changed

Exactly 100 years ago we began to understand how the world works. Quantum physics has radically changed our lives

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Well, not exactly 100 years ago. 100 years ago and one day. On July 9, 1925, German physicist Werner Heisenberg sent a letter to his friend Wolfgang Pauli, who at that time was already a very renowned theoretical physicist of Austrian origin. Heisenberg had been engaged for several months in the development of an idea that was permanently breaking with The classical conception of the atom as a tiny planetary system in which electrons orbit around a nucleus constituted by protons and neutrons. That letter contained several reflections that Pauli knew how to appreciate. In fact, shortly after receiving it Max Born, Pascual Jordan and Wolfgang Pauli himself took the work of Werner Heisenberg as a starting point to prepare for the first time in history a mature formulation of Quantum theory. The content of that letter supports nothing more and nothing less the most ambitious and precise framework in the history of science: Standard model of particle physics. Without him many of the technologies we enjoy today would not be possible. Quantum mechanics is very present in our day to day “Dear Pauli, if he believes that I read his letter laughing mockingly, he is deeply mistaken. Actually, the opposite happens; from Helgoland (it is a small German island located in the North Sea) my views on the mechanics have become more radical every day that passes, and I am firmly convinced that Bohr’s theory of the hydrogen atom in its current form Zeeman “. The article ‘Umdeutung’ (‘Reinterpretation’) of Heisenberg is considered the birth certificate of modern quantum theory The first lines of Heisenberg’s letter They clearly reflect the trust and respect he professed towards Pauli. And also how much the revolutionary ideas I had in mind were disturbed. In fact, a few lines later confess to having many doubts about the way he could carry out The rigorous formulation of those thoughts: “As for my own opinion about this scribble, with which I am not at all satisfied: I am firmly convinced of the value of the negative and critical part, but I consider that the positive part is rather poor. Even so, perhaps those most capable that I can get something sensible to it.” The scribble that Heisenberg speaks was actually the draft of his famous article ‘Umdeutung’ (‘Reinterpretation’), which shortly after was published. Many physicists consider that text the birth certificate of Modern Quantum Theory. Neither more nor less. Anyway, there is no doubt: during the next 100 years Heisenberg’s ideas and other physicists who also made decisive contributions to quantum theory, such as Wolfgang Pauli, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, Paul Am Douc, Niels Bohr or Albert Einstein, triggered the birth of many of the technologies we currently use. Integrated circuits containing all our electronic devices, Solar panelsmagnetic resonance machines, The lasers or the atomic watches that allow the human being to measure time with an unprecedented precision would not be possible without the knowledge that modern quantum theory has given us. And, of course, without this model we would not have Quantum computers. Objectively, and it is not at all an exaggeration, Quantum physics is present in much of modern technology. And all probability will continue to be in many of the innovations that will arrive in the future. That is not the slightest doubt. After all, it is the best tool we have to understand how the world works. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Cern In Xataka | The authentic alchemy is being made by the CERN: it has detected the transformation of lead into gold

An US Army has reached the happiest country in the world. His immense border with Russia has changed the panorama of Finland

