collapse

The eclipse divides the idyllic towns of Mallorca between fear of collapse and labor intrusion

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Next August 12, at eight o’clock in the afternoon, a random town on the Mallorcan coast will have two eclipses ahead of it at the same time: that of the Sun and that of its own mobility model. Work intrusion. That is the concept that is echoing through the streets of municipalities such as Calvià, Marratxí, Puigpunyent, Esporles, Valldemossa or Deià. From Palma airport to the nightlife corners, the city’s various taxi drivers’ associations complain about transport pirate to which not enough blockages are being put in place. While some neighbors promise not to take their car out of the parking lot so as not to get into the mess, others set up improvised businesses to take tourists to the best viewpoint. An ideal destination. Mallorca is literally located at the end of the totality band of the solar eclipse. It is the last point in Spain to see the day go out for just over a minute, with the sun setting over the Mediterranean. Precious. In Palma, the National Geographic Institute estimates that the eclipse will begin around 19:38 and will reach its maximum around 8:32 p.m., with the Sun just 2 degrees above the horizon. That is, so low that any building, hill or mass of pine trees can blur the postcard. And of course, if the Astronomy and Astronautics Foundation of Mallorca has been explaining for months that not all areas of the island will see it the same, part of tourism will be at the mercy of this dynamic. The Government and the UIB have even organized “visibility exercises” so that people go to their supposed viewpoint and check whether, in practice, the sunset can be seen or not: a general rehearsal of what the battle for a piece of clean horizon will be like. The best view. Which is the best balcony, the best stone house with an open view to the west or the natural viewpoint most privileged? We already anticipated it: the coast of the Serra de Tramuntana and some sections of the southwest and southeast will be the ones that will start with an advantage. And the social networks They have been echoing this for some time: rural hotels like Cas Facebook groups specialists, climbing colleagues and interactive maps: it is not difficult to find even technical discussions about whether or not in such a town the Sun will be hidden by a ridge of pine trees at the decisive minute. The price of the eclipse. But while agencies and local businesses They take boat trips to see the eclipse from the open sea, with guides, a sunset glass and approved glasses included. Irregularities in transportation are a problem that no inspection seems to solve. Pirate transportation beyond the airport, with unauthorized cars and VTCs that attract clientele directly on the street, upsets the bosses of the foreign part. We are not just talking about Magaluf or Santa Ponça: private cars offer to make transfers even in minibuses, posting advertisements on WhatsApp. On paper, sanctions ranging from 15,000 up to 25,000 euros They fly over any vehicle that does not have a pre-contract, according to Law 4/2014 on Land Transport of the Balearic Islands. As stated the BOEany vehicle that picks up clients without this pre-contracting – especially VTC or discretionary – is, legally, in the field of illegally attracting clients and is classified as a serious or very serious infraction. The Formentera Council, for example, has already imposed sanctions of 6,001 euros for offering taxi services without authorization. Supply and demand. If on a normal Tuesday in August there is already work intrusion on the road, what happens when thousands of people choose the same minute to go to the same place? The influx of tourism is such – there is talk of prices ranging between 30-50 euros per hour – that it seems to compensate for some. PIMEM-Taxi (the Mallorcan Association of Self-Employed Taxi Workers Federated in Pimem) carries years denouncing that, as soon as the season starts, the “pirate taxis” advance their return to Son Sant Joan, operating with half a dozen illegal companies that take advantage of the gaps in the official service. This is the reason why Palma City Council limited 25% of the fleet to operate at the airport one week a month to guarantee service and prevent excess demand from being covered by individuals. More inspectors, less pirates. In the face of a conflict that has been existing for five yearsthe Government has reacted by reinforcing inspectors. Already in June it activated the ‘Table against intrusion‘ in transport and illegal tourist offer, coordinated by the general director of Mobility, Lorena del Valle. Taxi drivers do not believe that it is enough and that only strict police control will be able to stop all those improvised private plazas carrying tourists from here to there. The astronomical event of the century, which in the Balearic Islands is sold as a unique observation opportunity, is becoming an open-air laboratory of how this conflict is managed between the traditional approved taxi, the VTC and everyone who gets in the car and earns a few euros without going through the exit flag. Glasses and anxiety. The other main protagonist of the eclipse are the glasses: the Majorcan Astronomical Foundation has warned that they will be needed at least 100,000 units to meet citizen and tourist demand. And be careful, neither ordinary sunglasses, nor x-rays, nor homemade inventions are useful. Pharmacies, opticians and souvenir shops are being the distribution points, more or less improvised, with specific campaigns to prevent eye damage. In this mix of cosmological enthusiasm and logistical anxiety—reservations months in advance, neighbors who plan to “not go up to the viewpoint that day” for fear of collapse, and mayors who look askance at their summer mobility plans—the road is the boss. Not everything is rosy on the good side of the story, of course: rates skyrocket and waiting lines, on the key day, can ruin the moment. The … Read more

