birth

In Zambia, gas bubbles in hot springs point to an unusual birth: a new tectonic plate

by

In 2005, the floor of the Afar Desert in Ethiopia suddenly opens up along more than 50 kilometers in just a few days after an intense seismic and volcanic sequence. For many geologists, that image was like observing in real time the type of fracture that, in millions of years, could end. creating a new ocean. Zambia has just given the most serious warning. Bubbles as an almost unequivocal sign. In Zambia, simple bubbles emerging from hot springs have begun to reveal something much bigger than a local geothermal phenomenon. Scientists at the University of Oxford believe have found signs that the southern African subsoil could be entering an early phase continental fracturea geological process so slow that it is imperceptible for human life, but so gigantic that it can end up rdrawing entire maps. The key is in the helium detected in the thermal springs of the Kafue Rift: Its isotopic composition contains too much helium-3, a chemical marker directly associated with the Earth’s mantle. Translated into less technical language, it means that fluids from dozens of kilometers beneath the crust are finding ways to ascend to the surface. And that, for geologists, is an extremely serious sign that the African crust could be starting to break down from within. A silent crack beneath the continent. Rifts are not simple faults or isolated earthquakes. They are areas where the lithosphere begins to stretch and weaken until, in some cases, it ends separating into tectonic plates different. Most never make it that far and remain an unfinished geological scar, but the Kafue Rift presents something that changes the scene: a active connection between the mantle and the surface. The researchers analyzed gases from eight wells and hot springs, six within the suspected area and two outside it to compare results. Only within the rift did they appear associated chemical signatures to the deep interior of the Earth. In addition to helium, they also detected carbon dioxide with characteristics typical of mantle fluids. For scientists, this suggests that the fracture is no longer solely superficial and that the system could be entering into a tectonic phase more advanced than previously thought. Location map of the extensional zone within the Central African Plateau of Zambia. The Kafue Rift is connected to the Luano and Luangwa rifts to the northeast, and to the western branch of the EARS in the Rukwa rift (RRB) and the Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP) The possible birth of a new plate. The hypothesis is especially relevant because the Kafue Rift is part of a huge strip of geological weakness about 2,500 kilometersone that crosses Africa from Tanzania to Namibia. For years, many researchers had considered that the great candidate to divide the continent was the East African Rift, in Kenya and Ethiopia, where volcanic and tectonic activity is much more visible. However, the new study of Oxford researchers suggests that the southwest African system could have important structural advantages. According to Mike Dalythe natural crustal weaknesses in that region are better aligned with the tectonic forces acting around Africa, which would reduce the resistance needed for future continental breakup. In other words, the Zambian bubbles could be signaling the extremely slow birth of a new African tectonic plate. The continent moves, even if you don’t notice it. The investigation It also serves as a reminder that Earth is still a planet geologically alive. Hundreds of millions of years ago, all continents were part of Pangea before slowly breaking up into their current shape. That process never stopped. Beneath our feet, tectonic plates continue to shift, recycling minerals, raising mountain ranges and opening new oceans. Africa is today one of the places where this dynamic can best be observed. From the Afar Depression to the East African Rift, the continent already presents huge tectonic scars visible from space. What is happening in Zambia could be an additional piece of that continental puzzle, although scientists insist that we are talking about time scales of millions of years and not immediate changes. A geological fracture… and economic opportunity. Beyond scientific fascination, the discovery It has very real economic implications. Early rift systems typically offer relatively clean access to geothermal energy and gases valuable substances such as helium and hydrogen, increasingly important for the technology and energy industry. Unlike mature volcanic zones, where fluids appear mixed with more aggressive and difficult to handle gases, in Kafue the material from the mantle still arrives relatively “pure”. In fact, that is precisely the reason why several energy companies already They are funding research in the region. The problem is that the authors of the study themselves they ask for caution: The samples come from only a specific part of the system and it remains to be seen whether these signals are repeated throughout the entire fracture. But even with caution, the idea is so powerful that it is already on the table: in Zambia, the bubbles that silently emerge from a hot spring could be announcing the beginning of a continental separation that will one day change Africa forever. Image | PexelsDaly et al., 2020 7 Legg, 1974; Tamburello et al., 2022 / R. Karolytė et al. 2026 In Xataka | We thought we were clear about how the continents were formed, until researchers found a stone in Australia In Xataka | More than 5 million earthquakes spread throughout the Earth, gathered in a very complete map

