Asia

We have found a fossilized excrement and now we know that in the driest desert in Asia 4,000 years ago there was a forest

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China has a few deserts, but there is one that stands out for its aridity: in the Tarim basinin northwest China, rain round 20 millimeters a year. Seeing a landscape of dunes and rocks so barren that it seems lunar, it is difficult to think that there were rivers, wetlands and poplar forests there 4,000 years ago. And yet, as a study just showedthere was. The key to everything was in the people who lived there in the Bronze Age. More specifically, in the fossilized excrement of their animals and the remains of charcoal from their bonfires. The discovery. The research team analyzed coprolites of multiple species of animals from Xiaohe culture sites and also charcoal left over from their bonfires. From here they obtained two pieces of information directly: what trees they used as fuel and what their animals ate. Or what is the same: what plants and trees were in the area. What is clear is that of all desert in the Bronze Age, nothing. Why is it important. The research team proposes that this prehistoric community already practiced a sedentary way of life from the early phases of occupation of that area, which includes livestock farming. The resources offered by that wetland (fishing, aquatic plants, grasses) were sufficient to maintain that town in that territory, without the need for agriculture. From an environmental point of view, the study provides first-hand information on what the Tarim landscape was like four thousand years ago, before aridification transformed the region. The Tarim has been characterized due to an extremely dry climate since the beginning of the Pliocene, although during the Holocene it experienced frequent fluctuations between dry and humid periods. This information is essential to model past climate change and thus better predict possible changes in Central Asia. Context. The Xiaohe culture occupied the Tarim Basin between 2050 and 1350 BC. C. and we know her above all for their mummiesfound in the desert during the 20th century with peculiar wool and leather outfits. However, we knew more about how they buried their dead than about their organization, relationship with the environment and their economy. In detail. The analysis revealed that 54% of the identifiable charcoals corresponded to poplars and willows and 18% to tamarisks, all of them flora typical of riverbank forests. These species are fast growing and regenerate easily, suggesting that the community exploited the forest in a more or less sustained manner for centuries. Considering the few remaining poplar trees, the team proposes that the landscape was organized into three zones: the riverine forest, riverside scrub, and beyond, the desert. The remains of feces preserved pollen grains and phytoliths that allowed us to reconstruct both the diet of the livestock and the nature of the landscape: 83% of all that pollen came from the cattail, an aquatic plant that has historically been used as food, fiber, and even as construction material. In the case of sheep poop, the percentage rose to 99%, a figure so high that the team explains that it is probably because the animals ingested the pollen by drinking water laden with it or by breathing the air during flowering. Yes, but. The first limitation to consider is that it is not always possible to know with certainty which animal each excrement comes from and that is not a trivial matter: not knowing how to differentiate between a sheep, a goat or a camel can be a great condition on its use. On the other hand, the large presence of cattail pollen may be misleading: this plant produces large quantities and resists degradation well, so the real landscape could have had more diversity than the data suggests. The question that remains unresolved is whether the Xiaohe people grew food from the beginning or not. Current evidence suggests not, but not finding them doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. In Xataka | Homo sapiens arrived in China 5,000 years earlier than we thought. And that changes what we believed about their culture. In Xataka | We have found tools from 300,000 years ago in China. And they turn what we believed about the paleo diet upside down Cover | Adaptations in ancient oasis woodlands of the hyper-arid Tarim Basin, Northwestern China: charcoal and coprolite analyzes

Drinking tap water in Asia is almost crazy except in a country where it is a source of pride: Singapore

