blow

Spain had a completely saturated electrical grid. And then data centers arrived to blow it up even more

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Imagine a highway on which not a single vehicle can fit anymore. But the problem is not that there is a lack of asphalt, but that the cars do not know how to drive efficiently and keep kilometer-long safety distances. The Spanish electrical grid was exactly that. It had been operating for years at the limit of its administrative capacity, and suddenly, a convoy of trucks of industrial tonnage and voracious appetite has arrived at the access ramp: data centers. These megainfrastructures, pillars of artificial intelligence and the cloud, promise to water the economy of millions, but their brutal need for supply threatened to burst the seams of an already saturated electrical system. To avoid collapse and not let the reindustrialization train escape, the Government has had to react and radically change the technical rules of the game. Cascading capacity collapse. To understand the collapse we have to look at how our way of consuming energy has changed. The energy transition is profoundly reconfiguring the model throughout the national territory. Requests to connect to transportation and distribution networks have skyrocketed. In addition to the electrification of industry and renewable hydrogen, there is now massive consumption associated with data centers for artificial intelligence. The problem broke out when the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) established a “dynamic criterion” to calculate how much access capacity was available in the areas shared by several network nodes. As detailed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) in his press releaseapplying this criterion means that a single access requested at a node can cause a “cascading effect that drains capacity in the rest of the nodes that share the area”, blocking requests from dozens of kilometers away. Basically, a large data center asks for passage and, automatically, the system administratively blocks neighboring nodes as a precaution, even if physically the cables have plenty of space. Investments in the air and the ghost of the blackout. The consequences of this traffic jam directly affect the real economy and national security. Real estate and industrial paralysis. The situation is so critical that, as we already mentioned in our previous coverage citing the Asprima employers’ associationlast year only 12% of connection requests for new urban developments were granted. There are 350,000 homes at risk simply due to lack of electrical power. The risk of an electrical “zero”. The Official State Gazette warns that the increase in installations that are not able to withstand “tension gaps” poses a very high risk. If there is a disturbance and these generators are massively disconnected, exchange flows are produced that are incompatible with Spain’s limited interconnections with Europe. As the diary recalls The Countrythe objective is to avoid at all costs a repeat of massive blackouts like the one suffered by the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025. It is not enough to put more cables. In areas limited by this dynamic criterion, it is no longer possible to enable new capacity simply by investing money in reinforcing the network with “more copper.” The expert in the sector Joaquín Coronado sums it up perfectly: the demand must be 100% active; It must provide flexibility and commit to the stability of the system. The Government’s emergency surgery. To unclog this Gordian knot, the Government and regulators have launched a three-way shock plan: The new Royal Decree of MITECO. The Ministry has been brought to public hearing (until March 16) a standard that updates the technical requirements to connect to the network. The master key is that now it is required that the demands “withstand voltage gaps”, do not introduce adverse oscillations and maintain the quality of the wave. By forcing installations not to disconnect in the event of small disturbances, the number of nodes affected in shared areas is reduced. This simple technical measure could bring out 50% more capacity in about 900 knots of connection to the high-voltage network. The “flexible permits” of the CNMC. To put an end to the binary model (either I give you all the capacity or I deny it), the CNMC has proposed four new types of permits, as we already broke down in Xataka. These range from allowing consumption only in certain time slots, to “dynamic” permissions where the operator can remotely disconnect a data center if there is an emergency on the network. The “technical amnesty” for data giants. In parallel, the Ministry of Industry has been urgently removed the “off-peak” requirement. Previously, to receive aid, you had to consume at night, an absurdity for a data center (which operates 24/7) and for today’s Spain, where solar energy has brought down prices at midday. The citizen cost and the fine print. The Government’s maneuver not only responds to a national emergency, but also places Spain as a pioneer on the continent. The country is anticipating the update of the European network codes, deploying a battery of technical specifications simultaneously that is already considered a milestone worldwide, as detailed The Country. In this deployment, the new regulations also settle a historical debt with energy storage: batteries will finally have their own specific regulatory framework, no longer being administratively treated as simple “generation by analogy” facilities. However, this deep digitalization so that the network supports such a complex mode of operation will not come for free, and the bill for modernization will end up looming in the consumer’s pocket. Forecasts for 2026 They already estimate direct increases in citizen receipts, with a 4% increase in tolls and a not inconsiderable 10.5% in electricity system charges. And while citizens assume the technical cost, the data giants – recipients of this regulatory red carpet – prefer to remain cautious in the face of the eternal Spanish bureaucratic obstacle. The technology sector warns that a key piece of the puzzle is missing: If the Government does not expressly include the National Code of Economic Activity (CNAE) corresponding to “Data Processing” in the official list of sectors entitled to receive the million-dollar electro-intensive aid, all … Read more

