changing

Spain has been seeing how housing becomes apparently not affecting the demand. Now something is changing

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Accustomed to An overheated market in which demand far exceeds supply, Latest statistics real estate have left us a surprise. The Community of Madrid, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands or Cantabria said goodbye to the second quarter with less purchases of houses than last year. Not just that. The most curious (or not) is that this ‘puncture’ has not softened prices, which far from containing have continued upespecially in the capital. There is who appreciates and signs that the increase in housing begins to stop the most tension markets. What happened? That the Madrid real estate market is experiencing A curious phenomenon. Or not. While the country as a whole records more sale operations than a year ago, in the Community of Madrid the opposite occurs: less transactions are closed. It is not the only region of Spain that is unmarked from the general trend, but it is the one that does so in a more evident way. In case that trend was not interesting, it coincides with another equally clear: the increase in housing. In the capital you may sell less houses than a year ago, but those that change hands do it with higher prices. How much is the fall? There are different sources to answer that question. One of the most reliable is Official statistics of transactions that the government periodically publishes. His latest data is from the second quarter and reflect a clear setback in the Madrid market. From 23,267 operations in 2024 we have moved to 21,614, 7.1% less. The percentage is interesting for several reasons. The main is that this negative data contrasts with the growth experienced in the country as a whole, where transactions grew 3.1% during the same period. The Community of Madrid is not the only one that is declined from generalized growth, although it is the one that has suffered a clearer fall. In the second quarter, they also ‘pricked’ other tension markets such as the Balearic Islands (-2.7%), Canary Islands (-6.1%), Cantabria (-2.7%) and La Rioja (-4.6%). Is there more data? Yes. Those of the General Council of Notaries, which gives us Another perspectivemore updated. His latest report on the real estate market shows that in July the sale of homes grew in 11 autonomous communities, with increases especially pronounced in Navarra (21.5%), Aragon (14.1%) or Castilla y León (11.6%). In the opposite pole the Community of Madrid is located again, where the agency counted 8,235 purchases15.5% less. ‘Click’ again the Canary Islands (-11.7%) and Cantabria (-8.2%) and to a much lesser extent, with falls close to the percentage point, the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Andalusia. His setback explains that in the country as a whole, notaries have registered a 1% year -on -year fall in the sale flow. The Madrid market not only exceeds that setback. The country remember In addition, July is the fourth consecutive month in which it scores an interannual fall of transactions, although with more moderate declines. What about prices? That is the key. The decrease in sale does not seem to have thrown down prices. On the contrary. They go up. And bluntly. If the Madrid market highlighted by the fall of transactions, it also does so by the increase. According to Official data From the government, buy a residential square meter in the free market of the Community of Madrid cost in the second quarter of 2024 3,198 euros. In the same quarter of 2025 that value had already shot at 3,630, that is, 13.5% more. The percentage exceeds that of the national average, which stood at 10.4%, and left the value of the free residential square meter in 2,093. What do notaries say? Something similar. Your July report It reflects that prices continued to grow in the most overheated markets, even in those in which transactions fell: in the Canary Islands they rose 5.3%, in Cantabria 14.6%, in the Valencian Community 7.7%and in Catalonia 7.5%. If there is a community that stands out, however, it is the Madrid, which combines two ‘silver medals’ at the same time: it is the second in which prices rose the most in July, 16%, only behind Navarra; And it is both the second with the most expensive M2. Its value is at 3,529, a fact that only exceeds the Balearic Islands, with 4,100. Notaries have also detected an increase in the number of bank loans for the purchase of homes. In general, 6% grew with an average value of 179,450 euros, 9.4% more than a year ago. In general, more mortgages were granted in 13 autonomies, which is largely explained by its cheaperalthough its volume fell in Cantabria, the Canary Islands, Navarra and the Community of Madrid. Why is it important? The phenomenon recorded in Madrid, Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands or Cantabria, where there were less sale in the second quarter while housing continued to make it more expensive, is interesting for what suggests us from the market: fatigue signs and less joy in purchases in a market suffocated by the increase. José García Montalvo, Professor of Economics, I recently recognized to The country that a “slowdown” in the Madrid market is appreciated. “A growing pressure is being experienced that is now late for a little more to sell floors, that the number of days is lengthening,” he clarifies before adding that the last records show a 18% rise in sales times. The notaries They point However, their July data should not be interpreted yet as “a change in trend.” In fact, they appreciate a growth trend, although “with a lower intensity in recent months than in the period covered by the last quarter of 2024 to the first of 2025, which points towards a certain cooling in the market.” Are there more factors at stake? Yes. As García points out or notaries, the data invite you to think about a “slowdown” or “cooling” of the market that coincides with the price increase, but the increase in housing is not the only … Read more

