company

In case the chips war did not have enough contestants, a new company has joined the race: Spacex

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Spacex does everything big. Last year he opened in Bastrop, a small town in Texas (USA), The manufacturing plant of largest printed circuit plates in the country. The company of the company led by Elon Musk consists in producing all components, or, at least, most of them, involved in the manufacture of their satellites For the Starlink Network. This strategy will allow Spacex to save costs and reduce its dependence on the distribution chain. However, this is just the beginning of the path you will travel. And is that, according to Digitimes Asiathis company plans to expand its Bastrop facilities with the purpose of tuning the equipment you need to package semiconductors. Before moving forward we are interested in reviewing what the two concepts are in which we have just inquired. A printed circuit plate or PCB for its English denomination (Printed Circuit Board) It is a sheet manufactured in an insulating material, such as fiberglass, which contains on its surface the copper tracks through which electricity will circulate in an integrated circuit or electronic component. On the other hand, Chips packaging It is the process that seeks to protect the integrated circuit by introducing it into an encapsulated or protective housing. In addition, it incorporates the necessary connections to install it into a printed circuit plate and allow it to communicate with other electronic components. Spacex’s irruption in the integrated circuit industry is underway The administration led by Donald Trump has proposed to develop the semiconductor industry as much as necessary for the US to not depend on any other country. Currently this nation Buy 92% from its avant -garde semiconductors to TSMC in Taiwan. And the US government intends to manufacture 28% of avant -garde chips of the planet in 2032 considering as advanced integrated circuits those produced with a more sophisticated integration technology than that of 10 Nm. Currently the chips that Spacex uses are packaged by stmicroelectronics and innolux The steps that Spacex is taking support the strategy that the US government is deploying, but, as I mentioned a few lines above, first of all they pursue save costs and minimize its current dependence on the distribution chain. At the moment Most of the chips That this company from Elon Musk uses in the manufacture of its satellites are packaged by the Franco-Cabalian company Stmicroelectronics and the Taiwanese innolux. Presumably when the expansion of the Bastrop Plant is a list of the packaging will be commissioned by Spacex itself. From that moment on, this company will manufacture its own PCB and package its integrated circuits, so its next logical movement will be in all likelihood to build a semiconductor manufacturing plant. The SpaceX satellite network currently brings together about 7,700 devices in orbit, and this company intends to launch over the next few years 32,000 more satellites with the purpose of giving coverage to the entire planet. In addition, some of these satellites are used by the US government, so controlling the entire production chain of these devices will allow Spacex to optimize the performance of their business and guarantee the safety and integrity of its satellite network. More information | Digitimes Asia In Xataka | China has the CPU ARM for faster servers on the planet. It is from Alibaba and its performance is supported by IEEE

A company tested the four -day work week. Now your workers think it is best to work seven days