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Whether for work or vacation, I have traveled to Asia on several occasions and one recommendation has always followed me: “always drink bottled water”, even for tasks like brushing your teeth, it is better not to risk it and rinse your mouth with water that you know is safe. The recommendation spreads to most of East and South Asia, with destinations such as Thailand, Vietnam, China and India. However, a little over a week ago I visited Singapore and there was something that fascinated me: it’s not just forgetting to always carry a bottle of water, it’s that there wasn’t even one in the hotel room. Instead, a message recommended drinking tap water because it was of exceptional quality. That a country has quality water is not something miraculous, but Singapore is an anomaly in itself: it rains a lot, but it barely has land, so it lacks large aquifers or large rivers. In fact, for decades it depended on water imported from Malaysia (still doing it). However, they have managed to build one of the most advanced and reliable water treatment systems in the world thanks to the engineering and public policy behind it. The four national taps. In 2001 the public agency Public Utilities Board (PUB) assumed full control of the water cycle with a unified vision: from rainwater to the water that falls down the drain, achieving a snapshot of the whole, available and necessary resources. Singapore’s maxim with water is divide and conquer. Thus, it has four different water sources, the Four National Taps managed by the PUB: water from local basins, water imported from Malaysia, reused water and desalinated water. Taking into account that Singapore has had its ups and downs with Malaysia, the other three taps have been gaining importance. Marina Barrage, Singapore’s 15th reservoir to store water. Bob Tan Why is it important. In Southeast Asia, water pollution from industrial waste, agrochemicals and a heterogeneous and deficient sewage network means that the norm is to use bottled water. We have already seen that Singapore lacks the land to achieve water self-sufficiency and depending on a third party for something as basic and essential as water is a dangerous alternative. In this scenario, NEWater stands as the most strategic tap: self-generated water without depending on rain, the terrain or the neighbors. Although with quite a bit of small print. The local watershed. Through a network of drains, canals and rivers, rainwater is collected and channeled through its 7,000 kilometers of pipes to its 17 reservoirs before treating it for consumption. This collection takes place in two thirds of Singapore’s territory. From here, the water follows a conventional purification system. It is the least innovative route, but it is solid, functional and growing: the construction of the eighteenth reservoir is already planned on the land that Singapore is reclaiming from the sea, Long Island. Water imported from Malaysia. This is the most vulnerable tap and therefore the most susceptible to being eliminated (for now, minimizing as much as the rest of the taps can). He first agreement between Singapore and Malaysia dates back to 1927 and laid the foundation for water supply and land leasing on Gunung Pulai, but is no longer in force. This was followed by three other agreements signed in 1961, 1962 and 1990. Initially this source provided half of Singapore’s demand, but as explains the National Library and National Archives of Singaporefollowing the expiration of the 1961 agreement in 2011, the government aims to be self-sufficient by 2061, when the 1962 and 1990 agreements end. Sewage. Is called NEWateris capable of covering 40% of the total demand of the country and from wastewater it is capable of achieving drinking water of superior quality to standards of the WHO. They tried it before, in 1974, but the project failed due to costs and technical problems. The current sewer system cost 10 billion dollars and is designed to last 100 years. It all starts underground: the sanitation system DTSS It collects all the urban wastewater through a 206-kilometer network and takes it by gravity (without the need for pumping) to the four recovery plants located in Ulu Padan, Kranki and Changi (there are two there). There they use membrane bioreactor, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection technologies. They currently have a global recovery rate of 90% and a capacity of 227,300 cubic meters per day. NEWater operation diagram. Data. NEWater with Gemini translation Seawater desalination. Singapore It has five desalination plants and all of them use reverse osmosis as the main treatment, although with different pretreatment combinations. Desalination is a well-known technique in water engineering, but little applied for one reason: costs. So to optimize the energy process, among the PUB’s main R&D objectives is to reduce energy consumption to less than 2 kWh per cubic meter. The first was SingSpring and is capable to produce 136,380 cubic meters of water per day, covering around 7% of the country’s water needs. The Tuas plant won the “Oscar” of salinization plants in 2019 thanks to an advanced pretreatment system that combines dissolved air flotation and ultrafiltration to mitigate membrane fouling. Keppel Marina East has an adapted dual system that works for both seawater and freshwater. Yes, but. From a technical point of view, Singapore’s water infrastructure is brilliant, but it is not without its problems. The first is energy: desalination consume 3.5 kWh per thousand liters of treated water, much more than 0.7 kWh NEWater Faucet. Desalination has a high environmental and economic cost and is highly dependent on electricity. Spoiler: about 95% of Singapore’s electricity is generated from imported natural gas. On the other hand, drinking water that comes from the sewer, despite its quality, generates a certain social rejection, which is why the majority is destined for industry, where such pure water is ideal for the manufacture of semiconductors. On the other hand, faced with a growing demand for water, the challenge for the future is scalability to maintain its reliability based … Read more

A mysterious Chinese structure has remained for five days in one of the most tense points in Asia

