century

Spain became accustomed to losing in the 20th century. In the 21st century, Spain FC is the best team in the world

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Spain is the best team in the World of the 21st century. I know it’s difficult to assimilate. For a country that has built its history on the story of Tassotti elbowof the Cardeñosa rulingfrom those sung by Arched and Zubizarreta or of Gamal Al-Ghandour heistbeing the best is something that almost catches one off guard. But turning the story around, becoming the best is not a matter of luck. Spain is not the best by chance. The best. When we closed our eyes, Spain had in its record an almost forgotten Euro Cup won in 1964 with a goal from Marcelino in the final minutes. When we open them and close the blink, Spain has become one of the most important teams in history: two World Cups, four European Championships and only one lost final between both tournaments since 1964. In the 18 years that separate the 2008 Euro Cup and the 2026 World Cup, barely a blink in the history of football, our country has won two World Cups and four European Championships. That is, he has risen to the top of the podium in five of these 10 events. He has also been champion of a UEFA Nations League and runner-up on two other occasions. Beyond selection. Dominance in Euro Cups and World Cups goes far beyond national team competitions. In the last 25 years, Spain has added 11 Champions League and three runner-up finishes (Valencia’s in 2001 and Atlético de Madrid’s two against Real Madrid). When a Spanish team has reached the final so far in the 21st century, it has always won, except in the case of Valencia. In the Europa LeagueSpain has won 12 titles and two runners-up (Espanyol and Athletic Club de Bilbao played against Sevilla and Atlético de Madrid in those years). Again, if a Spanish team reaches the final, the Spanish team wins. In the Conference LeagueOf the five editions played, Spanish teams have added two runners-up finishes (Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano). In the European Super Cups (winner of the Champions League against the winner of the Europa League), Spain has 14 titles and nine runners-up (only Sevilla on three occasions and Villareal on one occasion have lost against foreign teams). There have been five finals between Spanish teams, three of them in consecutive years. Because? Analyzing Pedro Porro’s goal against France in the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup, the team’s second, Tierry Henry, former French soccer player for Arsenal and FC Barcelona, argued that this was the result of a way of playing that Spain has instilled in its players since they were children. A way of playing that has been installed in the DNA of most of the youth teams in our country. Spain has been dominating the European youth categories for years. The under-19 team has achieved 10 Europeans so far in the 21st century and two runners-up finishes. The European under-21 (it is played every two years unlike the previous one) has brought us three championships and two runners-up. At the Olympic Games, Spain was a finalist in 2020 (played in 2021) and won the 2024 ones. Of that last team, four players won the absolute World Cup yesterday and another five were present in the silver medal in Tokyo in 2021. Fermín López (champion in Paris in 2024) would surely have been added to them, not on the list due to an injury in the final stretch of the season. With an average of 26.7 years, Spain is the sixth youngest team in the World Cup. The goal. On October 13, 2007, Spain began to write its recent legendto. That day against Denmark, Sergio Ramos (then right back) completed a play built for more than a minute by chaining 28 passes. Many consider that this was the germ of the new Spanish football philosophy. Until then, Spain had built his story about “the Fury” and testosterone. Luis Aragonés found a new formula. He built a team around the ball with players who could not compete physically but surpassed their rivals in technique, positioning and knowledge of the game. The first Spain was structured around the backbone of FC Barcelona, ​​which already played the best association football in the world. In 2009 and 2011 he won the Champions League. Xavi, Iniesta, Pujol, Piqué and, later, Villa, consolidated a backbone that won Euro-Champions-World Cup-Champions-Euro Cup in five years. The association. Luis Aragonés’ greatest merit was believing in the idea and surrounding these players with similar associative profiles but who contributed their own style. To Silva, Jesús Navas, Fernando Torres, Spain became favorite 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 and he complied. But the merit was supporting the idea among the youngest players and getting the idea of ​​the game to penetrate the teams and their quarries. This has allowed Spain to win its last championship with its biggest star, Lamine Yamal, playing a discreet role and without large clearly differentiating individuals in world football. The secret is that Spain has managed to make its team play like a football club. It has maintained a base that it has been able to adapt (such as the commitment to wingers in the 2024 Euro Cup) to the circumstances of each moment in the last two years but that has taken flight throughout this championship, returning to its roots, managing itself around the ball. Fresh air. Spain’s victory also brings fresh air to a world football that has turned to physicality and individualism. Few teams have known how to play like a football club and only in the most conservative approaches have teams really worked on the same concept. However, all the favorites have given ground to individualities in the World Cup with the most names in history. Faced with an event where the four French attackers, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, have shone, Spain has been able to build a block without big names of its own and without huge World stars but … Read more

Japan has been charging a 0% tariff on foreign cars for half a century. It will be very difficult for you to find one on the street.