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Finland lives A paradox. The nation became for the eighth consecutive year in the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 of the University of Oxford and the United Nations. However, and no matter how happy the lives of its citizens are, its geography has changed the geopolitical situation. While the country was crowned with such virtue, an United States army had come to prepare for “the worst.” Happiness. With an average score 7,736 out of 10the Nordic country maintained its leadership in a ranking based on the evaluation that people make of their own lives, through surveys that cover three years and measure subjective perception, social ties and trust. They accompany him in the top positions other nations of the North European Like Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, consolidating a pattern that highlights the virtues of strong social systems, access to nature, community cohesion and collective well -being as pillars of a satisfactory life. Harvard said that Finland’s persistent success was not noisy, nor depended on advertising campaigns, nor a national identity built on exceptionality. Rather, rather, on a Silent and robust balance between nature, social protection, free time, daily civism and an extended perception of security and mutual trust. Almost the same could be said of the rest of the “north” nations, the same whose geography could change the status quo. A new front. Almost along with New York Times counted A scene that had occurred in another area of ​​the nation. In mid -February, an emergency fictional message sent by Finland’s defense forces activated a large -scale military exercise: an enemy invasion required immediate assistance. Dozens of American soldiers, members of the newly created Arctic Division of the American Armythey left from Fairbanks, Alaska, and crossed the northern pole to land in Rovaniemi, north of Finland. Equipped with M-4 rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers, they were deployed in snowy forests, dresses with special white uniforms and steam waterproof boots. Although It was a drillthe geopolitical and climatic background endowed it with the most disturbing gravity: with the melting of the Arctic ice, this inaccessible region is inaccessible has now returned strategiccausing powers such as Russia, China, the United States and various European nations They actively train for a possible conflict in extreme conditions. The new Arctic centrality. According to Canadian General Robert McBridethe world’s armies have left behind the era of the “war on terror” to focus Your attention in the Arctica territory that, like We have been countinghas acquired prominence for its strategic value, natural resources and emerging transport routes. In that context, cooperation between Finland and the United States It has intensifiedespecially since Finland joined NATObecoming the country of the alliance with the most extensive border with Russia: 1,340 kilometers. The historical past (Finland He fought against The Soviet Union in World War II) reinforces the defensive nature of this relationship. “Russia will take everything that is not nailed to the wall,” recalled a said Finn -cited by Janne Kuusela, defense official, to the Times. Despite recent political changes and Trump’s verbal approach to Moscowin the icy field, cooperation between the two countries seems solid and determined. The United States Army displaced to the area Ice war. What’s doubt, put on the worst stage, the Arctic War It presents unique challenges. “It’s like operating in space. No one will come to help you. And the environment can kill you,” summarized the American colonel Christopher Brawley. The cardinal rule: stay dry. Finnish soldiers must pass An extreme test It consists of throwing themselves, with all the equipment on, in an open hole on an icy river, going quickly and changing clothes before suffering freezing, what they should do with the help of their classmates, since their hands stop responding in seconds. Jackson Crites Videman, a conscript of dual Finnish and American nationality, lived at 36 degrees below zero. We remember that Finland is one of the few democratic countries with conscriptionand before the latent threat of the east, ha Increased your budget In defense. Although the war in Ukraine has significantly reduced the Russian presence in the border region, the Finns calculate that it will only take between five and ten years to establish a tangible danger again. Preparations: Winter war. The designation in 2022 of the 11th Airborne Division of Alaska as the first and unique Arctic Division of the United States marked A doctrinal change. The US army tested new uniforms, combat skis and vehicles with caterpillars capable of climbing frost pending. During the drill in Finland, they showed a New transport model that climbs on the snow efficiently. Plus: Special rations For cold weather, with high caloric content, they reflected in the tests the amount of energy that simply demands to stay hot in that environment. And if winter imposes its rules, summer also does not offer relief in the enclave: with perpetual sun and without night, disappears The advantage of glasses Night vision, and when ice melts, the earth becomes an impassable lodazal of dense forests, rivers, lakes and marshes. No name, but with coordinates. Had the New York Times That, during the maneuvers, the troops took advantage of frozen rivers as improvised highways. With their rifles behind the back, they slipped quickly on the ice, in an environment that demands physical resistance and strategic clarity. Result? The exercise was finally considered a success For the commanders. Before the question of whether the proximity in recent times between Trump and Russia was a reason for concern, Finnish General Sami-Antti Takamaa was blunt to the middle: “It doesn’t worry me at all. The American airborne division has just arrived from Alaska. That is what matters to me.” Finland and NATO. Thus, and while the global geopolitical balance seems to stagger between tense alliances and resurgent threats, Finland, the happiest country in the world For eighth time With its 5.6 million inhabitants and an extreme geography, it emerges as one of the Defensive bastions more strategic in Europe. … Read more