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The debate on the Reduction of the working day It is more alive than ever and many countries are reconsidering their working day model with alternatives such as four -day work week. Lumena small Cardiff SEO services consultant, tested the four -day work week obtaining outstanding results. However, his CEO, considered that the idea could still be improved, so he decided to go one step further and try a model even more flexible: Work seven days a week. From the four -day week to 32 hours. As Aced Nelmes, CEO of Lumen, counted In his LinkedIn profilethe company had changed its four -day workday for a 32 -hour. The difference can be underestimated, in that change the elimination of an important barrier is implicit: the company will not impose if its employees have to do those 32 hours In a certain number of days or at a certain schedule. It will be the employees themselves who decide when to work. According to his CEO, two years ago, Lumen implemented the four -day work week. The results exceeded all expectations: staff rotation fell to zero, productivity increased and employees felt more rested and committed. According to Nelmes, “our workers reported to be happier, have better health and be more productive.” But the model It could be improved. Seven days to meet your day. “The idea of ​​the 32 -hour week is to go further in the flexibility offered by the four days,” Nelmes explained. In the system proposed by Lumen, the only condition is that employees meet their projects and objectives, managing their time with total autonomy. Nelmes clarified in statements to The confidential that “what I require is a lot of self -discipline, capacity for concentration, self -regulation, initiative and independence.” The company seeks workers capable of directing their own time and offering the best of themselves. “I think we microstal the day -to -day life of our workers, we assume what kind of day they should have to be productive. My argument is that it is not, we do not know, and we need to delegate that decision in each individual,” said the young manager to El Confidencial. The exception: meetings and training. According to The publishedby him Financial Timesthe only exception to the total flexibility of Lumen is the time that the company dedicates to Team meetings in which the mandatory projects and formations are defined. Together, the CEO ensures that they do not exceed three hours per week. This guarantees the connection and coordination of the team without sacrificing individual autonomy. For all others each of the employees distributes their work week with total labor flexibility and No entry or exit schedules. Results and surprises. During the three months of proof of this new flexibility model, Nelmes observed that, in reality, the employees did not make major changes in their schedules. Most had routines similar to conventional ones, adapting only small details to enjoy personal activities. “People like to have routines and structure, so many … still prefer to move within a standard schedule,” explained the CEO to The confidential. The flexibility had limited itself to adapting their working hours to certain personal activities (playing sports, medical appointments, etc.) or to coincide with The schedules of their childrenand then recover that time at another time of the week. According to Nelmes, the most extreme case is that of one of its employees, who took advantage of that flexibility to adjust their rest days during the week according to the climate or their personal needs. Then, I worked on Sunday, because it was the time when I found greater concentration and less interruptions. Flexibility with clear values ​​and limits. As has counted The CEO, this model does not imply total disconnection of the company. Lumen takes great care of your team to ensure that everyone shares Commitment values and responsibility. “We would not hire someone who only wanted to work 16 hours in two days,” says Nelmes. In fact, the manager assures that they have had to leave people who did not adapt to this level of freedom and demand. The objective is to allow employees to have enough flexibility in their workday to be carried out as people and take care of their familieswhich also helps them save in nurseries, cleaning or extracurricular activities. According to Nelmes, “if you let your employees be good parents, they will also be good employees.” The company seeks to attract fathers and mothers, convinced that flexibility improves both productivity and the quality of life. An adaptable model, but not for all. Although the manager ensures that the results obtained by his staff have been positive, he acknowledges that this model is not viable or For all companies Not for all sectors. Consultants, banks, law firms or marketing companies can benefit from this approach since they allow combining the flexibility of teleworking with the organization by objectives. However, it acknowledges that it is a difficult implementation option in sectors such as the manufacturing industry, construction, the hospitality or tourismwhere physical presence and fixed schedules are inherent to the nature of work. In Xataka | Spain already has its first municipality with four -day work week. It is not in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​but in a corner of Cádiz In Xataka | Three Spanish companies tell us how it has gone after implementing a job utopia: the four -day week Image | Lumen

The number of smartphones produced by each technological company in the world, illustrated in this graphic

