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China already has its “flying truck.” The HH-200 has just completed its first test flight

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China has just put into the air one of those machines that, by concept and ambition, do not go unnoticed. It is not a new fighter jet like the J-35Abut rather a commercial unmanned aerial system for transportation, completed its first test flight on April 15. There is still no logistics network deployed, but there is a movement that allows us to understand where the Asian giant wants to move in the pilotless air transport of goods, especially within the framework of its commitment to the so-called low-altitude economy. First flight. After the entire development phase, the program has already left paper behind. CCTV places the inaugural test in Puchengin the province of Shaanxi, and explains that it lasted for 22 minutes, with correct operation of the onboard systems and stable evolution of the device during the journey. To be precise, this is the first real flight evaluation, and it has been completed satisfactorily. The figures of the device. Once the test is confirmed, the next thing is to take a closer look at what kind of aircraft China has in its hands. It is a system with a square section fuselage, high wing, double engine and double boom, with dimensions of 12.2 meters long, 16.8 meters wide and 3.7 meters high. In the operational section, it boasts a maximum load capacity of 1.5 tons and a maximum range of 2,360 kilometers. Furthermore, according to official information, it is capable of reaching a maximum cruising speed of 310 kilometers per hour. The logistics part. Beyond dimensions or scope, one of the keys to the HH-200 is how its operations on the ground and in flight are planned. China News assures that the system has been designed with civil aviation standards and that it can perform the flight intelligently and autonomously from start to finish, with obstacle avoidance functions supported by AI. Added to this is a direct passage fuselage and a rear configuration designed to facilitate loading operations, allowing work with pallets, loading platforms and conventional forklifts, to the point that two operators could complete loading or unloading in five minutes. Where do you want to operate. The device is not only designed to move goods from one point to another under ideal conditions. Instead, it has a strong environmental adaptation capacity and can execute missions on short runways, high-altitude airports, extreme temperatures and adverse weather. China News gives us some interesting concrete examples: cargo routes in coastal and border areas, internal logistics routes between specific points and operations between islands in Southeast Asia, before opening the door to uses such as emergency rescue, remote sensing or agricultural and forestry tasks. From trial to market. After this first milestone, the next step will not be an immediate implementation, but an additional testing phase. It is expected that the vehicle will continue to accumulate flight tests before its eventual entry into service, an important nuance to avoid confusing initial technical success with operational maturity. Even in this scenario, according to China News, the project has 20 order intentions and closer cooperation with several firms. We have to wait to see if we will see the HH-200 beyond the testing scope. Images | CCTV In Xataka | Boeing has surpassed Airbus after years behind. That doesn’t mean I’ve regained control.

just completed a critical test before delivery

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Spain is in a moment of weapons renewal. A few days ago we said that the country has been selling his old submarines for scrapa movement conditioned by something very specific: the new generation of S-80 submarines is beginning to gain traction. Or impulse, rather. And the ignition of engines S-82 Narciso Monturiol It is one more step towards delivery to the Navy. And it has cost… Milestone. It was last February 28 when S-82, the second submarine of the S-80 Plus series, started its diesel engines for the first time. The Ministry of Defense has become again echo of the achievement achieved a few weeks ago, and it is no wonder. The ignition is one more step in the commissioning of the submarine after the electrical ignition, the boarding of the batteries and the launching. Overcoming these phases brings the ship closer to its delivery. The S-82. The Narciso Monturiol measures about 80 meters in length, has about seven meters in diameter and is capable of moving about 3,000 tons while submerged. It has capacity for more than 30 crew members and can last submerged for three weeks. Regarding weapons, account with a system developed by Navantia and Lockheed Martin that allows launching ground attack missilesbeing the only of the European Union’s conventional submarines that have that capability. It can also arm DM2A4 heavy torpedoes with a range of up to 50 kilometers. Issues. And if the ignition of the engines is announced as a milestone, it is because the S-80 program has not had it easy. These are the first submarines of Spanish design, and since 2004 they have been suffering delays. The first in the class, the S-81 Isaac Peralshould have been delivered in the early 2010s, but design errors and a budget that went from 1.8 billion euros to 3,900, ended up being delivered in 2023. The biggest problem was weight, something crucial in a submarine. It had between 70 and 100 tons of overweightsomething that was discovered just when it was due to be delivered and that compromised the entire project because it is something that would cause buoyancy problems. There were also other problems in the propulsion system and disputes between the Spanish Navantia and the French Naval Group. Next steps. And, again, completing these tests is the step prior to delivery at some point this year. It also shows that there is someone doing the calculations somewhat regularly because the S-82 was scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2024, generating a delay in the plans. This delay is what caused the very veteran S-71 to have to be revised so that Spain could keep two submarines operational at the same time, giving itself the situation of having a new generation one alongside the aforementioned S-71. The next steps for the S-82 are to continue testing systems before delivery, and then the S-83 and S-84 will arrive, which were dated for 2026 and 2028 respectively and will arrive with a novelty: the BEST AIP system to improve immersion capability and long duration missions. Both the S-81 and S-82 will also be upgraded with the BEST AIP at some technical stop between 2029 and 3031, respectively. After that ignition of the S-82 engines, they start the most critical tests, such as those of acoustic signature and immersion, key steps before it can be launched into the sea to definitively retire the S-71. Photos | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | In the 19th century, Spain designed the first “torpedo launcher” to defend itself against the United States: the Sanjurjo Badía submarine