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Japan is a fascinating country, one of those that is difficult to understand from the point of view of a Westerner. Perhaps because we ourselves have turned our backs on Asian culture during our years of teaching or because, simply, they have historical and cultural particularities that are difficult for us to assimilate. What is certain is that the Japanese have deep roots in the consumption of local products. It must be taken into account that Japanese society is deeply nationalisticperhaps because it is surrounded by other countries where this feeling is also deeply rooted, such as China or the Koreas, which has caused continuous tensions in the area. After the Second World Warthe United States financed the recovery of Japan, with the clear objective of putting a geopolitical plug on the communism that threatened from China and Korea. A movement that could have diluted this nationalist sentiment. Little by little, the country grew and in the 70s it managed to diversify its industry and, at the same time, apply technical innovations that placed it at the global forefront in many sectors. Taking advantage of the weakness of the yen against the dollar, they decided to put all their efforts into export as much of your products as possible. Those exports flooded the world economy with products. One of the most significant were cars. In its technical innovations, the country prioritized the efficiency of its engines, key to flooding the market when the oil crisis. Compared to American and European cars, The Japanese were cheaper and consumed less. It was at that moment that the industry completely exploded and Japan decided to make a decision: it lifted tariffs on foreign cars. Come and see Japanese politicians must have thought something like this in 1978. In order to be more competitive in foreign markets, the country lifted all tariffs for those who wanted to import a car into their country. That is, any foreign brand could sell its cars in Japan without paying a single extra euro. In Japan they should not have any fear of what was going to happen. Its industry was so powerful and the cultural factors were so determining that foreign vehicles have not fully penetrated the market. For testing, In 2016 the European Union lifted the 10% tariff with which it taxed Japanese cars. The 3% that Japanese manufacturers paid for producing in Europe but using Japanese parts was also raised. In exchange, the European Union found the door open to sell other products, such as cheese or wine. So, the European Union came from buying 575,000 cars from Japan worth 9,000 million euros while we only sold them 279,000 vehicles worth 7,300 million euros, they collected in The World. From here we can get two readings. The European Union, a specialist in car exports, had only placed 279,000 cars in Japan in a market in which Almost five million units were sold in 2016. Of the 12 best-selling brands that year in the country, only one (Mercedes in tenth position) was foreign. And none of the 30 best-selling cars in the country were foreign. The cars that the European Union managed to place in Japan were high-priced vehicles. The average unit cost Japan more than 26,000 euros while those purchased by the European Union cost less than 16,000 euros. That is to say, it was difficult for Europe (and very difficult) to compete by volume. When Japan opened its doors to the world, it had to be aware of the country’s particularities. Tough emissions and space regulations have made cars disappear from the center of large cities. Since the 60s is applied in the country Shako Shomeishothe obligation to have a space where you can park your car to have the right to buy a car. In a country that is concentrated in cities, the limitation is decisive. Furthermore, the Japanese customer fully trusts their companies and finds it difficult to open up to new technologies. The reception of the hybrid car compared to any other technology (and the resistance of the Japanese firms themselves to the electric car) is a good example of this. To this we must add that, due to price, the large generalists cannot compete since local vehicles are much cheaper, taking advantage of the fact that production within the country is more competitive. The value of the yen, lower than the dollar, euro or pound, allows them to obtain large amounts of money for the development and manufacturing of a product that allows them to lower prices in their local market. On the contrary, foreign companies that have to sell there face a cut market due to emissions regulations, the barrier of space regulations and that they have the obligation to change the production of the car since when driving on the left they need to position the controls on the opposite side. An added cost that creates another obstacle. The result is that we Europeans and Americans end up offering Japan cars that are not interesting. In Japan, minivans and cars are a religion. kei carcontained on the outside and with a very large interior space. A type of car that has disappeared in Europe while in Japan the Toyota Sienta, the Nissan Note and the Honda Freed occupied the places of third, fourth and fifth best-selling car in the country. And you can continue down the list of 20 best-selling cars in Japan in 2025. You won’t find a single one that is foreign. And, by the way, 13 of them are from Toyota. Photo | toyota In Xataka | Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, on the electric: “I cannot limit myself to seeking profitability or carbon neutrality. We love cars” A version of this article was published in April 2025

The Medici have been carrying an apparently unsolvable mystery since the 16th century. Science finally has an answer

