common

the dangerous viral trend that turns a common medicine into a lethal Russian roulette

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Something that may be quite internalized in society is that taking too much of a medication Anyone can have a very harmful effect on the body, and logically we avoid taking a lot of ibuprofen or paracetamol at once. But social networks have taken this as a new challenge which consists of taking paracetamol pills in a group to see who can achieve spend more time admitted in the hospital due to the liver failure it generates. Crazy. What has been dubbed the “paracetamol challenge” on social media is becoming a real nightmare for emergency and toxicology services. And it is no wonder, since behind the false sense of security that an over-the-counter medication such as paracetamol gives, hides a mechanism of implacable toxicity capable of destroying the liver of a teenager in a matter of hours. At an international level. The phenomenon is not new, but it has raised alarm bells internationally due to its recent outbreaks. In the United Kingdom, newspapers such as The Independent have been echoed of police warnings after registering cases of teenagers intentionally intoxicated in Soutampaton due to this challenge. And, although the first thing you might think is that it is a suicide attempt, since paracetamol is one of the ways used to do it, the reality is that they do it because of a challenge seen on TikTok. This too has reached countries like Belgiumwhere health authorities have had to launch a strong alert about videos that encourage people to overdose on this medication. In Spain. Has not been left behind our country, which has also reported cases of adolescents who have followed this challenge. But to such an extent that in Malaga There have been two hospital admissions due to liver failure due to a drug overdose. The paracetamol trap. Although it is a medication that can be found over the counter, in the case of Spain, generally the dose is 500 mg, the truth is that it has a great danger behind it, since paracetamol overdose is one of the most frequent and potentially lethal pharmacological poisonings. But the great deception of this challenge is that symptoms of poisoning do not occur in the first hoursbut a teenager can ingest several grams of acetaminophen and feel at most mild nausea or vomiting. In this way, while the young man thinks that “nothing has happened” and that he has won the challenge to his friends, the liver is silently collapsing. In days. International clinical guidelines place special emphasis on this: late liver deterioration, since the symptoms of severe liver failure appear only three days after taking the paracetamol overdose. And here on many occasions it is too late to act from medicine, which causes the death of the patient. The mechanism. Playing the “paracetamol challenge” is, in medical terms, playing Russian roulette, since massive intake of this drug saturates the metabolic pathways of the liver, generating a highly toxic metabolite called NAPQI that destroys liver cells when in large doses. With a normal and scheduled intake, this metabolite is produced, but the liver can control it by transforming it into another product that it quickly discards. But when the amount is very high, the liver literally has no capacity to process it into something less harmful. The treatment. Right now, the only thing that has shown a reversal of liver damage from acetaminophen overdose is N-acetylcysteine. However, the effect decreases as time passes, and it is ideal to administer it in the first eight hours after an overdose with paracetamol. The problem is that the teenager can hide that he is beginning to feel bad because he has a feeling of guilt or even fear of the consequences that his actions may have on his parents. This is why it may be the case that you arrive late to a hospital to receive treatment and that the window available to do a stomach lavage or even for a liver transplant to arrive is very small. Raise awareness. The “paracetamol challenge” is not just another Internet hoax, but rather it is a direct fight against the biology of the human body in which the prize for “lasting longer in the hospital” can be multiple organ failure or ending up on the waiting list to receive a transplant. In this way, the most important thing is always to make minors aware of how serious it can be to take too much paracetamol, since it is possible that they do not know that something that a priori ‘cures’ their fever or discomfort can end up killing them. Images | danilo.alvesd In Xataka | Ozempic not only eliminates hunger, it is rewriting the supermarket ticket: goodbye to ultra-processed foods and spending on snacks

