have tried unsuccessfully in wars like the one in Ukraine, but here it translated in real effects on the ground, altering the operational balance and forcing us to rethink the assumed superiority. From control to operational chaos. The middle counted American that the intensity of the attacks and the speed with which they occurred generated a scenario of disorganization that overwhelmed the usual command and control mechanisms. Bases evacuatedemergency relocated personnel and even improvised situations what do we countsuch as the use of civil infrastructure, reflect the extent to which operational pressure broke the planned patterns. Plus: the inability to anticipate and managing the real scope of the attacks, added to the lack of clear communication about the damage, fueled the perception of an overwhelmed response to a type of more distributed warfaster and harder to contain. A cost beyond money. Although initial estimates speak of billions dollars in repairs (not counting advanced systems or unrecoverable equipment), the true impact possibly transcends the economic. What has been affected is the military deployment model itself: the idea that a network of advanced bases guarantees regional control. In other words, the war has shown that, faced with an adversary capable of to attack in depth with means relatively accessiblethis hitherto untouchable network may become a rather critical vulnerability. The result in the pavement American is not only a balance sheet of damages, but a strategic warning that forces us to give more than one turn to its scheme of how military power is projected in a world where distance is already does not protect the same. Image | x In Xataka | If the war resumes again, the US runs a risk unprecedented in the history of war: that the only one with missiles will be Iran. In Xataka | If the question is why the US attacked an Iranian ship with a weapon unprecedented in 40 years, we already know the answer: a “gift from China”

China already knows how to keep a fleet of drones in the air indefinitely. The problem is that there are too many problems

by

Wireless charging in everyday devices It is a resource that provides comfort. In other areas, wireless and remote charging implies a much more powerful advantage: supremacy over a rival. That is precisely what China is testing, how to maintain a drone fleet flying almost indefinitely thanks to a microwave charge injected from a ground system. And they are not the only ones. In short. A few days ago, Chinese scientists from Xidian University published a peer-reviewed article in the journal Aeronautical Science & Technology in which they presented a system microwave emitter that could send energy to an array of antennas installed on the top of a drone to charge the vehicle’s battery in mid-flight. The most important thing is that it works while the ground vehicle and the drone are moving, which eliminates the need for a stationary charge that would make no sense from a strategic point of view. Image of Xidian University How it works. For the system to work, and as we read in SCMPthe researchers integrated a GPS positioning system that allowed a drone and a ground vehicle to be aligned. On the ground there is the microwave emitter and the drone has a series of antennas at the bottom that collect the energy. In tests, the system kept fixed-wing drones in the air for up to 3.1 hours at an altitude of 15 meters. The great challenge was maintaining the alignment between the drone and the ground vehicle to maximize the load, but once the obstacle with the GPS system was overcome, the drone can stay in the air depending only on the vehicle’s fuel. On the other hand, we are approaching it from the point of view of indefinite autonomy, but such a system would also allow drones to have less battery (which, in the end, adds weight) and have more carrying capacity. The BIG asterisk. Defense analysts liken it to a “land-based aircraft carrier” in which an armored vehicle on the ground is both the command and power node, monitoring, charging and providing logistical support to the drones in a manner similar to that of a aircraft carrier It is the lifeline of manned fighters. However, the system has a huge problem: it is extremely inefficient. The Xidian team estimates that the efficiency of the microwave ‘cannon’ is between 3 and 5%. It’s… ridiculous, which means that the vast majority of the energy emitted is simply wasted. Why not a laser? It’s the big question. A laser system is more precise and has a longer range, which opens the doors to other types of missions. However, being a beam of light and not directly the energy that we launch, the laser is very sensitive to interference such as fog and dust. Also, think of the laser as a precision rifle and the microwave as a shotgun: any turbulence or bump in the road would affect the beam, but microwave energy has a wider range of action. China is not alone. Chinese analysts point out that it is a promising concept, but also something that is very far from being able to be applied to satisfy an immediate operational need. What it is, is one more step to find that way to get those drones that are appearing to be a very valuable element on the battlefield, as the wars in Ukraine and Iran, unfortunately, are demonstrating. The advance is important because Xidian has time working in the theoretical framework of the technology, but it is now that they have carried out a successful field test. Now, they are not alone, since the American agency DARPA is experimenting with radio frequency and laser to charge drones remotely, and in Germany, Rheinmetall is also developing wireless charging platforms for unmanned ground vehicles, although in this case, the drones are perched on a platform. In Xataka | Sending electricity without cables seemed like a thing of the future. DARPA has done it again, and the test has turned out better than expected

