centuries

We have been fighting with fish bones for centuries. China just won the war with molecular scissors

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For fish lovers, carpin (gibel carp) has historically been a culinary paradox: a meat appreciated for its tender texture and its rich protein profile, but a real challenge for the diner due to its more than 80 “Y”-shaped intermuscular spines (IBs). This inconvenience has caused countless incidents in cafeterias and visits to the emergency room, but now China has made a radical decision: rewrite the DNA of the species to adapt it to our needs. The “Zhongke No. 6”. The research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), led by academician Gui Jianfang, has announced success of the creation of a new variety called “Zhongke No. 6”. Unlike other scientific advances that remain in the laboratory, this specimen is a variety specifically designed to reach consumers’ tables and transform the aquaculture industry. Molecular surgery at the embryonic level. The key to success lies in a “surgical attack” on the fish’s genome. Scientists identified the gene runx2b as the “architect” responsible for giving the order to the fish’s body to develop those 80 pesky spines. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, described by researchers Like “molecular scissors,” they cut this specific genetic code during the embryonic stage. The process has proven to be of unprecedented precision. The main skeleton of the crucian carp – spine and ribs – develops completely normally, allowing the fish to grow, swim and stay healthy. However, the biological pathway that activates intramuscular spines, the ones that really get in the way of eating, do not develop. A six-year challenge: From the laboratory to production. Although the announcement of “Zhongke No. 6” is recent, the journey began years ago. According to the scientific journal Aquaculturethe seminal study that demonstrated the viability of these spineless mutants was originally published in early 2023. That initial work was the result of a six-year systematic effort under the CAS strategic program called “Design and Creation of Precision Seeds.” This project is especially complex because the crucian carp is hexaploid (it has six sets of chromosomes), which forced Gui Jianfang’s team to simultaneously edit all copies of the genes involved to ensure that not a single spine appeared in the new generations. More than an easy-to-eat fish. “Zhongke No. 6” has not only been emptied of thorns; has been optimized for industrial efficiency. According to published technical data, this variety presents accelerated growth since it reaches “commercial size” in less time than wild varieties. Additionally, it is designed to survive in dense, intensive aquaculture environments, where diseases often decimate production. Finally, it requires significantly less feed to produce the same amount of protein, reducing costs and the environmental impact of feed. The limit of the natural. However, this scientific advance places us before an uncomfortable mirror. As official sources conclude from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this milestone represents a triumph of applied science that solves an ancient problem, transforming a difficult-to-eat fish into an efficient and safe source of protein. But, from a more critical perspective, an inevitable question arises: by optimizing every stroke of life for our comfort, what are we losing along the way? If we keep editing species so that they grow faster, are more resilient, and have no natural “defects,” we will reach a point where we won’t really know what we are eating. “Zhongke No. 6” is undoubtedly an engineering miracle, but it is also a reminder that the line between nature and the factory is increasingly thin. Image | Needpix Xataka | All the fish we eat are contaminated by methylmercury. But there are only four specific ones to avoid

The Black Death continued to hide an enigma almost seven centuries later. The answer was in some trees in the Pyrenees