They improved their training and changed jobs

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Receive money every month without conditions And without having to justify what is spent, for decades, A controversial idea and difficult to imagine in practice. However, Germany decided to carry out one of the most ambitious experiments in the world to verify what really happens when it is offered A vital basic income To a group of people. The results of this study have been a success since, as has been demonstrated In other previous testsfar from discouraging labor improvement, it has improved it. Basic Vital Rent in Germany. He Pilot project of universal basic income in Germany was designed as a long -term scientific study and with a rigorous approach to the Mein Grondeinkommen organization, the German Economic Research Institute (DIW Berlin) and other academic institutions. The experiment has not only revealed data on the economic impact of universal basic income, but has also allowed us to observe how the lives of those who receive it change. From improvements in mental health to the influence of economic support in training and decisions to change jobs. The experiment. The test counted With a total of 122 people between 21 and 40 randomly selected, they already had previous income of between 1,100 and 2,600 euros per month, to which 1,200 euros per month were added from June 2021 to May 2024. Parallel, a control group of 1,580 people with similar sociodemographic characteristics was established, but who did not receive this additional income. The participants of the basic income group did not have any type of condition to receive those 1,200 euros per month, so they could work, study or not perform any work activity, and the money was delivered without inspections or deductions. The objective was to measure, in a precise way, how this financial support influenced in their personal and professional decisions. During the three years of the experiment, each of the 122 participants received a total of 43,200 euros. The control group, on the other hand, only received symbolic compensation for completing the periodic questionnaires of the study. More training, better jobs. One of the main fears of vital basic income is that the search for employment or professional improvement discourages. However, the study results German have shown just the opposite. A remarkable number of participants chose to invest that additional income in their training, either to improve their skills or to change the professional sector. In the first 18 months of the project, labor mobility and work satisfaction increased clearly. Even after this period, the beneficiaries of basic income reported higher job satisfaction levels, regardless of whether they had changed jobs or not. During the analysis period, the percentage of people who changed employment in the group of participants that received the 1,200 euros extra was higher than in the control group. As it happened In Finland’s testsfinancial security allowed many participants to dare to look for better paid jobs or with better working conditions. Less stress and reduction of medical casualties. The study too analyzed the effect of basic income on health and the psychological well -being of the participants. The data reveal that those who received the 1,200 euros per month experienced a significant reduction in financial stress and an improvement in your mental health. This positive effect also resulted in a decrease in the number of medical casualties and in a greater sense of control over one’s life. “Universal basic income can mean enormous savings in the health and social assistance system. Because people with mental stability can work more productively and innovatively,” assured Klara Simon, president of Mein Grdeinkommen, the German agency responsible for the experiment. In Xataka | Sam Altman has been giving millions of dollars in secret. Its objective: the biggest study on universal basic income Image | Mein Grundeinkommen (Fabian Melber)

500 million years of evolution separate us from sea stars, but there is something that has not changed so much: our appetite

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Hormones are molecules that exert the functions of messengers in our body. They take part in a large number of physiological processes, among which are the food and digestion of the food we consume. Among them, we know several hormones that regulate appetite and satiety. Evolutionary History A new study has analyzed The evolutionary history of bombsin, a hormone capable of transmitting the signal of satiety to our brain. This hormone had already been detected in some species of vertebrates and we know that it is capable of exercising this function in humans. Now we have found the genes that encode these hormones in very distant species evolutionarily, such as sea stars. Bombsin Bombsine was discovered in 1971, not in humans but in an amphibian, the belly toad fire (Bombina Bombina). It is a small peptide similar to those used by our own body to transmit (among other “messages”) the sign that we have satiated, molecules such as glucagon, the gastric inhibitor peptide (GIP), or the peptide similar to glucagon-1 (LPG-1). The researchers who studied the bombsin verified that, by injecting it into mammals, this also caused a feeling of satiety. This caused the subjects to reduce the amount of foods they consumed and space their intakes more over time. Needle in a haystack. In his study, the team responsible for New Research, began to study the genomes of different invertebrate animals until it ran into genes capable of encoding hormones similar to bombsin. And they found them in several equinoderms species (Echinodermata), As for example in the common sea star (Asterias Rubens), but also in hedgehogs and sea cucumbers. “It was like finding a needle in a haystack,” explained in a press release Maurice Elphick, co -author of the study, “but finally we discover the genes that encode a neurohormone similar to the stars of sea stars and their relatives.” Arbn.After that, the team studied the function of this hormone, which they called Arbn. Through mass spectrometry, the equipment was able to determine the molecular structure of the compound, thanks to which they could synthesize it and submit it to test. Thus they found that the hormone had an impact on the gastric processes of sea stars. “When I put Arbn, I saw that it caused contraction in the stomach of the sea star,” Weiling Huang addedCo -author of the study. “This, Sig would, that Arbn could be involved in stimulating the stomach retraction when the sea star stops eating. And that is precisely what I saw. When I injected Arbn into the sea stars (…) it made the stomach retract (…). What is more, arbn also delayed the beginning of the food, since the stars injected with arb those that water was injected. “ The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Making historians. The study gives us new clues about how our digestive system and its tools to control its internal processes evolved. A track that allows us to ride ourselves 500 million years ago, when the last common ancestor of humans and sea stars inhabited the earth. But the finding also has significance for the pharmacological industry. In recent years they have seen the rise of various treatments based on hormone analogous substances such as LPG-1 or GIP. Compounds such as semaglutida (better known by its commercial name Ozempic) or the tirzepatida (Tirzepatida) were born as diabetes treatments but achieved success as losing weight formulas. These compounds emulate the hormones that our body secretes behind meals, hormones that fulfill the function of communicating to organs such as the pancreas that our digestive process is underway but that also transmit to the brain the message that we have satiated our appetite. Compounds such as Bombsine, Arbn, or similar could perhaps be used also In this context. In Xataka | Japanese researchers have studied how to eat less. Your verdict is extremely simple: eat more slowly Image | Hans Hillewaert, CC by-SA 4.0