The latest MacBook Air drops in price, the perfect eReader for reading on the subway is on sale, sales on consoles and more. Hunting Bargains

by

There is little left to close the month of April and so far we have been seeing very good offers on all types of devices, especially on Nintendo Switch 2 and some Apple phones and computers. Do you want to know what the best deals are right now? These are the ones we have been finding throughout the week and that are still available. MacBook Air M5 by 1,099 eurosthe latest Air laptop launched by Apple with a good storage configuration. nintendo switch 2 by 469 eurosa pack that includes ‘Pokémon Pokopia’ and a keychain. Kobo Clara BW by 129 eurosthe ideal e-book reader for reading away from home due to its quality and size. Poco X8 Pro 5G by 263.97 eurosan economical mobile phone with a very large battery. Atari 7800+ by 66.90 eurosa retro console that is compatible with the original cartridges. Nintendo Switch 2 + Pokémon Pokopia + keychain The price could vary. We earn commission from these links MacBook Air M5 If this week there is a notable offer in the Apple brand, it is the one from the MacBook Air M5 because its price has dropped to 1,099 euros. This is the configuration of 512GB storagecomes with the M5 chip to ensure good power and excellent performance and is perfect if you want it to study or even work, whether at home or away thanks to its 13.6-inch diagonal, its thickness or its weight of 1.23 kg. MacBook Air M5 (512GB) – 13.6 inches The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 MediaMarkt has launched what is one of the best promotions of the nintendo switch 2. By 469 euroswhich is what the console costs by itself, you get it as a gift ‘Pokémon Pokopia‘ (physical edition, game key card) along with a keychain of… yes, ‘Mario Kart World’. It is the same keychain from the previous pack that included said video game. The offer will be available until April 28 unless units are sold out before. Nintendo Switch 2 + Pokémon Pokopia + keychain The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kobo Clara BW Several stores, including MediaMarkt, have lowered the price of Kobo Clara BW until the 129 euros. It is one of the eReaders with the best quality-price ratio on the market and is ideal if what you are looking for is to read at home and away from home. Because? Comes with a screen E Ink Letter 1300 six inches, so it maintains the good quality of this type of screen and a compact format so that it is comfortable to carry. Its performance is very good and it is waterproof, so you can use it next to a pool in summer. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Poco X8 Pro 5G Do you want to renew your mobile? Well, be careful because AliExpress has 263.97 euros he Poco X8 Pro 5G. He is the younger brother of his generation who stands out among other things for his great 6,500 mAh battery with 100W fast charging, so it will give you a good autonomy of approximately two days. It also comes with the Dimensity 8500 Ultra processor and HyperOS operating system. Poco X8 Pro 5G (256 GB) – European version The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Atari 7800+ The Atari 7800+ It is a particularly interesting retro console because it is compatible with original cartridges. Its price right now is 66.90 euros and, although it is true that the design has been maintained quite faithfully, it includes certain improvements to have a better experience, such as an HDMI port and options to choose between several resolutions. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Image | Apple, Nintendo, Rakuten Kobo, Xiaomi, Atari In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2026), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best electronic book readers (e-readers) in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and five recommended models

Belgrade’s “liquid trees” are the fascinating biotechnological solution to clean the air in cities