Spanish wine promised them very happy after the end of drought. The price of grapes is changing everything

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The wine industry is facing a complicated year. In the eye of the hurricane, the price of grapes, such a low price that is leading farmers to stand up war. A problem that It has been hanging on the sector From before even the beginning of the harvest. The food chain law. The Unió Llauradora, Agrarian Organization of Valencian, has been the last sector group in denounce the situation of the grape market. The organization has claimed to claim Ministry of Agriculture Valenciana A study on the production costs for the grapes used for wine production, a study they consider could “endorse possible complaints for breach of the food chain law.” This legislation is responsible for regulating “the operation and vertebration of the food chain.” A law that seeks, According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foodimprove the efficacy and competitiveness of the sector while reducing the imbalance in commercial relations. According to explained in a statement The Llauradora Unió, this legislation “the only instrument that producers possess to defend their interests (…) in the face of commercial distribution abuses.” 20% less. Farmers do not consider that the price at which wine producers buy the grape is fair. According to the forecasts of the Valencian Sector Association, the price of grapes could fall by more than 20% this year. Expectations v. reality. The Valencian field is the last to join the complaints of other vinification grape -producing regions. The harvest seemed to be abundant, with some areas relying on a recovery in production also 20%. This increase in supply would be the great engine of the price drop, a decrease such that for some wine producing regions they have indicated in recent months that they would not allow them to cover production costs. To this problem, the Unió Llauradora adds another in the fact that its harvest is not even reaching the expected volume at first. Despite this, prices, based on more optimistic expectations, They continue to be low. “The rains recorded at certain times of the campaign were a relief and contributed to the recovery of the vine The association stands out. One crisis after another. The current one is just one of the crises that the sector has had to face in recent years. The increase that some wine regions have seen in production responds rather to a recovery compared to recent years, marked by the drought that put a good part of the agricultural sector against the strings (even the farmer). In Xataka | During centuries Galicia was a thriving land of olive groves with unique varieties in the world. What changed it is still a mystery Image | Dailos Medina / Pixabay

The irrational fear of changing jobs has a name and influences your decision making: sunk cost fallacy

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Often people They cling to jobs that they no longer satisfy them – or that, directly, They do not support-, but they resist leaving it moved by the fear of losing everything they have invested to get to where they are: time, effort or training. Although it may seem strange, this behavior responds to a psychological bias called sunk cost fallacy. This bias can delay decision making to leave a job and perpetuate itself in an unfavorable work situation that can even affect mental health .. What is the sunk cost fallacy? Psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem coined for the first time In 1972 the idea of ​​cognitive bias psychologists such as Daniel KahnemanNobel Prize in 2002, were based on the work of Tversky and Kahneman To demonstrate The profound influence of this bias on business and personal decision making, being relatively easy to be trapped in that immobility situation. Richard Thaler presented for the first time The practical concept of the fallacy of the sunk cost, concluding that people have a greater tendency to use a certain good or service when they have previously invested money in them. According Research From the University of Ohio (USA), the fallacy of the sunk cost refers to the trend that people have to continue an activity or remain in a certain situation because resources have already been invested in it, although these resources are unrecoverable and the logical decision would be to abandon it. In labor decision making, falling into the fallacy of the sunk cost – or of unrecoverable cost – implies postponing indefinitely the decision to change jobs Just because we do not want to “lose” what has cost us to reach the current position. The bias in important decisions This thought error causes people to stagnate in jobs that do not motivate them and are even restricting their professional potential, even when there are evidence of other more beneficial and rational options. The bias is based on a determining psychological factor such as loss aversion. For example, the personal feeling of responsibility for the resources already invested, or the fear to seem like a “wasteful” to others, can make someone stay years in a job that no longer provides satisfaction or professional growth. In Psychological researchit has been proven that the change of work is postponed, although the alternative is clearly better. This paralysis is produced by this aversion to the psychological loss that supposes that all the effort made in the past has fallen into a broken bag. Trapped in their own trap A study carried out by the researchers at the University of Kansas with more than 1,000 participants showed that, who fall into this fallacy, have greater symptoms of anxiety and postpone the search for professional help. Recent research From the Department of Psychology and Economics of the University of California in San Diego, they reflect that “the fact that you have dedicated unrecoverable resources to a project does not mean that you have to sink with the ship,” said their authors. The scientific evidence It reveals that, to avoid making irrational decisions, it is essential to identify this cognitive bias and learn to make decisions based on objective data and future possibilities, not in what has cost you to reach the point where you are. Recognizing the fallacy of the sunk cost is the first step to overcome it In labor decisions. If this awareness does not occur, there is a risk of continuing to invest resources, even more intensely, falling into a vicious circle that will be increasingly complicated to leave. Such and as they highlight From Asana, it is important not to get carried away by immobility and make decisions based on objective data and take an external perspective, not get carried away by fears and investments of the past. In Xataka | We thought to choose among more options would make us freer. The “choice paradox” says no Image | Unspash (Marco Kaufmann)