I have changed the Apple calendar for Notion Calendar. Now my data and my time live under the same roof

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Notion introduced its calendar application, Notion Calendar, at the beginning of 2024. I was interested, and much, but limit to Google calendars left me out: most of my events occur in ICloud calendars. Ten days ago they finally announced the integration with ICloud, and there I was, as a user of Notion For years to see how this proposal was and if it is worth making the leap from Apple’s native application. They are not the functions, but the unification My first impression was surprisingly positive. The application is fast, very fast. In me MacBook Pro M1 Proalmost four years ago, the speed with which it opens and the fluidity when navigating between days, weeks or months is impressive. It contrasts remarkably with Apple’s calendar that, without being slow, does not have this feeling of lightness and agility. The monthly view interface throughout its glory. Image: Xataka. The interface is minimalist without feeling empty. It maintains that characteristic air of notion with its soft and white gray tones, but retains its own personality. Visually it is much more pleasant than other calendars such as Google Calendarwhich prioritizes functionality over aesthetics. If you are one di noi And you are looking to optimize every second in front of the screen, the Calendar Notion keyboard shortcuts are a gift. “S” to share availability. “C” to create an event. “T” to go to the current day. “W” to activate the weekly view. “M” for the monthly. It is an approach that is clearly designed for users who prefer not to take off the hands of the keyboard. As Things A function that has conquered me is Availability management. Before, when someone wanted to meet with me, I had to manually send my free holes or use tools such as Calendly That, for some reason, they always made me feel a little impostor. With Notion Calendar, I select the available time blocks, generate a link to the moment and voila. One of those little friction of the day to day that disappear. The availability function. The white holes (not gray with stripes) are the ones that we establish as available. With sharing the link that appears to the right we can facilitate another person our gaps available for a meeting. As an integrated calendly already demands. Image: Xataka. The management of time areas is also remarkable. For those of us who work with people in different parts of the world or when we are organizing a trip, we can see our calendar with multiple schedules at the same time is canonical. And here, Notion does it much more intuitively than Apple’s calendar. Nevertheless, where notion calendar takes muscle is in its integration with notion, in its way of unifying information and time. It is an independent calendar for those who do not use notion, but that integration is the key to this proposal: generate ecosystem, not independent islands. The strategy behind the calendar What we are seeing with Notion Calendar is not just a new calendar application. It is one more piece on a board where Notion is building a complete productivity ecosystem. First was the main application for notes and databases, now the calendar, and not long ago also arrived with Notion mailat the moment on the waiting list. What was previously a product, Notion, now begins to be the center of an ecosystem that continues to grow. Image: Notion, Xataka. Instead of putting everything in a single application that could be overwhelming, Notion is creating independent but totally interconnected applications. It is an intelligent strategy that allows them to compete in each category without sacrificing the user experience. True magic occurs when you link notion databases with dated fields to the calendar. Suddenly, all these elements appear directly on my calendar with my normal events. For example, I have a database with all scripts in notion of the podcastand each one has its publication date. Now I can see those dates directly on my calendar, mixed with my meetings and personal events. The database with the infinite loop scripts that I prepare every day. By including a publication date they have everything you need to appear, if I want, in Notion Calendar. Image: Xataka. This unified vision is not only practical, it is a paradigm shift. It allows to see the events and tasks in a temporary context that previously required several tools. And not only that: you can attach notion pages directly to calendar events. For a meeting I can link the agenda, previous notes or related documents, everything without leaving notion. Towards a more mature experience The iOS version is also very well achieved. Unlike many applications that simply reduce their desktop version, Notion schedule for iOS (It is also For Android) is really adapted to mobile experience. You can choose if you want to see 1, 2 or 3 days when opening the app, something much more flexible than the native calendar. Again: more than the intention of launching a calendar is intuited here. A strategy is intuited that fuses information management with time management. When I saw the initial announcement of Notion Calendar, my first reaction was a mixture of interest and skepticism. Do we really need another calendar application? The answer is in the objective: Notion is not simply building a calendaris building that bridge between information management and time management. It is as if Notion were saying: “You already have all your information organized with us, why not also your time?” And it makes sense. If you spend much of your day in Notion, having your integrated calendar right there makes everything more consistent. Is it worth who does not use Notion? Surprisingly, I think so. Even without taking advantage of integrations, it is a solid calendar application, well designed and with functions that exceed the Apple or Google calendar in several aspects. For me, in fact, he has already replaced Apple’s. And the most interesting thing is to see how Notion is evolving from … Read more

