clean

Letterboxd was one of the last “clean” and community-focused platforms. Now the fear is that it will end

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Letterboxd has been the exception that proves the rule in the wild landscape of social networks for years: it is one that grows without sacrificing your communitywithout optimizing screen time by trampling on the quality of its users’ experience, without searching for viral content at all costs. Now, the Canadian company that controls 60% of the platform is looking for a buyer, and a question arises that has very short legs, because we already fear the little things that are coming. Where does it come from? Letterboxd was born in 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand, by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow. It functioned as a digital diary where movie fans could record what they saw, rate it, and share it with whoever they wanted. Without feeds algorithmic (there is not much doomscroll on Letterboxd), no viral content from strangers, no (too much) intrusive advertising. Just movies, opinions and the formation of a community relieved to be able to leave the suffocating world of trendsthe hashtags and the influencers. The growth. For almost a decade it was a niche tool, but with the pandemic, Letterboxd grew from 1.8 million users in 2020 to 17 million in 2024. Nearly 100 million reviews were written that year. In 2026 it has reached 26 million members. All of that growth has occurred without the main feed ceasing to be chronological, more akin to a classic 2006 incarnation of Facebook than any current social network. She soon became known in the industry. A24 explicitly cited Letterboxd when talking about the strong theatrical debut ‘The brutalist‘ and directors like Michael Mann, Rian Johnson or Francis Ford Coppola they ended up using the platform as a genuine space to talk about your film-loving tastes. Tiny arrives. In September 2023, the Canadian Tiny (investor that owns very different brands, such as the AeroPress coffee machine manufacturer) acquired 60% of Letterboxd for between 50 and 60 million dollars. The founders retained a minority stake and continued at the helm, and users were promised independence and respect for what had made the platform grow, something that was broadly fulfilled. Some more advertising appeared, a movie rental service that was difficult to access and little else. Tiny leaves. Now, Tiny wants to go out. The company has contacted with possible buyers: Versant, parent company of CNBC and MS NOW, and The Ankler, a specialized media with which it already attempted an operation in 2025 that did not prosper. The reason is that Tiny’s shares have fallen since the acquisition of Letterboxd. Additionally, the platform was purchased through its venture capital fund. sign that Tiny always planned for a quick change of hands. The Goodreads precedent. It’s a similar case in terms of community, function, and size: Goodreads is the literary equivalent of Letterboxd, and ended up being acquired by Amazon in 2013, while also promising not to botch the platform’s user experience. Today we know that Amazon uses it to collect user data and it is true that it has barely touched it. But that has its negative impact: the design is practically unusable today, moderation does not exist and users are beginning to migrate to alternatives like The StoryGraph. The fear of shit. At this point we already know perfectly well what the term refers to, which has an almost academic status: the enshittificationcoined by Cory Doctorow, happens when platforms start by offering a good user experience to attract users, then they exploit them to attract clients with money to invest in the business and finally they also exploit those clients to maximize short-term profits. Letterboxd has lived outside that cycle longer than its rivals have. But each threat of a new owner sets off alarm bells again. Inframonetization. Letterboxd is clearly undermonetized compared to its competitors. Your generous level Free allows you to use the platform with almost the same features as the paid option and advertising remains surprisingly limited, without invading everyday use, as happens on X or Instagram. And they try things: interviews with actors and directors about their favorite films, rental service for little-known films, in-person events… all on a very small scale, almost more as a way of spreading the brand in small spaces than as an open form of monetization. That is, there is growth potential, and that is what might interest a buyer. That is precisely what generates concern among its community: activating these options too aggressively can destroy the value of genuine cinephilia that resides behind them. Letterboxd users are very active and sensitive, and we must not forget cases like Mubi, whose user base canceled subscriptions en masse after learning of the links of one of its investors with the Gaza war. Right to veto. There is a safety button that can prevent a company with interests other than its subscribers from coming to buy Letterboxd: Buchanan retains veto rights over any potential buyer, a condition that exists openly to preserve the original spirit of the platform. Its effective scope, of course, will depend on how much the original owner is willing to exercise it and what price that veto has in the final negotiation. In Xataka | “Caution: non-vegetarian content”: when disclaimers warn about absolutely everything

Belgrade’s “liquid trees” are the fascinating biotechnological solution to clean the air in cities