This year it seemed destined to be the recovery of the crops. Heat waves and fire are changing this

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The last years have been convulsive for the Spanish field. After more than a year suffering a drought that put many against the strings, the arrival of an exceptional humidity period between autumn of 2024 and the recent spring seemed to bring the long -awaited relief. However, the arrival of summer has brought a script. Heat and fire. The intense heat seen in recent weeks has been the climax of a remarkably hot summer, with an exceptionally warm month and one month of August on the way to be (if the imminent cooling does not avoid it). Both extreme heat, as the fires associated with this heat wave have introduced new threats For crops. Direct and indirect damages. The damage associated with heat and fire can be both direct and indirect. It is evident that fire can destroy crops whole and that heat It can also affect to the productivity of plants, but the effects are even more complex. Fire can be an indirect risk. For example, areas that have not been affected by the flames They can be inaccessible During the fires, either due to smoke or by the cut of access roads. Extreme heat can also limit the time that workers can dedicate to work abroad. To this can be added the impact that heat and fires have on the Water availabilityincreasing the ghost of water stress even after almost a period of extraordinary economic bonanza. The oil. Recently, Agricultural Associations such as Asaja, Coag, UPA and Union of Unions They pointed to EFEAGRO Some of the crops that could be more affected by heat and flames. Among them, one about to go through one of its critical points: oil. The Olivar sector fears that this season is not kind to the olive harvest. Water stress can affect the maturation of the fruit so the sector believes that the current situation could lead to olives, dynamiting the (Already scarce) Hopes to recover from the sector. The other crops at risk. The list of harvest at risk by heat is wide. Includes crops like the vineyardpotato, tomato and fruit trees. In the case of grapes, for example, lack of water can replace its phenolic maturation with maturation by dehydration, they explain from the sector, which impacts the quality of the product. Not even crops such as cereals are saved. Although a good part of the harvest has already been collected, in some areas fires can prevent farmers from finishing the collection of these crops. What is true for agriculture can also be for livestock. They are not rare the times that fires are primed with farm animals: even when the fire does not put them directly, their pastures and their abbrevics can disappear overnight. More quantity, less price. Heat and fire add uncertainty to a year marked by Important drops in prices of agrarian products. A very marked fall in some crops but that in general responds to the recovery of agricultural productivity after years of drought. A recovery for which now the sector fears. The good news is that they await us a few days, Maybe weeksof thermal relief. The issue now is whether it is down the temperatures and rainfall that is expected these days are able to relieve this situation. In Xataka | We thought we were facing a “historical” oil harvest. Farmers now foresee a reality bath Image | Matt Palmer / Eberhard Grossgasteiger

