The chaos of streaming is causing a phenomenon that we thought was in recession: downloads are increasing

The market fragmentationhe price increase of subscriptions and a user experience increasingly less friendly are the main factors pointing to an uptick in unauthorized downloads. Since Netflix began raising rates and banning shared accounts, customers have raised the threat of a return to downloading. Now, for the first time in years, the numbers seem to back them up. Temporary drop. The emergence of services streaming like Netflix devoured unauthorized downloads. With the promise of a wide and accessible catalog for a fixed rate, the platforms significantly reduced the consumption of movies and series outside of conventional channels. However, the utopia of that completely legal market subject to companies has faded. Recent reports show an uptick in access to this type of content, reversing the trend of the previous decade. The data. According to the Observatory of Piracy and Consumer Habits of Digital Content of 2024, digital piracy in Spain increased by 9% last year, reaching a record figure of 42,782 million euros in value of content defrauded through 7,330 million illegal accesses. In addition, the study indicates that for the first time access to platforms has been recorded through apps, social networks and decoders, growing the aggregate figure even more (an additional 14% compared to the previous year).​ Because? As we pointed out, this rebound is due to a series of circumstances that have changed the outlook for the streaming: Streaming is no longer convenient. Although perhaps the main reason for the public’s disenchantment with the streaming is that the supply is increasingly dispersed– To access all relevant content, the user must subscribe to multiple services. The exclusivity strategy that studios use to attract and retain subscribers has broken that ideal convenience of accessing content legally thanks to the streaming. To watch a series with multiple seasons, the user may need to subscribe to different platforms or wait months for the service to change. This dynamic clashes head-on with the immediacy that consumers expect from digital content. All of this is made worse by the licensing war: each studio wants its own titles on its platform exclusively, and leads to the need to subscribe to very specific platforms to access such popular franchises as Marvel, Star Wars or Stranger Things, for example. Technically poorer service. In addition to price and fragmentation, the service offered by some platforms has also worsened, further eroding user loyalty. Many services They have reduced the bitrate in their transmissions to save costs, leading to worse image quality. This loss of quality is often a trigger for users to search for an illegal version that offers a better viewing experience, which makes no theoretical sense: an unauthorized copy of a film often looks and sounds much better than the one available online. streaming. lUnauthorized downloads have evolved. But in addition, traditional downloads by torrent consumption on websites is now added streaming built outside of unofficial platforms, unauthorized IPTV services and the distribution of content through social networks like Telegram and WhatsApp. 96% of movie and series consumption in 2023 was done through streaming Unauthorized: you no longer have to download anything, which reduces the risks. It is a very tempting panorama. Gabe already said it. Specifically in 2011, Gabe Newell said that “Piracy is not a price problem, it is a service problem“. Faced with a legal market that is expensive, fragmented and inconvenient, users see unauthorized downloads as a kind of alternative “service” that offers all the content with better quality and for free. It can be said that it is a problem that the industry itself has partly created. In Xataka | Spaniards “torrenteros” around the world: when you go to live in Germany and discover that you can’t download anything

The AVE to Andalusia once again suffers a cable robbery and anticipates another day of chaos and delays. It’s just the tip of the iceberg