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The uncle of a famous superhero said that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. If what we are talking about is the Medici, the saga of bankers, prelates, patrons and rulers who dominated Tuscany between the 15th and 18th centuries, great power entailed something else… enormous risk. One filled with rivalries and plots that could come from both external enemies and the family itself. Hence the chroniclers carry four centuries wondering why some of its main figures died suddenly at the end of the 16th century. Disease? Bad luck? Murder by poisoning? Science already has an answer. Worthy of Agatha Christie. The British queen of suspense left us exciting novels, but few match the Medici family chronicle in mysteries and script twists. It takes reviewing some of the events that shook the Florentine saga in the second half of the 16th century to prove it. In 1562 the cardinal Giovanni de Medici He died at the age of 19 after a trip along the coast accompanied by his mother, Eleonora and his little brother Garzia, who also died around the same time. Only 25 years later the drama hit the family again through his brother, the Grand Duke Francesco I. He died in 1587, aged 46. Just a few hours later his wife did it Bianca. Quite a coincidence, right? That is what they thought the contemporaries of Francesco and Bianca, who in a matter of 24 hours watched the two members of one of the most powerful couples in the region go to their graves. In theory the cause of death was malaria, but… Wasn’t it a coincidence that husband and wife died just a few hours apart? Wasn’t it suspicious that exactly the same thing had happened to them as had happened to Giovanni 25 years earlier? Rumors of murder arose and eyes soon turned to Ferdinandanother Medici. The Tuscans of the time cannot be blamed for their suspicion. Ferdinando was next in the line of succession and risked being overtaken on the right by his nephew, the illegitimate son of Francesco I. As if that were not enough to spark rumors, they say that he had visited the Grand Duke and his wife shortly before the couple fell ill. How long does a suspicion last? Well, more than four centuries, which is how long historians have been turning around Francesco’s story. Why did he die in such a sudden and premature manner? Was it malaria? Arsenic poisoning perhaps? Did Ferdinando plot against them? Science tried to solve the mystery a long time ago, but it has only added fuel to the fire. At the time, the analysis of exhumed bone remains confirmed the malaria theory; but other studies, including one from 2006 carried out by professors and forensic experts from Italy and based on toxicological examinations, pointed to poisoning. An impossible labyrinth. The testimonies of the time do not help either. We know that Francesco and Bianca showed symptoms compatible with malaria and that the Medici family doctors tried to cure them with bloodletting, a method with which they surely (now we understand) only made things worse. The problem is that supporters of the poisoning theory also have their own arguments. Donatella Lippi, one of the authors of the 2006 study, remember that although it is confirmed that the couple contracted malaria, it does not mean that that was the cause of death. It even slips that in the Vatican Library there are testimonies that speak of skin rashes and other symptoms that could well be related to arsenic poisoning. And the genetic analysis arrived. This is how things were until a few weeks ago, when a group of researchers from the University of Pisa and Yale published a new study in iScience in which they collect their conclusions after subjecting bone remains of two members of the Medici family to DNA analysis: Giovanni, who died in 1562, and Francesco, who followed him to the tomb 25 years later. To be more precise, the researchers extracted genetic material from four rib samples, three from the duke and one from the cardinal. His remains and those of other Medici rest in mausoleums located in the Basilica of San LorenzoFlorence. Go one step further. In the past, researchers had already tried to clear up the mystery with paleo-immunological analyzes that, although they yielded some interesting conclusions, did not serve to silence “the rumors.” as you recognize Valentina Ciuffra, professor of History of Medicine at the University of Pisa and one of the authors of the study published in iScience. It was necessary to go one step further. And that is precisely what the Pisa and Yale team intended by using advanced methods to study ancient DNAgenetic material extracted from samples that are centuries and centuries old. What have they found out? That both Giovanni and his brother Francesco suffered from malaria. We know this because researchers located traces of Pasmodiumthe parasitic protozoa that cause the disease. One of the two Medici brothers even suffered it in a particularly bloody way: both the bones of the cardinal and the Grand Duke preserved traces of Pasmodium faciparumthe most lethal species among humans; but in the case of the latter (Francesco) greater molecular traces of P. malarie. What does that mean? That the Grand Duke who died in October 1587 showed traces of two species of malaria. It is not something exceptional. Experts have already detected samples in Belgium that suggest the coexistence of several species of malaria, although they insist that further research is necessary before stating with complete certainty that both species circulated in 16th century Italy. “With scientific certainty”. For the authors of the new DNA study, their work is conclusive and settles a 400-year-old mystery: “This genetic analysis confirms historical accounts, as well as previous research. We can now affirm with scientific certainty that malaria, and not poisoning, was the cause of the death of Grand Duke Francesco de’ Medici,” stands out Valentina Giuffra. In case there … Read more

Renfe thought of France as its great business for the future. Already looking at Portugal thanks to a 19th century decision