Vodafone negotiates with Telefónica and Orange to create a common front: a RANco

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Eamonn O’Hare, CEO of Zegona (the owner of Vodafone Spain), has confirmed to Expansion which is in talks with Orange and Telefónica to create a RANco, a mobile network joint venture in the style of the fibercos which launched in 2025. Why is it important. Spain has three large operators managing three national mobile networks with identical fixed costs, but Orange and Telefónica have double Vodafone’s customers. This asymmetry makes Vodafone’s mobile network, comparatively, inefficient. A RANco would allow sharing infrastructure, reducing expenses and improving quality without eroding profitability. The context. Vodafone has multiplied its share price by 12 in 20 months after reducing costs and close two fibercos that generated 2.2 billion in value. The share went from 345 pence (things from the London stock market) when they bought Vodafone Spain to more than 1,565 pence now, and has returned 1,400 million in dividends to its shareholders. It now trades at 9 times its cash flow when its competitors do so at 13 times. The RANco is the missing piece to close that gap. How a RANco works. A RANco is a wholesale mobile network company shared between operators that provides services to its owners. It is similar to fibercos: the network is unified, synergies are captured and a minority stake is sold to an international investor. Vodafone pays 150 million annually to Vantage Towers for towers at double the market price. With the RANco, those costs are divided. Two possible scenarios: With Orange: easier to execute and attract investors, but fewer synergies because they already share a network in some areas. With Telefónica: more synergies by not having anything shared, but more complex to incorporate a financial partner. The calendar. O’Hare puts the closure of RANco within a year and a half. And in November 2028, the window opens to abandon the contract with Vantage Towers. Vodafone has already made a decision: either Vantage reduces its rates by 50% or terminates the agreement. Yes, but. Mergers between operators are not on the table. O’Hare rules out short-term purchases or sales because the regulatory risk is “too great” and would distract the group from its three priorities: Align your stock valuation with the competition. Reach 1,000 million in cash flow. And develop the RANco. The figures. Vodafone Spain generated 400 million in cash flow when Zegona bought it. Last year it reached 600 million. This year it will be close to 800 million. The goal is to reach 1,000 million in the coming years. At stake. The RANco is not just a financial movement. Turning off the cable network will take three or four years migrating customers to fiber. Small operators will disappear, devoured by Digi and Finetwork. And Vodafone keeps open a possible IPO in Spain within three or four years, when it would complete its transformation. The shadow of Telefónica. As published Populi Voice A few days ago, Telefónica began talks to buy Vodafone Spain and close the operation in the first half of 2026. But a RANco with Orange or with Telefónica itself, in addition to O’Hare’s own interview, would change the equation: Vodafone would enter that negotiation with shared infrastructure and long-term contracts that would make the purchase more expensive or directly unviable. Zegona negotiates the RANco also as a policy. Featured image | Orange, Movistar, Vodafone In Xataka | Any teleoperator would be worried about making less money with each client. Digi is exactly what you are looking for

TCL will make Sony’s next TVs in a deal to confront a common enemy: Samsung and LG

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If you have felt an earthquake and you don’t know where it is coming from, the easiest thing is for it to come from Japan. Specifically, from the headquarters of a Sony that has been associated with excellence in image quality for decades and that ends of ceding control of its Bravia brand to the Chinese company TCL. Since the time of Trinitron technology (so currently sought after to play on retro consoles) until Wega and the current Bravia, the Japanese giant had earned a deserved space in the premium range. They did not manufacture their panels (they bought them from Samsung and LG), but they did fine-tune them to offer very purist cinematic experiences. On the other side of the pond, in China, TCL has grown in recent years until it became one of the largest panel manufacturing companies. Now, China and Japan are joining their paths thanks to a joint venture that will take advantage of “the high-quality audio and image technology that Sony has cultivated over the years.” And the accounts are favorable for TCL: while the Chinese will control 51% of the joint-venture, the Japanese will keep 49%. It makes… quite a bit of sense. Movement that sounds more like a win-win than a retreat Although Sony televisions have extremely high-quality panels and modes that are very suitable for both movies and, above all, for video games in conjunction with a PlayStation 5the market has become increasingly complicated. Sony’s brand value and its name make its televisions more expensive than those of the competition, and that competition (led by Samsung or LG), is tighter than ever thanks to its OLED and QD-OLED technology. TCL is not far behind. After a huge investment in plants within China, the company has specialized in manufacturing Gen 10.5 panels. This implies that they have an enormous production capacity, which in practice translates into an ability like few others to flood the market with large-inch televisions at rock-bottom prices. That’s where this joint venture makes perfect sense. In its statement, Sony has confirmed that the company will operate globally and carry out the entire process: development, design, manufacturing, logistics, sales and customer service for both televisions and home audio equipment. We believe this strategic partnership with Sony represents a unique opportunity to combine the strengths of Sony and TCL – Du Juan, President of TCL Electronics That name of ‘Sony’ and ‘Bravia’ is a perfect opportunity for a TCL that will see how it can operate a brand of international prestige. For its part, Sony gains muscle that it did not have until now thanks to the most powerful companies when it comes to producing large-scale panels. Of course, apart from that 51% over Sony’s 49%, and the possibility of using its name, TCL gains something else: penetration in Japan, a protectionist market that prioritizes Japanese brands, especially against arrivals from China. The Japanese company has commented that it will be at the end of 2026 when the binding agreements between the two will be closed in order to begin operations in April 2027. And although this is an interesting operation as a whole, TCL is the clear winner: it gains premium credibility without having to build it from scratch, while Sony dilutes precisely what made its brand valuable. Images | TCL, Xataka In Xataka | The next big chip crisis is beginning. And this time copper and water are responsible.