Entering the page where Adif collects information from high speed arrivals and outings serves to immerse yourself in the Infinite yellow of incidents. At the time of writing these lines, almost 11:00 am on Tuesday, September 16, each and every one of the trains with arrival in Madrid today have a possible delay warning. Someone has stolen a cable in the ADIF facilities near Córdoba. It is only the tip of the iceberg of an infrastructure that is suffering numerous delays in recent months. 40 minutes. They are not such, as we have learned in Xataka From the hand of one of its journalists who traveled in one of the birds that Córdoba connected with Madrid. Despite Adif’s notices that were discussed of an expected delay of between 10 and 40 minutes in the Andalusian line to Córdoba, the truth is that in this case it has lasted more than an hour. The reason has been a Cable theft between Córdoba and Guadajoz. The incidence was confirmed at the edge of 8:00 am and three hours later It was supposed to be. The problem is evidently the trains that has caused this breakdown that forces us to delay the usual paths for several hours. The last case. Today, Tuesday, September 16, it is just another case of cable robberies that Adif is suffering in recent months, with special incidence in the Andalusian corridor. Last May More than 16,000 passengers were thrown away for the theft of cable at various points of the line. This time, the bulk of the subtractions took place in the passage of the line through Toledo. Just a few days later, also the same month of Maythe section that connects Palencia with Catabria was also affected by a robbery of cables. Last June, Another robbery also caused delays in Catalonia. On that occasion, as in Madrid last Julythose affected were nearby users. A problem. Already in May, the president of Renfe, Álvaro Fernández de Heredia, left a phrase nothing optimistic in a Interview with Antena 3: “They cannot be monitored 24 hours 15,000 kilometers of network, but more means will have to be put.” Then, in Xataka We already wondered if it was so easy to steal in the train network. In 2015cable theft provided a group of thieves a booty that was valued at more than 800.00 euros. In 2022, another robbery also left some 135,000 euros in the pockets of another group of thieves. But in the case of the theft of Andalusian cable last May, the action was distributed by up to five points. And, despite this, According to the Government Delegationcopper had barely won worth 300 euros. So? Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, said that robbery as “A serious sabotage act”. A few months later, the idea of ​​sabotage slipped again from the government. This time was the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, to which An open microphone “caught” saying that the delays in the bird could be due to these supposed sabotages. On that occasion it coincided with Another of the chaotic days That Renfe and the rest of the operators have lived in the Spanish high -speed lines and, specifically, in La Andaluza. That time, a breakdown on an Ouigo train caused the chain stop of the rest of the trains. One of them, from Renfe, overheated and burned his electrical systems. As a result, More than 200 passengers spent the night Within one of those trains. In the same sense, those who pointed out that they pointed out that The real culprit of his fault was of Adifwhose facilities caused the problem. On the other hand, from the Popular Party they already pointed out months before (coinciding with the theft of May) that the maintenance of the network was inefficient or insufficient, ensuring that they would ask “An audit of the entire network”. The tip of the iceberg. Worst of all, Spain has entered a maelstrom of delays and cancellations in Spanish high speed trains as not remembered. This morning’s cable theft is only the last case of a summer that already closes with other cancellations due to infrastructure problems, trains that crack and Fire affectations that, according to Minister Óscar Puente, could have been avoided. What the summer is demonstrating is that, for some reasons or for others, the ADIF infrastructure needs more investments or is being oversized. The bridge itself indicated a few weeks ago that the volume of trains in recent years He has shot but in ELECONOMIST They also pointed out that the investment has not gone hand in hand with such growth. Photo | Dariusz Sieczkowski and Xataka In Xataka | This megameter that joins Europe with a high -speed train sounds good. The problem is too good to be real

Someone forgot a bag of cheetos in the largest cave chamber in the US. The problem is chaos to the ecosystem that comes after