Exact time left for Earth in the habitable zone before ocean collapse

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For as long as humanity has been aware, it has wondered when and how the end of the world will come. Far from apocalyptic prophecies, science has a much more calculated, cold and inevitable response, since it is clear that the Earth has an expiration date, or at least its capacity to host life as we know it does. It has been calculated. A classic study published in the magazine Astrobiology In 2013 by researcher Andrew Rushby, he calculated the “habitability window” that our planet has left. The magic number, popularized from these physical and climate models, is around at 1.8 billion yearswhich is the average value that we find in the range between 1,750 and 3,250 million years. The problem is that this date is not entirely real, since within 1.8 billion years there will be no type of life on our planet, but for human beings and complex life the expiration date is much earlier. The culprit. To understand how scientists arrived at the figure of 1.8 billion years, we must look at the Sun. And, like any star of its type, our Sun is subject to a process of stellar evolution that means that, as it consumes its nuclear fuelits core contracts and heats up, causing the outer layers to expand and, therefore, its luminosity does not stop growing. Here Rushby’s team did not make a simple random prediction, but rather their methodology consisted of combining models of this evolution of solar brightness with parameters of the greenhouse effect and the energy balance of the Earth. What they were looking for was to calculate the exact moment at which the Earth will leave the so-called “habitable zone.” A little further. The habitable zone is that orbital strip around a star where temperatures allow the existence of liquid water on the surface of a rocky planet. But as the Sun becomes brighter and hotter, that fringe moves toward the edges of the solar system, while the planet does not move from its orbit. And that is a problem. All this means that when the Earth crosses the inner limit of this zone, the increase in solar radiation will trigger a runaway greenhouse effect, similar to what Venus suffers today. The effects of this will be the evaporation of the oceans, which will contribute to the greenhouse effect, trapping heat even more and accelerating the process until the Earth loses its liquid water irreversibly. And with it life. Different types of life. It is crucial to differentiate what “habitable” means in astrobiological terms versus what we consider “habitable” in our daily lives. A very important fact is that the Earth is approximately 4.545 billion years old, and life in its simplest forms emerged surprisingly early about 3.7-4.3 billion years ago. With all this we mean that the end of life will be staggered, starting with affecting complex life like us, which are extremely fragile to thermal variations. This makes the authors emphasize that the conditions for animal and human life will be greatly lost before reaching those 1.8 billion years. The last to die. The Apocalypse of 1.8 billion years refers to the last breath of the planet. In that final scenario, when the oceans are evaporating, only the most resistant extremophile microorganisms will be able to survive in isolated niches such as pockets of groundwater at very high temperatures before facing total extinction. Looking to the future. At this point, one might wonder what point it is to calculate exactly when the oceans will dry up eons from now if humanity today has more pressing problems. And the answer lies in the search for other planets, since by perfectly understanding how the “window of life” evolves in our solar system, astronomers have tools to apply to exoplanets that we are discovering thousands of light years away. In this way, knowing how long a planet’s habitability lasts depending on its host star helps us know where to look. We may find a planet in the “habitable zone” of its star, but if calculations reveal that it has only been there for a few million years, it is likely that complex life has not had time to evolve yet. Images | Javier Miranda In Xataka | Ryan MacDonald, astronomer, on the future of the Earth: “The death of the star is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter”