The loggerhead turtle is increasingly common on the Spanish coasts. It is a bad sign about the Mediterranean

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The Mediterranean is being invaded. The ‘fried egg’ jellyfish or the imposing lionfish They are two undesirable new tenants, but there is one animal that is much less annoying, It is not invasive and yet it is a problem that it is colonizing the western Mediterranean. This is the loggerhead sea turtle. And it is another adaptive response to climate change. The loggerhead turtle. Its scientific name is Caretta caretta and is one of only two species of sea turtle (the other is the Chelonia mydasor green turtle) that reproduces in the Mediterranean beaches. If you look at the map, its distribution is worldwide. They enjoy warm waters with a wide range of surface temperatures (a range between 13 and 28 degrees Celsius), but things change during the spawning season. Nesting females prefer temperatures between 27 and 28 degrees, making Mediterranean beaches an ideal area to lay eggs. The traditional spawning grounds in the Mediterranean were the eastern area, especially the Greek beaches, but something is happening: an increase in temperatures is creating a double imbalance. A determining factor. It is curious, but temperature controls both the willingness of turtles to nest in an area and, and this is almost the most important, the sixth of their hatchlings. The sexual determination of chelonians depends on the incubation temperature in the eggs buried in the sand. With this strict fan of 27-28 degrees, a balanced population between males and females is achieved. With higher temperatures, there is a imbalance towards the predominant birth of females. This is a problem for the turtle population itself, since an imbalance of this type would put the species at risk. And even more curious is that mature females have instinctively found a biological refuge on the coasts of the western Mediterranean, where the beaches are somewhat colder (for the moment). The objective is to ensure greater sexual diversity. Increase in nesting. HE esteem that, in the Mediterranean basin, there are about 8,000 eggs per year. The traditional places are Greece, Türkiye, Libya, Tunisia and Cyprus, but little by little we are seeing that change in the balance. In 2001 found a first nest on a beach in Almería, in Vera, and since then loggerhead turtle nests have been recorded in other parts of the geography of the western Mediterranean. The turtles They are spawning in Spainbut also in Italy, Malta and Tunisia. In addition to the Almeria coast, the areas in which the turtles are creating nests are Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Murcia and they have been observed in Fuengirola and Marbella. Conservation and awareness. There are organizations that, increasingly, point out that nesting has been increasing in recent years, and regardless of what it means at a climatic level, it is another problem due to the human factor. In countries “accustomed” to this, where nests are protected, the population knows not to interfere with them. In others where turtles are beginning to nest, it is possible that we, maliciously or unintentionally, interfere with the reproductive cycles of a species that is considered under threat. That is why it is also they throw citizen awareness campaigns to inform about them and how to proceed if someone finds a nest that is not already being monitored. For example, performing events in schools on biology and conservation of the species. It is also perform awareness work with fishermen as a target audience, since fishing activities are one of the main causes of death. Likewise, when a clutch is detected, there is the possibility of protecting the nest in situ (where the turtles have to hatch correctly and take the infernal path to the sea) or take the eggs to controlled breeding centerswhere they mature and are subsequently released. Turtle nursery in Fuerteventura Poison beyond the heat. But there is another problem apart from climate change and human action: the pollutants that are poisoning the turtles. In recent years there has been studied the liver of at least a dozen loggerhead turtles, finding traces of PCB, PCDF and PCDD. These are chemicals, pesticides that alter the immune and hormonal systems of turtles. It is something that comes from the hand of the esurface runoff carrying chemical waste from agriculture and industry to the rivers that subsequently flow into the sea. And torture, unfortunately, is becoming a thermometer of the state of our waters, both in terms of temperature and the presence of chemicals that are already altering the fauna. Images | H. Zell, Dionysisa303 In Xataka | The owner of Loro Parque in the Canary Islands charges against animal rights activists. And with this it reopens the debate on the existence of zoos

