broken

The German Wendelstein 7-X reactor has broken all records

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In the field of nuclear fusion ITER (International Thermonuclear Experctor reactor), The experimental reactor that an international consortium led by Europe is building in the French town of Cadarache, monopolizes all eyes. However, in the old continent we have other fusion energy machines that are also very important. The Wendelstein 7-X experimental reactorwhich is installed in one of the buildings that the Max Planck Institute has for Plasma Physics in Greifswald (Germany), is one of them. Its purpose is to contribute to the development of the technologies involved in the tuning of nuclear fusion reactors through magnetic confinement, but its formula is different from that proposed by Iter or JET. In fact, the Wendelstein 7-X reactor is a type design Stellarator. The most obvious difference between Tokamak and Stellator reactors It resides in its geometry. The former have a toroid form (or donut), and the latter have a more complex geometry that resembles them to a twisted donut on itself. However, the fundamental difference between these two designs is that the reactors Tokamak They require that the magnetic fields that confine the plasma are generated by coils and induced by plasma itself, while in the reactors Stellarator Everything is done with coils. There is no current within the plasma. This means, in short, that the latter are more complex and difficult to build. Fortunately, Wendelstein 7-X experiment is already delivering extraordinarily promising results. Global record in long -term plasma The first tests carried out in this fusion reactor between 2015 and 2018 came out as planned, so in November of this last year there came an important moment in its itinerary: it was necessary to modify it to install a water cooling system that was able to evacuate more effectively the residual thermal energy of the walls of the vacuum chamber, as well as a system that allowed the plasma to reach a higher temperature. The works required by these modifications concluded successfully in August 2022. The electronic cyclotonic resonance heating system delivers more than 1 MW of power to plasma When scientists introduce such important modifications in such a complex experiment they are forced to review everything obsessively before launching the machine again to make sure that everything will go correctly. Fortunately everything went well and in February 2023 the Wendelstein 7-X reactor reached an important milestone: He managed to confine and stabilize plasma for 8 uninterrupted minutes in which the reactor delivered a total energy of 1.3 gigajulios. But it wasn’t enough. Now it was time to submit this machine to a new maintenance and renewal phase with the purpose of going further. A year later the reactor was prepared again to carry out new experiments, and now has significant improvements. The technicians who have worked on it in recent months have optimized the control and data acquisition systems, have improved the plasma heating system and have implemented about 50 additional diagnostic tests. Of all these improvements the most relevant is the heating system because it is now capable of generating more than 1 megavatio of power in the plasma thanks to the microwave application. This technology is known as the electronic cyclotonic resonance heating system (ECRH or Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating in English). The first results have not taken to arrive. And it is that on May 22 this German reactor registered a world record by sustaining the fusion reaction through a high performance plasma For 43 seconds. To date, no other merger machine has prolonged both the triple product in long -term plasma discharges. Understanding what the triple product is is not difficult (it is also known as Lawson’s criteria). In fact, it is nothing more than a metric that evaluates the density of the plasma particles, its temperature and the time that magnetic confinement lasts with the purpose of measuring the performance of the fusion reaction. This strategy is essential because it allows engineers to determine if the fusion reactor has overcome the threshold that allows it to generate more energy than it has been necessary to use to heat the plasma. Once this point has been reached, the energy balance becomes positive and the fusion reaction can be sustained over time without investing energy in the heating system continuously. This milestone would not have been possible without the intervention of the new frozen hydrogen packages developed by the Oak Ridge (USA) National Laboratory. However, there is something else that is worth not overlooked: during the campaign that the reactor has just finished, he has delivered 1.8 gigajacles of energy, so he has clearly exceeded the 1.3 gigajulios that he reached in February 2023. Image | MPI for Plasma Physics, Jan Hosan More information | Eurofusion In Xataka | “The nuclear fusion is intrinsically safe”: we interview Carlos Alejaldre, general director of Ciemat

China has broken the dependence of the GPS in two decades. His proposal has already convinced 140 countries