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The world of technology is fierce. Although in almost all segments we have several brands in Liza, it is one or two that lead. We see it on video games with Nintendo and PlayStationin Nvidia graphics cards or on televisions with Samsung and LG. In the world of mobiles it is not different and, although there are multitude of brandsthose that are distributed by the cake are Apple and Samsung. It is something that It was not always like thatand in this graph prepared by Visual Capitalist We can see the evolution of mobiles produced by the different manufacturers in the last decade, as well as those that survived and those that remained on the road. Dance of two. Although the graph, which reflects the data of Trendforceleave out Many Chinese giantswhat is clear is that the global market is dominated by two players: Apple and Samsung. It is estimated that, between the two, more than 40% of the world smartphones market dominated, highlighting Apple in Income and Samsung in total market volume, and in the Visual Capitalist graph, what we see is not the total market, but the evolution of the units produced by the selected brands. That is the reason why we do not see others like Xiaomi or a huawei that now sells, above all, in China, but for a while He played the reign to Apple and Samsung. Apple Samsung 2015 215.3 million 321.5 million 2016 225.5 million 309 million 2017 225 million 312 million 2018 200.5 million 292.6 million 2019 190.4 million 287.5 million 2020 214.6 million 276 million 2021 239 million 272.8 million 2022 225 million 245.4 million 2023 222.4 million 227.55 million 2024 222.5 million 225.8 million The ones we lost. But, although the graph is not complete, it is interesting for a reason: it allows us to see the evolution of many historical brands outside the two largest today. Thus, we can see how Nokia in 2015, already low Microsoft’s mantle, It was small compared to what it wasbut he kept planting. The same with Sony and, to a lesser extent, Asus and HTC. Nokia and Sony are still there, although with a volume very far away they handled, but the biggest batacazo without counting a Blackberry which was lost in 2018 was LG. The South Korean occupied a privilege position until it vanished in 2021, when they decided abandon completely The smartphones business. Google Sony Nokia LG 2015 – 29.5 million 30 million 66.5 million 2016 450,000 16.4 million 15 million 74.7 million 2017 3.65 million 13.5 million 14.8 million 56.1 million 2018 4.55 million 6.95 million 14.3 million 39.3 million 2019 4.75 million 4.2 million 9.5 million 33 million 2020 4.05 million 2.85 million 6.7 million 30.2 million 2021 6.45 million 2.7 million 3.3 million 3 million 2022 8 million 2.6 million 3.1 million – 2023 10.3 million 2.8 million 780,000 – 2024 10.5 million 2.45 million 160,000 – Google. It seemed that Asus was going to have his time, especially in a few years in which they innovated with their Reversible Chamber Systems – The Zenfone Flip– And some phones like the Zenfone 10 that bet on gross power in a contained size when The rest of the market was going to huge diagonalsbut the adventure did not curdle. Like that of a Sony converted into a niche brand with its Ultrapanoramic screens and powerful recording and editing tools, but that produces fewer units. In the graph we can see a very different story, that of Google. The company has been supporting others such as Samsung, HTC or Asus since 2010 to create His Nexusbut in 2016 they made the leap to their own mobiles with the Google Pixel. That first Pixel was revolutionary in the Android market and, although they have not opted for power, they have been consistent when creating mobile phones with very Good camera systems and one Applied to photography. They have also relied to being the entrance door to New Android versions of each yearand in the graph we can see how they go from having a marginal position to be one with increasing presence. Also in advertising, with series such as Last season of ‘You’ In Netflix in which the characters use brand devices. And the Chinese? They are the great absent of this comparison. Taking data from 2023, Xiaomi shipment about 146.1 million smartphones worldwide, which represented a slight annual decrease in global computing, but a light Growth in a premium segment in which they want to strengthen. Oppo (including Realme and OnePlus) sent about 100 million units and from Huawei there are no data, but after years of sanctionsin 2023 and 2024 They returned strongly to the Chinese market. In fact, although the figures say that the iPhone 15 It was the best -selling mobile of 2024 and Samsung also appears well stopped on the list, last year The great victory went to Chinawith its main brands rising in a spectacular way. And you have to wait for 2026 to see the full photo of 2024. In Xataka | The long goodbye of Huawei in Spain: of strategic partner to Technology Non Grata

No one understands why the former Google CEO has bought a rocket company. He says it: Datacenters in space