The “my cat is fat” problem is so common that the industry has come up with an idea: “Ozempic for cats”

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In just a few years, drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro have gone from being discreet treatments for diabetes to become a great social phenomenon. His promise—lose weight through a simple weekly injection—has opened a new chapter in human medicine. Now, this pharmacological revolution is beginning to expand beyond people: cats could be the next to receive an adapted version of these treatments. Goodbye fat cats. Okava Pharmaceuticals, a San Francisco company dedicated to chronic diseases in companion animals, has started a pioneering clinical trial called MEOW-1whose objective is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of OKV-119, a subdermal implant capable of releasing exenatide—a GLP-1 agonist—sustained for months in overweight or obese cats. The intervention aims to simplify a treatment that, in humans, usually requires weekly injections. Here, everything comes down to a single gesture. “You insert the capsule under the skin, and six months later you come back, and the cat has lost weight. It’s like magic,” says Chen Gilor, the veterinarian responsible for the study. speaking to the New York Times. A pioneering study. Okava’s interests did not arise out of nowhere. Prior to MEOW-1, the company evaluated prototypes of the implant in two preliminary studies. A work published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science demonstrated that the OKV-119 implant could be easily implanted and removed, that it was well tolerated, and that its plasma levels of exenatide correlated with weight reduction in healthy cats for more than one month. Subsequently, research published in BMC Veterinary Research delved into this line: they implanted five cats with the designed prototype for 84 days, what they observed is that during that period stable levels of exenatide were maintained and four of them reduced at least 5% of their body weight, along with a lower caloric intake. These results motivated the move to a trial in real obese cats, which Okava plans to run this summer. According to the companyMEOW-1 will be the first formal feline weight loss study based on GLP-1 agonists. How does the implant work? OKV-119 uses the NanoPortal platformdeveloped by Vivani Medical. According to scientific studiesthis technology uses: a titanium reservoir, a membrane with nanotubes that regulate the passage of the drug, and a system designed to ensure a constant and prolonged release without pronounced peaks. Furthermore, this type of administration allows us to overcome the main difficulty associated with GLP-1 in veterinary medicine: lack of adherence. Studies indicate that giving repeated injections to a cat is complex, stressful and can drastically reduce the continuity of treatment, ithe same as what happens in people with injectable drugs. The implant seeks to solve that problem with an approach one-and-done: a subdermal insertion in a veterinary office, without daily intervention by the caregiver. According to The New York Timesthere are veterinarians who already use human GLP-1 agonists off-label in diabetic cats, but its cost and need for frequent administration limit its use. Hence the relevance of a device that could keep the medication active for half a year. But only in cats? Although MEOW-1 focuses exclusively on felines, Okava and Vivani have confirmed an expansion of the project to dogs, another species with obesity rates greater than 50% in the United States. The company states that its goal is to reproduce in dogs the metabolic effects observed in cats: improved insulin sensitivity, reduction in fat mass and greater energy efficiency. With the expectation that these changes may even promote healthier aging. With both markets, the commercial potential is evident. According to estimates collected in Xatakathe global human obesity drug sector could exceed $100 billion by 2030. Veterinary medicine would be a new frontier. Feline obesity is a global epidemic. The interest in an “Ozempic for cats” is not a whim. It is an answer to a growing problem. A review published in Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery places the prevalence of feline overweight between 40% and 63%, although it continues to increase. When you ask veterinariansthe same patterns almost always appear: cats that live exclusively indoors, very little movement, food available all day, too many treats, sterilization and a very common problem: many owners are not aware that their cat is gaining weight. The consequences are not minor: insulin resistance, diabetes, joint problems, urinary diseases, anesthetic complications and liver disorders, in addition to a reduction in life expectancy. And the latest evidence goes even further. A proteomic analysis that evaluated 288 proteins in cats with obesity found important changes in inflammatory processes, in the complement system, in coagulation pathways and in lipid metabolism. In other words, feline obesity affects the entire organism, it is not just a “fat cat.” Many open questions. Although MEOW-1 is moving forward with positive expectations, mass adoption of an “Ozempic for cats” is far from a fact. The first unknown is the price. In humans, GLP-1 cost several hundred euros a month, and it is not clear whether a semi-annual release veterinary implant will really be affordable for the majority of caregivers. Cost could become the main barrier to entry, especially considering that feline obesity is a common problem, but not always perceived as a health priority. The second uncertainty has to do with the available scientific evidence. So far, studies on OKV-119 have been preliminary and with extremely small samples (between 5 and 15 cats). They work, yes, but we still don’t know what will happen on a large scale, or how animals with diseases or in varied home environments will respond. Finally, there is the question of scientific independence. For now, all published studies on OKV-119 come from teams linked to Okava or Vivani, the companies developing the implant. There is no independent, large-scale evidence, and this matches a pattern already observed in human GLP-1where much of the initial research is driven by the industry itself. A new era in feline medicine? The questions surrounding this new milestone in the treatment of feline obesity are piling up: will these preliminary results be enough to justify regulatory approval? Will caregivers change … Read more