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China has just published The data of your satellite navigation system (Beidou) for 2024. After the figures a geopolitical transformation is read that has not made much noise but that is full of meaning. Why is it important. The United States controlled global satellite navigation through GPS. China has created a viable alternative in just twenty years, breaking its own agency and also offering options to other countries. Beidou began as a Chinese military project in the 1990s. Today it is recognized by the United Nations as a global satellite navigation provider, integrated into eleven international organizations. In figures: The Chinese satellite navigation sector invoiced 79.9 billion dollars in 2024. That is 7.4% more than in 2023. Beidou processes more than one billion daily location requests (it is not a False Friend: one billion). And guide 4,000 million kilometers of navigation every day. Besides… 288 million Chinese mobile phones already integrate Beidou. The system covers 99% of urban and rural roads in the country lane precision. Yes, but. Beidou has not displaced GPS as a dominant global standard. Most current devices use several satellite constellations (GPS, Beidou, Galileo, Glonass) to improve precision and reliability. The 140 countries that use Beidou do it mainly as a complement to GPS, not as a total substitute. And they adopt it differently: More than 30 African nations They have installed continuous reference stations for high precision services in agriculture, water management and weather monitoring. In Latin America, ports like Chancay’s in Peru They integrate Beidou In smart navigation systems. In Asia and the Middle East, several countries use Chinese constellation to complement transport and logistics services. The majority does not completely replace GPS, but adds Beidou as a second option to reduce dependencies or improve coverage in regions where US signals are weaker. One of Beidou’s strengths is his best coverage in the southern hemisphere. In 2020 he completed his global scope. Between the lines. China has not defeated GPS, but has achieved something equally valuable: reduce its critical technological dependence. The United States can no longer cut access to satellite navigation as a diplomatic weapon against China. And now what. Beidou marks the Chinese patron: not completely replace Western systems, but to create viable alternatives that reduce strategic dependencies. Not to compete, but build your own parallel reality. As Huawei has doneamong others. Satellite navigation is only the beginning. China replicates this strategy in 5g, AI and renewable energies. In Xataka | China is turning its roofs into power plants. He has achieved in three months what in Europe costs three years Outstanding image | Xataka

In his plan to take the subway to every corner of the province, Granada has broken the cable that takes the Internet to its villages

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The expansion works of the Granada Metro to the Metropolitan Area, specifically to the municipalities of Churriana and Las Gabias, They started in September 2013. After six years of line operation between albolote and armilla (touring a good part of Granada along the way), this extension was key to connecting Granada with two of its closest municipalities. A work that began with delays, whose completion was scheduled for summer of this 2025 and that, along the way, is causing occasional headache to its neighbors. Who has stepped on the cable?. On April 9, who writes these words had to move to the center of Granada from the municipality of Las Gabias for a simple reason: he had no internet connection (or wifi, or dat0s). A blackout that left without connection To a good part of the town of Las Gabias and adjacent areas. Digi technicians confirmed to us in later days that the incidence occurred because of a human error in the subway works, affecting the fiber optic ducts of a good part of the Teleoperators. And who has step on it again?. Just a month after the first incident, a good part of the southern zone of Granada has left without connection again. Local media They report that, on this occasion, the rupture has affected the municipalities of Churriana de la Vega, Armilla, Las Gabias, Gabia Chica, Hijar, El Ventorrillo, Vegas del Genil and border areas. Civil Protection affirms That a break in the works at the height of the Armilla Air Base has affected Movistar and Masmobic fiber optic services. Repair. Technicians contacted with Xataka explain to us that fiber optic ducts contain tubes of different operators. If the breakdown affects the full duct, there are several companies that run out of the Internet. If the rupture is severe, the wiring of both ends is completely replaced and merges with the undamaged to restore the normality of the service. It is a process that, depending on the severity and affected area, can take from a few hours to be completely solved. Some locations began to recover the connection from 10:00 p.m., although there are still many that are still without it at the time we write this article. The Granada Metro. Granada has been trying for years expand your subway line as part of its metropolitan transport plan in the Granada area. Some areas They are already advanced by 50%and local surveys place the satisfaction of its users in a remarkable alteither. Since its inauguration in 2017, the Metro has contributed to the decrease in the use of the private car in the city, improving air quality and redoubling efforts to Install air pollution sensors. Has managed to increase the number of public transport users. Despite problems related to Shocks, abusesand political discussions After its implementation, the Metro convinces the local population… even if they cut the cable from time to time by human errors. Image | Granada subway In Xataka | More and more public transport networks are going to renewables. And the Málaga subway is the last example