“He who postpones everything will not leave anything completed or perfect”

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Yeah Hugo Gernsback Had it not been born, it is likely that what we know today as “science fiction literature” would be something different, less exciting and certainly less popular. After all, he forms, together with HG Wells and Jules Verne, the shortlist of “parents” of the genus. Despite this role, his relevance as a publisher, businessman and even inventor, Hugo is often remembered for one of his most delirious creations: ‘The Isolator’, a futuristic cucumber-shaped anti-procrastination helmet. Your goal, repel distractions. If Gernsback had read Democritus he could have saved it. In a place in Abdera… Classical antiquity was an era rich in talented thinkers, but few have been as prescient as Democritusa polymath born (it is believed) in Abdera around 460 BC Throughout his long life Democritus traveled, studied various disciplines and above all developed one of the theories of his teacher Leucippus that fascinates us most today: atomism. 1,400 years before John Dalton was born, its defenders maintained that the cosmos was made up of indestructible particles that combine in a vacuum, atoms. Throughout his life Democritus reflected on ethics, mathematics and art. His encyclopedic erudition has made him one of those thinkers to whom (with greater or lesser reliability) countless proverbial quotes. Some are ambiguous and open to various interpretations. Others, like the one he supposedly dedicated to procrastination, are forceful… and almost prophetic. Ear pull. The phrase in question sounds almost like a slap on the wrist, but in reality it is not surprising for that reason. It does so because it is valid in full 2026. Perhaps Democritus pronounced it more than 2,300 years ago in the forum of some cop Greek, but it could perfectly come from the lips of a coach determined to motivate his followers: “He who postpones everything will leave nothing finished or perfect.” In other words, be careful with procrastinating because, although at first it may be a relief, in the end it will make you feel frustrated. The approach fits well with the way of thinking of Democritus, who encouraged seeking the euthymiaa term that comes from the Greek ‘eu’ (good) and ‘thynos’ (mood) and that basically advocates a balanced state of mind. It is difficult to experience harmony, stability and calm if tasks drag on that are never completed. What’s more, for Democritus the smart It is not aspiring to a fickle and thoughtless pleasure, but to a calm spirit. Current yes, new no. In reality Democritus was not the only (or first) philosopher of classical antiquity who reflected on what we know today as “procrastinate”. Long before him it is said that the poet already did it Hesiod and one of the most influential intellectuals of the Roman Empire, the statist and philosopher, also spoke on the subject in a certain way. Marcus Aurelius. “Do not be negligent in your actions, nor muddle in your conversations, nor wander aimlessly in your imaginations, nor, in short, constrict your soul or become dispersed, nor in the course of life be overly busy,” it reads. Meditations. His words (like those of Seneca) are interesting because they reveal that the temptation to ‘waste time’ and postpone tasks has been troubling man for millennia. Why is it important? That a philosopher born almost 2,500 years ago would worry about procrastination (albeit with different words) is curious, but if Democritus’ words resonate strongly so many centuries later, it is because of something else: their astonishing clarity. First because they focus on a problem that (we now know) is almost inherent to humans. Second, because as the wise man from Abdera already sensed, postponing tasks can be a destructive habit that ends up weighing down our spirits and making it difficult for us to achieve the valuable euthymia. A percentage: 20%. Joseph Ferrari, professor of psychology, warned a few years ago in an interview published by the American Psychological Association about the extent to which we are prone to postpone tasks that (for one reason or another) we do not want to face. “One of my favorite sayings is ‘We all procrastinate, but not everyone is a procrastinator.’ We all put off tasks, but my research has found that 20% of people in the US are chronic procrastinators. They put off tasks, they make procrastination their way of life.” To understand its scope, Ferrari remembers that this 20% is “a greater number than that of people diagnosed with clinical depression or phobias” and warns of its implications. It’s one thing to postpone tasks punctually and another to “chronically procrastinate.” Whoever is in that last category, he warns, is no longer dealing with a time management problem, but with “a maladaptive lifestyle.” “Irrational circle”. The issue would not be relevant if it were only a matter of laziness, something that prevents us from being more productive. The problem, remember Charlotte Lieberman in The New York Timesis that it also “makes us feel bad” and involves knowingly making an incorrect decision. “People get caught in this irrational cycle of procrastination due to an inability to improve negative moods around a task,” matches Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. There are even those who, like researcher Tim Pychyl, they think that procrastination is actually not a time management problem, but rather an “emotion regulation” problem. Different theories have been formulated regarding its reasons and effects. For example, there are those who relate it to “the immediate urgency of managing negative moods” and those who believe that procrastination “exacerbates” anguish and stress. “The temporary relief we feel is what really makes the cycle very vicious,” Lieberman warns us. Science to the rescue. What Democritus perhaps could not imagine in the 4th century BC is the extent to which our own organism sets traps for us. In recent years, science has asked itself on several occasions why we are so tempted to postpone annoying tasks and has obtained fascinating answers. For example, in 2018 a group of researchers published a study … Read more