AI has caused the collapse of even a non-AI industry: gas turbines

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When everyone runs away, Meta’s former CTO stays. While the majority of Silicon Valley investors have abandoned the C thesisfile Tech —tired of promises that do not turn into real business—, Mike Schroepfer just announced that it has raised 250 million dollars to do exactly the opposite. Its background, Gigascale Capitalhas closed its first round with institutional investors to back founders who, in their own words, are “rebuilding the brick-and-mortar economy.” The news comes at a time when the climate technology sector has a difficult reputation. As explained TechCrunch, “Conventional wisdom” has been soured by the “Climate Tech” label. Schroepfer, known in the industry simply as Schrepis challenging the market consensus. Or as the same media describes it: “Zigging when most are zagging” (zigzagging when everyone goes in the other direction). Does this bet make sense? First of all, we must understand the underlying problem: gas turbines, the most conventional electricity generation system that exists, currently have a waiting list that extends until the early 2030s. It is not that there is a lack of green technology, it is that there is simply a lack of energy. And companies trying to connect to the electrical grid are finding it increasingly difficult. The person responsible. And the question is, who has accelerated that demand to this point? Artificial intelligence. The sector has undergone a structural change in recent years, driven precisely by the energy demands of AI. Data centers consume huge amounts of electricity and networks cannot cope. Faced with this situation, many companies are trying to generate their own electricity. As Schroepfer himself notedthe “bring your own energy” model (Bring-Your-Own-Power) will become a decisive competitive advantage in intensive industries. But there is no easy path there either: even traditional turbines have a waiting list. As Pulse 2.0 detailsaccelerated electrification, industrial relocation, AI deployment and increasingly extreme climate events are simultaneously putting pressure on physical infrastructure that has been aging for decades. The business of scarcity. The company, Gigascale, was founded in 2023 by Schroepfer along with Victoria Beasley and Evaline Tsai. The fund emerges from a process that the former Meta executive describes as a systematic study of the climate sector during the pandemic. In three years they have built a portfolio of more than 25 companies in areas ranging from clean energy and grid infrastructure to critical minerals, advanced manufacturing and what they call “physical AI”: applications of artificial intelligence to design, manufacture and deploy real-world systems. Schroepfer’s investment logic does not pivot on environmental virtue, but on competitiveness. Their argument is the following: solar went from producing 40 gigawatts a year to 600 in a decade because it became cheaper. “The companies we support win because they are cheaper, faster and more reliable. This is how adoption scales. Climate impact is the result of systems that work better,” declared in a statement. When the waiting list is the opportunity. The fund’s portfolio already has specific names that illustrate this philosophy: New energy generation: Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Xcimer Energy (which achieved the first flash of its commercial laser system in late 2025) are working to make nuclear fusion a reality. For its part, Radiant is moving toward one of the first commercial deployments of nuclear microreactors in the United States. Infrastructure for AI: Arbor Energy has signed an agreement with GridMarket to supply up to 5 gigawatts of clean, zero-emissions energy to data centers. In parallel, Fractile announced a $136 million expansion to manufacture AI processors specifically designed to reduce electricity consumption. Circular and industrial economy: Heron Power, founded by Drew Baglino – former Tesla vice president for propulsion and energy division – develops industrial power electronics. In addition, companies like Dioxycle have signed multi-year agreements with giants like L’Oréal to convert captured CO₂ emissions into ethylene to make packaging. There is an underlying irony. The world has been debating for years how to decarbonize for environmental reasons. And it turns out that the catalyst that is making the transformation of the energy system urgent and inevitable is not any climate summit: it is Artificial Intelligence. As investors flee the label Climate Tech Considering it too ideological or unprofitable, the demand for energy is so brutal that not even the most conventional gas turbines can cope. The opportunity exists precisely because the problem is real. And Schroepfer, who comes from building the systems that consume that energy, is very clear about it. Image | Unsplash Xataka | From “tokenmaxxing” we have moved on to “tokenwasting”: the level of waste in AI is reaching unprecedented levels

the collapse of the fertilizer trade

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If they have something wars like the one in Iran (or Ukraine) is that they remind us of the enormous fragility of some of the pillars that support the world economy. And that is something that is beginning to worry farmers. In addition to being a key channel for oil trafficthe Strait of Hormuz is a strategic piece in the world trade in nitrogen fertilizers. The UN estimates that before the war it passed through there one third of global maritime traffic of an input that, in turn, influences performance of the crops. After more than two months with maritime traffic blocked or at least conditionedmore and more voices warn that alterations in the supply of fertilizers may end up leading to a food crisis draft. The alarms go off. Warnings about how the Iran war could affect fertilizer trafficking may not have been raised as early as those in the oil marketbut that does not mean that the topic is not generate concern almost from the beginning. In early March, shortly after the US and Israel attacked Tehran, some analysts They were already raising their voices to warn of the risks that the conflict would alter the global distribution of urea, a nitrogen fertilizer in which the Persian Gulf plays a fundamental role. Graphic: Statista. How fundamental? The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) calculate that around 36% of global urea exports between 2023 and 2025 came from Persian Gulf countries, especially Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Not bad if we take into account two pieces of information that underlines the institute itself. First, urea is the nitrogen fertilizer most used, which gives an idea of ​​its relevance for crops. Second, how distributed the flow is. Its main importers are India, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, the USA and Türkiye. On that map Tehran plays an essential role. Both because of its weight as a producer and exporter, and because of the control it exercises over the Strait of Hormuz, which channels a good part of the world’s fertilizer trade. The UN estimates that around one third of all merchandise moved by sea, which is equivalent to 16 million tons. It is understandable if you take into account that one of the largest plants of urea on the planet (QAFCO) is in Qatar, a facility that, by the way, saw blocked its production at the beginning of the war due to alterations in the supply of natural gas. The reason? Again the interconnection of the global economy. LNG is a essential input in the production of fertilizers such as urea or ammonia. A sinking traffic. The problem is that, after several months of war in the Middle East, the global fertilizer supply chain is beginning to show signs of suffering. The latest signal has been issued by the OECD. And clearly. According to his observations (advanced by the EFE agency), the organization has detected that in April the movement of goods by sea plummeted to its lowest level since January 2019. And that at a minimum, since OECD statistics do not allow us to go back further. The OECD has also detected a decrease in the flow of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) through Hormuz, but the data on urea are especially alarming. To begin with, because the organization has confirmed the great weight of the Gulf in its traffic, with 18 specialized berths. The OECD warning also comes just when some countries are beginning to feel the disruption of the supply chain. A clear case is in Nepal: its volume of reserves is well below what is necessary (171,000 t compared to 250,000), which has already led the Government to purchase 80,000 t of emergency chemical fertilizer thanks to an agreement with India. Is it the only indicator? No. The OECD warning is one more stroke in a much broader picture in which not only the flows of merchandise are altered. Another key indicator is the prices of fertilizers. At the end of April Reuters echoed already from the rise in the value of urea. And although in recent weeks its price has been softenedgo on far above of the one noted on February 27, before the war broke out. It’s not just about the traffic disruptions in Hormuz. LNG also influences the cost of fertilizer. The situation has reached such a point that Fertiglobe, a major fertilizer company, has started operating its plants in the United Arab Emirates at full capacity and then transport the fertilizer in trucks to other ports far from Hormuz, its natural outlet. The operation raises costs so much that under other circumstances it would not be profitable. After the price increase that has changed. “As long as we manage to overcome the logistical obstacles, the price more than makes up for it,” explains a manager from the company to Financial Times. “The market is desperate.” The alarms go off. The big question is what to expect from now on. Although the UN recognize Since not all countries are equally exposed to interruptions in the supply of fertilizers and not all regions of the world harvests follow the same calendar, there are organizations that have already raised their voices to warn of the impact that war can have. There are several factors at play: the problems of transporting fertilizer and the fact that its cost ends up skyrocketing so much that farmers do without it or look for alternativessomething that could affect crop yields. Another question is whether this will be felt in food prices. Déjà vu in the fields. The photo is partly reminiscent of what was experienced at the beginning of the Ukrainian war, although with nuances. “In 2022 much of the fertilizer was finally distributed,” explains to Reuters Shwan Arita, of the Agricultural Risk Policy Center at North Dakota State University. “The supply shortages we’re seeing now are much more severe.” Another handicap is that, unlike what happened a few years ago, cereal prices after several campaigns with generous harvests … Read more