Using aerial balloons to smuggle tobacco is common in Eastern Europe. And then the airports have a problem

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The airport of Vilnius, Lithuania, has been forced to close its doors throughout the night from last Tuesday to Wednesday due to the massive entry of hot air balloons loaded with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus. The closure, which lasted from 11:00 p.m. until 6:30 a.m., has affected around 4,000 passengers and caused the cancellation of 30 flights. The worst thing is that It hasn’t been the first time that the airport is facing this situation. What has happened. Dozens of weather balloons used by smugglers to transport tobacco from Belarus crossed Lithuanian airspace overnight. According to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, called it “the most intense raid of the year.” Incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, including Warsaw and Kaunas, while two land border crossings between the two countries were also temporarily closed for the same reason. Why do they use balloons? Smugglers take advantage of the fact that tobacco is significantly more expensive in the European Union than in Belarus. Using these hot air balloons, they send thousands of packages of illegal cigarettes across the border without having to go through customs controls. The images spread The media shows large balloons floating between the trees with cigarette packs hanging below. It’s not the first time. On October 5, just two weeks before, Vilnius airport had already had to suspend operations for hours for a similar incident. On that occasion, 25 balloons crossed Lithuanian airspace, affecting around 6,000 passengers. According to official data published this month, a total of 966 balloons entered Lithuania last year and more than 500 have already done so so far in 2025. Neighboring Poland has recorded more than 100 similar incidents this year, according to its border police. The Government’s response. Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė has announced the call for an urgent meeting of the National Security Committee to address the problem. “It is not normal that so many balloons cross our border and that we have to intercept them to keep them away from our strategic installations,” he declared. Ruginienė has urged authorities in Minsk to cooperate to prevent future incidents, calling on Belarus to take “a responsible approach towards these events, regardless of our political relations.” A security issue. The commander general of the Lithuanian Border Guard, Rustamas Liubajevas, confirmed that hundreds of balloons could have crossed the border last Tuesday and that four suspects have been detained. The Lithuanian authorities have been authorized to shoot down these balloons since last year. Although these incidents are directly linked to smuggling, violations of Lithuanian airspace are a particularly sensitive issue: the country is a member of NATO and the EU, and in July suspected russian drones They crossed its territory from Belarus, one of them carrying explosives. Vilnius is located just 32 kilometers from the border with Belarus, Vladimir Putin’s main ally in Europe. Cover image | State Border Guard Service and Made In Vilnius In Xataka | El Prat airport is full of ghost valets, and they are a real problem: the Mossos have already shielded the area