The bridge with the largest steel span has completed its most difficult challenge. And it’s in China, of course.

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There is not a month that does not release one mega constructionand in that area, China leads with an iron fist. Both due to the magnitude of his works, the technique used or the land they save with the structurethe Asian giant has become an example of perseverance when it comes to creating, above all, infrastructure that connects all its regions. After the highest bridge in the world, in the province of Chongqing, they are involved with another record-breaking bridge. One with the largest steel span in the world. Fenglai Daxi River Grand Bridge. As is often the case with these works, something that stands out as much as its magnitude is the construction time. In just three years, they have up a bridge in an extremely complex area. It clears two cliffs and the causeway will be 310 meters above the water surface. But more than because of the terrain, if it is news for something, it is because of the opening, that space between two columns. The total length of the bridge will be 1,136 meters when it is finished and the span is almost half of it: 580 meters that are suspended leaning on an arch-shaped structure made of steel. The height The arch in its central part is 116 meters and both the photos and videos show the complex lattice-type structure. Precision. More than a whim, it is necessary if you want to bridge that distance while looking for a bridge that can withstand both the weight and the possible tremors that are frequent in the region. To build the structure, engineers turned to BIM methodology (either Building Information Modeling) that simulates by computer all the processes of both the construction of the structure and its future maintenance. This is common, but essential in this lattice structure where many embedded components require an accuracy of less than a millimeter of deviation. On November 28, the team complete the union of each of the pieces weighing more than 300 tons that form that great puzzle of the lattice span, and now it remains to create the road that will consolidate the union between regions. Necessary. Because the Fenglai Daxi River Grand Bridge is not simply a feat of engineering: it is a catalyst for something China is aggressively pursuing. The country wants to carry out an economic and social transformation of the most challenging regions of its geography, and the Chongqing region falls into those plans as it has a large number of mountain ranges that have traditionally challenged communication with large centers. When completed, the bridge will be part of the Wu-Liang Expressway that will link the urban center of Chongqing with the Wulong district in approximately one hour, when with the current detour it takes approximately three hours, having to do a mountain route. And it is just one piece of a much more ambitious plan, which includes 52 construction projects, more than 1,200 kilometers of highways and a total investment of 155 billion yuan, about 19 billion euros. Megathings = tourism. Thus, the bridge will seek to become an element that will facilitate the flow of goods between the regions, but also of people with the objective of promoting tourism. Currently, in Wulong About 350,000 people live there and it has traditionally been a poor area due to the soil not being the best for farming and its natural isolation. However, since 1994, tourism has transformed it, especially since the Karst Geology National Park out including on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2007. Now, Wulong aspire to become a global tourist destination, and this improvement in infrastructure seems key to achieving that goal. Furthermore, it is no longer just that China’s megaconstructions facilitate mobility: The buildings themselves are designed with the aspiration that they become points of interest. An example is Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridgean immense construction 625 meters above the level of the river that is used to cross from one side to the other, but It has a cafeteria and some adventure activities. Another is the Three Gorges Damwhich can not only move the axis of rotation of the Earthbut it also has a museum that documents the construction, an example of how the dam itself works and multiple observation points. Images | Xinhua Sci-Tech In Xataka | Young tourists from China have begun to visit random places en masse. There is an explanation: Xiaohongshu

