china

China no longer copy, they copy

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For a long time, Chinese dolls of sinister smile They hang from the bags of many celebrities and influencers. It is the main reason why Labubu have become a trend in 2025reaching to quadruple sales in what we have been. Not even luxury marks can resist the fever of Labubu. Louis Vuitton already has its own Charm For the bag and no, it’s nothing cheap. VIVIENNE. It is Louis Vuitton’s pet that has already been used previously in other products like these very expensive Wooden dolls. Amid the growing popularity of Labubu, the French brand has opted to sell versions of its pet in format Bag Chams. As with Labubu, there are many different designs, although little resemble the price. Much more expensive. Although there have been auctions where Authentic fortunes have been paid for a labubuthe normal price of one of these dolls is Between 25 and 35 euros. Louis Vuitton’s response to this trend of bags for bag costs 1,100 euros. These are the ‘fashionist’ models that combine premium materials such as calf skin and mink hair. If we choose the normal model made of polyester and skin, “only” will cost us 850 eurosalthough there are also more expensive models such as East 1,400 euros That has a special design. A Chinese success. We recently lived a Similar fever with Sonny Angelbut it is the first time that a consumerist trend of this type born in China becomes mainstream He counted This Chinese journalist That the secret of Labubu’s success is precisely that they don’t seem somewhat Chinese. They have an ambiguous design and that makes them attract a more massive audience. This coincides with a General improvement in the perception of the image of Chinapartially fed by cultural successes such as Tiktok, video games like ‘Black Myth: Wukong‘o Board successes like the one of’NE ZHA 2‘. They are also a symptom of something else: it was usually China behind the rest copying their productsbut that Louis Vuitton has entered the labubu wheel is a clear indicator that Something is changing. There are more. That Louis Vuitton has taken this step would also respond to another reason: sales in China are not going well. In the first quarter of the year, The benefits of the LVMH group fell 11% In Asia-Pacific, a region that includes China. Part of this decrease would have to do with a slowed economy that has caused the Fall in the demand for luxury goods. Taking into account that it is 30% of the total sales, it is not surprising that they are worried. Recently They opened a new ‘Flahgship’ store in Shanghai and the new luxury Labubu would be within the brand’s attempts to revive interest. Pop mart. It is the parent company under which several toys lines are marketed, although Labubu are undoubtedly the most successful of all. The boom of these dolls began in 2024 and only in China generated the equivalent of 355 million euros. We have barely spent the 2025 Ecuador and in China they have doubled sales, but it is that In the rest of the world growth is 480%. The interest is huge and falsifications begin to be a problem worldwide. In fact, I was recently in New York and I could see all the souvenir stores of China Town full of Labubus that were clearly not original. Labubus in Spain. Began at the end of 2024 with the Opening of the first mart pop store In Barcelona. The kilometer tails already glimpsed that something was cooked. Labubu are currently exhausted in all stores and the Wallapop or Milanuncios type sale platforms They have filled with these dolls, Most a Much higher prices than the original. But the worst part is that high demand is already being used to create Fraudulent websites That, in addition to selling counterfeit figures, they steal user data. Image | Louis Vuitton In Xataka | China promised them very happy with day 996. Until they realized that it was shot in the foot

China is selling more cars than ever. There are those who believe that, in reality, they are using their concessionaires as warehouses