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In September 2023, a Philippine patrol cut and removed a floating barrier of about 300 meters that China had installed at the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal lagoon. The scene was so symbolic that it gave around the world: a simple cable supported by buoys had become one of the most delicate geopolitical hotspots in Asia. Five days in suspense. It all started with a series of images by satellite that showed something unexpected at the entrance to the lagoon Scarborough Shoalone of the most sensitive and disputed enclaves in Asia. For several consecutive days, different satellite captures recorded the presence of a reflective object accompanied in some cases by a type of linear barrier that seemed to partially cross the access to the atoll. No one could determine with certainty whether it was a buoy, a floating platform or a more permanent installation, but its mere appearance was enough to trigger investigations in the Philippines and attract the attention of specialized analysts. When new images taken days later showed that the object had disappearedthe questions remained the same: what the hell exactly was it, who placed it, and what was it trying to achieve. Why Scarborough Shoal is much more than a reef. The reaction is explained by the strategic importance of the place. Scarborough Shoal is situated within the exclusive economic zone claimed by the Philippines, but remains under effective Chinese control since the crisis of 2012. Since then it has become one of the main points of friction between both countries. Its waters are valuable for fishing, its lagoon serves as a natural refuge for boats and its position offers an important advantage to control sea routes and airspace in a region through which billions of dollars in commerce circulate each year. In such a sensitive environment, even a structure less than ten meters tall can acquire disproportionate geopolitical relevance. Scarborough Shoal The suspicions behind the mysterious structure. The images showed a visible object for at least five days and a possible barrier similar to those that China has previously used to restrict Filipino fishermen’s access to the lagoon. That sparked speculation about whether Beijing was taking a new step to tighten its control over the atoll. The experts they warned that, if it was a fixed installation, it could be interpreted as a disruption of the status quo in an area whose sovereignty remains disputed. Although no authority has been able to confirm the exact nature of the object, the episode reflects the extent to which satellite surveillance has become in a key tool to detect movements that just a few years ago would have gone completely unnoticed. A dispute that has never stopped escalating. The appearance of the structure also coincided with a particularly tense moment. China maintains an almost permanent presence of coast guard and vessels around scarboroughwhile the Philippines increases its patrols and strengthens military cooperation with the United States. Shortly before the object was detected, US and Philippine forces had carried out new joint maneuvers in the area. Manila also denounced the presence of dozens of Chinese vessels operating within its claimed waters. The result is something like a constant cycle of shows of force where every patrol, every maneuver and every potential construction is watched with enormous attention by all parties involved. The great transformation. What happened in Scarborough also fits into a much broader trend. As we have been countingOver the last decade, China has turned practically submerged reefs into authentic artificial islands equipped with ports, radars, military installations and even landing strips. The transformation of places like Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross Reef or Subi Reef changed completely regional balance and demonstrated that physical construction can become a tool of territorial control as effective as military presence. Each new structure detected satellite arouses concern precisely because there is a clear precedent of how small initial changes can end up becoming permanent bases. A race to consolidate positions. The response of the other claimants has been to assume that the scenario has changed. Vietnam has been expanding reefs under its control for years, building ports and new infrastructure. The Philippines reinforces its existing positions, expands landing strips and strengthens isolated detachments. The feeling that dominates the region is that the multilateral negotiations have failed and that each country is trying consolidate what you already control before circumstances worsen. In this context, the mysterious structure of Scarborough It is especially symbolic. Regardless of what it really was, it reminded all the actors involved that in the South China Sea a simple spot detected from space can become for a few days the center of a geopolitical dispute that affects a good part of Asia and in which China continues to be, by far, the most powerful player. Image | Vantor In Xataka | China has a problem: behind thousands of food delivery restaurants there is no establishment, no kitchen, no restaurant In Xataka | The US had a ship with 2,000 marines ready to invade Iran. Now he has sent it right to the place where China worries the most

In Asia they haven’t put ice in the water during meals for centuries. Digestive physiology just explained why they were right

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The other day a friend told me about a peculiarity she observed during a recent trip to China: the glass of ice water on the table is almost a rarity. Instead you’ll find a pot of green tea, a bowl of broth, or just nothing cold. For centuries, in much of Asia, drinking cold liquid during a meal has been an eccentricity more typical of the West than there. What for a long time seemed like a quaint custom, or directly a matter of infrastructure—ice was not always available everywhere—turns out to have a pretty solid physiological explanation. The temperature of the water we drink while we eat is not a minor detail. It affects the movements of the stomach, the rate at which it empties, and how the muscles of the digestive system behave. And science, although with important nuances, is beginning to agree with what millions of people in Asia have been practicing for millennia. Before getting into the physiology, we must understand how this debate has reached the West. It has not been through a medical congress or a scientific journal. It has arrived, like so many other things, through TikTok. The phenomenon is known as chinamaxxing either Becoming Chinese: a viral trend in which thousands of Western people adopt lifestyle habits from Chinese culture, including drinking hot water. According to documents The New York Timeshot water has become “the new superstar of online well-being”, with influencers documenting how this habit deflates them, gives them energy and improves their digestion. But what the Internet presents as a revolutionary discovery is nothing new. This practice has been rooted for thousands of years. in Indian Ayurveda—where the morning ritual of drinking hot water is known as usha paana— and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where cold is believed to “turn off the agni“, the digestive fire, and weakens the vital energy or Qiforcing the body to expend extra energy to warm the stomach. Hot water, on the other hand, balances the Yin and the Yang and keeps the body calm. Just because something is part of an ancient tradition does not automatically make it scientific truth, of course. But it doesn’t disqualify him either. The question is what exactly science says when it begins to analyze what happens in the stomach according to the temperature of what we drink. What really happens in the stomach? To understand the debate, we must separate two things that are often confused: the effect of drinking water during a meal and the effect of the temperature of that water. They are different questions with different answers. On the one hand, regarding water itself, there is a widespread belief that drinking water during meals dilutes gastric juices and digestive enzymes, slowing down digestion. Medical portals such as HealthLine They explain that there is no solid scientific evidence that water dilutes gastric juices or significantly hinders digestion. The stomach has a dynamic regulatory system that detects changes in pH and automatically secretes more hydrochloric acid to compensate. Drinking a glass of water during a meal hardly alters that balance. Marina Domene, head of nutrition at SHA Spain nuances in Vogue Where is the real limit: the problem is not drinking water, but excesses. “What is not recommended is drinking excessive amounts, more than two or three large glasses, as it could distend the stomach too much and temporarily dilute the enzymes,” he explains. It also points out that there are specific contexts where it is advisable to be more careful: in people who suffer from hypochlorhydria – low production of stomach acid – it is not recommended to consume liquids during meals. On the other hand, regarding temperature the panorama changes and this is where physiology begins to agree with Asia. The temperature of the liquids directly affects gastric motility, that is, the muscle movements of the stomach that drive digestion. Domene explains it clearly: “Cold drinks can slightly slow down gastric emptying and constrict the blood vessels of the stomach, which in sensitive people can be heavy. Hot liquids, such as broths or infusions, have a relaxing effect on the smooth muscles of the stomach.” This is not just a clinical opinion. There are studies that support this, such as research on the effect of temperature on gastric emptying have observed that very cold drinks, around 2-5 °C, can temporarily slow down the initial phase of gastric emptying compared to liquids at body temperature. Drinks at 4°C also disrupt antral and pyloric contractions, briefly retaining stomach contents. An experiment with 11 young men who consumed 500 ml of water at different temperatures found that water at 2 °C reduced the frequency of gastric contractions compared to water at 60 °C, and that lower muscle activity was related to lower subsequent caloric intake. The sample sizes of these studies are modest—it should be said—but their results consistently point in the same direction. A study published in Gastroenterology Nursingfocused on patients who had recently undergone colon surgery, observed that the consumption of hot water had a positive impact on subsequent bowel movements. It is not a study designed for healthy people, but it adds evidence about the role of temperature in intestinal motility. Gastroenterologist Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, consulted by The New York Timesdescribes it more graphically: during the night, the digestive system slows down. Hot water generates waves of contraction and relaxation in the muscles of the esophagus, stomach and intestines. “It’s basically telling everyone, ‘Okay, get up. We’ve got to get going,’” he explains. Why did they take that path and not another? The physiological explanation that science offers today connects quite well with what traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda have been saying for centuries, although in completely different languages. In China, Japan and much of Southeast Asia, It is common to accompany meals with hot tea or soup. It is not a fad or a recent trend: it is part of the structure of food. The broth does not close the menu, it accompanies … Read more