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“Portugal is a great opportunity for Renfe.” These are the words that summarize the company’s intentions for the medium-term future, according to Expansion. The newspaper assures that the Ministry of Transportation aspires to turn the neighboring country into the company’s new big business. And the secret is in its track width. “A great opportunity”. “Portugal represents a great opportunity for Renfe. With the 15 units of the Series 106, it will have 30 high-speed trains of variable gauge to which the 13 compositions of the new Series 107 will have to be added in the coming months. In total, 43 trains that are also intended to be approved for circulation in Portuguese territory.” These are the words with which, according to Expansionthe Ministry of Transport defends the change in strategy outside the Spanish borders. The company has been looking for a place in France for some time but This country is putting up all possible barriers to hinder its expansion through French territory. The alternative now passes through Portugal and the gauges have a lot to do with it. The Avrils. At the beginning of July, Talgo and Renfe reached an agreement regarding their Avril trains. These trains have been a headache for Renfe because Talgo has delivered them late, they have presented numerous breakdowns and incidents and they even had to be removed from Madrid-Barcelona because they cracked. The great theoretical advantage is that they are trains that, with the necessary equipment, can jump between the Iberian and international gaugethe European standard for high speed. This allows them to be the only trains that operate the Madrid-Galicia without the need to transfer between trains. This gives it a strategic advantage over Ouigo and Iryo in the face of the upcoming liberalization of these routes. In the agreement, Renfe and Talgo decided that the Avril trains that operate with international gauge were going to be adapted to be able to make this track jump. The cost exceeds 130 million euros but it will allow Renfe to move its trains throughout the national territory… or the entire Iberian Peninsula. A strategic change. With the announcement of this agreement, from the Ministry of Transport they indicated that “Renfe “It will be the only operator with the capacity to provide international high-speed rail services with Portugal, which gives it a clear competitive advantage to lead the Iberian train market.” The phrase is not coincidental. The initial intention was to dedicate some of the trains received from Talgo to France, but the company is encountering so many problems in homologating them that it has shifted its projection to Portugal. And the Portuguese country seems to be a perfect market for the company taking into account its track widths. And the connection between Madrid and Lisbon, which should be completed in 2030 but reach minimum travel time in 2034it has to be built under instructions from the European Union using international gauge. However, the Lisbon-Porto line is being built with Iberian gauge, which limits the Madrid-Lisbon-Porto connection to a single train. The Iberian exceptionality. The situation is complex. The Portuguese railway, like the Spanish one, grew around the Iberian gauge. This isolated both countries from the rest of the continent in this sector but the European Union is working so that the exceptionality is, in part, eliminated. That is why in the agreement reached in October 2025 there is the obligation to bring the international width to Madrid-Lisbon. However, nothing has been said of the high-speed line that Portugal is building between Lisbon and Porto. This line is supported by Iberian gauge and will reach the Spanish border with said gauge. This makes it very difficult for new companies to enter.as we have seen in Galicia. But Renfe has the ace up the Avrils’ sleeve. And since these trains can jump between gauges, Portugal opens up as a very attractive market to expand operations, with trains that can cover Madrid-Oporto passing through Lisbon. Something that no other company in the world can do right now.. Photo | Annie Spratt and Nelson Silva In Xataka | Spain aspires to its most ambitious railway challenge: Madrid-Barcelona in less than two hours. And you have already taken the first step

North Korea’s new frigate looked like a 21st century ship. Until you look at the sides and discover their solution against drones

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In October 2000, the US destroyer USS Cole suffered an attack with a small boat loaded with explosives while refueling in Yemen. The attack led the United States Navy to reinforce the use of machine guns heavy weapons to protect their ships against short-range threats, a decision that is once again gaining prominence today for a very different reason: drones. A frigate with great aspirations. The new Kang Kon It represents North Korea’s biggest leap in surface ships. Although Pyongyang classifies it as a destroyer, its displacement about 5,000 tons places it closer to a frigate by international standards. On paper, the ship brings together almost everything you would expect from a modern design: dozens of vertical launch cells for missiles, a main gun, point defense systems, electronic warfare and cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The most striking detail. However, the broadcast images After the latest tests of the ship they have diverted attention to a much more unexpected element. At least a dozen heavy machine guns can be seen along one of its sides. 14.5 millimeter KPVdistributed between remote-controlled double mounts and other positions integrated into the superstructure. The scene turns out almost disconcerting: a frigate that seems designed for the 21st century, at the same time uses a solution reminiscent of the great naval combats of the past. The Kang Kon was seen firing its machine guns during a demonstration last week The war in Ukraine explains it. Although at first glance it may seem like an extravagance, the logic behind this configuration responds to a very current threat. The drone proliferation aerial and unmanned vessels has forced many navies to reinforce the short-range defense of their ships with additional small-caliber weapons. Russia has been incorporating additional machine guns, remote weapons stations and even improvised protection structures for years to try to stop drone attacks, an experience that North Korea has been able to observe very closely thanks to their growing cooperation military with Moscow. A weapon with more than half a century of history. Plus: KPVs are not exactly a modern system either. Designed by the Soviet Union At the end of World War II, these machine guns continue to be used in many countries due to their power and range against light targets. Your ammunition 14.5 millimeters It can destroy drones, speedboats or lightly armored vehicles, which explains why a weapon conceived decades ago is once again gaining prominence in a scenario dominated by much more recent threats. Survival remains the great unknown. The abundant Kang Kon weaponry It does not clear up doubts about their ability to survive in a high-intensity conflict. The TWZ analysts They consider that a ship of these characteristics would be one of the first objectives of any adversary and that North Korea will hardly be able to build enough units to give depth to its fleet. The reason? Even if it incorporates technologies of Russian origin, converting a missile-laden platform into a truly resilient ship requires much more complex sensors, training, coordination and operational doctrine than adding new weapons on deck. A ship that reflects how naval warfare is changing. The Kang Kon It leaves a striking image because it summarizes one of the great paradoxes of current conflicts. Long-range missiles, radars and electronic warfare represent the most advanced naval technology, but defense against drones has brought back the spotlight to surprisingly simple solutions. that one of the most modern frigates North Korea’s proud display of a heavy machine gun battery speaks volumes about how the war in Ukraine is redefining design priorities in even the newest warships. Image | North Korea State Media In Xataka | A small river lost between Russia and North Korea is testing something much bigger: China’s patience with both. In Xataka | South Korea has just entered the most exclusive club on the planet. And China and North Korea are not exactly calm

