attack

Science already knows why mosquitoes attack you and not the one next door

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With the arrival of summer, in addition to the heat, the hated mosquitoes also appear and do not hesitate to bite us during the day or night and leave us with a welt as a souvenir. But this also generates a lot of uncertainty in many homes, since of two people who sleep in the same room, the next morning, one is riddled with bites and the other is intact. What was thought. For decades, popular culture has attributed this phenomenon to having “sweet blood” or a certain blood group. However, science has left the guesswork behind to offer a much more precise answer by boiling it all down to the chemistry of our skin. The real magnet. The research that has marked a before and after in this field It was published in 2022 in the prestigious magazine Cell. In this article, after meticulously analyzing human skin odor, they discovered that people who are most attractive to species such as mosquitoes Aedes aegypti produce levels significantly higher carboxylic acids in the emanations of his skin. The most revealing thing about this finding is not only the identification of the chemical compound, but its persistence, since the study demonstrated that this chemical difference remains stable over the years. That is, our olfactory signature is constant and, if you are a magnet for mosquitoes today, it is very likely that your skin will continue to emit these same signals in the future. He is quite faithful. This biological mechanism is tremendously sophisticated, since, far from choosing their victims at random, mosquitoes are perfectly adapted to track down these compounds. A study published in 2023 in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases reinforced This is evidenced by analyzing the olfactory receptors of these insects, confirming that they are specifically designed to detect human carboxylic acids. Faced with this, deep-rooted myths such as blood group lose strength and although there is literature on the matter, current scientific evidence shows that it is a much more variable and noticeably less determining factor than our skin odor profile. There are more factors. As important as our body odor is, the attraction of mosquitoes does not depend on a single switch. As detailed a 2024 scientific review, The sting process is multifactorial and requires a precise combination of signals. Precisely, before smelling the acids on our skin, mosquitoes need to know that we are there. To do this, the carbon dioxide that we exhale when breathing and our body temperature act as the first long and medium distance location radar. Later, when the mosquitoes are already in our environment, the carboxylic acids in the skin come into play. There is more. Complementary variables related to the state of the host that wants to bite are added to this biological equation. For example, pregnancy has been identified as a context in which some people may be more attractive to mosquitoes, acting as an additional factor that adds to the individual’s basal chemistry. Image | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases In Xataka | Google is going to release 64 million mosquitoes with a curious mission: to eliminate mosquitoes

It is the largest distillation attack ever recorded

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Anthropic has sent a confidential letter to the US Senate accusing Alibaba of orchestrating the largest distillation attack it has ever suffered Claude. According to share Bloomberg, the Chinese company would have created almost 25,000 fake accounts to extract capabilities from its AI model without paying for them or investing in its own development. What exactly happened. The media, which had access to the letter, affirms that this dates back to June 10 and was addressed to Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren. It states that operators linked to Alibaba and its AI laboratory, Alibaba Qwenwould have generated more than 28.8 million interactions with Claude between April 22 and June 5. According to the media, to avoid detection, they resorted to obfuscation techniques and proxy networks. The objective of these attacks, according to the media, was to extract the most advanced capabilities of the model, including agentic reasoning and software engineering. Claude is not available in China, so these attacks were supposedly executed through fraudulent accounts. What is distillation about?. Is a widely used technique in the industry to train smaller and cheaper models from the results of a more powerful one. In itself it is not illegal, but it is when it is done without authorization and on a massive scale as would have happened, in theory, in this case. Anthropic argues that these attacks turn “hundreds of billions of dollars in American investment and development into a massive subsidy for our geopolitical competitors,” according to collect the Wall Street Journal. It’s not the first time. In February, Anthropic had already pointed out three Chinese laboratories (DeepSeek, Moonshot and MiniMax) for a similar campaign that claims to have generated more than 16 million interactions with their model through some 24,000 fake accounts. The signature account that OpenAI and Google have also published findings on similar attacks against their own models. What makes the Alibaba case different is the scale, almost twice as many interactions as the previous case. Also the timing, since the information suggests that it occurred weeks after the Trump administration would warn explicitly in an internal memo that this type of AI theft and at this scale was “unacceptable.” Audacity. Anthropic accuses Alibaba of having acted “brazenly” knowing it was in the crosshairs. The Chinese company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, operates in the United States and has investors regulated by the SEC. Even so, the media suggest that the attack occurred after the White House statement. The Financial Times points out Furthermore, the White House had concluded that Alibaba provided technological support for Chinese military operations against US targets, something the company categorically denies. This week, Alibaba He also filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon to remove her from a blacklist that links her to the Chinese army. What Anthropic asks of Congress. The company proposes three concrete measures: The first is to update antitrust laws so that AI companies can share information about these types of tactics without incurring legal problems. The second, strengthen export controls on advanced chips so that China cannot take advantage of the answers provided by American AI models even if it obtains them. The third, legislate to directly penalize Chinese laboratories that carry out distillation attacks, with sanctions that could include blocking their access to AI chips or models manufactured in the United States. The race behind. Anthropic warns in its letter that if China manages to close the gap, it could have “advanced cyber capabilities to deploy against the US government and American companies.” The model Mythos from Anthropic, which has worried everyone with its capabilities, it is precisely the one that worries Beijing the most. 360 Security Technology founder Zhou Hongyi called Mythos a “cyber nuclear weapon” at a conference in Beijing, according to informed South China Morning Post. Zhou admits that China is “far below” that level and called for developing its own equivalent to ensure mutually assured destruction in the event of a digital conflict. What can happen now. Alibaba shares have fallen more than 4% in Hong Kong after the accusation was made public, according to they advanced From the WSJ Laila Khawaja, director of research at Gavekal Technologies, told the media that, given that this is not the first accusation of this type against Chinese companies, the reputational damage should be limited. What’s really at stake is whether Anthropic can convince Congress to greenlight its requests. For now, the company simply says that it “will continue to work with Congress and the Administration to maintain American leadership in AI.” Cover image | AI-generated with Magnific In Xataka | The great fortunes of artificial intelligence: who is who in the new AI millionaires