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Today, the city of Belgrade has a significant problem in terms of air quality, which is already something quite typical of large cities. The situation here, the truth is, is quite critical, with some areas where the limits recommended by the WHO are exceeded by up to 5 times, and to solve it, the idea that we can have in mind is need to plant more treesbut the reality is that there is little space available to plant them, so they have had to choose to install what they have called liquid trees. The solution. Under the name of LIQUID 3this project has been operating since 2021 in front of the Stari Grad City Hall in the Serbian capital, and to the surprise of many it is not shaped like a tree, but is a simple glass tank that is filled with 600 liters of water inhabited by local microalgae. But just because it doesn’t have the shape of a tree doesn’t mean it doesn’t work as such, since it literally uses photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide from the environment and release pure oxygen into the environment, and the truth is that they are very efficient, since a single tank of LIQUID3 is equivalent to the absorption capacity of two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of grass. How is it possible? That a simple tank surpasses an adult tree when it comes to ‘purifying’ the air, the truth is that it seems strange, but biotechnology has achieved something incredible. Specifically, science has seen how microalgae have the ability to capture carbon dioxide and fix it between 10 and 50 times faster than land plants under controlled conditions. In fact, studies indicate that these algae can fix approximately 1.8 grams of CO₂ for every gram of biomass generated, achieving CO₂ removal efficiencies close to 50%. And designed for the city. Being in the center of a city is not easy, and that is why scientists have had to use strains of Serbian freshwater microalgae that grow with simple tap water and withstand extreme temperature fluctuations. And here the research indicates that these species are ready for the most hostile environments. And another positive point they have is that they hardly require maintenance, since it is limited to the fact that the biomass generated must be extracted every month and a half, and in addition, water and fresh minerals are added. The positive here is also that biomass can be used as a great natural fertilizer. More than a lung. The LIQUID3 is not just a laboratory experiment that has taken to the streets, but has been designed as multifunctional urban furniture, since, in addition to purifying the air, the structure functions as a bench to sit on and even adds solar panels to charge your cell phone or provide night lighting. It is not definitive. Although it seems incredible, the truth is that we must put our feet on the ground in the face of technological enthusiasm. Although right now the figures are very good, there is still a lack of studies that can validate the impact it has in the long term and measure whether they are really giving good results, and above all that they are real. But the most important nuance here is that these systems do not replace traditional trees or forests, which logically must remain where they are and promoting their implementation. In this way, we are left with the fact that this technology has been designed for dense and highly polluted urban areas where traditional planting is logistically impossible. Where the asphalt does not give an inch to the roots, the liquid trees rise like a high-tech green oasis, giving the city’s lungs a break. Images | LIQUID3 In Xataka | Tell me where you live and I’ll tell you how healthy your tap water is: the map of Spain that analyzes each municipality

The Italian far-right was looking for a way to clean up its image. He found the formula in ‘The Lord of the Rings’

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In November 2023, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opened an exhibition on JRR Tolkien at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, organized by her Ministry of Culture. Nothing unusual, except that Meloni has been understanding ‘the lord of the rings‘ as a “sacred text.” This is how the legendary British fantasy trilogy ended up becoming a political catechism for the Italian extreme right. We started badly. The first Italian edition of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was published in 1970, with a prologue signed by the philosopher Elémire Zolla, who interpreted the work as an allegory of “pure” communities threatened by foreign invaders. For the youth of Italian Social Movement (the MSI, a party founded in 1946 by veterans of Mussolini’s fascism) that reading was an enlightenment. As he noted in his 1975 review of the book far-right youth leader Marco Tarchi, the work was perfect for the young right precisely because it did not carry the weight of fascist history. Relocation sought. The MSI had been trying for years to reframe its identity in a country where the left dominated culturally, with the old fascism logically stigmatized. They needed something new to renew the symbols. He imagined universe by Tolkien gave them the opportunity to articulate a political identity around values ​​of virtue and anti-modernity, values ​​that Julius Evola, the ultra-nationalist mystical philosopher who advocated a racial hierarchy of pagan and aristocratic lineage, had already been preaching for decades. Fascist Woodstock. In 1977, leaders of MSI (and, above all, its youth faction) organized what would be known as Hobbit Camps. The first was held for two days in southern Italy and brought together young people from all over the country. On the surface, the event had the look of a folk music festival: stages with performances, tents, booths with books and T-shirts. Of course, a dozen muscular boys maintained order, and they were distinguished by wearing bracelets with a Celtic cross. Calling them Hobbit Camp, they wanted to attendees will identify with these small beings: conservative, rooted in tradition, reticent to change and foreigners… The group did not hide its affiliation: flags with Celtic crosses flew in perfect harmony with the Tolkienian aesthetic, the band Compagnia dell’Anello (that is, “Fellowship of the Ring”) played songs about the good old European identity. His anthem, in fact, was ‘Il domani appartiene a noi’ (“Tomorrow belongs to us”), whose title was a deliberate replica of the shocking song of the Hitler Youth in ‘Cabaret‘, titled ‘Tomorrow belongs to me’. A women’s magazine called ‘Éowyn’ was also launched, in honor of the princess of Rohan. These camps They stopped being celebrated in 1981when they had fulfilled their function as spaces of recruitment and indoctrination, hidden under a layer of celebration of popular culture. Meloni the cosplayer. Meloni was four years old in 1981. But a decade later he attended the revival of these camps: Hobbit 93, held in Rome, where he sang with the band Compagnia dell’Anello. He had come to Tolkien at age 11 and joined the MSI youth team shortly after. As a youth activist, Meloni and his group of militants gave themselves Tolkienian nicknames, visited high schools in disguise to catch the kids, and met at the “blowing of Boromir’s horn” to hold thematic talks on political recruitment. In her autobiography ‘Io sono Giorgia‘, published in 2021, Meloni described Sam as his favorite hobbit: neither strong, nor fast, nor majestic, an ordinary hobbit but without whose help Frodo would never have completed his mission. A metaphor for the transformative power of ordinary people. sacred text. The admiration has not diminished over the years. Meloni has said that he considers ‘The Lord of the Rings’ not a fantasy, but a sacred text. In an interview with ‘The New York Times’ in 2022 he declared that “Tolkien can explain better than we can what conservatives believe.” On the night of the general election he won, his sister Arianna posted a celebratory letter on Facebook full of Tolkien references. And at the final campaign rally, the actor Pino Insegno, the Italian voice of Aragorn, introduced her to the public by reproducing the character’s speech in front of the Gates of Mordor. It is not the only fantastic reference that Meloni handles: the political festival that the leader founded, which attracts figures like Elon Musk or Viktor Orbán and which has been defined as the largest event of the European conservative current, is called Atrejuin honor of the hero of ‘The Neverending Story’. Tolkien Expo. In November 2023, Meloni inaugurated the exhibition ‘Tolkien: man, teacher, author’ in Rome, organized by his Ministry of Culture to commemorate the fifty years since the writer’s death. Criticism was abundant: several analysts pointed out the conflict of interest of a government with post-fascist roots dedicating public resources to praising the book that had served as a catechism for its predecessors. Some nuances. Not all analysts see Tolkien’s importance in the foundations of the new Italian extreme right as so central, even though Meloni does show herself to be a strong devotee of the text. The political scientist Piero Ignazi pointed outfor example, that the Hobbit Camps were organized by a minority faction of the MSI, and that the focus on hobbits and elves is part of Meloni’s personal communication strategy: the image of a woman less aggressive than other far-right leaders, with accessible cultural references. But is Tolkien a fascist? As for whether The Lord of the Rings is right-wing, just remember that Tolkien wrote the trilogy during the rise of Nazism and fascism and refused to publish ‘The Hobbit’ in German when They asked him to prove Aryan descent. Possibly he would have been repelled by the idea of ​​hobbits being read as opposed to change and devoted to preserving traditions. Even so, his work continues to serve as a basis for dubious movements: as he analyzed Arc Magazine In 2025, sectors of the technological right of Silicon Valley, aligned with the MAGA wing, … Read more