They dedicate four times more time to their children, but mothers are still on the brink of collapse

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Let’s imagine for a moment the classic picture of a living room in the 1950s. The father, fresh from work, barricades himself behind the newspaper or asks for silence to listen to the radio. His parenting figure is peripheral, an economic provider whose emotional absence is normalized. Let’s now jump to 2026. Today’s father kneads gluten-free pancakes on a Tuesday morning, manages the third grade WhatsApp group, reads positive discipline manuals and monitors every millimeter of his offspring’s cognitive development. If we traveled back in time, today’s fatherhood would be unrecognizable to a father from the “Silent Generation.” However, this revolution, which a priori should have created the most balanced generation in history, hides a deep structural trap. If today’s parents sin something, it is not that they are absent, but rather the opposite. And this hyperpresence – crossed by a fierce demand of class and gender – is triggering the anxiety of children and causing unprecedented exhaustion, especially in women, who continue to support the invisible scaffolding of the home. The sociological data is compelling. According to analyst Derek Thompson in your newsletterparents millennials in the United States spend approximately four times more time caring for their children than parents of the generation of the baby boom. The hours of male involvement have taken a historic leap. However, this phenomenon is deeply fragmented by socioeconomic status. The research of economists Guryan, Hurst and Kearney They already warned of an astonishing paradox: The higher the educational level and purchasing power, the more hours are invested in parenting. The famous study The Rug Rat Race (The Rat Race)created by Valerie and Garey Ramey, hits the nail on the head by explaining why. This hyper-involvement responds, to a large extent, to the anxiety to ensure the future success of minors in the face of a savage academic and labor market. It has become a status symbol; a frenetic competition where free time is sacrificed on the altar of extracurricular activities. In Spain, this desire for presence has been supported by the institutions. From Moncloa trace the evolution: we have gone from the ridiculous two days of paternity leave prior to 2007, to consolidating ourselves in 2025 as a European reference model with 19 paid and non-transferable weeks per parent (and 32 weeks for single-parent families). The father, by law and by cultural change, is at home. But what happens behind closed doors? In Spain, the dynamic is identical. Studies on time use like those of the sociologist Pablo Gracia confirm that Spanish parents with higher education dedicate significantly more time to the physical and interactive care of their children. A will to be present that has also been supported by the institutions. The Moncloa figures trace undeniable progress: we have gone from the ridiculous two days of paternity leave prior to 2007, to consolidating ourselves as a European benchmark with 19 paid and non-transferable weeks per parent (and 32 weeks for single-parent families). The father, by law and by cultural change, is at home. But what really happens behind closed doors? The mirage of the distribution Headlines celebrating the “new super dad” demand critical reading. Researcher Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play, warns in the magazine Lounge of the trap of traditional surveys: they measure execution time, but ignore cognitive effort. Today’s men “help” more, yes. But the mental load—conceiving, planning, and continually anticipating family needs—continues to fall on them. Today’s mothers feel, in Rodsky’s words, “overwhelmed and bored” by having to act as directors of a project where their partners often act as kind subordinates waiting for instructions. The x-ray of this inequality in Spain reveals an exhausting panorama: Chronic overload: 78% of Spanish mothers declare themselves overloaded, assuming 64% of domestic tasks, regardless of whether they work outside the home. according to data from Make Mothers Matter. Class gap and vulnerability: The situation becomes dramatic for single-parent families and women with precarious jobs, who lack the network and resources to outsource care. Fear of penalty: A report of TELOS evidence that, when push comes to shove, more than 90% of mothers use up their entire birth leave, compared to 85% of fathers, still inhibited by the culture of corporate presenteeism. This systemic pressure to achieve everything invariably results in burnout or parental exhaustion. The psychologist Silvia Álava It is estimated that 7 out of every 10 Spanish parents They are exhausted by the effort to achieve perfection. Worse still, clinical research on this syndrome (such as the psychometric analyzes of Suárez, Núñez et al.) warn that extreme exhaustion ends up causing serious emotional distancing. It is the final paradox: parents try so hard to be present that they end up emotionally disconnecting from their own children for pure mental survival. The bill is paid by the minors We live in the era of “helicopter parents” and “lawnmower parents”: those who, as illustrated in the magazine International School Parentthey compulsively pave the way so that children do not even stumble. And the great irony of this intensive parenting, spurred by the suffocating showcase of social media, is that it is devastating those it seeks to protect. The great irony of this intensive breeding is that it is devastating those it is intended to protect. A Norwegian review of 38 studies has detailed that between 70% and 90% of research associates excessive parental control with profound mental distress in children. Avoiding frustration deprives them of the tools to be functional adults. A Norwegian review of 38 independent studies makes it clear: Between 70% and 90% of research associates excessive parental control with profound discomfort in children. Avoiding frustration deprives them of the basic tools to be functional adults. In fact, neurology confirms that taking constantly Decisions for children stunt the development of their prefrontal cortex, the area of ​​the brain responsible for solving problems and regulating emotions. The brain literally needs to fall down to learn to get up. In Spain, the clinical alarms are ringing loudly: Psychiatric admissions: The magazine … Read more