China has a quantum platform for computing. Now he wants to turn it into an “attack and defense” system.

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For years we have talked about quantum computing as holding the promise of calculation: machines capable of tackling problems that conventional computers cannot solve, or cannot solve at a useful speed. But that same promise also opens a security front that is difficult to ignore. If sufficiently powerful quantum computers ever exist, part of the encryption that sustains our digital lives could be left in a delicate position. That is why the case of Origin Wukong is interesting: the story coming from China not only seeks to show the ability to calculate, it also wants to present it as a piece of cryptographic defense. What is Origin Wukong. The name may lead one to imagine a specific machine, but the case is something more similar to a remotely available quantum computing platform. According to Global TimesOrigin Wukong is part of a Chinese series of superconducting quantum computers and is linked to the Origin Quantum environment and the quantum research carried out in Anhui, in eastern China. The data that gives it dimension is not only technical: the statement collected by the media speaks of more than 1 million quantum computing tasks completed, more than 49 million remote visits from 192 countries and regions. The new defensive layer. The novelty is not only in the use that Origin Wukong has accumulated, but in how that infrastructure is now presented. The media claims that the platform has integrated a post-quantum cryptography framework and that this allows it to offer a double capacity, aimed at both computing and security. The text itself speaks of “defensive security measures”, an early “spear and shield” model and an “attack and defense” system. What post-quantum cryptography means. We are not talking about an automatic solution or a technology that makes any system invulnerable. According to NISTpost-quantum cryptography is based on encryption methods supported by mathematical problems that are difficult to solve both for conventional computers and for future quantum computers. The nuance matters because the risk is not in current everyday equipment, but in a generation of quantum processors much more powerful than those available today. That is the logic that allows us to understand why Origin Wukong is now also presented in a defensive key. Why does it matter anymore?. The problem does not only affect military documents or state secrets. NIST reminds us that encryption protects everything from emails and medical records to banking, e-commerce, personal photos and sensitive information of governments and companies. In addition, there is a particularly uncomfortable threat: that of capturing encrypted data today to try to decrypt it in the future, when more capable quantum machines exist. That is why the transition cannot be left to the last minute: integrating new algorithms into products and services can take between 10 and 20 years. Technical caution. All this does not mean that quantum computing has already solved its major obstacles. NIST reminds that the field is still in an early phase and that there are still significant challenges before building quantum computers powerful enough to break current encryption. IBM also highlights one of the best-known barriers: qubits are delicate, require extreme cooling conditions and can lose stability due to decoherence. Images | Anhui Quantum Computing Research Center In Xataka | Microsoft believed it would take decades to have a useful quantum computer. Majorana 2 just pushed that deadline to 2029

A macro study confirms that early menopause increases the risk of heart attack and stroke