China turned off the oil tap when the conflict with Iran broke out. Now he reopens it to rescue a thirsty Asia

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When the Strait of Hormuz was practically sealed after the outbreak of the well-known Third Gulf War, the world held its breath. In the midst of widespread panic over the strangulation of one of the planet’s most vital energy arteries, the first major tectonic movement came from Beijing. The Asian giant opted for the crudest pragmatism: it ordered its large refineries to immediately and opaquely stop gasoline and diesel exports to shield its own tanks. China isolated itself to survive. However, in just a few weeks, the board has taken an unexpected turn. With an Asia that looks into the abyss of the shortage, Beijing has decided to reopen the valve, going from being a protectionist actor to establishing itself as the great energy lifeline of the region. Asia’s savior: China. The shockwaves of war have left the Indo-Pacific region shivering. Asia has become “ground zero” of the crisis. In Australia, the panic has emptied the gas stationsforcing the government to cut emergency taxes; India has had to sacrifice tax revenue to freeze prices due to shortages; Japan has refused to share its strategic reserves with its neighbors; and Vietnam airlines They have had to cancel en masse their flights due to the lack and extra cost of aviation fuel. In the midst of this desperation, China has made its move. As anticipated BloombergBeijing has given the green light to its state refineries to export 500,000 tons of fuels (gasoline, diesel and kerosene) over the next month. According to sources cited by oil pricecompanies such as Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) already have shipments ready on ships that will be destined, as a rescue, to severely punished neighboring nations such as Vietnam and Laos. The energetic rice bowl. That China can afford to export fuel while the rest of the continent applies rationing measures is not a miracle, it is the result of a silent strategy. China took advantage of previous years to buy heavily sanctioned and cheap crude oil (Russian, Venezuelan and Iranian), managing to accumulate colossal reserves of almost 1.4 billion barrels. According to researcher Henry Tugendhatthis gives Beijing a cushion of about 104 days of domestic demand, in addition to having a “floating warehouse” of Iranian oil tankers anchored off its coasts waiting to be unloaded. Returning to “Game of Thrones.” But Beijing’s move goes far beyond helping its neighbors; It is a direct geopolitical challenge. As detailed South China Morning Post (SCMP)China has for the first time activated its so-called “Blockade Rules” of 2021. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has issued an official order prohibiting domestic companies from complying with the sanctions recently imposed by the United States. Washington had sanctioned five refineries Chinese independent companies (known as “teapots”), including Hengli Petrochemical, accusing them of financing the Iranian military by purchasing its oil. By ordering the contempt of these sanctions because they are considered a “improper extraterritorial application”Beijing demonstrates that it not only has physical control of the crude oil, but that it is willing to engage in a legal and financial confrontation with the United States to protect its supply lines. Tightrope diplomacy. The short-term scenario will be played in the offices. As explained The New York TimesChina is playing both sides in this conflict. On the one hand, he acts as a peaceful mediator, pushing Iran to negotiate to de-escalate tension, having been key in the fragile temporary ceasefires. However, on the other hand, US intelligence agencies suspect that Chinese companies continue to export dual-use material and even military technology to Tehran. All of this is meticulously calculated ahead of the imminent May 14 summit in Beijing between Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. According to the analysts consulted through the New York environmentthe fact that the US is bogged down in the Middle East and rapidly spending its military resources, gives China a position of tremendous strength to negotiate over tariffs, trade and the US naval blockade. lenergy as the definitive weapon of the 21st century. The Strait of Hormuz crisis has functioned as a stress test for energy globalization. The sanctions drawn up in Washington attempt to financially suffocate the actors in the conflict, but the tyranny of physical infrastructure imposes its own rules. China has shown that the energy wars in this decade are not only decided with naval deployments, but with warehouses full of strategic reserves, independence in refining capacity and overwhelming dominance in the manufacturing of renewable energy. By reopening its export tap, Beijing sends a clear message to the world: while the West hyperventilates over the price of a barrel, China is the one who has the ability to decide who is left in the dark in Asia. Image | Photo by Bundo Kim on Unsplash Xataka | China is one of the largest refining powers on the planet. And he has decided something: to keep all the gasoline he produces