How much meat is too much meat? This is how the debate about meat is changing

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For years they have told us that meat is a source of protein, iron and tradition. In many cultures, he is the queen of the dish. But today, between the growing public health problems and environmental urgencies, the question is no longer whether we must eat meat but how much meat is too much meat. The answer is not as simple as it seems. The consumption map. The meat is still the protagonist on our tables, but its impact is triggered. In recent decades, its production and consumption have grown accelerated: Statista and Our World in Data They estimate that we could reach 570 million tons per year in 2030, an increase linked to global population and economic growth. Countries such as Spain, France, the United States or Japan, consumption levels They exceed 100 kg per person a year. However, according to A study published in Nature Foodmore than 255 grams of white meat per week already calls into question the planet’s capacity to regenerate the resources that this industry requires. Red meat directly is outside any diet compatible with sustainability, according to Caroline Gebara, main author of the study. Less is more. From medicine and nutritional science, the message is increasingly clear: reduce the consumption of meat – especially red and processed – is beneficial. According to Healthline and studies collected at MIT Press Readerits intake is related to a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, colorectal cancer and general mortality. In the Course of Integrative Oncology of the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Nutrition Professor Lourdes Vázquez explained for the voice of Galicia that the approach must be integral: “The more foods of plant origin, the better. We do not want to demonize, but the diet set.” From Brussels, the European Union has put figures to the Council: Limit red meat to 300-500 g per week, and the prosecuted to no more than 30-150 g, depending on the country. In the Spanish case, food guides recommend from 0 to 3 weekly portions, with preference for white meats such as chicken or rabbit. What evolution says. We know that humans have eat meat for thousands of years. What is not so clear is when he started playing a key role in our diet. ORn study commented in The Conversationwhich analyzed nitrogen isotopes in fossil teeth of Australopithecus in South Africa, suggests that these predecessors ate mostly plants. However, a opposite hypothesis, cited here in Xatakastates that during much of the Paleolithic we were hypercarnivores, hunting large mammals and developing physiological adaptations for frequent consumption of meat. Faced with both positions, the biologist Gidon ESHEL questions the usefulness of appealing to evolution to justify modern habits. In your essay for Mit Press Reader He has affirmed: “Evolution does not prescribe our current diets. If more than two out of ten plant foods can nutritionally replace meat, then meat is not indispensable.” Leave it at all? It is not necessarily about becoming vegetarians or vegans overnight. There are gradual alternatives, such as Pescetarianismbased on vegetables and fish, or the flexitarianisma more flexible option that does not eliminate meat, but yes It reduces its frequency and quantity, promoting the consumption of legumes, vegetables and integral cereals. They are only different approaches that show as a bridge to adapt to different personal, cultural or economic contexts. A more conscious diet. So how much meat is too much meat? The answer is not an exact number, but an invitation to moderation. Eating less meat, better quality, accompanied by more vegetables, fruits and legumes not only improves individual health: it is a specific measure to preserve the planet. Reducing meat consumption does not imply giving up the pleasure of eating. It means adopting a way of feeding more conscious, informed and sustainable. As concluded The study published in Nature Foodthere are many dietary combinations that allow to maintain health and take care of the environment. It is not about prohibiting, but about transforming. Image | Unspash Xataka | A study has reached a happy conclusion about a popular food supplement: it serves to get less angry

The oil ships are changing route to avoid the Ormuz Strait. Who will pay the detour: We

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Hostilities between Israel and Iran have reached a new peak of tension. The impact has not been expected: The price of oil rises and all looks point to the Ormuz Strait. Through that narrow step it circulates almost a fifth of the world crude, and although it has not been blocked, the tension is already altering routes, more than transportation and raising the pressure on the global energy market. A global bottleneck. The Ormuz Strait connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabic Sea, and is under the control of Iran. Only in 2024, more than 1.4 million barrels daily on ships were transported. According to Bloombergalso manages about 27% of the global oil liquefied gas flow (LPG). A partial or total obstruction It would directly affect energy powers such as China and India, as well as Iran, which has the third largest oil reserve on the planet. An unprecedented climb. Amid the registration of the conflict, many shipowners have begun to avoid the area or demand much higher risk premiums to cross it. According to Financial Timesthe result has been a vertiginous rise in charter prices. According to Clarksons Research figures cited by the British media, the daily rate to rent a VLCC (Vary Large Crude Carrier) that transports 2 million barrels of crude oil from the Gulf to China jumped from $ 19,998 to $ 47,609 in just a week. And not only oil transport has been increased: tank ships that transfer refined products, such as gasoline and diesel, have also doubled their rates, reaching more than $ 51,000 daily on that same route. The gas feels the impact. The tension has caused a slight fall in maritime traffic in the area, and some countries have begun to take precautions. Catar, through his state company Qatarenergy – the world’s largest exporter in the world – officially recommended to its vessels, care to cross the Strait, being the first measure known by an energy producer of the Gulf, According to Bloomberg. The tension is intensified. Iran, under international sanctionsuse a “ghost fleet”: ships that operate outside the international regulatory system, without valid insurance or security certifications. This not only represents a legal risk, but also operational. On June 17, Petrolero Front Eagle, of the Norwegian Frontline company, collided with one of these ships just after leaving the Gulf, According to Reuters. That same day, two other oil tankers collided and even caught fire, while two others were approached by Iranian vessels, which led to a “maximum alert” in the area. According to Richard Fulford-Smith, director of the firm Eden Ocean, cited by the Financial Timessome oil buyers are opting for suppliers other than Iran who use regulated vessels. This is pushing the demand towards the legitimate fleet and further increases the global rates. And now what? Uncertainty has already pushed some companies to redirect their routes outside the Persian Gulf, despite the additional cost. China and India could increase their purchases to suppliers such as Saudi Arabia or Russia, which do not depend on the Strait. So, some vessels are demanding higher risk premiums to cross the area, while others prefer to avoid it completely. For its part, United States has begun to reinforce its military presence. Can there be a real closure? Although there has been no official closure of the Strait, the tension has raised the fears that it may occur. Oxford Economics has recently warned In Bloomberg that the price of the Brent barrel could reach $ 130 if a total blockade occurs. And the most worrying: an eventual risk premium could be maintained even after a reopening. For now, the flows continue, but with greater caution and an increasingly dense naval presence. Energy risk. The Ormuz Strait is still open, but fear of a block is more present than ever. For now, the flow of crude and gas continues, although conditioned by a conflict that threatens to spread. The tension has not paralyzed trade, but has more expensive. And that, in the energy market, is enough to light alarms. Image | Pexels Xataka | A fear has taken over the world oil industry: the closure of the Ormuz Strait by Iran