Peru gave the keys to a giant door to China that the US now wants to blow up

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For years, Chancay was a secondary port on the central coast of Peru, one linked to regional exports and with a limited weight in international trade. Everything changed when, at the beginning of the 2010s, the project began to transform into a megaconstruction designed to receive the largest ships in the world, a leap that culminated with the entry of Chinese capital and the inauguration of a work called to redefine the country’s role in Pacific trade. A giant door to the Pacific. Peru has now become the central stage of the rivalry between China and the United States for a very specific reason: the Chancay megaport, a deep-water infrastructure north of Lima that acts as a direct gateway between South America and Asia and that has elevated the Andean country from a trading partner to a strategic piece. As we said, with the capacity to receive the largest cargo ships in the world and accelerate the flow of raw materials to China, the port symbolizes how a logistics project can alter regional balances and place a country in the middle of a dispute between powers. The direct notice. From the Washington Department of State, the Donald Trump administration rated case as an example of how “cheap Chinese money” can erode national control over critical infrastructure, an unusually harsh warning in pointing out that Peru could be losing sovereignty over one of its critical infrastructures, after a court ruling which limits the ability of the national regulator to supervise Chancay. For the United States, the message is clear: Chinese money, presented as cheap and fast, has a long-term political cost. A case that has become an example of the US strategy to stop the expansion of Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere and regain ground in a region that it considers vital for its security and global leadership. China and the Silk Road in Latin America. It we count some time ago. For Beijing, Chancay is a key piece of its Belt and Road Initiativethe great project with which it has financed ports, roads and airports around the world through credits and state guarantees. China has been for more than a decade the main partner Peru’s commercial sector and has invested massively in strategic sectors such as mining, electricity and transportation, consolidating a deep economic relationship that goes far beyond a single port and that reinforces its presence in the Latin American Pacific. The court ruling. The spark of the conflict has been court ruling Peruvian law that orders the authorities to refrain from regulating, supervising or sanctioning the activity of the port of Chancay, considering it a private facility. The regulator Ositran, which controls the rest of the country’s large ports, has denounced that this exception leaves users unprotected and creates a dangerous precedent, by making the operating company the only one that provides a public service without direct supervision of the State. The organization has already announced that it will appeal the decision. Cosco, sovereignty and red lines. The Chinese company Cosco Shipping, majority shareholder and operator of the port, has rejected any insinuation of loss of sovereignty and maintains that Chancay remains fully under Peruvian jurisdiction and subject to its laws, with the presence of police, customs and environmental authorities. For China, the US accusations are a political maneuver and a discredit campaign, while for Washington the problem is not only legal, but strategic: who controls, de facto, South America’s great gateway to transpacific trade. Peru trapped between two powers. The country is thus in an uncomfortable positionwith China as its main trading partner and the United States as a strategic ally and military partner, even designated as a main non-NATO ally. While Washington negotiates the construction of a naval base a few kilometers from Chancay, Beijing consolidates its influence economy around the same enclave. The result is a nation located in the middle of a major geopolitical battle, one where a port infrastructure has become the symbol of a difficult choice: take advantage of an economic opportunity without this giant door to the Pacific ending up conditioning its sovereignty and its international room for maneuver. Image | cosco In Xataka | China has been building a megaport in Peru for eight years. It has just been released to revolutionize South America In Xataka | €10 order, €30 tariffs: the EU has just approved the mother of tariffs for Aliexpress, Shein and Temu

2026 will be a blow in your pocket if you have fiber and mobile. Unless you use DIGI