That humans can generate The biggest chaos in ecosystems that surround us I think it is out of any doubt. However, already a difference from other animals, no matter how large the error is, We are able to repeat it In a short time. Therefore, what happened in one of the most fascinating areas in the United States is a good example. Even if it is A simple check of Cheetos. The importance of Carlsbad’s caverns. Located in the state of New Mexico, it is about A set of more than 119 underground cavesof great geological and ecological importance. Formed by the acid water action that dissolved the limestone over millions of years, these caverns stand out for their vast network of passages and cameras, including the famous “great room”, one of the largest underground cameras in the world. These unique geological formations include impressive stalactites, stalagmites and columns, hence it is of great scientific interest to study the processes of training of caves and the geological history of the southwest of the United States. However, this enclave named World Heritage by UNESCO has also become a must of mass tourism. A bag. As The National Parks Service explained in an article (NPS), what happened should make all future tourists think after a distracted visitor left a bag of Cheetos in the depths of the Carlsbad caverns. Apparently, the snack dropped into the historic great room, the largest cave chamber by volume in North America, the same one that can only be accessed by walking around an hour underground. A pump to the ecosystem. Once there, the bag can rot in the wells of the wet cave. In other words, those small “cheese” snacks stranded in the cave can make a small expansive wave through the local ecosystem. “The processed corn, softened by the moisture of the cave, formed the perfect environment to house microbial life and fungi. The crickets, mites, spiders and flies of the cave are soon organized in a temporary food network, dispersing the nutrients to the cave and the surrounding formations. The mold extends to the nearby surfaces, gives fruit, dies and smells bad. Count the NPS In a publication. A much bigger problem. In the same article it is denounced that “at the scale of the human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem trivial, but for the life of the cave the world can change,” they emphasize. “Great or small, we all leave an impact wherever we go. Let’s all leave the world in a better place than we find,” adds the center. Apparently, the rangers had to perform an arduous follow -up task to carefully eliminate any rest of the garbage and mold from the surface of the cave, hoping to avoid any lasting impact on the cave. Garbage and natural environments. One of the great scourges of The National Parks of the United States It has to do with what visitors “bring” and leave when they leave. That garbage throws chilling numbers: more than 300 million people visit the national parks every year, generating almost 70 million tons of garbage. And of all enclaves, the caves take the worst part. The reason? They are more vulnerable because they are isolated from the outside world and house a rich variety of highly adapted, endemic and sensitive organisms. If a new seasoning is added to the equation, call cheetos or similar ones, the result can radically alter the balance of biodiversity. The example of the Lascaux cave. Possibly, it is the most famous case and the clearest example of how we are capable of alter an environment of this type. Discovered in France in 1940, they immediately became famous for their cave paintings dating from 17,000 years ago, one of the best samples of prehistoric art. However, after opening to the public in 1948, mass visits began to negatively affect the delicate microclimate of the cave. Apparently carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors, along with moisture and changes in temperature, began to cause visible damage to paintings, such as the appearance of fungi and algae on the walls. These changes put at risk the conservation of paintings, some of the most important in humanity. Closed forever. Faced with this deterioration, in 1963 the French authorities made the decision of Close the Lascaux cave to the public To protect the paintings. Since then, only a very limited number of scientists and conservation experts have had access to it. In fact, to allow the public to continue appreciating the art of Lascaux, a replica known as Lascaux II was created, which reproduces the main cameras and paintings of the original cave. This measure, protecting the historical value of the caves with steel doors and security cameras, has allowed to preserve the artistic heritage of Lascaux while maintaining its educational and cultural value. Maybe we should do the same with all caves with historical value. Although before it should be reviewed that no one has left a snack. A version of this article is PUblicó in 2024 Image | Ken LundCarlsbad Caverns National Park In Xataka | We have been recycling the garbage we produce. Experts say it has not served at all In Xataka | In the US, a woman used an AirTag to check if recycling served something there. It turned out that it did not work

To end the chaos of the messages without reading

There is a moment that can be especially annoying when opening WhatsApp: when we realize that a group has ‘uncontrolled’ and we have dozens of unrepted messages. While we were in a meeting, traveling or simply busy with something else, our contacts have made plans, they have changed their minds, they have argued and have even reached conclusions. Everything is there, in a mess of messages. And now, we have to dig between them to understand what happened. That task may be about to be easier. WhatsApp has just released A function that promises to change the way we read the chats. It is called “Message Summaries” and uses the technology of Goal AI To summarize, privately and automatically, pending messages. It is integrated into the messaging application. What exactly is this function? The idea behind the sets of messages is simple: when you enter a chat with unreposed messages, you can ask goal to summarize them by clicking on the corresponding icon. Nothing to go one by one. As we can see in the video, the AI ​​analyzes them and gives you a quick view of what has happened, as if someone made you an executive summary. A way to update without having to review the entire conversation. The goal itself raises it with a recognizable example: you arrive from a flight without wifi, you enter WhatsApp and you find too many messages to read. The summary helps you know what happened at that time, without having to read all the chats. The best thing is that the whole process is done privately, according to the company, without even WhatsApp or goal can access the content. With the focus on privacy. The key to this new function is in what Meta has baptized as “Private Processing”It is a system that allows the messages to be processed directly from the cloud, but without neither goal nor WhatsApp can see what is in them. It is a way of using artificial intelligence without compromising user’s privacy, in their own words. This system works with a confidential execution technology, based on safe environments (TEE), which allow AI to generate answers without keeping messages or sharing them with anyone. In addition, the summary is visible only for those who request it: the rest of the chat people will not know that this function has been used. According to WhatsApp, this function is not activated by default. Its use is voluntary and depends on each user. For those who decide to prove it, there is the option to configure which chats can be used with functions of ia like this, through the advanced privacy section. It is a mechanism that, on paper, allows limiting the scope of AI within the application. Available for now alone in the United States. The summaries function is beginning to deploy in the United States and, for the moment, only in English. From WhatsApp they ensure that its intention is to take it to other languages ​​and countries throughout the year, although for now there are no concrete dates for its arrival in Europe. Images | WhatsApp In Xataka | Pocket alternatives: the best free tools to save links to read them later whenever you want