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If the New Space is full of something, it is from Billonario Technological CEOS, but what Eric Schmidt Shopping Relativity Space He caught the sector by surprise. He has offered an explanation. Context. Whatever it was Google CEO for a decade He surprised the space sector two months ago acquiring a majority participation in the Relativity Space rocket company. The Californian startup has never reached orbit, but made a test launch of a 3D printed rocket, Terran 1, and It is developing a partially reusable commercial rocketTerran R. After the acquisition of the company, Eric Schmidt assumed the role of CEO, a position he did not occupy since he left the Mountain View giant in 2011. Data centers in space. Eric Schmidt is obsessed with the amount of energy and computing capacity that will need to move artificial intelligence. It was the journalist Eric Berger, from Ars Technicawho joined the points. The idea of ​​displaying data centers in space, feeding them with solar energy and keeping them cold without using water “probably explain why Schmidt bought relativity space,” Berger commented on X. The next day, Eric Schmidt responded with a monosyllable: “Yeah.” The unprecedented scale of AI. In an appearance before the Energy and Commerce Committee of the United States Congress, Schmidt put some figures on the table: “10 gigaw data centers are being raised, when an average nuclear power plant in the United States generates 1 Gigavatio. One of the estimates that I think is most likely that data centers will require 29 additional energy gigawatts by 2027, and 67 more gigawatts for 2030. These things are industrial to a scale that I have never seen in my life.” The money is in the datacenters. Since no country is prepared for such an energy escalation, Schmidt has in mind to get the databases from the Earth. Although incredibly ambitious and challenging, the hypothetical space data centers could make sense if energy is a bottleneck on earth. With reusable rockets to launch satellite constellations, photovoltaic solar energy always available for part of the constellation and dissipation of heat in the emptiness of the space, they could even be profitable or safer than the Earth Data Centers. But everything is about to demonstrate, from cheap throws to heat dissipation. What state is Relatity Space. The reality is that far from competitors such as Spacex, although it is a much younger company. He had bet in full for 3D printed rockets, but removed Terran 1 after his debut flight, in which he could not reach orbit. Terran R is designed to be a direct competitor of Falcon 9, with the capacity to launch 33.5 tons to the low terrestrial orbit in disposable mode and 23.5 tons with a first reusable stage. Although its development has been erratic, capital injection and leadership of Schmidt, whose fortune is estimated at 20,000 million dollars, could revitalize the project and bring it closer to a first launch planned by the end of 2026. Image | Relativity Space, Leweb In Xataka | The space race is becoming a multi-million dollar competition: the last to enter is Google’s ex-cement

Spain, white brand. Landowner and company are about to dethrone traditional brands

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Distributor brands have silently conquered Spanish baskets, from 20% in 2003 to 44% in 2024 without pause or truce, according to a Kantar study published in Expansion. This increase has been unstoppable, without distinguishing between years of economic crises and years of growth. Why is it important. This commercial third change transcends the typical flight to the cheap during crises. The White brand has evolved towards a premium differentiation strategy that has broken the traditional monopoly of the big brands. The context. The ascent has been unstoppable during these more than two decades, growing both in years of crisis (2008-2014, pandemia) and economic bonanza. Neither post-crisis recovery Recent inflation They have stopped their progress, dismantling the myth that they are temporary products. In figures: Lidl leads with 82.1% share. Mercadona follows with 74.5%. Carrefour seeks to move from 33% to 40% before 2026. Day already reaches 57%. In fact, Dia has redesigned more than 2,000 products to “enlorate raw materials” and create “own formulas.” Its purchasing director is clear: “We do not want to be the quality C, but the A”. It is the definitive jump of imitation to your own innovation. The trend. There are several phases in this growth: From 2003 to 2019, constant but moderate growth, around the annual point. From 2020 to 2022, brutal acceleration: +4.1 points in two years. Since 2022, rhythm consolidation, +2.7 points in two years. If the recent growth rate is maintained (1,3-1.4 annual points), the white brand would reach 50% between 2028 and 2029. And would overcome traditional brands in quota. Yes, but. The data suggest that we are close to a natural plateau. Few developed economies exceed 55-60% value share of the white brand, because there are always premium niches and categories where traditional brands maintain advantage (luxury, technological innovation, very specialized products). The money trail. The chains control the entire value chain: from the recipe to the linear, without intermediaries. This allows them to achieve higher margins while they offer quite competitive prices, a much more complicated equation for traditional brands. Spain approaches the German model, where The white brand has gone very much in the market Regarding other countries. Traditional brands will face their greatest existential threat: compete against those who control both the product and the sales channel. In Xataka | Mercadona is more profitable than ever and is also closing stores for the first time in years. It is a calculated strategy Outstanding image | Mercadona

