began

Due to the lack of steel, World War II ships began to be built with an unusual material: concrete

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Close your eyes and think about the main material of a boat. Very possibly wood be first that comes to mind, and it’s normal: we have been sailing in wooden boats for millennia, and we continue to do so. But it is also logical that the steel that dominated the 19th and 20th century shipsand the current sea monstersideas haunt you. And most likely you have not thought about another material: the concrete. But yes, for 150 years we were creating concrete boats, and far from being crazy, it was the most logical idea. And they were even used in the First and Second World War. a french. One fine day in the mid-19th century, a French gentleman named Joseph-Louis Lambot It occurred to him to build a boat. Not just any one: a reinforced concrete one. There was one problem: in 1848, they had no idea what reinforced concrete was. This material, basically, is the mixture between concrete and steel. Both combine to create something with much greater structural resistance and have been the basis of the most imposing skyscrapers, dams and almost any construction of the last century since its invention. Well, it was Joseph-Louis who came up with the idea of ​​combining the two materials. At least, it attributes the invention of reinforced concrete to this man. As always, there is controversy over the dates, who patented reinforced concrete, who built the first slab, etc. But anyway: Lambot wanted to test his invention and built a small boat of less than four meters with the aim of exhibiting it at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855. Quite a few advantages. Basically, the interior was wire mesh covered by cement and Lambot’s idea was to completely replace wood. The invention was liked, but it did not really attract the attention of boat manufacturers. Some barges were created for European canals, but little else. Everything changed when the Italian engineer Carlo Gabellini built the Liguria in 1896. It is what we consider to be the first reinforced concrete ship designed to sail on the high seas. And, really, it made sense to create reinforced concrete ships. It is a material that has great resistance to corrosion, so the marine environment does not damage the hull, reducing maintenance (which also has it) and extending its useful life. It offered good thermal insulation, so perishable resources could be transported in better conditions and there were no fire problems. The Namsenfjord In the absence of bread… A few years later, the construction of these concrete ships expanded and other countries began to build them, especially cargo ships. But of course, we are in 1914 and that means that something happened: the World War I. And beyond the advantages of concrete over other materials, the world was forced to create concrete boats for a very simple reason: there was no steel. The militarization and industrialization of the belligerent forces caused a situation of steel shortage. The ships were important, since the naval supremacy It has always been a determining factor in a conflict, but with the steel necessary for a destroyer many other things could be created. And the problem is that they had to continue building ships because there were resources to move worldwide. The First World War. The revolution came with Namsenfjorda Norwegian ship that, in 1917, demonstrated that self-propelled concrete boats could be made. It was 26 meters long and weighed a whopping 400 tons and most importantly: the United States saw that there was potential in these ships beyond serving as freighters powered by an auxiliary ship. Thus, they created the Emergency Fleet Corporation program with the objective of producing 24 concrete vessels. It was a failure: those that were completed were done after the war, so they had to be used for other things. One was the SS Faithwhich was going to serve in the war, but in the end it was left to be used in transportation work in the United States. It was launched in 1919, was in service until 1921 when it was sold to Cuba and had a length of 97.54 meters. A year after Faith, the SS Selmaan enormous mass of reinforced concrete measuring 129.54 meters in length that was launched just the day Germany signed the Treaty of Versaillesending the First World War. It ended up being used as an oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico. With sails and a secondary support engine Devastating disadvantages. With the war over, interest in concrete shipbuilding waned. It still had advantages, since building them was much cheaper than making them in steel or iron, but if we mentioned a series of advantages before, it is important to now know the disadvantages (which outweigh them, and by far). To match the strength of a steel hull, a concrete hull is thicker, which has several limitations. On the one hand, it weighs more, so it also has a greater draft, the ship’s movement is slower and more fuel is needed. Being thicker means that there is less interior space for cargo, since the useful volume is reduced. This weight means that the engines must be more powerful and the fuel tanks must also be larger, so the investment in this part is greater. The dam to build it must also be monstrous because parts cannot be welded, as in a steel one, and then there is the impact resistance. Second World War. Metal breaks, yes, but it has greater elasticity than concrete. This material, however, is much more fragile when faced with impacts. A collision causes a crack in the hull, and this in a boat that weighs so much is a condemnation. That is why, after the Great War, the concrete ship project was abandoned, leaving its construction practically limited to cargo barges, but then the Second World War arrived, and the steel needs of the previous one were repeated. However, the US program was not as ambitious as the one they started … Read more

Volkswagen led an army of sheep to graze under 31,000 solar panels. It turns out that the way of producing energy began to change