The broken bones of a dog from 16,000 years ago tell an important story: it was already our pet

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Although sometimes we forget it when We look at certain dogsthese animals were wild one day. It is not clear to what exact time Dog domestication beganbut what is evident is that, for humans, it was A ‘technological’ revolution. There are hypotheses that point to a domestication that would have occurred 40,000 or 20,000 years ago, but the most consistent tests point to Some point 14,000 or 17,000 years ago. There are several deposits in which evidence of the existence of the dog has already been found as a domestic animal, being the specimen found in Guipúzcoa the oldest known to date. In 2021, however, we found more than archaeological remains of a domestic dog: we find the proof that, in the stone age, Humans already worried about these animals. Maybe Not as much as nowbut there are those who think it was when we started to be ‘Pet Friendly’ as a species. The Paleolithic dog and the two sides of our early coexistence with them The discovery occurred when a group of speleologists was exploring the Cave of Baume Traucade to the south of France. In a cavity about 160 meters underground, they found something unique: a practically complete skeleton of an adult bitch. And the analysis Recently published It allows us to know all the details of the copy. The researchers consider that it is the remains of a dog of about 26 kilos of weight and a height to the cross of about 62 centimeterssimilar to that of a current Husky. With about 16,000 years old, it is in the category of “Paleolithic dog.” This represents the transition stage between the Wild and domesticated specimens. Even so, as impressive as their conservation, taking into account their age, they are the brands they found. Mietje Germonpréfrom the Institute of Natural Sciences of Belgium, led the analysis and Comment That the humans of the Paleolithic began to collect wolf puppies from their burrows and to raise them at home as ‘pets’. The good condition of its bones allowed a comparative analysis with Lobosmodern dogs and other prehistoric fossils, but above all something caught attention: trauma marks. The team of researchers found evidence of several broken vertebrae that had healed, indicating that those humans of the past were already worried about caring for dogs when they were injured. However, the story of this specimen has a traumatic end. Literally. In addition to the bones that managed to heal, the researchers also found two sharp wounds in the scapulae that did not heal. This suggests that they occurred shortly before the animal’s death and, above all, that those wounds were produced by human weapons. It is impossible to know if he died at the hands of the tribe that took care of it or a rival faction, but it seems clear to infer that, in those early years of domestication, The relationship between dogs and humans was tensewith interest on the one hand, but fear and violence on the other. And, although finding that moment in which the dog ceased to be a wild animal and became our best friend is fascinating, it is also to verify how that company during millennia is causing that Dogs continue to evolve. The key? Our relationship is now not so based on work, but in closeness. Image | Paul Bill In Xataka | There is someone whose brain is synchronized when you look into his eyes. And that someone is your dog

The Eurovision voting system is broken. And that has led to becoming a propaganda tool