chronicle of a collapse announced and recorded almost live by NASA

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Mexico City faces one of the most complex geological challenges that exist and it is not earthquakes: it is subsidence accelerated by human activity. What’s that? The slow and progressive sinking of the soil. One of the causes is the extraction of too much water from the subsoil because that water partly holds the ground from within. If there is no water, the sediments are compacted by gravity and as a result, the surface sinks. Mexico City has been sinking for more than a century for this reason and the recent NISAR satellite mission, a collaboration between NASA and its Indian counterpart ISRO, has launched unprecedented surveillance that is already bearing fruit: the most detailed and recent cartography of this phenomenon in the Mexican capital to monitor its sinking almost in real time. It is more than a map: it is a survival tool for a city inhabited by more than 20 million people. Mexico City sinks. The first time subsidence was reported in Mexico was in 1925. The data from 1898 to 2005 show a constant subsidence throughout the period, with a maximum rate of 40 centimeters per year between 1998 and 2002. It is neither new nor something small and, furthermore, it is a cumulative and mostly irreversible process. So Mexico City is deforming. Sentinel-1 data they showed that the soil surface sinks at a rate of 35 cm per year within the city, while the peripheral areas suffer a slight rise of about two centimeters per year as an elastic response to this loss of water mass. The new NISAR data barely covers three months (from October 2025 to January 2026) and is as easy to read as it is alarming: the dark blue tone marks those areas that sink more than 2 centimeters per month due to subsidence. Map of the subsidence of Mexico City. POT Why is it important. The problem is one of public safety and economics. The Economist echoes from a Water Engineering and Management study that quantifies the structural damage derived from subsidence: about 67,926 million pesos per year (about 3,312 million euros) in pipes, breakdowns, building fractures, among others. It might seem that the fact of sinking itself is the worst, but what is truly destructive is the difference in speed between those areas that go down faster than others, which causes progressive damage to infrastructure while generating structural tensions. criticisms for infrastructure design. In addition to material damage, subsidence alters the seismic response of the soil, increases the risk of serious flooding by modifying the natural drainage of the basin and favors the migration of salts and contaminants into aquifers, which affects water quality. In short, it raises alarm bells about a future water crisis. Context. The origin of the problem is a combination of natural geological factors and historical urban planning decisions. Mexico City was built on the ancient bed of Lake Texcoco, drained by the Spanish conquistadors. When the lake was drained, the city was settled on its old bed, formed by lacustrine clays of volcanic and organic origin. Under natural conditions these clays supported the lake ecosystem without collapsing. However, the development of the city and water extraction has caused the balance to be broken: the silt is compacted and causes the soil to contract and sink. The urban growth of Mexico City prevents rain from recharging the aquifers because more and more soil is covered by impermeable surfaces such as asphalt. It is a vicious circle: there is less natural recharge of the aquifer, which forces more water to be pumped, compaction accelerates and aggravates the subsidence, damaging infrastructure. There is no turning back. When the effort of supporting the city on its shoulders exceeds the pre-consolidation stress (the resistance limit of the clay), the mineral sheets collapse and rearrange themselves definitively. It’s a path of no return: Even if water were stopped being extracted tomorrow, a good part of the accumulated sinking cannot be reversed. The city has literally lost meters of height that it will never recover. What can be controlled is the damage, which involves a change in water management where reducing dependence on aquifers is essential. Of course, it implies looking for other water resources such as transfers or recycling water, in addition to facilitating the penetration of water into the subsoil. These measures will not reverse the damage caused, but at least they would slow down the sinking and offer an alternative access to water for a megacity. The technology behind the map. The satellite NISAR It is the first to carry two synthetic aperture radar instruments at different wavelengths and is capable of monitoring the Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days thanks to a huge 12-meter diameter antenna reflector. The technique used is called SAR interferometry (InSAR) and consists of comparing two radar images taken at different times: by measuring the phase changes of the signal, ground displacements of just millimeters can be detected. The great advantage of NISAR over its predecessors is its L band (wavelength of about 24 centimeters), which allows it to work even in terrain with dense vegetation or high humidity where other radars such as the Sentinel-1 lost quality. This tool turns NISAR into a global early warning system for cities facing similar risks. In Xataka | Mexico touches the sky with a new and elegant skyscraper of 484 meters and 99 floors: it will be the tallest in all of Latin America In Xataka | Cancun has a huge bottleneck in its tourist area: Mexico is going to solve it with a megabridge Cover | POT and Alexis Tostado