AI is changing to the way we buy. Andy Jassy has warned its employees that this will affect its jobs

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In your report ‘Future of Jobs Report 2025’the World Economic Forum advanced that by 2030 92 million jobs were going to move due to the effect of AI on the labor market. That means that some of the current jobs They will cease to existwhile new new jobs will be generated in place. Andy Jassy, ​​Amazon CEO, headed In a statement sent to its employees in those same terms, announcing that the Amazon template will suffer a displacement in its labor mass caused by the Automation of AI. Amazon will not be the same. In his statement, Jassy says that, In a few yearsthe Amazon structure will not be the same today. It cannot be if they want to remain a competitive company. “As we implement more generative and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the work that is done today, and more people doing other types of work,” he wrote. In other words, Jassy confirms the theory that at the beginning of the year already raised the World Economic Forum: that the impact of AI would not mean the net destruction of employment in its workforce, but would force Amazon to restructure their departments to reduce employees in some and hire more employees in others. The elephant in the room. The Employment displacement theory In Amazon, however, he raises some doubts for which not even the Amazon CEO has an answer: at what rhythm will that change occur? Is Amazon capable of maintaining the balance of your template? “It is difficult to know exactly how this will be translated over time, but in the coming years we hope that this will reduce our total template as efficiency increases thanks to the extensive use of AI throughout the company,” Jassy wrote in his statement. According to StatistaAmazon currently employs 1.56 million people worldwide, making it the second largest private employer in the United States after Walmart. The change in their stores. Amazon is not the first time he faces a dilemma like the one posed by its executive director. The e-commerce giant already faced him when he began the automation of his logistics centers. On that occasion, a whole Robot Army replaced the employees who were responsible for searching of products. However, as they were implemented Those automated systemsSLA company created new positions of preparation, sending orders, maintenance and engineering. According to data from Amazon,This automation needed 30% more used for its logistics centers. The problem in that case It was the same which is currently raised: many jobs were eliminated with the arrival of robots, but the Creation of new positions It was gradual, leaving a temporary job deficit. Change is not among the same. Another of the problems posed by Amazon’s forecast and that makes a big difference between what happened in logistics centers and the arrival of AI, is that the new positions that, according to Andy Jassy, ​​will be generated, are not equivalent to those who will cease to exist. A warehouse employee It cannot develop a new AI function for the Amazon store. In that sense, CEO’s words to their employees mark A solution for your employees: “Be curious about AI, Edúquense, attend workshops and take training, use and experiment with AI whenever they can.” In addition, the statement insisted “the most transformative technology from the Internet is already here. Those who hug this change are familiar with AI, help us to build and improve our internal levels and contribute value to customers, will be well positioned to have a great impact and help us reinvent the company.” That is, paraphrasing a phrase that has run like gunpowder on the Internet in recent years, “AI will not take your job, it will be taken away from someone who knows how to use it.” If the client changes, you have to adapt. According to the document signed by Jassy, ​​the AI ​​”will change the way we all work and live”, so companies must change their structure to adapt to those changes. The manager referred to the change in habits in the form of search and buy products that users are already starting to use. Tools based on Amazon’s own as Alexa+, but must also respond to the changes that other companies are promoting like Google Lens and the Circle to Search functionor through searches engines based on AI as the overview that Google has integrated into its browser. If the user changes his way of searching for products, Amazon must adapt to it and, according to Jassy, ​​that will generate internal changes. “It will change the way we all work and live. In all companies and in all imaginable fields,” said the manager. Amazon scissors. Regardless of the announcement of great changes in the Amazon squad for the coming years, the company was already coming from a restructuring trajectory of its workforce that, such and as they detail In Laysoff.fyi, it began in 2022 and has already resulted in 27,940 employees without employment. The announcement of its CEO is nothing more than the confirmation that this restructuring process will be chronified and Amazon will continue to adapt its template to the needs and advantages presented by AI. In Xataka | Of engineers to keyboard operators: AI is converting software programming into a mounting chain Image | Amazon