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Eurovision has attracted the eyes of the entire continent this weekend (the audiences in RTVE were stratospheric), although this year a series of lines that place the contest in an awkward position have been crossed. The participation of Israel, controversial from the first moment, and the overturning that the scores gave at the last moment have put on the table the idea of ​​the Use of the system for political propaganda purposes. And the fault is, in part, of the way of scoring. What happened. That a series of events took place that, separately, could not attract attention, but that added to an unusual edition, with cross accusations and, more than ever, a festival in which music has been relegated to an absolute background. Israel starts lazy → Israel received few points from the jurors of the countries. Only Azerbaijan gave him 12 points, which left him in the tail of the scores, with just 60. Robo in the scores → but with the points of the televoto there was a dramatic turn: he received 297 points of the public, with 12 points in 13 countries, including Spain. Many others gave him the 10 points of the second position. Israel led the classification until the last moment, when Austria received the points of the Televoto and surpassed it for just a dozen advantage. How to vote. The voting system goes beyond a mere “first the jury, then the public”, and carries with him A account of a certain complexity: The European Radiodifusion Union computes the votes of its spectators, collected by call, text message or internet. Each person can vote up to 20 times, but not by their own country. The spectators of non -participating countries (“Rest of the World”) group their votes and count as if they were one more country (which also allows to vote to countries like Israel). Next, a list of the most voted options in each country is prepared and the same points as the jury: 12, 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points, regardless of the number of people you have voted are awarded to the first 10. That is, it is not about how many total votes are those who remain above but simply that they are The most voted In each country. These points of the public are worth half of the total, which enables radical modifications in the jury’s decision, as has happened this year. Made the law, made the “trap”. That system explains that it is relatively simple to mobilize certain political positions to vote in one direction or another. David Saranga, acting director of the Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, admitted to the Ynet portal, as stressed See youthat his body intervened in previous years to promote the vote to Israel, achieving 12 points by the public. Influential profiles on social networksmatches of right and means opposed to government They served as a speaker for a positioning related to Israel that resulted in votes. Not so much televoto. The voting system It has evolved With the passage of time. Until 1997, the winner decided on national jurors, without direct participation of the public. Between 1997 and 2008, the televoto by telephone and SMS was the main system and the jury was only used as support. Since 2009, the current mixed system was established: 50% of the result comes from the televoto and 50% the professional jury. The intention was to avoid precisely situations such as those that have been seen in this edition, although they have led to mass votes in the opposite direction, as happened with the Victory of Ukraine in 2023. Spain protests. This propaganda work that, despite the statements of Saranga, has been camouflaged as spontaneous movements by high Israeli charges as Israel Minister of the Diaspora, Amichai Chikliit fits perfectly to Eurovision rules. That has not prevented RTVE from asked the European broadcasting union open a debate about “the appropriate” of the Televoto and if it is being manipulated by political interests. In addition, as announced by the public channel itself in its news, it will request an audit that specify and break down the voting of each country. TVE against Eurovision. This audit, of being held, will be the last confrontation of the public channel and the European broadcasting Union. Before that, last Thursday, in the presentation of the second semifinal, The presenters Julia Varela and Tony Aguilar said that “this year RTVE has asked Eurovision for a debate on Israel’s participation in the festival. The victims of Israeli attacks in Gaza already exceed 50,000, and among them, more than 15,000 boys and girls, according to the United Nations Organization.” Those words earned a warning to RTVE, who responded with a poster before issuing the contest positioning in favor of Palestine. Melody’s failure. It has been suggested that the low classification of Spanish representation could have to do with this conflict between RTVE and Eurovision. And that his position 24 is not something that we are precisely unusual in Spain: in the last twenty years, We have remained in positions below 15 times 16 times. This year the perspectives were better: the forecasts put it among the first 15. Not having an apparent explanation for the debacle, conspiracy theories were launched blaming these bad results to the pro-palestine position of the government and RTVE. It was then when He put on the table The idea of ​​manipulation in voting. Header | RTVE In Xataka | Film rooms are becoming “show rooms” of all kinds. The best example: Eurovision

We thought that the olive oil sector was so broken that the olivers were losing 270 million euros. Is more than double