We were going to turn trash into clean energy. Now the biogas sector faces its biggest challenge: convincing neighbors

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Spain may be emerging as great power in solar and wind energybut there are other green energies that choke him. The Spanish state is not having a nose for biogas. Or rather: it doesn’t smell good, in the most literal sense of the word. However, the sector has practically gone from zero to one hundred in record time: in just two years there are more than 200 biogas projects on the table in different processing phases. And they bring with them a problem: biogas is the green energy that no one wants close to home. The problem: energy transition vs. social rejection. In the roadmap for Spain’s energy transition (the PNIEC 2030), whose ultimate goal is for the state to achieve emissions neutrality by 2050, biogas has its role. But to make it possible, it is an essential requirement to build and launch plants. And here it collides with a wall of social rejection in the form of citizen platforms, not so much to the technology itself, but to the implementation model. There are no shortage of reasons: from the classic fear of bad smell to the lack of territorial planning, promoter companies that present projects without setting foot on the territory and talking to those who live there, the gigantism of some facilities or the shadow of macro farms as arguments, such as They explain for El País the emeritus professor of Environmental Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia Xavier Flotats and the biologist and researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences Fernando Valladares. Why is it important. That biogas appears in Spain’s energy transition strategy implies that, sooner or later, it will materialize; the key now is in the as. It is also a direct path to energy sovereignty that replaces natural gas. Just take a look at the electricity price map in Europe To understand it: countries that depend on imported fossil fuels suffer from price volatility, while those who have opted for their own alternatives They achieve greater independence and stability. But its value goes beyond energy. These plants generate organic fertilizers that replace chemicals derived from petroleum and offer a real solution to waste management. The slurry or agricultural remains will be produced the same, with or without a plant; The difference is that biogas allows them to be turned into a resource instead of leaving them as an environmental problem. Context. A biogas plant is essentially a stomach where bacteria break down organic waste without oxygen, known as anaerobic digestion. From here two products are obtained: a gas rich in methane and a fertilizer. Depending on the gas obtained, the plant is simply biogas or biomethane: biogas is methane combined with carbon dioxide in almost equal parts, so it is a “weak” fuel that is usually burned on site to generate electricity or local heat. However, biomethane plants add a refining step (removing carbon dioxide) to obtain a gas similar to fossil natural gas. In Europe, the biogas sector is a consolidated industry with more than 19,000 plantsof which almost half are in Germany. A picture says a thousand words: this Europe biomethane plants map of Gas Infrastructure Europe shows the density in states like Germany or Denmark compared to the Spanish desert. The ecological dilemma. For engineer Xavier Flotats, the general rejection is a contradiction: “For some activists, it is better that a landfill is emitting methane into the atmosphere than taking the waste to a biogas plant to do something useful with it.” And he goes deeper by explaining that although this outgoing digestate has 95% of the input composition by weight, its composition changes, it is mineralized and converted into fertilizer. Valladares assures that biogas plants are greenwashing in that the process does not make the waste disappear, they only remove 5%. And that “Biogas plants cannot be understood without the macro farms industrial poultry, pigs and cows.” For the biologist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences, the only viable plants are few, small, safe and expensive. Marina Gros, representative of Ecologistas en Acción recognizes that “There are discrepancies within the organization because there is debate, there are different visions.” And in fact, have published a guide to evaluate case by case. The elephant in the room. Beneath the biogas dilemma inevitably lies the controversy of macro farms: In the event of a possible deployment of plants, the reality would be that part of the biogas produced in the state would depend on its slurry. There are those who see this as taking advantage of an already existing problem, but for other people it represents a facelift to a type of industrial livestock farming designed to maximize productivity at a lower cost compared to animal welfare and the environmental balance of the territory. Separate the wheat from the chaff. Faced with this flood of projects, experts agree on the importance of distinguishing sustainable plans from those that are not. Some signs that indicate that a project is reasonable include choosing a location close to the waste it manages and operating on a regional scale, with a plan to use the digestate as a local fertilizer and a design that guarantees total watertightness. On the contrary, there are signs that are authentic red flag: that the plant is far from the waste but close to gas pipelines, the absence of plans for digestate, the reception of waste in open pits, competition with other plants for raw materials or a logic of an industrial macroplant detached from the territory. In Xataka | A strange source of energy is putting Europe’s energy unity at risk: manure In Xataka | The ace up Spain’s sleeve to grow even more in the renewable energy landscape: biomethane Cover | Spencer DeMera and Eli DeFaria