Japan is desperate to revive its birth rate, so an idea is spreading across the country: free daycare

by

For a long time in Japan there has been a more delicate issue than unemployment, tourist overcrowdingthe relationship with China either the weakness of the yen: babies. Or rather, the lack of babies. Despite his multiple (and costly) attempts to revive the birth rate, the country has been seeing for years how its demographic chronicle is filled with catastrophic headlines. The last one arrived last Marchwhen the Government confirmed that in 2025 births fell in the country for the tenth consecutive year to mark a new low historical. Faced with such a panorama, an idea is gradually gaining strength in the country: daycare open bar in a desperate attempt to encourage the population to have children. One figure: $142,000. a few months ago Mainichi Shimbunone of Japan’s leading newspapers, echoed from a curious survey by the National Center for Child Health and Development: how much it costs to raise a child in the country. According to their calculations, taking care of a boy or girl (at least the first one) up to the age of 18 costs $141,700, a figure that is close to $170,000 if extra expenses are included. If we go down to detail, at least in 2024 the raising of preschool children was between 5,800 and 7,200 dollars annual. That figure, added to other factors, such as cultural changes, difficulties in reconciling professional and family life or one’s own aging dynamics the nation has been plunged into, leading more and more Japanese to choose not to become parents. In 2025 they signed up only 705,809 birthsalmost 15,200 less than in 2024. Lightening the load. In view of these data and with the country immersed in a “silent emergency”Japanese society has been looking for ways to make parenthood more bearable for some time. A change in the labor model has been put on the table (betting on the four-day weekly), the ban of overtime in the office or ‘pro-birth’ programs millionaireswith government support per child comparable to Sweden. Some initiatives come from companies, others from regional governments or the central Executive, but they all basically seek the same thing: to make parenting more bearable and activate birth rates once and for all. One of the measures that has sounded the loudest in recent years is free preschool education. That is, allowing families to leave their little ones in daycare. without any cost. Not all experts share that economic aid policies are going to get Japanese demographics out of the hole (they point to much more structural reasons, such as changes at a social level); but they certainly show the importance that the authorities give to the issue. October 2019. One of the most important steps in that direction was taken by in 2019 the Government of Japan. As details The Children and Family Agency (CFA), since October of that year, attendance at kindergartens, nurseries and children’s centers is free for children between three and five years old. The program also includes the same facility for children under three, but as long as their homes comply certain conditions. Since then, other institutions have moved to fully cover that group, that of children between zero and two years old. “No time to waste”. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has stood out in this effort. In 2023 It also began offering free childcare to children under two years of age. The only requirement, in a clear effort to encourage births, is that they have an older brother. In other words, the measure was limited to the second child onwards. In 2024, however, that coverage already knew little and the governor of the region, Yuriko Koike, advertisement that free birth would be extended to all children under two years of age (including first-born children) starting in September 2025. The idea, Koike stressed at the time, was to “continue promoting efforts to combat the low birth rate without sparing resources.” “There is no time to waste.” At the beginning of last fall BCNR echoed that the measure had already begun to be implemented in the Japanese capital. Setting an example. The most curious thing is that Tokyo has not been the only city that has decided to make it easier for families who want to expand. In early 2026, Urayasu, a town in Chiba Prefecture, advertisement also their plans to offer free daycare starting in April for children up to two years old. The idea was the same: to alleviate the financial burden of parents and, in the process, give a boost to the local birth rate. Your goal, according to Mainichiis to cover 55 schools in the city with an investment of almost four million dollars in 2026 and benefit 1,900 children. Is there more? Yes. With the birth rate indicators not rising and collapsing at a speed that even exceeds the worst forecasts of the experts, Japan has redoubled its bet. In April Kyodo revealed that the country has implemented a public system that allows children between six months and three years old to be left in daycare for ten hours a month. The initiative is important because several reasons. To begin with, it provides extra help to families with younger children, preschool age, regardless of whether or not they live in municipalities with similar programs. On this occasion, however, the Japanese authorities have wanted to go further: the measure does not take into account the employment situation of the parents, which also covers children of couples with an unemployed member, who until now faced certain limitations. Images | Design for Health by Ann Forsyth (Flickr) and Note Thanun (Unsplash) In Xataka | In a Japan in the midst of a birth crisis, an idea is gaining traction: late-night cafes for crying babies