In the middle of the chaos because of the environmental badges, the DGT has shown the red label to Spain. It’s excellent news

Spain has just taken the most important step to date in relation to the legal framework for the circulation of automated vehicles. The DGT has announced the Safety and Technology Evaluation Framework Program of Automated Vehicles (ES-AV Program), The new regulatory framework under which all those operations related to Automated vehicles On traffic open. The red label. In the next few days, it is more than likely to start listening to the new “red label.” It is one that has nothing to do with the system of DGT environmental labelsready of suffering modifications by the government. Soon you will begin to see on the windshield of all that automated vehicle that wants to perform open road tests. It will be the way we will have to recognize that a vehicle, be it prototype, in pre-homologation phase or driven remotely It is moving autonomously. In the face of cameras and agents of the authority, it is the legal proof that said vehicle has the necessary authorization to circulate without physical supervision. The new legal framework. The ES-AV program is a national code that regulates how, where and under what conditions you can test with autonomous cars in Spain, without the need for human supervision on board. In it, vehicles with levels of autonomy are reflected SAE 2 A SAE 5as well as those driven remotely. There will be a total of three access and authorization systems, under the umbrella of the General Sub -Directorate of Mobility Management of the DGT itself. EEE Recognition System: Recognition of tests already authorized in other countries of the European Economic Space. Special system: independent evaluation in Spain. External evaluation system: Exceptional tests for vehicles have already obtained authorization in countries external to the EU. The test phases. The DGT establishes three test phases in its program, depending on technological maturity and the range of open road operations. Each of these phases establishes what will be the minimum requirements to be met, and it will be those responsible for the autonomous vehicles that will have to inform about which phase they want to participate. Phase 1, controlled: operational environment of up to three vehicles, not admitted vehicles with level 2 SAE of automation, mandatory that there is always a safety operator on board, restricted circulation space. Phase 2, extensive: simultaneous operation of up to 10 vehicles, operator always aboard, without restricting space. Phase 3, pre-despleger: simultaneous operation of more than 10 vehicles, optional on board, remote operator, exceptionally, it can be circulated with definitive plates from the EU. Sae 2 vehicles admitted. Transparency in data. Since the entry into force of this new legislative framework, the DGT will reflect on its website the data with the ongoing tests. In the same way, it establishes the obligation to the testers to deliver periodic reports of the operations carried out, not having detailed on the website the data that it will require in them. On the DGT website, we can observe some of the tests already carried out in Spain, as well as some that are currently underway at the hands of ALSA and the Ctag (Galicia Automotive Technology Center). A pioneer regulation. Spain has been one of the first EU countries, together with Germany and Francein creating a clear legal framework for the circulation of autonomous vehicles in test phases. However, it is important to point out that the regulatory framework supervises pre-commercial phase operations, does not authorize the use of completely autonomous vehicles. In Spain, the autonomous circulation of levels 3 and 4 is not yet regulated, and in Europe it is taking its first steps in authorized trials and restricted areas. Outside Europe there is no clear consensus. In fact, Waymo has just announced his arrival from his taxis to New York … Operated with human supervisionsince state law still does not allow the operation open to traffic of a vehicle in a 100% autonomous way. Other cities, such as California, They allow robotaxis to be operated to which we have come to. Countries like China They have advanced to the United States in this race, with Baidu announcing that their service Apollo Go has completed 11 million tripsin front of the 10 million reported by Waymo. At the moment, the step taken by Spain is not a victory, but one of the most important advances to date in this area. Image | Xataka In Xataka | While European manufacturers think about what the car of the future will be like, Huawei is already thinking about the post-coche era

There was a day that the bird was synonymous with punctuality. May chaos demonstrates to what extent is the past thing