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New year, price rise. Or that’s what traditional operators have been doing practically since we can remember. But in Spain there is an operator that swims against the current: Digi. The company closed 2024 without raising pricesand in 2025 the promise has been repeated again. On the rival side, fiber and mobile from Vodafone, Movistar and Orange will be more expensive in 2026with the three large companies preparing an upward update in their rates for the month of January. The Digi paradox contrasts with this year-end: he makes less and less money with each clientand that’s just what you want to do. Not a euro goes up. There will be no price increase in DIGI by 2026announcing it officially and distancing itself from the rest of its rivals. Marius Varzaru, CEO of the company, similarly reaffirmed that in 2025 both the price of its ilimiTODO rate and the speed of SMART Fiber rates have been improved without compromising the price. A strategy completely against the flow of the rest, with a Yoigo raising fiber and mobile prices, an o2 that also entered 2025 with increasesand the three large operators on the verge of their annual rate updates. The plan. Digi wants to be, at a minimum, the third operator in Spain. Despite being a direct rival, has the agreement with Telefónicathrough which you benefit from both national roaming services and RAN Sharing (radio access network sharing). For user purposes, coverage relatively similar to that of Telefónica for much less money. Is it a profitable plan? Yes, but. During 2025, Digi has been the operator that has managed to snatch the most customers from its rivals, close to one million. Despite this, its profitability is increasingly lowergoing from 8.7 euros per client to 7.8. This would be a significant problem for an operator with low customer volume, but this is not the case with DIGI. The operator’s priority is volume over margin, something that has allowed it to catapult to fourth place in the ranking of Spanish operators. And, if it continues like this, it will not take long for it to eat Vodafone. It’s not something new. Already in 2022, DIGI managed to take over 60% of the total portability in Spain and, since then, it closes each year with close to one million new lines. DIGI is not an MVNO, it is the fourth major Spanish operatorand has the potential to continue climbing positions. For now, Telefónica seems not to be considering the purchase of DIGIgiven that Murtra’s aggressive plan does not include new acquisitions. Despite this, the only possible way to stop DIGI seems, precisely, to go hand in hand. Image | Digi In Xataka | Movistar Plus+ was making a comeback after four years of losing customers. Telefónica has decided to cut its workforce

Iberian ham has been synonymous with the highest quality for decades. Now Guijuelo wants to blow him up

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“Race is not a parameter of quality.” With that simple idea, the Salamanca town of Guijuelo wants to open a gap in one of the flagships of our country’s gastronomy: ‘low cost’ Iberian ham. With the endorsement of the Ministry of Agriculture and the opposition of the rest of the denominations of origin (which call it “deception of the consumer”), Guijuelo’s movement has just unleash a whole Civil War in the ham sector. And it’s no wonder. What has happened? That the Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) of Guijuelo (Salamanca) approved a modification of its regulations to certify, as Iberian, “hams and pork shoulders that are 50% Iberian breed and 50% Duroc”. Until now this was something that could only be done with 75% or 100% Iberian hams. On September 1, the General Directorate of Food He has limited himself to saying that the change is legal and various communities they have supported him (although others, as we will see, have opposed it). After all, The Iberian Quality Standard (RD 4/2014) covers legally this movement; as long as it is well labeled. If this had been done by a small DOP, it would have been controversial; but it surely would not have unleashed the enormous earthquake that it has unleashed. However, Guijuelo has done it: the oldest denomination and the largest in number of marked pieces. The rest of the DOPs have come out in a rush. Let us remember that there are only four DOPs of Iberian ham in the country. Well, the other three (Jabugo, Dehesa de Extremadura and Andalucía) have denounced the change because they consider it “unfair competition” and what is worse, a “trivialization” of the DOP seal and the Iberian in general. In recent days, regulatory councils, communities (especially Extremadura and Andalusia) and professional groups have announced appeals and do not rule out going to trial if Agriculture does not take action on the matter. But if it’s legal, what’s the problem? In slightly more technical terms, the conflict is not whether a “50% Iberian” ham can exist; but whether that type of ham should carry the DOP seal. We must not forget that these seals are designed to ‘make visible’ in the market a special relationship with the territory and the product. The rest of the Regulatory Councils that want to maintain stricter racial criteria (as has been customary) believe that there is a reputational risk and that it could end up confusing the consumer. And the issue of price, of course. Guijuelo is accused of wanting to burst the market by lowering prices and moving production towards less demanding specifications. The DOPs fear that the seal and label will harm livestock farmers and dryers who have been betting on higher quality standards. In fact, as reported from the Pedroches valley, the regulatory change in Guijuelo “facilitates more intensive productions (a jump in densities per hectare in “field bait” is cited within the specifications), which threatens the pasture and the sustainability story associated with traditional Iberian. And from Jabugo they assure that “Brussels said that can’t be done.” What do they say in Guijuelo? From the PDO of Salamanca, in addition to describe many of these statements as “barbarities”focus on defending that a) the movement is legal and b) that “race is not a quality parameter, food is.” And now what? The question is whether the changes to Guijuelo’s regulatory document are indeed “normal” or require the approval of Brussels. And the most likely thing, if the regulatory councils decide to go ahead, is that it will reach Brussels. Or at least Image | Tim Sackton In Xataka | A tax on ham? There are those who already propose it as the best way to eat less meat