by

Today, the city of Belgrade has a significant problem in terms of air quality, which is already something quite typical of large cities. The situation here, the truth is, is quite critical, with some areas where the limits recommended by the WHO are exceeded by up to 5 times, and to solve it, the idea that we can have in mind is need to plant more treesbut the reality is that there is little space available to plant them, so they have had to choose to install what they have called liquid trees. The solution. Under the name of LIQUID 3this project has been operating since 2021 in front of the Stari Grad City Hall in the Serbian capital, and to the surprise of many it is not shaped like a tree, but is a simple glass tank that is filled with 600 liters of water inhabited by local microalgae. But just because it doesn’t have the shape of a tree doesn’t mean it doesn’t work as such, since it literally uses photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide from the environment and release pure oxygen into the environment, and the truth is that they are very efficient, since a single tank of LIQUID3 is equivalent to the absorption capacity of two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of grass. How is it possible? That a simple tank surpasses an adult tree when it comes to ‘purifying’ the air, the truth is that it seems strange, but biotechnology has achieved something incredible. Specifically, science has seen how microalgae have the ability to capture carbon dioxide and fix it between 10 and 50 times faster than land plants under controlled conditions. In fact, studies indicate that these algae can fix approximately 1.8 grams of CO₂ for every gram of biomass generated, achieving CO₂ removal efficiencies close to 50%. And designed for the city. Being in the center of a city is not easy, and that is why scientists have had to use strains of Serbian freshwater microalgae that grow with simple tap water and withstand extreme temperature fluctuations. And here the research indicates that these species are ready for the most hostile environments. And another positive point they have is that they hardly require maintenance, since it is limited to the fact that the biomass generated must be extracted every month and a half, and in addition, water and fresh minerals are added. The positive here is also that biomass can be used as a great natural fertilizer. More than a lung. The LIQUID3 is not just a laboratory experiment that has taken to the streets, but has been designed as multifunctional urban furniture, since, in addition to purifying the air, the structure functions as a bench to sit on and even adds solar panels to charge your cell phone or provide night lighting. It is not definitive. Although it seems incredible, the truth is that we must put our feet on the ground in the face of technological enthusiasm. Although right now the figures are very good, there is still a lack of studies that can validate the impact it has in the long term and measure whether they are really giving good results, and above all that they are real. But the most important nuance here is that these systems do not replace traditional trees or forests, which logically must remain where they are and promoting their implementation. In this way, we are left with the fact that this technology has been designed for dense and highly polluted urban areas where traditional planting is logistically impossible. Where the asphalt does not give an inch to the roots, the liquid trees rise like a high-tech green oasis, giving the city’s lungs a break. Images | LIQUID3 In Xataka | Tell me where you live and I’ll tell you how healthy your tap water is: the map of Spain that analyzes each municipality

Vueling and Wizz Air cut ground in El Prat

by

The pulse between Ryanair and Aena due to the increase in airport taxes has made the airline withdraw millions of places in a good part of the regional airports of Spain. This summer too movement is coming In this regard, a maneuver that Ryanair is using to put pressure on the airport operator. This conflict It is going really well for the competition of the Irish airline. The last one was at El Prat airport, Barcelona, ​​where the reduction of seats by Ryanair is leaving room for other airlines to take over. Why is this happening? Ryanair has been engaged in an open battle with Aena for months over the price of the taxes that airlines pay to operate at Spanish airports. As a measure of pressure, Michael O’Leary’s company has been cutting flights and routes at different airports in the country. El Prat is no exception, and just as they count Since Expansión, in the first quarter of 2026 Ryanair transported 5% fewer passengers than in the same period of the previous year, remaining below two million travelers. Its market share fell to 15.9%, almost one and a half points less than in 2025. Who wins with it. The big beneficiaries are Vueling and Wizz Air. The low-cost of the IAG group touched five million passengers between January and March, 3.9% more than a year before, consolidating a market share that already exceeds 40%. On the other hand, Wizz Air increased its traffic by 25.7% to close to 766,000 travelers, taking advantage of both the void left by Ryanair and its own expansion on routes to Central Europe and now also to London. Ambition. In January, Vueling presented a strategic plan that contemplates investments of 5,000 million euros to reach 60 million annual passengers, double its current volume. Half of this growth, according to the company, will be generated precisely in Barcelona. Wizz Air also intends to continue pushing, as it has already announced a 32% increase in its seat offer for this year’s high season in El Prat. The airport. El Prat has been operating at the limit of its capacity for years. Just like they count According to El Economista, in 2025 it exceeded its theoretical ceiling of 55 million by more than two million passengers. Lluís Sala, vice president of the College of Aeronautical Engineers in Catalonia, explained that “it is normal for the map to not be modified when the infrastructure is at maximum capacity.” With such a congested airport, any step back by one airline is an immediate opportunity for the rest. There are agreed expansion works (3,000 million euros agreed in June 2025 between the Generalitat, the Government and Aena), but for the moment growth is achieved by squeezing the time slots with less demand. And now what. The question is whether Ryanair’s withdrawal is temporary or if it will go further. For now, the dispute with Aena has no signs of being resolved soon. Meanwhile, El Prat as a whole continues to grow, with 4% more traffic in the first quarter, and is heading for a new annual record. In Xataka | The airlines had been warning for weeks and the consequences are already here: Volotea will charge 14 euros more for the Hormuz crisis