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When we think of the menopausesocial and medical conversation is usually limited to obvious and short-term symptoms, such as hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia or the closure of the fertile period. However, this phase in the life of any woman has implications that go much further in terms of health as it involves a great metabolic and, above all, vascular change. A new vision. Now, the largest international study carried out to date has confirmed a reality by pointing out that when menopause comes early, the risk of suffering a myocardial infarction or stroke increases drastically, remaining stable independent of other traditional risk factors. The magnitude of the study. The research, to reach these conclusions with practically unwavering solidity, has resorted to the PURE-based macro-study, closely following a massive cohort of 111,619 women from 26 different countries, recording their clinical evolution for an average of 14.6 years. And the experts already point out that we are facing a methodological turning point in female cardiology. In figures. The findings evident in this study clearly segment the risk based on the age at which the end of menstruation occurs: When menopause occurs before the age of 40, it is called ‘premature menopause’ and carries between 27% and 30% greater risk of suffering major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks. In the case of a menopause between 40 and 45 years of age, it is called ‘early’ and registers a 14% higher risk of presenting cardiac complications. It is a risk factor. The most robust and worrying data provided by the research is that this increase in cardiovascular risk persists practically unchanged even after the researchers statistically adjusted the models to isolate some classic variables such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking or a sedentary lifestyle. This means that early loss of ovarian function is an independent risk factor in itself for these serious problems to occur. Because? The medical explanation behind this phenomenon lies in the abrupt loss of what cardiologists call the “estrogen shield.” It must be kept in mind that during the fertile age, estrogenic hormones exert a fundamental protective role in the circulatory system through various mechanisms, such as keeping cholesterol and triglyceride levels at bay. But estrogens also keep veins and arteries in good condition, promoting vascular relaxation and inhibiting the accumulation of body fat in arterial walls. Additionally, when estrogen levels fall prematurely, the process of forming lipid deposits in the arteries progresses at a much faster rate. The economic gap. One of the most innovative and alarming points of the PURE study is how the geographical context radically alters the impact of early menopause. And its conclusions show how the impact on cardiovascular health is almost double in low-resource countries compared to rich nations. For example, in countries such as Pakistan, Tanzania, Bangladesh, India and Zimbabwe, an overwhelming 43% of postmenopausal women had experienced early menopause. But in rich nations like Canada or Sweden the figure drops to 23%. A nuance. The authors introduce an important warning, since in countries with very precarious economies, chronic malnutrition usually causes what is known as hypothalamic amenorrhea, since the body prioritizes living over maintaining other functions such as reproductive functions. And although this confusion could partially inflate the statistical gap between rich and poor countries, the study clarifies that it does not in any way invalidate the main conclusion of the study: on a global level, without estrogen, the heart suffers. Images | Molly Wichman In Xataka | Nuria Marín, menopause expert: “Women continue to look for answers outside the health system”

In case there was not enough “gasoline” in 2026, the attack by a Russian drone has crossed a red line: that of Chernobyl

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In the early 1980s, a Soviet satellite detected what appeared to be the launch of several US nuclear missiles. The duty officer, Stanislav Petrov, suspected that something was wrong and decided not to report of an imminent attack. He was right: the sensors had mistaken reflections of the sun on the clouds for real missiles. That decision avoided a possible nuclear escalation during one of the most tense moments of the Cold War. Chernobyl, again. In a war where drones are already They attack strategic airfieldsmilitary bases and industrial centers located hundreds of kilometers from the front, it seemed difficult to find a new red line. However, a russian attack against a facility related to spent nuclear fuel near Chernobyl has revived one of Europe’s most persistent ghosts. There was no radioactive leak nor were safety limits exceeded, but the simple fact that a drone hit an infrastructure linked to the site of the worst nuclear accident of modern history was enough to generate international alarm. Almost forty years after the 1986 disaster, the name Chernobyl still have a unique ability to raise concern inside and outside Ukraine. Nuclear storage facility severely damaged in Chernobyl exclusion zone after Russian drone attacks The exclusion zone. According to Ukrainian authoritiesa Russian Shahed-type drone crashed into the reception building of the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility located in the Chernobyl exclusion zone at dawn. The explosion caused significant damage into the structure and sparked a fire that was quickly extinguished. There were no victims and the stored nuclear fuel was not directly affected, since the containers were not in the area hit by the attack. Even so, the installation is part of the infrastructure intended to store for decades waste from Ukrainian nuclear power plants, which made the incident a matter of great political and strategic sensitivity. Why worry? The concern did not arise because of the material damage, but because of what could have happened in a worse scenario. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that very close to the building reached there is a large amount of nuclear material stored under strict security measures. Although radiation levels remained normal, the episode once again brought to the table an issue that accompanies the conflict. from 2022: the vulnerability of nuclear facilities in a war where drones, missiles and long-range attacks are part of the daily routine. Each incident forces us to remember that infrastructure designed to operate in peacetime now exists within a combat zone. A constant pressure. The attack is not an isolated event. Over the past few years, war has repeatedly placed nuclear facilities Ukrainians at the center of international concern. The best known example is Zaporizhia power stationthe largest in Europe, occupied by Russian forces since 2022 and a common scene of cross accusations about bombings, sabotage and security threats. Added to this is the precedent February 2025when another drone damaged the gigantic confinement arch built to cover reactor number 4 at Chernobyl. Although a radiological emergency did not occur then, the incident damaged part of the structure’s protection capabilities. A symbolic dimension. Beyond its physical effects, the attack seems to have an enormous symbolic weight. Ukraine presents it as a demonstration that Russia is willing to take risks related to nuclear security to increase pressure over kyiv. Moscow, for its part, has not acknowledged any responsibility. The truth is that the episode occurred in a moment of intensification of long-range attacks by both sides, with drones hitting increasingly deeper and more sensitive targets. In this context, reaching a facility linked to Chernobyl sends a message that transcends the battlefield and also seeks to impact international public perception. The return of European nuclear fear. we have been counting. The war in Ukraine has shown that the nuclear risks of the 21st century are not limited to atomic weapons. Power plants, spent fuel depots, energy supply lines and complex security infrastructures can become targets or get caught up in the conflict. That’s why he Chernobyl incident has had such an impact despite not causing immediate radiological consequences. In a Europe already marked by war, the arms race and tensions between great powers, the attack has served to remind us that the legacy of Chernobyl is still present. He 1986 accident It belongs to the past, but the fear it inspires continues to be one of the most powerful psychological tools on the continent. Image | IAEA ImagebankEnergoatom/Telegram In Xataka | We had been wondering for years why the Chernobyl wild boars were so radioactive. The answer was not in the accident In Xataka | Cartography of a nuclear disaster: the maps that 40 years later reveal the real magnitude of Chernobyl