There are more robots working in Chinese factories than in the rest of the world together. Beijing’s strategy is already a blow of global authority

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Close your eyes for a moment and imagine The country with more robots in its factories. The logical thing would be to think of Japan, and not a few would also include the United States in the quiniela. However, the most recent figures point out another destination and do it clearly: China, where robotics has ceased to be an experiment to become the daily pulse of production. It should be specified from the start: we do not talk about showcase humanoids, but of industrial welding robots, manipulation and assembly, which are transforming how it is already manufactured what speed. The last report From the International Robotics Federation offers the clearest photograph of this phenomenon. In 2024 alone, Chinese factories installed about 300,000 industrial robots, a figure higher than the rest of the combined world. In parallel, the total park exceeded two million active units, well above any competitor. In contrast, the United States added 34,000 new robots in its production and Japan lines around 44,000, confirming the magnitude of the Chinese jump. China not only competes, already dominates China’s hegemony in industrial robotics has not appeared out of nowhere. Since 2017, its factories have installed Between 145,000 and 295,000 annual robotswith a especially strong jump from 2021. Pandemia barely slowed that progression, and in 2024 the figure was again located around 300,000 units. In contrast, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Germany not only started from much more modest volumes, but also registered declines in the last statistics. The next step in the Chinese strategy was not only to install robots, but to manufacture them on a large scale. For the first time, Chinese suppliers sold more than foreigners in their own market: 57% of the 2024 facilities were of local origin. On a global scale, Japan remains the main manufacturing country (around 38% of the world supply, according to IFR). This turn reduces dependence, although it does not equals full technological autonomy Chinese industrial policy has been decisive to accelerate the transition to automation. The initiative Made in China 2025 marked the first great milestone in 2015, with the aim of REducate dependence of imports in key sectors. Six years later, in 2021, the country adopted a specific plan to multiply the deployment of industrial robots. This planning added loans at low interest from state banks and support for technological purchases abroad. The result has been a fertile terrain for the expansion of Chinese robotics. When talking about robotics, the most common image is that of humanoids as Optimus either Figure. However, the figures that place China in the lead correspond only to industrial robots: mechanical arms that weld, assemble or move materials in the production line. The report leaves humanoids out, still in an experimental phase and with very small sales. Even so, the state impulse has generated an ecosystem of humanoid -centered startups, such as UNITREEalthough its weight in the industry remains marginal. The figures that place China in the lead correspond only to industrial robots. The integration of artificial intelligence into the factory is not exclusive to China: Japan, South Korea, Germany or the United States also apply with vision systemsautomated failures and quality control algorithms. What distinguishes Beijing is the scale with which this practice has spread, until it becomes a usual component of its industrial strategy. In many plants, the AI ​​monitors real -time machines, anticipates breakdowns and adjusts processes. This broader and more coordinated deployment has multiplied the impact of automation. The technological jump also depends on the people who make it possible. China has a large number of specialized technicians, from programmers to industrial electricians, capable of installing and maintaining robots in complex environments. Even so, the demand exceeds the supply and salaries of the installers have shot, already around $ 60,000. This talent gap reflects a global bottleneck: automation does not advance with capital and machines, it needs professionals who integrate it into the factory. Chinese leadership in industrial robotics still has clear borders. Although the country already manufactures a third of world robots, it continues to depend on foreign supplies for some key components. High precision sensors and advanced semiconductorsfor example, they are still domain from Japan and Germany, with decades of technological advantage. This deficit limits China’s ability to assemble higher range robots, especially humanoids. Even with a thriving ecosystem, technological autonomy is not yet complete and marks one of Beijing’s pending challenges. Although China continues to depend on foreign suppliers, the weight of its market already conditions global dynamics. By producing and installing more robots than anyone, it achieves economies of scale that reduce automation projects and pressing international prices. Its volume also gives it the capacity to influence technical standards and equipment interoperability. In the supply chain, the center of gravity moves to Asia, forcing other countries to adapt to an ecosystem in which China marks the rhythm, even without still controlling all technology. The map of industrial robotics is no longer understood without China in the center. In the next two years, the attention will be to verify whether to reduce its dependence on key components and if it maintains the rhythm of 300,000 new annual facilities. Beijing does not hide that he wants to extend this model to emerging sectors such as humanoids and reinforce their weight in global chains. For the rest of the world, the question is not whether China will continue to lead in volumebut how to respond to a strategy that combines scale, industrial policy and technological ambition. Images | Simon Kadula | Arthur Wang In Xataka | Qualcomm believes that the 6G will be the final network for AI and has already set it: the reality is that 5G is still in diapers