those who follow this Japanese custom and clean less at home and those who do not

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Everyone does what they want at home, but there are habits that are better than others and customs that, although you may like them more or less individually, may be a cultural custom specific to your region. Without going any further, there is one that raises blisters and that no one is completely clear about: take off your shoes when entering the house. Without going any further, the map that you see below these lines and crowning the article is from Wikimedia: in green, the states that take off their shoes when they get home and in blue, those that do not. We tend to associate this habit with Japan and although it is probably the best-known country where it is applied, it is not the only one. Essentially almost all of Asia takes off its shoes, also North Africa and Canada. The latest Wikimedia map on Which countries take off their shoes at home and which don’t In fact, custom is multicultural and independent. Thus, in Japan they even have an area of ​​the house set up for this purpose, the genkanwith a step called agari kamachi where the sacred limit is established between the “outer world” (dirty) and the “inner world” (clean), as the digital media Nippon explains. In Nordic countries the custom is more related to the weather: moving around the house with shoes full of mud or snow does not seem like the best idea. In the Middle East, the origin points to religion. Without going any further, the Quran has some verses like this from Allah to Moses: “I am your Lord; take off your sandals, for you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa.” The question that bothers half the world: with or without shoes at home? In the discussion forum You can see how some places have changed their tones over the years, such as Middle Eastern countries such as Pakistan or Afghanistan and more recently, the United Kingdom. More than a new custom (although COVID made some hygiene measures stay forever), it is that this habit was probably not well monitored. Although the British case is curious. The world map of the tradition of taking off shoes at home. Seasia.co a few years ago a Reddit thread echoed an original map from Seasia.co (which also had your articlefocused on Southeast Asia) much richer because it goes one step further. It’s no longer that there are places where they take off their shoes and others that don’t, it’s just that there are places where it seems wrong for us to do so. In that small group appear Spain, France, Italy and all of central and southern America. Just the opposite of what happens in the majority of Asia and Africa: if you go to a house there and choose to leave your shoes on following your customs, you will be having a rude gesture. Here the United Kingdom finds its nuance: the norm is to leave your shoes on, but in some homes they prefer to take them off. Shoes yes or shoes no? Leaving aside religious issues and focusing on practice, the reality is that taking off your shoes is a good practice from a hygiene point of view. This study from Macquarie University in Sydney makes it clear: up to 60% of the dust and dirt that accumulates inside a house comes from outside and enters, effectively, through the feet. The pharmacist Álvaro Fernández account in El Periódico de Aragón that “99% of the shoes analyzed test positive for fecal matter” because well, we walk through places where there are traces of excrement and dirt. Microbiologist Jonathan Sexton of the University of Arizona, confirm for Very Interesting the presence in almost all soles of bacteria such as E.coli (present in 96% of cases) and Clostridium difficile. And not only microorganisms: according to The Conversation, Shoes have pesticides from gardens, lead from urban dust and carcinogenic asphalt sealers, all of that goes home. But there is no need to be shocked either: there are fecal bacteria in our mobile and that’s not why we leave it on the doorstep of the house. Simply put: the best way to have a clean house is not to clean, it is not to stain. Prevention is better than cure. Of course, everyone in their house does what they want. In Xataka | The nations of the world and their stereotypes, seen by Japan in this amazing map from 1932 In Xataka | We had suspected for decades that Imperial Japan had a “great Mongolian route.” And finally we have found your maps Cover | Wikimedia