Delays Delays More delays. And full stations, trains thrown by exasperated roads and passengers. The last month on the Spanish railroad has been especially bad and, in addition, he has assaulted at high speed which, until now, seemed a safe space for expected delays and inconveniences. An alternative. Since 2023, the government has been trying to position the train as the best alternative to the car. A year and a half agothe Executive proposed solutions to end short flights and prioritize the use of the train. That same year, given the increase in life as a result of the Ukraine War, the Government promoted its Public transport aidwhere trains had a leading role with Free fertilizers even. He wanted to take advantage to sell the benefits of this means of transport in the day to day and also, why not, as a tool to travel on vacation. Until this year, The aid has remained active. “Decades”. “The succession of technical incidents have plunged the rail service in a lack of unknown reliability in decades.” This is the first phrase of last statement from the OCU in which reference is made to the measures to be taken if you have been one of those affected by the delays and cancellations that have been experienced in the Spanish railroad in recent weeks. “The days when Renfe returned the amount of the AVE passage to arrive five or 15 minutes afternoons have been far behind and the repetition of incidents have progressively deteriorates the reliability of a service that, once, was exemplary,” they emphasize in the text. “Five or 15 minutes late”. It is no accident that in the OCU they refer to those “five or 15 minutes late.” In June last yearRenfe hardened the conditions to return money to users. Until then, arriving with a delay of 15 minutes allowed to receive 50% of the ticket. If the wait was greater than 30 minutes, the passenger received 100% of the ticket price. That is over. Since July 1, 2024, in AVE, Avlo, Alvia, Euromed and Interity Renfe only returns 100% of the ticket if the delay is more than 90 minutes. And until the delay does not exceed travel time the passenger does not receive at least 50% of the ticket price. It was the confirmation that The punctuality in Renfe was already a thing of the past. Its impact. We collected in Xataka That, in 2023, Renfe already had to pay 42 million euros, According to FACUA data. An amount that I could have ascended up to almost 70 million euros if all affected users had requested compensation. At the moment, there is no data on what has been the amount of last year and how this new policy of commitment to the traveler has affected in the second half of the year. Awful. It is the word that best defines Renfe’s last 15 days but could be extended further back. The difference is that in the last 15 days, delays, cancellations and collapsed stations have been more common than ever. On April 28, of course, the national blackout left all the trains that were circulating inoperative. More than a day later, Three of them remained disappeared. Days later, Copper theft in four points of the Madrid-Sevilla line and an incident of An Iroo train with a catenary caused chaos in the high speed line. More than 16,000 passengers were affected. Óscar Puente, Minister of Transportation, said that copper theft was not the ultimate goal and that the action hid a “Severe act of sabotage”. Doubts were also raised about the Iroo train incident. After ensuring that it was the train that broke the catenary, from the company they claim that This was already broken when the train passed by. More firewood. Last Sunday, incidents in the Madrid-Sevilla line were repeated again. Again, eight trains were affected by what long delays were lived throughout the afternoon. The first one was the most affected, arriving 144 minutes late in Madrid (from Seville) compared to the scheduled time. Given this situation, the OCU has launched the aforementioned statement and has indicated that companies are obliged to meet the following demands: Information as soon as possible. Refreshments from 60 minutes of delay, in quantity appropriate to the duration of the waiting. Accommodation if you have to spend the night. The power to choose whether you continue the trip by an alternative route or if you give up. Refund of the ticket price in case of giving up the alternative route. And they emphasize that the only cases in which the ticket price is not returned are the following: It was notified of the delay before buying the ticket. Alternative transport was taken and the destination was reached with a delay less than one hour. The delay is due to extraordinary circumstances. “Are there incidents? Yes”. “And I apologize but talking about rail chaos is a hyperbole.” With these words Álvaro Fernández Heredia defends, President of Renfe, of whom they ask that his position cease as a result of the delays lived in the last two weeks. According to Fernández Heredia, “two perfect storms come together: the effect of having abandoned the rail for 10 years more actions derived from the entire investment effort,” in an interview with 20 minutes. And he emphasizes that “this Sunday there were seven trains affected and more than 95,000 travelers who were not affected, who were arriving at the time.” Punctual? This is how they look in Renfe. On the occasion of the controversy for hardening the conditions when returning a ticket, from Renfe they published data related to punctuality. According to these, 87% of the AVE arrive in time and the figure grows to 91.5% when we talk about the Cercanías service. Despite this, out of high speed, today they have lived Importance delays in Catalonia. In less than a week, they have been experienced in the vicinity of Madrid or of the the Basque Country. In … Read more

While almost all Spain immersed in chaos, a place continued to function normally: Mercadona