Ukraine has struck Russia a blow to two “amphibious” relics of the cold war. And then he has shown it on video

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On October 18, 1960, from the Taganrog airfield, the Soviet Union presented the world with its first flight The Beriev Be-12an amphibious plane designed to perform underwater and maritime patrol missions that over time was expanding its abilities. In fact, Russia continued to keep several models used in the invasion of Ukraine. Until a few days ago. The attack against a relic. The scene took place September 21when Kamikaze drones Ukrainians reached the Kacha air base, in the Crimea occupied, attacking two of the very scarce be-12 amphibians of the Russian Navy and a MI-8 helicopter. The disseminated images By the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense they show the direct impact on one of these devices (identified With number 08) and reinforce the idea that it is the first confirmed attack against this type of aircraft, known In Russia as chaika (Gaviota) and by NATO with the name in a mail key. The action was claimed by the Special Unit “Ghost” of Ukrainian intelligence, underlining the increasingly relevant role of drones in the campaign against infrastructures and military assets in Crimea. The importance of B2-12. As we said at the beginning, the BE-12 was conceived in the sixties as an anti-submarine platform. Lost that main function decades ago, although kept in service in search and rescue configurations and, above all, as a maritime patrol to detect unmanned Ukrainian boats that Hostigan to the Black Sea fleet. With just Six registered devices In 2023 and only four or five in the operational state, the destruction or damage of two of them could mean the reduction to half of the active fleet. Although one of the specimens achieved could have already been out of service, even in that case it was valuable as a source of spare partsa critical resource to prolong the life of the model. The pressure in Crimea. Since the summer of 2022, the BE-12 have been frequently operating On the Crimea coastacting as support in the detection of unmanned vessels, recognition commands and Ukrainian special operations divers. The drone campaign of Ukraine surface, which began with suicidal models and has resulted in reusable platforms capable of launch FPV drones or even gunners, has weakened To the roller and forced fleet the construction of hardened shelters in air bases Like Belbek. The loss of specialized aerial patrols aggravates Russian vulnerability in this scenario, where early intelligence and detection are vital. The sunset of an airplane. The BE-12 has survived multiple stages of obsolescence, from the dissolution of the USSR to its Official withdrawal in 1992re -giving prominence after Crimea Annexation in 2014. However, without substantial modernizations, it lacks viability in an air environment disputed and can only perform secondary missions under conditions of Russian superiority. Its apparent final, precipitated by Ukrainian drones, symbolizes how a war marked by autonomous systems and precision attacks is dismantling the last vestiges of Soviet aviation in the region. Strategic consequences. If you want also, the attack against the BE-12 He fits the Ukrainian strategy to deprive Russia of surveillance and control capacities in the Black Sea, weakening the operating margin of the enclave fleet and undermine military logistics in the Peninsula. Beyond the tactical blow, the action reflects the War transition Towards a scenario in which cheap, autonomous and difficult to counteract systems are able to neutralize expensive and scarce platforms, accelerating Russian wear and questioning Moscow’s ability to keep an increasingly naval aviation operational relic dependent. Image | Commander, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US 6th FleetUkrainian Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Two hidden Russian soldiers wrote something unpublished to a drone. That day in Ukraine changed the rules of wars In Xataka | Italy, Germany, Sweden and Finland have done something that seemed unthinkable: throw their fighters in search of Russian airplanes