The AI ​​had not getting excited or interested beyond the niche. That has changed the Miyazaki style

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We had been on the plateau for almost two years. After the initial explosion of Chatgpt At the end of 2022, AI had followed a predictable path: incremental improvements, grandiloquent ads and increasingly technical products that, paradoxically, moved the general public away from the conversation. We were momentarily impressed by some new function, such as The advanced voice of chatgptbut The AI ​​was becoming something dense. We were immersed in debates about reasoning models, hallucinations, generational differences. A universe of impenetrable jargon that was moving the conversation about AI from the initial astonishment to arid technicalism. The result has been a gradual disconnection: specialists discussing models architectures and general public passing page. Wake me up When there is something painted again. It is as if we had forgotten what captured our attention in the first place. It was not parameter optimization or performance evaluations in Benchmarks What fascinated us, but the ability of AI to surprise us, to do something that we intuitively recognized as “magical.” The AI ​​had become bored precisely when it became obsessed with becoming useful. And suddenly, Miyazaki style enters. Chatgpt’s new capacity to generate images of any style, including that of the Japanese anime teacher, has achieved what hundreds of technical advances could not: return the AI ​​to Zeitgeist culturalto everyday conversations, to WhatsApp groups. Seeing Jesús Gil in his jacuzzi as if he had come directly from Studio Ghibli is immediately understandable, shared and, above all, fun. It does not require a doctorate in automatic learning to appreciate it. Nor does he demand that we put the tie in front of Excel to enjoy it. The lesson is clear: so that technology really permeates beyond the niche, it must appeal to our game capacity, not only to our productivity. The ‘chanantes’ moments of Spanish history reimagined as anime remind us that the true mass technological adoption occurs when the tool allows us to express ourselves culturally, when it amplifies our shared creativity and our common references. In the meantime debate about How AI will transform work And if we should be retouting our LinkedIn, We had forgotten their ability to transform our cultural expressions. And perhaps that is what really determines its long -term relevance. In Xataka | Openai already plans hyperavanized agents with the capacities of a human doctorate. Baratitos will leave: 20,000 euros per month Outstanding image | Xataka with chatgpt