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Is the swollen electric car market? This is what some experts begin to wonder when the latest information that comes from the Asian country is attended. Vehicle automation seem to be triggered and now it is the concessionaires themselves who give the alarm. Excess offer and price wars are putting the strings to the concessionaires. An alarm. The Chamber of Commerce of China’s car dealerships has expressed concern about the massive arrival of vehicles to their network and require manufacturers to stop sending them vehicles because they are having problems selling them. The information brings it Reuters Those who echo the statement of this association that has given the alarm before a practice, that of automatricular vehicles, which seems to be overflowing the distributors. They run the risk of ending them. The fear of this association is that the current moment of the Chinese car takes to its own dealers ahead. In their statement they ask manufacturers to point to reasonable sales (and productive) figures and stop using their spaces for storing cars. They assure that accumulating both stock with automatrications is further favoring a price war that drown their margins or forces them to sell at losses and, therefore, is putting a multitude of businesses at risk in this part of the chain. What is happening? The voices that suggest that the Chinese market is being filled with automatriculated vehicles that are then Malvender are not new. Wei Jianjun, president of Great Wall Motor, assured in an interview with Sina Finance that there were between 3,000 and 4,000 dealers accumulating an excessive stock of vehicles. Jianjun came to qualify the “Evergrande del Autos” Chinese real estate bubble. In fact, in Reuters They assured weeks ago that the government itself called a meeting to car manufacturers to study the situation. Among the greats indicated were Byd and Dongfeng Motors. A tactic “to the European”. This way of acting from automatricular new vehicles, loading the network and then selling them as semi -new or Km 0 cars is not be baffled in Europe. In fact, it is a usual tactic of manufacturers to ensure a minimum number of sales of their vehicles, forcing dealers to buy a minimum number of cars that then have to sell on their own. These tactics are usually applied when The year endsmakeup the numbers a little, when a new regulation arrives and prevents selling cars by emission limits or lack of security equipment (as the recent European obligations with the ADAS). The face b. What worries Chinese concessionaires is that all these units that are entering the semi -new market do not manage to sell or need enormous discounts to give them exit. It is the same that happened in the United States where a concessionaire practically gave the Fiat 500 electric Because he had been forced to buy units that there was no way to get at a reasonable price in the market. In China, fear is founded because price wars are even more aggressive, with a very competitive market, with many brands that are pressing to lower prices. To this we must add a rhythm of product releases and their development that They quickly leave obsolete those already in the networkhindering its sale even more. To this is added that China lives a problem of internal consumption. By culture, the Chinese client is reluctant to spend a lot of money. Despite promoting a higher expensethe Chinese average client It is still reluctant to the big purchases OA a rapid rhythm of product replacement, which is making it difficult to give out these products. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | Byd set out to win the electric car race. And then a TSMC factory went on sale

China promised them very happy with day 996. Until they realized that it was shot in the foot

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You enter to work at 9 in the morning and leave at 9 at night. So Monday to Saturday, with a single rest day. 72 hours per week. It may seem crazy, but it is known as Day 996 They have followed many Chinese companies in the technological sector for years. The Chinese government ended up taking letters in the matter Upon realizing that the endless days were not only bad for workers, they were also bad for the country. Culture 996. A few years ago, working 12 hours a day was common in Chinese technological. Richard Liu, founder of JD.com He described these “blessing” and Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said that “if you don’t work from nine in the morning at nine o’clock at night when you are young, when are you going to do it?”. The term 996 was coined in 2019 following a protest against this work model to which they baptized 996-Icua word game that referred to that day would take workers to the ICU. This movement unleashed a wave of criticism at the national level and it is believed that it was the seed that The Government prohibited it. The change. In 2021, with the marathon days at the point of view of the government, there were many companies that turned back and brought back the weekend of two days. There were also companies like Tencent that cut the daily work hours from 10 to 6 in the afternoon, from 996 to 1065. Why this change? Fed up workers. Day 996 has been gasoline for the growth of the Chinese technological sector and its end responds to several reasons. The most obvious is that the workers were fed up in these exploitation conditions in which there were even cases of deaths due to exhaustion. The government said in its ruling that “workers are entitled to rest and take a vacation”, but we must not forget that it is the same government known for go against unions and imprison activists. National consumption. Inhuman working hours were a shot in the foot for the Government’s development objectives. In 2021, Xi Jinping promoted the idea of the “Common prosperity”an initiative that intended to grow the economy both outside and within its borders. However, promoting internal consumption was not compatible with 12 -hour working days. Technological workers charged more than in other sectors, but if they spent all their awake weather inside the office, they had no chance to spend it. Birth. Birth problems in China come from afar, but before the problem was that There were too muchnow it is Just the opposite And schedule 996 did not play in his favor. They counted in This articlethat in Chinese companies there is an entrenched idea that they call “ascend or out.” This is the belief that if a worker does not rise to a high position before having children, he runs the risk of replacing him with someone younger. In addition, men who have children and work with these schedules cannot take care of them or home, which in many cases expels women in the labor market. This makes many workers delay the time of having children, some even completely renounce. All happy? Ending 996 benefits workers, but also plays in favor of these objectives. The labor market expands because there is no age roof so low, birth rate and domestic consumption rises. All perfect, or almost. The end of 996 has not left many workers for free, when Bytedance announced that its employees would not work on weekends, He did it together with a 20%salary cut. In addition, for many workers the nightmare is not over. Last year, the head of Baidu media published a series of videos in which he denounced that he was forced to be available 24 hours a day. Culture 996 is still rooted above all in citiesmaking many young people choose to go to smaller nuclei where life is calmer. Image | Amparo Babyloni, Xataka In Xataka | Deepseek marked a turning point in the AI race. Now another Chinese company wants to imitate its success: Kimi K2 is born