Ukraine has turned Russia into a fearsome air force

by

In 1991, during the Gulf War, the United States discovered something uncomfortable: despite its total air superiority, it could not prevent Iraq from continuing to launch scud missiles from mobile platforms that appeared and disappeared in the desert. That frustration left a clear lesson For military strategists: in modern warfare, it is not enough to dominate the air, you must constantly adapt to an enemy that also learns. From questioned strength to real threat. During the first stages of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian aviation was perceived like a disappointment unable to achieve air superiority, which led many Western analysts to perhaps hastily underestimate it. However, with the passage of time, that vision has started to change disturbingly, especially in Europe, where aviation security experts have focused on something that is no longer an intuition: that the conflict has not weakened Russia, but rather the has forced to learn. Accumulated experience, system improvements and tactical adaptation have transformed a force that seemed limited into a much more dangerous and credible actor than it was before 2022. War as a laboratory. They remembered on Insider that, far from collapsing, Russian aviation has used Ukraine as a real training environment where pilots and crews have gained experience in high-intensity combat. Although it has lost aircraft, it has retained a large part of its qualified personnel and has compensated for those losses with sustained production of new aircraft, which has allowed it to maintain and even expand its fleet. This process has corrected one of its greatest historical weaknesses, the lack of flight hours, turning its pilots into more prepared fighters for complex scenarios. More reach, less risk. One of the most significant changes has been the evolution of his attack capacitywhich now increasingly relies on long-range weapons and systems that allow you to hit without directly exposing yourself. We are talking about advanced missiles, gliding bombs and remote attacks that have reduced the need to penetrate defended airspace, greatly complicating the enemy response. This way of fighting has not only proven to be effective in Ukraine, but also poses a worrying scenario. for future conflictswhere control of the air no longer depends solely on physically dominating it. Constant pressure from the air. They counted on ukrainian media that, in parallel, Russia has intensified its air campaign with massive and increasingly sophisticated use of drones and missiles, launching thousands of devices and perfecting saturation tactics to overwhelm defenses. Coordinated attacks, changes in flight patterns and the combination of different types of weapons have made it possible to maintain continuous pressure on infrastructure and the civilian population, generating not only material but also psychological wear. This strategy turns air into space permanent threatwhere the defense can never relax. A more complex threat. If you will, the result is a Russian air force that, although it still has structural limitations and does not match NATO in a direct confrontation, has become much scariest and most difficult to counteract. The combination of strengthened air defense, better coordination between systems and a more adaptive doctrine presents a scenario for its enemies in which achieving air superiority will be much more expensive and risky. In other words, a paradox has developed and is beginning to take hold, one where Ukraine has not only resisted Russian aviation, but, by forcing it to evolve, has contributed to turning it into a more sophisticated and persistent threat to the European military balance. Image | Alan Wilsonparfaits In Xataka | If fog was deadly in Ukraine’s winter, spring is offering Russia a key advantage: greenery In Xataka | Ukraine is close to what no one has achieved in a war: shooting down missiles for less than a million dollars

If you are going to install air conditioning, remember what happened to South Korea. It was the architectural disaster of the millennium