competes with all of Asia. And he is losing

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The race to develop models of artificial intelligence (AI) that the US and China maintain in their struggle for world supremacy is entering a new phase. And the physical applications of AI are gradually gaining prominence. By “physical applications” we mean the integration of one or more AI models into a mechanical device, such as a humanoid robot or a machine for industrial automation applications. The interesting thing is that the rules that will determine which countries will lead this emerging industry are different from those that currently govern competition in the field of AI models and software applications. And they are so for a reason: the robustness of the supply chain plays a fundamental role when the product stops being immaterial and takes the form of a cutting-edge hardware solution. In this scenario, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and, above all, China, have a great advantage over the US and Europe. China is committed to the strategy with which it has managed to dominate the electric car Before continuing to investigate the industry specialized in the development of physical applications of AI, we are interested in diverting our gaze for a moment to the semiconductor market. At the moment in Asia they are manufactured 90% of memory chips, 75% of microprocessors and 80% of silicon wafers. These figures are overwhelming. So much so, in fact, that in the medium term they remain absolutely out of reach of the West. It will be very difficult for the US and Europe to compete with the Chinese companies UBTech Robotics, Agibot or Unitree Robotics The electric car market also clearly illustrates the strength of Asia in general and China in particular. The country led by Xi Jinping leads it with a global market share of 62%. On the other hand, the South Korean companies LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI accumulate a joint global quota in the market for batteries for electric cars of 16%. And the Japanese Toyota produces more than one million hybrid vehicles per year. Japan’s position is peculiar because leads the production of hybrid carsbut it is lagging behind in the pure electric car market. Whatever China’s strength in the electric car market and Asia’s leadership in the integrated circuit manufacturing industry have been built on a very robust supply chain and overwhelming production capacity. Jixun Foo, the senior director at venture capital firm Granite Asia, which specializes in technology investments in Asia, ensures that “AI is not just about models or software applications (…) If we look towards Asia our advantage is in the supply chain, hardware and engineering capabilities.” That’s the key. China has opted for the same strategy in the physical applications of AI industry that has led it to lead the electric car market. Its meticulous control of the entire supply chain, its high manufacturing capacity and its cost optimization in all probability They are giving you a very important advantage in the industry of humanoid robots and machines for industrial automation applications. And not only in its struggle with the United States; It will be very difficult for Europe to compete in a market in which Chinese companies such as UBTech Robotics, Agibot or Unitree Robotics are already fully established. Image | UBTech Robotics More information | SCMP In Xataka | The US is doing everything to drown China. China has already achieved that 35% of its chip machines are its own

Lace Lithography is Europe’s opportunity to surpass the US and Asia in chip manufacturing. From Barcelona

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Lace Lithography is not just another startup. And it is not because it is developing a new photolithography technique that seeks to break down all the barriers that limit the performance of ultraviolet light technology used by the machines manufactured by the Dutch company ASML. And they are used by TSMC, Intel, Samsung, SK Hynix or SMIC, among other semiconductor manufacturers. A priori, the most prudent thing to do when faced with news like this is to adopt a skeptical stance, but Lace’s work deserves to be taken very seriously. Otherwise it would not have the support of Microsoft nor would it have raised $40 million in financing. The founders of this company are the Norwegian physicist Bodil Holst and the Spanish physicist and engineer Adrià Salvador Palau. These two scientists created Lace Lithography in 2023, and although their headquarters reside in Bergen (Norway), an important part of their research and development team operates from Barcelona. Be that as it may, the most important thing is that the strategy that this company has devised to solve the lithography of the next generation of integrated circuits does not resemble nor to ASML technology nor to any other innovation we have heard of so far. The first prototypes are already ready and the test plant will be ready in 2029 The itinerary that Lace Lithography seeks to follow is very ambitious. Its first prototypes, according to Reutersare already prepared, and intends to develop a test tool and a cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing pilot plant in 2029. In any case, in addition to their plans, we know some details about their technology that are worth investigating. In the integrated circuit manufacturing equipment that ASML designs and produces, ultraviolet light is responsible for transporting the geometric pattern described by the mask so that it can be transferred with great precision to the surface of the silicon wafer. Lace Lithography uses a beam of helium atoms to transfer the pattern described by the chip to the silicon wafer The light used by high-aperture extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, which is the most advanced machine that ASML has Currently, it belongs to the most energetic portion of the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In fact, its wavelength extends in the range that goes from 10 to 100 nanometers (nm). The problem is that it is not easy to generate and deal with this form of electromagnetic radiation. And it is not, among other reasons, because it is so energetic that it alters the structure of the physical elements with which it interacts inside the lithography machine. Lace’s technology solves this and other problems that are closely linked to the use of ultraviolet radiation to manufacture chips. And instead of using light, the engineers at this company use a beam of helium atoms to transfer the pattern described by the chip to the silicon wafer. However, the most striking thing is that this beam has the width of a single hydrogen atom (around 0.1 nm), so on paper this solution will make it possible to produce semiconductors ten times smaller than the smallest ones that TSMC, Samsung or Intel are currently manufacturing. “Our technology opens a path that potentially has the ability to expand (chip makers’) agenda, as well as make things possible that otherwise would not have been viable,” Bodil Holst declared. John Petersen, scientific director of lithography at IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center), the most experienced laboratory in developing new integration and nanotechnology technologies that we have in Europe, maintains that the main advantage of using the helium atom beam is that it allows creating much smaller transistors than the current ones. “They are almost unimaginable,” Petersen pointed out. It sounds really good. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Reuters | Lace Lithography In Xataka | China needs to develop a new type of chips immune to US sanctions. And your scientists have just achieved it