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There are few episodes in the history of humanity more famous, studied and debated than that of the Black Deaththe epidemic that spread death across Europe between 1347 and 1353. However, there remained an enigma to solve, one as basic as it was relevant: Why the hell did the epidemic break out when, where and how did it do so? Why did this wave of death break out in the 14th century and not before or after? Solving a puzzle. This mystery is what Martin Bauch and Ulf Büntgen, from the GWZO and the University of Cambridge respectively, have wanted to solve in a study just published in Communications Earth & Environment. With it they not only want to shed light on one of the darkest episodes in Europe. They also show that, almost seven centuries later, the “black death” continues to be one of the chapters that most fascinates the world. Nothing surprising if one bears in mind that between 1347 and 1353 it took millions of lives in Europe, reaching mortality rates that in some regions they touched 60%. Searching in the Pyrenees. Perhaps the most curious thing about Bauch and Büntgen’s study is that it does not start in historical archives. Or that wasn’t at least his main place of work. The key to his research is in the Spanish Pyrenees, more specifically in the secular pines that they found there. When studying the interior of their trunks in search of clues about the medieval climate of Europe, they found something unexpected: a succession of “blue rings”. For most, that detail would go unnoticed, but Bauch and Büntgen saw something in it: evidence of a chain of colder, wetter summers than usual. “Unusual summers”. When the tempera falls, the trees cannot properly lignify their cells, which in turn leaves a bluish mark in the ring register of the trunk. In the Pyrenean pines, researchers found such marks that suggest that much of southern Europe must have experienced “unusually cold and wet summers” in 1345, 1346 and 1347. What’s more, when digging through libraries and written sources they found clues that point in exactly the same direction: a period marked by “unusual cloudiness and dark lunar eclipses.” The next question is… What caused this change in climate? And why is it important? The power of an eruption. Regarding the first question, researchers have few doubts. In his opinion, the drop in temperatures in summer was caused by a volcanic eruption (or even a chain of them) recorded around the year 1345 and which triggered a fatal domino effect: a considerable expulsion of ash and volcanic gases that generated a layer and caused a drop in temperatures, just as happened in other episodes throughout history. Climate, agriculture… Hunger. For the next question, why is it important that a volcano began releasing gases and ash almost seven centuries ago, the answer is simple: agriculture. The changes in climate not only left their mark on the centuries-old trunks of the central Pyrenees, they also punished the fields of the Mediterranean region, reducing crops and generating losses that threatened to lead to famine… and social instability. Against this backdrop, the powerful maritime republics of Italy did the most logical thing: chartered ships to import grain from the east, from the Black Sea area, more specifically from the Golden Hordein the Sea of ​​Azov region. It didn’t matter that Genoa and Venice were at war with the Mongols. Hunger was pressing, the threat of riots loomed and European diplomacy did its job. Already late in 1347, ships with grain began to arrive in Europe, unloading their precious merchandise in Mediterranean ports. More than grain. The problem is that in the holds of the ships mobilized by Venice and Genoa, the same ones that were supposed to prevent Europe from being besieged by famine, there were not only tons of grain. On board they brought fleas infected with Yersinia pestisthe bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague. “The exact origin of this deadly bacteria is still unknown, but ancient DNA suggests that a natural reservoir may have existed in wild gerbils somewhere in central Asia,” they explain from the University of Cambridge. The result: grain ships suddenly became vectors of a fatal disease, the bacteria jumped from rodents to humans, and the Black Death soon spread across Europe, with something much worse than famine. The ships of the black death. The rest is known history. Between 1347 and 1353 the disease killed millions of people. It is often said that the plague took the lives of 60% of the European population, a percentage that some raise to 65%, although in recent years some studies They have warned that the calculation is overstated and there were regions in which the registry was maintained. “Evidence of the Black Death can be found in many European cities almost 800 years later,” Büntgen and Bauch explain. “We were also able to show that many Italian cities, such as Milan or Rome, were probably not affected, because they did not need to import grain after 1345.” Why is it important? The study is interesting for several reasons. The main one, because it sheds new light on an aspect as basic as until now enigmatic about the Black Death. We knew about the role of Yersinia pestisabout the ships, about the role played by rodents, we knew the tragic death toll, its impact on the society, culture and economy of Europe… But we did not know why the epidemic broke out just when it did and not before or after. The succession of factors is so fascinating that researchers speak of a “perfect storm” in which climatic, agricultural, social and economic factors were added. A cocktail that, they insist, does not only speak to us about the Middle Ages. “Although this coincidence seems unusual, the probability of zoonotic diseases emerging due to climate change and resulting in pandemics is likely to grow in a globalized world,” Buntgen adds.. “It is … Read more

There is a whale that has been alive for more than two centuries. And it has things to teach us

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Stopping aging is one of the objectives that a field of science has right now that is very focused, above all, on preventing diseases as serious as cancer that can be associated with being older. Now the secret does not seem to be in a hidden book, but on a bowhead whale what is one of the oldest known mammals with a life expectancy that exceeds 200 years. A headache. This combination of size and longevity has been a problem for biologists for decades. Precisely, more cells (due to their size) and more time (due to their longevity), the greater the probability that one of those cells will accumulate mutations and turn into cancer, as happens in humans. However, this does not seem to affect the bowhead whale: it is not particularly prone to cancer. This apparent contradiction is known like Peto’s paradox. And now, a team of scientists from the University of Rochester believes he has found the key to this resistance. The importance. With the passage of time, humans accumulate different mutations in our cells that a priori They couldn’t be more important. The change of one nucleotide for another in a very complex sequence of a protein may not alter the resulting amino acid, and it is very common, since our ‘genetic photocopiers’ such as DNA polymerases they are not perfect and they make mistakes in their work when it comes to replicating DNA. And it is precisely in these errors that the probability of suffering from a major disease such as cancer increases. Above all, it is worrying when these errors accumulate throughout life. This makes finding ‘the secret of eternal youth’ crucial for humans and the control of devastating diseases. When we think about anti-aging we automatically imagine wrinkle-free skin, but beyond aesthetics, science is interested in how young the cells are. And this is where the question is that now focuses on the genome of these whales that seem to hold the key to understanding how to reverse our molecular aging. The hypotheses. Why a whale has such a high life expectancy despite its size has led to different scenarios being considered. The first of them is that the whale can have extra defenses, as happens in elephants that have evolved to have extra copies of tumor suppressor genes, such as the TP53. Basically, they have more “police” monitoring the genome so that, the moment there is a cancer cell, it is eliminated by apoptosis. But when researchers tested the whale’s cells, they got a major surprise. Unexpectedly, bowhead whale fibroblasts required fewer oncogenic “hits” (what we can say are mutations) to undergo malignant transformation than human fibroblasts. That is, they are more likely to develop cancer compared to humans. So how come they don’t develop cancer in the wild? If your cells are, in theory, more vulnerable, where’s the catch? The repair. And the trick is not in have many police officers monitoring our cells to ‘kill’ those that get out of controlbut it is about having a big toolbox to fix everything that is not normal. It is something that the team led by Professor Vera Gorbunova discovered in the cells of the bowhead whale. In this case, instead of eliminating damaged cells in a process called apoptosis, the whale had perfected the art of repairing them. Their cells showed an “enhanced” ability and fidelity to repair DNA double-strand breaks, which are the most dangerous type of genomic damage. This results in lower mutation rates than present in other mammalian cells. A protein. The person responsible for this super repair is a protein called CIRBP (cold-inducible RNA binding protein). And the name is no coincidence. These types of animals spend their entire lives in the icy waters of the Arctic, and it seems essential to activate this repair system that is present 100 times more frequent in these animals than in humans. And CIRBP seems a real swiss army knife of repair for everything it can do within the whale’s body. Something that can be summarized in the following points: It protects DNA from degradation so that it ‘holds up’ to being repaired. Reduces the formation of ‘micronuclei’, a clear sign of genomic instability and chromosomal damage. It increases the precision of DNA repair so that the genetic material ends up well assembled and without any type of error. In short, we are talking about a conservative strategy of nature: instead of discarding cells that may still be useful, the whale invests in meticulously repairing them. This not only prevents cancer, but also contributes to its exceptional longevity, as it keeps tissues functional for longer. In humans. The question in this case is whether we can take advantage of this great repair capacity within our body. To do this, the research team introduced the whale protein CIRBP into human cells and the result was a success: the protein improved the efficiency of DNA repair in our own cells. But the star experiment was done with fruit flies. In this case, the researchers engineered the flies to overexpress the CIRBP protein (both the human and whale versions) and the results showed a much longer lifespan and greater resistance to the ionizing radiation that destroys our DNA. The next step is now to breed mice with enhanced levels of CIRBP to see if it also makes them live longer, and who knows if it finally somehow becomes a drug that could be very useful especially for those people who are more likely to suffer from cancer. Cover | Wikipedia In Xataka | “Guided missiles” are revolutionizing cancer treatment. And they are already giving results

