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Latin America has to take El Niño seriously and it has to do it now

July 16, 2026 by usatoday24

Seven months ago, El Niño was a distant, diffuse threat: it did not exist. It existed as a forecast, as a possibility, as a reminder of a phenomenon that has been coming and going for 10,000 years. But, of course, that was December 2025. Now El Niño is not only here. According to NOAA, 81% is one of the largest since 1950. If the world has a problem, Latin America has it raised to the nth degree. But you’re getting ready, right? For example, and this is a great example, the Panama Canal Authority began to ‘save water’ in the Gatún Reservoir weeks ago. It’s not an occurrence. Historically, El Niño drastically reduces rainfall in the Panama area and this usually causes a severe deficit of fresh water in the swamps that feed the lock system of the interoceanic waterway. Without that water, the canal becomes inoperative. In other words, that water is crucial And that’s why I say that the Canal is a good example. Because it is not that Latin America is not preparing: it is that the calculations are not working out. But… let’s start at the beginning. On July 9, NOAA upped the ante and announced that its models gave a 81% of possibilities that El Niño will be “very strong” already between October and December. That would place it among the largest since 1950. In addition, he believes that there is a 97% chance that it will last until the spring of 2027. But surely none of these are the most worrying sign. Above all, if we look at the coast of Peru and Ecuador. The anomaly off this coast is 2.2 degrees above that of the western Pacific. This is reminiscent of 1982-83 and 1997-98 (the worst recent ENSOs) and not 2015-16. And, as it could not be otherwise, the authorities know it. Nobody is sitting idly by. Peru has in alert Since March, the Red Cross had been preparing since AprilEcuador presented his plan on July 1st. However, it is not enough. The director general of IICA, Muhammad Ibrahim, published these days a grandstand calling for a “proactive regional strategy” in the face of an episode that is increasingly clear will be historic. And it does so because the level of preparation seems clearly insufficient. And, be careful, it is not a reproach. It is more of a symptom. Even when we prepare we are late: the consequences (added to a fertilizer crisis that does not end) are going to be very serious. Above all, because not even the strongest events produce the typical impact everywhere: they only indicate probabilities and we do not have a system capable of preparing for all scenarios. But we should have it. Image | In Xataka | The key El Niño zone is now recording the highest temperature ever measured: another worrying fact that adds to a historic ENSO

Apple is knocking on Chinese doors looking for RAM. According to the Bank of America, it is pure theater