Microsoft wants to dominate AI to gross power blow

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Think of a complex so extensive that it could be confused with an industrial city, where each square meter is designed so that the artificial intelligence Do not stop for a moment. Thus the new Microsoft campus in Wisconsin (United States) is configured. The goal they announce is overwhelming: Render ten times more than the fastest supercomputer of the moment, a message with which they want to make it clear that the battle for AI is played on the computer scale. A data center of this type does not resemble that of a traditional cloud where emails or web pages are housed. It is conceived to train and execute large -scale AI models, such as those that drive applications such as Chatgpt either COPILOT. According to the American company, the project will materialize at the beginning of 2026, after an initial investment of 3.3 billion dollars. When the cloud becomes concrete, steel and many chips The cloud does not float in the air. It rises on concrete soils, with metal structures, pipes and cables that travel underground kilometers. This is how it actually materializes, and Fairwater It is intended to be the most ambitious sample of it. According to Satya Nadellathis campus will become a strategic piece to hold loads that demand each time More energy and computing capacity. In the IA competition, having data centers of this scale is more than a matter of competitive advantage. Fairwater’s key is how it organizes all that calculation power. The company explained that each rack integrates 72 GPU Nvidia Blackwell, Linked through NVLink and NVSWITCH to share up to 1.8 terabytes per second and access 14 terabytes of grouped memory. Of course, he has not detailed the exact number of racks that the campus will have and has limited himself to talking about “hundreds of thousands of accelerators” in total. Together these systems will work as a single supercomputer capable of processing 865,000 tokens per seconda figure that gives an idea of ​​the magnitude of the project, and will be part of a global network of the Azure Network Wide Network Wide Network Beyond the technology that houses, Fairwater impresses with its physical dimensions. It rises on a land equivalent to more than one hundred hectares and adds more than 110,000 square meters of built area. Civil works, according to Microsoft, has required huge figures: 75 kilometers of foundation piles 12,000 tons of steel structure 193 kilometers of medium voltage electric wiring 117 kilometers of mechanical pipes Refrigeration is one of the great challenges of any data center, and in Fairwater becomes even more critical for the chips density it houses. According to data from the Wisconsin Climatology Officethis state presents a Very marked thermal amplitude: In winter, minimum temperatures can fall below 0 ° C with abundant snow, while in summer stockings greater than 25 ° C are reached with high humidity. This variability forces us to have infrastructure that does not depend on a favorable climate, unlike locations in northern Europe where constant cold becomes a natural ally. That is why Microsoft has opted for a liquid refrigeration system in closed circuit that only requires water once during construction and then reuses it without loss. According to the company, more than 90% of the capacity works with this method, supported by the second largest water coolers in the world and in 172 six -meter -high fans that help dissipate heat. The rest of the infrastructure takes advantage of the outer air, but changes to water in the hottest days, when the temperature and humidity exceed what the environment can offer. It is a design designed to maintain efficiency throughout the year in a place where the weather does not always play in favor. Behind Fairwater there are more components designed to sustain datasets massive No bottlenecks. Let’s look at some of them: Total capacity in exabytes “Five soccer fields” size systems More than two million reading/writing operations per second in each cloud storage account Its own system that accelerates access to data and reduces latency, guaranteeing that GPUs never stop Enough optical fiber to give 4.5 turns to earth. Fairwater is, for the moment, a project under construction and many of its promises must still be tested. Microsoft states that when starting at the beginning of 2026 it will be able to perform until ten times more than the fastest supercomputer of the world, although it does not need which one refers to. The true magnitude of Fairwater will only be known when we enter into operation and we can contrast if those figures are fulfilled beyond paper. Images | Microsoft (1, 2, 3, 4) | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 In Xataka | Huawei has a plan to advise Nvidia in China: a supernod of 15,000 processors