Send a clear message to China

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He Taipéi Metro It has a vast network of roads, stations and wagons that cover a good part of the bustling metropolitan area of the Taiwanese capital. So far exceptional or that cannot be found in the suburban of other large cities, such as Paris, Madrid or New York. What is much less common is what was lived there on Monday At dawn: instead of passengers loaded with wallets and suitcases, the stations of Taipéi began to arrive military, soldiers and more soldiers armed with anti -tank missiles. The reason: send a message inside and outside the country. Uniforms in the subway. In the Taipéi subway it is usual to see parents with children, people brought from the office, schoolchildren, tourists pulling suitcases or with the camera hanging around the neck … normal in any urban transport network. On Monday at dawn, however, in the city’s cars and stations, it could be seen Something different: Armed military, anti -tank missiles and army commands by displacing ammunition and food from the outskirts of the city. The department of National defense Taiwanés and his Military News Agency They were responsible for disseminating photos in which armed military is seen in the capital’s metro network. In the operation, Precise Business Insidersoldiers of the Military Police and the third command of the Army participated. The maneuvers concentrated on the heart of the Taipéi Transport Network, between the Shandao and Longshan temple stations, a route that passes through the main station. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Why’s that? It is not that the Chinese army progresses towards Taiwan or the island authorities have proof of some new imminent threat. Monday’s military deployment in the Taipéi subway is part of Han Kuangmilitary exercises with which Taiwan intends to be prepared in case of attack by the Chinese Liberation Army (EPL). The maneuvers themselves are not a novelty. The Han Kuang have been held every year for several decades. What is striking this year is its scope and especially the staging. Means like The BBC either Reuters They point out that it is the drill of greater draft and duration made to date, with a deployment significantly greater than last year. Han Kuang will last 10 days (from July 9 to 18), almost double that in 2024, during which the military will display drones, launcher and missiles, including the Himars launch system supplied by the United States. As for the number of mobilized troops, the maneuvers will participate 22,000 reservists50% more than in 2024. To the house door. The Han Kuang of 2025 (and especially the deployment of Monday morning at the Taipéi Metro) stands out for something else: its visibility. And not only for the gallery or Beijing, but towards the civilian population itself. As Point out Financial Timesthe army wanted to bring its “preparations” for a possible Chinese invasion to the doors of citizens. It is no longer about deploying soldiers in ports or fields, but about mobilizing them in the subway stations, in the caps and before the coffee shops where the Taiwanese have breakfast. “If there is ever a war, they will fight right here,” Recognize An old man from Taipéi to the British newspaper. It is about increasing the public awareness of what would mean an attack on the island, better prepare the population and also prove the use of public transport in case of emergency. Monday’s maneuver It also served so that the military learn to operate in the subway if necessary and “use underground facilities to move troops.” “We are learning from Ukraine”. Not all operations have been carried out in the Taipéi subway. Throughout the last days the Taiwanese army has simulated attacks on infrastructure, decentralized operations, drills of “Urban Resilience” and maneuvers areas and naval to defend the coast. On Monday For example, Taiwan lived live a mines placement exercise to demonstrate his ability to respond to a hypothetical amphibious assault of the EPL. The country also wants to try high mobility artillery rocket system (Himars), by Lockheed Martin, in addition to Earth-Aire missiles Sky Sword. “We are learning from the situation in Ukraine in recent years and thinking realistically about what Taiwan could face in a real combat,” Explain To the Reuters agency an official of the Taiwan defense area, who also reveals that one of the priorities is to protect communications. “The commanders should consider the problems that their troops would face.” “It will never succeed”. It is not causality that Taipéi has decided to strengthen Han Kuang right now. China sees Taiwan as A rebel territory And he aspires to reunify it with the continent sooner or later, an objective that has led him to intensify the military pressure around the island in the last five years. In May the US Secretary of Defense assured That Beijing raises “invading” the island in 2027, and warned: “The EPL is trained for it, is rehearsing.” With that complex backdrop, Taipéi seems determined to show (both inside and home) his ability to defense and response. From China you insist on the opposite message to reduce importance. “Taiwan’s attempt to seek independence through force or relying on foreign actors will never succeed,” He came to proclaim MAO NO, spokesman for the Foreign Affairs. The Government has already warned that, “no matter what weapons use”, “Taiwan cannot resist ELP’s back against independence.” Images | Ministry of National Defense, Roc (Taiwan) In Xataka | While China debate about Taiwan, Europe does not waste time. Its greatest port has left a hole for war