July 6, 2026 by usatoday24

Apple is in the same adventure as the rest of the companies that sell consumer technology: the adventure of getting RAM memory. Although during the beginning of the RAM and storage crisis it seemed that Apple was the only one that could endure the blows, reality ended up hittingdemonstrating that if they had not raised prices it was because they had plenty of stock in advance. When that stock disappeared, we saw reality: model withdrawals, price increases and, more recently, new price increases with a whopping 20% more on iPad and Mac. The problem for those from Cupertino is that the key moment of the year is approaching: the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and the rumored foldable iPhone, and there the price is going to be crucial. That’s why they find themselves looking for RAM and storage even under the rocks, with China being the market in which they have put the magnifying glass to see if memory from manufacturers like CXMT can fit your products. But of course, there is a problem: the United States and, above all, the Bank of America, which says that All this about Apple looking for RAM in China is a little theater. Teatrillo to get better prices A few days ago we said that Apple was knocking on doors. If Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron don’t open because they are so busy neglecting the consumer segment in favor of AI, then we have to ring new bells. With the cushion on the latest and new key products on the starting grid, Apple’s escape route seems to have a name: CXMT. ChangXin Memory Technologies is a Chinese DRAM manufacturer founded in 2016 that, since then, has been polishing its product lines, making significant advances to catch up with its large South Korean competitors in different DRAM models and technologies. That said, it is estimated that Apple is striving to bring positions closer together with CXMT to ensure supply, but this has caused Bank of America to raise an eyebrow. And even worse: CXMT is on a certain list of the US Department of Commerce. In a recent report, Bank of America analyzes the market situation, exposing that there are misconceptions about the memory chip sector and stopping, curiously, at Apple’s intention to approach the Chinese manufacturer. The bank sees positive the continuous and massive spending of Big Tech to make data centers, but when it comes to buying memory from China, they are not so positive. According to the bank, Apple’s recent efforts are just a movement, a little theater, to gain bargaining power against the usual suppliers. This makes sense. Apple is no longer Nvidia, but it is still a very big fish in the consumer sector and buys a huge amount of components from different manufacturers. If Apple reached an agreement with CXMT, it would have an impact on the accounts of suppliers such as Samsung or SK Hynix. Because in the end, that’s what this is all about: that the big fish has much more decision-making and negotiating power than the small one. When Valve wants to do its Steam Machine, You should accept what they offer you. at the price they offer it and without question, but Apple is, in the field of hardware, much more important than Valve and would have some negotiating power. For Bank of America, it’s all about that strategy because they believe that the memory that the Chinese can create is, currently, valid only for more modest deviceslike a hypothetical iPhone 18e, not for the top of the range like the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPads with M processors or, above all, the Macs. And more important than the institution’s analysis is the fact that CXMT appears on the Pentagon’s blacklist of Chinese Military Companies. According to the Financial Times, Apple has been pressing to the Government to being able to buy memory from CXMT without consequencesbut if tomorrow, for whatever reason, the Chinese company enters the other Pentagon blacklist (in which American companies are prohibited from trading), Apple would be in serious trouble. In the end, no matter what happens, what is certain is that we, the users, will be the ones we end up paying the consequences. And products like the aforementioned Steam Machine, but also what is projected PS6low-end mobile phones, Raspberry Pi, nintendo switch 2 either the new xbox They are examples of what we can expect: prices -very- rising. Image | Laurenz Heymann (edited) In Xataka | In 2007, Steve Jobs went on stage with an iPhone that barely worked: he was saved by a script that did not allow even a detour

Brazil’s secret to becoming the first nation in Latin America with its own supersonic fighter is a number: 40