We have been heating water to make coffee for a century. It wasn’t necessary: ​​just ultrasounds

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For many people, making coffee is practically as important a ritual as drinking it. Because by the way: anyone can make coffee, but not everyone does it well. Following scrupulously the Specialty Coffee Association recipe, To make the canonical espresso you need 7 to 9 grams of coffee and force the passage of water at 90.5 – 96.1ºC at 9 – 10 atmospheres of pressure. The coffee grind should be such that the extraction time is 20 to 30 seconds. That’s what any barista or super-automatic machine should aspire to. Next to nothing. Although the coffee maker is not on the list of appliances that increase the electricity bill at home the most, on an industrial scale things change: this process of bringing the water to those temperature and pressure conditions represents a significant energy cost. So an Australian research team has found another way to do it without the need for heat: ultrasound. The invention. To make coffee with ultrasound and without heat, the first thing you need is a filter holder tuned in an ultrasonic reactor where high-frequency sound waves induce acoustic cavitation. It sounds backwards, but in practice the ultrasonic coffee maker that the University of New South Wales has patented looks like a normal coffee maker with a small accessory. Let’s go back to the acoustic cavitation. Roughly speaking, the waves create thousands of tiny bubbles within the water that, when collapsing with the ground coffee, act as if they were a hammer: they break the surface of the heat and release what is inside, that is, flavors, oils, aromas and caffeine. The result is an espresso with a concentration equivalent to conventional espresso in less than three minutes. Why is it important. Because you can make coffee consuming much less: for the same amount of drink, this ultrasonic system consumes only 24.3% of the energy required by a conventional espresso machine. On a domestic scale the savings are small, but for a factory that 75% saving is significant. And it has another win-win for the industry: the coffee obtained comes out cold and concentrated, so there is no need to wait for it to cool (or chill it), it is ready to be mixed directly with milk or water in a factory, which saves time, energy and money. Context. Although it sounds exotic, ultrasounds are not new in the food industry. Without going any further, They have been used for decades for the processing of juices, oils or dairy products. In fact, its application to coffee is not new either: at least two manufacturers have brought similar infusion devices to the marketbut they didn’t go that far: the UNSW project goes one step further. Thus, it is the first that has achieved an espresso (not a diluted cold brew, your previous job) that passes for a conventional espresso in a sensory tasting with 100 participants. In detail. The study analyzed the influence of variables such as grind size, extraction ratio and duration of ultrasonic treatment. And he came to the conclusions that a finer grind managed to extract the flavor more efficiently and an infusion time of between 2.5 and 3 minutes gave the best results. For sensory tasting, the team conducted random blind tests with four beverages: traditional espresso, ultrasonic espresso, traditional filter coffee, and ultrasonic filter coffee. In the case of espresso, those who participated were unable to clearly distinguish which had been prepared traditionally and which had been prepared ultrasonically as there were no significant differences in aroma, flavor, bitterness or overall rating. Curiously, for filter coffee the ultrasonic version was preferred. Yes, but. The first limitation of this peculiar way of making coffee is time: compared to less than half a minute, with ultrasound the process lasts up to three minutes. A time that can be interesting (due to energy savings) on an industrial scale, but not for hospitality and homes. On the other hand, and although it comes out with flying colors in the blind tastings, they have not analyzed the presence of healthy compounds in coffee, such as polyphenols or antioxidants, nor their proportion. Drinking coffee is a pleasure that also has health benefits. Finally, the ultrasonic coffee maker is currently a prototype: the enormous leap from the laboratory to the industrial scale remains to be made. In Xataka | Coffee doesn’t just wake you up: science now suggests that it also improves your mood (even decaffeinated) In Xataka | Drinking coffee is not harmful, but for science there is a very clear limit that should not be exceeded

Europe enjoys the cleanest skies in half a century. And that’s one of the reasons why this summer is burning up.