by

In the 1990s, some of Asia’s densest cities reached concentrate millions of people in urban areas built in just a few decades. In that same period, several studies began to warn that a significant part of the buildings erected during the great economic booms had serious structural deficiencies. In fact, in some inspections after major accidents, it was estimated that only a minority of buildings fully complied security standards. When you grow faster than you can build. In a few decades, South Korea went from the devastation of war to becoming an industrial and urban powerwith a speed of growth that was hardly unprecedented. Furthermore, during the economic boom in the 1980s, the country was chosen to host the 1988 Olympic Games, and an exorbitant number of buildings were built to meet these new needs. That impulse translated into a construction fever where building architectures mattered more than doing them well, and where practices such as cutting costs, accelerating deadlines or ignoring technical warnings became common. In that scenario was born Sampoong Department Storenot as a project exceptionally flawed from the beginning, but as a typical product of an era when progress was measured in square meters and not in safety standards. Air conditioning as a wick. The key point of the tragedy that was about to take place and that ended up turning the department store into the millennium architectural disasterit was not a single error, but a chain of decisions that ended up concentrating all the fragility of the building in an apparently secondary detail: the air conditioning system. As? Apparently, the equipment installed on the roof They weighed tens of tonsfar above what the structure could support, and their accelerated installation did not even follow normal procedures, as they were dragged on the roof, damaging the structure itself. From that moment on, a terrifying image: every vibration when you turn them on widened invisible cracks that toured the building. What should have been an element of comfort became a lethal burden that ended up acting as the final trigger for the collapse, concentrating years of accumulated negligence in a single point. The department store before the disaster Condemned from the plans. The disaster began long before anyone heard creaking in the ceiling. The original project It was a residential block four floors, but was transformed by Lee Joon, future director of the Sampoong Group, to turn it into a large shopping center without properly redesigning the structure. Plus: Due to bans in Seoul that prevented foreign companies from signing contracts in the city, these monstrous buildings were awarded to a handful of South Korean companies. Overwhelmed by pressure, companies decided that it was best to accelerate the pace of work, regardless of the cost. Thus, the diameter of the pillars was reduced from 80 to 60 centimetersand the distance between them was increased to increase the useful surface, columns removed to install escalators, its thickness was reduced to gain commercial space and a fifth floor was added that was never planned. Each modification increased the weight and weakened the resistancewhile companies that warned of the danger were fired and replaced by more accommodating ones. The result was a chaotic building that, on paper, no longer had a safety margin even before opening its doors. Cracks getting bigger. In the months before the collapse, the building gave multiple warnings that something was wrong. Visible cracks appeared, floors vibrated, employees felt dizzy, and engineers warned of a imminent structural failure. The management’s reaction was to close some areas, turn off the air conditioning at the last minute and continue operating normally in the rest of the building. The reason was so simple as devastating: Losing a day of sales in a complex that received thousands of people was unacceptable. Even on the day of the collapse, with cracks of several centimeters and obvious signs of danger, it was decided do not evacuate customers. Images after the collapse The collapse. On the afternoon of June 29, 1995, the building did not explode nor was it the victim of an external attack: he just gave in to the crazy number of negligence. The air conditioning equipment ended up passing through the weakened roof, the columns could not support the accumulated load and the building collapsed. collapsed in a matter of 20 secondscrushing entire plants on top of each other. More than 500 people died and more than a thousand were trapped, many of them in a space that, just a few hours before, symbolized the country’s economic success. It was a destruction so rapid that it turned a shopping center full of life into a mountain of rubble in less than half a minute. Images after the collapse An avoidable tragedy. Rescue efforts continued for weeks, with survivors found even more than two weeks later under the remains of the building. But the magnitude of the disaster revealed an even more disturbing reality: many victims did not die only from the collapse, but due to subsequent failures in emergency management. Meanwhile, investigations confirmed the most obvious: there was not a single cause, but one after another.accumulation of avoidable errorsfrom the use of low-quality materials to business decisions that prioritized immediate profit over any safety criteria. Monument in memory of the collapse Corruption, punishment and a system in question. The collapse not only destroyed a building, but exposed an entire system. Those responsible, starting with owner Lee Joon, were convicted, including several officials involved in corrupt practices, but the impact was much broader. Subsequent inspections revealed that a significant portion of Seoul’s buildings had very serious structural problemswhich forced us to review regulations and reinforce controls. The Sampoong ceased to be an isolated case and became in a symbol of what happens when a society builds too quickly and too badly. The legacy. Today, where the building stood there is no visible trace of the tragedy, but its lesson remains crystal clear. The disaster was not the result of bad luck … Read more

The US has sent Iran 15 points to end the war. He has also sent a plan B as explosive as it is disconcerting through the air