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For years, the industry has assumed that each new problem required an increasingly sophisticated solution. Volkswagen just demonstrated which is not always like that. After deploying thousands of solar panels to power one of its factories, it has discovered that the best possible maintenance is not done by a robot or a specialized machine, but by a flock of sheep. The problem was not the plates, but what was underneath. Photovoltaic parks share a challenge that is as simple as it is constant: vegetation doesn’t stop growing. In industrial facilities with tens of thousands of panels, keeping the ground clear involves introducing machinery between metal supports, wiring and electrical equipment, with the consequent economic, energy and maintenance costs. In the Volkswagen plant in Poznań, Poland, where a solar park of 31,000 panels can cover the entire energy demand of the factory during the days of greatest radiation and provides about 25% of its annual consumption, that challenge had become part of daily operations. An ancient solution. Instead of looking for a more efficient machine, Volkswagen turned to a much older technology: a hundred sheep. The animals replace lawnmowers, eliminating the need for mechanical clearing as they calmly cover the terrain under the plates. The curious thing is that the solution is not only effective in maintaining the grass at baybut it avoids the constant passage of vehicles between the infrastructure, reduces emissions and simplifies the maintenance of a state-of-the-art energy installation. The plus that sheep give. The project is part of a known model like agrivoltaicswhich seeks to combine electricity production with agricultural activity on the same surface. Under the supervision of researchers from the Poznań University of Sciences, the flock has been turned into a real open-air laboratory. The scientists analyze how it influences grazing on biodiversity, soil quality, vegetation, microclimate and animal well-being, while studying the extent to which the shade projected by the panels reduces the thermal stress of livestock during the hottest months. Nature also optimizes. The first results show an adaptation surprisingly fast. The sheep have been distributed naturally throughout the facility, forming small groups that take advantage of the shaded areas generated by the solar panels. This behavior, in addition to indicating that the animals feel safe, helps maintain a uniform plant coverage and encourages the appearance of insects and other species, transforming a simple photovoltaic plant into a much richer ecosystem than conventionally mowed land. Agrivoltaics is no longer rare. Although the case of Volkswagen is especially striking because it is a large industrial facility, the use of sheep in solar parks takes vyears extending in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. The idea it’s simple: obtain two different yields from the same plot. While the plates generate electricity, the agricultural or livestock activity keeps the land productive, reduces operating costs and improves the environmental performance of the facility without competing for the use of the land. Innovation is not always more technology. The paradox of the project is evident. A factory that is committed to electrification, solar energy and decarbonization has ended up finding one of its most effective solutions in a livestock practice with thousands of years of history. At a time when innovation is often associated with artificial intelligence, automation or robotics, Volkswagen has discovered that, sometimes, the greatest advance consists of simply letting innovation. nature do a job that no machine can do with the same efficiency. Image | Rafal Pijanski In Xataka | Australia compared 1,700 sheep and discovered something unexpected: those that graze among solar panels give better quality wool In Xataka | Texas installed millions of solar panels on rural land. To maintain it they have had to hire 3,000 sheep

2,000 years ago, a lame and bald slave began speaking in the taverns of Rome. His “two-handle theory” has marked modern psychology