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This is not another article about heat. It’s July: we all know it’s hot. However, there is a reason behind these high temperatures that we do not usually discuss and, for many people, is very surprising: that the skies over Europe are much cleaner than they have been in the last half century. As the popularizer Jorge Alcalde explained In COPE, the rise in temperatures in Europe is accelerating “at a rate of 0.56 degrees per decade since the 1990s, almost double the global average of 0.27 degrees.” And this is interesting because, “although the climate is warming globally, it is crucial to understand why some regions like Europe are more affected.” In that sense, Mayor pointed out that “sending less pollution into the atmosphere contributes to the increase in temperatures on the continent, there is a greater amount of solar radiation that impacts the ground.” It’s not that the air generates heat, of course. It is that the particles that we release when burning fossil fuels (especially sulfur sulfates) reflect sunlight and make the clouds whiter. That is, they cool. The data is crystal clear: in a series of the northeast of the peninsula, in Gironasolar radiation reaching the ground has increased by about 2.5 W/m² per decade since the late 1980s, especially in summer. And that is largely due. wing improvement of regulation against polluting aerosols. It is not the only thing that cools, it is not even the main cause. Copernicus attributes it to several things at the same time: atmospheric circulation, less snow that reflects light, the proximity to the Arctic, the drop in pollution and, of course, greenhouse gases (which They alone explain half of the increase in European heat waves). However, it is one of the most striking. And it is important to explain it well… because stated like this it may seem that the reduction of pollutants is warming the climate in Europe and that is not the case. What the pollution did was hide that warming. The conditions behind the rise in temperatures were there, it’s just that the sulfur didn’t let us see them. We were cooler, but the cost of that was paid by our lungs. We must not forget that Lowering fine particles to the levels recommended by the WHO would prevent around 182,000 premature deaths per year in the EU alone. Furthermore, while aerosols last a few days in the atmosphere, CO2 lasts for centuries. We were covering up a huge problem that was very difficult to solve. Dirty the world again. I insist on this idea because when the effect was discovered in the Atlanticmany proposed intervene again in the atmosphere to lower the temperature. The problem is that, as we can see, this doesn’t solve anything. Clean air is the first good news and, at the same time, what forces us to look squarely at the second: how much we have already warmed up. Image | Chris LeBoutillier In Xataka: The waters of the oceans are not only rising in temperature. They are also starting to change color

Mayoral has been manufacturing children’s clothing for almost a century. It is the missing piece for Digi’s IPO to work

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Digi Spain confirmed this Monday that asks to be listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges with an offer of up to 25% of its capital. The operation is based on an assessment pre-money of 1.7 billion euros and is supported by a binding commitment of 100 million from the Mayoral Group, the Malaga children’s clothing manufacturer of the Domínguez de la Maza family. It is the second attempt in six weeks. In April, Digi postponed the departure because he did not accept a discount greater than 10% on the 2,000 million that he was then seeking. Today he has accepted a bigger cut. Between the lines. The 300 million less valuation in six weeks is the price that the market places today on the fourth operator with its own network in Spain. 15%. Then there is Mayoral. A Malaga textile company subscribing 100 million in a telco before the stock market debut is not usual. The usual thing is a sovereign fund (case of Orange and Vodafone’s fiberCO), an insurer or a family office specialized in infrastructure. If Digi has had to activate a group whose main business is dressing children, it is because the natural buyers of a European telecommunications IPO were not willing to enter into the terms that the telecom wanted, or at least not without a prior anchor. Mayoral fulfills two functions here at the same time: Provide committed capital before setting a price. And it provides Spanish narrative. Digi wants to stop sounding like a low-cost Romanian operator and start sounding like a company with deep ties in the country. The name Domínguez de la Maza helps with that translation, especially in business environments. The figures. The details of the operation make it clear that the IPO does not resolve the balance. Rather, it accompanies him. 1.7 billion. Assessment pre-money. In May there were 2,000. 136 million. Net funds that will come into cash once the placement costs have been deducted. 1,814 million. Group bank debt as of March 31. 400 million. Capex planned only for 2026. 75%. What Zoltán Teszári retains through Digi Communications. Control intact. The net 136 million that the operation will leave does not cover even four months of this year’s capex. Striking. The context. Digi has grown at 20% annually since 2023 and closed 2025 with 929 million in revenue and 175 million in adjusted EBITDA. It has led net additions in fixed and mobile broadband continuously since the end of 2021. It has 14.2 million homes with its own fiber and 11.4 million active lines. The model is known: low rate, 11,700 direct employees without outsourcing customer service (one of the keys to Digi is its commitment to keeping everything internal) and constant capture of ports. It is the operator that has forced Movistar, Vodafone and Orange to react twice in less than three years. The problem starts at the margin. Adjusted EBITDA today moves around 20%. The plan presented to investors promises to raise it to 30% in the medium term. AND the trend is not upward, but downward. Yes, but. Ten margin points without retouching price is mathematically complicated. Furthermore, raising prices contradicts Digi’s entire commercial DNA. The equation only works if two things happen at the same time: The own network reaches 21 million homes ahead of schedule… …and the weight of the wholesale agreement with Telefónica for 5G access is reduced. Capex today for autonomy tomorrow. That is exactly what the 136 million finances. Meanwhile, the Teszári family retains 75% from Bucharest. Going public does not dilute control. And now what. The final price range and date are pending approval of the prospectus by the CNMV. The company is targeting the end of July. Three questions will mark the operation when the book is opened: If the large European funds enter above the implicit price that Mayoral has set with its commitment, or they settle for it. If Digi holds its rate of portability once subjected to quarterly stock scrutiny, with a margin of 20% that the entire market will now be able to read. If Telefónica, Vodafone España and MásOrange interpret the listing as an additional threat or as the first step to put the consolidation of the sector back on the table. The answer will come with the first day of trading. And with the following results. Featured image | Digi In Xataka | Any teleoperator would be worried about making less money with each client. Digi is exactly what you are looking for