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When Jesús Cózar, general secretary of UPA Andalucía, gave a press conference saying That “the olive growers have stopped receiving 270 million euros in the month of March, or what is the same, more than 8 million daily, due to the current situation of ruin prices in origin,” many raised an eyebrow. That’s the milkmaid accounts, they said. Now a team from the University of Jaén, the University of Córdoba and the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training has calculated the alleged imbalance of the oil market and a clear conclusion has arrived: Cózar fell short. Market imbalance? In general terms, we can conceptualize the olive oil market as if it were a huge equilibrium machine: the final price of the oil arises from a balance in which many things intervene; But above all, the total stocks and the expected demand. If there is little oil, as happened in recent years, the price tends to rise until the demand fits the amount there is. If there is a lot of oil, it occurs just the other way around. Well, with that principle in mind, we can evaluate whether the market is unbalanced: that is, if the price is above or below what it should be. That is what they have measured. After weeks and weeks with the fly behind the ear, the Provincial Council of Olive Oil of the Provincial Council of Jaén requested a report on the current market situation. To evaluate the real situation, the UJA/UCO/IFAPA team has used a series of new computer analysis models of imbalances. According to your conclusionsthe price of the AVE in origin should be between 5.55 and 6.14 euros/kg. The fork is due to the fact that some data are still missing and the final production can reach between 1.29 and 1.5 million tons. What does this translate? Basically, the 270 million euros spoken by the Secretary of the Andalusian UPA are an anecdote: what the Spanish olive groves are ceasing to receive are 626 million euros. From October to March, the average price at source in these months has been € 4.49. That is, one euro below the minimum estimated price in the study. What is happening? They don’t even know. A few days ago, Juan Luís Ávila, the head of the Olivar de Coag sector He wondered “What is happening in the market so that prices remain artificially low.” In fact, he is preparing a complaint with the National Markets Commission and the competence to find out. Why is it interesting? Because All this situation (That arrives, remember, at a particularly delicate moment for the olive industry after years of crisis and hoping that this year would be resolved) is very complicated: it is still clear that, Despite the weight of Spain in the sectormarket mechanisms are easily alterable. And not even in contexts Where we have the “pan for the mango”there are useful instruments to have it controlled (or even know that everything is working correctly). Image | FERI TASOS In Xataka | In the middle of the largest commercial chaos, olive oil seems immune thanks to a factor: consumption in Spain

I had to look twice the price of the cmf phone 2 pro to believe it. Nothing’s submarket has broken the mid -range

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Launch a sub -run and that their products end up stealing the prominence to the main brand. It is something that happened to Xiaomi in the mid -range with little, and something that will get CMF with your Phone 2 Pro. The company has just presented a new model with a value for money that, in increasingly expensive mobile times, is an overwhelming victory over its direct rivals. The Specs. A quick review to have context. MEDATEK DIMENSITY 7300 (same processor that some companies introduce in mobile phones of more than 400 euros), 5,000MAH battery, 6.77 -inch HDR 10+ screen with 3,000 shine nits, triple camera (50 MP, 8 MP angular and teleobjective of 50 megapixels). If we add the 8 + 128 GB of memory, the six years of security updates (three operating system) and the amount of accessories that we can add (covers, interchangeable lenses, wallet), the set is winner. The price. 249 euros for the 128 GB version and 279 euros for the 256 GB, the most recommended by far. A Little x7 It went on the market at a price of 299 euros just three months ago, with similar specs (some better, others worse than those of this CMF). Be that as it may, launching a mobile of 249 euros in the mid -range is an exception. If we analyze the market in search of similar mobiles, we find alternatives such as Moto Edge 60 for 429 euros, or the Galaxy A55 for 479 euros. Nothing. CMF is a nothing sub -which, curiously, begins to offer even more interesting alternatives. A year ago the company launched the Nothing Phone 2Aa phone with a 7200 dimensity, a screen with less brightness, less cameras, less support and weakest sparces. Its price was 329 euros and, still, it was a good figure. He Phone 3a Pronot so far in Specs regarding this phone, costs 459 euros. I do not hide, I have had to consult twice the price of CMF Phone 2 Pro before preparing this piece, since I thought it was some kind of promotional offer. Those 249 euros put on the table a CMF that not only offers an alternative quality-price against their direct rivals: it is a price that positions it as an even more attractive candidate than some of his nothing brothers. Exception or norm. Nothing has not detailed how the CMF supply chain works, but we know that the CMF PhonE 1 is manufactured mainly in India. Given the tariff uncertainty, it will remain to check if this phone is an exception (as was the OnePlus 3 in its day offering high range at a ridiculous price), or if the socioeconomic and geopolitical context prevents again to enjoy such a price. I have it quite clear and, in the absence of trying it, I have a clear candidate to recommend when they ask me for an economic mobile. Image | CMF In Xataka | Nothing Phone (1), Analysis: Hype’s mobile is much more than a transparent design and some LEDs