by

In the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union held open negotiations while, at the same time, deploying thousands of troops and nuclear weapons in key points of the planet. In reality, that logic of talking and putting pressure at the same time has never disappeared and continues to be one of the most recognizable constants of modern conflicts. The 15 points. First the official route. The United States has sent Iran a 15 point plan to try to end the war, using Pakistan as an intermediary and with the intention of stopping a conflict that already affects energy markets and regional stability. The document addresses key issues like the nuclear programballistic missiles and maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. However, it is not clear whether Iran has even agreed to discuss it or whether Israel endorses the content. Furthermore, much of the plan appears to be based in previous proposals which have already been rejected, which casts serious doubt on their real viability. Diplomacy does not stop war. Although Washington presents the plan as a way out, the reality on the ground is very different. military operations have continued without pause within that campaign named after a Michael Bay movie, Epic Fury. In fact, the United States and Israel have continued attacking infrastructure Iranian military while Iran maintains the launch of missiles and pressure on maritime traffic. The White House itself has made it clear that the negotiations they do not replace to military objectives. In other words, the situation generates a scenario in which diplomacy advances in parallel with an escalation that does not stop. F 35c The ground deployment. At the same time that there is talk of agreements, the United States continues sending and increasing its military presence in the region. There are already nearly 7,000 new troops sent in a few days, including units of the 82nd Airborne Division and marines prepared for rapid operations. So that? In theory, these forces can act in specific scenarios such as the capture of strategic points or the reopening of maritime routes in Hormuz. There is no doubt, its deployment does not respond to a withdrawal, but to the expansion of military options available if the negotiation fails. Advanced capabilities by air. The reinforcement is not limited to ground troops. New fighter planes have also appeared like the F-35Cunits that are being deployed to the area of ​​operations, adding to an already very large air force. These systems provide precision strike, close support and air superiority capabilities. Not only that. Movements of other assets such as airplanes have also been detected special operations and deception systems against anti-aircraft defenses. In short, everything points to preparation for more complex scenarios that a simple containment. If the 15-point plan does not work, plan B is ready to act. The strange B2s of plan B. In this context, the B-2 bomberswhich are operating from US territory and have appeared with some visible modifications on its wings that have not been explained by military sources. They counted the TWZ analysts that these changes could be related to sensors, electronic warfare or improvements in its survivability, but there is no official confirmation. Your role, as almost alwaysseems key for Washington because they are the only ones capable of attacking highly protected targets long distance. Its presence, along with these modifications, reinforces the idea that the United States is preparing specific capabilities for more demanding phases of the conflict. A plan that does not resemble a negotiation. The combination of all these movements paints a fairly clear scenario. While presenting a peace proposal publicly, a military architecture is deployed at the same time increasingly widerwith units like those B2 with additions that had rarely been seen in other conflicts. A troop contingentfighters, strategic bombers and naval reinforcements accumulating in the region, suggesting that Washington is not betting solely on a negotiated solution. Rather, an alternative is being prepared in which military pressure increases if talks do not progress. A disconcerting war. In recent months we have seen scenes of soldiers controlling machine guns mounted on drones with devices like a Steam Deckremote operations that seemed to mark the definitive course of modern warfare. It has been spoken artificial intelligenceof drone swarms and remote combat as the new standard. However, in parallel, the United States is preparing to send thousands of paratroopers (around 3,000), a capability designed in the 20th century to take key positions quickly. The image is difficult to fit because of its anachronism. While one part of the conflict aims at total automation, another recovers classic forms of massive troop deployment. This coexistence is not an anomaly, it is the sign that the current war does not replace what came before, or not at all, but rather accumulates it. Two open roads. The result of all this is a strategy that advances in parallel. On the one hand, an attempt to reach an agreement with multiple conditions extremely difficult for Iran to accept. On the other hand, a deployment which allows the war to be rapidly escalated if necessary. The key at this time and in the coming days will be whether one of these paths prevails over the other. Because, for now, the United States has sent two diametrically different messages at the same time, and both they are still active. Image | USAF, US Army In Xataka | Drones and ballistic missiles have revolutionized warfare. Iran suspects there is another weapon: rain theft In Xataka | There are four days left for the US to make a momentous decision: whether it wants to turn Iran into its own Ukraine

A polar air mass will descend over Spain just before Easter. AEMET is already talking about polar cold and significant snowfall