We have been wondering for centuries how the statues on Easter Island moved. The answer was very simple: walking

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Can you walk a block of stone the size of a school bus? Can a rock that weighs tons and measures several meters long be walked? The most logical answer is (obviously) no, but things change if what we are talking about is the moai of Easter Island, the unmistakable carvings sculpted and distributed throughout the Polynesian island several centuries ago through the old town of Rapa Nui. Beyond your meaningcharacteristics or design archaeologists have always wondered how the hell the natives managed to move those multi-ton masses from the quarries to the ahuthe ceremonial platforms on which they stood. The answer was just that: no more and no less than ‘walking’. An ancient mystery. There are few sculptures in the world as iconic, unmistakable and fascinating as the moai of Easter Island, the enormous rock heads that seem to emerge from the earth on the distant oceanic island. Since Jacob Roggeveen and its people arrived there in 1722, the world wonders what they were for, what they represent and of course how their creators, the people of Rapa Nui, managed to move them from the quarries to their destinations. Why is it so surprising? Because the statues, carved especially in volcanic tuff of the Rano RarakuThey measure several meters long and weigh tons. In fact, it is said that on average they are around 4.5 meters and 10 talthough there are older specimens. Taking that into account and that they had to move from the places where they were made to their platforms, how did the islanders move them? It is not a minor question if we remember that on the island there are hundreds and hundreds of statues, some have the buried torso and were manufactured mainly among 13th and 16th centuries. Their displacement has aroused so much curiosity that over the last decades it has inspired various theories, such as the one that maintains that the figures they lay down on a kind of wooden sled with ropes. Now a group of researchers he thinks he has settled the debate once and for all. And your answer has little to do with trailers, horizontal loads and logs. ‘Walking’ sculptures. The ancient legends of Rapa Nui they assured that the moai arrived “walking” to their ceremonial platforms, the ahu. And although that possibility has always sounded like a pure fable, it seems that it was not so far off the mark. Thanks to a study that combines physics, 3D modeling and field experiments, a team led by experts from Binghamton and Arizona universities has confirmed that “the statues really walked”. And the most interesting thing is that this process had very little mysterious about it. It was simple physics and engineering. All that was needed was ropes, people, paths and a special design. “After studying nearly a thousand moai, Professor Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt discovered that the inhabitants of Rapa Nui probably used ropes and ‘walked’ the gigantic statues in a zigzag pattern along carefully designed paths,” he explains. a statement launched by Binghamton University. Is it something new? More or less. The theory itself is not new. In the 80s a Czech engineer (Pavel Pavel) already raised that the moai moved upright thanks to a system that propelled them from two points. Carl Lipo himself and his colleagues they argued does years that the statues “walked” with vertical and oscillating movements, contravening the hypothesis that the people of Rapa Nui transported them upside down with the help of logs. To prove it they even did a practical demonstration that attracted interest of National Geographic. Despite these efforts, there were still critical voices that questioned the theory. And that is what Lipo and Hunt have now wanted to settle by deploying their entire arsenal. From the theory… To the facts, which is what the investigators have done. For prove the validity of his theory and better understand the movement of the carvings, Lipo and his colleagues turned to high-resolution 3D models and thoroughly studied the shape of the moais, both those that remain upright and the dozens that fell by the wayside when their creators tried to remove them from the quarry. Not only that. The team also incorporated practical tests into its argument. Practical tests? Yes. The researchers built a moai of 4.35 tons and they dedicated themselves to moving it with the help of ropes. The result is fascinating and Binghamton University itself has taken care of divulge it on YouTube. The team needed just 18 people to move the moai 100 meters in 40 minutes. “Once it gets moving it’s not difficult. People pull with just one arm. It saves energy and it moves very fast,” comment Professor Carl Lipo. “The tricky part is getting it to swing in the first place.” That experience, added to the 3D models and the rest of the analysis, demonstrates, in the opinion of the archaeologists, that their theories “really work.” And to silence voices they have captured it in a paper published in Journal of Archaeological Science with a headline as revealing as it is provocative: “The hypothesis of the walking moai.” Have they discovered anything else? Yes. The researchers identified certain “distinctive characteristics” in the design of the moai that, a priori, made it more feasible for them to advance with an oscillating and zigzag movement with the help of the ropes. What features? The archaeologists quote two specifically: “wide ‘D’ shaped bases and certain inclination forward” (between 5 and 15º). To be more precise, the experts appreciated bases wide and roundedespecially in the moai that were left halfway, which suggests that the islanders used them to move them (the design served to lower the center of gravity). Then, once the figures reached their destination, they carved them to settle them. Another of the clues they have found is in the paths used by the islanders of Rapa Nui. Its width (4.5 meters) and concave cross section invites experts to think that roads were “ideal” … Read more