June 9, 2026 by usatoday24

In 1909, Canada celebrated the first powered flight of the history of the British Empire. The curious thing is that that plane, the silver dartwas considered Canadian, but had been designed by an international team, built largely in the United States, and then assembled in Nova Scotia. More than a century later, the aeronautical industry continues to operate in a very similar way. The “Brazilian” fighter. When Brazil presented the first Gripen assembled in Latin Americathe focus was on the historic milestone of becoming the first country in the region capable of assembling a modern supersonic fighter. However, the really interesting news appears when you look at what is behind that achievement. The secret is not that Brazil has created its own aircraft from scratch comparable to the large European or American programs, but in something much more complex and valuable: its capacity to progressively integrate in an international industrial chain and absorb technology until increasing national participation in the program is achieved. In other words, the real leap is not in building the entire plane, but in learning to build a significant part of it. The myth of the national fighter. Modern fighter jets are probably some of the most globalized industrial products on the planet. Although the Gripen It is presented as a Swedish plane, the reality is much more complex. The radar Raven ES-05 It is manufactured in the United Kingdom, F414 engine It comes from the United States, numerous electronic components arrive from different countries and part of the intellectual property belongs to foreign companies. In fact, different studies put the British and American share at such high percentages that, depending on how the calculations are made, Sweden alone represents only a part of the set. The Gripen is Swedish in terms of industrial leadership and design, but its manufacturing is deeply multinational. The magic number: 40. Within this international framework appears the data that explains the Brazilian strategy. Sources linked to the program indicate that the objective is for Brazilian national content to reach approximately 40% in the final deliveries of aircraft destined for the Brazilian Air Force. The figure should be interpreted with caution because there is no universal methodology to calculate these percentages and the analysts themselves warn which cannot be directly compared with the industrial quotas claimed by the United Kingdom or the United States. Even so, the data reflects something fundamental: Brazil has not limited itself to receiving aircraft assembled from Sweden. Its objective has been progressively increase the participation of Brazilian companies, engineers and technicians in the production process until the country becomes a relevant actor within the program. Embraer and the transfer of knowledge. The centerpiece of this strategy is Embraer. Thanks to agreement signed with SaabBrazilian engineers participated for years in development activities in Sweden and gained experience in areas that go far beyond simple assembly. The program includes systems integration, structure manufacturing, software development and knowledge related to the production of advanced fighters. The result is that the Gavião Peixoto facilities do not function as a mere assembly line where imported parts are assembled, but as a center where transferring industrial experience that did not exist before in Latin America. The strategic value of assembly. At first glance it might seem that assembling an aircraft designed by another country has limited value. However, the history of the aviation industry demonstrates exactly opposite. The ability to integrate complex systems, manage logistics chains, certify components and maintain advanced aircraft constitutes one of the most difficult steps to overcome. Brazil had already shown relevant capabilities with programs like Super Tucano or the KC-390but the Gripen introduces the country to a much more sophisticated technological ecosystem. Each assembled aircraft provides experience that can later be applied to future national or international developments. The Swedish fighter that is not entirely Swedish either. The paradox is that Gripen itself helps understand Brazil’s position. The plane is often presented as a Swedish national product, but the reality is that it depends from an extensive network international suppliers and technologies. The United Kingdom provides fundamental systems, the United States supplies the engine and numerous critical components, while other countries participate in different subsystems. There are even export restrictions stemming from British and American technologies integrated into the aircraft. In a way, Brazil is following the same model that the main aviation powers already use: no one makes just one modern fighter. More important than buying airplanes. The decision made by Brazil in 2014 during the FX-2 contest It is not explained solely by the Gripen’s capabilities compared to its rivals. The main attraction was Saab’s willingness to share technology and allow much deeper industrial participation than that offered by other proposals. That choice is beginning to yield visible results more than a decade later. Therefore, the first assembled Gripen on Brazilian soil symbolizes something more important than the arrival of a new fighter plane: it represents Brazil’s entry into the small group of countries capable of actively participating in the production of advanced supersonic fighters. And although much of the aircraft continues to arrive from Sweden and other international suppliers, the real story is in that 40%because that is where the knowledge that Brazil had been trying to acquire for years is found. Image | Embraer In Xataka | We tend to assume that the Wright brothers invented the airplane in the United States. In Brazil they believe they have evidence to the contrary In Xataka | A Brazilian has shown that having Internet in mid-flight is possible with Starlink. It has also shown that it is a real danger

be the first in Latin America to have its own supersonic combat aircraft

June 5, 2026 by usatoday24

In 1969, Brazil made a decision that many considered excessive for a developing country: create a state company called Embraer to manufacture their own aircraft. More than half a century later, that bet has given rise to third largest manufacturer aerospace industry in the world, only behind Boeing and Airbus, and already one of the most advanced aerospace industries outside of the traditional great powers. A milestone beyond defense. Brazil has celebrated the output of the production line first supersonic fighter assembled in its territory, an event that far transcends the military sphere. What is truly relevant is not only the arrival of a new aircraft to the ranks of the Brazilian Air Force, but the fact that a Latin American country has reached an industrial level which for decades seemed reserved for a very small group of powers. In a region accustomed to importing advanced combat systems, Brazil has managed to join to an extremely exclusive club in which the ability to manufacture supersonic aircraft is as important as ownership of the aircraft themselves. The road to the Brazilian Gripen. The Gripen program began with contract signed in 2014 between Brazil and the Swedish Saab for the acquisition of 36 aircraft, but from the beginning the objective went far beyond purchasing airplanes. The agreement included technology transfer, training of engineers and direct participation of Embraer in the manufacturing and assembly of the devices. A decade later, the result is visible in Gavião Peixoto, where the first Gripen E has left the factory built on Brazilian soil. Although the design remains Swedish, the process has allowed the development of industrial capabilities that did not previously exist in the country and that would hardly have been acquired through a simple purchase of foreign material. Enter the most difficult club in aeronautics. Building a commercial airplane is a complex task. Building a modern fighter aircraft is one of the industrial activities more demanding of the planet. In fact, only one small group of countries has the ability to design and manufacture supersonic fighters from scratch, including the United States, France, Russia, China and Sweden. Brazil is not yet part of that circle of independent designers, but it has achieved something that no other Latin American country had achieved: locally produce a fighter front-line capable of operating in the most advanced scenarios of modern aerial warfare. That difference may seem subtle on paper, but it represents a gigantic leap for the region’s technology industry. Much more than a plane. The Gripen also represents a bet for technological sovereignty. The ability to assemble, maintain and modernize devices within the country reduces external dependencies and strengthens the operational autonomy of the Brazilian armed forces. At the same time, the project has promoted the creation of specialized knowledgenew supply chains and an industrial base capable of participating in increasingly sophisticated aerospace programs. The same impulse is behind other Brazilian strategic projects, such as the transport plane KC-390 or naval programs developed with foreign technology but growing national participation. Aerospace power. The true meaning of this program It is not measured solely in the number of aircraft or military capabilities. It is measured in the position that Brazil is beginning to occupy within the global industrial map. While much of Latin America remains dependent on the export of raw materials or the import of advanced technology, Brazil is building an industry capable of participating in some of the most complex and profitable sectors in the world. The departure of first assembled Gripen in Brazilian territory symbolizes precisely that: the moment in which the country stops being only a buyer of defense technology to become one of its producers. There is no doubt, it may never arouse the same passion as a football World Cup, but for the industrial history of the region it will probably be an even more exceptional achievement. Image | Embraer In Xataka | We tend to assume that the Wright brothers invented the airplane in the United States. In Brazil they believe they have evidence to the contrary In Xataka | A Brazilian has shown that having Internet in mid-flight is possible with Starlink. It has also shown that it is a real danger