Thus has changed the way of working after the pandemic

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Five years have passed since the Covid-19 pandemic marked a before and after in the way we work, forcing companies and employees to quickly adapt to New work models. Five years later, studies like that of the Gallup consultant and WFH Research have documented how these transformations have impacted the work environment: from the Award and drop of teleworking to the challenges related to the Mental health and commitment of employees. Evolution of remote work to hybrid. According to Gallup data, in 2019 60% of employees with Ability to telework They went to the offices five days per week. 32% already made it alternating face -to -face and remote work days. A model that we now know as hybrid days. Before everything changed, only 8% worked in a way completely remote. At present, data on the working day point to greater more diversity. According to Gallup, 55% of the 400,000 employees consulted work in a hybrid modality, 26% teleworking full -time and 19% remain exclusively face -to -face without options to telework at all. WFH Research data is more conservative in their estimates, assigning 25.7% to hybrid models, 12.9% to full -time teleworking, and a crushing 61.4% for face -to -face work. Stagnant since 2023. According to data collected by WFH Research, the number of working days that have been held from home have been stable since the beginning of 2023, representing 27% of the total days worked. Instead of prioritizing the increase of these remote work days, both studies confirm that employees give priority to maintain time flexibility. At present, an average of 2.3 days per week is worked remote, being the most common day to work from home. However, WFH Research data revealed that on, many occasions, that remote work occurred to compensate that on Friday it had later entered or left before the time, adding that flexibility component. Rock makes love. Gallup data revealed that the levels of employee commitment They have suffered a notable fall since the beginning of the pandemic, reaching a historical minimum in 2024 that places the employee commitment At 2014 levels. According to this index, 31% of employees felt committed to the values ​​and objectives of their company, while 17% showed actively disconnectedwhich implies being in a Silent resignation situation. In 2019, 55% of employees consulted by Gallup knew exactly what was expected of them, while, in 2024, it is a percentage barely reached 44%. In the same proportion, the alignment of the values ​​and the culture of the company registered between the employees has fallen before the pandemic, which stood at 38%, while in the updated it barely records 30%, indicating the detachment of the employees and the Lack of template cohesion. It is more complicated to retain talent. One of the direct consequences of this detachment is the difficulty of companies To retain talent. According to Gallup, the percentage of employees who feel they are thriving in their company went from 60% in 2019 to 50% in 2024, accompanied by record levels of negative emotions such as the Stress and exhaustion. This impact has been more pronounced Among young workerswho tend to experience higher levels of burnout and pessimistic evaluations about Your quality of lifeplacing them in a situation of high probability of employment change. In 2024, 18% of employees claimed to be fully satisfied with their current job, while 51% were thinking of changing jobs or were in Active search for a new job. Exceeding the levels that were recorded at the end of 2019. Managers have made a difference. The data collected in five years of surveys by the Gallup consultancy have revealed the importance of communication management and Leadership of intermediate positions and managers. Those companies with effective leadership have managed to maintain the company’s work culture, evolving with the changes that have occurred in these years. On the other hand, those companies with managers who have not known how to adapt To the new tools and a changing environment, they have suffered to retain your templates for the deterioration of its employees’ commitment. In Xataka | “They are much more daring.” Image | Unspash (Jason Goodman)