The designer company who marked an era in Cupertino will buy

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For years, Apple was synonymous with boldness. He made quick decisions, broke conventions and challenged the entire industry. Now Apple has become a Big Tech that moves much more caution, but some see an echo of that attitude today in OpenAi. Now, in a way, the firm of the led by Sam Altman is connecting even more to the roots of the Cupertino company. OpenAI He has just announced An agreement to acquire IO, the Startup of devices co -founded by Jony Ive, in an operation valued at almost 6.5 billion dollars. According to Bloombergthe agreement is completely structured in shares: 5,000 million dollars correspond to the purchase of 77 % of the company, and the rest comes from an earlier investment of 23 % that Openai made in 2024. A designer who scored an era in Apple. Jony Ive was not one more designer. He joined Apple in 1992 and, together with Steve Jobs, helped shape a generation of iconic products: the IMAC, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch … even the controversy Magic Mouse with its load port at the bottom. His aesthetic vision defined Apple’s design language for decades. After leaving the company in 2019, IVE founded the Lovefrom creative study. And a year ago, IO with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, three key figures in Apple’s products. The IO team brings together more than 50 experts in hardware, software and manufacturing processes, many of which have worked together for years. Now they will be integrated into Openai. OpenAi is thrown at the hardware with an ambitious vision. Until now, Openai has been a software -centered company. Chatgpt and its language models, such as GPT-4O, are virtual tools. Some of them have been made up of other companies in tangible products, such as Microsoft’s co -pilot, but OpenAi had not directly approached the creation of devices. That is about to change. According to a letter published by Altman And IVE on the official OpenAI website, the collaboration between both parties began two years ago, discreetly and motivated by “friendship, curiosity and shared values.” From those first conversations, ideas and prototypes arose that, little by little, took shape. The objective, they say, is to create a new family of products “that inspire, empower and train.” What can we expect now? Although concrete details have not been shared, the first device is expected to be the result of this union to see the light in 2026. In statements collected by Bloomberg, IVE has indicated that consumer technology has not been really new, and that people are looking exactly that. The IO team will continue to operate from its offices in Jackson Square (San Francisco), but already collaborates closely with Openai engineers and designers. Lovefrom, on the other hand, will assume new responsibilities in design and product experience for both software and future devices. A path with obstacles (and recent learning). Openai’s jump to hardware does not arrive in an empty context. In recent months, other IA -promoted devices projects have failed loudly, such as the Human Ai Pin or Rabbit R1. The operation must still be approved by regulators and will be completed foreseeably this summer. From there, the challenge begins: demonstrate that Openai can also mark a before and after in the hardware field. The wait will be worth it, “Altman told the aforementioned American media.” It’s an ambitious and crazy idea. “ Images | OpenAI (1, 2) | Apple | Colin Davis In Xataka | The latest Google event makes clear what the true future of accessories is: glasses connected with Android XR

In Peru, a company has had an idea to take wind energy directly to your home: turbines as a lay way