That the US government let him sell his H20 chip again in China

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If the US government maintains the prohibition of sale of avant -garde chips to artificial intelligence (AI) To China, Nvidia will enter this year 15,000 million dollars less. This is What he holds The company led by Jensen Huang, and is certainly the argument that this executive resorted during his meeting with Donald Trump last week to expose The complex scenario facing Nvidia. And it worked. May sell Your H20 GPU To his Chinese clients very soon. During the last fiscal year, which expired on January 26, 2025, China represented approximately 13% of total income of Nvidia with a figure of about 17,000 million dollars. In practice, the country governed by Xi Jinping is the third best client of this company only behind the US and Taiwan. However, SANCTIONS TO CHINA which is deploying the US government threatens Nvidia’s survival in this Asian country. Currently this company cannot sell its chips to its Chinese clients for the most advanced. Nvidia is determined to survive in the Chinese market at any price The reception that the Chinese clients of Nvidia initially gave to the GPU H20 was very good despite the fact that the capabilities of this chip are clearly lower than those of the other proposals for this company. In fact, initially the Department of Commerce allowed its sale in China because this integrated circuit met the restrictions it had imposed. And despite their limitations their sales in China grew by 50% quarter to quarter since it reached this market in mid -2024. Everything was complicated for Nvidia in the middle of last April. And is that the US Department of Commerce imposed new restrictions To the export to China of the H20 GPU, which in practice caused this chip to stop reaching the Chinese clients of this company. This news Nvidia’s shares sank 6% in the bag because I could no longer attend the commitments linked to the H20 GPU that it had acquired. NVIDIA has made the Department of Commerce review its regulation and allow you to sell the H20 GPU in China again Among the Chinese clients who had bought great amounts of this GPU, and who presumably planned to continue doing it, were Tencent, Alibaba or Bytedance. Finally, as we have anticipated in the holder and the first paragraph of this article, Nvidia has made the Department of Commerce review its regulation and allow you to sell the H20 GPU in China again. “The US government has assured us that licenses will be granted. We hope to start deliveries soon,” Pray a statement from Nvidia. However, this is not all. And in June the Taiwanese manufacturer of TSMC semiconductors, The Major on the Planetbegan the manufacture of a new GPU for NVIDIA with the latest generation Blackwell microarchitecture. Presumably this is the chip with which Nvidia aspires to maintain her domain in the Chinese market. Of course, before being able to send these GPU to China, the company led by Jensen Huang will have to receive the approval of the US Department of Commerce. What we know at the moment is that this chip for AI will be less capable than the H20 GPU, as is logical, and also that its price will move between $ 6,500 and $ 8,000. For domestic users it is a lot of money, but in the field of professional GPUs for AI it is a moderate price. In fact, the H20 GPU costs between $ 10,000 and $ 12,000, so it is evident that Nvidia wants to protect the competitiveness of this chip to prevent Huawei, Moore Threads and other Chinese companies and other Chinese companies to snatch a juicy portion of this market. Image | Nvidia More information | Reuters In Xataka | The US gives Huawei a great opportunity: to get its new chip for AI with the Nvidia market in China