We thought that AI was going to collapse the electrical grid. The solution is to “unplug” it 18 days a year

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Daily headlines bombard us with the insatiable hunger for Artificial Intelligence, painting a future where data centers will devour our infrastructure. However, reality hides a fascinating irony: the same technology that clutters cables today could be our greatest ally. According to estimates of DeloitteAI will optimize global systems saving more than 3,700 TWh by 2030, almost four times the energy consumed by all data centers on the planet combined. But to get to that stage, you first have to turn on the machines today. And the solution is surprisingly analog. Paweł Czyżak, from the Ember analysis center and one of the most authoritative voices in the European energy transition, sums it up with a simple idea: A data center does not need to operate at full power every hour of the year. In the face of system collapse, the industry’s new survival dogma is clear: “Connect now and operate flexibly.” The heart attack of the network. We have been victims of what we once defined as “tyranny of 24/7”. Algorithms do not sleep and demand uninterrupted supply. This voracity has caused a heart attack in the traditional data epicenters in Europe (the “FLAP-D” markets: Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin), almost completely paralyzing new deployments. The bottleneck is no longer the latest generation microchips; transformers and free electrons are missing. Added to this physical collapse is the bureaucratic one. The European University Institute (EUI) warns that connection queues are a critical funnel: in countries such as the United Kingdom or Italy, the requested capacity exceeds the peak of national maximum demand by more than 10 times. All of this is aggravated by speculative “zombie” projects that block entry to legitimate developers. The obstacles are, as detailed in the recent study by Camus, encoord and Princeton ZERO Laba double wall: there is a lack of cables for day-to-day operations and a lack of clean capacity built to provide backup. Flexibility as a lifesaver. Is it possible to “turn off” part of the AI ​​brain without the system crashing? Yes. A recent trial led by Nebius, Emerald AI and National Grid showed that an AI cluster was able to cut its consumption by 30% in just 40 seconds to relieve the network, keeping critical tasks intact. Even Google already boasts of having reached 1 GW of “demand response” by combining batteries and the ability to move loads between regions. As Czyżak explainsmoving just 5% of the load (the equivalent of a few critical hours per year) unblocks the grid massively. In fact, this strategy would save more natural gas than a country like Denmark consumes in electricity generation, by preventing electricity companies from having to turn on expensive and polluting combined cycle plants to cover demand peaks. For its part, the Camus and Princeton report proposes to scale this with two mechanisms: Flexible connections: The center operates normally 99% of the time, but in the scarce 40 or 70 hours a year of extreme network saturation, it reduces its computing or draws on its own batteries. BYOC agreements (Bring Your Own Capacity): Big tech finances its own clean energy capacity instead of waiting for the state to modernize infrastructure. The combination is magical: it reduces the wait to connect to the network from 7 to just 2 years. For a technology company, this means starting to bill three years earlier, generating net returns of between 1,000 and 4,000 million dollars per site. The citizen will not pay the bill. On a social level, the transition towards this flexible model brings excellent news for the average citizen. The detailed modeling of Princeton’s ZERO Lab confirms that a flexible data center (under BYOC schemes) assumes practically all of the incremental costs it generates to the electrical system. In other words, the billions needed to host the cloud will not be transferred to household electricity bills. On the contrary, by making the most of the existing network instead of building massive new lines, the fixed costs are distributed among more actors. In Spain, organizations such as the CNMC are already applying “flexible access permissions”forcing by law to accept controlled cuts in emergencies to protect the stability of the country. The plug that will rule the world. In the frenetic geopolitical and business race to dominate the future of Artificial Intelligence, the narrative has changed. It is no longer enough to design the fastest microchip or have the most brilliant engineers. Today absolute victory belongs to whoever has a free plug. But rather than desperately burning gas or waiting a decade for governments to bury thousands of kilometers of copper, the industry has found a pragmatic way out. Demand flexibility from Big Tech Not only does it allow them to turn on their servers years earlier; It protects citizens’ bills, squeezes the infrastructure of the 20th century and banishes the dangerous ghost of a Europe forced to relapse into its old addiction to fossil fuels. Image | Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash Xataka | There is no energy for so many data centers and the consequence is clear: half of those planned for 2026 in the US are in danger

the controversial measures with which we have shielded the network a year after the collapse