Amazon had everything ready to attack the Starlink monopoly. Until Blue Origin exploded into pieces

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On April 20, 2023, the inaugural flight of SpaceX’s Starship took place. Less than four minutes later, the space vehicle explodedbut that was not what was amazing. The amazing thing was that all the company staff celebrated that explosion applauding wildlyas if it had been an extraordinary success. And the truth is that it was, because this launch was part of the company’s incremental philosophy: it doesn’t matter if the rockets explode, because (for the moment) that is what they have to do. When the Blue Origin rocket exploded last weekthere was very little to celebrate. And that is a big difference between both companies. This was not an explosion “by design”. There is a critical difference between the Starship prototype explosions and that of the New Glenn: intent. While SpaceX uses its tests to push its rockets to the limit and learn from those often controlled destructions, the New Glenn that exploded a few days ago was theoretically a production vehicle intended to complete operational missions. It’s one thing to lose a rocket with no payload that is designed to learn from mistakes, but quite another to lose one with a payload that real customers depend on. Blue Origin runs out of ramp. The economic impact of this accident goes beyond the cost of the lost vehicle. The fundamental problem is that Blue Origin currently has only one operational launch pad for the New Glenn, the LC-36, and damage to the tower and support systems could paralyze the company’s activity for months. In a recent update the company indicates who is already working on that ramp “And we have a good reconstruction plan in place.” Bad news for Kuiper. This explosion has also left in the air the deployment of the first 49 satellites of Amazon’s Juiper network, which depended on this launch. The company needs to put thousands of satellites into orbit to compete with Starlink, and every month of delay in the New Glenn is a month of advantage for Elon Musk. NASA and the lunar calendar. But the New Glenn is also a key piece for the logistics of NASA’s Artemis missions. The explosion may force the space agency to rethink its priorities and even delay missions to the Moon planned for the coming years. NASA is running out of plans B, and is increasingly dependent on a single supplier (SpaceX) when that is precisely what Blue Origin could have mitigated. Reliability pays off over time. We have a good example of SpaceX’s trial and error strategy with the Falcon 9. Today it is one of the most reliable rockets in the world with a success rate of over 99%: to date it has carried out 644 missions, of which 641 have been successful. Failures like that of September 2016 They served to learn and mature, and a decade later the Falcon 9 have become almost “boring” due to their reliability. Blue Origin seems to have wanted to skip stages by coming to market with a product that wanted to be perfect, but reality has shown that it is very difficult to achieve that reliability without stumbling. And this setback has been big. The opportunity cost. It is estimated that the economic losses of the destroyed vehicle they hover 150 million dollars, but the true cost is in the penalties for delays and the loss of confidence of future customers. The technical and reputational debt that Blue Origin faces is notable, and it remains to be seen how a company that needed success more than ever will react. Monopoly by accident. The clearest consequence of this setback is also striking: the winner is SpaceX, which is even more dominant than it was in the space launch market. The explosion of the New Gless is terrible news because it eliminates competition, and without a rival that can guarantee launches, access to space will continue to be a bottleneck controlled by a single company and, of course, by its founder, Elon Musk. The tycoon, yes, published a message in X upon hearing about the explosion saying “I’m sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.” Image | Blue Origin In Xataka | In 2018, Elon Musk put his own car into orbit. Eight years later it is still circling the Earth