clean less in economy class

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Airlines are finding increasingly creative ways to save costs. A while ago we knew the West Jet casewho did a test to end reclining seats in economy class. Now the protagonist is Lufthansa. And the German airline is experimenting with a new model to save costs and take advantage of its staff’s shifts: reducing cleaning in economy class. Cost reduction. Lufthansa has been going through an internal restructuring process called “Turnaround”, a plan with which they intend to apply up to 700 different measures aimed at reducing operating expenses. In this context, the company has begun to test a new way of cleaning its planes on short-haul flights within Europe. What exactly is happening. Between March 16 and 29, Lufthansa is carrying out a pilot test on about 20 intra-European routes. The objective is to evaluate whether reducing cleaning in economy class during layover time saves time and money without harming the passenger experience. The airline has called it internally “light cleaning.” What the change consists of. On flights included in the test, economy class no longer receives a complete cleaning between flights. Instead, ground staff only intervene where cabin crew deem it necessary: ​​sinks are cleaned only if requested, and seatback bags are only emptied if there is something to remove. The systematic review is replaced by a selective inspection. In business and first class, however, they are not affected and maintain their usual cleanliness. Which is also being evaluated. Beyond the frequency of cleaning, Lufthansa is also measuring whether it can reduce the number of operators per plane on these stops. The hypothesis is to go from four to two people, but extending the work time from five to ten minutes. What they have already had to rectify. The test has already had some friction, as could be expected. According to counted aeroTELEGRAPH, the company had also initially proposed that cabin staff stop crossing the seat belts in economy before boarding. After complaints from the crew, Lufthansa reversed the measure. Tightening the belt. The company’s financial results were nothing to write home about. In the first half of 2025, Lufthansa’s main division posted losses of $317 million, according to Simple Flyingdespite the fact that the group as a whole closed the year with its highest historical turnover, with an increase of 5% compared to 2024. Profitability continues to be the weak point, and this mammoth restructuring plan aims to solve part of that problem. What will happen next. Lufthansa confirmed to the medium that will evaluate the results of the test comprehensively, taking into account not only the economic savings, but also the satisfaction of the passengers and the opinion of the crews. For now, the large airports of Frankfurt and Munich are left out of the experiment. Cover image | Nick Herasimenka In Xataka | Chinese airlines are the only ones still flying over Russia. And that is why they are the winners of the Iran crisis

Europe produces more clean electricity than fossil electricity for the first time. The hard part starts now