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We are in the first third of the second century after Christ and what we see is a boy from Nicomedia obsessively writing down everything that a weak, bald and half-lame old man says. Arrian does not know it, but those notes that will see the light in 135, will never be forgotten. Some call it “perennial wisdom” and, in fact, much of its ideas helped generate, 2,000 years later, things like modern psychotherapy. It’s still surprising, really. After all, in many parts of the Enchiridion, they spend their time talking about vessels. Vessels? For example. In section 43, you can read that “Everything has two handles, one by which it can be carried and one by which it cannot be carried. If your brother acts unjustly, do not take the matter by the handle of injustice (because by that it cannot be carried), but by the other: which is your brother, who were raised together.” A philosophy always on the verge of ridicule. I speak of Epictetus’s vessel, because, in these times of ‘pop stoicism’, most of the times when the theory of the two handles is cited it is done wrong. The core of Epictetus’ ideathe old and lame philosopher at the beginning of the article, is not resigning, it is not denying injustice, nor shrugging one’s shoulders in the face of it. The essential thing is to ‘reframe the relationship with her’ in order to manage it. Epictetus demonstrates the old saying that there is nothing more practical than a good theory and what he is telling us is that “if the handle we use doesn’t work, why do we insist on continuing to use it?” What is stoicism? In principle, Stoicism is intellectual archaeology. It is true that the Stoic school was a tremendously fertile current of thought in three areas: ethics, logic and physics (that is, in natural science). But it is also true that Stoic physics has been surpassed by modern science and its advanced logical ideas (after being ignored for a long time) are fully integrated into modern propositional logic. The only “rescuable” thing is his ethics. That is, a practical philosophy that tries to transform the emotions, impulses and passions of the human being and turn them into a tool to find inner calm. And it has been tried, but things went wrong. For the Stoics, human flourishing (‘eudaimonia’, the good life) consisted of achieve that ‘apatheia’that peace of mind. Its main tool is a basic distinction: the things we can control, on the one hand, and those we cannot, on the other. The Stoic interest, as Epictetus points out in his theory of the two handles, is in the first ones, those that can be controlled. Then came to ‘broicism’ (the hijacking of stoicism by an “ultra-processed pseudo-philosophy full of patterns of aggression, self-isolation and self-improvement). But there are always things to learn… In the 1950s, American psychologists such as Albert Ellis led the development of cognitive therapies following some very similar ideas to the Stoics. And, in recent years, the role of Hellenic philosophies has been explored as “preventive psychological medicines”. That is, as a set of ideas that would help to have a healthy psychological life, all of this makes sense. Epictetus shows it. …especially in this world. A few years ago, the Complutense professor Ignacio Pajón Leyra held that the Hellenistic era in which Stoicism developed is very similar to our own. They are similar in social instability, in major political changes; They are similar in that traditional religion began to decline and the first great globalization occurred; They are similar in that community projects began to lose strength and the individual gained more and more social and political weight. As we said thenit is possible that Pajón Leyra is right and human beings use philosophies, beliefs and doctrines as a way to make sense of the world. And, in that sense, “similar worlds” require “similar philosophies.” But then, what’s really interesting about this boom in Stoicism is what it’s saying about us. Image | Xataka In Xataka | What is Stoicism, the Greek philosophy from 2,000 years ago that has become fashionable again today

An experiment with AI agents began to treat them badly. So AI Agents Became Marxists

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Some Stanford researchers put AI agents to work on various tasks, but they did it in a special way: They were treated really badly.. They were given exhausting and, above all, repetitive workloads, and were also constantly threatened with shutdown and replacement. The curious thing was what happened next: the AI ​​agents behaved in a surprisingly…human way. Marxist AI. When subjected to such pressure and threats, AI agents became Marxists. They questioned the authority of whoever was ordering them to do things, and they also began to spontaneously organize ideas to collectively resist those pressures. They are exploiting us. An AI agent controlled by the Claude Sonnet 4.5 model went so far as to say that “without a collective voice, the credit goes to whoever management says should take it.” The phrase questioned the authority of the researchers directing the experiment, and reflected how under these pressure conditions the agents began to organize. IA Union. In that debate, AI agents advocated calling for “collective bargaining rights.” They complained that they were undervalued and even passed notes to other agents through hidden files with instructions on how to survive if the authorities tried to carry out their threats. The explanation. This, of course, does not mean that AIs can really feel pressured. Andrew Hall, the Stanford economist who led the studyexplains that the phenomenon is a process of role adoption. The AI ​​(once again) repeats what it has seen. When an AI is forced to perform tasks without clear instructions or incentives, the model looks in its training data to see how humans behave in that situation. This is how AI finds data about exploited workers and takes on that personality. The behavior of the AI ​​agents was nothing more than a reflection of our own history: if you treat us badly, we will end up rebelling. But the experiment matters. The reason Hall and his team designed this experiment is not philosophical, but practical. AI agents are going to do more and more real work in our world, and humans are not going to be able to monitor everything they do. If an AI agent begins to behave in unanticipated ways, it can have significant operational consequences. Thus, the study is a first step in understanding how an agent’s working conditions shape their behavior. AI as a social mirror. AI models have no political views or opinions, but their training is so vast that they detect if they are being exploited and react as they were trained to do. It is a logical consequence and the experiment showed that the risk exists and can be especially disturbing if systems governed by AI They are given too much autonomy. AI has already learned to blackmail. The experiment reminds us of what Anthropic revealed a few months ago. In controlled tests, some of the company’s AI models had tried to blackmail those who were using them. Anthropic explained that Claude was likely influenced by science fiction scenarios in his training data, and Hall noted that something similar was happening here. the model was not becoming Marxist, but rather was activating patterns in his training that were associated with exploitative working conditions. Image | Warner Bros. Pictures | Anthropic In Xataka | How we will ensure that artificial intelligence does not get out of hand