Türkiye seemed immune to the drop in birth rates. Now his Government is desperate because it does not know how to stop it

by

In Türkiye 2025 was the “Year of the Family” and the decade ahead of us (2026-2035) will be that of “Family and Population”. It’s not a coincidence. Just like many other countries from Europe, Asia or America, the Turkish Government increasingly looks with greater concern its declining birth rates. Specifically there is two data that worry Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s team: the number of births has been falling since 2014, which has dragged the fertility rate to its lowest level so far this century, far from what is necessary to keep the population stable. The problem is that neither the “Year of the Family” nor the rest of the measures deployed by Erdoğan seem to be running too much. What has happened? That Türkiye has not managed to avoid the demographic winter that hits other countries in the world, such as Japan, South Korea either much of Europe. It is not just that the birth rate is falling or that the country’s demographic engine is showing clear signs of having caught the flu. The most revealing are the ‘pro-birth’ initiatives and above all the statements of Erdoğan encouraging his fellow citizens to have more offspring, which shows that the issue is generating more and more suspicion in Turkish institutions. In March, the Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services, Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas, expressed it clearly (and dramatically) during an interview: for the Executive, demography has become “a question of survival.” “Our strongest strength is the family,” the leader stressed after recalling that in a matter of 27 years Turkey has experienced the same decline in birth rates that has taken nine decades in other nations. Number of births and total fertility rate, 2001-2025. What does the data say? The last ones, published This same week by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) they draw a very unflattering scenario. In 2025, 895,374 babies were born in Türkiye, a bad figure no matter how you look at it. To begin with, because it represents a drop of 4.78% compared to 2024 and the lowest figure in the entire historical series disclosed by TUIK, which dates back to 2001. As if that were not enough, it aggravates the decline in what is known as the ‘total fertility rate’, which has been moving away from the levels necessary for years to keep the population stable. Why are they important? Of all the TUIK indicators, the ‘total fertility rate’ is probably the one that worries Ankara the most. And it is logical. It basically shows the number of children that, on average, a woman is expected to have throughout her reproductive life (between 15 and 49 years old). In 2001 this indicator stood at 2.38 births. It was good data because it far exceeded the necessary rate (2.1) to keep the population stable without having to take into account other factors, such as immigration. The problem is that since 2014 that indicator has been receding steadily until it remained at 1.77 in 2020, 1.49 in 2024 and 1.42 last year. In fact, 2025 has been the ninth consecutive year in which Turkey falls below the ‘replacement rate’, which means that if Turkey does not want to lose population in the future it will probably need the arrival of foreigners. The crude birth rate has also plummeted in the last five years. Total fertility rate by province, 2025. Can it go further? Yes. He latest report of TUIK suggests that the trend is far from stopping. If in 2017 the organization registered 57 provinces with a fertility rate insufficient to keep the population stable, last year that list had already skyrocketed to 76 territories. What’s more, what has grown the most is the number of provinces with the worst birth rates. If in 2017 there were only four with a fertility rate of less than 1.5, last year 59 provinces were in that situation. What’s more, in all of Türkiye there were only five regions where the replacement rate reached (or exceeded) 2.1. In general, Turkish women not only have fewer children, they also have them later. The average age of mothers in the country at the time of giving birth has skyrocketed in recent years, going from 26.7 in 2001 to 29.4 in 2025. There are a dozen provinces in which, on average, women do not have their first child until they are almost 30 years old. In Artvin or Istanbul, in fact, the average age for new mothers is 29 years old. What does the Government think? Türkiye’s fertility rate may have been declining for years, but still stays above of the EU average (1.34) and of course in countries like Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Spain or Mala, where this indicator does not even reach 1.2. Despite this, Erdoğan has elevated demography almost to a state issue. In fact, he has not hesitated to cross out “disaster” the country’s low birth rates and “betrayal” of fertility control. “Why not have at least four children, or five?”, recently reflected the Turkish leader, leader of the conservative AK Parti, who on other occasions has already warned that the nation is seeing its average age increase (around 34 years old) and the weight of the elderly population. What have they done about it? Beyond political discourse, its Executive has promoted different pro-natal measures. In April Parliament supported extending maternity leave eight to 16 weeks and last year Erdoğan himself advertisement that the Executive would increase its financial aid to families that have children, with the payment of 5,000 liras after the birth of the first-born. “We are also implementing financial aid per child of 1,500 liras per month for the second child and 5,000 liras per month for the third and subsequent children,” advanced. The big question is whether these measures will have an effect and will encourage Turkish births. What do people think? That’s what he tried to find out a few days ago The New York Timesthat interviewed to several Turks to find out if they would … Read more