Asia is hoarding all the world’s LNG due to Hormuz panic

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In global energy markets, alarm bells do not always ring loudly; Sometimes all you have to do is watch where the boats are sailing. Right now, the canary in the mine of the looming crisis is the frenzy of Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers. As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Asia’s major powers are preparing for supply disruptions that could last months. The prolonged paralysis at the world’s largest export plant is stifling global supply and skyrocketing prices. As Dai Jiaquan explainschief economist at the CNPC Economics and Technology Research Institute, companies should prepare “contingency plans” for a two- to four-month disruption. Far from expecting a quick resolution to the attacks between the United States, Israel and Iran, Asia is sweeping up all available gas. The Qatar blackout and the buying fever. The origin of this panic has exact coordinates: the Strait of Hormuz. The trigger was an attack with Iranian drones that hit the strategic facilities of Ras Laffan and Mesaieed, forcing the state company QatarEnergy to cease production. The impact is massive: Qatar supplies 20% of the world’s LNG and, without Hormuz, there is no alternative route. According to the consulting firm AMEthis stoppage removes 1.5 million tons of gas from the global market every week. Added to this is an unprecedented logistical blockade with some 150 ships paralyzed in the area. Faced with this abyss, purchases have skyrocketed. According to BloombergTaiwan has already fully secured its supply for March and April, and is now actively purchasing to cover the month of May. Bangladesh managed to secure shipments for April and is already evaluating purchases from May onwards. For their part, Thailand and South Korea seek to ensure immediate deliveries, while in India, the company Gail India Ltd. barely managed to reserve a shipment in March after several failed attempts. Europe vs. Asia. What is coming is a direct trade war: Europe and Asia fighting for the same gas. According to Financial Timesthe contest is a chilling reminder of the crisis of 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. To this battle, Europe arrives with its defenses low: its gas storages are barely 30% because companies did not fill them due to high future prices, a phenomenon known as backwardation. Furthermore, Spain, despite having regasification plants, cannot act as a total lifeline for the continent due to its lack of interconnections through the Pyrenees. Historically, Asia consumes more gas in summer due to air conditioners, creating a desperate urgency that is already reflected in prices. As explained BloombergLNG spot prices in Asia are around $18 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). This represents an 80% increase in price compared to pre-conflict levels, despite having fallen from a recent peak of $25. The Asian benchmark JKM index doubled to $24.80. In Europe, the reaction was one of panic: the TTF benchmark index jumped sharply from below 40 euros to almost 47.5 euros, marking an increase of 55% in recent days. In fact, it is projected that a 90-day closure in Hormuz would raise the TTF to €92/MWh. And this is where the alarms go off for the real economy, As the report explains Kpler, The profitability threshold for intensive European industry (chemicals, fertilizers or ceramics) is usually between €50 and €60/MWh. If prices stagnate there, we could see a new wave of factory closures and a resurgence of inflation. Change of course at sea. According to monitoring data collected by Bloombergat least nine shipments bound for Europe have been redirected to Asia since the fighting began. Atlantic ships like the Clean Mistraloriginally destined for Spain, or the BW Brusselswhich was going to France, have redirected their compasses towards the Pacific in the face of lucrative Asian offers. This maritime chaos is not exclusive to gas. In the oil sector, about 30 giant supertankers They crowd off the Saudi coast of Yanbu in the Red Sea to collect crude oil transported by land, in a desperate attempt to avoid the Iranian blockade. Vulnerabilities and “buffers”. Not all countries face this crisis with the same weapons. According to an analysis of A.M.E.Taiwan is the most exposed and vulnerable player: Qatar and the United Arab Emirates provided it with 35% of its imports in 2025, and after the closure of its nuclear park, it has almost no options to use other fuels. South Asia is also on the line. The report of Kpler highlights that Qatar and the Emirates account for 99% of Pakistan’s LNG imports, 72% of Bangladesh’s and 53% of India’s. However, powers such as China and Japan breathe a little easier. According to Vortexa analyst Ken Lee cited by oil priceBeijing and Tokyo’s exposure to Qatari LNG is just 6% and 5% of their gas mix, respectively. Furthermore, Japan has a good reserve inventory and the restart of its nuclear plants gives it a strategic “cushion.” Asia as a global buffer. In the end, the market will rebalance, but the pain will be uneven. Faced with the impossibility of paying stratospheric prices, very price-sensitive countries such as Pakistan or Bangladesh will have to resort to demand destruction, industrial cuts or return to burning coal. According to AMEJapan and South Korea will seek to replace between 70% and 90% of Qatar’s lost volumes in the spot market, while China, confident in its inventories, will only seek to cover 50%. As pointed out KplerSouth Asia and its industry will operate as the “buffer” (shock absorb) of this crisis. By cutting their own consumption due to not being able to pay, they will leave gas available for the Asian and European giants, but at the cost of maintaining relentless upward pressure that will make the entire world’s energy bill more expensive in the coming months. Image | Photo by Chris Pagan on Unsplash Xataka | The $200 per barrel scenario: when geography suffocates the world economy