We are on Monday, April 28, 2025. Spain suffers the effects of a Mass blackout which has a good part of the country’s industry and commerce. All? No! A Valencian chain of irreducible supermarkets remains open and even speaks of “normality” in the middle of the chaos. His name: Mercadona. Under his label, the lack of supply that yesterday stopped the activity of other chains in the sector resulted in something different: Customer queues, Full carts and razed baldas. His They were not the only premises that followed at the foot of the canyon (Carrefour, Alcampo or El Corte Inglés had operational establishments), but it did stand out on a key front: neighborhood stores, closer to the citizen, which gave it considerable visibility. The big question is … How did he do it? Of blackouts and urgent purchases. If something demonstrated the pandemic, just five years ago, it is that the Spaniards do not like to play it. In exceptional situations, such as the announcement of an alarm or A mass blackout that leaves much of the peninsula without electricity for hours, we leave home, we go to the supermarket and We buy what is necessary To fill our fridge. Even in days like yesterday in which the fridge served rather. X is a barbarian mirror of that answer. A quick search shows tens of videos of saturated stores, long lines, empty shelves And people with loaded carts of water carafes. The funny thing is that all these videos are recorded in the same place: Mercadona. That the images have left some of their 1,600 establishments It is not surprising. Roig’s premises were operational and with supply while those of other firms in the sector They remained closed. “The bunkers would be landowned”. The situation was so curious and in a way he remembered the first days of the pandemic, that there were those who threw a sneer in networks. “Spain collapsed and Mercadona today running even with datáphones”, He joked in x Álvaro Wasabi. “If Fallout’s apocalypse was fulfilled, zero doubts that bunkers would be landowned.” “Mercadona when something extraordinary occurs and people believe they should buy toilet paper for 50 years,” Comments Nebreda Italohispano Next to an image of a pool crowded with people. “As with each catastrophe, the only one who has won with the #Cortedeluz is Mercadona,” Add in another tweet Eduardo Bernal. A unique case? No. Mercadona is perhaps the chain that has generated more expectation and comments in networks, but It is not the only that yesterday managed to keep operational at least part of his network of stores. The English Court was also able to open department stores thanks to the use of structure, as well as Alcampo or Carrefour, who served in hypermarkets and part of his supermarkets. Other chains did not run the same fate with wide implementation in Spain, such as Lidl, Eroski or Day, than They were forced To lower the blind at least its smallest stores. Precisely if something has made the networks look at Mercadona is that it managed to maintain local neighborhood operations, not only large hypermarkets located in polygons or the outskirts of the cities. But and that … why? In Xataka we have contacted Mercadona to know which equipment they have exactly in their stores and how they could keep them active in the mass blackout. Waiting for these clarifications, the company’s environment has already sliding Some clues. The key is in its generators, which at least in a good number of stores allowed to maintain the uploaded blinds, operational boxes and even make charges with dataphone, an impossible option in other businesses and that made yesterday The cash was imposed (very briefly) to payment with cards or mobile. “Today we open”. In the last hours the company assured to Expansion that all their places were “open” and functioning with “normality.” Moreover, while other stores were forced to close the doors waiting for the supply to be reactivated, the abnormality in the Mercadona premises was marked by a different reality: a customer “boom”. This morning the company A tweet uploaded With photos of his shelves answered and a message: “Today we open.” Adapting to the stage. One of the keys to Mercadona’s response, says one of his employees to Xataka, is his flexibility when adapting. The stores could work thanks to the existence of their own generators, but that does not mean that (at least in some cases) the operation was the “normal”: automatic tapes were dispensed with in the boxes and part of the merchandise took the cameras to avoid spoiling and saving energy consumption. “Under minimums tried to leave essential things,” he explains. “Everything works. What happens is that the consumption is minimized to serve the customer (…). The lights were more faint than usual to save also.” Refrigerators. “The refrigerators have been emptying them throughout the day to get into the refrigeration chamber or in the frozen and be able to turn them off and that only large cameras work, which is where more merchandise can be maintained in good condition,” details the same employee. “As that merchandise is removed, the refrigerators are turned off to save electricity.” At least in its store, he recounts, the company has consulted employees if they could enter a little earlier than usual to recover normality. Bathroom tails and prepared dishes. That Mercadona remained operational while other businesses were forced to close the door turned their premises, in a way, more than supermarkets. After visiting one of the stores in the center of Barcelona, ​​a reporter of The country He spoke yesterday In the afternoon of queues in the bathrooms and people eating dishes prepared in tables with stools. Images | Xataka In Xataka | The blackout in Spain has demonstrated which is the ideal means to inform in a crisis: the radio

In the middle of the largest commercial chaos, olive oil seems immune thanks to a factor: consumption in Spain