The female pockets are so useless that they became meme. The serious thing is that they have centuries to be

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A trend a little less than two months ago on social networks call Claw Grip It showed how women held several objects – mild, keys, wallet – in one hand, because the pockets are so small that there are hardly any pañuelos package. What seems a fun occurrence is, in fact, a daily photo of inequality in clothing design. “Has pockets”. It looks like a pretty silly phrase, but among women finding pockets in the pants is an almost impossible mission. The expression has become the forced comment, already converted into a cultural meme. In social networks, frustration has become digital activism. With hashtags like #Wewantpocketsthousands of users denounce the absurdity that in the 21st century it is still exceptional to find a garment with useful pockets. The data reflects it. According to the pudding studywomen’s pockets are on average 48% shorter and 6.5% narrower than men. In fact, just 40% of female front pockets can save a smartphone. The consequence is in sight: pockets unable to put a phone, a small wallet or even the full hand. The contrast is even more ironic if we think that, in parallel, many men They start buying bags As a voluntary accessory, while women continue to claim pockets out of necessity. More than fashion: autonomy. The pocket is not a simple aesthetic detail: it allows you to leave home without a bag, with your hands free, without depending on loading an accessory to carry the basics. In a report for the BBC They have detailed that in feminist history it has been claimed as a tool of freedom. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British voters summarized it in a clear slogan: “votes and pockets”, Remember Caroline StevensonDirector of the Cultural and Historical Studies Program of the University of the Arts of London. “It is interesting that a pocket became one of the symbolic forms of counteracting the desire for women’s independence and freedom,” he adds Elizabeth Evitts Dickinsonauthor of a new biography about the American designer Claire McCardell, a pioneer in trying to solve this problem from fashion. For them, having their own space in the clothes equal independence, not to depend on a husband or a bag. The case of little Golden Cameron, eight years old, demonstrates it: indignant because girls’ school pants had no pockets, he wrote to the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain asking for a solution. After viralizing its letter, the company modified its designs. The episode, counted in another BBC report, It shows how even girls detect textile inequality from an early age. A problem with historical roots. In the seventeenth century men enjoyed pockets reited in pants and jackets, while women used Small little bags tied to the waist Under his skirts. That difference implied more than fashion: a woman’s value objects were hidden under layers of clothes, quickly inaccessible and dependent on the design of the dress. The situation worsened in the nineteenth century, when the tight fashion that directly eliminated female pockets was imposed. “Depriving pocket women was also depriving them of liberty,” Explain The Atlantic. In addition, after the years, fashion reinforced the stereotype that the female body should prioritize aesthetics over functionality. Christian Dior verbalized it in 1954 In a phrase that still resonates: “Men have pockets to save things, women for decoration.” The catwalks are pronounced. And it is that the debate continues to speak today. Some brands, such as Chanel or Saint Laurent, have been incorporating pockets as a gesture of modernity for some time. In the 2022 Oscar, Penelope Cruz surprised with a chanel of pockets, something that stood out as an unusual detail On the red carpet. In parallel, independent brands such as The Pockets Project o Sports clothing firms have made a wide pocket an emblem: leggings with mobile space, cocktail dresses with secret pockets. But in Fast Fashion reality is another: false pockets, useless seams or ridiculous sizes. The problem is costs, As the BBC points out: Adding real pockets implies more fabric and more preparation time, something that clashes with the tight fashion margins. The pocket as a social reflection. The debate, in reality, is not just textile. An interesting report by New York Times, deepens more than the absence of pockets is linked to bag dependence. In other words, the bag sector is a global market that moves more than 8,000 million dollars. Fashion seems to have pushed women towards mandatory bag consumption, while men leave home with their hands. It is no accident that in 1937, when Diana Vreeland assumed as editor of Harper’s Bazaar, proposed to dedicate an entire number From the magazine to the pockets. In his autobiography DV remembers that the idea was immediately discarded by the pressure of advertising: “Do you realize that our bags by bags are millions a year?”, Its director warned. The anecdote reveals to what extent economic interests also weighed in what seemed like a simple clothing detail. In itself, the pocket is a mirror: it shows how for centuries the male fashion privileged functionality, while the female sacrificed autonomy in the name of aesthetics. Everything remains the same. Five centuries after men released sewn pockets and women were relegated to hidden bags, the debate is still in force. What is expressed in networks with memes, hashtags or the uncomfortable gesture of the Claw Gripactually points to a deep issue: who has the right to dress with autonomy and who is still conditioned by designs that prioritize aesthetics and the market on equality. Therefore, when a woman proves a dress, pants or skirt, and exclaims: “He has pockets!”, He is not celebrating only a sewing detail. He is celebrating a small triumph in a long struggle: that of being able to keep the same, on the same. Image | Freepik Xataka | From six -digit liftings to a German Viper Serum: Hollywood’s new obsession is “liquid surgery”