The countries that consumed the most oil last year, exposed in a graph that is a blow of reality

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Despite the renewable boomoil remains the source of energy that moves the world. Such is the level that, although the main oil companies The path of decarbonization began supporting renewable energies, a few months ago announced a change of coursediscovering that It was the best possible bet. The estimate is that the oil market continues to grow. And this chart illustrates what the largest oil consumers were during the past year. A Burrada. With data from Energy Institutethe graph prepared by Visual Capitalist Plasma the 25 countries with the highest daily oil consumption of 2024. The estimated total was 101.4 million barrels per day, and the graph leaves no doubt: the United States with 19 million barrels per day and China with 16.4 million leads. And a lot of distance from the rest. By colors, we can easily differentiate which area (Asian includes Australia) is the one that most consumes, and also see differences by region. For example, removed the monster that are the two powers, we see that Only a South American country appears In the top or that consumption in Europe, removing Russia, is quite even. The top 10> the others. The striking thing is that the first ten consumers (USA, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Canada and Germany) represented 61% of the global fee. Among the first 20 countries, that figure increases to 80% and, in general, an annual 0.7% increase worldwide was observed. Because, as we said, despite the impulse of renewables, oil remains the main source of energy worldwide. A few months ago, the IEA (the International Energy Agency) reviewed its world supply forecasts for this year, projecting an increase of 1.6 million barrels per day and estimated that the oil demand in 2025 would be 103.9 million barrels per day. Where is it consumed? The case of India is tremendous, since in the last decade it has grown to one of the fastest rates worldwide, with 3.8% per year. And, if we see what the main oils spend on that oil, we see that the United States, for example, uses 70% of its 19 million barrels per day in the transport sector, followed by 24% in industrial use as raw material. Just 3% is consumed in residential and commercial use. In China, se esteem that half of the oil is used in transport and another large part in the industrial sector. Now, to generate electricity, although it remains a country very dependent on oil (even after Huge impulse to renewables), In its energy mix, oil is marginal, prioritizing coalthe Hydroelectricthe nuclear and the mentioned renewable. The future. And that dependence on oil is not only not being renewable, but it will go to more. If a few months ago IEA projected that increase of 1.6 million barrels per day, now OPEC+ says, as we read in Reuterswhich has more manga and can increase crude oil. And, in addition, China is also focused on becoming a Important actor in oil production. In the end, It is a very volatile market that depends on both internal tensions and conflicts and the not few active wars at the moment. But what seems clear is that, when we have the complete data of 2025, those 101.4 million barrels of last year will have been exceeded. And it will be interesting to see where the Indian brand leaves. In Xataka | How much electricity produces each country with renewable energy, exposed in a graphic

The US is dismantling the chips law. His blow will fit the semiconductor industry throughout the planet