For months, a fear has persistently toured the oil world. Often fear is undefined, inaccurate, it has no face. This time, on the other hand, it was something clear and easily identifiable: producers feared that, after the crisis of recent years, the olive oil consumption figures They will not recover. Now, the data start drawing an answer. An extremely rational fear. Throughout the last decade, the consumption of olive oil It has been falling year after year. It is not clear why, or what are they Sociodemographic factors that influence; But yes, crisis after crisis (and with the mediation of A deep cultural and gastronomic change), wide layers of the population have gotten out of the oil and the vast majority has not returned. It is evident that in Spain there is a “oil culture” and that, in a sense, makes the Spaniards a “captive public”. We can see it by analyzing the inelasticity of the demand. According to the year dataolive oil has been the product that has most increased this April. It is worth 62% more than last year and 100.4% more than two ago. The demand, on the other hand, only 19.8% fell with respect to the last year and 44.5% compared to two years ago. That is the great trick of the industry and, therefore, the simple idea that this culture is eroding is terrifying for them. And even more in times of change. Not just for The commercial chaos that has caused the tariff vailed of the US, but for The endemic paradoxes of the Spanish oil industry. Do not forget that we talk about a sector that, despite growing 15% every yearis seeing how its productive structure is de -industrialized to forced marches. But Spain has returned. After several bad years, this campaign has finally been the return to normal. That has hehco that prices, little to Cpoco, return to normal. In February, in fact, the year -on -year price had already fallen by 40%. But the good news is another: that demand has grown 48%, According to Nielsen data collected by Cordopolis. Has the curse broken? It is still early to know. In a few months, we can examine in detail how sales go and we can know if consumption levels have really recovered or not. But the sensations are good. And more at a time when, despite everything, the Oleícola sector has managed not to resent with the tariff measures of Donald Trump. For the first time in years, a smile is intuited in the Olivos Sea. Image | Norberto Ortiz In Xataka | The two speeds of the price of olive oil: much more in origin is being reduced than in the supermarket

Tesla mired in chaos, x fall, starship exploiting and other successive misfortunes

We are all likely to have A bad daybut when you are someone with So many open fronts Like Elon Musk, a series of chained misfortunes can turn a bad day into A terrible week in which the entire universe conspires against you. Wall Street and the street against Tesla. Tesla has become the Objective of protests against the role of his CEO at the head of the cuts in the Trump administration. The week began with investors hardly punishing the value of Tesla’s shares that 15% collapsed Only last Monday. As the days have passed, investors have been relaxing their movements giving a break to the manufacturer who He is recovering part of the lost in recent days. However, Tesla’s actions have not been the only target of protests. According The published by ABC Newssome vehicle facilities of Tesla have suffered attacks and vandalism, generating concern about the safety and image of the brand. Donald Trump himself highlighted the escalation of Protests towards the brand qualifying protesters as “domestic terrorists.” “If you do it to Tesla or any other company, we will catch you and go through a hell,” said Trump in collected statements by the BBC. X suffered a cyber attack. X has become the main speaker of Elon Musk and much of the US government, as Marco Rubio, which Use the social network to make public your institutional agenda. In that context, the social network experiment successive traffic falls during May 11. Elon Musk soon pronounced announcing that X was suffering a cyber attack. “There were (there are still) a massive cyber attack against X. They attack us every day, but in this case many resources were used. It is a large and coordinated group or a country,” wrote The millionaire in his social network. According to published Wired, the cyber attack was claimed from Telegram by the Proportian hacker group Dark Storm Team. However, after an analysis of the traffic that generated the attack, the experts denied that Ukraine was behind him, like Musk said In an interview. The researchers They concludedthat not all X servers had safety layers against these ddos ​​cyberbrains Cloudflareso they were exposed. Starship has flown, but not as he wanted. The prelude to a disastrous week for Elon Musk was the Eighth flight failure Starship proof, which followed the same path as its predecessor disintegrating over the Atlantic. As happened with the seventh flight test, after the explosion the fragments of the ship fell generating a rain of debris that interrupted air traffic of Florida and a good part of the Caribbean, affecting more than 240 commercial flights. As if that were not enough, Musk has seen how, 40 minutes from the take-off of the CREW-10 mission that was going to put a relief team for ISS and Bring back to astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, which They were trapped In the International Station after a failure in The Boeing Starliner I had to bring them back. If everything goes as planned, the Falcon 9 that will put the Dragon and its orbit crew will take off on March 14. Chief problems: tensions in Washington. Elon Musk’s influence on Trump administration also seems to be supporting many pressures. One of the most revealing events was the tense encounter between Elon Musk and key figures of the Republican Party, including former president Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio during a meeting at the White House on the Doge cuts policy. According to him Published article by The New York TimesMusk proposed significantly cutting the budgets for specific federal programs, including those related to the Department of Transportation. Marco Rubio, Florida senator, openly criticized Musk, describing his proposals as “ignorant” and arguing that Musk I was prioritizing corporate interests instead of the needs of citizens. In Xataka | A government “Extremely Hardcore”: Elon Musk is applying to the US the same recipe that has applied to all its companies Image | Flickr (Ted Eytan, Gage Skidmore)