Believing that the healthy lasts less is changing how we eat (and how much we waste)

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Today, knowing how much a food really lasts has become almost a mystery. How much does a pepper in the fridge endure? Why does that apple have been in the fruitman for a week and nobody eats it? Have you spoiled or simply believe it? This confusion could be causing something else, an unnecessary increase in food waste. Short. Many foods come with labels such as “consuming preferably before”, “expiration date”, or even “packaged the …”, which has always been interpreted as a deadline for food security. However, According to EFSA (European Food Security Agency), this type of labeling does not mean that food is not safe after that date, but could lose quality, not security. There is a study behind. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 3,500 consumers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea participated in an academic study in eight parts, Published in the Journal of Marketing Research. The objective of research was to understand how the perception of “healthy foods” affects their management and consumption. In one of the experiments, scientists asked participants to classify six products (cereals, snack bars, protein bars, yogurt, cookies and fried potatoes) in two categories: those who considered healthier and those who believed they would expire faster. The majority assumed that the food considered “healthier” were the ones who thought they would spoil before. Jeehye Christine Kim, professor at the University of Virginia and co -author of the study, explained it as follows: “This is due to the lack of knowledge about the deterioration of food. Consumers apply what they know about fresh fruits and vegetables to packaged foods, even when it is not logical to do it.” But there is something else. Research has shown that consumers were more likely to throw healthy food as their expiration date approached than to discard less healthy products in the same situation. However, researchers have given him a name: Heuristic Health. An automatic assumption that leads to think that, if a food is healthy, it must also be more perishable. That belief is born from the real experience with fresh fruits and vegetables – which are spoiled quickly – and is erroneously applied to packaged products such as yogurts or bars. To that is added another factor: the fear of making mistakes. As we do not always know how to identify whether a food is still safe or not, and since the labels do not help, we prefer to discard it “just in case.” But that “just in case” has a cost: more wasted food, many times without need. A search to waste less. Researchers suggest that one of the keys to solve this problem is on labeling. As explained by Brent McFerran, professor at Simon Fraser University and Co -author of the study, to The Wall Street Journalboth the food industry and governments must act, since “many perfectly healthy and safe foods for consumption usually throw themselves in the trash due to ignorance of how long they can be consumed without danger.” For its part, EFSA promotes information campaigns so that consumers learn the difference between expiration labels and preferred consumption, and drives manufacturers to improve the clarity of their containers. Beyond choosing healthy. Eating healthy should not mean throwing more food. But while confusion persists on what a date printed in a container really means, thousands of perfectly edible products will continue to end in the trash every day. Understanding what the labels mean, demanding clarity and rethinking our perceptions can have a real impact, not only on our health, but also on the planet. Because choosing healthy should also include taking care of what is not wasted. Image | Dean Hochman Xataka | A squirrel could cross Spain jumping from supermarket in supermarket: how we have obsessed with the purchase

Something is changing in Europe if the country that has been neutral will also check it: Switzerland