China has just completed the world’s tallest dam. And what stands out the least is that it is as tall as a skyscraper

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China has a beastly capacity to create pharaonic structures. Impossible roadshighways with infernal ‘knots’, very complex tunnels and one ridiculous amount of bridges so functional and essential to connect areas like ostentatious. But among all his civil engineering works, the ones that are most striking to me are the dams. And, after the largest in the world, now They have one that is as tall as a skyscraper. It is the Zhenjiang pumping stationand is key to adding even more renewable energy to your accountant. Figures. The name is “Zhenjiang/Jurong Pumping Station” and, located in Jiangsu province, it has become the latest milestone in Chinese energy engineering. The project began in 2017 and, as is customary in almost all of these infrastructures in the Asian giant, both its dimensions and construction times are surprising. In these eight years, they have built the highest pumping dam in the world, 182 meters high, equivalent to a 60-story building. Apart from the height, its volcano shape is striking, with a reservoir at the top capable of storing up to 17.07 million cubic meters of water. Context? What 6,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools have (okay, it’s equally difficult to imagine the number). Bowels. It’s not just imposing on the outside. Its engine room is 800 meters deep and has dimensions of 250 meters long, 60 meters high and another 25 meters wide. In this room are the six mixed turbines and, in total, the project has established a dozen records in the sector. Its role in renewables. It is estimated that the investment has been about 9.6 billion yuan, about 1.3 billion euros, and all to feed more than 360,000 homes. Each of the turbines generates 225 MW for a total of 1.3 GW of installed power. Thanks to both the dimensions of the turbines and the difference in level and force of the water, it is estimated that it will consume 1,800 million kWh annually during pumping and will generate 1,350 million kWh during discharge. It is a consumption/generation difference of 25% and, although it is not a figure that attracts attention, it is a milestone, since current pumping (or reversible) installations require hydraulic jumps of about 400 meters to operate under the same conditions. The turbines at the Zhenjiang plant do so with a head of less than 200 meters. That is, it is optimized for low gradient conditions, but maintaining a high volumetric flow. In summary, It’s like a giant battery, but with water. During low demand hours, the plant moves water to the upper reservoir and, during peak consumption, releases it, passing it through the turbines at high speed and generating electricity in the process. According to estimates, it will save 140,000 tons of coal per year, which represents 349,000 tons of CO₂. One more in the Yangtze. Despite everything the plant represents in terms of civil engineering and its role in renewablesthe greatest achievement of this plant is that it has been shown that it is possible to build massive storage systems if artificial elevations are created. In flat areas with unfavorable orography, Zhenjiang demonstrates that pumping structures can be created to help achieve decarbonization objectives without depending so much on wind and solar power. Wang Chenhui, director of the Development Department of State Grid Zhenjiang Power Supply Company -responsible for the dam-, assures that “at full operation it will provide approximately 2.7 million kilowatts of bidirectional power regulation capacity, relieving pressure on the electrical grid during peak load periods.” It will be more help for Jiangsu province than this summer consumed 6% more electricity than in 2024, reaching 156 million kilowatts. And also in the Yangtze are the mammoth dam of the Three Gorges and the next largest dam in the world. The one in Zhenjiang is not so huge nor does it generate as much electricity, but it is the highest in the world and, as we said, a demonstration that, if the terrain is not good, you can always build a huge pool at 190 meters high. Image | Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China In Xataka | China has built the highest bridge in the world and has done what it must: turn it into a show