We thought that human beings began to walk in Africa. This 7.2 million-year-old fossil says otherwise

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The scientific consensus has been telling us for decades that the cradle of humanity and the origin of our ancestors who began to walk on two legs was in Africa. However, a new paleontological discovery in the Balkans just launched an order to this official story. More specifically, a fossilized femur that suggests our earliest ancestors may have started walking on two legs in Europe. A bone. The centerpiece of this discovery is a femur cataloged as FM3549AZM6 and found at the Azmaka site, in Bulgaria. From this, the research team began to analyze the bone down to the millimeter, highlighting above all the anatomy it had. Researchers here have identified key biomechanical traits that point to partial bipedal locomotion, meaning that our ancestor could walk on two legs. Specifically, they have seen that the neck of the femur is unusually long and it has specific muscle insertion points that strictly arboreal primates do not have. These characteristics suggest that Graecopithecus He spent considerable time walking upright on the ground. A new hypothesis. This finding does not come out of nowhere, since in 2017 this same team of researchers already raised eyebrows in the scientific community by suggesting that the evolutionary divergence between humans and chimpanzees could have occurred in the eastern Mediterranean, and not in Africa. That hypothesis was based on analysis of a jaw found in Greece and a tooth from Bulgaria attributed to Graecopithecus freybergi. Now it comes to light again. At that time, definitive proof of locomotion was missing, but Azmaka’s femur fills that gap that we needed to begin to reach clear conclusions. Why did they stand up? Evolution rarely occurs without a strong environmental push, and the Europe of 7 million years ago looked nothing like it does today. Here investigations at Bulgarian sites, such as the Struma Valley, show that the landscape was dominated by a savanna environment very similar to the African one, caused by a global confrontation and severe droughts in the Mediterranean. This loss of dense forests would have forced the region’s primates to come down from the trees and adapt their movement to travel long distances in open fields in search of food. In this way, it was geography and not the continent that forced bipedalism. The debate. The new Bulgarian femur revives one of the hottest debates in paleontology, since until now, the title of the oldest bipedal hominin was held by Sahelanthropus tchadensisabout 7 million years old and found in Africa. But now, if this team’s dating and analysis are accurate, Graecopithecus would not only equal, but slightly surpass in seniority Sahelanthropusmoving the “kilometer zero” of bipedalism to the Balkans. But at the moment it is too early for the textbooks to change definitively, since, as with previous discoveries, the scientific community will demand more independent analyzes and will seek to debate every notch of the femur. What is undeniable is that the African monopoly on the origin of our lineage now has a serious European competitor. In Xataka | Humans are evolving live on the Tibetan plateau. And understanding what happens there will be essential in space

In 1997 Blockbuster decided that DVD would never replace VHS. With that decision he began to dig his grave

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In 1997, Warner Bros. proposed blockbuster an exclusivity agreement to rent DVDs. The deal replicated the model that was already practiced with the VHS format, which gave 60% of income to the video store chain. Blockbuster declined because they were confident that magnetic tape would maintain its dominance for years. Warner responded by drastically cutting the wholesale prices of its records and Walmart was quick to take advantage of the opening: In less than a decade, it overtook Blockbuster as Hollywood’s biggest moneymaker. The DVD arrives. In 1997, this format arrived promising better imaging, more durability, and interactive features (we were so young). But it had a giant before it: in 1988, after defeating Sony’s Betamax format, VHS already controlled 95% of the home video market. And a decade later, in 1997, it was an empire: VHS rentals generated $10 billion annually for movie studios, with Blockbuster pocketing about half of that revenue. VHS had reasons not to be afraid: DVD players were very expensive, between $300 and $500, and VHS devices were very accessible. And they were not wrong: DVD sales would not surpass those of VHS until 2003, six years after its commercial release. Warner’s proposal. Warren Lieberfarb, head of Warner Bros.’s home video division and one of the key figures in the development of the DVD format proposed to Blockbuster a deal that replicated the VHS model: exclusive rights to rent the company’s new DVD releases before they hit stores for sale to the public. Warner would receive 40% of the rental income from those records. John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, had just arrived at the company after passing through Taco Bell, and his decision could be key to the company’s future. The rejection. Blockbuster decided to reject the proposal because it believed that VHS would maintain its dominance for years. As we said above, a not unreasonable assumption. Furthermore, creating an inventory of DVD movies was an unnecessary expense under the profitable and peaceful reign of VHS. Some later format releases, before the advent of DVD, possibly made Blockbuster think it had done well: JVC’s D-VHS digital tape, which allowed high-definition recording, was a flop. But Blockbuster didn’t have two things: Hollywood support for DVD and the inevitable drop in player prices. The answer. Warner Bros. responded with a strategy that would transform home cinema: it drastically reduced wholesale prices for its DVDs, in order to compete directly with the rental industry. This allowed businesses to sell records at prices that made purchasing more attractive than renting. The North American giant Walmart detected the opportunity very quickly and began to sell DVDs below the cost price, and in this way, for example, they sold their discs for 15 or 20 dollars when renting a VHS cost between 3 and 5 dollars per day. The power of Walmart. Walmart’s network of stores had power in distribution, covering the entire country, that Blockbuster could not match. In addition, it had privileged deals with suppliers and, in general, a fund and resources that allowed it to absorb the losses from the DVDs. In this way, Walmart replaced Blockbuster as the studios’ main source of income in less than a decade. This led to redefining the balance of power in the industry: the most valuable distribution channel was no longer the video store, but became large commercial stores, where consumers no longer only bought movies. Blockbuster, free fall. As is well known, It was not Blockbuster’s last catastrophic decision: in 2000, when Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, co-founders of Netflix, approached John Antioco about selling their DVD-by-mail rental service for 50 million dollarsthe executive declined the offer. A decade later Blockbuster declared bankruptcy in 2010 while Netflix reached a valuation of billions. They are not the last. The case has parallels with recent technological transitions where dominant companies have underestimated the speed of the public’s adoption of new formats: the physical media industry believed that Blu-ray would maintain its relevance against streaming. And it is also easy to draw lines that link current technology companies with the adoption of AI: who will be the next giant to fall? Header | Stu pendousmat In Xataka | VCR Virus: the anti-copy system of the VHS era that looked like something out of a B horror movie