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In the world, Ironiza A few months ago the European geopolitics expert Ulrike Franke, there are few certainties. One is death. Another taxes. And the third, almost at the same level as the previous two, is the military neutrality of Switzerland. Your own government presume that it is “one of the foundations” of its foreign policy, a status recognized internationally since 1815 and that in practice prevents it from taking advantage of armed conflicts or joining military alliances, no matter how much powerful (and above all lucrative) Let it be your arms industry. In an increasingly complicated world, marked by the three years of war in Ukraine, the approach of the US and Russia and relationships more and more tense Between Brussels and Washington, this status of neutrality seems to soften. What happened? That although Swiss neutrality is part of the country’s DNA, it is recognized worldwide and has overwhelming support in Helvetic society (91% in 2024), Something is changing in the Alpina nation. It comes with a quick turn by Google to find items that They wonder For the future that Switzerland has if he maintains his equidistance, they talk about “Relanding” either “questioning” of neutrality or even report how Bern It has been involved in projects of Military Cariz. It is not so much The president of the country was pronounced on the issue, Viola Amherd. “It should be reviewed”. The clearest evidence was left by the Swiss federal council in August, when he published A series of “recommendations” in terms of security prepared by an expert commission. Among them there is a centered on the neutral role of Switzerland that generated a special interest. The reason? Your firmness. “The neutrality policy should be reviewed, focus more on its security function and apply with more flexibility,” starts The chapter. They are just that, recommendations embodied in a report, but it is revealing. “The majority of the commission recommends to better align neutrality policy with the United Nations Charter and take into account the distinction between aggressor and victim,” The document aboundswhich also advocates to review the federal law of 96 in the matter of defense and the approach to the Atlantic Alliance and the 27 community states. “Cooperation with NATO and EU must continue to deepen with a view to achieving a common defense capacity and be a real cooperation.” The importance of context. The recommendations are understood much better in context light, one that has evolved clearly since it was disclosed The reportin August 2024. The first key is the Ukraine War. After his beginning Bern He decided to join To European sanctions to Russia Bajo The argument that supporting purely economic punishments does not imply positioning itself in an armed conflict. That reasoning did not prevent, however, a few months later, in August 2022, Moscow stop considering To Switzerland a neutral country and even rejected a Berna offer to mediate in the war. Geopolitics … and market. There are other keys, such as the fact that Switzerland was incorporated into the United Nations In 2002 (with everything that implies), but among them there is an especially interesting. Switzerland may be a neutral country, but has companies that export hundreds of millions of euros in war material. And while in 2022 that business reached A record levelthe following year the flow He collapsed partly by the neutral status of the country, which Block re -export of weapons and ammunition manufactured in Switzerland to countries at war, such as Ukraine. “Raise the ban”. In Your report August is also dedicated to the arms policy in which it is advocated to “strengthen and adapt better to threats” the Swiss industry. “The majority wishes to lift the prohibition of re -export to the countries mentioned in Annex 2 of the ordinance of February 25, 1998 on war material,” the document collects. In said annex A twenty and a half of countries are cited from different regions, including Germany or Spain, which in 2023 assured that Bern “blocked” the re -export of military material to Ukraine to reinforce his defense. And Trump arrived. That was the context a few months ago. Since November one more factor is added: Donald Trump, than from his Arrival at the White House He has revolutionized international politics, especially in Europe. In the two scarce months that the Republican has been in office, he has threatened take out to the US from NATO, he has complained that the alliance “Take advantage” from Washington and has implied that Europe will not be able to count forever or unconditionally with the “Defensive umbrella” United States. Has that climate influenced in Bern? Financial Times (FT) published a few days ago An extensive analysis in which he argued that the new scenario is pushing Switzerland to establish closer defense ties. At stake also enters a new name, Martin Pfistera colonel who in a matter of days will become the new Swiss defense minister and has already been favorable to greater cooperation in defense with NATO and the EU. “Absolutely necessary”. As collect the newspaper British, Pfister has publicly assured that he sees “absolutely necessary” cooperation and joint training with NATO. And that even though Switzerland, precisely because of its historic neutral status, is not part of the Atlantic Alliance. Beyond his words, the Alpine country has made several interesting movements over the last months without altering its neutral status: He has decided to join to an EU project to facilitate military mobility, He has signed a statement to be part of the European sky shield initiative (ESSI) and the government even It has been proposed Relax the restrictions for the export of weapons. “I have never seen a scenario that reflects the situation we are in,” Jean-Marc Rickli commentsfrom the Geneva Security Policy Center to FT. “In transatlantic relations there have been ups and downs, but the possible detachment of the US with Europe, in addition to aligning with Russia … has generated a shock in Europe, including Switzerland.” … Read more