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Donald Trump is fulfilling what he anticipated both during the electoral campaign and after returning to the White House. The Chips Law Approved in July 2022 By the government of Joe Biden He has never liked him. Has made it very clear in statements such as this last January: “In the very close future we will impose tariffs on foreign production of computer chips, semiconductors and pharmaceutical products to return the manufacture of these essential goods to the US (…) went to Taiwan; now we want them to return. We do not want to give them billions of dollars in the ridiculous driver program. They already have billions of dollars.” Three months before, in October 2024, I had already charged ferocity against this program of the previous administration In Joe Rogan’s podcast: “We put millions of dollars on the table so that rich companies came, they borrow the money and build chip companies here. And they will not give us the best companies.” The Department of Commerce has seized 7,400 million destined for chips During the electoral campaign the possibility that Donald Trump dismantled the Chips program if he arrived at the government was on the table. A priori the money that has already been delivered will not be returned to the administration, but a part of the funds remains in the hands of the Department of Commerce, which is currently led by Howard Lutnick. And the dismantling has already begun. As we explained last Friday, the US government plans Reassign at least 2,000 million dollars coming from the heading for research and manufacturing integrated circuits within the Chips Law. If this measure thrives these funds will be used to finance projects dedicated to obtaining and the processing of critical minerals. At the moment China controls extractionthe processing and distribution chain of a good part of this crucial strategic resource for many industries, such as integrated circuits, telecommunications, batteries or electric car, among others. The government plans to reallow at least 2,000 million from the game for the investigation and manufacture of chips However, this is not all. And it is that the US Department of Commerce has seized a fund of 7.4 billion dollars that was managed by the National Center for the advance of semiconductor technology (Natcast), which is a private non -profit organization. This money comes from the Chips program and was intended for the research and development of new technologies for semiconductors. The Department of Commerce has justified this seizure arguing that the creation of Natcast by the Biden Administration was an attempt to “avoid clear legal restrictions that They prohibit government agencies to create corporations“In addition, Secretary Lutnick has declared that this organization was “a bribe fund that did nothing but fill the pockets of loyal to Biden with dollars from US taxpayers.” A priori we might think that this measure only affects the US, but nothing is further from reality. Its impact will be received by the global semiconductor industry. American research has made fundamental contributions to the global integrated circuit industry, so the cut of funds for this item in the Chips Law will be a perceptible effect in this sector. As a button shows: the extreme ultraviolet radiation source (UVE) that they use ASML photolithography equipment It was developed by Cymer in the US. If we stick to Natcast’s role in the current semiconductor research, it is important that we do not overlook that this organization is involved in the construction of the extreme ultraviolet light accelerator (UVE) of Albany (New York). And also in the tuning of an Chips Research and Development Center in Tempe (Arizona). The Commerce Department has not yet confirmed What will you do with the 7.4 billion dollars That he has seized, so the future of New York and Arizona research facilities is uncertain. More information | Reuters | Tom’s hardware In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

The sleep apnea makes sleep in hell. Scientists believe they have a solution: blow shells

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Sleep but not rest, is what happens to millions of people around the world suffering from sleep apnea. This disorder occurs when, during sleep, our breathing is interrupted, something that can significantly affect the quality of our dream and, with it, to our rest. Blow shells. Now a new study has investigated “treatment”: blow shells. In a small randomized and controlled essay, a team of experts observed that the technique of blowing snails, based on an Indian traditional practice, It offered good results when reducing the symptoms of the obstructive sleep apnea. Shankha. The technique known as Shankh’s blow has its origin in a religious practice of Hinduism. The term Shankha refers to A type of marine snailown family mollusks Turbinidaelike those of the species Turbinella pyrum. A modern use. The group responsible for the study now proposes a new use for this technique, to relieve the symptoms of the obstructive sleep apnea, at least among people with moderate levels of the disorder. As the equipment defends, the technique is a simple and low -cost intervention that can relieve the need to resort to pharmacological or mechanical treatments. A modern use. The group responsible for the study now proposes a new use for this technique, to relieve the symptoms of the obstructive sleep apnea, at least among people with moderate levels of the disorder. As the equipment defends, the technique is a simple and low -cost intervention that can relieve the need to resort to pharmacological or mechanical treatments. Today, the main treatment against this ailment is Continuous positive pressure machineCPAP for its acronym in English. As their name suggest these devices keep the respiratory tract “blowing” air towards a mask that patients are placed at bedtime. Although it is an effective technique, the treatment is cumbersome and uncomfortable for those who must follow it. From the experience to science. The study, Explain in a press release Krishna K. Sharma, who led the team, emerged from the perception of the positive effects that the technique could have on this aspect of respiratory health. So he decided to test the technique. In the study 30 people participated between 19 and 65 years with moderate apneas. 16 of the participants learned the practice of the snap of Caracolas, while the remaining were assigned by way of control a deep breathing practice. Everyone had to practice for at least 15 minutes a day before being evaluated after six months. The results of the evaluation showed that the experimental group, explains the team, showed 34% diurnal drowsiness lower than the control group. They also reported less apnea and were detected higher levels of blood oxygen when sleeping. The Study details They were published in the magazine Erj Open Research of the European Respiratory Society. In Xataka | Apple Apnea detector is a new step in converting clocks into diagnostic tools. It is not clear if they will get it Image | Krishna K Sharma / Erj Open Research

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