The largest earthquake in Venezuela in more than a century also showed that almost everyone has a pocket seismograph

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On June 24, a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 They shook northern Venezuela just 39 seconds apart, causing the largest seismic disaster the country has experienced in more than a century. The fatalities They already exceed 200with more than 4,300 injured and thousands missing. Collapsed buildings in Caracas, the international airport closed and an area of ​​devastation that extends for 150 kilometers. Curiously, seconds before the first earthquake hit, thousands of Android users in Venezuela received a notification on their phones. It is not that Google has the power to predict earthquakes, but the technical and scientific basis behind your alert system It’s fascinating. A country without an official seismic warning system. Venezuela does not have any national earthquake early warning system. If we compare with regions like Chile or Japan, which have thousands of seismic stations, the national network in Venezuela has less than 40and this is a huge limitation in terms of alerting and risk mapping capacity. The case of Venezuela was dramatic precisely due to this lack, since the country did not have enough time to evacuate. However, some people received warnings seconds or even minutes before noticing the tremor thanks to Google’s Android Earthquake Alerts system. Pericles Sánchez, a 39-year-old writer from Caracas, He received the alert on his mobile phone with enough time to get out onto the street before the strongest shock came. As he explained, his family did not suffer damage to the house. How Google turns cell phones into seismographs. All smartphones have tiny accelerometers that can detect signs indicative of a possible earthquake. If your phone detects something that could be an earthquake, it sends a signal to Google’s detection server along with your approximate location. That server combines information from many phones to determine if an earthquake is really occurring. This is how Google competes against time, as it takes advantage of the fact that digital signals travel at a speed well above the speed at which seismic waves propagate through the ground. The system also uses artificial intelligence models trained with thousands of documented seismic events to analyze the pattern, frequency and coherence of signals received from multiple devices simultaneously. The alert is only activated when a minimum number of telephones in the same area simultaneously confirm a recognizable seismic pattern. Physics. Earthquakes generate different types of waves that travel at different speeds. Primary, or P, waves move fast (about six kilometers per second) but cause little damage. Secondary, or S, waves are slower (about three to four kilometers per second) but are responsible for most of the destruction. The Android system detects the first P wavesthose that arrive first, and sends the warning signal before the Ss reach people. This margin can be a few seconds or, for those who are further away from the epicenter, up to a minute. During a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in the Philippines in November 2023, the system launched the first alert 18.3 seconds after the start of the earthquake. People closest to the epicenter received up to 15 seconds of warning and nearly 2.5 million people were alerted. Two types of alert, depending on the danger. The system emits two categories of notices for earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater. The BeAware alert is designed for mild shocks and informs the user with a conventional notification that respects the phone’s silent mode. The TakeAction alert is reserved for more dangerous situations, taking control of the screen and emitting a loud sound even if the mobile is silent. In both there is information about the estimated magnitude, the distance to the epicenter and basic safety recommendations. A network of 2.5 billion people. Google has taken advantage of motion sensors more than 2 billion smartphones to create an earthquake early warning system that is as effective as conventional seismometers, according to a study published in the journal Science in July 2025. The system has detected more than 18,000 earthquakes since its deployment in April 2021 and currently operates in 98 countries. In the US it operates better than in the rest of the countries. The system does not operate the same everywhere. In California, Washington and Oregon, Google work with the ShakeAlert teamwhich uses a network of more than 1,600 seismic sensors installed in the ground to detect earthquakes and determine their location and magnitude before sending the data to Android devices. Outside of those states, the approach is what has been seen in Venezuela: collective detection using the accelerometers of millions of mobile phones, without physical infrastructure on the ground. And it is precisely in this second modality where the system is most valuable, because it covers regions of the world that have never been able to afford professional seismic networks. Cover image | Ricardo Aguilar and USGS In Xataka | “The biggest mistake of all time”: Bill Gates let slip 400 billion when Microsoft didn’t buy Android