We have been reading philosophers from the West and Asia for centuries in search of the secret of happiness. Turns out the Aztecs had it

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Each course Lynn Sebastian Purcell, philosophy professor, repeat the same experiment. After reviewing the passage from the ‘Odyssey’ in which Ulysses renounces an eternal life of pleasures with the nymph Calypso to search for his wife and son, the teacher presents a dilemma to his students: How many would do the same as the king of Ithaca? “How many of you would reject immortality and a pleasant existence on the condition that you never see your family and loved ones again?” defiant spear Purcell to the classroom. The answer is always the same: nobody. The ‘Odyssey’ is an epic poem that connects with the Greco-Latin tradition, but in reality that particular passage about Ulysses summarizes well the vital philosophy of a civilization that lived thousands of kilometers from the Ionian Sea: the aztec. Goal: happiness. I don’t know exactly who you are, but it’s quite likely that you, me and the more than 8 billion Of people who share this world, we agree that it is desirable to have a happy life. Logical, right? Happiness is one of those golden nuggets that philosophy has been searching for for centuries. I did it in times of Epicurus and he does it in our days. In fact one of the most famous treatises of Bertrand Russella famous philosopher of the 20th century, is titled with a phrase that is quite a proclamation: “The conquest of happiness”. The lesson of Ulysses. However, it is one thing to aspire to happiness and another to decide how to achieve it or even what exactly happiness is. This is where the passage from the ‘Odyssey’ of the nymph Calypso. If it’s just about seeking happiness, Ulysses already had it, right? If we agree that the goal is to be happy (just like that), isn’t it a good idea to spend an eternal life, free of illness and deprivation, living with a goddess on a distant paradise island? Why does Ulysses decide to return to the sea… and his hardships? “Let it be worth it”. Ulysses’ attitude (like that of Purcell’s students) connects fully with a philosophical ethic that for decades has gone unnoticed in the West: that of the pre-Columbian Aztecs. For them, remember the teacherwhat humanity really seeks is not so much a life full of happiness and pleasures as “an existence that is worthwhile.” That’s the goal. The texts that are preserved and tell us about how the Aztecs saw the world show that for them humanity faced “an existential problem,” In Purcell’s words: a brief, fickle existence, during which it is impossible to control everything just as it is not to skate in a quagmire. “Slippery is the land”. “What they wanted to say is that, despite our best intentions, our life is prone to error, failure in our objectives and, therefore, to ‘fall’, as if we were going to end up in the mud. Furthermore, this earth is a place where joy comes mixed with pain and setbacks,” explains the professor in an article published by the Philosophy Association (APA). In it he remembers that this entire conception of the world can be summarized in a popular saying: “Slippery, slick is the earth”“slippery, slippery is the earth.” Wait, Aztec philosophy? Exact. It has not been easy to survive and in the West we may not have paid enough attention to it, but that does not mean that the pre-Columbian Aztecs created a valuable philosophical corpus, with different currents and treatises. “We have many volumes of his texts recorded in his native language, Nahuatl,” claims Purcell at the BBC. “While few of the pre-colonial hieroglyphic-type books survived the Spanish burnings, our main sources of knowledge derive from the records made by Catholic priests until the early 17th century.” A different vision. Thanks to them we preserve codices with sayings, exhortations, poems, dialogues… different manifestations that essentially tell us about the same thing: how the Aztecs who lived between the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th approached existence. Good example is the ‘Florentine Codex’a bilingual work by friar Bernardino de Sahagún on pre-Columbian knowledge. His legacy is not only interesting because of what he tells us, it is also interesting, Purcell claimsbecause it opens our eyes to “another pre-modern culture with an ethics of virtues”, one different from the legacy of Aristotle or even Confucius. “Place of joy with fatigue”. At this point the question is obvious… If the Aztecs believed that what humans really want are lives “worthwhile”, even more than joyful and pleasant existences, how to achieve it? How to face the passage through this world, “a place of joy with fatigue and pain”, as an Aztec passage says? The key is in a recipe with four ingredients, four “levels” that allow us to enjoy a rooted life, “neltiliztli”. Continuing with the metaphor of existence as a swampy terrain, full of mud, the idea is to take root to gain a foothold. And how to achieve it? To begin by ‘rooting’ in one’s own body. As Purcell explains, the figurines and descriptions we preserve of the Aztecs show us that they liked to exercise their bodies. In fact, they had a regimen of activities aimed at stretching and strengthening the body that is partly reminiscent of yoga. Rooted in the body, it had to be done at another level: the “psyche”, seeking a balance between the heart and the head, desires and judgment. “Only in the middle can you go, only in the middle can you live”, advises one of his works. Social creatures… and of the earth. In an article Published years ago in Aeon, the scholar of Latin American philosophy points out two more levels at which those who want to achieve a rooted life must work, “neltiliztli”, a term that is also used as “truth” and “goodness.” The first level is “rootedness in the community.” We live surrounded by people, in societies in which we play a role that connects us with others and activates the … Read more