This is how stars in birth shape the destiny of their neighbors

by

An international team of scientists has studied the clusters in which stars are born with both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb and has discovered very useful data to understand how galaxies form. Both telescopes are very good separately, but the combination of both has been the key to reaching this information. Two giants of space. The Hubble Space Telescope takes many years studying the clusters in which stars are born. It is very good at reaching far and capturing high resolution images. However, the gas clouds resist it. For this reason, James Webb has used its infrared radiation detection instruments to lift the gaseous veil that covers stars in their earliest stages of formation. Together They have discovered something interesting. That the most massive star clusters finish forming stars more quickly. It may seem banal, but it has very important implications. From cloud to star. Stars are born in star clusters that form when a cloud of gas collapses under the effect of high pressure and gravity. Therefore, we have the gas cloud, then the star cluster, and then the stars that are being born. Stellar feedback. In turn, stars can influence the birth of other stars through a process known as stellar feedback. Two things can happen. Violent processes, such as a supernova explosion in massive stars, cause gas clouds to collapse, promoting the formation of more stars. On the other hand, younger stars release a lot of ultraviolet radiation during their birth. This radiation, together with the stellar winds, causes the gas clouds to disperse, so that no more stars can continue to form. beyond the veil. Thanks to James Webb’s ability to go beyond the gas cloudsit has been possible to reach the interior of 9,000 star clusters, located in 4 different nearby galaxies. Thus, it has been possible to analyze the spectrum of light emitted by each of them. This information is used to know their mass and age. For this reason, it has been proven that the most massive clusters disperse the gas clouds in 5 million years, while those with less mass can take up to 8 million years to do the same. Okay, so what? We already have this information, but why is it so useful? The truth is that it is very interesting information, because it helps us understand how galaxies are formed. Depending on the location of the most massive star clusters, the formation of new stars will be shaped differently. As soon as the gas clouds disperse, stars can no longer continue to form, so at points where there are massive clusters there is less time for this to occur. We also learn about planets. On the other hand, as explained in a statement from the European Space Agencythis information also helps us understand how planets form. And we must not forget that around the stars are the protoplanetary disks in which the planets are born. The faster gas is removed within a star cluster, the sooner protoplanetary disks around the stars will be exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation from other stars. That means they will have less opportunity to attract gas and accumulate dust to create new planets. Everything is connected. Thanks to the team formed by James Webb and Hubble, we now know much better how it happens. Image | THAT In Xataka | We have been studying the planets of TRAPPIST-1 for years with great hope. James Webb just knocked it down

from useless grass to the birth of fascinating life

by

In 1995, several scientists who They studied ancient craters left by World War II bombs in Europe discovered something unexpected: Decades after the war, many of those holes filled with water had become small natural refuges where amphibians, insects and birds that barely found safe spaces elsewhere in the landscape thrived. A hole in the ground that ended up changing an ecosystem. In many gardens, the corners where water accumulates after rain are often seen as a problem: uncomfortable mud, grass that is impossible to maintain or small puddles that sooner or later someone ends up draining. However, in the midst of the global crisis that amphibians go throughthose spaces are beginning to look different. In fact, they had a few days ago in Economics a story that occurred on a small plot of land near a fish farm that demonstrates the extent to which something seemingly insignificant can be transformed into an unexpected refuge for wildlife. The idea of ​​building a pond that would disappear. Apparently, the owner decided to dig a shallow depression, barely about 60 centimetersright in an area where thaw and rain already accumulated water naturally before ending up being lost in a ditch. The key to the project was precisely that it was not a permanent pond. It was designed as a “vernal pool”a seasonal pond intended to fill during winter and spring and gradually dry out in summer. This detail is essential because it prevents the presence of fish, one of the greatest dangers for eggs and tadpoles. Shallow water also warms faster and accelerates the development of larvae before the pond disappears, something essential for species that live against the clock. The frogs are coming. The most surprising it was the speed with which nature responded. Just weeks after filling with rain and meltwater, five gelatinous masses of wood frog eggs appeared attached to submerged branches near the shore. Although at first glance they seemed like small isolated groups, each of these masses could contain hundreds or even thousands of eggs. The pond still had very little vegetation and just a few logs, leaves and accumulated mud, but that was enough for the amphibians to immediately identify the place as a safe breeding point. A corner of grass with no apparent use had just become a natural nursery for one of the most endangered species on the planet. The mud also attracted other species. The frogs weren’t the only ones to take advantage of the change. Part of the shore was deliberately left bare and muddy to favor swallows, which need wet mud to build and reinforce their nests. The previous year several had inspected the dwelling without remaining definitively, possibly due to lack of suitable materials nearby. Now the garden offered just what they needed. Plus: to that was added a bat box placed next to the pond, creating a small ecosystem where insects, amphibians, birds and mammals began to interact around the water. What was once a uniform surface of grass and pine trees began to transform into a much more vivid and diverse mosaic. The silent amphibian crisis. As they remembered in the middleall this occurs at a particularly delicate time for amphibians. Near of 40% of the species on the planet are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, disease and climate change that alter the rains and dry out entire breeding areas. In this context, small temporary ponds like this one are beginning to acquire enormous importance because they offer just the conditions that many species need to survive. The problem is that, being small and seasonal spaces, there are often outside the protections traditional legal systems and go unnoticed in the face of much larger wetlands. The idea that is changing many gardens. He experimentFurthermore, it leaves a powerful conclusion: a simple shallow hole can become a useful piece within a much larger network of refuges for amphibians and other species. Obviously, a single pond will not change on its own the global crisis of biodiversity, but thousands of small interventions distributed among gardens, farms, parks or schools can begin to create safe corridors for increasingly pressured animals. And perhaps the most striking thing is that a good part of these spaces already exist: they are precisely those corners of the garden where every spring a puddle appears that someone usually tries to eliminate as soon as possible. Image | Pexels In Xataka | Searching for dinosaurs in Argentina they have found a treasure that is 161 million years old. The oldest tadpole on the planet In Xataka | This frog screeches in ultrasound. We don’t really know why, but we just found out.