Stellantis wanted to conquer China with his combustion cars. What has happened to almost any other western company has happened

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The Changsha court has finally declared bankruptcy The Gac-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles joint company, thus closing the final chapter of Stellantis in the Asian giant. The news was already expected since 2022 when the group came into liquidation. After debts equivalent to more than 1.1 billion dollars and five failed public auctions, the dream of conquering the largest world car market ends in failure. The end of a 15 -year adventure. The Joint Venture GAC-FCA was born in 2011 With huge ambitions: 17,000 million investment yuan, two production and capacity plants for 300,000 vehicles per year. Under the baton of Sergio Marchionne, the project intended to bring brands such as Jeep and Fiat to the Chinese market with models adapted to local needs and trends, including the Jeep Renegade, Compass and Cherokee, in addition to the Fiat Viaggio and Ottimo. Free fall after initial success. After reaching its peak in 2017 With more than 200,000 units soldGac-FCA experienced an unstoppable descent. Sales collapsed to 124,780 units in 2018, continued to fall in 2019 and reduced just 20,396 units in 2021. Insufficient numbers for a market of more than 25 million vehicles per year and a muscle like Gac-FCA. The problem of combustion engines in China. While the Chinese market turned to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, Gac-FCA remained faithful to combustion engines. This strategy is over resulting fatal In a country where new technologies and electrification have become the norm. And it is that Chinese consumers have been opting for the electricity in an environment of high competitiveness between automobile manufacturers. The failed attempt to save yourself. In 2022, Carlos Tavares tried to recover control increasing Stellantis’s participation From 50% to 75%, but GAC publicly rejected the maneuver. The joint company entered into a restructuring process and, subsequently, in liquidation. Five public auctions to sell land, equipment and the two factories were deserted, something common in China where it is more profitable to build from zero electric vehicles. Historical symbolism. Stellantis withdrawal marks the end of a historic era. Jeep was the first foreign brand to make cars in China when AMC invested 16 million dollars in 1983 To produce the Cherokee XJ. Peugeot contributed in the mid -80s to the creation of GAC as a car manufacturer, transforming what was a bus repair workshop into a company produced by Peugeot 505. Citroën arrived in 1992 and came to manufacture 719,000 cars in 2015. Another western company in China Fallida. Stellantis’s case is not isolated. Is Another great western company that perishes in China Given the high competition, aggressive and regulatory costs of the country. It is the example that you don’t care who you are. Even Stellantis, the world’s largest car group (in terms of volume of brands and models), which began as a Peugeot partner and now has a full range of electric vehicles of its own creation, has not even been able to adapt to the Chinese market. The new strategy: ally with China. Paradoxically, after leaving China as a manufacturer, Stellantis returned as a investor. Carlos Tavares bought in 2023 21% of Leapmotora Chinese company of electric vehicles, with the intention of sell these cars in Europe “With a great margin of benefits.” A strategy that reflects the new reality: if you cannot compete with China, join it. Cover image | Dinkun Chen In Xataka | The most ambitious shopping center in China is not formed to sell: the Wushang Dream was a mini -city with a roof

We have found tools 300,000 years ago in China. And they put up legs what we believed on the paleodieta