When King Charles III commissioned a map of South America and then banned it because it was too accurate

May 17, 2026 by usatoday24

TO Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla professional zeal played tricks on him. When in 1764 took charge of Charles III To create a map of South America, the good geographer put so much effort, so much into the project and so precise was it. the end result That upon seeing it the king was frightened. His map was a true cartographic gem, but it ended up condemned by the Bourbon. By express order of the count of Floridablanca The few copies of the map disappeared, as if they had never existed: the Government suspended the printing of the map and collected all the copies it could to keep them under lock and key. The reason: good work in bad times. The order of orders. At 30 years old, the cartographer and geographer Juan de la Cruz Cano received between 1764 and 1765 an assignment that would make any of his colleagues salivate with excitement. He Marquis of GrimaldiMinister of State, entrusted him with the ambitious task of drawing a large map of South America. The result had to be precise and capture the territories of the Spanish Crown, well positioned and in relation to the possessions controlled by Portugal. As if the mission were not challenging in itself, the minister was acting by order of the monarch Charles III himself. “Geographic map of South America” by Juan de la Cruz Cano. A long decade of work. The assignment was difficult and required Juan de la Cruz Cano to make a considerable investment of effort and time. More than ten years he dedicated to the mission, according to details the National Library of Spain (BNE), which assures that to shape the map the geographer carried out meticulous data collection work, consulted testimonies from explorers and colonizers, dedicated himself to verifying sources and of course made “a magnificent cartographic layout.” After many headaches and relying on the studies of Jorge Juan and Antonio de UlloaJuan finished the work in the 1770s. The map was first stamped at end of 75. “One of the most important”. He in quotes It is again from the BNE, which insists that Juan de la Cruz Cano’s map is one of the most important of South America that was printed in 18th century Europe and even served as the basis for many other plans that were published later. So accurate was it that its initial reception was good. And it is logical that this was the case: the map was made up of eight enormous plates, measuring 2.6 meters high by 1.85 m wide and presented a scale of 1:4,000,000. If you examined it carefully, you could also see annotations, abundant toponymy and a detailed representation of the hydrographic and road network, as well as drawings that completed it as artistic work: allegories of America and Europe, the symbol of the order of Charles III, shields and even the illustration of a column profusely decorated with the bust of Columbus. The older he incorporated calculations for the drawing of demarcation lines between the Portuguese and Spanish domains according to the Treaty of Tordesillas. Portrait of Charles III. Good, dangerously good. The initial satisfaction generated by the map soon turned into a very different and much less uplifting sensation: fear, worry. 1775 was not a good time to show a map of South America as exact as the one Juan de la Cruz had made. Spain was in full negotiations with Portugal to reach a new treaty on the delimitation of its possessions in America, an effort that would lead to the Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1777, and that map of South America did not exactly benefit the Spanish position. “The data on the map favored Portugal’s aspirations. For this reason, the Government ordered to suspend printing and collect the distributed copies,” reports the BNE in the file dedicated to the plan, known as Geographic map of South America. “Wrong limits”. The history of the map was short-lived. After three editions and given the discomfort that that fortunate map generated for the Crown, in 1789 the Count of Floridablanca ordered that all copies be made to disappear. The effort did not go badly. The Country precise that today only a handful of copies are preserved, distributed by the National Library, the Royal Academy of History and private and public collections. “151 maps and the copper plates were kept in the Royal Calcography, with the prohibition that no copy be sold because the limits between the Spanish and Portuguese domains were erroneous,” the Cerralbo Museum specifies. That was the official version, of course. The reality was quite different: the Government feared that the precision of the work would harm the position that Spain had defended before Lisbon after the first Treaty of San Ildefonso. “The map implied a recognition of Portugal’s territorial usurpations,” slide the museum. A bittersweet ending. That of Juan de la Cruz Cano’s map is a peculiar story. Its finish too and leaves a bittersweet taste. The enormous cartographic work that he developed over the years would end up receiving recognition inside and outside of Spain and today it is claimed as a historical gem and one of the maps most important that were printed in Europe in the 18th century, but all that praise was of little use to those who had dedicated themselves to the project, including Juan de la Cruz Cano himself, who died in 1790, a year after Floridablanca ordered any sample of the map to be swept away, as if it had never existed. Auctions. “The engraver, who had invested his entire fortune in this work, was compensated, but died bankrupt and discredited as a cartographer,” reminds the Ministry of Culture. However, not all the zeal of the Spanish Crown could prevent some copies of that work from ending up traveling through Europe and even reached Thomas Jeffersonfuture president of the United States and at that time American ambassador in Paris. Despite Floridablanca’s efforts to prevent it, … Read more