The pistachio market has broken

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He pistachio It is news. And it is told of something that a priori has little to do with the fields of the United States, Iran or Türkiye in which it is cultivated: the viral success of A chocolate prepared in Arab Emirates. It sounds like gallimaties, but that is the peculiar situation with which companies in the sector are now. As the Dubai chocolate (A sweet basically made with cocoa and pistachio) gains fame worldwide, the demand for this last fruit has shot up until reduce your stock and shoot prices. “It’s basically exhausted,” companies warn. A viral chocolate. Dubai chocolate has two different birth dates. One is that of its launch, In 2021when the Emiratí Fix dessert chocolatier decided to combine cocoa, pistachos and Kadayif Turk on the same tablet. The second is December 2023, date on which A video of Tiktok which already exceeds 124 million views (and growing) made it a viral phenomenon. From that moment and despite the fact that their ounces are not exactly cheap, Dubai chocolate unleashed a real fever and became an object coveted by the Foodies. Pulling the market. Such was its commercial success that Dubai chocolate inspired home versions … and imitations. One of the most popular (or at least media) was presented just a month ago by the Lidl supermarket chain. Its tablets, made by JD Gross, its “Premium Chocolates” brand, cost 4.49 euros (quite less of those popularized by Fix) and launched as part of a limited edition that was sold only for a few days. The result: queues, a delusional sales rhythm (there is talk of an average of 72 tablets dispatched per minute on the Tiktok channel) and resale in Vind At triggered prices. @Mariavehera257 @fixessertchocolatier wow, Just Wow !!! Can’t explain How Good these are! When chocolate, dessert and on Piece of Art Meet This is What You Get! 🍫 “Can’t Get Knafeh of It,” “Mind Your Own Busicoff,” and “Crazy Over Caramel.” Order on Instagram Chatfood or Deliveroo and Let Me Know What’s Your Fix? Instagram: Fixessertchocolatier #ASMR #FoodSounds #Dubai #Dubaidessert ♬ оригrian And the pistachio broke. The sale of imitations, the viral videos of Tiktok and the resale at exorbitant prices in Vinted were not the only consequences of the chocolate fever. Another place where it has been felt (and with forcefulness) is the world pistachio industry. I told it a few days ago Financial Times in An article In which he explains that the demand for Dubai’s tablets has fully impacting the supplies of this fruit, aggravating his world’s shortage and shooting his prices. As proof, it provides a data revealed by the Chicking Ch Hacking company, based in the United Kingdom: if a few years ago the pistachio pound was paid at $ 7.65, right now that same amount is quoted at $ 10.30. “Practically exhausted”. The phrase It is of Giles Hacking, of CG Hacking, and clearly and concisely describes the situation that, in his opinion, is going through the industry: “The pistachio market is practically exhausted at the moment.” To understand how the sector has reached that point, nevertheless we must go beyond the tablets created by Fix Dessert. Before the Emiratí firm broke the market with its Dubai chocolate, the companies already dealt with a domestic waning stock caused by last year’s bad harvests in the US, the main exporter of the fruit. As if that were not enough, the quality of the grain led to the amount of cheap pistachio and without peel that is usually sold to make tablets. In summary: a scenario not easy for chocolateras. “The rest of the world was short”. Hacking Recognize That the starting point for the industry was no longer good, with a modest pistachio offer, and the situation had just complicated with the chocolate boom. “When the Dubai arrives and the chocolateros buy all the grains that fall in their hands the rest of the world falls short,” remember. The data of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the US is by far the main supplier of pistachios in the world. In 2024/2025 a total of 503,230 metric tons attributed, about 43% of world production. The second place, with 33%, is occupied by Türkiye, followed by Iran (17%), Syria (5%) and the EU (3%). Statista data They reflect that during the year 2023/2024 the US weight in the global market was even greater. The other focus: Iran. Financial Times Point out That pistachio offer in California was reduced by around 20% in a year, just in the 12 months prior to February. The US is, however, the only country that has given signs that the pistachio distribution chain has tensioned coinciding with Dubai chocolate fever. Iran, another heavyweight in the dry fruit market, has also seen how its market experienced draft changes. In the six months prior to March 2025, the country exported 40% more pistachios to the United Arab Emirates than throughout the previous 12 months, according to the Iranian customs service records. The photograph is quite different from that of the sector in 2023, when the world supply of grain exceeded demand and ended up shaking prices. A challenge (more). The truth is that pistachio scarcity coinciding with the Dubai chocolate boom, the elaboration of homemade versions, the sale of commercial imitations and even the appearance of new products that incorporate the fruit (the supermarket chain WM Morrison He has launched Easter eggs with pistachio cream), adds a new headache for the chocolate industry. The Lidia sector for a long time with its particular cocoa crisiswhich has affected to stock and pricesand now also faces the effects of the commercial war and the crossing of tariffs between the US and the rest of the nations. Images | Flickr and Brenan Greene (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | The best pistachio, that of Madrid: this is how the capital of Spain wants to become the capital of the dry fruit