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Imagining humans diet of tens of thousands of years is to think, almost automatically, in the Paleodieta. For years we think that ‘paleo diet’ consisted of Eat, above all, meatbut more and more studies have put on the table that our ancestors They were not as carnivorous as we thought. And, from time to time, tools appear that support that Vegetable diet in antiquity. The last? Chinese tools with at least 300,000 years old. The discovery. In an article published in Scienceresearchers detail a series of 35 wood tools found at the Gantangqing archaeological site, located in southwest China. Using methods such as Electronic spin resonance On sediment minerals attached to tools, researchers have been able to date with a 95% confidence this set of tools in a segment between 250,000 and 361,000 years. This collection includes Tools of all kindsas large sticks to dig two hands, hooks and some smaller supplies, and researchers detail that they all have clear manufacturing marks such as rounded ends, more sharp parts and other polished surfaces. Collectors. The hunt was present at the time and was of great importance, obviously, but we have already commented that there is more and more evidence about the relevance of the collection and the Vegetable diet before the agriculture. The estimate is that these tools did not serve for hunting, but to process plant foods. The analysis of both the waste that presents the tools and the use brands indicate that they were designed to excavate and collect grounds and tubers and roots. Hook -shaped tools, for example, could have served to cut the smallest roots and tools to clean vegetables in a precise way. Contrast. Almost as interesting as the tools themselves is precisely that collecting purpose. The reason is that in Western Eurasia and in Africa they had already been found Wooden tools Of that age, but the enormous difference is that most tools were hunting while the Gantangqing repertoire, apart from more diverse, specializes in that plant collection. Importance beyond diet. Although they are tools of the last years of the Paleolithic inferior in which rock tools were more than established, but there was the hypothesis that, in East Asia the rocks were less abundant than in other regions and populations depended largely on organic tools. And that need forced the elaboration of the tools made from wood. And, above all, the discovery puts on the table that cognitive abilities of the population of Southeast Asia and its ability to create advanced tools was comparable to that of European and African contemporaries. In the end, it is always curious to verify how a “simple” discovery, as a tool of tens of thousands of years ago, allows to establish a connection with the diet of that population, their skills compared to those of other areas and how they raffled difficulties to continue advancing. And also how the stone that We always associate the Paleolithic He was not the only protagonist in the technological evolution of the species. In Xataka | About 3 million years ago our ancestors already used tools that they themselves manufactured

The Pentagon gets fully into the Rare Earth War with China. Has invested 400 million in the most promising US mine

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The US Department of Defense is about to establish itself as the largest shareholder of MP Materials. A few hours ago has announced who will buy shares of this mining company for A value of 400 million dollars. And, in addition, it will provide additional 150 million to help this company Extract and process rare earths which contains its Mountain Pass site, which is in California, although it resides very close to the border with the Nevada state. This mine is the only US site that contains some of the rare earths that are necessary to manufacture high -power industrial magnets, so it has become a very valuable strategic resource for the country led by Donald Trump. The US plan pursues Develop your own supply chain of rare earths with the purpose of eliminating any dependence on the global market of these chemical elements, which is controlled by China. The entry of the Department of Defense in the MP Materials shareholders reflects with absolute how important this mine for the US is from the point of view of national security. What is not yet clear is if it contains the rare earth range and in the right amount to meet the needs of US companies. In any case, with its investment the Pentagon intends to ensure the supply of rare earths to manufacture High power magnets for military applications For at least ten years. Why are rare earths so important to the US and its allies On April 4, just 24 hours after Donald Trump announced the taxes that he was going to apply to the importation of most products from abroad, The administration led by Xi Jinping responded. And he did it forcefully. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: the Scandio and the Disposio. These chemical elements are probably less known than metals prohibited by China previously, such as Gallium or Germanio, but are at least as important as the latter because They have a fundamental role In the industries of integrated circuits, telecommunications and the manufacture of storage devices. Chinese authorities are retaining in ports throughout the country not only rare earths, but also high -power magnets The ability to put pressure from China had not yet been extinguished. Just ten days later, on April 14, the Administration did not hesitate take another step forward With the purpose of putting in check, in addition to the industries that I just mentioned, those of electric cars, aeronautics and advanced armament. To achieve this, it effectively suspended, in addition to the export of the most valuable rare earths, that of high -power magnets that have a critical role in the industries that I have cited in this same paragraph. The Chinese authorities are retaining in the ports throughout the country not only the rare earths, but also the high -power magnets acquired by the electric cars manufacturers of the entire planet, the aerospace companies, the chip factories and Armament companies. Many of these organizations have high -power magnet reserves made with rare earths, but possibly only allow them to subsist a few months. Europe in particular is in an extremely delicate position. China’s export controls are directed mainly to the US, but the old continent It does not remain unscathed. At least for the moment. In fact, in Germany, which as we all know is the heart of the European car industry, There are already experts who assure that if China continues to retain rare earths and electric motors some essential parts of the electric cars production chain will stop in a few weeks. For the European car industry this blow would be very difficult to fit. European companies that are dedicated to the manufacture of semiconductors are also in a very compromised situation. According to Reuters Many European chip production lines They will stop very soon Due to the shortage of crucial supplies, which has led the European Chamber of Commerce to meet with officials of the Ministry of Commerce of China to ask them to allow rare earth supply to European companies that are dedicated to the production of integrated circuits. Image | The Pentagon More information | The Washington Post In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