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For years, the European energy transition advanced without completely displacing fossil fuels. Last year marked that turning point. According to the report European Electricity Review 2026wind and solar generated 30% of EU electricity in 2025, surpassing coal, gas and oil combined for the first time, which fell to 29%. As Dr. Petrovich explains by Emberwe are facing record growth. It is not normal to go from a 20% to 30% quota in just five years, but the numbers are there. The energy map is changing: there are now 14 EU countries where wind and sun generate more than gas or coal. In this scenario, Spain, Greece or Hungary already play in the league of solar powers. Beyond statistics. The milestone does not imply that Europe has left fossil fuels behind or that gas has disappeared from the system, but rather that it changes the hierarchy of the electricity mix. For the first time, variable renewable energies come to occupy the center of the electricity mix, while fossils are relegated to a technical and security support role. According to Emberrenewable energies as a whole contributed 48% of the EU’s electricity in 2025, practically half of the total, a figure that remained stable even in a year marked by adverse weather conditions, with less wind and less rain than usual. Coal, the most polluting fuel in the system, continues its withdrawal. In 2024 it fell to 9.2% of the European electricity mix, a historical minimum compared to the almost 25% it represented a decade ago. Gas, for its part, rose slightly compared to 2024, although it is still 18% below its 2019 maximum, confirming that its role in the system is increasingly residual. This rebalancing has consequences that range beyond the energy mix: Dependence on imported fossil fuels continues to be the main source of price instability and strategic vulnerability in Europe, even outside the climate debate. Five years that changed everything. The sorpasso – as it has begun to be called in the sector – is not the result of a mild winter or a stroke of meteorological luck. It is the consequence of sustained growth, especially in solar energy, during the last decade, accelerated very notably in the last five years. According to the reportsolar generation grew by 20.1%, this being the fourth consecutive year with increases of more than 20%, an unprecedented growth rate in European energy history. In absolute terms, solar reached 369 terawatt hours (TWh), more than double that of 2020, and the annual increase in 2025 alone is equivalent to the electrical production of three French nuclear reactors. A dizzying growth. This expansion responds mainly to the installed capacity. In 2025, 65.1 GW of new solar power was added in the EU, distributed almost equally between large plants and self-consumption on rooftops. All community countries increased their solar production, and in several of them—Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands—the sun already provides more than 20% of national electricity. As for wind power, although more affected by the weather conditions at the beginning of the year, it remains the second largest electricity source in the EU, with 17% of the total, above gas. The system, therefore, begins to rely structurally on variable renewables, something unthinkable just a decade ago. The reverse of success: when gas continues to set the price. Despite the historic advance of wind and solar, 2025 made it clear that gas continues to have a disproportionate weight in the European electricity system, especially in price formation. According to the think tank, gas-fired electricity generation increased by 8% in the EU, mainly to compensate for the drop in hydroelectric energy caused by the drought, and this greater use of gas raised the electricity sector’s import bill to 32 billion euros, 16% more than the previous year. The impact was especially visible in the electricity markets. Ember detects that price spikes They are concentrated in the hours with the highest gas use, while the hours with abundant solar and wind tend to make electricity cheaper. In 21 European countries, wholesale prices rose in 2025, driven almost exclusively by these fossil time slots. This is where the paradox of the current system: although gas no longer dominates by volume, it continues to set the marginal price of the market at critical moments. In other words, despite the oversupply, the price structure continues to be conditioned by fossil fuel when there is a lack of wind or sun. The new energy frontier. Ember’s report devote an entire chapter to what it considers the next big front of the transition: storage and system flexibility. Without these pieces, he warns, the sorpasso runs the risk of remaining a statistical victory. This was one of the large deficits of the European transition: investing massively in generation without doing so at the same pace in networks and storage. Batteries are now emerging as the piece that connects renewable success with stable prices and security of supply. Last year, the EU exceeded 10 GW of large-scale batteries in operation for the first time, more than double that of 2023. In addition, there is a portfolio of projects that could raise that figure above 40 GW if fully implemented. The first signs are already visible in countries like Italy, where batteries have begun to cover part of the demand during peak gas hours, reducing prices and displacing fossil generation. Physical bottlenecks: European infrastructure. It is not just a question of how much energy is generated, but where it enters and how it circulates within the continent. Europe has reduced its direct dependence of Russian gas, but continues to face physical limitations in terminals, transportation networks and cross-border connections. This substitution of Russian gas has been slowed by the slowness in the construction of critical facilities, such as regasification terminals and high-capacity networks, and by the insufficient interconnection between national electrical systems. This bottleneck explains why countries with abundant renewable production, like Spain, often cannot easily export that surplus, or why the European … Read more

Washing chicken “to clean it” sounds hygienic. Science says it’s a bad idea (and very dangerous)

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“Chicken should never be washed.” This time, it was Higinio Gómez (one of the most renowned gourmet polleros in Spain) who reopened the debate in an interview in El País. But the issue is recurrent and inexplicably generates very opposing positions: from those convinced that washing chicken is a way to “remove germs or dirt” to those who, rightly, say that it is a terrible idea. But, as Gómez himself would say in his establishment, ‘let’s go in parts’. What’s wrong with the chicken? Let’s start with the most basic: nothing happens to the chicken. The risk linked to ‘washing chicken’ has nothing to do with the chicken itself. It has to do with cross contamination: the bacteria from raw chicken (which would be eliminated during preparation) transfer to the hands, sink, countertops, and various utensils. Often, in fact, when washing chicken we end up putting those bacteria in foods that are ready to eat. The EFSA estimated in billions of euros annually the impact of pollution Campylobacter (a bug especially linked to chicken). Sometimes it’s because you cook it wrong, yes; but often it is due to handling raw food without any type of rigor. What the evidence says. In a now classic observational study by the North American USDA, was discovered that, in fact, what I just explained was what really happened: among those who washed the chicken, 60% contaminated the sink and up to 26% ended up transferring bacteria to the salad. And, in fact, we already have experimental studies that explain the mechanism: beyond the obvious, “washing generates droplets capable of transferring bacteria and increasing environmental pollution” And why do people insist on washing it? That’s a good question with numerous answers: from the cultural and historical heritage (after all, when the chicken was slaughtered at home, washing did make more sense) to a lack of sense of control that ends up turning against us. Let’s be practical: How to avoid cross contamination when cooking chicken? Separate raw chicken from other foods: It is a good idea to keep the chicken raw separated from other foods. This is always true, but especially with all those that are consumed raw (such as fruits and vegetables). Use different utensils: We have talked about it with the cutting boardsbut it is especially effective advice with knives and other utensils. In fact, the recommendation is that, if we do not have several sets of utensils, wash them carefully between uses with hot water and soap. Wash hands and surfaces thoroughly: After handling raw chicken, you should not only wash your hands with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds; Instead, we should disinfect all surfaces with which it has been in contact. Image | Christian Guillen / Imani In Xataka | Washing raw chicken increases risk of foodborne infection