the largest ballistic attack of the entire war

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In 1983, during a soviet drill of nuclear attack, thousands of people spent hours sheltering in the depths of the kyiv metro while authorities rehearsed how to survive to a rain of missiles on the city. Four decades later, the same underground stations have once again been filled with families, improvised mattresses and air raid sirens in the middle of a new war over Europe. The night everyone feared. Over the past weekend, Russia launched the major ballistic attack of the entire war in an offensive that for hours turned the Ukrainian capital into a continuous succession of explosions, fires and anti-aircraft alarms. The magnitude of the bombing was not only in the number of drones and missiles used, but also in the type of weapons used: Moscow once again resorted to Oreshnik missilean intermediate-range ballistic system originally designed to carry nuclear warheads and whose mere presence has a strong psychological effect on the Ukrainian population and defenses. For months, kyiv had warned of the possibility of a combined attack designed specifically to overwhelm the Patriot batteries and hit the city with an intensity not seen since the end of 2024. The feeling in Ukraine was that Russia was preparing something differenta show of force intended both to destroy infrastructure and to convey the idea that it still retains the capacity to escalate despite recent setbacks on the front. Oreshnik and the return of nuclear fear. The appearance of the Oreshnik has partially changed the nature of the air war over Ukraine because it functions not only as a conventional weapon, but also as a political tool of strategic intimidation. The missile releases multiple warheads during flight that fall at high speed in trajectories difficult to intercept even for the American Patriot systems, one of the few shields capable of stopping Russian ballistic missiles. Although Oreshnik’s previous releases had caused damage relatively limited and it is believed that they used simulated charges, in Ukraine the problem is not only physical destruction but the normalization of a weapon associated with the Russian nuclear arsenal. The Ukrainian and Western authorities had been alerting of preparations for use and the population of kyiv responded by filling subway stations and underground shelters even before the first detonations began. Wear phase. The attack also exposed a problem that worries kyiv greatly: Ukraine depends almost entirely of Patriot missiles to stop ballistic projectiles and the reserves are increasingly limited after the enormous consumption of interceptors during the war between the United States and Iran. Russia appears to have detected this vulnerability and is using large combined drone salvoscruise missiles and ballistic missiles to force Ukraine to quickly expend extremely expensive and difficult to replace defenses. On this occasion, Moscow launched dozens of ballistic missiles and Ukraine only managed to intercept a relatively small part, a figure that reveals the extent to which the Russian strategy simply seeks to saturate the enemy defensive system through volume and simultaneity. The worrying thing for kyiv is that the math works in the Kremlin’s favor: manufacturing drones and missiles is much cheaper and faster than producing Patriot interceptors. The Russian response. The offensive came just hours after Ukraine will hit facilities Russian forces and attack a base of the Rubicon drone unit in Lugansk, one of the most important unmanned warfare formations of the Russian army. Moscow presented the bombing of kyiv as direct retaliation and Vladimir Putin publicly ordered the preparation of a response after denouncing Ukrainian attacks against supposed civilian targets. However, the strategic context goes far beyond simple revenge. Russia goes through an awkward moment on the front: its ground advances have slowed considerably, Ukraine has managed to attack energy infrastructures deep within Russian territory, and waves of Ukrainian drones have even forced reduce symbolic acts like the Victory Day parade in Moscow. I remembered the new york times that the massive attack on kyiv also seems to respond to the Kremlin’s need to regain psychological initiative and convey that it can still impose enormous costs on Ukraine despite the accumulated wear and tear. kyiv as an eternal laboratory of war. If you like, the Ukrainian capital has become an extreme example of how contemporary wars are evolving: entire cities operate permanently under aerial threat while the population learns to live with attacks capable of paralyzing civilian infrastructure for hours. He bombing damaged subway entrances used as shelter, destroyed buildings, burned markets and left symbolic scenes such as the melted arches of a McDonald’s among the still smoldering ruins. At the same time, the attack showed how the border between conventional warfare, psychological warfare and technological competition is increasingly diffuse. Ukraine is trying to compensate for its industrial inferiority by hitting Russian refineries, logistics centers and drone bases with long-range strikes, while Moscow responds by resorting to a mix of volume, aerial terror and weapons designed to send strategic messages as well as destroy targets. The precedent that worries the West. Finally, the Financial Times reported that there is a growing feeling in kyiv that Russia is using Ukraine as a scenario to test how Western defenses react to massive and prolonged attacks with advanced ballistic missiles. Zelensky insisted before and after the attack in which the repeated use of the Oreshnik and the continuity of this escalation create a global precedent for future conflicts, especially at a time when the United States and Europe observe with concern the arsenal expansion similar in countries like China, Iran or North Korea. From that perspective, what happened in kyiv would not only affect Ukraine: it also serves as a warning about how they could future wars develop between powers with great missile capabilities and limited anti-aircraft defenses. The most uncomfortable conclusion for the West is that Russia seems convinced that it has found a relatively effective formula for wearing down modern defensive systems through massive, repetitive attacks that are increasingly difficult to contain. Image | Russian Defense Ministry In Xataka | Russia has found something more important than … Read more