During centuries Galicia was a thriving land of olive groves with unique varieties in the world. What changed it is still a mystery

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If you think of Galicia, in their landscapes, probably the first thing that comes to mind is your sinuous coastline, your beaches and cliffsserpentant channels such as the Sil River as it passes through the Ribeira Sacra, castrosleafy Atlantic forests, grasslands with cattle … The list is extensive (and diverse), but probably the olive groves are not included, a stamp that usually associates more to the peninsular south. It was not always the case. There are indications that Galicia had an interesting relationship with the cultivation of the olive trees that can go back to the times of Gallaecia. When that link declined and what were the causes of the sunset and that the olive tree does not prosper are issues that still generate debate among experts. Olivos in Galicia? Yes. And its relationship comes from afar, it is rich and has inspired researchers who have identified in Galician lands A wide catalog of unique native olive varieties in the world. The indications are suggestive, although I recognized years ago The historian Lourenzo Fernández during a days held in Pontevedra and focused precisely on the olive trees, shadows are still in that bond. “There is no specific historical, nor bibliographic research that will address the presence of Olivos in Galicia,” explained. Looking at the Roman Gallaecia. The link between Galicia and the olive tree can be traced at least Roman Gallaecia. In the middle of the last century, during an excavation in an area of ​​Vigo that is called precisely Oliveira, archaeologists discovered a Roman deposit which included bricks, bases, a mortar, mills, amphorae … and an oil press, among other vestiges. “It is thought that it could be a villa or factoring by the oleic press found, the only example appeared in Galicia. The possible relationship between the obtaining of oil and the olive tree in Vigo was also pointed out, in ancient times, with the activity that would give name to the place,” Explain The Quiñones de León Museum, where the remains rest, although those responsible recognize that the scarcity of remains of oil and amphorae lamps in the environment can be interpreted as a “lack of consumption.” Leaving its mark. Vigo’s is not the only proof of the interesting historical link between Olivo and Galicia. There are ethnographic studies that show that in the region there are dozens and tens of place names related to olive trees, olive groves, oil and similar references. Years ago at least 70 were counted. The CSIC has also identified about twenty varieties of native olive trees, unique in the world, and there is a record of specimens standing from the 18th century, the oldest in the community that are still alive, according to a analysis done years ago. A “very present” crop in Galicia. The presence of olive trees in Galicia put it in value since The industry itself to the organisms public. “The olive culture was very present in Galicia since the time of the Romans. The primitive settlers ate olives, although they did not know the methods of extraction of the oil. The Romans are those that introduce the knowledge of these methods that are transmitted by the territory. Galicia became one of the conquered territories of which the most oil went out to Rome in the second and second centuries.” They detail From Ribeira Sacra tourism. In the community it is not strange either find References of traditional oil mills in which the fruit was used. “In Galicia there were olive plantations, in some cases, of large dimensions, that if we follow some sources they would have been possible thanks to the introduction of this crop in our land by the Romans,” historian Felipe Aira explained in January An article of The voice of Galicia that he remembers how the Jews and Judeoconvers used the ‘liquid gold’ in their kitchens and at least part of the olive trees were preserved in the properties of the church, even after their decline in Galicia, for their value for the elaboration of the liturgical oils. And the great unknown arises. All The chronicles that tell the link between the Olivos and Galicia end up reaching the same question: what explains that their cultivation ends up losing weight? Why Galicia It ceased to be an olive grove? Or even simpler … Why didn’t they remain expanding until they occupy a relevant weight in the Galician fields? As Lourenzo remembered in 2018, shadows are still and a long way to explore “about the presence of Olivos in Galicia. His story is splashed with legends and inaccuracies, he said recently A chronicle Fiftymil, but is usually pointed to a complex sum of political, economic, demographic reasons and the reality of agricultural farms. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Of the Catholic Monarchs to Count Duke of Olivares. When the history of olive tree is explained in Galicia there are two names that are usually repeated: the first, the Catholic Monarchs; The second, Count Duke of Olivares. An extended theory ensures that the former, Fernando II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castilla, adopted a series of decisions about taxes and reorganization that punished the Galician plantations and favored that olive trees be started in the region. But … why? There are those who say that the purpose was to favor the repopulation and crops of the newly reconquered lands of the Peninsular South. Others argue that in their decision, more political factors would have weighed and that when the Galician olive trees sought to penalize the territory and their aristocracy. The “Doma and castration from Galicia, “said the intellectual of the twentieth century, Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao about the policies of the Catholic Monarchs. The context is key and was marked by the defeat of Juana la Beltraneja, and therefore of the nobility that supported her in her cause, and the Irmandiños rebellion that developed in Galicia. The shadow of olive groves. The theory is even more extended that if there … Read more