It’s about how Asia is winning the cultural battle

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When I went to China for the first time in November 2023 with other colleagues, one of my travel companions wanted to take advantage of the few free hours we had to buy a Labubu to give to his daughter. I had no idea what he was talking about. He explained it to me and I stayed the same. A couple of years later, the Labubu are such a mainstream phenomenon that POP MART has opened its first store on Gran Vía and They even appear in ‘South Park’, one of the reference adult series in the West of the last 30 years (with permission from The Simpsons). The opening of a POP MART on the most iconic street in Spain, where theaters, popular fashion brands and franchises gather (special mention deserves Uniqlo and Miniso), is just the tip of the iceberg of something: the East is no longer just the factory of the world (with China as a prominent head), its weight has transcended from the industrial to the cultural to sneak into the mainstream of the West. It is a true victory for Asian pop culture, until now concentrated in its own borders with few exceptions that transcended the niche to the popular. The attractive lottery of the closed box. Of David Beckham to Rihanna passing through Dua Lipa either Lisa from Blackpink: They all have their Labubu. Born in 2015 by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung for his illustrated book series “The Monsters”, the Labubu they exploded when POP MART started releasing them as collectibles in surprise boxes back in 2019. What started as something niche has become a trend that knows no boundaries or classes. They have them to the Thai royal house and when there is stock, it flies: fans crowd at the door in such a way that you don’t know if they are queuing to buy a ticket for a concert or if there is a rare edition. And she can be a millionaire: the human-sized, mint green Labubu has been auctioned for 230,000 Australian dollars. The Labubu as an expression of identity, status and belonging. You don’t know which one you’re going to get until you open them like it’s the reward mechanism in a video game. Of course, Labubu is not just for boys and girls. It reflects changes in consumer culture reaching millennial and generation Z adults thanks to collecting, nostalgia and the need for comfort. You buy more than a doll: it is an experience full of emotion, the status that comes with having the most exclusive edition and of course, the profitability of resale. It is the almost ideal intersection between gaming and finance: a supply and demand market where assets are stuffed. And little joke with this: POP MART has had to suspend sales in cities like london due to fights between fans and the counterfeit market It is already a reality. Whether you see it as a toy or a fashion accessory, what is clear is that Labubu has emerged as the spearhead of the soft power Chinese. China no longer (only) manufactures products, it also manufactures desire A lot of muscle, a little soft power. China is the second largest economy in the world, but in cultural influence it is quite a few steps below. The Asian giant has a legendary cultural heritage of more than 5,000 years, but for the West it is limited to silk or tea. Naming a movie or a movie star comes down to Bruce Lee (American-Hong Kong born in San Francisco). The reasons? Many and varied: from following content guidelines from the Chinese Government and censorship, but also from considering it as lower quality from a prejudiced perception. China is no longer exotic, it’s cool. First it was economically, but China is also opening up culturally to Western markets, more products appear on social networks and Western audiovisuals and the West is welcoming them with open arms. China had started promoting its brands, the New Silk Road wave visa-free entry for tourism, but nothing as effective as an innocent stuffed animal that has transcended thanks to fans, TikTok and celebrities. At a time (actually, it almost doesn’t matter when you read this) when the global perception of China is often shaped by geopolitics and surveillance, Labubu offers something different, adorable, creative and exciting. And they are not alone: ​​the game’Black Myth: Wukong‘ was a global hit in 2024 and more of the same for the ice cream and bubble tea chain Mixueto cite a couple of examples. It may end up being another fad, but right now they are objects of aspiration and desire. It is proof that Chinese cultural products can do it. That POP MART stores are in the most central streets of large cities is another way to demonstrate this. It has taken Labubu a decade to get here, China will probably have a harder time creating a solid narrative around its cultural products such as Nintendo and its Mario universe. But it’s on its way. China begins to look closely at Japan and Korea. The country of the rising sun is famous for its exports of anime, fashion and gastronomy and since 2010 it has in its strategy “Cool Japan“a government strategy to promote its creative industries abroad. However, this initiative has had its ups and downsthe weight of the market and fans in hits like Pokémon or ramen being undoubted. South Korea has what is probably Asia’s latest and most effective softpower model. With strong support from the state, the Korean wave has achieved great successes from the film ‘Parasites’ to the K-pop phenomenon. China with Labubu is another third way, with a commercial ecosystem focused on intellectual property, lifestyle and trends. In Xataka | There are people burning their Labubus in nets. The reason: a crazy theory that links them to a Mesopotamian devil In Xataka | The Labubu’s half-humanity bags are becoming too small. So its creator already knows how to … Read more

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