Mexico touches the sky with a new and elegant skyscraper of 484 meters and 99 floors. It will be the highest in all of Latin America

April 26, 2026 by usatoday24

For decades, it seemed that “the sky is the limit” applied to architecture was a maxim that only Asia and the Middle East reached. In fact, in recent times the world has witnessed a frantic race to see who has the biggest (skyscraper) between Dubai and Saudi Arabia. But there are some notable exceptions like the one that is about to premiere in Monterrey: the Tower Risea skyscraper that will not only be the tallest in the Central American country, but will also lead the skies of all of Latin America. If we open the range to the entire continent, it is only overshadowed by the mythical One World Trade Center in New York. The project. The Rise Tower is a mixed-use skyscraper that is being built in Monterrey (Nuevo León). It will have a height of 484 meters, of which 408 make up 96 residential floors and the remaining 76 make up the architectural spire that crowns the structure. More specifically, it will house residences, offices, a hotel, commerce and leisure facilities in a single structure, as is usual in skyscrapers of these characteristics, thus turning it into a city within a building. It will be located in the Obispado neighborhood, on Constitución Avenue in front of the Santa Catarina River, in one of the densest and most representative urban corridors of the city. The project is in charge by Nest and Ancore Group, has been designed by the Ancore architecture team and Mexican architect Esteban Ramos. Pozas Design Group and Next are responsible for its luxurious interior. Rise Tower layout diagram. Rise Why is it important. The Rise Tower will surpass the Torres Obispadowhich is also in Monterrey and is still the tallest skyscraper in the country. But once completed, it will officially be the tallest building in Latin America, a title that gives Mexico symbolic and technical leadership in the urban and architectural sector. Without going any further, it also moves the Great Santiago Tower in Chile. The building also positions Mexico in the world leagues of vertical architecture, a race dominated by Asia and the Middle East. For Mexico it is also a demonstration that the region can conceive, finance and execute projects at the scale of the world’s large urban centers and at the metropolitan scale, it can function as an engine for the repopulation of the urban center that favors investments in infrastructure. Context. Monterrey has been consolidating itself as the laboratory of vertical urbanism in Mexico for two decades. Without going any further, the construction of the Obispado Towers in 2020 had already surpassed the 300-meter barrier that defines it as “supertall.” The Rise Tower itself has been evolving since its first plans, when he aimed “only” 350 meters. The project is part of the trend of mixed-use supertalls that began to emerge in Asia and the Middle East since the 2000s and is now beginning to materialize in Latin America. Monterrey is in an area with wind and seismic activitywhich adds a layer of technical complexity to any potential design. In figures. Some numerical data of this stratospheric construction: 484 meters high: 408 habitable meters and 76 meters from the spire It will be the 13th tallest skyscraper in the world 35 levels of offices, 22 floors of apartments, 10 levels of luxury hotel 4,300 square meters of green areas and 8,000 square meters of leisure spaces. In detail. The tower has a rectilinear shape with a reinforced structural core and a perimeter framing system designed to withstand lateral loadssomething essential given that Monterrey is in a region where there is seismic activity and a lot of wind. The building envelope consists of a modular aluminum and glass curtain wall system, an aesthetically striking and effective combination for thermal control and management of dynamic wind pressures at high altitude. The concept of the façade is quite reminiscent of the architecture of mid-20th century skyscrapers. Points out The Civil Engineer The initial sketches suggested a more robust metallic aesthetic inspired by the historic Torre Latinoamericana in Mexico City (the grandfather of Mexican skyscrapers, built in 1956), but with the progress of construction, a greater presence of glass has become evident. In terms of sustainability, the project already has LEED Silver, Green Globes, Building EQ and Well certifications from the International Well Building Institute. For when? Construction began in 2023 and by March of this year the Rise Tower exceeded 306 meters and reached the 52nd floor, but there are still 170 meters left. The construction pace is high and in accordance with the governor’s statements from Nuevo León, Samuel García Sepúlveda, the inauguration is projected for the summer of 2026, before the FIFA World Cup. Nevertheless, other specialized sources They suggest that it will be delayed until the end of 2026 or even 2027. In Xataka | If the question is whether a skyscraper can be erased without demolishing it, Paris has the answer: yes, in exchange for a fortune In Xataka | Cancun has a huge bottleneck in its tourist area: Mexico is going to solve it with a megabridge Cover | Chorizowithegg and Rise Tower