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Lego pieces have accompanied generations as a way to create without limits: blocks that are stacked on each other to form houses, cities, rockets, whatever the imagination allows. Over time, the designs became more sophisticated, with complex structures and realistic themes. But in essence, everything is still based on a simple idea: build, piece by piece. Now this idea must be extrapolated to another context as important as the generation of energy. In a world where taking advantage of every centimeter of space is vital – especially in cities – thinking of installing a wind turbine at home may seem crazy, but it is not so far from reality. A new design. A Peruvian startup, Eolic wall, has developed A new way of understanding wind energy, moving away from the traditional model of huge blades anchored in the landscape. Instead, they have created a system of modular, compact and stackable wind cells, with a square shape. Innovation. This technology has an aerodynamic design that allows speeding of the wind that crosses them, which allows to generate more electricity even with moderate breezes. Unlike traditional turbines, Eolic Wall rotor It is sustained by a peripheral ring that improves wind capture and allows a more compact design. Also, thanks to its modular design It can be stacked vertical or horizontally as construction pieces, adapting to the environment and energy demand. You can add more units over time. Willn’t there be such stuck problems from another? A common question is: “Willn’t several be saved from each other?” In traditional wind farms, turbulence between turbines reduce their performance if they are too together. However, Eolic Wall has solved this problem with an internal aerodynamic chamber, which protects the flow of the wind inside each cell. Thus interference is avoided and can be installed in places where it was unthinkable to put a turbine, such as buildings or urban courtyards. A unique peculiarity. The use of permanent strategically located magnets reduces almost zero the friction of the system. This not only improves performance, but also reduces wear and extends the life of the cells. In addition, by eliminating almost all friction thanks to its magnetic system, common maintenance and mechanical wear problems affect conventional wind turbines are faced. When will they be available? Although there is not yet an official mass launch date, Eolic Wall already It has been recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the best startups in Peru in 2024. It is currently developing pilots and Looking for alliances Strategic to climb your technology. Other systems. Eolic Wall is not alone in this tendency towards miniaturization and urbanization of wind energy. There are other interesting proposals, such as LTO TURBINA ARCHIMEDES (LIAM F1)which is committed to a helical design inspired by the Archimedes spiral to capture the wind from any direction. For its part, The turbines flowerknown for its aesthetic design in the form of a flower and its ability to function in proximity without losing efficiency. Self -consumption is no longer just solar. The future of energy self -consumption no longer depends solely on Fill the roofs of solar panels. Wind energy is gaining land in the urban environment, and proposals such as Eolic Wall are marking the way. Because maybe shortly, you can see Small stacked turbines as if they were Lego pieces. And we will not say it figuratively. Image | EOLIC WALL and Mathijs Dubbeldam Attribution-Nancommercial 2.0 Xataka | The University of Oxford has found reservations of an energy source for 170,000 years. And he has the recipe to exploit them

Japan cannot afford your most valuable company in the chips industry. And is mired in debts