The return of the blue dragon after three centuries

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In recent days, several bathers have been paralyzed in front of a strange finding: a tiny be blue, floating mouth on the foam of the sea. His silhouette seems a cross between a marine jewel and a character out of a pokeball. It shines in electric tones, displays appendages in the form of wings and moves with the lightness of an acrobat. It is the blue dragon (glaucus atlanticus), a nudibranchium that barely measures four centimeters, but has caused the closure of whole beaches. In Guardamar del Segura (Alicante), the council of beaches defined it to the information With humor as an army of “Pokemons doing pirouettes.” The comparison may sound sympathetic, but behind its lovely appearance there is a warning: this animal can chop and cause painful reactions. Minipokémon on the beach. In recent days, the people of Guardamar del Segura in Alicante has become an epicenter of the phenomenon. On beaches such as Vivers, Centro and Ortigues, the City Council has been forced to raise red flag after the detection of specimens by lifeguards. Although it has not been the only place, because very close to there, on the beach of La Mata (Torrevieja), dozens of blue dragons have also been located, which has confirmed that it was not an isolated case, as they have indicated In local media. A visitor that expands. The blue dragon is not limited to Vega Baja. According to the countryspecimens have been recorded in Mallorca, where they have not documented for more than three centuries. Also in Santa Barbara in Cádiz and on several beaches of the Campo de Gibraltar, such as Sotogrande and the line, which had to close by caution. To this list are added Canet d’e Berenguer (Valencia) and Famara (Lanzarote), where bathers and authorities also notified their presence. As experts have explained National Geographicthese animals reach the shore dragged by currents and winds of lift from the high seas, their natural habitat. Behind these dragons. The glaucus atlanticus floats mouth and wears a striking electric blue with silver tones that make it look like a fantastic creature. His deployed appendices inevitably remember characters such as Vaporaeon or even gyarados of the Pokémon saga. However, its appearance hides a sophisticated defense mechanism: when feeding on jellyfish and hydrozoos, the blue dragon accumulates its urticating cells at the ends of its appendices, becoming an animal capable of causing cutaneous reactions. According to National Geographictheir bites are not lethal, but painful: they can cause a sensation of intense burning, nausea and vomiting. Is there a real danger? The scientific community asks for calm. “Close beaches for three or four specimens is an overreaction because there is no scientific evidence of its danger,” says Juan Lucas Cervera, Professor of Biology at the University of Cádiz In statements to El País. The Municipal Biologist of Torrevieja, Juan Antonio Pujol, agrees that documented lesions are slight and that they often confuse with jellyfish bites. Opportunity for science. Beyond the tourist alarm, the appearance of the blue dragon opens a window of knowledge. The University of Valencia and the Oceanogràfic, together with the University of Alicante, have received living specimens to study their genetics, origin and behavior, as the information has detailed. In this way, researchers will be able to confirm whether these individuals come from the Atlantic and arrive at the Strait of Gibraltar or if they begin to consolidate in the Mediterranean. Pujol has remembered in chain to be That is not an invasive species: it was already described in the Balearic Islands in 1705, although its presence has been extraordinarily rare. Security recommendations. The authorities and experts insist on four basic guidelines: Do not touch it under any circumstances, even with gloves. Do not capture it or take it to lifeguards; It must remain in the sea. Notify surveillance services to register the sighting. In case of bite, go to the health center and avoid home remedies. A fascinating case. The blue dragon has generated a stir in full tourist season, thanks to its rarity and beauty. Some point to climate change as a possible cause, but experts ask for prudence: although the Mediterranean has reached record temperatures Of more than 28 degrees, there are no conclusive evidence to directly relate its proliferation to global warming. Beyond theories, science celebrates a unique opportunity to study a species as striking as unknown. With unique behaviors – found on his back to camouflage himself, he is a hermaphrodite and can put 10 to 30 eggs in his prey – the blue dragon symbolizes how much remains to be discovered in the seas that surrounds Spain. Image | Poyt448, Peter Woodard Xataka | The sea is 30 degrees in the Balearic Islands and that worries meteorologists: the Mediterranean is a pressure cooker

We have centuries studying the different types of clouds. What tells us the shape and color of these atmospheric phenomena