Mexico is about to finish one of the longest bridges in Latin America

March 25, 2026 by usatoday24

If you’ve been to Cancun, it’s very likely that you’ve been through the same thing: short trips that take much longer than expected, especially when it’s time cross towards the hotel zone. The city depends largely on a connection that, at peak times or in high season, becomes a bottleneck that is difficult to avoid. That is the problem that Mexican authorities have been trying to alleviate for years. Now, everything indicates that the answer is close to materializing with the Nichupté Vehicular Bridgean infrastructure that seeks to offer a direct alternative and significantly reduce travel times. The answer to this problem is not only a distant promise, but a work that is approaching its final phase. According to the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), the Nichupté Vehicular Bridge is in his last works and the most recent official forecast places its opening towards the end of April. In this final section, the work focuses on verifying that the structure responds as expected, with load tests of up to 150 tons and vibration measurements using accelerographs. A new access to alleviate the Cancun bottleneck To understand the scope of the work, it is advisable to stop at its dimensions, which are not always clearly explained. The infrastructure adds 11.2 kilometers in total: 8.8 km correspond to the bridge over the lagoon and 2.4 km to the junctions at both ends. According to the SICT, this is the key difference between the complete work and the section that directly crosses the Nichupté lagoon system. Added to this are three traffic lanes, one of them reversible, as well as a 103-meter metal arch and a cycle path. Beyond its dimensions, the key is how it is integrated into the real mobility of the city. The new route will connect the Boulevard Luis Donaldo Colosio with the Kukulcan Boulevardtwo essential points to access the hotel zone, one of the main tourist and traffic hubs of Cancun. This connection, those responsible explain, would make it possible to reduce journeys that today can take up to an hour and a half to just about 10 minutes, an estimate that should be understood as the objective of the project. Furthermore, the infrastructure is planned as an alternative route in emergency situations, something especially relevant in an area exposed to natural phenomena. The scope of the work is also measured by who it aims to impact. According to data from the Government of Mexicothe bridge is designed to benefit more than 1.3 million inhabitants of the region, in addition to the more than 20 million tourists who visit Cancun every year. Regarding the expected traffic, the official figures have not been entirely uniform: in November 2025 the SICT spoke of an annual average daily traffic of 12,612 vehicles, while in January 2026 it raised that forecast to 20 thousand. Added to this is its impact during construction, with around 51 thousand direct and indirect jobs generated, according to the secretariat itself. But not everything is reduced to mobility and travel times. The passage of the bridge through the Nichupté lagoon system introduces a delicate variable, that of the impact on a sensitive ecological environment. The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation maintains that the project has been developed under 10 programs and 25 environmental subprograms focused on mitigating this effect. In that framework 306 hectares of mangrove have been restoredrehabilitated 118 hectares of seagrasses and relocated more than 2,100 specimens of fauna, in addition to rescuing native vegetation. Cancun has been living for years with an obvious limitation in its mobility, especially in access to its most touristic area, and that pressure has only grown over time. He Nichupté Vehicular Bridge It is proposed as one of the most ambitious responses to this problem, both due to its scale and the role it aspires to play in the day-to-day life of the city. With the work in its final phase and an opening scheduled for the end of April according to the most recent official communication, it will soon be possible to verify to what extent it meets the expectations that have accompanied the project since its conception. Images | Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation / SICT Quintana Roo Center In Xataka | China has already conquered the cargo ship industry: now it has begun to compete in the mega-cruise ship industry