“Left click, right click”, this is how the AI ​​decides an attack in war. China, Russia and the US need fewer and fewer humans

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A group of Google engineers signed an internal letter to protest against a project in which your own software was being used by the Pentagon, sparking an unprecedented debate within the company about how far the technology they had created should go. Since then, almost 10 years have passed, an “eternity” with the implementation of AI. The war accelerates… without humans. They counted last week in The New York Times that modern warfare is entering a phase in which human intervention is no longer the center of decision-making, but rather an almost symbolic step within processes dominated by algorithmswhere artificial intelligence systems identify targets, recommend attacks and generate complete plans in a matter of seconds. Programs like Project Maventoday developed by Palantir and integrated with models like Anthropic’sshow the extent to which the decision chain has been compressed: satellite images, drone data and intercepted signals are automatically processed to generate target lists and attack solutions, reducing human intervention to something as simple as selecting options on the screen, in the words of Pentagon officialsit is as simple as clicking “Left click, right click”. Powers in the same race. Because at the center of this transformation are the United States, China and Russia, competing to lead a new arms race based on autonomous systems capable of operating without direct intervention. In China, for example, the development of coordinated drone swarms by artificial intelligence and capable platforms to operate alongside fighters manned reflects a commitment to scale and automation. Meanwhile, in Russia they are betting on systems like the Lancet droneswhich evolve towards capabilitiesand autonomous selection of objectives. For its part, the United States is trying to close the gap by encouraging companies like Anduril to speed up production of autonomous drones, in a race where the speed of development is almost as important as the technology itself. The Chinese WZ-8 drone Ukraine as a turning point. How have we been countingthe war in Ukraine has been the turning point that has turned these technologies on real tools combat, demonstrating that relatively simple systems can evolve rapidly towards semi-autonomous capabilities and changing the balance on the battlefield. Adapted commercial drones, unmanned vessels and data analysis systems have allowed resist a superior adversary, while Russia has responded incorporating automation progressive in their own systems. As pointed out analyst Michael Horowitz, “the battlefield in Ukraine has served as a laboratory for the world,” accelerating a transition that is no longer experimental, but operational. Silicon Valley at war. Unlike previous arms races, the Times I remembered that the role does not fall solely on the States, but also in technology companies and start-ups that are redefining military development. Here are companies like Google that initially participated in projects like Maven before withdrawing due to internal pressures, while others like Palantir or Anduril have occupied that space with a more vision aligned with the defense. In China, the “civil-military fusion” model directly integrates to private companies in the development of military systems, while in the West attempts are made to replicate that dynamism with million-dollar investments and growing collaboration between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon. Algorithms against algorithms. The result is a form of war in which the confrontation is no longer only between armies, but between automated systems that operate at speeds impossible for humans, a scenario that we have counted where drones launch drones to take on other drones and sensor networks connect globally to execute real time attacks. Projects like the Chinese attempt to replicate networks similar to the Joint Fires Network American forces reflect this trend toward an interconnected war, one where a sensor at one point on the planet can trigger an attack on another without direct intervention. At this point, superiority no longer depends solely on the quality of weapons, but on the ability to integrate data, process it and act faster than the adversary. Uncontrolled speed. There is no doubt, this acceleration carries risks that worry even those who pushed these systems, as automation can trigger military responses before humans can intervene or fully understand the situation. Studies such as that of RAND Corporationworks that have shown scenarios in which autonomous systems inadvertently escalate conflicts, while experts warn of a possible “escalation spiral” driven by the decision speed of machines. As recognized General Jack Shanahan, promoter of Maven, the reality is that there is a danger of deploying “untested, insecure and poorly understood” systems in a context of competition where each actor fears being left behind. Less humans, more automation. Thus, the panorama that is drawn is that of a war every time more automatedwhere human intervention is progressively reduced and critical decisions are delegated in artificial intelligence systems capable of analyzing, deciding and acting in seconds, something very different which is do it “well”. From autonomous drones to target analysis platforms, through global combat networks, the trend seems clear, that of a war of the immediate future that will be decided less in offices and more in algorithmsin an unstable and certainly chilling balance, because we are talking about technological speed being on track to surpass the human capacity to control it in the middle of a war. Image | StockVault, Infinity 0 In Xataka | Russia is no longer surrendering to Ukrainian soldiers, but to machines: the rules of war are being redefined In Xataka | China was the power that launched drones. Now he has realized his danger with a decision: close the sky to them