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The atmosphere of the earth hides about 12.9 billion liters of watermore or less. And a good part of that water is in huge clouds that we see fly over our heads as if nothing. These huge atmospheric objects captivate our imagination in childhood, but we often stop thinking about them during our day. Knowing them can help us pay attention to them. What is a cloud The clouds are essentially water, a lot of water. Steam -shaped water, small drops and Even small ice crystals that remain in suspension in the atmosphere. This water becomes visible when condensed, generating a contrast with the blue of the sky. The clouds circulate in the atmosphere dragged through the differences in pressure and the wind that they generate. They also move as a result of the land rotation itself, since the solid surface of the earth does not rotate in the same way as the atmosphere. The clouds can be of very different types that we classify according to certain conditions, such as the height to which they occur. For example, when the clouds are formed at surface height, we do not even usually refer to them as such, but as a fog. But the fog is still a type of cloud. How a cloud is formed The atmosphere keeps water vapor, small H2O molecules that are mixed with the other gases that make up the atmosphere. The amount of water that the atmosphere can store in the form of gas depends on factors such as temperature and pressure. There is a threshold from which the atmosphere Water “sat”and that is when this water can begin to accumulate. This accumulation is good when the amount of water increases or because atmospheric conditions make the threshold reduce, and implies that the molecules go from being a gas in suspension to form microscopic water drops. When these drops, still in suspension, accumulate, the clouds are formed. Types of clouds and characteristics The clouds are usually classified according to two fundamental characteristics: Your altitude in the atmosphere and its appearance. According to its altitude, three types of clouds are distinguished (with an additional case), groups that the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet) call of “high floor” (the highest altitude), of “middle floor” (intermediate altitude) and those of low floor (those of minor antura), to which we must add the clouds of vertical development. There are different terms with which referring to these clouds, for example we can speak sympleously of high, medium and low clouds. High floor clouds The high -floor clouds are those that are at heights between 5 and 13 kilometers on the ground, and include cirro, circoum and cirrostrates. Cirrus: According to Explain Aemetcirrus are clouds of the high floor, separate and “in the form of white and delicate filaments, or banks or narrow, white or almost white bands.” Cirrus. Piccolonamek, Commons. CIRCOUM: It is a thin layer of clouds, white and shadowless, “very small elements” in the form of grains or undulations. Circummers. King of Hearts. CIRROSTRATE: These clouds for their part acquire the appearance of a “cloudy veil”, also transparent and rather white, only that this type of clouds covers the sky, totally or partially, producing “halos.” Cirros and its characteristic halo. SeanMack Medium floor clouds The clouds of the middle floor are located at heights between two and seven kilometers, and can also be of various types: altocumulos, high, and nimbostratos. Altocúmulos: The altocumulus are already located at medium heights. It is a bank or cloud layer that can be white or gray. Its structure can varybeing formed by “tiles”, “rounded masses” or “rollers”, structures that, in turn, can be “partially fibrous or diffuse,” Explain Aemet. Altocumulos. Bidgee Altostrates: This layer of clouds usually has gray or bluish colors, it can also have a fibrous appearance, it is characterized by totally or partially covering the sky allowing to distinguish vaguely, but unlike cirrostrates, it does not produce halos. Altostrates. Famartin. Nimbostrates: These clouds form an already dark gray layer, with “appearance veiled by rainfall or snow precipitation”, rainfall that usually falls from it more or less continuously. Nimbostratos. Famartin. Low floor clouds The low floor clouds are those located at heights of up to two kilometers and can be of two types: strata and strata. Stratocumulous: Again clouds that can acquire a gray color, or, on other occasions, whitish with dark parts. Stratocumulous. DjClimber. Strata: Generally gray clouds, uniform base (relatively), which can produce drizzle. The halos in this cloud only occur when very low temperatures are reached. Strata. Couch-Scratching-Cats. Vertical Development Clouds Finally, vertical development clouds can also be of two types: clusters and cumulonimbos. Clusters: These are clouds that arise in isolation, dense and well -defined contours. These clouds develop vertically with the form of “protuberances”, “domes” or “towers.” Clusters. Piccolonamek. Cumulonimbos: Finally, the cumulonimbos are clouds that Aemet describes as “Amazacotadas and Dense”, of vertical development “in the form of a mountain or huge towers.” On his cusp, a top “smooth, fibrous or striated.” Cumulonimbos. NOAA/AOML/Hurricane Research Division. How much water is there in a cloud? The clouds are ethereal objects, “cotton” and with a density low enough to keep afloat at a certain height in the atmosphere. However, they are also huge, so the amount of water they can house is enormous. A few years ago, a group of researchers proposed answer the question How much water is in a cloud. The truth is that the answer can vary greatly since the volume of these atmospheric phenomena can be the most diverse. However, the team made an estimate based on a 0.5 grams of water per cubic meter of cloud. The team took as reference an average cluster, an cloud that would have a cubic shape and a kilometer long. The result: this imaginary cloud would contain about 500 tons of water. Larger clouds, of course, would be able to house an even greater amount of water. In Xataka | “We are changing the clouds”: … Read more

In Spain there is a surname that was for centuries a social conviction. Today thousands and thousands of people use it