The key was not in the stars, but in his birth

by

If there is something more difficult than putting doors in the field, it is possibly finding the edge of our galaxy. Or any other, really. They are not perfectly well-defined spacesbut rather a kind of cloud with fuzzy edges. Even so, science has been trying to find the limits of our own galaxy for many years: the milky way. Until now it had been impossible, but an international team of scientists, led by the University of Malta, has discovered that we were defining the borders in the wrong way. Almost 40,000 light years. According to this new researchthe closest thing to an edge of the galaxy would be the place where stars stop forming. This, based on their calculations, is located approximately at a point between 36,800 and 39,600 light years from the center. That would be the radius. There are stars further away. Until now, the error was in considering that the edges of the Milky Way are those that house the most distant stars. This concept of edge is constantly being redefined. The better the tools for detecting stars, the farther away they are. However, these scientists observed that there are stars that move after their formation. Especially when a supernova explosion occurs nearby. Therefore, they could not help us define something like a border. In fact, there are stars up to 10,000 light years away. further of what these researchers have defined as a possible limit. In this case, the radius is measured in kiloparsecs, which are equivalent to 3,262 light years each. This is how stars are born in a galaxy. The first stars are born in the centers of galaxies, where there is a greater density of gas and dust. Then, as gravity allows small pockets of condensed gas to form, they can form further and further away as well. Therefore, the oldest stars are those in the center and the most distant ones are the newest. That’s not counting those that disperse and move to other points in the galaxy. Precisely the ones that had made it so difficult to find those supposed galactic borders. In search of stable orbits. The authors of the recently published study focused on analyzing stable orbits. Those whose stars have barely migrated beyond their point of origin. Thus, they have found the limit of stellar birth. Telescopes can look further. The materials are there, but something is missing. Beyond these borders there is still gas and dust. However, it has not condensed enough to guarantee star birth. Possibly, it is due to the absence of sufficiently intense gravitational processes. In any case, despite having found something resembling a diffuse edge for the first time, it is important to insist that doors cannot be placed on the Milky Way, like the field. And much less borders. Image | Freepik | University of Malta In Xataka | James Webb has found a galaxy from when the universe was 330 million years old. Hides a whole enigma