Spaniards, the price war at gas stations has begun. And Repsol is the first to launch its attack

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The price of gasoline has skyrocketed. Diesel is through the roof. It has already been dropped that The Government has studied discounts on purchases of fuel as it already did in 2022. And while the Spanish are looking for the cheapest gas stations to refuel, service stations have just opened a war to continue attracting customers. through the clouds. If we talk about average prices, we are still far from the figures that we end up paying for gasoline and diesel in 2022. In the days that followed the first stages of the Ukrainian War, gasoline came to reflect an average price in Spain of 2.152 euros/liter and diesel 2.106 euros/liter, according to the portal dieselgasolina.com which monitors the price of all service stations in the country. Today, March 19, gasoline reflects an average price of 1,784 euros/liter on average. 98 gasoline already scales at 1,938 euros/liter. The basic diesel is already paid at 1,906 euros/liter and the “premium” at 1,988 euros/liter. With these data, gasoline is about 40 cents/liter of what was paid in 2022 but diesel is already at 20 cents/liter. Not only that. If we look back we find a brutal increase in prices. On March 1, the average price of gasoline was 1.495 euros/liter. That is, in 19 days the average price has increased by almost 30 cents/liter. Diesel is even more worrying, rising almost 50 cents/liter from the 1,447 that it reflected on average on March 1. A relief to the pocket. At least cosmetically. That is what happened in 2022 when the Government applied a fuel reduction of 20 cents/liter. It was a flat rate for all drivers which partially alleviated the effect of rising fuel prices, without taking into account if the client was doing it for recreational useto go to work or because he was a professional who needed it to provide his services. However, prices continued to rise and just a few days after the aid began to be applied, which arrived when gasoline was 1.84 euros/liter, we were already paying the same than before the subsidy. Did the marketers take advantage to continue raising prices and increase their business? The CNMC suspected so. Repsol tightens. Although rumors point to a possible subsidy again, oil companies have already begun to take positions in the face of a new price war. The most ambitious has been Repsol, which has in its Waylet program the best tool to build customer loyalty. The company has announced that double your discounts with Waylet. That is, now they deduct 10 cents/liter for each refueling. But Repsol has turned Waylet into its own ecosystem from which it is difficult to get out. If you have electricity contracted with Repsol, the savings double and go from 10 cents/liter to 20 cents/liter. And if you have other contracted services, such as car or home insurance, the discount is 40 cents/liter. Added to this are the discounts with every electric car recharge and domestic rates or subscriptions outside the home, which is why they have managed to position themselves as a very attractive option for those who have both technologies at home, combustion and electricity. A price war. Repsol, yes, is the company that has the highest prices on the market, according to dieselgasolina.com. On average, gasoline at Repsol costs 1,763 euros/liter and diesel 1,861 euros/liter. Moeve, the second most expensive supplier, is very far away, with an average price of 1,693 euros/liter and 1,760 euros/liter for gasoline and diesel respectively. The gap with low cost is gigantic. Alcampo currently sells gasoline at 1,594 euros/liter and diesel at 1,706 euros/liter. However, Repsol has a reason to push: low cost. They explain in Expansion that these service stations are more sensitive to price increases because the volume of each purchase is smaller. They do not have the storage capacity of large companies, which forces them to buy more often and, therefore, increasingly more expensive when the price skyrockets. This reduces your profit margins. And although in the middle they assure that the low cost ones continue to be cheaper, the truth is that the margin is narrowing. When the difference is small, it is easier for Repsol to gain followers and build customer loyalty with large discounts since “cheap gasoline” loses much of its appeal. This loss of competitiveness translates into the results of dieselgasolina.com that collects that Ballenoil has, right now, gasoline more expensive than Moeve, just one step below Repsol. under the magnifying glass. The aggressive discounts on gasoline have fueled the debate about the extent to which oil companies are taking advantage of the situation. In 2022, Repsol has already taken the opportunity to make aggressive discounts. Those, according to the CNMCthey took advantage to try to take smaller gas stations out of the market. Those days, low-cost service stations already assured that the Government subsidy was suffocating them due to the particularities of their business model. Just a few days ago, The OCU has already filed a complaint with the CNMC that the increases that were occurring in the price of fuel were being abusive. They noted that according to the Official Gazette of the European Union, Spain was the third country in which prices had increased the most and that the cost of diesel was higher than the European average. As in the case of Expansion According to his calculations, the low cost ones were the ones that reflected the most striking increases. It remains to be seen what the response of the rest of the service stations is. Repsol has already shown that it has room for maneuver. In 2022, the oil companies that entered the game did so in the same way, with wide discounts within their loyalty plans. And that has some clear losers: the low cost ones. Photo | Juanedc In Xataka | Fear of gasoline at 2 euros per liter: the sector is already preparing for the worst after the start of the war in Iran