Mexico is about to finish one of the longest bridges in Latin America

March 25, 2026 by usatoday24

It is the oldest documented evidence of psychedelics in America

March 15, 2026 by usatoday24

Humanity has been using drugs all its life. In fact, some of the oldest evidence dates back to 15,000 BC in Morocco. from Ephedra seeds or the mushrooms that they represented in cave paintings in Algeria in 9,000 BC or the use of hallucinogens derived from the San Pedro cactus in the Andes since at least 8,600 BC. But it is one thing to find remains of the plant and quite another to find chemical proof that our ancestors used drugs. What started in the 70s as a chance find of two pipes made of bones with traces of a hallucinogen has become, after decades of research, the oldest and most sophisticated direct chemical evidence of the use of hallucinogens in all of America. Context. We travel to 2100 BC, to the Preceramic period. The setting is the Puna of Jujuy, a high mountain plateau located in the extreme northwest of the Argentine Republic, which borders Bolivia and Chile. They lived there in caves such as Inca Cueva or Antofagasta de la Sierra groups of hunters and gatherers. The environment was extreme in terms of dryness and salinity, which has helped the organic materials to endure until today. Finally, it is worth mentioning the cebil (Anadenanthera macrocarpa), a leguminous plant whose seeds contain bufotenine, a tryptamine alkaloid with hallucinogenic effects that can be inhaled or smoked with a structure similar to the DMT family. The discovery. In the first site, in Inca Cueva and dated 2130 BC, two tubular bone pipes hidden in a cache without associated human remains. Inside there were remains of charring. Around it, remains of cebil and complete paraphernalia with decorated pumpkins and some bone spatulas to dose the hallucinogen. Their chemical analysis detected an alkaloid, N,N-dimethyltryptamine. At the Huachichocana site and dated 1450 BC, four stone pipes framed within a funeral trousseau of a young man, with other elements such as rattles or turtle shells. Chemical analysis is positive for alkaloids but negative for cebil. Pre-Columbian alkaloid trafficking. Was there cebil at 3,860 meters high? No, and that is one of the most striking things from the paper by Fernández Distel: Someone had taken him there. They sent young people to look for the cebil among tribes in the east of Salta in the summer months, when the fruit ripens. Your subsequent review contextualizes it: It was integrated into a broader transportation system that included other products such as feathers or fruit from the lowlands, hundreds of kilometers away. And the bone pipes did not come from humans, as they first hypothesized, but from pumas. Why is it important. Because Inca Cueva is the oldest record with direct chemical evidence in America for tryptamine hallucinogens, long before the from Chavín de Huántar in Peru. The paraphernalia of this site makes it clear that this was an elaborate ritual protocol, not something improvised or occasional. And the previous point shows the existence of long-distance trade networks, seasonal planning and advanced botanical knowledge. The hallucinogen was a precious commodity. The funerary context of Huachichocana is associated by Fernández Distel with a high mountain ritual, with the consideration of the deceased as a “shaman.” However, Torres reveals that consumption was a practice integrated into society: approximately 20% of men buried in some cemeteries in northern Chile took their hallucinogenic kit to the grave. How they did it. With excavations that took place between 1971 and 1976 with financing from CONICET and the University of Buenos Aires. The chemical analysis of the contents of the pipes was done using thin layer chromatography and in 1979, there was a second phase with gas chromatography. Thus, they detected seven peaks of plant alkaloids in Huachichocana that they could not identify. To date the remains they used Carbon 14. There are still many mysteries. That the Inca Cueva pipes appeared without human remains implies that we do not know who used them or under what circumstances. We also do not know why they used holes for pipes and not other elements. And although we know more or less what they consumed, there are still unknowns such as the recipes for their mixtures. In Xataka | The new era of psychedelia: how some “recreational” drugs want to help us with our mental health In Xataka | The most amazing data on drug consumption in Europe Cover | Christopher Walker and fr0ggy5