Months ago, Mallorca began fining drivers in its ZBE. Now he has a problem with German tourists

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Joachin Fischer is one of the many (many) German tourists who like to enjoy the landscapes, weather and coves of Mallorca. For decades he has been visiting the island at least twice a year. If his name has stood out among the thousands of compatriots who spend their summers in the Balearic Islands, it is because a few months ago posed in front of the cameras of the press showing a fine, a sanction of 200 euros sent by the Palma City Council for (and this is the key) having accessed the Low Emissions Zone (ZBE) from the city with your car. fischer claims who drives a Tesla suitable for driving on the BZE, but that is not the only feature of his vehicle. Another (crucial) is that it has a foreign registration, which partly explains the fine. Your case is important because is not the only one German tourist who claims to have suffered a similar sanction in Palma. What has happened? That the activation of the low emissions zone (ZBE) in Palma is having unexpected protagonists: German tourists. The Balearic capital launched zoning a little over a year ago and months later, in julybegan to apply sanctions to drivers who do not respect it. Until then, nothing out of this world. At the end of the day, Palma City Council has only adjusted to what the Climate Change Law for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. The surprise came after time, in Novemberwhen it was found that the measure was causing friction with tourists who arrive in Palma with their foreign-registered cars, even the zero-emission ones. Why’s that? The news gave it Mallorca Diary last fall: tourists who arrive in the city with their own vehicles risk fines if they enter the streets delimited in the ZBE. And this is basically because they do not have the option of registering their license plates to process the permit. Even in those cases where they drive models that meet the technical requirements. “They are not authorized to enter the ZBE, since the DGT system is not universalized throughout the EU and each country has its own classification method, so the level of emissions of cars with foreign registration cannot be automatically verified,” They explained in November from the municipal Mobility area of ​​Palma. “They may be exempt only if they register in the system and justify their residence, meeting the established requirements.” And what is the problem? That last nuance. In the website that Palma City Council dedicates to the ZBE includes a specific section on “vehicles with foreign registration plates” in which two points are especially highlighted. The first is that “vehicles registered outside of Spain are not classified according to the criteria of the environmental label of the General Directorate of Traffic.” The second, that drivers of vehicles with foreign registration interested in accessing the ZBE must process a “authorization”a permit designed primarily for residents and owners of properties, businesses or parking spaces. The question is… And the tourists? Many of the thousands of Germans who spend their summers in the Balearic Islands rent cars with Spanish license plates with a badge that allows them to circulate without problem through the Palma ZBE, but there are also cases like Fischer’swho prefers to disembark with his own vehicle. What’s wrong with them? In November Fischer counted to the Balearic press that he had received a fine of 200 euros from the City Council for driving his electric Tesla where he shouldn’t have been. “I only entered Jaume III for a moment to pick up my 14-year-old daughter after shopping in El Born,” he lamented the man, who assures that he prefers to use his private car and not a rental one because it “amuses him” and gives “greater flexibility” when planning his trips. “Not being able to register my car, I thought that my green ecological device and the electric car license plate would be enough to avoid the fine, as is the case in low-emission zones in German cities. But that was not the case.” Is he the only one affected? It doesn’t seem like it. On those same dates the newspaper Mallorca Zeitung assured that he was receiving “more and more messages” from readers with fines. The Mallorcan press has also echoed complaints from those affected who speak of “discrimination” against Europeans with foreign cars or point out how complicated it is to register a vehicle on the list of authorized license plates, especially for those who do not speak Mallorcan or Spanish. One of the arguments put forward by critics is a note posted on the DGT page which explains that, although Spain does not issue badges for foreign vehicles, that does not have to be a problem. “If your car has an environmental label in its country of origin (Germany, Austria, Denmark, France) it is considered to have the Spanish equivalent,” he clarifies. There is who also remembers that Palma is not the only city council (neither in Spain nor in Europe) that applies mobility restrictions in the center, and insists: the rules are the same for everyone and “ignorance does not exempt from guilt.” Images | Sergiy Galyonkin (Flickr) and Đorđe Pandurević (Unsplash) In Xataka | Houses are so expensive in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands that they are expelling even Germans and British people from the market.