the study that reveals its birth in an isolated corner of the galaxy

by

2025 was the year of 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar visitor that telescopes have been able to capture prowling the Earth. From the beginning it was considered that it could possibly be much older than the other two, Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. However, there were many unknowns about its origin. Now, thanks to a recently published study by scientists at the University of Michigan, we have much more data on the matter. A visitor from a cold and distant place. According to observations made from the ALMA Observatoryin the Atacama Desert (Chile), 3I/ATLAS formed in a cold and isolated corner of our galaxy, before definitively integrating into its own solar system. The key is in deuterium. The observations that led to this recent study were made between October and December 2025. Several telescopes focused their attention on our interstellar visitor to observe the water on its surface and observed something striking: it had very high levels of deuterium. This is an isotope of hydrogen, somewhat heavier than the most abundant on Earth. In astronomy the deuterium/hydrogen ratio is used to estimate the age of objectssince it has been observed that the more primitive they are, the more deuterium they have. But this proportion also helps to know the temperature at which they were formed. A reaction without turning back. In the cold gas clouds in which stars form, the most abundant molecules They are hydrogen, followed by carbon monoxide (CO). Hydrogen participates in something known as deuteron-proton exchange reactions, where hydrogen protons and deuterium isotopes react with each other, forming something known as deuterated hydrogen. This is the reaction: H3+​+HD⇌H2​D++H2​ CO can compete with this reaction, making it less efficient. However, when it is very cold, the CO freezes into dust grains and cannot react. On the other hand, the deuteration reaction can occur in both directions (hence the two arrows), but if it is cold there is not enough energy to produce it backwards. All the hydrogen with deuterium that is formed accumulates. a lonely star. The fact that 3I/ATLAS occurred in such a cold environment may indicate that it possibly originated around a solitary star. If there had been other stars forming around it, it would be much hotter. Very far away now. Today, that interstellar visitor is near Jupiter, preparing to leave our solar system. It can only be observed with a few instruments. Luckily, he came to our neighborhood long enough to give us a lot of valuable information. Why is it useful information?. We already have a lot of data about 3I/ATLAS. For example, its core measures between 440 meters and 5.6 kilometers. Also that it moves at 220,000 km/h. Now, in addition, we know that it originated in an extremely cold environment, about 11,000 million years ago. This helps us understand the conditions of primitive planetary formation much better. As they always say, to know where we are going, it is very important to understand where we come from. There’s nothing like a visitor from a place far, far away to give us the pieces we need to understand it. Image |NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/M.Weiss In Xataka | A Harvard astronomer has accused NASA of hiding 3I/ATLAS images. has an explanation

the birth of the most extreme magnetic monster in the universe

by

In the vast catalog of violent cosmic events, there are explosions and then there are superluminous supernovae, which are nothing more than the result of a stellar death which is capable of shining up to 100 times brighter than a conventional supernova, challenging our understanding of astrophysics for years, since it is not known where it can get so much energy from. Now we are getting an idea. What do we know? The big news in the world of astrophysics comes from an international team of astronomers who has been able to observe for the first time the live birth of a magnetar, conclusively confirming the link between these highly magnetic stellar corpses and the brightest supernovae in the cosmos. Where. The protagonist of this discovery is SN 2024fav, a type I superluminous supernova detected on December 9, 2024 and located in the Eridanus constellation about 1,000 million light years from us. And it’s not that it is a very common phenomenon, because watching this event is like looking for a needle in an intergalactic haystack. Finding this ‘needle’ is something very precious and that is why, in order not to lose any detail of this brilliant monster, the astronomical community mobilized a network of more than 20 telescopes around the world, including the fundamental contribution of the LOCGT. Thanks to this uninterrupted surveillance, scientists obtained the observational data necessary to reconstruct what was happening in the depths of the explosion. The relativistic screech. The question here is pretty clear: how do you confirm that there is a magnetar inside that expanding fireball? The first thing is to know what a magnetar is, which is nothing other than a very dense neutron star that has a magnetic field trillions of times stronger than that of the Earth. And it is not static, because when born after the collapse of a massive star it can rotate several times per second, reaching high speeds. In order to discover it, the researchers have named what gave them the key ‘relativistic chirp’. In this way, as the newborn magnetar rotates at the center of the supernova, its immense magnetic field acts as a brake, transferring its colossal rotational energy to the ejected stellar matter, causing it to shine with such extreme intensity. What they saw. From here, the researchers precisely detected the temporal signature of this external braking. From here, the light curve of SN 2024afav fit perfectly with the prediction of the energy loss of an incipient magnetar injecting power into the supernova, so we are facing the birth of a magnetar. Its importance. This discovery not only allows us to understand why certain stars say goodbye to the universe with a blinding brightness capable of eclipsing entire galaxies, but also opens a new window to study the behavior of matter subjected to such extreme magnetic fields that modern physics can barely replicate on paper. Images | NASA Hubble Space Telescope In Xataka | James Webb has been detecting red dots in the universe for years: the only problem is that we don’t know what they are