Nepal imposed a $4,000 bail on tourists to clean Everest. Now you have more garbage and a problem

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If we talk about remote, isolated and inaccessible regions, few places reach the level of Everest. The highest mountain of the planet (at least if we take sea level as a reference) is not within everyone’s reach. Crowning it requires years of preparation, acclimatization and in-depth knowledge of mountaineering, in addition to spending a few tens of thousands of dollars in tickets, equipment, fees and Sherpas. Despite that, despite all its rigors, Everest has become a monster touristified full of tons and tons of garbage. In Nepal they just checked that this problem, that of the accumulation of waste in the mountains, cannot be solved even with the threat of paying thousands of dollars. Hence, the Government is already considering tougher measures. What has happened? That Nepal has realized that the threat of sanctions is not enough to prevent Everest from becoming a gigantic landfill frozen. More than a decade ago, its authorities adopted a measure with which they intended to clean the mountain: each climber who wanted to ascend to the roof of the world must first deposit $4,000, a kind of deposit that would only be recovered if he returned from his expedition with eight kilos of waste. The objective was clear: for the mountaineers to collect their garbage. If they did, they got their $4,000 back. If not, they lost the deposit. The idea looked good on paper, but it has turned out to be a fiasco. Over the past few years, mountaineers have returned from their climbs with backpacks full of debris to unlock their bails, but that hasn’t improved Everest. On the contrary. Why’s that? Very simple. Because (paraphrasing the Spanish proverb) ‘the law is made, the trap is made’. Tourists who have set out to conquer Everest have spent the last few years returning with rubbish to claim a refund of their money, but what at first sounds so positive has actually meant a problem for the mountains. The reason? The origin of these wastes. Climbers collect waste, true, but in lower altitude camps. Things change if we talk about the highest bases, where loading and eliminating waste is more difficult, expensive and even dangerous. Hence, the waste problem continues to be worrying and has even worsened in the most sensitive areas: the camps located closer to the summit. “From the highest bases people tend to return only with oxygen bottles,” explains to the BBC Tshering Sherpa, executive director of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee. “Other items like tents, cans and boxes of packaged food and beverages are left there, mostly abandoned. That’s why we see so much trash piling up.” What has been the result? A fiasco. The Sherpas themselves recognize that the pollution problem has worsened in the camps closest to the summit. After all… Why descend loaded with garbage from the top of the mountain if 8 kg can then be collected in the lower camps? As if that were not enough, managing the $4,000 deposits has resulted in more paperwork for Nepalese officials. Although the problem of dirt has not been solved, the majority of mountaineers recover their deposits, which translates into an “administrative burden” for the nation. Does it work that badly? In the country there are those who speak directly of a “defective norm” that fails in several key points. The main one, surveillance. “From the checkpoint above the Khumbu Icefall there is no supervision over what the climbers do,” comments Sherpa. Hence, it is not a problem for tourists to leave their garbage at the top of the mountain and then cover the quota with waste from lower camps. There is also another important handicap. The rule requires climbers to return with 8 kg of waste, but there are studies that warn that a climber produces much more waste during his stay on the mountain, at least if the weeks of acclimatization are taken into account. To be precise, we are talking about 12 kg. Is the problem that serious? Yes. The figures speak for themselves. Estimates may vary from one study to another, but they generally show that after years of tourism, Everest has become a large landfill in which dozens of tons of waste accumulate. And that includes everything from packaging, store remains, ropes… and even kilos and kilos of feces. It is not at all surprising if you take into account the great popularity that the mountain has been gaining over the last few decades. Although the expeditions are not affordable for everyone (some estimate that they cost between 40,000 and 60,000 dollars) every year hundreds of climbers land on Everest. The Telepragh esteem that around 600 mountaineers try to climb the mountain every year, which represents a huge flow of climbers who arrive accompanied by equipment and Sherpas. There are many, but the figure falls short when compared to the activity that was recorded in the area before the pandemic. Statista calculates For example, in 2023, 656 successful promotions were recorded, a figure that exceeded 800 before the health crisis. And now what? After assuming that their previous bailout plan “did not show tangible results,” the Nepalese authorities want to toughen their conditions to tackle the pollution problem. They have a new plan on the table that includes a cleaning fee that It would be around $4,000.although with an important nuance: in this case would not be refundable. The idea is that this flow of thousands of dollars will serve to finance the conservation of the mountain. “With the new plan we will deploy qualified rangers paid for by the cleaning fee collected from climbers,” comments Himal Gautamfrom the Department of Tourism. If the measure goes ahead, it will join others that in recent years have sought to improve the preservation of Everest, such as the increase in rates administrative or even the norm which since 2024 requires mountaineers to carry bags to collect their excrement. Images | Akunamatata (Flickr), Mari Partyka (Unsplash) In Xataka | When a storm hit Everest, a … Read more