The people who defend that the Internet is changing the brain forever

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Our brain is a constantly change organ. It changes throughout our life not only as a result of our growth and aging, also as a consequence of daily activities, from exercise to reading, through sleep and other diverse actions. Of course, the time we spend in front of the screens is that of a computer or that of our mobile, They also affect our brain. We associate these changes to problems such as the loss of our capacity for attention or the appearance of addictive behaviors associated for example to the use of social networks. Knowing how our brain interacts with the digital world in the era of social networks is a key step to improve our well -being in this new context, understanding the magnitude of problems as those mentioned above and also trying to find the positive side of these interactions. That is why this is a field of great interest for research. We said before our brain is an organ that does not stop changing. These changes represent the very essence of learning (and much more). To the ability of the brain to transform and reconfigure, even at the physiological level, in response to external stimuli we call it neuroplasticity. This is explained by Loles Villalobos Tornero, of the Department of Experimental Psychology Cognitive processes and speech therapy of the Complutense University of Madrid, In an article in The conversation. “We call neuroplasticity to the extraordinary capacity of our thinking body to transform and functionally and physically reconfigure its structure in response to environmental stimuli, behavioral experiences or cognitive demands. In short, to the situations we live. This is mainly possible thanks to the creation and control of the number of neurons, the migration of these nerve cells and the formation of new connections, ”says Villalobos Tornero In your piece. What our brain does is, to some extent, improve neuronal connections between neurons that tend to activate in unison, which Facilitate synapses Among these, that is, the act of transmitting activity from one neuron to another. These changes, as the expert points out, affect the structure of neural networks. There are two recurring examples when we talk about neuroplasticity: musicians and taxi drivers. Training markedly specialized in these unions translates into physiological changes in the brains of these people. In a case in rhythmic and harmonic learning, as well as in the skill required to touch an instrument; In the second, in the spatial aspect. In Your article in The conversationVillalobos Tornero also speaks of the importance of neuroplasticity in another context, that of brain lesions. When a brain injury prevents the brain from continuing to develop a task, the brain reconfigures its activity to be able to develop the same task by resorting to the whole areas of the organ. Such is the adaptive capacity of our brain. It is not to surprise that yes, that the use of current digital tools, Internet, smartphones and social networks have the ability to change our brain. The question of how and to what extent It is what has been intrigued by experts in brain and cognition for years. To understand how we must still introduce another concept. The ability of our brain to adapt to new amazing situations, we pointed out. More if we take into account that this organ did not evolve to follow hyperlinks but for tasks such as looking for food and escaping predators. If we want to understand how the brain adapts to something so far from the functions for which it evolved, we must also take into account the idea of ​​the Cortical co -optation. The Cortical co -optation Something like the “recycling of brain areas” can be seen, which in origin would have evolved to develop certain functions to be able to assimilate new skills, explains Lucia Amoruso, a researcher at the BCBL (Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language). “A classic example is (The reading and writing). From an evolutionary point of view, human beings are not born with a specific brain module for these skills, ”explains the researcher. “However, throughout development, The “recycling” brain previously specialized in the recognition of objects and faces (…) to allow the acquisition of literacy. ” For Amoruso, the current brain transformation is similar, with our brain having to adapt to different stimuli, “fast, dynamic and fragmented.” Decades studying The year 2010, when social networks were in full explosion, saw the publication of two books on the subject. In a review For the magazine NatureDaphne Bavelier and Shawn Green paid attention to the fact that, despite being both books based on scientific knowledge in the field, their respective authors reached diametrically opposite conclusions. Studies such as those that have already been showing us, through magnetic resonances, which Our active brain when it sails Online a neuronal network greater than the one in operation when he simply reads. Something that is not at all surprising, after all navigate Internet requires greater activity than more passive reading. Greater neuronal networks are activated is indicative that the footprint in our brain of our virtual activity could be greater than the one left by the “conventional” reading. Interestingly, neuronal activation in Internet searches was also greater among people with some knowledge of the digital environment, in contrast to people less familiar with the digital environment. Nick Biltton and Nicholas Car, the authors of the books, interpret this same fact in different ways. If for Biltton this is a learning sign; Carr recalled that the use of a greater number of neurons does not necessarily imply an improvement in our brain processes. Drawing generalizable conclusions in this context is difficult. But more than two decades have passed since 2010 and the number of studies analyzing this topic has expanded. In 2019, a team of researchers published a review of the scientific literature that addressed the issue in order to summarize the “state of science” regarding this issue. The details of his analysis were Published as an article In the … Read more

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