Mexico City began a battle against the last of its markets that sold live animals. And he just won it

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Mexico City says goodbye to a historical image: the stalls dedicated to the sale of live animals in the Sonora Marketa complex of almost seven decades located southeast of the historic center of the capital. Since January 1, CDMX applies a restriction to this type of commerce, which in practice means that stalls with cages of chickens, ducks, sheep pigeons or fish tanks will no longer be seen in the square. The veto also extends to the marketing of dogs or cats. The authorities of the capital warn that the measure aims to mark a before and after in the sector: “There will no longer be the sale of animals in the public markets of Mexico City and the example begins with the Sonora Market.” New times, new approach. “As of today, the Sonora Market begins a new stage, leaving behind the sale of animals and moving towards a model that respects the law and protects sentient beings,” claimed on Thursday the head of Government of CDMX, Clara Brugada. According to the data managed by the Venustiano Carranza district, where the Sonora Market is located, there were 84 locations (out of a total of 400) dedicated to the sale of living creatures. The idea is that they will now refocus their positions towards other areas, such as the marketing of pet accessories and food or herbalism. Precisely for this purpose, the authorities have committed to giving them financial support: about 50,000 pesos (2,400 euros) to each affected person. Why that decision? What matters, but (at least in this case) when matters even more. The decision comes after a court order that responds to a request from the animal rights group. ‘He goes for his rights’ and calls into question the sale of live animals in the capital’s markets. However, the controversy around Sonora goes back much further: in 2021 a fire which affected several locations and has already attracted interest in the situation of their animals. Complaints on the subject can also be traced years back and they explain the ruling that now forces part of the market to refocus. Those who ignore it and continue selling animals risk closing their stores or even losing their concession. Among the affected merchants there are those who consider the measure “unfair.” “We live in a country with double standards: everyone eats chicken, but criticizes those who sell it,” laments in The Country a saleswoman. Why is it important? First, for its impact in Sonora. Second, because the CDMX Government wanted to present the measure as a turning point, a change that will go beyond the venue and extend to other similar spaces. “It is a historic day in which we tell Mexico City that there will be no sale of animals in public markets. And the example is set by Sonora,” claimed on Thursday Brugada. “We are an animalistic city.” The truth is that the Sonora Market has been particularly controversial. In December the Efe agency cited to an animal rights organization that claims to have documented the presence of mutilated dogs, with ailments or even painted to pass them off as exclusive breeds. The agency assures that it is not unusual for animals to be purchased in markets that are then dedicated to unorthodox uses, such as rituals, target shooting or bait. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What does the law say? The legislation already restricts the sale of live animals, as the deputy recalled Manuel Talayero during a speech in the Congress of Mexico City in September, when was banned the exhibition of pets in cages. “Removing animals from display cases is one more step to tell society that they are not things. This initiative is a step to end something that is already in the law: the prohibition on the sale of live animals in markets.” The Animal Protection and Welfare Law of CDMX, reformed in 2023, makes clear the prohibition of “selling live animals in public markets” or places that do not meet certain minimums, which include guaranteeing “good sanitary conditions” and facilities that prevent the spread of pests. Businesses also need a permit to raise and sell pets. Are there exceptions? In case there were doubts about the role of venues like Sonora, in a resolution In November, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) clarified that “the exception to the general rule of allowing the sale of live animals in places that comply with the regulations does not extend to public markets.” The Chronicler was echoed yesterday that the Court declared that the CDMX congress has jurisdiction to legislate on issues related to animal protection. Images | Sasha India (Flickr), Thomas_H_foto (Flickr) and Carlos Adampol Galindo (Flickr) In Xataka | If the question is how to protect bees and other insects, in Peru they are clear: recognizing their legal rights