They had an extreme climate chaos

If we say Transylvania, the historical region of the center of Romania, possibly the first thing that comes to mind are vampires or Dracula’s castle that Bram Stoker raised after his 1897 novel. We have already told him, in any case, myths about vampires They come from a real blood disorderbut if the people really feared Transilvano It was not his legends, it was something tangible they suffered in their flesh. An unprecedented climate chaos. Transylvania newspaper: chaos. A team of researchers in Romania has analyzed Historical documents 500 years ago to rebuild climatic effects of the Small ice age In Transylvania. This global cooling period, which covered from the fourteenth century to the mid -nineteenth century, brought hungry, pests and social conflicts throughout Europe. However, the newspapers and chronicles of the time have revealed unknown details. The writings suggest that their effects were not simultaneous in all regions. The findings, Published in Frontiers In Climate magazinehighlight how the inhabitants of Transylvania experienced and responded to drastic and chaotic climatic changes. The small ice age. To get an idea, The small ice age It was a period in which the average temperature of the northern hemisphere It descended approximately 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius). Although the exact causes are still discussed, it is believed that factors such as the decrease in solar activity, the increase in volcanism and alterations in atmospheric circulation contributed to this phenomenon. In several parts of the world, glaciers advanced and crops failed, which caused famines and revolts. In other regions, climate chaos even fed the persecution of legends like witchessince people were looking for guilty to explain their suffering. The study newspaper Historical documents to the climate past. Scientists often rebuild the climate of the past from natural archives, as ice coressediment samples and pollen records. However, these called as files of societywhich include chronicles, inscriptions and daily, offer a human perspective on how these events were lived. In The specific studyThe researchers examined documents written by people who lived in the Transylvania of the 16th century. The records indicate that the first half of the century was unusually warm and dry. A 1540 testimony describes an extreme drought: “The springs dried, and the rivers were reduced to small water threads. The cattle fell in the fields and the air was loaded with despair while people gathered in processions, praying for rain. ” A story that illustrates the deep emotional and spiritual impact of extreme climatic conditions. The second half of the century brought heavy rains and a flood of floods, especially in the 1590s. Interestingly, while other parts of Europe already experienced a strong cooling associated with the small ice age, transilvan documents record that The extreme heat was more frequent than the cold. This suggests that global cooling could have been manifested later in this region, a hypothesis backed by subsequent writings that mention severe winters and cold waves. Climatic catastrophes and transformations. Following the text revealed by scientists, Extreme climatic fluctuations triggered chain disastersincluding black plague outbreaks, prolonged famine and lobster invasions that devastated agriculture. To be more exact, 30 years of plague, 23 years of famine and nine years of lobster invasions. Scientists suggest that these events They could have influenced the settlement patterns of the region. How the people of Transylvania responded. The study indicates that The inhabitants of Transylvania could have responded to these climatic challenges with changes in their infrastructure and agricultural strategies. Some cities probably adopted flood -resistant constructions or migrated to more favorable areas. Also Climate instability may promote technological innovationsas improvements in food irrigation and storage systems. Limitations and value of documents. Despite its value, the work presents certain limitations. For example and as the researchers remember, the low literacy rate in the 16th century implies that These documents mainly reflect the perspective of an educated elite. In addition, records are fragmented and can be subjective, limited to local experiences. However, the authors emphasize that The combination of natural archives and historical writings is essential to understand the impact of the climate In human history. Analyzing how the societies of the past faced extreme climatic events not only allows to rebuild the past, but also offers clues about how current and future climatic changes could affect modern communities. Image | Gaceu et al., 2024. Pexels, Hersson Piratoba In Xataka | In 536 the sun began to shine less than the moon. The small ice age began then began In Xataka | A meteorological phenomenon is the only thing that separates Europe from its next “ice age”: amoc

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.