the third country in South America with the shortest day

March 6, 2026 by usatoday24

Reduction of working hours to 40 hours per week It is already a reality in Mexicoafter his approval and publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF). Now, the country begins a period of progressive adaptation that will end in 2030 with a 40 hour work day weekly. This milestone places Mexico in an advantageous position with respect to the rest of the continent, being the third country in South America with the shortest working day. This change comes in a context in which the majority of Latin American countries still maintain a 48-hour work week, while only Ecuador and Chile have until now had a 40-hour regulation like the one Mexico now faces. Mexico joins the 40-hour “club”. With the reform, Mexico joins Ecuador, a regional pioneer in reducing the working day since 1997, and Chile, which is already in the process of transitioning from 45 to 40 hours with closure planned for 2028. The International Labor Organization (ILO) points out in its report ‘Reduction of working hours: global evolution and challenges for Latin America‘ that 48-hour work weeks remain the norm in Latin America, although some countries have moved towards shorter limits. The report highlights that reducing working hours can improve health, well-being and productivity, but clarifies that the impact depends on the economic context, the design of the reform and of complementary policies that each country adopts. Other countries with days of less than 48 hours. Beyond the aforementioned examples of Ecuador and Chile, other Latin American countries have already reduced their working hours to below 48 hours, although without reaching the 40 hours of the Mexican project. The Dominican Republic, Brazil, Venezuela, El Salvador and Honduras maintain a 44-hour day, while Colombia established it at 42 hours per week, after a gradual reduction that began in 2023 and concluded this year. In contrast, most of the economies in the region, including Mexico until now, continue with the 48-hour limit, which reflects a certain degree of immobility in the face of international recommendations and the experiences of reducing working hours that have already been carried out. in other countries. How the reduction will be applied in Mexico. Taking the example of other countries that have already followed the path of reducing working hours, in Mexico, the change will be carried out gradually, with the goal of going from 48 to 40 hours weekly without altering the scheme of a single day of rest, something it shares with the recent reforms in Chile and Colombia. The adaptation will be carried out progressively at a rate of two hours per year, so that in January 2027 the working day will become 46 hours per week; In January 2028 it will go to 44 hours and by January 2029 it will be reduced to 42 hours. In January 2030, the cycle ends and the working day will be established at a 40-hour work week. All this without applying a salary reduction. The labor challenges of Latin America. The ILO report highlights that the reduction of working hours in Latin America faces specific challenges, such as high levels of informality in contracting, limited coverage of collective bargaining and a tendency to underground economywhich conditions the scope of the reforms. Furthermore, sectors such as domestic work, moonlighting and gender gaps They require specific regulatory frameworks for their respective labor markets and not a simple copy of the models that have worked in high-income countries. In Xataka | If the question is how to do your job without extending the working day, the answer is simple: avoid “time traps”

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