The Spanish administration is obsessed with AI. Granada and its broken street monitoring is the last test

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Granada has just embrace a new system to monitor in real time the status of its urban elements. One based, of course, in artificial intelligence. A car, Lidar sensors, high precision GPS and a municipal management platform responsible for collecting this data for later treatment. The news comes a few weeks after the Traffic light implementation with AI to regulate the state of traffic in one of the most chaotic roundabouts in the city. They are evidence of an obsession of the Spanish administration of a time to this part: automate processes with AI. That road is broken. The damage on public roads are inevitable. And it is the obligation of the State responsible for repairing them with immediacy. In fact, if you suffer an accident for poor state of some road, you are protected by article 106 of the Spanish Constitution. This establishes that any individual will have the right to be compensated for any injury that he and his assets suffer whenever the injury is “a consequence of the functioning of public services.” The plan. Granada wants to be aware of the damage in its urban environment, both on roads and in the rest of its streets: painted, infrastructure in poor condition, damage of all kinds. To do this, in collaboration with Innovasur, it will implement a car equipped with hardware capable of capturing in real time the status of the urban environment (through cameras, Lidar and GPS), sending this data to a management platform responsible for monitoring the information. The objective is to monitor large surfaces in a short time, and provide complete information to the city to expedite operational efficiency. AI, AI and more. Granada’s plan joins the wide list of Spanish cities using AI for things. Cordova already regulates Some of its traffic lights with AI to detect pedestrians with disabilities, Santander has one of the greater urban infrastructures related to the world, and Valencia already proves artificial intelligence functions to prevent natural disasters. Spain is not at the forefront in AIalthough we do not stop seeing new projects related to it. The main doubt? The one we always have with AI: It is not trustworthy. The Spanish transpiés with AI. The Ábalos case is one of the most recent and sounded in this “bad” cloud. Some of the transcripts of the statements of Judge Leopoldo Puente or the former Minister José Luis Ábalos were made with AI tools. The results were absolutely terrible. Something even more serious happened recently with the National Police: I had been using an AI for six years to detect false complaints. An AI whose reliability Now we know it was quite debatable. Modernizing administration is useful and necessary. As long as we base these tools on reliable methods. In Xataka | The infrastructure boom for AI begins to show cracks: China accumulates unreasonable data centers, and is not the only one Image | Martin MassonWaymo