NASA and video games use it more than a century after its discovery

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It had rained heavily that morning of October 16, 1943, so when it cleared Sir William Rowan Hamilton He finished his whiskey (no whiskey, that’s why it was Irish) and asked his fragile wife if they would go out for a walk around Dublin. He had been working on a mathematical problem involving complex numbers for years without success, and decided it was a good idea to get some air. That’s what he did. They walked, talked about their children’s future and as they crossed Broom Bridge Sir William’s light bulb suddenly went on. “Helen!” he exclaimed, “I don’t need to multiply triplets: I can use quadruples!” Helen didn’t know anything, of course, but at that moment quaternions were born, an extension of real numbers that more than a century or a half later are critical for NASA’s space missions and also for the video game industry. Good for Sir William. Worthy successor to Sir Isaac Newton Sir William Rowan Hamilton (Dublin, 1805-1865) stood out since childhood. At the age of thirteen he already spoke several European languages, but also Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and Malay. When he was 8 years old, his fame was already notable, and the tour of the American calculus prodigy, Zerah Colburn, gave him the opportunity to prove his brilliance. That 9-year-old American boy crushed him on a mental arithmetic test, and that showed little Hamilton the way. He would continue studying languages, but what he wanted to do was dedicate himself to mathematics. In 1823 that young man achieved first place among 100 candidates in the Trinity College exams. The prestigious Irish university soon discovered the brilliance of Hamilton, who already in his student days wrote part of his treatise on optics, the well-known “Theory of Ray Systems“. That was key so that in 1827 he ended up occupying the position of Royal Astronomer of Ireland, a well-paid chair that was unheard of for it to end up in the hands of an undergraduate. Not only that: it gave Hamilton the opportunity to research freely, something he would not have been able to do in a hypothetical position as a professor at Trinity College. His work in the field of optics would end up mixing with that of dynamics and algebra in the 1830s. His work with several colleagues led him to pursue a very special objective: to try to generalize complex numbers in order to represent rotations and movements of vectors in space. three-dimensional. If he succeeded, he would have a very powerful tool to formulate the basic laws of physics and describe the movement of rigid bodies in space. In 1833 he presented a paper to the Royal Irish Academy in which he defined addition and maltiplication operations on pairs of real numbers. He was the first mathematician to treat complex numbers as ordered pairs (Gauss had done so before, but without publishing his discoveries) and his vision was closely related to physics. To try to advance in that field, Hamilton tried to study what he called the “Triplet Theory”, hypercomplex numbers referred to three-dimensional space in the same way that complex numbers referred to two-dimensional space. It was that that led him to the discovery of the quaternions. The triplets did not have the common properties of complex numbers when trying to multiply them and his obsession with the problem was such that even his children ended up asking him the same thing every morning: “Well dad, can you multiply triplets now?”, to which he replied: “no, for now I can only add and subtract them.” And then came that ride. Hamilton would describe that happy moment of sudden discovery in a letter to one of his sons fifteen years after it occurred: “Tomorrow will be the fifteenth birthday of the quaternions. They came into life, or into the light, fully grown, on October 16, 1843, when I was walking with Mrs. Hamilton towards Dublin, and we arrived at Broughman’s Bridge. That is, then and there, I closed the galvanic circuit of thought and the sparks that fell were the fundamental equations between i, j, k; exactly as I have used them ever since. I took out, at that moment, a pocket notebook, which still exists, and made a note, on which, at that very moment, I felt that it would possibly be valuable to extend my work for at least the ten (or it could be fifteen) years to come. It is fair to say that this happened because I felt, at that moment, that a problem had been solved, an intellectual desire relieved, a desire that had haunted me for at least the previous fifteen years. I could not resist the impulse to take my knife and engrave on a stone of Brougham Bridge the fundamental formula with the symbols i, j, k: i2=j2=k2=ijk=−1 which contained the solution to the Problem, which has since survived as an inscription. Hamilton called a quadruple with those multiplication rules a quaternion, and he dedicated the rest of his life to studying them, developing them, and teaching them to students and academics. Quaternions in space, quaternions in video games The study of quaternions has led to many other mathematical discoveries, but their application has been amazing more than a century and a half after that walk. In fact, quaternions are used in flight computers or in simulation studies in which large changes in angle are involved when monitoring the altitude of the spacecraft. The use of quaternions eliminate problems like Euler singularity and allows the use of only four parameters, in addition to being ideal for digital error control. In fact the so-called unitary quaternions allow counting with a mathematical notation to represent the orientations and rotations of objects in three dimensions, and therefore are widely used in robotics or navigation satellite orbital mechanics and are used in NASA missions for decades. That same ability to represent rotations in space is key for the development of 3D video games … Read more

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