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JSR Corporation is a company extraordinarily valuable for Japanalthough not in a strictly economic sense. And this company constitutes with Tokyo Electron, RapidusCanon and Nikon The spearhead of the Japanese chips industry. Japan needs them. It necessarily needs these companies to be competitive if you want to recover the relevance that it had decades ago in the already flourishing semiconductor industry. At the end of the 80s Japan dominated the integrated circuit industry With an overwhelming forcefulness. Nec, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Matsushita and other Japanese companies monopolized in 1988 no less than 50% of the chip industry. However, today none of these companies is positioned among the leaders of a sector dominated with iron fist by Taiwanese, American, Dutch, South Korean and German companies. Despite its world leadership JSR Corporation is spending trouble This company has something that the other companies that I have mentioned in the first paragraph of this article lack: it holds the monopoly of a crucial sector of the chips industry. This is actually what makes it so valuable to Japan beyond its economic results. And it is that JSR specializes in the production of photorers. Photolithography teams that Design and produce ASML They are responsible, very broadly, to transfer the geometric pattern described by the mask with a lot of precision to the surface of the silicon wafer. In this area we can observe the pattern as the “drawing” that delimits the distribution of transistors, connections and other elements that make up an integrated circuit. However, before reaching this important step it is necessary A process known as deposition. Equipment manufactured by Tokyo Electron either Apply materials. Its purpose is to prepare silicon wafers for the transfer of the geometric pattern by depositing a fine material of material on them. During the last two decades all companies specialized in the production of photorestoning materials have been Japanese Depending on the type of chip that is being manufactured it will be necessary to use one material or another. One of the most used deposition techniques is known as oxidation, and consists of taking advantage of the silicon’s ability to form a fine oxide layer when reacting with water. Its purpose is to protect transistors and other components of external pollution chips. However, before carrying out the transfer of the geometric pattern to the wafer using a lithography equipment it is necessary to pour a liquid capable of absorbing the light and preserving the pattern. This is the function of the photorersista fluid. During the last two decades all companies specialized in the production of photorers have been Japanese. In fact, Japan since then has the monopoly of this market, which It is currently led by JSR Corporation. This company supplies its photorestoning liquids to most semiconductor manufacturers with which we are familiar, such as TSMC, Intel, Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron Technology or Texas Instruments, among many others. The surprising thing is that despite the domain it exerts on the market of photorers, JSR is not going well. In 2024 the investment company Japan Investment Corp. bought it for 6,000 million dollars with the purpose of consolidating its growth, but has closed the last fiscal year in March 2025 with losses of 1,450 million dollars. This bad result has had consequences. The company’s board of directors has been completely replaced as the most responsible for an economic result that is not at all in line with the position that this company holds in the market. However, analysts say that the problem does not reside in the photorriving business; JSR’s bad economic results have been triggered by their subsidiary specialized in The development and manufacture of biopharmaceutical and medical diagnosis products. The new directive dome plans to sell a part of this division to the Japanese company Tokuyama Corp. for approximately 570 million dollars with the purpose of cleaning up its accounts. We will see what happens, but what does not admit discussion is that JSR has a leading role in Japan ambitions linked to the semiconductor industry. More information | Reuters In Xataka | Japan has taken the carrier to dominate the chips industry. Prepare a 325,000 million dollar plan

In 1997 a construction company had the delirious idea of ​​building the house of the Simpsons and getting it for sale. It ended up regular

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Building a house identical to that of the protagonist family of ‘The Simpsons’ looked like a teacher promotional play. And give it to a fan to live in it, the cherry icing. However, neither Fox nor the unsuspecting spectators of the series who went through this house seemed to be clear a patent obviousness: The Simpsons are cartoon charactersand do not work in the real world. Firefighter ideas. The initial idea was from the Kaufman & Broad Construction Company, from the 3D designs that were being created for the 1997 video game ‘Virtual Springfield‘. The intention was to create a house identical to the originalfor which they were analyzed A hundred episodes of the series. The problems started from the first moment: the house of the series lacks something as essential as load walls. However, the builders ended up giving a safe design and fitting with what was seen on television. Mutant house Leaving aside the fact that the house has changed multiple times with the passage of time in the series (for example, the shape, size and distance from each other of the windows), the designers focused on two well -known rooms: that of television and Bart’s room. And they left from there, in a kind of version Cartoon of “Build the house from the roof.” The result: four bedrooms, two floors and, outside, a house in the tree and a backyard. Total: 200 square meters painted of squeaky yellow and with orange rooms, phosphorescent green and pink. The idea of ​​designers It was that the house was 90% normal, 10% cartoon. The devil, in the details. The final touches were given by Rick Floyd, Hollywood production designer who included thousands of details for the most terminal fans. Higher doors than normal to pass Marge’s hair, identical dresses and costumes in the closets of each character, holes near the ground for mice, dozens of Duff beer cans in the fridge, a saxo in Lisse’s room and a painted of the barto that Matt Groening himself did. And also an absolutely useless chimney in Henderson’s desert, Nevada, where the house is located. Pepsi gives it to you. The home found owner through a Pepsi and Fox contest that was launched in 1997: 15 million people sent tests for the purchase of brand products to participate, and the winner would take the house or $ 75,000 in cash (although the value of the house was estimated at double). The winner also promised to paint the facade in accordance with the rules imposed by the neighborhood. The winner was a 63 -year -old Kentucky retiree who decided to accept the money because she had no intention of moving from her home. The house became Attraction for curious. Pillage. An attraction that, by the way, had to be monitored 24 hours a day, by the looting of the unique objects inside. However, over time, surveillance relaxed and the house ended up becoming a curiosity without interest. In 2001, already converted into a reasonably normal housewas sold to another particular, a neighbor who had been secretary of the construction company. He had to make reforms, because the interior was uninhabitable with all the bright colors of the cartoons. Today, its facade remains A magnet for traveler fans And the project, one more sample that we cannot have beautiful things. All promo. The authentic business of the Simpsons is in merchandising: during its first year it generated 2,000 million dollarsand to date, it has 4.7 billion dollars. It is a phenomenon to which we add licenses and collaborations amounts to a value of 13,000 million. But no merchandising artifact is as special as Simpson objects in the real world: Lard Lady Donuts donuts, Duff Beer cans, Apu stores and Krusty Burger restaurants. None, however, as delusional and special as the family home. Header | Fox In Xataka | The Simpsons is a black family: the last theory that gives a radical turn to what we thought about knowing about the series