Three of the hottest days in the history of Spain have something in common, according to Aemet: August 2025

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The heat wave is over and now it’s time to take stock. The heat has broken numerous records, such as the maximum temperature captured at the Bercalona weather station, Fabra (38.9º), or the maximum registered in a month of August at the Jerez de la Frontera airport (45.8º). The heat wave also left other changes in historical records. 3/10. Three of the hottest days in Spain have been given during the newly finished heat wave, according to Data from the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet). Among them stands out on the 17th, with an average temperature of 28.99º, it would have been the hottest day of the heat wave and the fourth hottest day in the period between 1950 and 2025 in peninsular Spain. In this particular “Top 10” of Aemet, they also appear on August 11 and 12, which with average temperatures of 28.75º and 28.85º would be placed, respectively as the seventh and sixth warmer days of the historical series. The “Top 3”. And what about the hottest days of which you have a record? You don’t have to go far back in time to find the three warmest days of this particular series. According to agency data, the three warmest days in peninsular Spain were recorded in the 21st century. In order, these would be on August 23, 2023, with an average temperature of 29.1; on August 10, 2012, with 29.31º; and on August 14, 2021, when an average temperature of 29.58º Celsius was reached. Different data, same photo. Aemet’s list is not the only one that highlights the intensity of the last heat wave with respect to the records we had. The list published by the page Datadictindicates that five of the ninetest days of the last 70 years occurred during this heat wave, highlighting again on the 17th, when the estimated average temperature was 29.86º. As in the Aemet list, they also highlight on the 11th and 12th, although this list also includes on the 15th and 16th among the hottest days since we have observations. The discrepancy between the estimated values in each of the lists can be explained by the different methodology used when calculating the “average temperature”. According to Aemet, the calculation was carried out from the average of the maximum and minimum temperatures values, averages to which geostatistical techniques were applied to estimate an average value for the peninsular territory. Unleashed temperatures. Let’s use the method we use, the data maintain coherence in something: the last heat wave has been very intense. More generally, the 2025 is being a warmer summer than it is usually common. The month of June was marked by a persistent warm anomaly. While the month of July was less intense (we could even see negative temperature anomalies), August has had an extremely warm start. This seems to indicate that, despite the thermal descent that we still have ahead, the heat will consolidate as an indisputable protagonist of this last station. In Xataka | The maps that explain why Castilla y León have become the “zero zone” of forest fires Image | ECMWF