by

The key day will be Wednesday the 26th. It will be then when, at the gates of Holy Week, a mass of polar air will enter the national territory leaving cold and snow during the last week of march. And yes, that’s what matters to us right now; but the general context is much more complicated. But let’s talk about the cold. Starting on Wednesday, an undulation of the polar jet will push the anticyclonic ridge towards the north of the Atlantic and a very deep polar trough will descend over Europe. This will generate several storms. In Spain, the models they don’t agree. While the European model is committed to a colder and more intense scenario; The American believes that the irruption will be limited to the north, the east and the Balearic Islands. Be that as it may, we are talking about an isotherm of -4 degrees in the heart of the peninsula, more than significant snowfall in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees and the Iberian system (at least in the north). This is just what we hope for. And skepticism is more than justified: the 2025-2026 storm season has broken all records totaling (to date) 19 named systems. Furthermore, this winter has been the third wettest of the 21st century and January was the wettest month since records began. The uncertainty is, understandably and unjustifiably, greater than normal. We must not forget that “Holy Week” is synonymous with millions of trips, thousands of outdoor activities throughout the country and hundreds of sectors that critically depend on it. But it’s not a surprise either. According to AEMET climate dataBetween the end of March and the beginning of April, it rains some day in 70-80% of recorded years. That is to say, the distinctive thing this year will not be the rain, but the cold. The good news. If we pay attention to the medium-term models, everything seems to indicate that the anticyclone It will recover ground around April 1 or 2. That is, we can expect the weather to be more stable in the second half of Holy Week. Of course, the uncertainties are great and, as the old saying goes, “you should not sell the bear’s skin before hunting it.” Interesting days are coming. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | The snowiest ski resort in Europe right now is not in the Alps or the Pyrenees: it is in Granada

Google is going to build a mega data center in a state where the drought is atrocious. Your cooling plan: use air

by

The American state of Texas has been dealing with heat wavesdroughts and a increasing pressure on its aquiferswhich makes it on paper one of the worst places to set up a data center. Well, Wilbarger County in Texas is just the place chosen by Google to set up your next data center. But big tech hides an ace up its sleeve: it is not going to use water for cooling, but air. Context. Briefly, a data center is an industrial facility full of servers where information transmitted over the internet, such as AI responses or your Google photos, is stored and processed. And if your personal computer requires cooling when it has been working with a certain intensity for some time to dissipate heat, more of the same with servers, which operate 24/7. The usual thing in these plants is to use thermal dissipation systems with water, either with chillers, evaporation or direct cooling with immersion, thermally efficient solutions, but problematic if water is scarce. The problem? That Texas is an oven that is not for buns: its drought is pressing. But Texas is not a foreign place for Google: it has been in that state for more than 15 years, where it has operational centers in Midlothian and Red Oak and already plans to build two more campuses in Armstrong and Haskell Counties. It’s very serious. The project. The Wilbarger County data center will reduce water use so much that it will restrict its application to basic campus uses such as kitchens and services. As? Google has not provided details of the technology, only that it will be advanced air cooling. Cooling with air in such a hot scenario implies greater energy consumption, so the problem now becomes electricity. What Google proposes is a “Power first” model. In short: the data center goes hand in hand with its own renewable electricity generation plant. Google’s energy partner for this project is AESone of the largest producers of renewables in the US, with whom it has a 20-year energy purchase agreement at an agreed price. This is how both win: AES has stability to build the plants and Google has the guaranteed supply and price. Furthermore, according to Google, they already have the land and the interconnection signed, which saves bureaucracy and launches the project into the construction phase. Why is it important. Because according to EESI estimatesa medium-sized data center can consume 416 million liters per year for thermal dissipation alone, the equivalent of a thousand homes. And if there is a shortage of water, allocating it to meet the needs of a data center is hardly justifiable. Wilbarger’s project solves this with air cooling, removing the precious commodity of water from the equation, but also from the electrical grid itself: Google cooks it and Google eats it (with the help of AES). Given that the demand for computing continues to grow, a model that does not consume water or overload the network emerges as a solution to a resource management problem. In figures. For Google, Wilbarger County is not a pilot plant and its size demonstrates this: 0 liters of water for cooling. The project will provide 7,800 MW of power to the Texas grid. The agreement between the technology and energy companies is for 20 years. Google advertisement an investment item of 40 billion dollars for Texas in November 2025 and has provided a $30 million fund to boost energy initiatives in Texas from 2026 to 2028. It won’t be easy. Although Google has been cryptic when it comes to reporting what the technology, its capacity and needs will be, the reality is that when cooling with air in a hot climate, the pressure is transferred to the electrical grid. On the other hand, and although this specific project points the direction of a possible solution to this problem, we will have to see if and how it can be scaled, because there are more and more data centers and the climate is increasingly more extreme. In Xataka | Google doesn’t have rockets, but it is going to install data centers in space. SpaceX and Blue Origin rub their hands In Xataka | Data centers in space are the finger, Google’s purchase of an electrical company is the Moon Cover | Google Data Centers and Ganapathy Kumar

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.