that of 1755, the disaster that destroyed the city and changed science

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Earthquakes in Lisbon can be more or less intenseto have greater or lesser reach and unleash or not alarm, but since the mid -eighteenth century all (whether strong, medium or slight) have something in common: in addition to stirring the ground, they remove the memory. Ease in the Portuguese capital is synonymous with 1755. of disaster. Of destruction. Of Thousands of dead. And also, in its own way, of regeneration. It is so for a very simple reason: in Lisbon it is impossible for the soil to be stirred without the Lisbon remembers The drama that their great -grandparents lived (and perhaps some more tátara) on all the saints of 1755, when in a matter of a few hours the city trembled, burned and sank. Literally. The tremor recorded yesterday afternoon in the Lisbon Metropolitan Areaof Magnitude 4.7 And to which two other mild ones have happened today, 2.8 and 2.3they are no exception and (as has already happened with another similar In August of magnitude 5,3) dusting the memory of 1755. A November morning … The history of the earthquake that He swept Lisbon In 1755, there has been thousands of times and in almost all chronicles a circumstance is highlighted that continues to fascinate even today, 270 years after the disaster: its date. The ground trembled on the morning of November 1, All Saints’ Day, with the devotees Catholics praying in the temples and large amount of candles lit in honor of the deceased. Maybe it seems silly, but ultimately it turned out A key detail. Thanks to testimonies such as the English Reverend Charles Davywho remembered that autumal morning prior to the earthquake as the “most beautiful”, we know that Towards 9.30 a.m. The Lisbon gathered in the city’s temples felt a rumble. The noise was so intense, so loud, that Davy believed that it was a carriage march. “I soon disappointed myself, I discovered that it was due to a type of strange and frightening noise underground, similar to distant and hollow rumble of a thunder “, He recalled The British. It was right. That rumble was not caused by the wheels and horses of the horses as they moved on the cobblestone of Lisbon, but an earthquake that the researchers They still study today. In July 2021, without going any further, Nature public An article that deepened in Its causes and tectonic origin. What neither Davy nor the rest of the inhabitants of Lisbon could know in 1755 is that the city would not be shaken by a single earthquake. They happened two or three tremors Of which the second was, from afar, the most intense. Today it is estimated that it reached a magnitude of between 8.5 and 9 On the Richter scale, almost double that it shook yesterday the capital and superior to the one that hit Morocco in 2023. From the Institut de Ciènces del Mar They clarify In fact, one of the natural events is considered ” more destructive in history from Europe “. Temples fell. Palacios fell. Public buildings fell. And houses fell. Earthquakes and something else 1755 Maybe it is far behind in time, but the Lisbon of then reacted to the tremors in the same way that we would do today: they sought refuge. A good part of the survivors of the first earthquake, regardless of sex or rank ran to the great open square next to the Tajo River. There Mr. Braddick, an English merchant whose testimony He rescued years ago The BBC was found to swirled. There they cried mercy to heaven. And there they were surprised by the second shock of the ground, which like Braddick tells, “The ruin completed” of the buildings that had already been damaged. It is not necessary to imagine it. One of the forced stops for tourists visiting Lisbon is naked Gothic arcade of the church of Convent do carmoone of the architectural victims of that unfortunate day. Just as if a drama in three acts were, the earthquakes that shook Lisbon’s foundations were only the beginning. The earthquake generated a tsamot with waves of between six and nine meters(It was felt Also in Cádizleaving thousands of victims) that unloaded violently in the lower part of the city. In less than an hour The water crashed into the Paseo Marítimo, where it surprised not a few Lisbon who had sought refuge in La Ribera. There is even more. The disaster was accompanied by fires that were probably aggravated by the overturned stoves and the vote candles lit for the deceased. Years ago the National Geographic Institute published A monograph in which the devastation generated by the flames, which lasted for five or six days. “As soon as it obscured, the entire city It seemed to shinewith such a bright light that could be read. You could say without exaggeration that there were fires in at least one hundred places at the same time “, Reverend Davy recountswho confirms that the fires lasted almost a week, “without interruption.” A tragedy and a change The result? Just a few years later Voltaire I pointed critically in his work Naive that the disaster had taken “three quarters” of Lisbon. Other sources They go further And they suggest that the tremors, the tsunami and the fire “almost completely” the Portuguese capital and knocked down around 12,000 homes. The balance is in any case bleak, just like the balance of victims. Depending on the source that is handled, there is talk of 10,000 Deaths, 30,000, 60,000 or even 90,000. A barbarity if one takes into account that at that time Lisbon would have between 200,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. Such was the debacle that is told that Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marqués de Pombalhe advised King José I be pragmatic: he played “rescue the living and bury the dead.” The 1755 disaster was not only felt in the balance of deaths, injured, missing and buildings, squares, roads and crumbled temples. In its way … Read more

Calling Gulf of America to the Gulf of Mexico was just an occurrence of Trump. Until Apple changed its maps