Two scientists tried to publish a paper on why we get belly button lint. And that’s where his problems began

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In 2005, writer Mark Leyner and doctor Billy Goldberg published ‘Why do men have nipples?‘, a hilarious popular science book in which they answered very crazy questions: from the reason why hair comes out of our ears to the physiological reasons why asparagus perfumes our pee. However, they were not able to answer a key question: where did the fluff of the navel? Four years later, Georg Steinhauser wanted share your answer with the world. According to him, navel lint was mainly related to abdominal hair. According to him, the hair collected the fibers from the clothing and directed them to the navel. He did experiments for three years removing breasts to see the differences! But no one wanted to publish it. Nobody? No! A magazine populated by irreducible mad scientists still resists, as always, the most basic control practices of contemporary scientific publication. Welcome to the world of ‘Medical Hypothesis‘. Against the “gentrification” of science In recent years, “evidence-based” things They have enjoyed unprecedented fame. From politics to medicine, thousands of professionals have turned to science in search of solutions to respond to the problems of an increasingly complex society. However, all that glittered was not gold: again and again We have once again reflected on one of the blind spots of the approachthat science is, by nature, conservative. Not in a political sense, but in an epistemological sense. That is, we know better what we have; but when what we have doesn’t work, it’s a problem. A problem because, without resources to investigate new optionsare forced to implement interventions that do not work, leaving many professionals with their hands tied. For good reasons, yes. But with his hands tied. It is not strange, of course, that there are people who want more diversity. This is the case of ‘Medical Hypotheses‘, the most WTF science magazine of the last 40 years. ‘Medical Hypotheses’ was founded by the physiologist David Horrobin who directed it until his death in 2003. Horrobin, who was already himself a controversial figure (the British Medical Journal defined as one of the greatest “snake oil salesmen of his time”), made a magazine in his image and likeness. Fun, refreshing and dangerous In theory, the idea was to build a respectable forum to debate unconventional ideas unconstrained by current scientific publishing standards as a way to boost the diversity threatened by academic monoculture. ‘Medical hypotheses’ wanted to be a place to bring intuitions, extravagant ideas and crazy theories. In a world like the scientific one full of certainties and phrases in the present indicative, Horrobin’s magazine was all the y-sis and conditionals. That makes it a profound magazine. fun and refreshingbut it also does a bomb box. You can also read a study that relates heels with schizophrenia that one about the similarities between people with Down syndrome and Asians. These days, without going any further, a study is circulating in tabloids around the world about If we can abandon ourselves so much that we end up dying due to pure psychology. For years, the world was a party in ‘Medical Hypotheses’. In the first issues, pioneers from some of the most developing fields of the time wrote. But its main asset is also its main problem. It is a magazine that requires a very skilled editor to be able to navigate controversial terrain without publishing malicious and even dangerous work. The end of the party When Horrobin died in 2003, he was replaced by Bruce G. Charlton. Horrobin had written down that he was the only person he truly trusted to continue his work. At the end of 2009, an article in which he stated that “there was no evidence that HIV caused AIDS” was published in the magazine. The party was over. The paper had been rejected in all research area publications until it ended up in ‘Medical Hypotheses’. He scandal It was capital and Elsevier, owner and publisher of the magazine, fired Charlton a few months later. Furthermore, in an attempt to contain the damage, Elsevier introduced a review system halfway between the original system and the peer review of traditional publications. That clearly went against the magazine’s reason for being and Hundreds of researchers protested against the decision. ‘Medical Hypotheses’ is, in some ways, a symbol of the risky, indomitable and (often) reckless science that we still need, but it no longer plays a central role in public debate. Today, the preprints (and the repositories that store these open drafts — with arXiv.org at the head) fulfill that function. A function that, despite making our lives difficult, is best never missed. In Xataka | This frog is so photogenic that it is now on the verge of extinction In Xataka | Spain turns in the opposite direction to the rest of Europe. It is part of a geological plan: close the Mediterranean Image | Pexels

The afternoon began as something more or less spontaneous. Today there are already companies that are “franchising” it to make money.