South Korea has had the most catastrophic birth rate in the world for years. And now it has finally managed to grow

by

For a few years now, talking about demographics in South Korea has made it necessary to first take out a clinex package. Despite all his attempts (and there have been not a few) the country seemed condemned to suffer an uncontrollable ‘bleed’ of birth rates and see the seams of its economy tighten. It may sound exaggerated, but it is good to remember that he said goodbye to 2024 by declaring “super aged” and that there are academics who warn that the nation is emptying (literally). With that backdrop, Seoul has started 2026 with a positive fact: wins babies. And it also does so for the second consecutive year. The big question that arises now is… Are we facing a change in trend or just a mirage? The figure: 254,457. It is provisional data (the definitio will not arrive until the summer), but even so it has arrived like manna in a country accustomed to every piece of news about demographics involving a national drama. Last year South Korea registered 254,457 birthsa good balance no matter where you look at it. To begin with because it means 6.8% more that in 2024 and leaves the largest percentage increase since 2007; but those are only two of the possible readings. More babies per woman. Another interesting reading is the one that tells us about the “fertility rate”, the average number of babies that (at a statistical level) a woman is expected to have throughout her reproductive life. A few years ago that indicator plummeted to 0.72very far from the “replacement rate” (2.1 children per woman) that allows societies to remain stable. The data is still below that red line, but at least it has grown: in 2025 it passed from 0.75 to 0.8. Not only that. Reuters remember that the South Korean Government had optimistic estimates that suggested that this rate would grow to 0.75 in 2025 and 0.8 in 2026, which appears to be recovering positions faster than expected. In Seoul the trend is even more pronounced. There the indicator rose 8.9%, going from 0.53 to 0.63. The data is still very poor and they are far away to solve the problem that Korea has, but they suggest a change of cycle. Breaking the bad streak. That the birth rate is increasing in South Korea is news, but it is even more so if (as is the case) that growth is maintained for two years. In 2024 the country has already registered a positive fact (breaking up with eight exercises of consecutive falls) that now invites us to think about whether it has really found the right way to encourage its young people to have more offspring. Of course, the country has invested time, efforts and especially economic resources in that objective, in which it is played from the social sustainability and the march of his industry to issues as relevant as national defense. More weddings, more babies. 2025 has not only been a good year in maternity hospitals. It has also been for the wedding planners. Marriages increased by 8.1% in 2025, reinforcing the 14.8% rebound already recorded in 2024. This is good news because, in a conservative society like South Korea (the percentage of births outside of marriage It’s surprisingly low.), weddings are often considered an early indicator of a rebound in birth rates. Trend or mirage? That’s the million dollar question. That South Korea has been trying to activate its birth rate for years is undeniable, as is the fact that it has invested large resources in this effort and that they have been involved in the effort since the public institutions to the business world. However, there are other factors at play that suggest that the recent growth in the South Korean birth rate could be more circumstantial than structural. That is to say, in reality we would be facing a kind of demographic ‘mirage’. The hangover of the pandemic. When explaining the phenomenon, there are those who point to the influence of the pandemic. Not so much in the birth rate itself as in marriages. It is true that more South Koreans are getting tired and that this indicator will probably influence the birth rate in the coming years, but it is also true that many couples had to postpone their plans during the pandemic. “The number of marriages has increased for 21 consecutive months, from April 2024 to December last year, as couples who had delayed their marriages due to COVID-19 have tied the knot,” recognize Park Hyun-jung, director of the government office that analyzes population trends. He himself admits that today it is very difficult to establish a clear “correlation” between government policies and improved birth rates. A demographic with ‘echo’. There are those who point out, however, another factor that would be directly influencing South Korean demographics: history. The explanation I broke it down Rapahel Rashid recently in Guardian and provides an alternative theory. More babies have been born in the South Korea of ​​2024 or 2025 simply because the same thing already happened in the Korea of ​​30 years ago. To be more precise, more or less during the first half of the 1990s (1991-1995) there was a peak of around 3.6 million of babies who today enter their thirties and begin to become parents themselves. Reviewing history. We explain ourselves. Paradoxical as it may be, in the 1950s and 1960s Korea had a very different problem than today: a very high fertility rate which led authorities to launch family planning programs. The objective: guarantee the country’s recovery after the war. The message that was launched was very simple: have fewer children (two, one) and guarantee them a better life. It worked so well that by the early 1980s the fertility rate had fallen below the replacement margin and Seoul decided change course. By doing so, it favored the rebound that would now be heating up the birth rate. According to that theory, what we see today is actually a … Read more