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The 1953 edition was the last one published in the volume Limits of Oceans and Seasthe text internationally accepted to name the seas and oceans of our planet. It is managed by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), But the curious thing is not that. The curious thing is why more than 70 years ago it has not been edited. The reason, they explain In The Conversationwe find it in the conflict between Japan and South Korea by the name of a sea. Specifically, by the Japan seaits best known and popular name. In South Korea they do not agree to call it that, and since then they try to change the name to “Mar del Este”. South Korea took the problem that created a East Sea Society 30 years ago, but the problem never solved. The IHO came to create a revised edition of its volume in 2002, but was never published. That is the clear demonstration of how difficult it is to change the name to any geographical element in our day. At least, to change it so that it is universally accepted. And that is what is happening these days with the controversy (another) created after Donald Trump’s decision, which He issued an executive order to call Gulf of MexicoGulf of America. That decision could have gone unnoticed, but it has become something especially significant. Not for the decision itself, but because to make it a standard de facto (no of iure) has forced Google Maps —which announced the change Monday— And above all Apple Maps Change the name on their maps. And if Google and Apple maps say it, the thing changes. He does it at least for the hundreds of millions of people who use these maps, who will end up seeing how that Gulf is no longer “from Mexico”, but “of America.” The popularity of these applications is exceptional, and if something changes its name in them, users They can end up accepting it as the official name. The problem is that it is not, because it is only in the US. But both Google and Apple have already introduced that change in their applications when they are used by US citizens there, and soon we will see all. That, of course, does not mean that the rest of the world accepts that new denomination and continues to use the name that that Gulf has always had. They will not probably do so in Mexico, where they responded with a sneer to the decision of the US president. His Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sherinbaum Pardo, did At a recent conference that maybe then we should Change the name to the United States to call it Mexican America. It was then that he showed a map of 1607 in which not only the Gulf of Mexico appeared as such: it is also the region now occupied by the United States was called Mexican America. The answer is absolutely valid. Sherinbaum probably does not propose that change in Google and Apple maps for Mexicans, and even if I did, Apple and Google are North American companies and would probably not accept the change. Be that as it may, the truth is that this change of names demonstrates how today changing the name to such important geographical areas is not easy, although Have Google and Apple from your side help. The question, of course, is what will happen within four years, when Trump’s mandate ends. Will the Gulf of Mexico return to be the Gulf of Mexico? Image | Daniel Torok In Xataka | When King Carlos III commissioned a map of South America and then prohibited it because it was too precise

Hundreds of years ago, no one saw a beaver in the Tagus. That has just changed and is not even the strangest of all

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The saddest thing that can be said of an animal can be said of the Iberian Castor: No one is very clear when it was extinguished. For years the researchers have discussed whether the last specimens disappeared in the seventeenth century, in the eighteenth or, even, in the nineteenth century to realize that all this was wet paper. But the only available evidence They place them in the second century BC. After that moment, nobody knows what happened to them. But something happened in 2003. In the spring of 2003 and illegally, someone introduced 18 European beavers from Bavaria. No one knows for sure who was or why he did it. In fact, They were discovered by surprise Thanks to “the existence of a series of indications, very conspicuous, that reveal the establishment of a small population of beavers in northern Spain.” What we do know is that, although it was tried to eradicate, it was not achieved. And now, he has overflowed the Bajo del Río Aragón course where he found himself and is now considered all the purposes An native animal subject to environmental protections. Beyond the Ebro. If the Pyrenees had worked as an effective barrier to the beaver, once the situation has entered the situation again. A few years later, we had found Castores in the Duero Basin and in the Guadalquivir. What we hadn’t found were still beavers in the Tagus. And in June 2024, two researchers They found themselves With them in Zorita de los Canes, province of Guadalajara. That is, more than one hundred kilometers in a straight line of the closest place where they had previously reported. What is happening here? Because if we stop to think for a moment, we will discover that this expansion of the beavers It is not natural. In 2023, Teresa Calderón biologist calculation that the beavers of Tormes would have taken 40 years to get there by their own means from the closest documented population. In the Andalusian case, or there is a way for these specimens to travel alone the 365 kilometers of southern submeta that are between the stretch of the Guadalquivir where they were found in 2023 and the closest point where we had previously found them. The only rational explanation is that Someone is putting them there. “Beaver Bombing”. Thus (“Bombing of Castores”) is what is called a little rare practice for years: to release groups of illegally managers in areas where they had supposedly lived. And they not only do it without permission: they do it without previous studies, or guarantees, or planning. “As the IUCN establishes, to make a reintroduction of any extinct animal in a territory it is necessary to carry out a series of studies that are almost common sense,” Francisco José García rememberedBiologist and expert in mammals from the climate semm, “we have to know why they were extinguished at the time, under what conditions the animals lived then and if these conditions are maintained. And we must work on the social perception of the species, You can’t do your back things to society. And then? The problem, as happened with The reintroduction of the wolfgetting that “social and political support” is complicated and some groups have decided not to wait. The story gives for A rural thrillerbut he raises many doubts about what will happen in the future. Not only if Castor’s communities will grow in Spain, but this practice will be extended to more species. Image | Svetozar Cenisev In Xataka | Franco introduced an exotic sheep in the Teide to content the hunters. Now it is ending its ecosystem FacebookTwitterFlipboardE-mail

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