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Next April 28 will mark exactly one year to the day that Spain and Portugal faded to black. An unprecedented “zero energy” in the last two decades that left nearly 60 million citizens without electricity, without internet, without traffic lights and with the banking system paralyzed for up to 16 hours. As they reflect in the magazine freenthat day we suddenly discovered that something we take for granted—electricity—is the fragile foundation on which our entire modern life rests. One year after the event, the initial shock has given way to data. We no longer ask ourselves only if such a blackout can happen again, but how much it is costing us to avoid it and if we have really learned our lesson. D-day is about to arrive. Twelve months later, we finally have the “official autopsy.” The European Network of Network Operators (ENTSO-E) published a comprehensive report of 472 pages where he concludes that there was no single cause, but rather a “perfect cocktail” of multiple factors. A sudden surge originating in Spain triggered instability that the system was unable to stop. As we have already explained in Xatakathe failure can be defined as “operational blindness.” The renewable plants operated with a fixed power factor; They did not know how to read the network surge and, for safety reasons, they disconnected suddenly, causing a rebound effect. Besides, as he adds BBClocal generator voltage controls were not fully aligned with operator requirements. The crisis required millisecond reflexes, but tension control was done manually. In fact, if Europe did not fall like a house of cards, it was due to an almost miraculous technicality: a relay in the Hernani substation (Gipuzkoa) acted like a “fusilazo”, cutting the connection with France in milliseconds to shield the continent. Ironically, just ten minutes later, it was that same interconnection that served as assisted breathing to resuscitate the system. The big question: what has Spain done differently? The fear of a new blackout has changed the rules of the game, but at a high price for the citizen. Electrical Network has imposed a “reinforced model” of operations. This means that they prioritize safety over cost, keeping more expensive and stable backup plants on, such as gas combined cycles. The result? The Spanish They have been paying an extra cost of 666 million euros In these eleven months only in “adjustment services”, which have shot up 43%. In the legislative sphere, the Government has approved the Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 to streamline bureaucracy through the “Renewable Acceleration Zones” (ZAR). However, experts warn thatSince there is still no structured capacity market, investing in the necessary storage systems (batteries) continues to be a financial risk for developers. There’s more shielding going on. The collapse not only left us in the dark, but it left us cut off, although in a very uneven way. While some completely lost the signal, others managed to maintain it thanks to the logistical efforts of some operators. To avoid this coverage lottery, the CNMC has proposed that Telefónica, Vodafone and MásOrange offer a “national roaming” plan in case of emergency. If your operator’s network goes down, your mobile phone would automatically connect to the competition, based on the Swedish model. Added to this is the request to make the alert system (ASA) mandatory in cars with digital radio (DAB+), to send warnings to the population immediately even if the internet is down. The false culprit and the new energy guzzler. After the collapse, many were quick to blame green energy, but the reality is different. As explained from freenthe problem is not that Spain has a lot of solar and wind energy, but that the electrical grid is still stuck in the 20th century, designed for fossil power plants and not for a decentralized system. In fact, Spain is a fascinating laboratory. According to EUObserverthe country has managed the recent price crisis caused by the Third Gulf War much better than its European neighbors thanks to its enormous solar shield. However, the trauma of the blackout has caused an absurd side effect: operators are so afraid of overloading the grid that they force solar and wind farms to disconnect more frequently. Curtailment (clean energy generated that is thrown away) has gone from 2% to 7%. And if that were not enough, the saturated network assumes the imminent arrival of a new energy-consuming giant: the massive data centers for Artificial Intelligence. The exchange of accusations is served. In the offices the short circuit has only just begun. As detailed Financial Times, The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has opened formal investigations. Red Eléctrica (REE) faces proceedings for “very serious” infractions, while giants such as Iberdrola, Naturgy, Endesa and Repsol face possible fines of up to 60 million euros for “serious” infractions. Besides, as accounted Public, up to twenty open sanctioning files. REE defends itself by ensuring that the opening of the file does not prove its guilt. Meanwhile, a Senate report promoted by the PP directly blames the Government, REE and the CNMC for ignoring known vulnerabilities, according to Reuters. And the tension reaches the limit: electricity companies like Endesa and Iberdrola They have demanded a judge access more than 8,000 calls and emails from REE executives during the hours of the blackout, after the leak of audios where technicians warned of the danger 15 days before. An electric heart that remains at risk. Spain is “a gold mine without a road”, as defined by Patxi Callejadirector of Iberdrola. We have the sun, the wind and the technical capacity. But the great lesson of this last year is that true energy independence is no longer played at the national level, but at the local level, where factories and homes install their own batteries and hybrid panels so as not to depend on the fragile central system. We survived the blackout and avoided another one by reaching for our wallets and operating defensively. But as long as the line procedures last a decade, mass storage … Read more

A year ago, the blackout caused the Spanish data network to collapse. The CNMC believes it has the solution