an army to “clean up” the most dangerous and lethal area of ​​Ukraine

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For months now, Western intelligence services and military analysts they were warning about what something deep was changing in North Korea: thanks to Russian support, the Kim Jong-un regime was beginning to accelerate the modernization of your armywith advances in missiles, drones and even signs of technical support in programs as sensitive as that of nuclear powered submarines. Moscow appeared to be breaking strategic taboos to shore up an isolated ally, but a key question remained unanswered. Now, it is beginning to become clear what the real price to pay for this military leap is. Alliance sealed with blood. As we said, the reactivated Moscow-Pyongyang axis alliance out of mutual necessity The true price of one side has been revealed with brutal clarity: North Korea is paying back its support for Russia by putting its own soldiers in the most dangerous task of the Ukrainian war. Not as advisors, nor as a symbolic rearguard, but as extreme risk meat, sent to clear minefields in active combat zones, where the probability of being killed or maimed is structurally high. The confirmation has come from Kim Jong-un himself, in an unusual gesture of propaganda transparency, and marks a qualitative leap in the degree of North Korean involvement in the European conflict. Engineers in the hell of Kursk. The North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia belong to specialized combat engineer units, sent to the Kursk region to carry out demining work after fighting with Ukrainian forces. This is a technically complex mission and psychologically devastatingeven for well-equipped professional armies, and even more so for troops coming from one of the most closed and disciplined regimes on the planet. According to the official datathe operation lasted about 120 days and resulted in the death of at least nine soldiers, although Western and South Korean intelligence services they estimate that actual North Korean personnel casualties in the war could run into the hundreds. Before these engineers, up to 15,000 troops North Koreans would have fought alongside Russian forces in the same region to expel Ukrainian units. The tacit agreement. The logic that supports this deployment It is as simple as it is disturbing. Russia, in need of men, ammunition and regeneration capacity after years of war, offers North Korea that in exchange what else do you need: fuel, food, financial aid and, above all, access to advanced military technologies that could modernize its military and its missile and weapons programs. For a regime suffocated by international sanctions, selling highly disciplined military manpower is a strategic asset. It is not just ideological or diplomatic support: it is a direct transaction in which Pyongyang exchanges human lives for economic and military oxygen. Scenery of the sacrifice. Over the weekend it was learned that the engineers’ return was celebrated in Pyongyang with a carefully designed ceremony to transform loss into epic. Kim Jong-un embraced wounded soldiers, some in wheelchairs, consoled families of the dead and awarded the dead with the highest state decorations, promising “eternal luster” to their sacrifice. The broadcast images by the KCNA agency show the leader kneeling before portraits of the fallen, placing flowers and medals, and talking about “miracles” achieved in deadly zones converted into safe spaces. All of this is part of a deliberate effort for normalizing the sending of troops abroad and strengthening internal support for a decision that, in any other context, would be politically explosive. Russian landmines laid during Ukraine’s advance in the 2022 Southern Ukraine counteroffensive. It reads “from a pure heart” and “with love from Russia” Propaganda and obedience. The official story goes beyond the tribute. North Korean state media they have spread images of soldiers advancing without hesitation through minefields or under intense fire, as well as scenes of wounded combatants committing suicide with grenades to avoid capture. It’s not just war propaganda: it’s an internal message of absolute disciplinewhere individual life is completely subordinated to the State and the leader. In this framework, the soldier is not an armed citizen, but rather an expendable strategic resource, trained to accept missions that other armies would consider almost suicidal. From ideological allies to operational partners. North Korean involvement is not limited to sending men. Pyongyang has supplied Moscow large quantities of projectiles of artillery, missiles and various weapons, de facto reactivating a mutual defense treaty inherited from the Cold War. However, the deployment of troops on the ground marks a new frontier: North Korea is no longer just a distant supplier, but an operational actor within the war. The choice of demining it is not coincidental: It is an essential, dangerous and inconspicuous function, perfect for an ally that can take losses without being accountable to public opinion. Disturbing precedent. That a State sells its soldiers to clear mines in a foreign war is not only a dark anecdote from the Ukrainian conflict, but a disturbing precedent. It demonstrates the extent to which war is becoming internationalized in layers, incorporating actors who exchange support not out of long-term strategic affinity, but out of sheer regime survival. In this scheme, North Korea has found an extreme way to break its isolation, while Russia obtains something increasingly scarce: men willing (or forced) to walk where no one else wants to. The price of this alliance is no longer measured in treaties or speeches, but in steps taken. on mined ground. Image | GoodFon, Stefan KrasowskiMinistry of Defense of Ukraine In Xataka | “It’s a level 10 Godzilla, but they only see a tiger”: South Korea’s surprising response to North Korea’s rearmament In Xataka | North Korea has been sending weapons to Russia for months. In return, Russia is giving him what he craves most: a functional army.

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