The radios of the battlefield are a trap for which it transmits. In China they think they found a solution

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Use radio systems for communications in a hostile environment has always involved A technical risk: Issue energy means leaving a trace. Therefore, for decades, the challenge has been to find a system that allows you to transmit information without being detected. In China they could have achieved it According to SCMPresearchers have developed a solution that breaks with the traditional model: allows you to send data without issuing active signals. There are no radio pulses, nor do you make microwave. Everything is based on reflecting what is already in the air. The system takes advantage of the presence of radar satellites – like the Gaofen-3 and Ludi Tance 1– To use their own echoes as a means of transporting information. It is not what is issued, but what is reflected The key is on an intelligent surface formed by hundreds of programmable metamaterial tiles. When a synthetic opening radar (SAR) illuminates the goal – be it a tank, a ship or an airplane – these tiles manipulate the reflected signal by changing its phase: 0 ° when it is “burning”, 180 ° when it is “turned off”. That simple alternation allows you to encode messages directly in the radar echo. It is a system that modulates what comes to it. And it does it without preventing the radar from fulfilling its function: researchers say they have managed to maintain image loyalty with a loss of less than 10 %. The platforms that use it should be able to exchange information safely, avoiding revealing its position. Smart surface formed by programmable metamaterial tiles Making this type of communication work far beyond playing with reflexes. The main challenge was to survive in saturated cities of signals, where electromagnetic noise floods everything, and in agitated seas, where constant balancing distorts the reflected signals. The team led by Liu Kaiyu says that It has designed algorithms capable of raising the signal/noise ratio up to 300 % and inertial sensors that correct the movement of the platforms in real time. Metasuperficie of information combined with a passive wireless communication system For now, everything has been tested in controlled environment: laboratory, simulations and data analysis obtained by satellite. There is no evidence that this technology is deployed on the battlefield. But Liu’s team has clear plans: try the system with real platforms and validate its resistance to signal blocking. Its road map includes combining this technology with radars of multiple ways and creating an integrated network between space, air and floor. The ultimate goal is ambitious: build a safe communications system capable of working even in Scenarios with intense electronic warfare. The details of the investigation are available In an article published in Journal of Radars. Images | Liu Kaiyu and Team | Xataka with Grok | ABODI VESAKARAN In Xataka | Iceland has a key Atlantic corridor for Russia. So the US has sent its first nuclear submarine

China has already won the nuclear energy career to the US and Russia. And he has done it thanks to a avant -garde reactor