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In North Korea there is a word that marks the life of its 26.4 million inhabitants from the cradle: Songbuna term that is usually translated as “origin” or “seed” and that in practice works as A caste system based on the merits of the ancestors. If your grandparents and parents have a good file that translates into a good Songbunwhich guarantees facilities throughout life. Discol ancestors with the regime carry the opposite. In Spain Songbun It sounds distant concept, but for a long time there were certain surnames that complicated the future to those who took them, including an especially popular one that they share today tens of thousands of Spaniards. Surname question. Babies do not arrive with a bread bar under their arm, but they do with something that defines them much more: surnames. Its history is long. And complex. In Rome they already used the Tria payrolla system that identified citizens with several ‘labels’ (roster and cognomen) that went beyond the simple first name and revealed the family clan from which they came. With the passing centuries, surnames have evolved to the current system, sometimes with key changes, such as the driven In the sixteenth century by Cardinal Cisneros and that contributed to the fact that in Spain we have two surnames. But … And when are there no parents? Each of us we have taken surnames of our parents, but … What happens when that figure does not exist? What happens to ‘uprooted’ babies who were abandoned to the gates of churches and end up creating in orphanages, without a known family? In those cases it had to pull inventive, although it was not strange that the institutions resort to certain formulas standard that if for something stood out it was their total lack of touch. In even many children received surnames such as incognito, Diosdado, white or lying. In Catalonia, it was also resorted to Deulofeua formula that can be translated as “God did”. And that to quote only a handful of examples. On other occasions, more imaginative solutions were chosen, such as religious references or the place where the creature had been found, a frequent practice for example in Gipuzkoa for a good part of the nineteenth century. Antton Iparraguirre had a few years ago in Basque newspaper How between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries there were quite a few orphan from Pamplona who received the surname Goñi in tribute to Don Ramiro de Goñi, benefactor of the General Hospital. Distribution of the surname Expósito (as the first last name). The last name of the “abandoned”. Another helpful solution (much less discreet) was surname Expósitoa word that comes from Latin expositus, Exponowhich means “put out.” Expósito thus became the last name of the abandoned, those creatures that their parents disregard because they could not afford their parenting, for shame or because their parents had not recognized them as legitimate. His luck was to end up care of the State or the Church, breastfed by nodrizas. Only the luckiest ended up prohibited. More than a last name. “Expósito was and is more than a surname, it is a label that pointed to both the person who had unknowns, unknown parents, as well as their descendants, since it proclaims the four winds that at some point the origins are uncertain,” Write The genealogist Mireia Nieto in great -grandson. In Your essay On the abandonment of children between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the Pamplona orfelineo, historian Lola Valverde also recalls that the figure of the Expósito was presented in a way as that of “a condemned by society.” “As if he were guilty of his situation and to accept his destiny without rebeling, educational approaches are outlined,” he reflects. The last name exposed became a brand, a label that reminded them of for life (them and the rest of society) that were the result of abandonment. The echoes of your stigma can still be found in The regulation of the Civil Registry of 1958, in which the judges are recognized the power to manage changes of the surname “or other analogues, indicators of unknown origin”. A figure: 34,084. The times of the old orfeliners of the old regime, to which children arrived familically and terrified, which reduced their survival possibilities, are already behind, but not the last name exposed. Although it is not even from far as popular as “García”, “Pérez” or “González”, the database The INE shows that today identifies tens of thousands of people in Spain. 34,084 They use it as the first last name, especially in Lugo, Badajoz and part of Andalusia. 37,332 They use it as a second. There are even 382 that are named “Expósito Expósito”. And another Good handful of hundreds that are used. Images | Wikipedia and INE In Xataka | Why the Spaniards, unlike the inhabitants of other countries, we have two surnames

Until a couple of centuries ago, nobody had yet invented them

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It is one of those things that we give so however sitting that we may have never wondered: Why do books have chapters? The answer is, in reality, quite simple, and it has a lot to do with the way we have to tell stories and, above all, with a genuinely human aspiration, and whose origins date back to the beginning of time: make our lives easier. Chapter 1. We must clarify that when we talk about chapters, we are doing it in the broader conception of the term: we talk rather to divide a text into successive and organized points. As we are organizing this article, without going any further: in epigraphs headed by a title that summarizes the content of each section, he adds or clarifies it. But this was not always common currency. Nicholas Dames, author of the Book Scent. It is a legal tablet that dates back to the second century BC. According to Dames to An ABC podcastthe text had a “continuous law, but it was segmented and those segments had short titles.” That is, the first work of the chapters is to organize informative texts, to help the reader locate the information. This use began to spread, and thus we reached a parallel invention, the index: during part of ancient history, the most common support was the roll, sometimes it was accompanied by a list of chapters in a smaller scroll. Separate things. Dames explains That this separation in epigraphs was unheard of: two thousand years ago there was no current conception of writing and, for example, the words that appeared in the rolls were not separated, there were no spaces between them. The authors did not care about those things, the editors were in charge of the texts in the texts when undertaking a task called “capitulation.” It was these editors, sometimes scholars of the time, sometimes medieval monks, who divided the works into chapters to make them more understandable. The Bible, point and apart. What can attract attention, according to what countsIt is that the Bible was never divided into chapters, but that this action was carried out, in very different ways, between the fourth and thirteenth centuries. It was divided with innumerable ways, sometimes in long chapters, sometimes in short sections, which further confused the study and dissemination of a book that has already had a labyrinthine story. It was in the thirteenth century (or that is believed) when the one that would later be Archbishop of Canterbury, set the division into chapters that we know today. This division met critics as distinguished as the philosopher John Locke. And things changed. The Bible was a definitive turning point: for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when the novel became an absolutely massive entertainment format, the authors They thought their stories with the division by chapters In mind, with attention placed on the rhythm. Subsequent forms of diffusion, such as deliveries novels or, at present, television series are already meditated from very first stages of the conception of the story with the division of chapters in mind. Header | Chapter VII of ‘Dracula’, Minotaur edition illustrated by Tomás son In Xataka | In Spain a book is published every six minutes. It is the symptom of a bubble that does not stop inflating

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