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In April 2025 Spain suffered a zero energy of which, precisely now, we are going to begin to pay some of its consequences. I remember quite clearly being cut off, not being able to call or send messages via data connection. However, when I changed locations and arrived at my relatives’ houses, some of them could do it. The fall of telecommunications It was uneven in Spainand the CNMC has published a document with preventive measures in case a similar situation occurs again. What happened. The energy blackout that left Spain plunged into darkness resulted in a large part of the population being cut off from communication. However, some operators They managed to keep their mobile network active for hours. Backup generators, generating sets moved to each area, backup systems… The challenge for operators to maintain coverage in Spanish territory was a titanic challenge, quite dependent on internal logistics, the state of the reserve batteries (some of them run on fuel), and the network infrastructure itself They were variables that influenced such unequal conditions to be experienced. A single network. In its statement, the CNMC proposes that the four giants of the Spanish territory put roaming plans at the service of the population in emergency cases. The experience of other countries shows that it is viable to incorporate roaming plans between operators in case of emergency. In this way, in areas where this was necessary due to the unavailability of service in an operator’s mobile network, the networks could be prepared to quickly enable the basic telecommunications services of the affected users through roaming in the networks of other operators. According to the regulator, this is an “ideal measure to strengthen resilience”, but it is not so easy to apply. Yes, but. What the CNMC proposes is a cross-roaming service between Telefónica, Vodafone and MásOrange, something that requires coordination and agreement between the three giants. The best example is Sweden where, after two years of preparation, any mobile phone can connect to any operator. Go deeper. In addition to this proposal, the CNMC requests the mandatory nature of the alert system HANDLE in those cars with DAB+ radio receivers (the evolution of FM radio). Although DAB+ works via antenna (like AM and FM radio), its signal is digitally encoded. The ASA system allows you to automatically activate a DAB+ radio connected to power, being able to quickly launch alerts. At the moment, there is a distance from proposal to fact. In Xataka | Europe has a million reasons to fear an increase in the price of electricity. Spain has something else: renewables

The California peach industry has suffered an unprecedented collapse. But it will be repeated, it will be repeated a lot, it will be repeated all over the world

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Richard Lial He lived peacefully in his little house in Escalonnorthern California. He had acres and acres of productive almond trees that he had been exploiting for the last decade. But three years ago, just when costs began to become unsustainable, Del Monte (one of the largest fruit and vegetable companies in the world) made him an offer. A 20-year contract for Lial to exchange its almond trees for the peaches that the company’s large cannery in Modesto needed. Del Monte’s move put on the table some 550 million over the next few years and a business of tens of thousands of tons per season. The problem is that on July 1, 2025, Del Monte Food Corp declared bankruptcythe Modesto plant has closed and, with it, the entire Californian peach industry has collapsed. What exactly happened? Del Monte accumulated a debt of 1,245 million dollars on the day they filed the bankruptcy petition. And the reason is simple: in recent years, the company had been going into debt to make certain purchases in a sector that was in full decline. Today, the world consumes less canned goods and Del Monte executives believed that the only way to survive was to grow and ensure margins. The problem is that, with the rate increase in the months prior to the bankruptcy declaration, interest had doubled to the point of eating into the operating margin (a margin already quite affected by things like Trump’s tariffs that had made cans more expensive). The chaos has lasted for many months, but on February 6 the courts approved the sale of the company in parts. Peach growers breathed easy until they discovered that none of the buyers wanted the plant of Modesto. And why is that plant so important? Well, because Del Monte did not ask farmers to plant the peach they wanted. They were asked to plant the clingstone variety: a peach that simply has no fresh market. The pulp of the clingstone adheres to the bone and makes direct consumption uncomfortable. That is, it is a variety whose only destination is processors. In this case, the Modesto plant consumed 35% of the production of this stone fruit, about 50,000 tons in 2026. They are, to be honest, 50,000 tons that are now almost impossible to place anywhere. But the problem transcends 2026… Because the contracts that Del Monte I was signing Until a few months before the bankruptcy, they forced farmers to make investments of around $8,000 per acre in exchange for the peace of mind that comes with a 20-year contract. They went into debt for it. Many made the transition in 2023. So there are about 140 Californian farmers fgame era and some 1,200 jobs will be lost. But the impact is deeper. And it is not that talking about ‘sector cataclysm’ is not justified, it is that the central issue is the structural dependency that the dynamics of the primary sector are pushing the economy towards. …and that transcends even the peach. Because it doesn’t matter what product we look at: the consequences of financialization are there. It is enough to remember that in 2015 there were only 45 funds specialized in ‘agrobusiness’ in the world; Today they exceed 1,000 and move an enormous amount of money that is radically changed the way everything is managed. The rresult is as simple as it is tragic: Capital arrives, exploits the land as if there were no tomorrow, exhausts the territory’s resources, abuses the local socio-productive fabric and leaves. One day we will realize that there will be nothing left. Image | Ayla Meinberg In Xataka | Spain faces its greatest agricultural challenge of the century: converting 1,901,529 hectares of olive groves into irrigation before it is too late

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