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China’s nuclear program was born in the 50s of the last century. The cold war held by the US and the Soviet Union had incited these two countries to Develop your nuclear arsenal With a shocking speed, and Mao Zedong, the co -founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, decided to ask the Soviet Union for help for launch your own nuclear plan. In 1955 this cooperation allowed China to build its first floor of Uranium-235 and Plutonium productionand also supported the foundation of the National Nuclear Corporation of China (CNC). Only four years later, in 1959, the Soviet Union ended the collaboration with China in nuclear technology. This decision was a very hard setback for the country led by Mao Zedong, who embarked on A career towards self -sufficient in the development of nuclear energy. However, China’s plan prospered very slowly during the next three decades. The first nuclear power plant designed and built entirely by China, the Qinshan plant, was successfully connected to the electricity network on December 15, 1991. At that time China could not rival at all with The development of nuclear technology that had reached the US and the almost extinct Soviet Union. In 2002 China only had two nuclear centrals in operation. Today has no less than 58 nuclear reactors in activity. Only US has more (94). During the last two decades China’s civil and military nuclear program It has advanced with a vertiginous speed, but the most important thing is not the number of reactors that it currently has in operation: the really differential thing is that it has been placed At the forefront in nuclear technology. China leads thanks to its nuclear reactor of molten salts and Torio The TMSR-LF1 reactor officially entered into operation on October 11, 2023. A few months later, on June 17, 2024, he began working at full power. And on October 8 of last year the technicians who operate it detected protacinium-233 (PA-233), a radioactive isotope intermediate derived from the transformation of the thorium into Uranium-233 as part of the fuel cycle of the thorium. This nuclear reactor is in the Minqin industrial complex of the province of Gansu, in northern China. It has a power of 2 thermal megawatts (MWT), and, although it will not be the first Fourth Generation Nuclear Reactor in activity, and neither the first one that Torio will use as fuel, yes It will be the first of molten salts that will use this chemical element. However, the ambition of this Asian country does not end here; It is already planning to build a molten salts and torium reactor of more capacity for 2030, although China is not the only country that bets on this technology. China plans to build a molten salts and torio reactor of more capacity for 2030 The US, France or India are some of those who have also invested in research programs that pursue the development of nuclear reactors capable of generating electricity from the thorium. India’s in particular is interesting because it aims to demonstrate the viability of fuel cycles based on thorium in the context of its advanced heavy water reactor project. This technology is still far from being adopted in a generalized way, but its advantages closely link it to the future of nuclear energy. Our planet brings together approximately 12 million tons of thorium, so this chemical element is three times more abundant In the earth’s cortex that Uranium used as fuel in the current nuclear centrals. The largest deposits reside in China, Brazil, Canada, Australia, USA, Greenland, Russia, Norway, South Africa and Venezuela, although prospects reflect that the country that Torio has is precisely one of the ones that is investing most in the development of reactors capable of using it: India. Another point in your favor is that it is as easy to extract as uranium, but it has the inconvenience that it is not directly physable. It is necessary to introduce it into a reactor that manufactures uranium from Torio, and what it produces is not uranium-235, it is Uranium-233, but the important thing is that it is physable. Once this uranium has occurred, it can be introduced into a conventional reactor like those we have in Spain, which could not work with Torio, but with a derivative of that element. In addition, experts say that molten salts nuclear reactors are safer than reactors installed in the nuclear power plants that are currently in operation. Experts say that molten salts nuclear reactors are safer than reactors installed in the nuclear power plants that are currently in operation Two of the reasons are that they use as a refrigerant lithium fluoride and beryllium at a very low pressure, and the fuel remains dissolved in the form of salt, so it is very unlikely that an accident could trigger the fusion of the reactor’s core. Another quality of these reactors that are worth not overlooking is that Its architecture allows them to be installed undergroundwhich, again, increases your safety. But this is not all. Another peculiar and positive feature of these reactors is that they allow to recharge the fuel while remaining in operation. And, in addition, the fact that they do not need water to maintain the refrigerated nucleus allows them to be installed in regions in which water is scarce, or, simply, in areas where there is no river and are not close to the sea. This is one of the reasons why China is investing in the development of this technology as a means to build fourth generation nuclear power plants in the most remote and arid regions of the country. It is also worth not overlooking that Radioactive waste They generate have a much shorter semi -grid period than that of the residues of the reactors that use uranium, which logically facilitates their management. And, in addition, the folk salts reactors They use less fuel Because the efficiency of the thorium is much higher than … Read more

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