Boom XB-1 has successfully completed its first supersonic flight

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“There is! The XB-1 is supersonic. ” These words broke the expectant silence that has governed a transmission study located in the Mojave air and space port in California, and at the same time confirmed a historical feat. The first civil supersonic plane manufactured in the United States had broken the sound barrier. At the command of the XB-1, the pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg accelerated to show that the tireless work of the Boom Technology team had been worth it. On land, in front of the camera, he was Mike Bannisterwho was chief pilot of the Concorde fleet of British Airways for almost a decade. Baby Boom, the basis of overture The XB-1, also known as “Baby Boom,” has traveled a long way until you get here. Its initial design was released in 2016, but financing for its construction did not arrive until a year later. After suffering several delaysthe filming tests began in 2022 to give rise to the opening flight of March last year. Since then, Boom Technology team has coordinated almost a dozen test flights, but none of them as important as this. The fastest speed on those test flights was reached on January 10, which the company registered as Mach 0.95. This Tuesday, before the watchful eye of 25 engineers, managers, future clients and thousands of spectators, the XB-1 reached Mach 1.12 at an altitude of 35,290 feet (10,756 meters). The XB-1 on a trial flight The XB-1 is a demonstrator whose technology will become the basis of the Overture, the passenger plane that wants to happen to concord with supersonic commercial flights. As the manufacturer points outthe future plane will benefit with four very important characteristics: Increased reality vision system: Since the plane will have a long nose and a high angle of attack, the Overture will have an augmented reality vision system so that the pilots can have good visibility of the track. That is, we will not see a mobile nose like the Concorde. Digitally optimized aerodynamics: The engineers explored thousands of designs for the XB-1 with computational fluid dynamics simulations (CFD). This same type of resource will be used for the design of the Overture. Carbon fiber compounds: Overture will be manufactured almost entirely with carbon fiber compound materials, which promises to offer an aerodynamic design with a resistant and light structure. Supersonic shots: The experience obtained in the XB-1 about the development of the specialized shots will be applied to the Overture and its turbophah engine. More than two decades have passed since supersonic commercial flights ceased to be an option. Boom Technology has an ambitious project among hands. He hopes to be the protagonist in a new era of high -speed civil flights. The Overture should be able to transport between 64 and 80 passengers to Mach 1.7 towards the end of the decade. But it is a shared ambition. The manufacturer has received more than a hundred airline orders like United AirlinesAmerican Airlines and Japan Airlines. And their plans seem to be very seriously. Last year he completed his superfactory overture In Greensboro, North Carolina, where, if everything is going as planned, its aircraft will be assembled. Images | Boom Technology | Screen capture In Xataka | Airlines have found another way to gain space at the expense of the passenger: end the reclining seats

the enormous shell of the dome has been completed

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He Canary Islands Great Telescope It is, today, the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world. However, if everything goes according to plan, that position will go to the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in 2028. The project, under the orbit of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is being developed on Cerro Armazones, in the Atacama Desert, in Chile. Photographs taken earlier this year show the progress of the works. The framework of the enormous dome, with a diameter of 93 meters, has been completed, so the tasks now focus on the assembly of the outer cover of aluminum plates. This cover will act as a “shell” that will protect the equipment from the adverse climate of the location. Construction of the world’s next largest telescope advances The main protagonist of the material shared by ESO is high altitude metal structurewhich will be responsible for supporting optics and instruments during astronomical observations. This 50-meter-high piece will contain the five mirrors of the ELT and will have to be moved so that the telescope can point to different parts of the sky. To talk about ELT is to refer to several milestones. The primary mirror of 39 meters in diameter will be made up of 798 individual hexagonal segmentsand it will be the largest ever built. The secondary mirror will reflect the light from the primary mirror onto the tertiary mirror. The three mirrors should offer better observations over a wide field of view. Image: ESO/G. Vecchia | ELT under construction in January 2025 But there is more. The fourth mirror is very interesting because it is an “adaptive” mirror. It has been designed to deform to correct atmospheric turbulence and vibration of the telescope structure and its movement. Thousands of actuators intervene to give life to this feature that will deliver sharper images. Image: ESO/G. Vecchia | ELT under construction in January 2025 The fifth mirror is the smallest, but not the least important. It is a very light and rigid optical piece that moves with great precision to ensure that the images arrive stabilized to telescope instrumentsthat is, its multiple spectrographs and cameras that will receive the light to analyze it in detail. Image: ESO/G. Vecchia | ELT under construction in January 2025 It’s been a long time since this project took its first steps. The preliminary design of the telescope was published in 2006 and in 2010 Cerro Armazones was selected as the ideal place for its construction. The reason was very simple: it is a place whose climatic conditions greatly favor the observation of the cosmos. Image: ESO | ELT render The hill is far enough from cities to suffer considerable light pollution. There is also a small percentage of precipitable water vapor. Have you ever wondered why stars blink when we look at them? It is due to the conditions of our atmosphere, such as density, temperature and wind. The signing of the agreement between Chile and the ESO came in 2011, which included the donation of an area of ​​189 square kilometers for the installation of the telescope and the concession for 50 years of the surrounding area. Construction began in March 2014. The project has a budget of 1.45 billion euros and, as we say, it should be operational in 2026. The ELT promises to capture 15 times more light than the Gran Telescopio Canarias and offer sharper views than the Hubble Space Telescope, observatory aiming to retire soon. As we have noted, the ELT will have a 39-meter diameter mirror, key to achieving its objective: obtain direct images of exoplanetsanalyze their atmospheres and measure the expansion of the universe. Images | ESO/G. Vecchia In Xataka | James Webb has just shown us waves of star dust so colossal that they would make our solar system small

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