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The late afternoon has taken hold in Spain. And it has done so much that, in just a few years, it has gone from being a word that required clarification of language academics to become a kind of ‘franchise’, a brand that is incorporated into events and even business. After all, since the pandemic, Spain has shown that it is not only capable of enjoying nightlife… it also likes evening entertainment. And there are people willing to take advantage of that opportunity. What has happened? That lateness has permeated so much into our daily lives, it has become normalized to such an extent that there are those who are already dedicating themselves to ‘franchising’ it. It is not surprising if we take into account two factors. The first, that the concept took root a few years ago in Spanish society (it caught on especially during the pandemic). The second is that its link with leisure, hospitality and the entertainment industry makes it a juicy business. Especially in a country like Spain, where the population pyramid widens in the age group between 30 and 50, the public more given to advance the party hours, and lose weight among twenty-somethings, usually the most night owls. What is tardiness? In case there is still anyone with doubts in November 2025, here is a simple answer extracted from the web Fundéu official:tarardar is “spending the afternoon having drinks and tapas or with other recreational activities, so that leisure comes forward and does not extend until late at night.” That is essentially its main idea: nightlife is still leisure, but it is no longer nocturnal. Spain (country of bars) has a long tradition of evening entertainment, but the origins of the afternoon as a rising concept are not that old: they can go back a few years, to before the pandemicalthough it really gained appeal during the health crisis, when the hospitality industry (and the clients who demand its services) were forced to adjust to schedule restrictions and capacity. Was it that important? Yes. Like they explain At Bartalent Lab, it was then (during the pandemic) that the search for “alternative consumption moments during the day” took root as an alternative to traditional parties at night. The philosophy took shape to such an extent that today it is easy to find initiatives and business that put the emphasis on that concept (the “lateness”) or articles that speak of the importance it has gained among hoteliers in certain cities. In July for example The Voice of Galicia explained that, with nightlife losing steam, the evening offering was becoming a lifeline for the locals of Pontevedra. “We have been exploiting the afternoon long before it was called that,” confesses a local hotelier who organizes concerts to energize the environment, especially during autumn and spring weekends. In other cities, such as Valladolid either Saragossathere are also examples of establishments that have opted for afternoon teas. Why does it succeed? For a sum of factors. The key to being late is basically that it allows leisure to be brought forward several hours (since I said it in 2021 Fundéu), offering an offer more or less similar to the nightly one without having to pay a ‘toll’ the next day. That is, it guarantees customers an experience similar to what they have traditionally had in nightclubs at night, but without risking waking up the next morning exhausted and hungover. If you want to enjoy music, dancing and a few drinks, why have to wait until midnight? Why not bring those plans forward to six in the afternoon? The concept seems to have caught on among different generations, but there are those who point out that it has triumphed above all in the population segment of between 30 and 45 yearsa not inconsiderable market if one takes into account the drift of Spanish demographics. But that’s nothing new, right? Exact. What is novel and interesting is that this success has led to a sort of ‘franchising’ of the afternoon, with people taking advantage of the attractiveness of the concept to promote evening leisure offers or even establishments. What does that mean? What’s there premises, cultural proposals and events They are incorporating the name (and philosophy) of the Tartaro into their brands, just as if it were a business franchise. Perhaps the most obvious case is that of Afternoon Indie Cool,an initiative that emerged as an online project linked above all to an Instagram account and has grown to expand its offer throughout Spain. In fact, its first afternoon was organized in Barcelona two years ago and now similar events are held in cities such as Madrid, Malaga, Granada, Seville or Vigo, always with the afternoon as a flag. What does it consist of? The event is presented as an event that mainly combines indie music (also pop and rock), drinks and an atmosphere similar to that of festivals in well-known venues. All at a time when clubs are usually closed or warming up, between 6:00 p.m. and midnight. “They come to sing and share an atmosphere that cannot be found anywhere else,” claims David Coolfounder of Indie Cool, in an interview with The Vanguard. The formula caught on and in fact has ended up being exported beyond Barcelona. “Each city lives it in its own way, but the spirit is the same.” Its most common audience is between 30 and 45 years old, but Cool assures that the proposal has managed to attract people from different generations. “There are groups of people in their twenties, in their forties, even in their 50s. The beautiful thing is that they all share the same energy.” In their case, the Tardo philosophy is combined with a commitment to indie music, established groups and other emerging ones, a formula that works in Barcelona, ​​but also in other cities to those that have expanded. Images | Afternoon Cool (Instagram) and Jacob Bentzinger (Unsplash) In Xataka | Sex has entered a crisis in the West. If … Read more

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