Jesus was not born in the year 1 or on December 25. Here’s what we know about his actual and exact date of birth

by

With Jesus of Nazareth something curious happens. Few characters have been more celebrated, discussed and reviewed throughout the centuries. Today historians they usually coincide in which (although there is no material evidence of its existence) was a historical figure that can be framed in the Galilee of 2,000 years ago. However, despite all the attention he has received over the last 20 centuries, there are certain key details of his biography that remain shrouded in shadows. For example the date of your birth. And by “date” we don’t just mean the day, but also the year. When discussing, we could even question where was he born. The usual thing is to think that Jesus came into the world on December 25 in Bethlehem of Judea and that six days later humanity (at least the West or the West of Christian influence) entered into a new eraone in which history was dislocated into two stages that we still use today in the 21st century, whether we are Christians or not: the one before and the one after the birth of Christ (Anno Domini). Totally normal, right? That is, why else would we celebrate Christmas every December 25th, a word that comes from the Latin “https://www.xataka.com/magnet/nativitas” (“birth”)? And why do we talk about years BC and AD if it is not for the birth of Christ? Reality is more complicated and has some chiaroscuros. What do we know about the birth of Jesus? The answer to the previous question is very simple: little. Historians usually agree that there are basically two sources to address the topic of the birth of Jesus and both are reflected in the same work: the New Testament of the Bible. The evangelist gives us a clue Matthew. The other, Luke. The problem is not only the scarcity of information, but that both texts were written many decades after the events they narrate. To be more precise, around 80 and 90 AD, half a century after the crucifixion. Of course in the New Testament there are older texts (such as the letters of Paul or even the gospel of Mark, written around 70 AD), but they are of little use if what interests us is the childhood (and especially the birth) of Jesus. Taking into account the few references there are and the importance of the topic (we are talking about the birth of the central character of one of the most influential religions in history), it would be logical that Matthew and Luke coincide in their stories. It’s not like that. In their texts both offer us what experts call “chronological anchors”references that help us date the birth of Jesus, but those clues are scarce and do not quite fit together. What exactly do they tell us? Let’s see. “And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen his star in the east, and we have come to worship him. When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and Jerusalem with him.’ Matthew 2:2-4 “And it came to pass in those days that an edict went out from Augustus Caesar, that all the land should be enumerated. This first enumeration was made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And they all went to be enumerated, each one to his city. Then Joseph went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be registered with Mary, his wife, who was betrothed to him, who was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the days were fulfilled in which she was to give birth.” Luke 2:2-7 Although it may not seem like it a priori, both passages hide a small discrepancy, as explains in Wake up Ferro Professor Javier Alonso, philologist, historian and biblical scholar. The evangelist Matthew (and Luke) tells us that Jesus was born in the time of King Herod, but then Luke specifies that Mary was counted while she and Joseph were traveling to fulfill the census ordered in the time of Augustus. If we review history we see that both “anchors” they collide with each other. Herod the Greatruler under the orders of Rome, ruled Judea more or less between 40 and 4 BCyear of his death. As for the census that Luke tells us about, historians believe that it coincided with the census carried out by Quirinus in the time of Augustus, a fact mentioned by Flavius ​​Josephus. The problem, remember Alonsois that Quirinus ruled around 6 AD the region that covers Judea, years after the death of Herod. Conclusion? Both evangelists are actually drawing a fairly broad time frame, of a decade, that could be set between the years prior to the king’s death and 6 AD “There is a difference of at least 10 years between Matthew and Luke,” explains Alonso. Why do we say that Jesus was born when he was born? At this point that is the most reasonable question. If the evangelists point to a time horizon that begins several years before our era (Anno Domini), because devils Do we say that Jesus was born a few days before the 1st AD? Who and how set that date? To answer these questions we must go back a few centuries, although without reaching the era of Herod. Our attention will focus on beginning of the 5th ADwhen at the request of the Pope the Scythian monk Dionysus ‘the Exiguous’ He launched into a difficult task: calculating the date of Christ’s birth. It may sound strange that so many centuries later the followers of Jesus would worry about this question, but at stake there was a primary issue: clarifying when Easter should be celebrated (Computus paschalis), the main celebration of Christianity. Its date … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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