The international wine market was already broken, but a single idea has put it against the ropes: 200% tariffs

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13%. That is the magical figure because, given the uncertainty of what will happen to the tariffs, that is what the “main consumer country in the world“For Spanish wine. In 2024, to get an idea, they were sent 97 million liters valued at almost 400 million of euros. That’s why The announcement of a 200% tariff and the letter of the United States wine alliance (USWTA) recommending “Sorted to US companies that They suspend all the shipments of wine, liquors and beer from the EU “has fallen like a jug of cold water in a sector that was already very scrambled. And that has not even been a big surprise. In December 2024, after Trump’s choice, Exports fired 23%. And, during these months, many Spanish wineries have been protecting preventively anticipating the sending of reserves to American soil. What has surprised has been the entity of the coup: no one expected a 200% tariff and, although was suspended, As I pointed out Jose Luis Lapuente, general director of the Denomination of Origin of Rioja, “much more harmful than tariffs itself is uncertainty, not knowing.” That is precisely what is behind the USWTA letter: despite its efforts so that tariffs do not apply to goods that are already in transit, the US government has refused to give a clear answer what it will happen. If companies do not suspend shipments, they could meet huge losses overnight. “Deep concern” Last Thursday, the Brussels Regions Committee hosted an emergency meeting of the intergroup of wine to ask the commission to “take out the wine from the tariff war.” And, a priori, it seems that the pressures have had an effect because the union left out of his countermeasures to wine, sparkling and the American bourbon. In this context, it is not only to avoid more reprisals from the White House and prevent European wine sales from collapseing in the US, it is about Protect huge investments that the sector (and union) have done in the North American market during the last decade. “The tariffs announced by the US are totally unjustified in the particular case of the wine if we consider that currently the tariff difference between the rates that apply the EU and the US is minimal,” reasoned the general director of the Spanish Federation of Wine, José Luis Benítez. However, we have already seen in recent days that the Trump administration strategy is difficult to understand. In fact, it is a measure that does not convince anyone … “This will be great for wine and champagne businesses in the United States,” Trump wrote when he threatened with the 200%tariff. However, not all American producers They agree. Because, although it is true that the price increases can ‘rekindle’ the interest in the broths of the country, we talk about a fragile sector, overloaded and very touched by the fires and droughts of the main producing area, California. Not only that. As John Williams explained at CNNfounder of Frog’s Leap, a winery in the Californian Valley of Napa, US wineries are just a very small part of the commercial chain. If tariffs harm distributors, the problem will be rapidly generalized. In the end, “we all depend on the same distributors. The health of these companies is important for wineries around the world,” said. … and that can become counterproductive. Because, the American tariff system has peculiarities that can end up running the market completely. The clearest example is that “the US customs and border service. offers reimbursements of certain rights, taxes and fees paid for imported items, provided that the company exports similar articles. ” That is, the big distribution platforms can end up flooding the most expensive European products market as a strategy to compensate for the price of tariffs. Although, in reality, the background problem is another. That world wine is going through a very bad time. In September 2023, Luigi Moio, president of the International Wine Organization, climbed into a gallery in the heart of La Rioja and said “Vineyard’s start was something inevitable.” And it’s not just La Rioja, of course. In France (which can serve us as proxy of what happens in the international sector), already It has been assumed That 100,000 hectares of vineyards will have to be started – in fact, they have launched a plan to start about 30,000. It is the only way that the sector finds for a devilish situation: that the sector does not stop growing, but These floods “They are not enough to cover production costs and farmers’ needs.” And in that context, tariffs arrive. Are we facing a? Image | Chuttersnap | Mika Baumeister Xataka | We already knew that Spanish wine was on its way to collapse. What we didn’t know was that drought was going to accelerate it so much

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