Iran’s Achilles heel is a tiny island located 25 km from its coast. The question is whether the US will dare to attack it

by

Until practically the day before yesterday Kharg island It was unknown to the vast majority of Europeans. Normal. To begin with, because it is thousands of kilometers from the heart of the EU, in the Persian Gulf, about 25 kilometers from the Iranian coast. It’s not particularly big either. It measures about eight kilometers long and 4.5 km wide. Despite all that, Kharg is perhaps the point that attracts the most attention. is hoarding (from Europe, but also the United States, China and Russia) in the convulsive geopolitical board with which March has started. The reason: the island is the key link of the Iranian oil sector. In a place in the gulf… Kharg Island is not exactly big. It measures 22 km2. What it does not have in surface area, however, it makes up for with its location. Located just 25 km from the Iranian continental coast and a few hundred kilometers from Strait of Hormuzis a strategic point for the global oil industry. The reason: that tiny island channels almost all of the crude oil exported by Iran. And those are big words if we take into account that, according to OPEC calculations, it is estimated that the Islamic Republic has confirmed reserves of 208.6 billion barrelsalmost the 12% of the total world. Is it that important? Yes. Iran enjoys a strategic position that (among other things) allows it to control the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic point for the commercialization of Middle East oil. In fact, it is estimated that almost a fifth of the world’s crude oil and gas pass through that narrow strip of a few tens of kilometers. However, not all are advantages for Tehran. Most of the Iranian coastline is bathed by shallow waters that complicate the movement of oil tankers. To operate with them, companies need to rely on Khrag, an island equipped with deeper docks and which since the 60s has had a powerful infrastructure built with the help of the firm. Amoco. Today it is the largest terminal exporter of the country. A percentage: 90%. Kharg’s role is best understood by dealing with various data. The main one is the volume of merchandise that it channels. It is estimated that almost 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through there, a bottleneck through which black gold flows before being shipped to the Strait of Hormuz. It may seem like an exorbitant percentage, but the island has the necessary infrastructure to charge seven million of barrels daily. Added to this are underwater pipelines connected to the country’s oil fields, storage tanks and housing for the complex’s operators. In the spotlight. Khrag has become the key link in the Iranian oil trade, but it also represents a kind of ‘Achilles heel’. Hitting the island means hitting the Iranian oil industry squarely. It’s nothing new. In the 80s Kharg has already suffered Iraqi bombings. The big question on March 9, 2026, with the US and Israel attacking the Islamic Republic is… Does Washington have any plan that involves controlling the island in one way or another? It is not a whimsical question. The Israeli army already has attacked several crude oil deposits and an oil transfer center located in Tehran and Alborz. The Axios weekend wakefulness In addition, Israel and the US have discussed sending special forces to Iran for various purposes: the main one would be to secure uranium reserves, but Kharg would also be in their sights. Ground operation? However, it is one thing to attack oil deposits and another to invade the island. For a start, remembers CNBCbecause it would require going one step further in the offensive in Iran and undertaking a ground operation. A hypothetical attack could also add more volatility and uncertainty to the industry at a time when a barrel of oil has risen to around $100. In the last hours the Brent even it touched 120. Cutting off the tap. The maneuver would also have advantages for Washington and Tel Aviv, especially when it comes to putting pressure on Tehran. Petras Katinas, an expert in energy and defense, recalls that if the United States controlled the island it could cut off “the oil livelihood” of the Iranian regime. “Looking ahead, confiscation would give the US leverage during negotiations, regardless of which regime is in power once the military operation ends,” insist. “It would deal a severe blow to the regime, since it would deprive it of a crucial source of income,” adds Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM, who draws a parallel between what happened in Iran and the US intervention in Venezuela. in january. Why doesn’t the US act? For several reasons. We mentioned two (fundamental) before. Experts point out that taking Kharg would require a ground operation. And that, among other issues, could lead to even more instability in the region and the oil market at a delicate time. “Kharg could focus a multi-week attack campaign with Iranian drones and the island has mines and soldiers,” remember Marc Gustafson, who warns that an intervention of this type would not be without risks for the United States. He even mentions the possibility that, if the situation escalates, Iran will destroy its oil pipelines. One island, many drifts. If the US and Israel decide to comply with Kharg, Tehran could also see legitimacy to hit the oil infrastructure of other Gulf countries. That’s not counting, insists Michael Doran (from the Hudson Institute) in that it could complicate the post-war Iranian economy and the stability of any new government that takes the reins of Iran once the war ends. Images | Google Earth and Wikipedia In Xataka | Satellite images have revealed that Iran knocked down four of the US’s eight unique defense systems. If they reach zero a new war begins

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