Awakening in the middle of the night is common

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It can be something occasional or something recurring, but it is something that happens to almost everyone (especially as our age progresses), waking up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it occurs for no apparent reason, although this “apparent reason” can be a night visit to the bathroom. Waking up in the middle of the night can be usual, but why does it happen? The question is important although it also hides another that many people will have done. It is the one, regardless of the annoyance, it is this loss of sleepworthy sleep. Sleep interruptions can cause insomnia problems, but can also respond to other stimuli of different kinds. In a recent interview in The avant -gardeSleep Psychologist Roser Gort pointed out some of the factors that can contribute to these inconvenience. First of all, GORT indicated that sleep interruptions are usually completed a pair of sleep cycles, an important factor since these cycles are linked both with the depth of our dream and with the very function of this. During each sleep cycle our brain passes through four phases: a REM phase (rapid eye movements); and three phases NO-REM, each deeper than the previous one. The REM phase is the phase in which dreams occur and in which it is easier to interrupt the dream. During a typical night we cross several cycles but the relative duration of each phase in them changes, as well as the very duration of the cycle: the first cycles will see longer deep phases, while in the final cycles the REM phase will gain prominence. If we generally wake up a couple of cycles, it is logical that we always wake up at the same time. But let’s go back to the key matter: what are the factors that make us woke up easily. Stress is one of them. According to Gort indicatesthe cortisol (the colloquially called “stress hormone”) tends to accumulate in our body from a certain time of the morning (between two and four) when our stress levels are high. The early appearance of This hormone It can facilitate we woke up at such hours in the morning. “Stress can also harm the quality of your dream,” they explain from Sleep Foundation. “Sleep and stress are probably affected by each other, with poor dream impacting your ability to manage stress and stress by impacting your ability to sleep well.” From the Foundation they also point out how The hormones They can also play an important role in these contexts. Hormones play a key role in the functioning of circadian rhythms, the “internal clock” that indicates when to sleep and when to remain awake. Hormonal changes, Add the FoundationThey can take you to wake up in the middle of the night. This also implies that events that influence our endocrine system, such as pregnancy, can affect our sleep and vigil cycles. One of the factors that can affect the continuity of our dream is age. As we become older, our body requires less sleep. This not only affects the total of hours that we sleep at night, it can also increase the probability that we wake up in the middle of the night without apparent reason. Some sleep problemssuch as insomnia or sleep apnea can also be behind our problems to keep us asleep. Finally, there are external factors that can also influence our ability to sleep “from the pull”. Factors such as our daily habits or medications that we can be consuming can also make our dream more fragile. Recovering the dream Waking up in the middle of the night can be a problem for those who have difficulty falling asleep. Awakening in the middle of the night can mean to lose a valuable sleep time, so some experts have been interested in this find ways to reconcile sleep quickly and effectively. Often We can wake up With the prevailing need to urinate. The problem is that this visit to the bathroom can contribute to reveal us making us more difficult than we reconcile the dream. According to Gort explainedit is not so much our bladder that awakens us on such occasions but that when we wake up we realize that we have to release its content. If we want to avoid this we can reduce our fluid intake in the hours before we go to bed. Avoiding this night walk can help us, but experts suggest A series of tricks To help us recover sleep. The first: not to look at the clock to check the time it is, since this probably generates anxiety and makes our dream difficult. There are almost as many ways of sleeping as people. Our dream depends on many factors, such as biological, work or social. In Xataka | This is the best time to go to sleep according to sleep science (and the amount of recommended hours) Image | Shvets Production

The most common and insecure passwords in the world, exhibited in a graphic developer

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Passwords They are a headacheand so it is just as it should be. We have more and more applications that require a password, something fundamental because in many we have associated payment data, but the Statistics evidence that, as much as there is Key managers And security gaps, we still do not give them the importance they deserve. In fact, every year ‘12345’ remains the most used password. It is not the only password that can be burst in seconds, but that we insist on continuing to use. And this graphic exposes it perfectly. Usual suspects. Prepared by Visual Capitalist With the data of NordPassin the upper graph we have the 25 most common passwords worldwide for 2024. To anyone’s surprise, ‘12345’ is the most popular, used more than three million times (according to the accounts of this service, so it can be many more), but it is accompanied by some consecutive numerical series a little longer, by the classic ‘password’ or by the first row of the keyboard, with more or a shorter length, but always left, but always left, but always left, but always left, with a length right. Passwords such as ‘Dragon’, ‘Monkey’ or ‘Iloveyou’ also appear, or the classic ‘Secret’. There are some that combine numbers and letters that, according to recommendations, give more strength to the key, but are such simple combinations that they do not make a difference in security. Burst in a second. Where do these passwords come from? Precisely, of a 2.5 TB database (which is said soon) that Nordass analyzed because they were credentials exposed in different security gaps. And beyond the number of times these unsafe passwords appear, what attracts attention is the time someone would take to burst them. You don’t have to be hacker to skip those passwords, and NordPass points that 25 can skip in less than a second. Of the most used, you have to go to the 28th place with ‘Target123’ to see that it would take nine seconds to crack it, ‘Tinkle’ would take two minutes and the first “safer” (Note the quotes) would be ‘Zag12WSX’, which would have been more or less and that it came out more than 90,000 times in different data leakers. Curiosity: Do not use Pokemon ‘like 45,776 people,’ Starwars’ as 34,427 or ‘Batman’ as another 24,638 people exposed because they are also bursting in less than a second. Spain and Latam without getting out of the line. Those are the most used worldwide, but something curious, and useful, is that we can filter through countries. If we look at Spain, ‘123456’, ‘123456789’ and 12345678 ‘are the three most used, but’ Spain ‘is the fourth and is somewhat safer. It would barely take that password that appeared 7,349 times in data filtration. ‘Spain’ would also take a couple of minutes and then there are some curious such as ‘Barcelona’ or ‘Alejandro’. Interestingly, if you have ‘Cristina’ as a password, it would take three hours to skip it. In Mexico the popular are identical to those of the rest of the world, but we have more insecure variety such as ‘Pokemon’, ‘Pass’, ‘Alejandro’, ‘America’, ‘Hello’ or ‘Carlos’. In Chile and Colombia, ‘Chile’ and ‘Colombia’ are among the most popular. In general, the list is quite curious, with “safe” passwords such as ‘111222Tianya’ in China or ‘Tkideltki’ in Taiwan, taking the Crackers one day to skip both. And return to recommendations. Six of the ten most used passwords are purely numerical and with extremely predictable patterns. Precisely, the trick to create a good password It is to use numbers, symbols and capital letters and lowercase with at least 12 characters. To do this, we have at our disposal programs that generate and manage these passwordsbut we can also take precautions changing the keys to timeuse Two -step verification methods whenever possible and take the habit of not reusing passwords. In Xataka | Beware of aircraft wifi: there are scammers that create false networks on flights