12 million people delivered their DNA to 23Andme. The company broke and its data are about to change hands

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For years, spitting in a tube was the first step of an irresistible promise: discovering your roots, knowing your genetic predispositions, even finding family members lost by the world. Everything without moving home. The company behind that phenomenon was called 23ndmeand achieved something unusual: to turn genetics into a mass consumption product. That story has just turned. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has reached an agreement to acquire the main assets of 23Andme for 256 million dollars, According to the official statement published by the pharmacist. It is a transaction that must still be approved by the Banking Court and by US regulators. At stake is a platform that has managed the DNA of millions of people worldwide. An announced end. The 23Andme fall has not been sudden. In recent years, the company went from being valued at more than 6,000 million dollars to fight for its own survival. His commitment to a more ambitious model – based on developing medicines, offering medical consultations by subscription and expanding digital health services – did not set. As details The Wall Street Journalthe company burned more than one billion dollars and ended up offering part of its assets in limit conditions. The sales agreement does not cover the entire business. Regeneron would keep the essential: the direct genomics service to the consumer, its biobanco of genetic samples and the research and total health divisions. The telemedicine subsidiary Lemonaid Health is left out, acquired in its day for 400 million dollars, whose closure will be made in an orderly manner outside this operation. Privacy: The real battlefield. The operation has re -placed privacy in the center of the debate. Regeneron has promised to respect current data use policies and has committed to undergoing independent scrutiny, as established by the judicial framework of the process. Even so, doubts persist on how one of the world’s largest genetic databases will be managed. The suspicion is not new. In 2023, 23Andme was a victim of a massive data filtration which affected 6.9 million people. As TechCrunch revealedthe attackers accessed the profiles of those who had activated the function of “genetic family”, obtaining names, locations and percentages of shared DNA between relatives. The company attributed the incident to the reuse of passwords by users, but the damage was already done. Anne Wojcicki, the face of an era. The 23Andme story cannot be told without mentioning Anne Wojcicki. Co -founder, visible face, visionary of personalized health and, at the same time, responsible for business decisions that led to collapse. His plan was to convert the company to an integral provider of medical services, but this did not prosper. He tried to recover control, but his power vanished with the beginning of the judicial process. According to WSJtheir actions with preferential vote were annulled and their offers rejected by the Board of Directors. Wojcicki opted everything to DNA as strategic assets. And for a while it seemed right. The company that helped to found transformed the way millions of people related to their health. It also showed to what extent a genetic database can become a mined field of legal, ethical and technological risks. A new stage, the same questions. Regeneron aspires to keep a powerful platform, a still recognized brand and an immense volume of genetic information. In its official statement, he affirms that his intention is to maintain service for current users and continue to develop new ways for personalized medicine. Images | 23ndme In Xataka | We have visited the place where the demographic hopes of Spain are literally deposited: the Semen Bank of Granada

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