It is a common phenomenon and is called GTP

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Do you remember when, years ago, stories circulated that used to consider urban legends – until it experienced them – about dreams in which we played tetris or doom, and that were so real that, sometimes, they got to be confused with the periods of vigil? A name came to be given, The tetris effectand the new generations of games and apps, more and more sophisticated and realistic, have taken that phenomenon one step further: after the Tetris effect, the GTP arrives. What is the GTP. Are the acronym for Game Transfer Phenomenathat is, phenomenon of game transfer, and consists of a series of involuntary experiences that players have after intense game sessions, where elements of video games (from images and specific sounds to such concrete aspects as object inventories) are overlap with our real life perceptions. Its characteristics were described for the first time about a decade ago by Angelica Ortiz de Gortari In a doctoral thesis. His inspiration was his own experience: visualize products in a supermarket as if he were using a video game telescopic sight Some of his symptoms. They are very varied: visual perceptions (see life bars or the game of the game) and auditory (soundtrack, special effects), automatic impulses (executing conditioned movements, such as pressing buttons), recurring thoughts and behaviors inspired by video games (speaking involuntarily with concrete games), tactile or kinesthetic sensations (perceive the control in the hands when there is not there) … player can see health bars on people’s heads, or feel the need to grab everyday objects as if they were Power-ups. A frequent experience. It is not about An isolated or unusual phenomenon. Studies in which More than 6,000 players have participated They indicate that most have experienced GTP at least once. And in Another analysis that was carried out in Chinabetween 82 % and 96 % of participants in a survey reported that they had experienced some form of GTP. This BBC article Check the phenomenon and mention Ortiz de Gortari, which describes that, for those who experience it, the GTP can be “disconcerting and potentially dangerous”, although, being relatively natural and simple to explain, most of the time it is passenger and has no greater significance. But why does it happen? On the one hand, video games demand automatic and conditioned responses, which can then be repeated in real life. And of course, the very high immersive capacity of modern games multiplies this possibility of transfer. It is a phenomenon comparable to catchy songsthat we repeat in our head without being able to forget them, but the GTP has a plus of intensity because the brain areas that manage it are linked to action and impulses, not to passive attitudes. It will go to more. Experts such as Ortiz de Gortari affirm that with devices such as virtual reality helmets, phenomena such as GTP could increase exponentially in the future. Without a doubt, it is an area that Science considers that it should be examined thoroughly: Not only because video games are the main form of entertainment globally, but because it delegates, to a large extent, to what extent our minds are vulnerable to increasingly aggressive technological advances. Header | Photo of T in Unspash / Xataka In Xataka | I have tried a virtual reality escape: this is to solve mysteries with your own hands in a very immersive experience

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